Dearest Place on Earth

Church

Church might get a bad rap in our culture. It might not provide the same feelings as 4 days at camp. And it might be challenging at times to make being a part of a church a priority in your life.

Still, as the preacher Charles Spurgeon once said, it is “the dearest place on earth.”

The church was and is God’s design for how believers, as individuals, grow in their relationship with God and with one another.

We can’t live on the mountaintop of spiritual highs. We need God to meet us in the valleys of the ordinary. This is where He does his biggest work.

Ephesians 2:11–22 CSB

11 So, then, remember that at one time you were Gentiles in the flesh—called “the uncircumcised” by those called “the circumcised,” which is done in the flesh by human hands. 12 At that time you were without Christ, excluded from the citizenship of Israel, and foreigners to the covenants of promise, without hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus, you who were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For he is our peace, who made both groups one and tore down the dividing wall of hostility. In his flesh, 15 he made of no effect the law consisting of commands and expressed in regulations, so that he might create in himself one new man from the two, resulting in peace. 16 He did this so that he might reconcile both to God in one body through the cross by which he put the hostility to death. 17 He came and proclaimed the good news of peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. 18 For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. 19 So, then, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with the saints, and members of God’s household, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. 21 In him the whole building, being put together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 22 In him you are also being built together for God’s dwelling in the Spirit.

I know some things about that passage might not make sense right off the bat, but let’s pull out some important words and phrases that might help.

Vs 12 “you were without Christ, excluded from the citizenship of Israel...” What does that mean?

It means that those Paul is writing to were at one time not invited to be a part of God’s family. They were “excluded” because they were “without Christ”.

Vs 13 “But now in Christ Jesus, you… have been brought near by His blood...” What does this mean?

Faith in Jesus moves us from being excluded to being included, hopeless to hopeful.

This whole idea is building on what Paul wrote in the first part of chapter 2, where he talks about who we are before we become Christians and then, because of God’s mercy towards us in Christ, we are no longer dead in our sin, but ALIVE in Christ.

The first part of Ephesians 2 is all about how the gospel is good news for us individually, while these verse talk about how the Gospel good news for us together.

Paul is working hard to show how the following Jesus draws us into community in the church.

We love focusing on the first 10 verses (and they are super important and incredibly encouraging), but Jesus doesn’t save us to be isolated individuals.

He saves us and invites us into community with others who are also seeking to worship Him and follow His ways

In verse 15 he writes that Christ’s purpose “was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two.”

In verses 19 and 22 again he says the Ephesians are “fellow citizens with God’s people” and “members of his household” and that each individual is “being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.”

Being a part of a church is not optional for a Christian, it is vital.

Your salvation is primarily about being brought into the family of God.

Oftentimes the church is thought of as just another social club created by humans for other humans.

But this clearly isn’t Paul’s understanding of the church.

The church is God’s family according to him. Eph 2 18-19

Ephesians 2:18–19 CSB

18 For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. 19 So, then, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with the saints, and members of God’s household,

We have been talking the last few weeks about post camp highs and how to keep the fire burning.

Honestly, the only way to keep a fire lit is to keep feeding the flames.

And God has designed this, what we do on Wednesday nights and Sunday mornings, to be one of the primary ways we keep the fire lit in our hearts for Him.

He designed us for community and we desperately need one another.

Listen to this, not as another rant about cell phone use, but as tangible reasons why we need to be involved in Christian community.

Jean Twenge, professor of psychology at San Diego State University, has noted that this new generation of kids (iGen) are the physically safest generation to ever walk the face of the earth. They party less, engage in underage drinking less, use less drugs, and have less sex—and yet suicide rates and depression are higher than ever before.

She writes, “Interacting with people face to face is one of the deepest wellsprings of human happiness; without it, our moods start to suffer and depression often follows. Feeling socially isolated is also one of the major risk factors for suicide. We found that teens who spent more time than average online and less time than average with friends in person were the most likely to be depressed. Since 2012, that’s what has occurred en masse: Teens have spent less time on activities known to benefit mental health (in-person social interaction) and more time on activities that may harm it (time online),” (Jean Twenge, “Teenage Depression and Suicide Are Way Up—and So Is Smartphone Use,” Washington Post, November 19, 2017

Last word:

Hebrews 10:23–25 CSB

23 Let us hold on to the confession of our hope without wavering, since he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider one another in order to provoke love and good works, 25 not neglecting to gather together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging each other, and all the more as you see the day approaching.

As school starts in the next couple weeks, make a commitment to be here on Wednesday nights and Sunday mornings.

Be here even if you have a load of homework or are tired.

Be here even if you don’t like the lesson or think my games are lame.

Be here because you acknowledge that you need people like the ones here to encourage you in your faith.

And invite others to come with you.