August 5: THE BEST THING ABOUT CHURCH?

I saw an advertisement by a non-Christian religious group that caught my eye. It said. “The best thing about church is when it’s over.” Because of a faulty or incorrect definition of church they were led to the wrong conclusions. “Church” is never over. Church is lifestyle for the New Testament Christian. It is identity of a total way of life.
A cross section of church can be seen in Acts 2:42ff, “they devoted themselves to the apostle’s teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of prayer and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together.”
You see, this lifestyle never ends. It goes on and on among Christian people, passed on from one generation of true believers to another. This ‘church” will not be over until Jesus returns.
Now, as to the daily characteristics of the church, it would be hard to pick out the “best thing” about being part of a church. Probably “fellowship” would rank high on the list of this mobile and impersonal society. Fellowship or “shared life” (a better definition) is the key to escaping loneliness and isolation in the world.
The experience of being “born again” and becoming “a child of God” opens the door to a wonderful lifestyle. Sharing this experience gives people freedom with one another.
We can “take off our masks” and be ourselves and do away with pretense. We can express our fears to one another. We can know that we “belong” and accept the security of being accepted. “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, God’s Son, purifies us from all sin.” (1 John 1:7)
You can build a life on the good things about “being” church.

“Lord of the Church, you created her and then offered each one of us the
opportunity to share a part of her. It is wonderful to be a part of your Body. Amen”