Temples

Oh my goodness!

Today a family entered the church just as I was leaving in the early afternoon.  It was a father, his son, and two daughters.  The father greeted me with a smile before he walked into the church office, and his kids gazed around the hall, taking in this new place.  The secretary was on the phone, so I approached and asked if he was looking for someone.  He said in a thick accent, somewhere from Europe:

"Yes. My son, by the grace of God, wants to play basketball. Praise God." He smiled kindly the whole time. "Someone told me that they have basketball program here.  Where can I find information?" 

His son smiled at me, and the other children observed me, too.  I let him know there was indeed a basketball program, and took him and the kids to Pastor Larry's office.  Pastor Larry greeted and invited the small herd into his office.  I peaked in and remained by the door before returning downstairs.

"yes, nice to meet you!  Thank God, my son wants to play basketball...."

Encountering this family left my heart light and a smile plastered to my face. Would you believe, tears even came to my eyes! (I am emotional..)

The man I encountered was simply full of God's grace. I don't know ANYTHING about him really.  But I just met him for a couple moments, and I gathered that:

He was absolutely thankful and dependent on God; totally concerned with the spiritual health of his children; and loving, greeting me and Pastor Larry with a warm smile, kind eyes, and words of praise and thanks to God on his tongue.  I hope that the man I encountered is who he is "full time".  ...I sincerely think it was.

I was going to go to the sanctuary before leaving, and after waiting outside the door for a few moments, went downstairs and to the right to do so.  That's when my eyes became wet and I thanked God for families like that and fathers so devoted to God and their children.  I prayed for a few moments more when a woman named Kris also entered the sanctuary. She was surprised to see me but greeted me with ease and told me about her missing Bible, which we looked for for a couple moments.  After looking and failing, she told me about herself and told me about a potluck on Thursday.  She invited me without being pushy, which is quite gracious.  Apparently she goes to Fishers in the summer then back to Texas for the rest of the year, helping with Katrina relief on the way.

She told me about a Herron family she used to babysit for as their parents went squaredancing on Friday nights. Late in the evening while the kids were in bed, and she waited on the parents, she could only listen to one Radio Station, from TN with a woman who definitely sounded like she was bred and raised in TN.  The station dug into God's Word, spoken with a twang-- and Kris told me, "That taught me so much about God!" 

She wished me luck and left the church.  I returned to the santuary again to sit for a moment.  I thanked Him for people like Kris.

And then I left, heart about to spill and hardly able to keep from squirming in the driver's seat. Anyone would have thought I was bizarre had they been watching me, but I looked at the church as I drove away and laughed.  I thanked God for how He uses the church and prayed it be blessed and do all He wants it to.  Then I thought of all the churches across the U.S. 

All little docks where God is welcome. How blessed they are, and how the world needs these docks, at church, and the supermarket, and concerts, and bars and schools and restaurants.  The man I encountered was a beacon of light, and so was Kris.  If they are the same out of church as in church... and it seems like they are- then they take that consecration and blessings of God with them wherever they go.

All that above doesn't make much sense. But what I'm getting at, is... Church is a building.  It is also a collection of people... "The Body of Christ."  And, it is individuals. 

Jesus refers to the body as a temple. 
John 2:21 But the temple he had spoken of was his body.

And other Scripture does, too.

1 Corinthians 6:19 Don't you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself.

2 Corinthians 6:16 What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: "I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people."

1 Corinthians 3:16 Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you?

 Am I, are you, are we being the Church?  The man I met was. So was Kris.