Church: We Belong to God.
Bible Readings
Take a few minutes to read the Bible verses listed and ask the Holy Spirit to lead you in how this verse applies to you this week.
Ephesians 2:19-22, Acts 2:43-47
19 You Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens with everyone else who belongs to the family of God. 20 You are like a building with the apostles and prophets as the foundation and with Christ as the most important stone. 21 Christ is the one who holds the building together and makes it grow into a holy temple for the Lord. 22 And you are part of that building Christ has built as a place for God's own Spirit to live.
Ephesians 2:19-22
43 Everyone was amazed by the many miracles and wonders that the apostles worked. 44 All the Lord's followers often met together, and they shared everything they had. 45 They would sell their property and possessions and give the money to whoever was in need. 46 Day after day they met together in the temple. They broke bread together in different homes and shared their food happily and freely, 47 while praising God. Everyone liked them, and each day the Lord added to their group others who were being saved.
Acts 2:43-47
Memory Verse
Ephesians 2:22
22 And you are part of that building Christ has built as a place for God's own Spirit to live.
What are your favorite pizza toppings? What would not taste good on pizza?
Garry's family always had two discussions on pizza and movie nights. The first was about what toppings to get on the pizza; some wanted mushrooms on their pizza, and some did not. Others wanted pineapple on their pizza, and some did not. They let Mom pick the toppings this week since they went with what Garry wanted last time. The next was about what movie to watch: action flick, comedy, or princess movie? Dad and Mom decided to introduce Garry to one of their old favorite movies. Even though it might not have been his choice for toppings or movies, Garry was happy to have a family night together.
Church time can feel a lot like pizza and movie night. Everyone is excited to be together and worship God, but there are different ideas about how that looks. Tall people, short people, younger people, older people, pineapple-on-pizza people, and no pineapple-on-pizza people all make up the church. God brought all of us together so that we could be thankful for Jesus dying on the cross for our sins and to help each other live like him. Just like Garry knew he belonged to his family even though he liked different pizza toppings, the church reminds us that we belong to God as part of his family.
As you sit in church this week, look around and say thank you to God for the different people he has used to teach you about him.
Prayer
Dear God, thank you for the church. Thank you for the pastors, Sunday School teachers, family, and friends you have given me to help me learn more about you. AmenRelated Resources
Philip Vander Windt
Philip VanderWindt is the pastor at Champlain Valley Christian Reformed Church. In his free time he enjoys building “tall-tall towers” with his kids, analyzing worldviews of films and music with his wife, photographing the beauty of God’s creation, dabbling in leathercraft and woodwork, and writing.