11.7-Church is not a building but a people. We don't "go to church" we are the church.
11.7-
42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
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This community was centered on the
Oak Ridge church of Christ and the Oak Ridge cemetery was right across the road
from the building. The constant atmosphere was one of family is there to
care for each other. The fathers challenge and push for strong
advancement through thick and thin. The mothers nurture and serve as a
buffer for the children. That was my memory and experience. Our
family gathered with both sets of my grandparents and all of my aunts and
uncles and cousins once a week to sing, hear the teaching of the Bible and
observe the Lord’s Supper.
My dad would sing "Further
along we'll know all about it' to the beat of "swing low sweet
chariot."
We had classes for the young
children and the teenagers and the women and the men had their own Bible class
before our worship time. This set the moral direction for all of our
lives. The people there were not perfect and didn’t pretend to be.
There were all kinds of human failure issues that this church had coped with
from those big issues then and now. I see them as applying mercy to those
who had fallen down to help them get up and try again.
Matthew 16.
18 And I tell you that you are Peter,[b] and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades[c] will not overcome it.
I believe there is one church and all of God's children are in this one church. Here is what Jesus can cause to happen in a church that is good.
Acts 2.
42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
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