Last night, I went to Church.
There wasn't an amazing, world-renowned pastor speaking. There wasn't a great band with a guy in skinny jeans leading everyone in Hillsong United covers. As a matter of fact, it wasn't even at church. We just had church.
I was in a room surrounded by 14 other brothers and sisters, two babies and one dog. Eleven of the folks were from Adelaide. Three of us were from America. One of the folks is moving to Melbourne shortly. One of us Americans just arrived after traveling 10,000 miles today to join us. The ends of the earth were in one room about to go out to the ends of the earth once again.
There was food. Each person brought one of their favorite dishes to share, so we had a meal.
There was prayer, as we praised what God was doing in our lives and went to Him asking for relief in other areas.
There was worship through reading of scripture, reflecting on it and praying for its application in our lives.
It was Church.
It was a group of brothers and sisters who love and care for one another coming together to share a meal and share life together. It was a group of men and women from all different backgrounds coming together in Unity for the love of Christ in the living room of someone's house. Some of us were being sent out from that place to go to new cities and new countries, and one of us was coming to that place for the first time. It didn't matter though; we were all brothers and sisters sharing, encouraging, laughing and genuinely loving one another, and it was beautiful, just like the Bride of Christ is supposed to be. It's a memory I will cherish forever.
-Cliff
Cliff's Note: Go to Church (not just the building).