Made to Magnify

As the colder weather begins to set in, many are beginning to think of the holidays that will be approaching. We begin to plan and prepare for the family that will be coming or even where we will need to travel to. We fuss over the gatherings that we will have so that they may be the best they can. A time to be together as one. Where we can catch up on the year past. Be present with one another and look forward to the hope and promise of the future as one family. And as stressful as those gatherings may be, they are a time when families can be strengthened.

Life in the church is no different, except our gathering rhythm is on a weekly basis. It’s where a group of strangers become family in the name of Jesus Christ. It’s a place where we can celebrate the wins of life and support each other during the losses. In his letter to the Ephesian church, Paul wrote that those who follow the way of Jesus and accept Him as Savior are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit (Ephesians 2:19-22 ESV).

It’s through Christ that the church comes together. Through Christ that the gathering of His people has strength. Maybe you’ve been sitting on the edge for a while hoping to find somewhere to fit in. The family of God is there with open arms. Jesus invites us to come. Maybe you’ve been gathering with a church body for a long time, but it’s felt lackluster for some time. What can you do to re-engage and remember that Jesus is weaving together the Church into His holy temple. The church was not made for us, we are the church being formed to be a light into the world. Don’t give up gathering together. The rhythm of gathering has power when the people of God come to worship His name. Be strengthened where you have been planted. It’s when we gather together in His name we begin to hear His name would burst from sea and sky. From rivers to the mountain tops. We'd hear Christ be magnified. Oh! Christ be magnified. Let His praise arise. Christ be magnified in me. Oh! Christ be magnified (Cody Carnes, Christ Be Magnified).