More than a building

I love looking at new ball parks.

If I could have an ideal vacation I would buy a whole bunch of tickets and go around the country watching ball games and just walking around the stadiums.

I am so amazed by them.

The design, the thought put into the construction of them and how there are no two the exact same.

They all have their own characteristics too.

The Green Monster at Fenway.

The ivy at Wrigley.

The swimming pool at Arizona.

The indoor/outdoor abilities of Milwaukee.

I love it.

Yet when it comes down to it.

They are just a building.

The Tigers moved into the new stadium and get this…

The didn't improve.

In fact they had a couple of the worst years in Tigers baseball history.

Their ballpark was like walking through a museum.

Yet even with a beautiful new ball park, they couldn't win.

A building doesn't make you better or worse, it's just a building.

Some of the disciples were in awe of the Temple.

It was impressive.

People considered it the archeological wonder of the ancient world.

It had stones some 37 feet long, 12 feet high and 18 feet wide.

It was amazing.

They were in awe and told Jesus this.

This was Jesus reply in Mark 13:2…

"Do you see all these great buildings?"" replied Jesus. "Not one stone here will be left on another; everyone will be thrown down."

No matter how great the building, it will eventually be destroyed.

While Jesus was talking about how the Temple would fall after he would have his earthly death, the same could be said about our buildings.

The 2004 Olympics in Athens were great, but they didn't have any plans with the buildings. A lot of them are covered or were covered in graffiti and abandoned.

They didn't have a purpose past 2004.

Churches buildings can be the same way.

The reason I put buildings in here is because the Church is never a building.

A Church is people.

People make of up a Church, not the gym, sanctuary, pews or state of the art technology.

You could have all the top of the line equipment in a band, but if you don't have people that can play an instrument, it's useless.

It would be like me in front of a $10,000 set of drums, it would look cool but the sound would suck.

It's like Toby Mac with a microphone. Ok, cheap shot, Toby Mac was a part one of the greatest Christian groups of all time in DC Talk and that was cool.

The Church is people.

The building can come and go, but it's the people.

Our Church found this out pretty quickly when a couple of years ago it was taken out by a tornado.

A Church is about the people.

Coming together, showing love, grace and compassion towards each other.

Helping each other and the community out with the needs it has.

This is the Church.

It's not defined by a location or a Church sign, but a desire to love Christ and love others.

We need to equip people, encourage and help train them to take them to the next level of faith.

I am excited about the direction of our group of believers and the direction it's going.

No matter what though, it's the people not the building.

The beautiful is unlike a building the Church will never get full, it always has the ability to add people with new gifts and abilities.

It's awesome to see a Church run at full ability.

What do you need to do to help the Church today?

Maybe you need to make that commitment to Christ.

There is always a spot for you in the Church.

If you are wondering if you are in the right spot or the right Church pray to God about it.

God has a design plan for each of us beyond our own understanding.

What do you think?

How can you show the Church is more than a building today?