In a short book called Haggai, we find the LORD speaking to His people, urging them to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem. He asks them a pointed question. "Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses, while this house remains a ruin?" Now this is what the LORD Almighty says: "Give careful thought to your ways. .... Go up into the mountains and bring down timber and build the house, so that I may take pleasure in it and be honored," says the LORD. "You expected much, but see, it turned out to be little. What you brought home, I blew away. Why?" declares the LORD Almighty. "Because of my house, which remains a ruin, while each of you is busy with his own house." (Haggai 1: 3-5, 8-9, NIV) The Lord took issue with their insistence that the Temple was not important to Him.
So, you might object that Haggai was writing to Jews whose practice included sacrifices offered in that Holy Place and that we no longer need such a place. Only in a partial sense would you be correct! There is no more single Holy Place, nor Altar where priests offer up sacrifices. Christ was the final sacrifice, offered up for the sins of the world. But the New Testament, while calling each one of us a 'temple' in which the Spirit dwells, also calls us together for worship! In Hebrews right alongside of a reference to the superior sacrifice of Christ, Christians are given this command: "let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching." (Hebrews 10:22-25, NIV)
The church house in which we gather might be someone's living room, a school gymnasium, a chapel by the roadside, a brick edifice, or a cathedral depending on the economy and function of the building. I have gathered with other Believers in all of the above and offered my praise and worship to the Living God. I once worshipped while sitting on a crude wooden bench in a former potato warehouse in India, singing accompanied only by the thump of a single drum! And I have worshipped among thousands, with orchestra and pipe organ, too. The house in which God's people gather is not what is central to our faith practice. It is the act of gathering; coming together so that the Spirit can be among us! And Jesus assures us that "where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them." (Matthew 18:20, NIV)
- If you're church is not a good church, then earnestly pray for her; don't abandon her! God may change the church or He may change you, but the act of loving His Church with prayer and support, is a choice of obedience that the Lord will always bless.
- If your church is a good, healthy Body, give thanks for the work being accomplished and pray for those who lead her to keep vision renewed and fervor fresh. Nothing breeds complacency like 'success' however that may be defined.
As much as some may denigrate the church, there is nothing that will contribute to the stability and vitality of your faith in a greater way than your church over the course of your life. God says so! If the Church is important to Him, it must be important to those who claim to love and serve Him! You better believe it.
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The Church's one foundation is Jesus Christ her Lord;
She is His new creation by water and the word.
From heav'n He came and sought her to be His holy bride;
With His own blood He bought her, and for her life He died.
Elect from ev'ry nation, yet one o'er all the earth,
Her charter of salvation- "One Lord, one faith, one birth;"
One holy name she blesses; partakes one holy food,
And to one hope she presses, with ev'ry grace endued.
Yet she on earth hath union with God the three in one,
And mystic sweet communion with those whose rest is won;
O happy ones and holy! Lord, give us grace that we,
Like them, the meek and lowly, on high may dwell with Thee.
'Mid toil and tribulation and tumult of her war,
She waits the consummation of peace forevermore;
'Till with the vision glorious her longing eyes are blest,
And the great Church victorious, shall be the Church at rest.
Though with a scornful wonder men see her sore oppressed,
By schisms rent asunder, by heresies distressed:
Yet saints their watch are keeping, Their cry goes up, "how long?"
And soon the night of weeping shall be the morn of song.
The Church's One Foundation
Samuel Stone, Samuel Wesley© Public Domain
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