Hearing the word ‘church’ will cause different images to appear in our minds.
Some will picture the church building. Others will picture the church bell tower or the organ or the pews that are part of the building.
Yet the Bible encourages us to think of the church as the group of believers who may meet in a building.
That’s what the word church stems from.
To be ‘church’ (ekklesia) is to gather or assemble together.
We get a glimpse of how the church operated from the book of Acts.
32 All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. 33 With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all 34 that there were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales 35 and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need. (Acts 4:32-35)
Gathering together physically at the moment is a little difficult but that does not stop the church operating and serving each other in the same way the early church did.
By way of encouragement here are a few ways I have observed and am grateful for the way we as a local church continue to navigate our way through these unusual times as a church.
The church’s desire to maintain contact with one another
As I’ve made contact with various folk within our church it has done my heart good to hear of people having lists of people they make their way through week by week so speak to over the phone.
Sometimes these calls are just a quick check in or catch up.
Sometimes these calls have involved longer periods of sharing and even praying.
This has been particularly true of the older generation where long term and deep friendships exist (something we as a younger generation should maybe strive for as we go forward). At the heart of this is a desire to not lose contact with each other when it might be easy to do so.
The church’s desire to meet each others needs
At the same time there has also been unfolding stories of people quietly seeking to help practically.
Selling our homes has not yet been required as in the verses above but practical sacrificial use of time has been needed.
Folk have sought to book shopping slots online for others or picked up prescriptions or even gone to the shops themselves in order to deliver food to someone else.
We may well say this is part of human nature and this is no different to what others are doing in society.
Yet the picture I’ve seen increasingly reminds me of how the early church is described in Acts 4.
The church’s desire to continue to meet together
Despite our lack of physical gathering I am thankful for the way a team of people have worked hard to enable our services to be streamed on a Sunday morning. Although the viewing figures are hard to work out with any accuracy (1 view could be someone watching a whole service or clicking in for 10 seconds!) it is encouraging to see services being noticed and watched.
Just as encouraging is our desire to continue to see each other on our Sunday evening Zoom services or in our Zoom Growth Groups.
These have been particularly precious living in a period of history when personal contact has been restricted.
If you haven't yet been able to join us on a Sunday evening Zoom service or join a Growth Group Zoom can I encourage you to do that soon.
The church’s desire to see Christ honoured through everything
In recognising these things about the church we must also be thankful for one who cares for and looks after His church.
“For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Saviour.” (Eph 4:23)
The church belongs to Jesus Christ. He laid down his life so that the church could become his bride.
Our motivation to do the things we’ve given thanks for stem from our desire to see his name...the name of our bridegroom...honoured.
Like the early church we must ‘continue to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus’.
Even though our meetings and gatherings have taken a different form for the time being we must continue to pray that the name of Christ will continue to be known…that Christ will continue to build His church through us…that he will continue to work in us through His Spirit and grow us as his followers.
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