The Church is a Fellowship or Communion of Saints.

Today my family experienced the communion of the saints. Not that it is a rare thing, but today we certainly experienced a wonderful outpouring of it.  I am not going to go into details but suffice it to say that God has used people and given them gifts which are being used for the up-building of others and to His glory.

So, while I read some theology, and I reflect on the simplicity of the church, I can’t help but ask. Do you know what the church really is?  Do you have an appreciation for the church?  I am truly humbled by the fellowship of believers, the communion of the saints, the body of Christ – the Church.  What about you? Here is a quote from Herman Bavinck’s, Reformed Dogmatics:

In the word “church” the meaning of the New Testament word ekklasia has been obscured.  In certain periods the sense that “church” is the name for “the people of God” has almost totally eroded. . . . This is also the reason why ekklesia is often translated in the Dutch (and German) language by gemeente(Gemeinde) instead of kerk (Kirche).  As with the English word “community,” this communicates more effectively the church as a fellowship of believers, a communion of saints….The members of Jesus’s church are mutually brothers and sisters (Matt. 12:48; 18:15; 23:8; 25:40; 28:10; John 15:14-15; 20:17; Rom. 8:29; Heb. 2:11; and so forth).  They are children of one family.  God is their Father (Eph. 4:6).  Christ is their eldest brother (Rom. 8:29).  The Jerusalem that is above is their mother (Gal. 4:26).  And in that light they must serve each other with all their spiritual and natural gifts.  The church is a fellowship or communion of saints.

Do we really understand what church is?  In this day and age I find it sad that the Church is simply seen as a building where individuals might go on Sunday.  Even by many Christians. It is not the building we go to on Sunday.  It is not the denomination we belong to, or simply a set of beliefs we share in common with a few friends.  The Church is the community of believers, we are a family, we are a body, we are brothers and sisters who are here to worship the one true God and to build each other up using our spiritual gifts.  It is truly a beautiful thing to behold, this “community” of the Church. I have witnessed it.  I have tasted of, and I have participated in, the communion of the saints and it is a beautiful thing.

What about you?

1 Corinthians 12:27 Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.

So get involved and be a part of the communion of the saints.