The Church (part one)

Through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known (Ephesians 3:10).

What is the Church?  I’ve heard many answers to this question, some of them pretty strange. But when you get right down to it, more than anything else the Church is where God satisfies our most basic needs. 

Near the top of the list is our need for inner peace.  None of us wants to go through life afraid.  Constant worry steals your sleep, makes you suspicious instead of trusting, and can actually shorten your life by eroding your health.  Fear prevents relationships from growing, as we are unwilling to open up and be vulnerable to others. 

In Church, we are given peace.  The Lord Almighty, Creator of all things and the King of the universe, reassures you of His love.  The God who parted the Red Sea for Moses and His people, the God who fed over 5,000 men, women and children from five loaves of bread and two fish, the God who gave sight to the blind and raised the dead back to life, says in no uncertain terms that you are His, precious and loved and closely looked after.  In church, the Mighty One gives you a peace that nothing in the world can match.

Another need we have in common is the need to belong.  We dread being alone, having no one to share our joys or give help when problems arise.  The worst thing you can do to a prisoner is place him in solitary confinement.  And we can feel alone even when surrounded by people if we’re too shy to speak up or if they hate us for our looks, our opinions, our cultural background.

In church, we have fellowship.  Thanks to Jesus, you have millions of brothers and sisters, spiritual family who gather in worship every week.  And even if a congregation is really small, Jesus promises to be there: wherever two or three gather in my name, I am there among them (Matthew 18:20).  When you are a member of the Church, you are never alone.

But the greatest need we have is to be forgiven.  Guilt weighs us down, our mistakes drive everyone away, and we fear God’s anger.  But in church we hear the Good News of God’s mercy, that Jesus did away with the punishment for sin and heals broken relationships with His love. Through the Church, God takes away our fear and puts an end to loneliness; He does this by forgiving the sin that fills our days with grief.