Why does our church exist?

Have you heard the saying "They couldn't see the forest for the trees". We can get so focused on what is directly in front of us that we lose track of the big picture. Getting focused on the trees for a moment is ok, but if we just live life from tree to tree the over time we will find ourselves lost. 

"Going to church" can become one of those trees. We show up from Sunday to Sunday and before we know it, we find ourselves going simply because that's what we've always done. "Going to church" and drawing closer to Jesus through a Christian community are not one in the same. Now, don't get me wrong, there is something holy in the routine that should not be dismissed, but when a ritual intended to draw us closer to Jesus turns into a routine that has lost meaning we are likely growing more and more lost. 

None of us show up to church to get lost. We go to church to draw closer to Jesus. In fact, when we stop to think about it, the phrase "go to church" is broken because we remember that church isn't somewhere we go, it's who we are. Saying, "I'm gonna go to church this Sunday" is like saying "I'm gonna go to family this Thanksgiving". Church is not a place, but a community and we routinely live our lives close to this community because we know we will meet Jesus here. 

So, are you meeting Jesus here? I don't ask that as a challenge, but as a genuine question. When was the last time you stepped out of the routine to ask "am I close to Jesus right now?" Our goal as Christians is to draw closer to Jesus but as author Antoine de Saint-Exupéry said, “A goal without a plan is just a wish.” Are we just showing up and wishing we would get closer to Jesus, or are we being intentional about our gathering and our Christian Journey to do our part to draw close?

Over the next four weeks, we will be pausing to ask that hard question and talk about how we as a community are intentionally and strategically drawing closer to Jesus. We'll talk about who we are, what we're called to do, and how we plan to do it. If you fully engage in it, then you'll be positioned well to enter into the rituals of Advent with a fresh clarity of why we exist as a church, what God has for us to do, and how you can participate in doing it.

And all of this, I pray, will leave you feeling more in love with Jesus than ever before.