PRAISE & PRAYER PROMPT ••• Yesterday’s headline news was the fire at Notre Dame.
The history nerd in me is beyond sad about it.
I visited the Notre Dame when I was 18 and it was among my most memorable experiences in Europe.
The cathedral’s magnificence and grandeur are so much more impressive in person.
Already rebuilding efforts are being planned and several prominent businessmen have pledged over $300 million for reconstruction.
As horrifying as it was to watch this stunning and historical piece of architecture and beloved landmark burn, it reminded me of a couple of things.
First, the church is not a building.
It’s the people.
Jesus said, “And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overpower it” (Matthew 16:18).
Second, as grand as that building is, it’s nothing to the grandeur we can expect to see in the new heaven and new earth (Revelation 21).
But let’s spend some time on the first point.
Doesn’t it break your heart a little that throughout the world, we’re more worried about a building than we are the church—the body of believers?
We are more consumed with rebuilding a building and ensuring the strength and stability of its walls and foundation than we are ensuring the collective strength and stability of the people who make up the church.
This is a wake-up call, Friends.
It’s not about the building, it’s about us.
We are the church.
We should be collectively contributing to what it really means to be the church and our call to fulfill the Great Commission that points others to Jesus.
Buildings can easily be destroyed, as we saw yesterday.
Nothing manmade will last forever.
But what we do as the body of Christ has eternal significance.
Today, as you pray, thank God that the church isn’t a building.
Thank Him that we ARE the church.
Ask the Holy Spirit to empower you to do your part.
Remember the truth of Ephesians 2:20-22, “built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. In him the whole building, being put together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you are also being built together for God’s dwelling in the Spirit.”
