Looks Ordinary, But Is Extraordinary

I love my local church, but it’s not remarkable to the outside eye.

We meet in a slightly dysfunctional building that, whilst a gift, has an ancient water system and struggles to house the ever increasing number of children involved. There are no grand signs announcing our presence, and it's a steady trickle on a Sunday morning, rather than a thronging crowd. 

 It is unimpressive.  And yet these people - this church - are part of the household of God. We, along with every other believer in existence, are being built together into a ‘dwelling place’ for God himself. And it's this ‘dwelling place’, of which Christ himself is the cornerstone. 

 Why does knowing this really matter?

 It matters because if and when church feels hard, knowing this truth shapes what I see.  As I walk in on Sunday - perhaps after a fractious morning, or after a tiring week, this truth is what refreshes me.  It enables me to marvel at God's plan being worked out on my doorstep.  And it helps me to turn up rejoicing at what I see.  

People showing up week by week.  Differences in age, stage, ethnicity and background fading into the background.  Church family moving toward one another in love.  God powerfully working out his plan in this seemingly unlikely gathering. 

Unremarked upon by the outside world.   But in the Lord's eyes, it's a reason for raucous celebration in the kingdom of God.