Some have concluded that the church does not matter anymore in the Christian’s life. Let us pause and think about this. The church is the body of Christ of which we have become a baptized body member. It is the family of God into which we are adopted. It is the fellowship of saints that has made us partners in mission. It is the assembly of believers gathered to celebrate the Messiahship of Jesus to worship in word and sacrament. It is the bride of Christ being purified for the Groom. It is the remnant that God is saving from the earth. It is the new humanity demonstrating real human ways of being in the world. It is the New Israel that is gathering Jew and Gentile into a new covenant people. Before you discard the church as unnecessary, think on these things
“The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body–whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free–and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.” 1 Corinthians 12:12-13 (NIV
