The church is what I experienced with my family last night at Christmas Eve Service at the Bellfountain Church. It was simple. It was about people and the community they live in, not the building they choose to use to meet in. It was about a pastor who gets it. A leader who understands relationship with God is more important than anything…anything. It was a pastor who asked…Emmanuel….God is with us…How is that obvious today. How is God with us today…and then proceeded to pick out people in his church, by name and show how they serve the community…How God is in each one of them. I walked out of that little old church last night saying to myself, if it were like this…not perfect,but really about people and God, I could do this again.
I think there’s a new generation of believers and leaders who see exactly what you do, Rick, in this little Bellfounation church.
Simplicity is what has drawn me to our new church. People who want to serve God, encourage each other, serve others.
My wife and I always enjoyed Faith Center in Eugene. We made a ton of friends there, but I think you lose certain connections and relationships in a large church (3,500 members).
Our new church is about 100. I really like it, and it’s very simple.
I get what you’re saying Rick. That’s why I was drawn to the church we’re a part of now.
I’m reading a wonderful book that’s written by Howard Storm. He was an atheist and had a near death experience that turned everything around. This is a simple quote from his writings. “Although I felt an urgency to find a community of people who shared the same beliefs that I had so recently been given, I had no clear idea who or what that community might be.” That urgency he speaks of is also what I went through. And when I found the church I believe God was leading me to, my spirit went “Ahhhhhh” as if I’d just had the most refreshing drink of water.
I think of Jesus reminding us to return to our first love. Because when we don’t, something can happen in the church that dries our bones. When you walk away refreshed maybe it’s b/c we’ve experienced some kind of “first love/Ahhhhh” thing going on. It’s always so FRESH….
What is “the church” or what is “The Church”? Two very different questions in my mind.
What is the church? We are the church.
To assemble simply means believers gathering together to talk about life and the lord. Two or more. I don’t see anything that says we have to “Go” anywhere, or “Have” a certain number of people. Those were idea’s created by man…..
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