The Church, The Steeple, The Doors, & All The People

Here's the church, here's the steeple, open the doors, see all the people. 

Are you familiar with this nursery rhyme? I remember learning it, and the hand motions that went along with it, when I was a little girl. I also remember teaching it to my kids when they were younger. Their favorite part was wiggling their little fingers as they sang "see all the people." Likely, they would argue that the rhyme would be less enjoyable if it was simply, "here's the church, here's the steeple" and the finger wiggling part was omitted. Isn't that true of Sunday mornings well? What's the purpose if it's a building, a steeple, the doors, and no people? For we all know that the church is not the building. It's the people.

God made us for community. We are a body of many people, united in Christ through faith. In Ephesians 2:19-22, Paul says to the church in Ephesus, So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

Our gathering together expresses unity in Jesus as we worship Him together. We worship Him through the reading of His Word, the singing of songs and hymns, through prayer. We worship Him in celebrating with others, hurting with others, and serving alongside others. We go to the physical gathering place (in our case, the middle school) on Sunday mornings, because Jesus is worthy of receiving our regular worship. We know and love and follow our Savior, who died to create a people for Himself, a worshiping people.  I look forward to worshiping together with you all on Sunday.