Church Is Not A Building

One of the summer activities for the Church of the Resurrection is our church at the beach cookouts on Wednesday evenings at the Myrtle Beach State Park. Last night the social gathering had an added dimension. We did have our usual cookout and fellowship time, but during that time I was having a wonderful conversation with a teenage boy who was seeking to be baptized. When we moved to the water after dinner as usual, we gathered in a more unusual way to conduct the baptism right there right then. It was exciting for those gathered but especially for Caleb Christian who had chosen baptism. I saw people with tears in their eyes and other with expressions of great joy and excitement. Standing out in the waves saying the prayers and moving the book up high each time a wave crashed against me was exciting, but did not take away from the seriousness of the baptism. Church is the mission and work of Christ in the world wherever it happens. It is not just what happens in the building on Sunday in fact the most effective church of the first century had no buildings but had a huge number of baptisms. Let's be the church not just go to the church. Christ did some of His most important work last night without an altar or a stained glass window. I loved it.