MORE THAN A BUILDING

Read 1 Corinthians 3:9-11

We are co-workers in God's service, you are God's field, God's building.

1 Corinthians 3:9

Through the years, I have attended church and Sunday School in many different places: tents, a large home, a movie theater, a former army Quonset hut, refurbished army barracks, an elementary school, a storefront, a bank conference room, and a high school, in addition to designated church buildings. My experiences have taught me that a church is not a building. A church is the people who gather to worship and praise God in song, in prayer, in the reading and setting of the Bible, and then acting on what they have learned.

In his letters to early Christians, the apostle Paul repeatedly wrote of churches meeting in homes. (Rom. 16:3-5; 1 Cor, 16:19, Col. 4:15, and Phil. 1:2). Paul's words affirm my convictions that a church is not anchored to the ground but moves with the people.

I have felt sad when Church buildings are sold and transformed into homes or businesses. However, I am learning not to lament over such situations because our Lord does not reside only in buildings. Jesus lives in the hearts and minds of his people. God goes where believers go, because the people are the church. Where I am, I am part of the church.

Mary Hunt Webb (New Mexico)

Gracious Lord, thank you for living among us. Help us to live so that others may see you in us. Amen