I didn't really have to be there- the people were more than capable of having dinner and conversation without me. But it was nice to feel needed.
But even better to just join in with a great group of people.
The topic of our video and discussion was the church. At first it felt a little weird (for me) to be the pastor of the church where these folks worship and to lead a genuine conversation regarding church. But all I have to say now is WOW! I think I learned more about being the church from this conversation than half the books I've read on church.
One comment from the video that impacted me and filtered into the conversation was this:
The question isn't are you going to church? The question is, are you going to be the church?
(At least that's how I remember it.)
When we grasp the biblical fact that church is not a building, meeting, or any one group, it begins to transform our understand. We begin to grasp that the church is actually us. It's not about going to church anymore, because we are the church, and the church is us, with us, in us. It begins to get into our DNA, and into the DNA of the people we gather with. It's like a shirt I saw one of our folks wearing:
"The Church has left the building."
Connections is a church because it's people connected to God and one another in Jesus. We aren't a building. We aren't even the church that meets in a theatre. We are the people of God, a holy temple, the body of Christ.
Tonight I had an amazing experience of church, because I was with some amazing people.
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