The Church

And there was great joy throughout the church that day as they read this encouraging message. Acts 15:31

There is this church, this building with many walls and many rooms.

There are the Sunday School rooms where relationships are built and strengthened, where God's Word is studied and life is connected to it and discussed.  There are the two nursery rooms where people volunteer to sacrifice a Sunday service to play with and love children, so their parents can listen to the preaching of the Word, sing songs of praise, and pray.  There are these rooms where children and adults gather to sing songs and hymns, praise to Jesus Christ our Lord.  There is the fellowship hall where meals are eaten, and people talk, laugh, visit, and catch up. There is the sanctuary where we listen to God's Word being preached, sing to Him songs of praise and worship, a place where we kneel to pray, where we laugh, cry, and say "Amen."

Then, there is this church.

There are people who spend time preparing lessons.  They study God's Word.  They pray. They visit those who are sick.  They visit those who have lost loved ones.  They prepare a meal. They make a phone call, send an email, or send a text message to let someone know, "Hey, you are on my mind today."

They become friends, actually they become more like a family.

They laugh together, cry together, come together.

They take in those that have nothing, those who are lost, dirty, and broken.

The love them. They pray for them.  

But while Peter was in prison, the church prayed very earnestly for him. Acts 12:5

They show them God.

They leave this impression on others, making people seek that which makes them so special. 

Recently, I have seen this church, these people, come together.  Several years ago, their hearts were touched by sisters who came to visit our church.  These precious girls bore themselves a permanent spot in hearts throughout the church.  These same hearts recently ached and cried for these girls. These hearts came together to help these sisters. 

Mommies, daddies, husbands, wives, brothers, sisters, friends.....one heart, the heart of Jesus.

These people have the heart of Jesus, and they are the church. 

These people sacrifice themselves out of love,the love of Jesus.  I have seen them do it for these girls, for others, for me. They ask for nothing in return.  They don't brag about what they do.  They honestly, truly, love. 

When I am with the church, I am moved. I see that there is good in people. There is hope.

The church is more than just a building, it is group of believers, brothers and sisters in Christ. These people share the goal of showing the love of Jesus to others.  

The church then had peace throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria, and it became stronger as the believers lived in the fear of the Lord. And with the encouragement of the Holy Spirit, it also grew in numbers. Acts 9:31