What is the Church?
“The kingdom of heaven is like . . .” Matthew 22:2
- A practice field for patience and compassion.
- A fellowship against loneliness.
- A resting place.
- A garden where God comes looking for us.
- A bathing for washing guilt away.
- A reflecting pool.
- An internship for minister-members.
- A kneeling bench.
- A rescue mission where God finds us.
- A laboratory of life.
- A school instructing those who would fear God.
- A hospital for healing souls.
- A cafeteria where God feeds us.
- A classroom of truth.
- A track for walkers in the Way of Christ.
- A hospitable door.
- A herald of Good News—joyful, hopeful, helpful words.
Why Go to Church?
Is it a waste of time? A churchgoer wrote a letter to the editor of a newspaper and complained that it made no sense to go to church every Sunday.
“I’ve gone for thirty years now,” he wrote, “and in that time I have heard something like 3,000 sermons. But for the life of me, I can’t remember a single one of them. So, I think I’m wasting my time and preachers are wasting theirs by giving sermons at all.”
This started a weeklong controversy in the column. It went on until someone wrote this clincher: “I’ve been married for thirty years now. In that time my wife has cooked 32,000 meals. But for the life of me, I cannot recall the entire menu for a single one of them. But I know this: They all nourished me and gave me the strength I needed to do my work. If my wife had not cooked these meals, I would be physically dead today. Likewise, if I had not gone to church for nourishment, I would be spiritually dead today.”
“So now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.” Acts 20:32
