When a group of people gather socially, it can be a club, a friendship circle, an interest group, a gang, a clique or a gathering. Today the sociologists are talking about "tribes."
But there is something amazing that happens when we bring Christ into our gatherings. When the vertical and horizontal aspects of the cross are realised in our community we become a "Holy Temple" - the Church.
A temple is a place of reconciliation, worship and celebration.
In the Old Testament worshippers would come to the temple, make sacrifices so that they could be reconciled to God, then they would worship and celebrate God's goodness and they would take that sense of celebration and gratitude into their day-to-day lives.
They would worship _together_. Confessing their sins as a people, praying prayers of lament as a community and offering joyful songs of worship as a nation.
Today, with the boundaries between God and us, and us and our neighbours removed, we are privileged to be part of God's Holy Temple - now no longer a physical building but wherever God's gather for fellowship and worship.
We are:
- reconciled (Holy) but by the sacrifices of Christ and not our own
- able to worship a risen Saviour with eternity in our hearts
- filled with God's Spirit to be able to transform our day to day lives
God keeps giving and giving to us. He gave us creation, He gave us life, He gave us His Son, He gave us the Holy Spirit, He gave us new birth, He gave us the Holy Spirit and He gave us the church.
---
--------------------------
Theo Groeneveld theo@emmanuel.org.za
You can see past EmmDevs at http://emmdev.blogspot.com/
