7.1 What is Church?

And welcome back to NUA's Gamey McGame Show with your host Chuck Eubanks. What world movement has been responsible for scientific developments, medical advancements, and has founded the most hospitals, schools, and homeless shelters? Justin Bieber. No. What about you Sarah? Well, if it's not Justin Bieber, it must be Oprah. I don't think so. Church. The church as we know it today was started after Jesus' resurrection, and over the last 2000 or so years, no other organization has impacted society more to feeding the poor, getting health care to those in danger, education to schools and universities, and contributing to laws that help to keep us all safe. When the church has lived and acted like Jesus when he was on earth, it has done some incredible life-giving things. Now, this is not to say that the church is perfect, in fact, far from it because the church is made up of imperfect people and at times with imperfect people comes the worst of humanity like greed, abuse of power, and neglect of the needy. My own personal experience of church has mostly been really positive and I have no shame in saying that I love the church. The problem sometimes is the English word church and what it means to different people. When I say the church, some of you will instantly think of an institution or a building like this one. Church buildings come in many different shapes and sizes from grand cathedrals to humble chapels and church halls. And inside you expect to find certain things like stained glass windows, pews, the altar maybe some odd-tasting coffee and if you're lucky a cookie! But when I say I love the wider church, in my head I'm thinking of everyone inside those buildings. I'm thinking of Jesus' church, the people. The best description of church that I can find in the Scriptures is from the book of Acts. It describes how some of the early churches would have looked like. It says in Acts chapter 2 that 'All the believers would have met together and had everything in common. They would have sold their possessions and their property to give to anyone who had a need' (Acts 2:44 ). And this one verse has been the foundation for why the church has been such a force for good in this world and a way of existence that we should never forget. Now, I'm not saying that you should go home and ask your parents to sell the family home or even sell your phone, but what it means to be like Jesus is to have a generous heart to give from what you have for the common good to share from your wealth to meet the needs of the poor and it also says that 'The early church met every day in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate with sincere and glad hearts.' (Acts 2:45) You see, the focus on these verses is on the people and what they did together, this is the identity of the church, how we serve in the world, way more than just a building. Some of the church buildings we have are breathtaking holy places to encounter God, and the stained glass windows speak of incredible stories from the Bible, but what makes these buildings a church is God and his people with the common goal of sharing the message of hope, and making a difference in the world around us.