Day 9—Church

I’m in awe. I don’t know how else to describe it. Every two weeks I walk away from our Tuesday night House Church meeting amazed at what God is doing in our midst. In an ordinary house. In an ordinary neighborhood.

Grandmas and emergents laugh together, appreciative of what the other brings to the group. The limping and healthy offer lavish compassion and prayer for one another. Smiles emerge from faces that have seen long days. Small talk provides a sweet appetizer. Tears flow freely, sensing hope within this body of Christ. Plenty of food somehow finds its way onto the table, but always shy of an over-abundance. Worship is led using a karaoke machine (I know, I know… but you have to experience it to believe it!). Scratchy voices mix with baritone voices, sweet voices, and off-key voices, all rising together in an amazing cacophony of sound that is pleasing to God, even if not to a trained audiophile. Scripture, teaching and discussion play together with the spontaneity of children who come to the park on a summer day ready to play but not knowing what the game will be until they get there. And—you might have guessed it—through it all God richly pours out His Spirit upon this gathering that comes to worship Him in the name of Jesus.

This is church. It’s not “going to church” so much as it is “being the church.”