Over last weekend, my wife, two daughters and I were privileged to join in the celebration by Community Bible Church of Huntington Beach of the 100th anniversary of their building being used as a church. There have been several congregations in those 100 years (and even several using it now), but it has always been a church. Several things stood out to me as we ate and hugged and ate and worshipped and ate and reminisced and ate… you get the picture. Let me share one of those lessons: God is faithful to His purpose and plan over time.
We always assume that this means things will work out the way we planned. I would suspect that not one of the several congregations who have used the building on 6th and Orange (or any church for that matter) began to use it with the idea that they would someday cease to exist. We all start our projects with the unspoken expectation that they will continue pretty much as they are now. And they will continue in their current form forever.
Christ promised to build His church. He didn’t promise that every local congregation would survive the follies of Christ’s followers. He didn’t promise that every local congregation would survive the changing of a neighborhood or the condemning of a building. He didn’t promise that every local congregation would survive it’s own “successes.” What He did promise is that His church will survive. And that is worth celebrating.
1 comment:
In my book, "I Know Where I'm Going, I'm Just Not Sure How to Get There" I write about all the closed churches I saw on our cross-country trip in 2003. The churches had become art galleries and boutiques. Your response is another reminder that God isn't finished building His church. I hadn't thought about the places in the world where the art galleries and boutiques were becoming churches. Thank you for the reminder and for being part of us.
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