“For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named….” Eph 3:4-15

Scripture refers to the Church in so many wonderful ways.  The Church of the Living God (1 Tim 3:15), the Flock of God (1 Peter 5:2), God’s heritage (1 Pet 5:3 KJV), a spiritual house, a holy Priesthood (I Pet 2:5), the Lamb’s wife (Rev 19:7), the House of Christ (Heb 3:6 NKJV), the Bride of Christ (Rev 21:9), the Family in heaven and earth (Eph 3:15) and many more.  The Apostle Paul, in his letter to the church at Ephesus, also refers to the church as the “household of God”, “a holy temple in the Lord”, and a “whole body joined and knit together.”  Paul wrote that Christ “loved the church and gave Himself for her…that she should be holy and without blemish.” Eph 5:25-27

God wants His church to be a family; a people that spend time together, love each other, care for each other, and put one another first.  When the people told Jesus that his mother and brother were there for Him, he answered, “whoever does the will of God, he is My brother and sister and mother,” thereby declaring us part of His family.  Jesus told Peter, in Mark 10:29-30, “there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children, for my sake and the gospel’s, who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time-houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children….”  Jesus was reassuring Peter that he would have a family in the church that was bigger and better than anything he could imagine.

Too often we think of Church as a building that we go to, an event in which we participate, or an organization that provides a worship service and other programs.  But Church should be so much more, and it takes each of us all making effort every day and in many ways. 

If you want to study and discuss how we all can be the church that God intended us to be, come join our class, Church Reset, on Wednesday nights at 7pm.