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“God never meant for the word church to refer to a building.”

A thought by Craig Groeschel from his book, Divine Direction: 7 Decisions That Will Change Your Life (p. 130). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.)

Did you realize that?

Craig says, “It wasn’t until I was in seminary that I learned the history of God’s church. For the first couple of centuries, it was incredibly difficult for followers of Jesus to gather. For one thing, their lives were often in danger. They also couldn’t own buildings, so finding public places where they could gather was challenging. Then in AD 313, Emperor Constantine declared Christianity a legal religion. For the first time in history, it became safe (at least in some places) for Christians to gather, and for the first time, churches could own buildings.”

He goes on, “But we have to remember that the church is not a building. The church is the people. That’s why I try to remind myself that we don’t go to church; we are the church.

“And since we are the church, God wants to use us to serve him. He wants us to use our gifts to strengthen his body. God’s Word offers several different lists of spiritual gifts that God gives to people. One of my favorites is in Romans 12. Paul tells the Roman Christians, ‘In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well’ (Rom. 12:6 NLT, my emphasis). When you think about it, surely there are certain things that just naturally come easy to you. You’re wired to do things that other people can’t do, and they often admire that you can do those things.”

Later he says, “No matter what your gift, God has given it to you not just to make your life better but to serve him and others in the church. If you’re just going to church and not serving, I can promise you that God wants to do more in you and through you.”

Earlier Craig said, “Rather than seeing service as something you occasionally do, what if you saw yourself as a servant? It’s not what you do; it’s who you are. If you are a follower of Jesus, you are called to serve him and to serve people in his name. This is what the church is all about. Sometimes we forget that God never meant for the word church to refer to a building.”


So, do you see that we as Christ followers are the church and we are called to serve him and to serve others?
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