The Church

This is the church.

Not a building.

Not the bricks.

Nor the pews and podium.

But the people.

Who gather.

To worship.

And make statements of faith to be lived out.

To celebrate new life, commitment to faith, the washing of sins

This is the church.

Family.

People who love one another.

Encourage one another, affirm and hold one another.

People who grow together.

Journey together.

This is the church.

Children of God who exist together for the purpose of giving and receiving life.

We are the church. We are the place of worship. And it should pour out from every crevice of our God made bodies.

We are the environment where God makes himself known to the world. And we should welcome people to enter into God’s grace through us.

We are the church. The body of Christ. The living and breathing message that will change this broken world.

#236 The waters that bury us, the Spirit that covers us, the blood that washes us

#237 A father who wants his children to learn the joy and blessing of hard work

#238 The unknown

#239 The deaths that must happen so that we can say yes to what God puts before us

#240 The hard sacrifice of plans

#241 The softening of a heart

#242 The patient heart of another

#243 A friend who enters the dark places of another

#244 The land that’s waiting for our toil

#245 A husband’s vision

#246 My messy house that reminds me I have an active family

#247 My sweet niece Anna — the first baby I ever loved.

#248 Friends and family who gather for our big moments

#249 Sitting in lawn chairs with friends until dusk

#250 Summer food