In my lifetime I have been part of many different churches. I was raised in a small church plant in Wyoming where I watched my parents fill multiple roles. We moved to Houston and began attending an urban mega-church. I went off to college and was wrapped in a wonderful college ministry. After marrying a missions major I learned what it means to serve along side my husband in youth ministry. Shortly after welcoming our first child into the world we followed God’s calling to the inner city and began raising our son in a small multi-cultural church.
And now we are in Peru…serving, worshiping, and loving beside our Peruvian brothers and sisters. Because this is church. They are the church. WE are the church.
Throughout the New Testament we read about the body of Christ:
“So in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.”
“For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.”
“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.”
All of my experiences have been as a part of the body. Though the members look different and my roles continue to change, the body remains the same. Christ is the head over all and calls us to worship the God of all creation and fellowship with our brothers and sisters.
A few weeks ago we were able to share a meal at Manuela’s house one Sunday during our worship time. How wonderful it is to fellowship and share a meal while communing with our Father. Worship looked different that Sunday…different from a small town in Wyoming…different from the inner city…yet the aroma to God was just as sweet.