What is Church

So this blog may get long...So this blog may seem like a completely different topic then I normally write about...not that anyone really reads this anyway....but still there is just something about writing. Not that I am a good writer by any means...let me stop that and get onto to the topic. I have spent a lot of time over the last year and a half thinking about the question that is the title of this blog. What is church? I think most people would have just about the same answer if you were to ask that question. But honestly in the last year and half I have asked myself that question time and time again searching for an answer that I am happy to say I recently found within myself. Maybe some of you that actual read this are aware of the fact that around a year and half ago I walked away from what I thought church was. You see I thought what I was doing and where I was going was "church" at least it seemed that way for the five years that I attended just about every single service, and served faithfully in. I have to honestly say though, I have come to feel very differently about it today. Sure I miss the worshipping God together and listening to the teaching. But as I walked away from that place in my life. The place that had been my sanctuary. I learned something completely different. I am not going to deny that I left what I thought was "church" over being hurt. Because hurt I was. Hurt even more when I walked out of a place where I had spent most of my time and no one seemed to notice. Talk about feeling insignificant. Which is a completely different blog soon to come. I had been pondering the above question for a long time. Reading the word I believe Jesus gives us a completely different picture of what he wants the church to be. You see to me when Jesus talks about His church, he talks about the fellowship more then anything. Going from house to house, sharing food, and possesions. Not showing up one day a week to get your fix. I was blessed a little over a week ago when my niece asked me if I would take her to a concert. I was more then delighted to do so. We went to see Jeremy Camp, Mercy Me, John Rubin, Sanctus Reel, and Tenth Ave North. I have to be honest I hadn't even really been listening to much "christian" music as of late. But she wanted to go and I was more then willing to take her. It was at that concert that Bart the lead singer of Mercy Me was able to articulate exactly what I had been feeling in my heart for so long but couldn't put into words. He talked about how we as the body have become so focused on getting people to the alter that we forget about teaching them how to live after they get there. That was his reasoning behind not having an alter call that night at the concert. He said that it is his hope that he could be there with people for the journey. That ten years from nowhe hoped they remember this show because it brought them closer to God and not just to an alter. He then talked about the church and what it was for him. He made mention that the church isn't the place we go on Sunday. But rather the church is those people that surround us, that lift us up when we have fallen, that stand besides us in the good the bad and the ugly. That is what the body of Christ does. The body of Christ doesn't allow someone who is hurting to meerly walk away. Those words really hit me like a ton of bricks. I had felt guilty for the last year and half for not "attending church." God set me free from that last Sunday night because it became really clear to me WHO my church is. It is my best friend Linda who is always there, night or day, loving me regardless of the stupid junk I do, calling me out in her loving way when I do those stupid things. But mostly she reminds me of God's love. I see Jesus when I look at her. She has walked so close to him. I have seen her Love just like He did, I have also watched her go through the same rejection He went through while he was hanging on the cross. I certainly have learned from her that if I really want to ask God to make me like Jesus I best be prepared for exactly what He went through. Steve, he has been my church. He quietly stands by me. He makes me want to be a better woman, wife and mom. My daughter Anna who I delight in and see God's humor in, because so often when something comes out of her mouth I know God is sitting on His throne laughing, and giving me that little wink. My friend Christopher who I can tell anything to, who has reminded me that I am a strong woman who can do absolutely anything I set my mind to. And reminds me that my dreams aren't too big. My friend Tina, who started the whole concept of convincing me to believe in myself. My niece Hillary. She is full of light and grace. Her presence fills a room. And I am gratful for the kindred spirit I have found in her. These are a few of the people that become what is church for me. They are there for me in ways that I just never imagined. And I am forever grateful to God that He saw fit to bring each one of them into my life.