Why Have Church? (1 of 5)
Series: This Is Church Where U Fit In
Jeff Strite
Acts 2:38-42
A man once told about his school's Spring Break Trip to Italy. When they visited Rome they entered St. Peter's Basilica, the 2nd largest church in world. The tour guide explained, ''This church is so large no man on earth could hit a baseball from one end to the other. Not Lou Gehrig. Not Babe Ruth. Not even Mark McGwire.''
In the silence that followed, one of the girls in the group asked: ''You mean they actually let them hit baseballs in here?''
I think she missed the point. Church buildings generally don't exist for people to play baseball in. But why DO church buildings exist? Well... I can't tell you about EVERY church building, but I can tell you about this one. This church building exists to be a tool to serve God.
(We videoed this sermon in the Older part of our building) The part of the building we're in now was the OLD sanctuary. In fact, it was the Sanctuary, and the Fellowship Hall, and Sunday school classes, all rolled into one. Over there (the camera panned to the right) was where the stage and pulpit were. Right here to my left was a portable baptistry with a red fitted cover on top. When we had a baptism scheduled, we'd take of the red cover, remove the top, roll the baptistry over to the kitchen and fill it with water. We'd do 2 or 3 baptisms, empty the water, put the lid and cover back on... and roll it back to its spot in front of our sound booth.
Then there was our communion table. Most churches you worship at have an elegant table with words like ''Do This In Remembrance'' engraved in it and decorated with grape vines... but not ours. Our communion table was made by one of our members and was made out of hollow doors. That's right - hollow doors. That made it easier to move around, but it wasn't especially awe-inspiring. Everything about the building was basically functional. It wasn't impressive, it was just ''useful.'' And that's the w ...
Series: This Is Church Where U Fit In
Jeff Strite
Acts 2:38-42
A man once told about his school's Spring Break Trip to Italy. When they visited Rome they entered St. Peter's Basilica, the 2nd largest church in world. The tour guide explained, ''This church is so large no man on earth could hit a baseball from one end to the other. Not Lou Gehrig. Not Babe Ruth. Not even Mark McGwire.''
In the silence that followed, one of the girls in the group asked: ''You mean they actually let them hit baseballs in here?''
I think she missed the point. Church buildings generally don't exist for people to play baseball in. But why DO church buildings exist? Well... I can't tell you about EVERY church building, but I can tell you about this one. This church building exists to be a tool to serve God.
(We videoed this sermon in the Older part of our building) The part of the building we're in now was the OLD sanctuary. In fact, it was the Sanctuary, and the Fellowship Hall, and Sunday school classes, all rolled into one. Over there (the camera panned to the right) was where the stage and pulpit were. Right here to my left was a portable baptistry with a red fitted cover on top. When we had a baptism scheduled, we'd take of the red cover, remove the top, roll the baptistry over to the kitchen and fill it with water. We'd do 2 or 3 baptisms, empty the water, put the lid and cover back on... and roll it back to its spot in front of our sound booth.
Then there was our communion table. Most churches you worship at have an elegant table with words like ''Do This In Remembrance'' engraved in it and decorated with grape vines... but not ours. Our communion table was made by one of our members and was made out of hollow doors. That's right - hollow doors. That made it easier to move around, but it wasn't especially awe-inspiring. Everything about the building was basically functional. It wasn't impressive, it was just ''useful.'' And that's the w ...
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