What Should the Church Look Like?

Acts 2:42-47

I stumbled upon a wonderful church this summer. The people there have been so welcoming to this strange, white, missionary lady who struggles to talk with them. They greet me each week with “Dios le bendiga” (God bless you), hugs, the traditional Mexican kiss on the cheek and smiles. They are always happy to help and they make the effort to include me. They have prayed with me and for me. The personal care they have shown me and others is teaching me a lot about how The Church is supposed to be.

Each week, at the beginning of the service, our children’s director calls all the children up to the front for prayer. They all kneel down at the altar (which is really sweet to watch) and the children’s workers come up and stand behind them. At that point, several people from the congregation also come up, lay hands on the little ones and someone leads in prayer. Deut. 11:19 says, “Teach them (the ways of the Lord) to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.” What a beautiful foundation to lay in the lives of the children.

Following the children’s prayer time, anyone celebrating a birthday during the week is asked to come forward. We then sing a Spanish birthday song and EVERYONE in the church lines up to greet the one celebrating and then we pray for them. They also do this special, line-up greeting when there is a baby dedication, anniversary or other note-worthy event in someone’s life. The Bible tells us that when one part of the body of Christ is rejoicing, we should rejoice with them. (1 Cor. 12:26)

This past Sunday was especially touching. Once a month, the church stays after the morning service until 6:00pm. They have a time of prayer, worship, and fasting together. The idea is wonderful and I genuinely like the people in my church and wanted to join in with them, but this event was more difficult for me to accept. The morning service is usually 2 to 2 1/2 hours long and after that, my mind is tired from trying to understand Spanish and I’m hungry; so even though it is a good thing, at first, it was not something I was particularly excited about doing. I had to pray about this one. However, I felt like it was important to go and as the day drew nearer, God changed my heart and I was beginning to feel excited about it.

After the morning service ended and it was time to begin the afternoon session, we went inside and started by having a lesson on Daniel and Jeremiah. My pastor’s wife taught the session, putting an emphasis on prayer, repentance and intercession for the lost. Following the teaching time, we spent time praying at the altar, responding as the Holy Spirit led. God’s presence was felt in a gentle, yet powerful way.

Later in the afternoon, we had a refreshing time of worship. We sang many songs that I did not know, but I could still sense the joy these beautiful people were bringing to God. They raised their hands in worship and sang with all their hearts. Their clapping was almost on beat and while they sang with gusto, though a bit off-key; they were truly worshipping God. The outside world began to slip away as we focused on God and giving Him the praise He deserves.

As it was time to leave, I could not help but think how blessed I am to have found this church. God knew I needed to learn from them and see “church” in a different light. I have so much more to learn; but for now, I am thankful knowing that God has me in a solid group of believers who want His will to happen in their lives and to see His kingdom purpose come to be in this world.

Now that’s what the Church should look like!