30+ Days of Giving Thanks, Day 40: The Church Universal

Today I am thankful for the Church that transcends time and space, and is composed of all those whom God has saved, is saving and will save on the basis of His promise of forgiveness of sin and eternal life for all who believe in His Only Begotten Son, Jesus of Nazareth, known to us today as the Lord Jesus Christ. 

This Universal Church is made up of men and women, boys and girls, from every tribe and nation on earth. Between us, we speak every language and in every one of them, we praise God our Heavenly Father, His Son the Risen Lord, and the Holy Spirit who makes us all One. Tomorrow, Sunday, the Lord's Day, those individual members of the Universal Church who are alive on earth today will gather in groups—Local Churches—and celebrate the life that God has freely given us in His Son. We will sing songs and hymns in different languages and musical styles, with an unbelievably wide variety of musical instruments, or no instruments at all. We will deliver the message from God's Word from a thousands upon thousands of different pulpits, or no pulpit at all. The message will be preached in an infinite variety of styles by thousands upon thousands of preachers. Yet despite all of the varieties and styles and cultures and contexts, a single message will be common to every single sermon: the clarion call of God speaking to humankind and saying with the authority of the Creator: "Look unto Me, and be saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other" (Isaiah 45:22).

Oh, how I thank God that there is but One Church, glorious in its unity and consistent in its purpose. At least, that is how I believe that God sees us, even when we have trouble seeing it, believing it, and practicing it ourselves.