This post first appeared in August of 2012 as a devotional from Barclay Press.
Bible Reading: Acts 2:42-47
Tuesday nights are planning nights for our church plant. We share ideas and dreams. We pray together. We share a meal together (tonight was teriyaki chicken, rice pilaf and green beans). We laugh together and we watch Jeopardy. Mostly we challenge each other to radically be the church God is calling us to be.
Quick definition: church is not a building or a location but a group of people sharing life and beliefs aligned with Jesus’ mission here on earth.
Recently the idea of “location” was the topic of conversation. At one time we had use of a church building. It came totally equipped with chairs, sounds, new technology, heat and A/C, everything you would need to do church.
Was having all these things crippling our ability to be the church?
A sister church plant of ours use to meet in a coffeehouse. What was awesome was that the coffeehouse wasn’t closed during their church services; the public was welcome to come in and get a cup of coffee and a pastry.
Once while the church was meeting, and the pastor was up front sharing, two women came in, got coffee, and sat in the middle of the church group. Once they sat, the women proceeded to have a lively, animated, and loud conversation. They did not recognize this group as a church.
This is the church I want to be a part of. A church willing to gather together in unlikely places: a coffeehouse, a bar, a park, anywhere people gather. People may be unlikely to drop in to a church service at a church building, but imagine a church that is willing to intersect communities.
Prayer Suggestion: Pray for a spirit of community in the church you belong to and in your spheres of influence.
-Pastor Rick Ellis
Pastor at Friends Community Church