Church is family, brothers and sisters in Christ sharing a kinship of the heart. Nobody ever asks the question: “Where do you go to family?” Family is not a place; it is relationships. So with church. Who are you joined with heart-to-heart in Christ? Now that’s church!

However, in our society we tend to see church as something other than a family. We see church as:

1) A religious organization or institution, usually known as a denomination.

2) A building with a sanctuary, pulpit, colored glass windows, and pews, and usually with a steeple and/or a cross on top.

3) A weekly religious meeting held on Sunday mornings.

The Greek word translated into English as church is ekklesia which means: the called out ones. It is a group of people called out of their old ways of living and old relationships into a new lifestyle and new relationships in Christ.

Church is the family of God. So how can you experience ekklesia or family? The family members have to be free to function and interact. Can you imagine a family gathering where everybody sat silently in rows and listened to the patriarch (or matriarch) make a 30 minute talk; and then left without much interaction and congratulated themselves on having had family? Of course not!

So why do we do church (the family of God) that way? A good answer would be: “Because we’ve always done it that way.”

However, there is another way to do church (God’s family). Have you ever heard of a Sunday morning church meeting where God can speak through anyone present? Where people openly share Scriptures, testimonies, praise reports, insights, and prayer requests?

Although this is rare, it is taught in the New Testament as how to have a church meeting. (I Corinthians 14:26)

For 3 1/2 years we have been having meetings like this at The Salvation Army Berry Street Worship Center, and it has truly been amazing to see God work powerfully every Sunday and His people growing spiritually strong.

See God’s family in action, sharing and testifying: Sundays @ 10:45am & Tuesdays @ 6:00pm — 225 Berry Street, Nashville, Tennessee, 37207.