Exodus closes with the building of the tabernacle and the glory of the Lord filling it. As I turned the final page of that book, my mind immediately went forward to what God is building today.

“And in Him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.” Ephesians 2:22

So I will stay here for awhile in my blogging.  The building of His Church, and the detailed way He builds.  To start the process, I must go to one of my favorite passages describing this magnificant place of His habitation.

“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.” Acts 2:42-47

Isn’t it beautiful? The pronouns are especially lovely. They, everyone, their, anyone. God is such a “we” God.  From the very beginning, the Church was about community, because God is about community…nations, tribes, clans, families…the Church.  We can’t be the Church by ourselves, it can only be done in community with other believers.  And the description of the first church indicates that it can’t be done by simply showing up to a building on Sunday and leaving in time for lunch, and it surely can’t be done by staying home and having only occasional interaction with fellow believers, mostly online.

I love the “we” of God. I love that I am not called to be the Church all by myself, but have been placed in a community of believers who, together, are being built into the dwelling for God’s glory. And like any other community, we have clashes and friction, issues with one another that must be dealt with, offenses to get over, and weaknesses to bear with as we become what He is building us to be. We also have love, compassion, fellowship, laughter, and tears together. We love, teach, and occasionally discipline one another’s children, celebrate and grieve together, hold one another up in battle, give what we have to the ones who need, and remind each other of just how very loved we are by God. It’s community. It’s the “we” of God. It is His Church, and it’s beautiful.