This Is Hopeಮಾದರಿ

Day 6: Church as Our Family

What comes to your mind when you think about “church”? To some, the word “church” brings to mind old historical buildings with a cross at the top. To others, the word “church” may be about attending a weekly service as a religious duty. But church is more than a building or a weekly event for believers. The church is a community of believers who love and worship God together as a family.

In today’s passage, the Apostle Paul uses the imagery of the body of Christ to refer to the church. Christ is the head of the body, and the people of God are inextricably joined together because of our connection to Christ. The body grows and is built up by the activity of each part. Each believer thus has the responsibility to use our unique experiences, giftings and talents to build up the church.

As such, there is no such thing as a lone ranger Christian. Christianity is a relational religion where our relationship with Christ automatically causes us to be a part of God’s family. As a family, we accept one another regardless of our background and embrace one another in Christ’s love. It is a community where we can be authentically ourselves, one where our stories matter. Even in times where we step on one another’s toes or cause hurt to one another, we are to be committed to bear with one another in love (Ephesians 4:2) and to forgive one another as Christ has forgiven us.

No matter how educated, successful or independent we are as individuals, we need our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ to continually spur us on towards love and good deeds. In our lifelong journey with Christ, there are bound to be moments of weakness where we must lean on the faith of our brothers and sisters. In the same way, there will be times we are called to carry our brothers and sisters to the Lord when they are hurting. In God’s wisdom and love, the church is the family God has blessed us with for all eternity. We are to belong to the church, value it and build it in love.

Pray and reflect:

• Take time to give thanks to God for the lifegroup you are in. Pray for your lifegroup to be built on Christ’s love and to grow in maturity together.
• How can you love and care for the brothers and sisters God has placed in your lifegroup? Ponder upon one practical action you can take to minister to someone this week and commit it to the Lord in prayer.