Let's pray that God brings us back to the basics of what Church is. Church is not a professional sport, where only professionals can play. No, church is simple, where ordinary people can do extraordinary things for God. For the first 324 years of church there were no church buildings, no professionals, no programs. The first 300 years of the New Testament Church was a holy movement of house churches, now today in many places, it has become a holy monument, a corporation of sorts.

We need to realize that church is not a building, a personality or a program. Church is a spiritual family. It is where any amount of believers gather together and are committed together to obey the commands of Jesus. Don't get me wrong, Sunday church is church, we should go to it, honor it, support it, and be committed to a local church gathering. Whether that meets in a mega church building, meets in a traditional church building, meets in a home, or meets in a park, the point is that it's not about the meeting place, but it is about the people meeting in that place.

Every church needs clear Biblical leadership. Every church when matured must have elders, deacons, and those who oversee the flock (1 Tim 3, Titus). But the key is this, church is a place where all can participate (1 Cor 14:26) and all can be part of the experience. It's about sharing life, not an hour long meeting.

The presence of God is with us. The kingdom of God is everywhere. Wherever we go we bring the presence of God with us. Where ever we go we bring the kingdom of God in power. There, as disciples are being made we can begin to gather these disciples into new churches where they give themselves to prayer, study of Scripture, fellowship and breaking of bread (Acts 2:42-47) Every new believer must have these four keys growing in their life to mature in Christ.

1. Continual Prayer

2. To Love the Word of God

3. Fellowship with other Believers

4. Evangelism as a lifestyle

I will expand more on these topics in coming days. Whether you go to a big church or small church, you need to be in a church and have a passion to make disciples that will start new churches. In many parts of the world, where persecution is a reality, underground house church movements or small gatherings of believers is the norm. These churches may only be 10-20 members each, but they are true churches, networked with other house churches to release a spontaneous expansion of the Church to all nations. We need to recognize that there are many different wineskins of church and we must learn from one another in order to strengthen the Body of Christ worldwide.

Whatever church you go to, remember, it's not about going to church it's about being the church. When we have this mentality we can begin to be like Jesus and bring the kingdom of God to every place we go and shine as lights in the darkness.