“There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and in all…Submit, therefore, to one another out of reverence for Christ” (Ephesians 4:4-6, 5:21).

Did you see that?

• One body
• One Spirit
• One hope
• One Lord
• One faith
• One baptism
• One God

Gee, I wonder what Paul was trying to say?

If Jesus is Lord, you belong to his church because the church is the body of Christ. You cannot be committed to Jesus without being committed to his body. That’s impossible. Yet many, sadly, try. It is impossible to follow Christ apart from being committed to the church.

The reason why commitment is so important is because commitment is the glue that holds you to faith when things get yucky relationally. If you stay in the church long enough, because the church is made up of repeat sinners like you and me, we are bound to offend one another.

When offense occurs, the first response is flight. Get the heck out of dodge. Yuck! I don’t want to deal with this yucky person in this yucky situation.

If you do that you are missing out. You will never grow and mature in the faith. You will never grow and mature in your relationship. What you don’t realize is that growth and maturity for you and your relationship lies just on the other side of yucky situations. It’s only by working through the yucky situations that you grow in maturity and relational intimacy.

If you run, you will stunt your growth and maturity. And, if you run, you will find yourself running again and again. Because if you stick around repeat sinners long enough, yucky situations are bound to come.

So, what is the solution? Paul tells us: “Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.” Stay in it. Stay committed. Work it out. Submit to Christ. Submit to one another. Grow up! Mature! So, commit to the Lord’s body, the church of Jesus Christ. Show up. Keep showing up and work it out. That’s how God works.

“And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not overcome it” (Matthew 16:18).

(Picture of Caesarea Phillipi where Jesus asked his disciples, “Who do you say I am?” to which Peter responded, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” This is the location where Jesus spoke today’s verse of the day)

The only thing that Jesus explicitly declared that he is in the business of building is the church. Let that sink in.

The Little Church sure has had its share of facility issues! Goodness, the aging building itself is telling us we’ve got to do something to address the major facilities issues. Because of the facilities issues we’ve all learned to be flexible.

• Prairie Hall is no longer available for fellowship hour.
• The Elgin Room is no longer available because we’ve had to move the PreSchool into it.
• The choir has had to move into the sanctuary
• The Revelation Bible Study has had to move into the conference room
• Prayer with the Pastor and the Acts Bible Study group has been bouncing around from room to room based on space availability

All this shifting things around got me thinking: what would happen if the entire facility was no longer available? What would happen to the ministry of Jesus Christ through the Little Church if the facility were to close? Would that mean that God was done working through the Little Church? If the building closed would the Little Church cease being God’s church?

OF COURSE NOT!!!

The church is not the building. The mission of the Little Church to Make Disciples and Grow Disciples who share the Love of Christ with all people doesn’t change. The only thing that would changed is the context, but the mission remains the same.

I love that about you – your ability to keep the main thing the main thing. Sure it’s inconvenient to be shifting and pivoting all the time. Sure having coffee in the library is not the same as having fellowship hour in Prairie Hall. We will keep keeping the main thing the main thing.

It’s all about the ministry of Jesus Christ to reach lost people. And the Little Church is all about that business regardless of what is happening with the building, the presbytery, PCUSA, or anything else.

God is at work through the Little Church and Lakewood Grace. Nothing changes that.

Pastor John Ortberg wrote:

He had Abraham take a walk, Elijah take a nap, Joshua take a lap, and Adam take the rap.
He gave Moses a forty-year time out, he gave David a harp and a dance, and he gave Paul a pen and a scroll.
He wrestled with Jacob, argued with Job, whispered to Elijah, warned Cain, and comforted Hagar.
He gave Aaron an altar, Miriam a song, Gideon a fleece, Peter a name, and Elisha a mantle.
Jesus was stern with the rich young ruler, tender with the woman caught in adultery, patient with the disciples, blistering with the scribes, gentle with the children, and gracious with the thief on the cross.

God never grows two people the same way.

Whatever God uses to grow you, growing occurs as God chips away what is present now so that God can shape you into who and what God wants you to be. What are some things God’s chipping away in your life? Where are some areas where God is adding into your life.

What is God doing in your life to grow you?