Living Out Church, Out of Church.

This photo might just look like a cute photo of a man and two children (my man and my kids) holiding colorful umbrellas and walking in the rain. Maybe some artistic value in itself, right? Well, besides being a kind of cool photo, this one means so much more to me. You see, this photo was taken on a Sunday morning when we would typically be at church. No, we weren't skipping that day, though it was a rainy cold day and it would have felt very good to stay snuggled under the down comforter. No, you see, we ARE doing church. In the real sense. No, we weren't in the church building. No, we weren't dressed up or sitting in pews or holding a hynmal, things that people commonly associate with church. But, we are doing church in a very real way. We are living out God's message to reach others for Him. And that, truly, is the church. The church is people loving other people because they love Christ. So, on this day, our church decided to leave the building. Go into our community. And reach out. Several groups decided to different things--serve a meal at a shelter, bring baskets to the hospitalized, serve at an inner-city church--just a lot of really cool and meaningful things. Our group met and made little packets of home-made hot cocoa to leave on people's porches--complete with a little card about our church and a "Hope This Warms Your Heart and Soul" message. Very neat. And we prayed for the people that we brough the packets to, that they would see Jesus through us. Obviously, with the rain and cold, the delivery could have been dampened, but you should have seen how excited my daughter was to bring these packets to our neighbors' homes....she was on fire for God! And, my son, well anytime that he gets to carry a "be-bella" and be out in the rain is a good day for him! I love this concept of leaving the building. After all, church is not about four walls. It is not about nice clothes or pomp and circumstance or Sunday mornings, for that matter. It is about living out Christ for others to see, so that they might know Him better. It is about how we live our everday. And that is a great reminder that I really needed on this rainy, gloomy, chilly Sunday morning.