Post Four--"Is it Worth It?"

The Church: Creating Unity

When I was in Colorado in May we went to a small mountain church with a female pastor who reminded me of a yoga-granola-mountain-chick. And then I remembered I was in the mountains and it makes sense for her to be a yoga-granola-mountain-chick. It was simple, the church small but mighty.

It was very laid back. Announcement time came and people were allowed to stand up and say anything from the church potluck to a senior’s graduation party that afternoon. We found ourselves standing up and sitting down quite often. There were a total of nine songs throughout the service. The children’s chat had a handful of kids and was simple yet meaningful.

The most awkward, but coolest thing happened at the end. As they sang song #9, the mountain pastor chick called us to hold hands together.

As a church.

As one.

In unity.

As a reminder of what we are called to be to each other and to the world.

Her benediction called us to “be one in the Spirit.” We sang this song about unity and ended in praise to the Creator. It was totally cool.

Is unity worth it? Is the church, in all of it’s imperfect mess, able to accept grace and create peace in unity as one? In order to serve the greater picture...to reach others for Christ, we must seek unity among followers.

Many say they don’t need the church to be a Christian. They don’t need to be in community to worship God. The church is messy and they just want to stay out.

It’s in community that we are able to grow, able to exercise things like compassion, patience, grace, love, and...unity.

It’s in a community of believers that we strengthen our faith, seek answers to our questions, and be able to encourage others to grow in Him.

It’s in a community...a church...where so many wounded people can feel the healing grace of God.

It's together, in a community that allows us to reach out and share hope with the hopeless.

How will you embrace the church today?

How can you be a conduit through which unity can be created?

Is it worth it to you?

Can we get "outside our own little world" and do life together so we can build His Kingdom?

Here's a new song from Matthew West. Click on it and it will take you to the YouTube site to see it. It's worth it to take a few minutes to listen.