Alright now, we've established that it is possible for a person to know God personally, because God has first loved us and established a relationship with us, but what does that have to do with "church"? Do churches have a monopoly on God? Are churches the gatekeepers to a relationship with God? Well I guess the real question has to be "what is church?"

What is Church?

The first thing about "church" is that it is not a building! It has nothing to do with architecture, a steeple, or pews. It isn't even an organization with employees who can be referred to as "the church".

Well what is it then?

The word church comes from the Scottish word kirk which in turn came from the German kirche, and all these terms came from the Greek work kuriakon. I know, I know I'm probably losing you here, but here is the cool part, kuriakon means called out for the Lord. It doesn't describe the building or the organization, it describes the people. Another word used in the Bible which we translate as "church" is ekklesia, which also means "the called out". Right from the very beginning church had nothing to do buildings or organizations, it was the people who God has called and who know Him personally. When the Bible speaks of the "church" in general it means everyone around the world who is united by, and shares in common a personal relationship with God through belief in Christ and His presence on the throne of their lives.

The Bible does speak of local churches though. After Jesus returned to Heaven and more and more people began to have a relationship with Him, people began meeting together. The Bible speaks of churches in Jerusalem, Rome, and in Corinth as well as in Asia Minor, Galatia, and Thessalonica. Once again however, these are not buildings, but groups of people in a specific area who are "called out" because of their relationship with Christ and who meet together.

If a relationship with Christ is a personal thing, then why this meeting together thing?

In the Bible God teaches us that His "called out ones" or "church" is to: worship Him, grow in our understanding of Him and obedience to Him, share Him with our community, minister to each other's needs as well as the needs of our community, and support and encourage each other. The relationship with God was never meant to be a solo flight. Our relationship with God is to be lived out in community together. God calls us to come together as His "church" so that we can support one another, care for one another and encourage one another. The Bible says, "Let us be concerned for one another, to help one another to show love and to do good. Let us not give up the habit of meeting together, as some are doing. Instead, let us encourage one another all the more, since you see that the Day of the Lord is coming nearer." (Hebrews 10:24,25) That's why we meet together. We are stronger, better, and more successful when we operate in community.

That's why we meet together at Grace. Not because we serve a building or an institution, or because we have to, but because we believe that together we can be far more effective than we ever could be alone. We can encourage and be encouraged. We can learn from each other, and lift each other up. We can reach out into our community and meet needs that alone would go unmet. And finally we can worship God together and enjoy Him and our relationship with Him in community just as He designed.

It's a pretty awesome thing!