um, you *are* the church

For some reason, after over a thousand blog posts, people keep asking me for copies of THIS one.  i'm feeling it more today. 
So often we hear people say, "If only the CHURCH would do such and such, it would be better!" or, "i'd be a part of the church if it wasn't so..."
Gently, i'd just remind you (& myself)... that if you are a Christ follower... you are the church.  BE the church... go to Him hungry, and thirsty, tired and broken.  Let Him croon tenderly to you words of love and healing.  You are the church & He loves His bride.

Here's a repost:

this is the church i go to...


Hey, let me introduce us...

We're the broken - the sick - the lost - the dying...

We've struggled with death and disease, some of us have come here looking for answers, not knowing if we believe in heaven at all... some have become hard and calloused and don't even know why we're here Sunday after Sunday. Still others of us come because we need fellowship with other people who love Jesus...

Some of us are struggling with infertility, some of us have been cheated on, disrespected, abandoned by spouses who should have known better. Some of us have been happily married for decades. Some of us are lonely, guilty, shy, boisterous, bitter or happy. Some of us are reeling from circumstances that have spiraled far beyond our control.

This is the church that i go to...

Some of us mouth the words of the songs because our hearts would break if we *really* sang those words. Some of us are unemployed, former addicts, present day mess-ups, control-freaks or successful businessmen. Some of us are grieving our babies lost to miscarriage - others grieving our children lost to abortion - & still others are gratefully anticipating new life with swelling bellies and tearful gratitude.

This is the church i go to...

Our childhoods are as varied as the rest of our lives... Some were happy.... Some of us were neglected, abused, ignored, abandoned. Some of us were motherless, others fatherless - some of us got good grades & some of us are drop outs. Some of us still feel stuck in those years - the hurts won't heal & we come here looking for answers... looking for Jesus... so we can quit wasting away and start living.

This is the church i go to.

Some of us come straight from work, others from hellish, unimaginable situations, & some straight from a good night's rest... Some of us go home to empty houses, or warm lunches, or out to work again...

But on Sunday morning, we gather as a congregation...

We, who are daily becoming aware of our need...

Jesus.

He is the cup - and we are thirsty - parched, crawling and almost delirious with our need.

Jesus.

He is the bread - our frail bodies are wracked with hunger.

Jesus.

We're clinging to the cross...

This is the church i go to.



12On hearing this, Jesus said, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 13But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.'[a] For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners." matthew 9:12&13

 36When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. matthew 9:36