Church?

"You can tell how popular the church is by who is there on Sunday morning. You can tell how popular the pastor or evangelist is by who is there on Sunday night. But you can tell how popular Jesus is by who is at the prayer meeting." -Fresh Wind Fresh Fire

That statement holds so much truth it isn't even funny! When we get wrapped up in the image of the church and neglect Christ Himself we're in some deep trouble. Church without fear of God is just an empty building. Sure there are people there, but nothing is being accomplished, there's no praise, no worship, no forward movement.

If we attend church regularly but neglect God on our own then we really have yet to go anywhere in a relationship with Him. He can't bless us if we're not calling on Him for everything. He can't work on our behalf if we're not acknowledging His power and presence.

If we really want to have church we've got to look past the image and straight to the Source of power and Creator of the church. He is the one we should be waking up for on Sunday mornings (and every other morning for that matter). He is the one that should make us sing, even if the song has been done 10 times or we don't really like it. He is the one we should be learning from when it's 12:01 pm and the preacher seems like he still has 3 more points to get through. If we fail to see Him in light of it all then maybe we've not had church at all.