Pastor's Perspective Articles:

April 2008: Elder Phil Steckmann
March 2008: Elder Ed Gann
February 2008: Elder Rob Wiggins
January 2008: Elder Dr. Steve Stephens
December 2007: Elder's Perspective
November 2007: Thankful for Broken Things
October 2007: God Rubs Off
September 2007: Have you ever gotten it wrong?
August 2007: Belize Journal, July '07
July 2007: What's the picture of the church?
June 2007: Making the Complex Simple
May 2007: Majesty

July 2007 - What's the picture of the church?

There is very little left at Charlene's parent's place since they have gone to be with the Lord, most of their stuff has been given away or it's been sold. Of the few remailing items, there are two plates with pictures of prominent churches in the life, left on the wall. When you think of the church, is that what you think of? Buildings, that you used to go to, for study, fellowship and worship. Or do you think of the church as the people who make up that church, friendly faces you enjoy, or love to serve with. Part of this is important becuase the body of Christ (the church) is where God dwells today.

Eph. 2:22 "And in Him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by His Spirit."

In the Old Testament that dwelling place was a building. In the New Testament the building has been replaced by His presence among His people.

Matt. 18:20 "For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them."

Is your picture of the church, the place where God dwells, in and among His people, or is it just the place where God's people hang out? Is there a qualitative difference when God is present in a people and a place, or when God is absent from His people. The answer to that should be yes!

To help us get a picture of what that might look like, lets go back to the Old Testament and psalmist David. In Psalm 84, David talks about what it's like to be in God's dwelling place. We will assume that since God doesn't change, that what was true of God's dwelling place (a building) in the Old Testament is also true of His dwelling place (body) today. So, here is the question: When God dwells someplace what does that look like or feel like?

Psalm 84:1-3 "How lovely is your dwllling place, O LORD Almighty! My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the LORD; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God. Even the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may have her young - a place near your altar, O LORD Almighty, my King and my God."

There verses tell us that when God dwells someplace it has three distinct qualities.

v. 1 Beauty How lovely is your dwelling place, O LORD Almighty!

v. 2 Intimacy My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the LORD; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.

v. 3 Safety Even the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may have her young - a place near your altar, O LORD Almighty, my King and my God.

Is that what the church (Christ's body) the people in whom Christ dwells, look like to you? Do you see the beauty of Christ and the loveliness of the Savior come out in daily words and actions?

Do you see the deep desire of yourself and of those you worship with, who yearn and long to be with God in worship and prayer?

Do you see the poeple of God as a safe place for even the least and the young? A place where they too enjoy the protection of God's presence?

Maybe our view of the church is a lot more like those plates, hung on the wall, than we think. The dwelling place of God isn't a museum or a place to remember the glories of yesterday. Psalm 84 tells us that it's a place that is alive, and vibrant, and filled with the evidences of God's presence. How do you think we are doing?

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