How Beautiful Is the Body of Christ

I pastor an amazing church. I have a lot of pastor friends that are miserable in their churches because of one problem or another. I am not one of those pastors - there is literally nowhere else that I would rather be. I was moved to tears yesterday - there was such an amazing sense of God's presence. It started in worship as our teachers for our new Sunday School classes shared about the classes that God was leading them to teach. Each person shared from their heart. One of our teachers was gone because he was preaching in another church, so I read his description. Parenting, living from an overflow of Christ, an exposition of Psalm 23 - those were some of the topics. Our young adults teacher is a young Brazilian man, who after sharing about his class shared about the sports camp that he and another man led on Saturday. With little notice, they taught the kids in the neighborhood soccer and football. A kid from the neighborhood came to Christ.

The worship was amazing. I looked around the church and saw hands and hearts lifted to the Lord. People sang passionately. Our praise team is full of young people that use their talents for the Lord. Our church never lacks for singers and musicians. As I looked across the sanctuary my heart warmed to see people in love with their Lord instead of just going through the motions.

Our youth had just returned from a mission trip in Houston, Texas where they ministered to homeless people for a week. Our youth minister got choked up as he talked about the selfless attitudes of the youth, their heart for service, and their love for people. Three youth and a parent shared about how God had met them and what a life changing experience it was. They are all saying that they want to continue doing compassion ministry here and we are talking about revamping our youth group to center it around ministering to those in need. They are leading our church in this.

We took Communion yesterday. I spoke briefly about how in Christ, we are to regard no one from a worldly point of view - we are not to look on outward appearances. All that are in Christ are new creations. At our church, we all come forward to take Communion. I said that is significant because it reminds us that we all approach the Lord's Table the same way. In humility and repentance, we all arise and partake of the elements that remind us that Christ's blood was shed and His body was broken to take away our sins and to give us new life. As our church arose to come to the Lord's Table, I looked at the lines of people - people that I GET to serve as pastor. I knew their hurts, their pain, their triumphs, and their victories. I was shaken as I viewed the Body of Christ. Our church is beginning to become more multicultural and in the lines for Communion were whites, blacks, hispanics, and Asians - all approaching the Lord's Table together. It was beautiful.

At the end of the service, we introduced three girls - two teenagers and a younger girl who had come to know the Lord. The younger girl came to Christ this week in a Back Yard Bible Club that some of our folks were doing in a neighborhood. She was the daughter of the one of the guys that led the sports camp on Saturday where the kid from the neighborhood came to Christ. His teenage daughter also became a Christian as well as her friend that had been staying with them this summer. After the service, our deacons told a man in our church whose wife is in a wheel chair that people, on their own, gave money to help them get a van that they needed to be able to get around. I heard about it after it was done. God is at work in a powerful way and I praise Him.

Last night, our LIFE Group came over to the house. Including children, we had over 30 people come over. We grilled out, talked, laughed, and had a great time. It was a huge party. About once every three months we have a big meal together and just hang out. Our group is made up of young families that are learning how to raise their kids and walk with the Lord. What is cool is that we are doing this together.

This was supposed to be a pretty ordinary weekend. To a lot of people, I guess it was. But, when the Body of Christ came together, God showed up and changed everything. I praise God that I get to serve a church that looks expectantly to the Lord to work in our lives. How beautiful is the Body of Christ!

Comments

[wesmith]

Alan,

Praise the Lord for the Love that is being displayed by the Holy Spirit in Your Church. Yes How Beautiful is the Love of God thought Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. May God continue to Bless Your Church!!!

Wayne Smith

[Thomas Hill]

Alan,
Sorry for lurking for so long, but this post is worth a comment. Your appreciation for the church as the body of Christ is infectious. Thanks for sharing a glimpse of what is going on within Gateway. The tempation to be dissatisfied and critical of the church is everywhere today. The church needs more pastors joining with you to declare, "I am part of an amazing church!". May our Lord give us all eyes to see and hearts to appreciate the work his is doing around us. Blessings my brother. . . keep up the writing. . .

Thomas Hill