"What Is Church"?

This past Sunday was a very good service at New Life Assembly,we got to hear the testimony of missionary Tina Hook, and it was very uplifting. She spoke on several different topics and they were all very good, she spoke about Peter and how he used his life to serve the Lord. She also talked about how God spoke to her when she was just a child ,and placed a calling on her life. Tina ended the service with a statement that I believe a lot of Christians kind of cast to the side so to say .Tina said that we are all “missionaries” and she was so right,The minute we leave the comfort of our homes and venture out into the world , our work begins,like it or not if you consider yourself a child of God ,this is were there real work begins.
I can hear some saying this ,”But what about Church Tim , I go every Sunday and I even help out with events too”.my response to that is “thank you” and I would think that God will honor you for your obedience. But what is “CHURCH”.
I want to share a famous Indian story about six blind men who went to see an elephant. The first man went, put his two hands against the elephant's side and said, "It feels like a wall." The second reached his hand up and felt the sharp tusk of the elephant and said, "Oh no, this is like a spear." The third man walked up to the front of the elephant and felt the elephant's trunk. He boldly said, "I know, this is like a snake." The fourth man felt the elephant's knee and said the elephant was like a tree. The fifth man felt the elephant's ear and said it felt like a fan. The last man felt the elephant's tail and thought it was a rope. These six men all touched the elephant and from their experience thought they knew what it was. They went away with strong opinions of what they had seen. They argued with each other. Each one of them was partly right and all of them were wrong.
If you were to ask, "What is the Church?" you could get many different answers. Some people say the church is a building, the place they go to every Sunday. But 1 Corinthians 3:16 says, "Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?" If you are a real Christian, you are the church. The church is people - God's people. And when the church meets the people are to be connected to each other.
Sometimes people like to go to a big church where no one knows them. They don't talk to anyone. They just come ... and go. There is no relationship. But that is wrong. If you are a real Christian you are a part of a body. The hand cannot separate itself from the arm and do what it wants to. We all need each other. And the main thing I want you to understand is that the church is a relationship - a relationship with you and other Christians. It is where your needs are met. And it is where you can meet the needs of others.
Romans 12:4 says ,4 For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, Here Paul is also talking about the human body. He says that our bodies have many "members" or parts: legs, feet, arms, hands, head, eyes, nose, ears, teeth, etc. And every part has a different function or job. The hands are for grabbing and holding. The eyes are for seeing, the teeth are for chewing, the feet are for walking. And then he says that just like these body parts are connected and need each other in the church as believers we are connected and need each other.
I am sharing this with you because after service yesterday and I was safely tucked away in the comfort of my home , God began to show me once again the areas of my life that,well lets just say don't quite measure up to God's standards,or what he expects from me. let me explain.
You see after church was over and I had the opportunity to “meet and greet” with others in the church, I consciously and intentionally walked by,or failed to greet some members of our congregation,I even went as far as to make eye contact with them,yet not a word was spoken between us. now to me that’s just not right,,,,so what good and great excuse do I use in this case ?I'm just saying this is an area in my life that God has put His finger on ,letting me know that it is in need of improvement. THANK YOU Shirley Catalono for not being like me and running over to greet me, I was blessed by your obedience .I don't think that is only the Pastor's responsibility to greet ,i believe it's all of ours .
Pastor Troy has said this several times,"Greet one another with a holy kiss." and referred to this scripture several times,Romans 16:16 (the message) says this, Holy embraces all around! All the churches of Christ send their warmest greetings!
In the Ancient Near Eastern culture when people greeted they would embrace and kiss each other on each side of the face. Sometimes people go to church and don't even greet each other. How can we know each other or connect with each other if we don't even greet each other? Proverbs 18:24 says, "A man who has friends must himself be friendly."
You see, the church is a relationship - a relationship with you and other Christians. It is where your needs are met. And it is where you can meet the needs of others. In the church as brothers and sisters we must be involved in the lives of one another.
We are to be devoted to one another, to honor one another, to be of the same mind with one another, to accept one another, to greet one another, to serve one another and to bear one another burdens.
So in closing I urge one an other not to do as I have done. God has shown me the areas of my life that need improvement and I thank him for that. May we all be just a little more obedient to God and to His calling on our life's. Remember most of all,We must follow the example of Jesus in Mark Mark 10:41-45(The Message),When the other ten heard of this conversation, they lost their tempers with James and John. Jesus got them together to settle things down. "You've observed how godless rulers throw their weight around," he said, "and when people get a little power how quickly it goes to their heads. It's not going to be that way with you. Whoever wants to be great must become a servant. Whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave. That is what the Son of Man has done: He came to serve, not to be served—and then to give away his life in exchange for many who are held hostage."
Blessings!