It has been over six months since I last stood in a sanctuary with my church family and worshiped in song … and I miss it.
There are local churches which have started meeting again for worship in the safety of small groups.
For me, church has little to do with the place.
I am not even sure if I am interested in going to our church service ‘live’ when that day does come. Sure it will be nice to be back in our church place, but … there will be a limited number of people (seated in our family/bubble/cohort units), socially distanced from others.
I can listen to a sermon and tithe online. I can pray wherever I go and I am learning to sing in praise and worship in my vehicle, but …
there is nothing better than sitting, standing, singing, praying … elbow to elbow, with one’s church family. Then there are the greetings of vocal and physical warmth … the hugs and pecks on the cheek. The whispers of weeping and rejoicing.
It is the shared intimacy of Christ in us. We are each other’s because we house our saviour … we are his church, and he holds residency in us.
It’s not so exciting to consider being physically distanced while in the same room. Yet, let’s not rule this out too quickly.
It is also good to remember that going to church, to worship together, is about us, the believers, the followers, the Christ in us people. We go there to worship, to be fed by the teaching, to practise the sacraments, to care for one another.
It is in our going out that is our calling … it is the great commission.
In the meantime everywhere we go, whoever we speak to, how we do our jobs, how we treat our neighbors, our families, even our enemies … how we are seen to be worshipping our God in our daily lives, as the outpouring of God in us … that is our grandest call to worship
Don’t you know
that you yourselves are God’s temple
and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst?
1 Corinthians 3:16
itsawonderfilledlife 