By Brad Campbell –

Just a thought to help start your week.

I’m fascinated by church buildings, especially those that stand out architecturally and seem to make a statement of some kind in their neighborhoods.  I’ve wandered through little one-room chapels and magnificent cathedrals, and the one thing that, for me, has remained constant in them all is the overwhelming sense of awe and reverence.

This particular church, First and Franklin Presbyterian Church, stands tall in downtown Baltimore, Maryland.  Although I didn’t go inside, I stopped and took pictures from several angles as we walked along.  Each angle and sharp point, each spire and each tower represent many many hours of painstaking labor by those who cared enough to see that God’s house stood out as something different and glorious.

Of course, the magnificence of the building certainly doesn’t guarantee the presence of God.  And, likewise, the building’s simplicity guarantees nothing either.  We as Christians many times make the mistake of assuming that just because we show up for church, that God has too.  That just because eleven a.m. brought us in the door, He must have followed.  Be careful when you assume.
When is the last time you invited God to your time of worship?

A church is a church is a church, but it’s also just a building without the presence of God to fill it!  God doesn’t show up based on the condition or decoration or architecture of our church building.  He shows up based on the condition of the church itself — us, His people.  The building isn’t the church.  His people are.

“Present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.” (Romans 12:1)  God wants our best, and sometimes our best is broken, dirty, and in a terrible state of disrepair.  Yet, that condition is what brings us into a state of worship in the presence of God.  May our personal houses of worship bring glory and honor to God in the week ahead.

Just a thought.