To Be A Christlike People

So, my family and I are reading a little book, Listen Up! A practical guide to listening to sermons, at dinner. Tonight we were reading point #4 which was Hear the Sermon in Church. It was talking about how listening to a sermon in church is so much better than listening to an mp3 sermon. Now before I continue, it's not a bad thing to listen to other preachers sermons while running on the treadmill etc., but it's healthier to be in an actual church. Here is an excerpt from the book::

"The normal place for preaching is the gather of the local church. We are to hear sermons as a people gathered together; they are not preached so that we can listen to them solo later. The word 'church' means an 'assembly' of men and women who gather physically together. There is no such thing as 'virtual church'. The assembly of the people of Israel in the Sinai desert was called (literally) 'the church in the wilderness' (Acts 7 v38).

This church was defined by the call of the word of God to gather under the word of God. It began when God said to Moses: 'Assemble the people before me to hear my words' (Deuteronomy 4 v10). This set the standard shape and pattern for the people of God (God take the initiative to summon them, and us) and gathered to sit together under the word of God ('to hear my words'), to be shaped together by His word. God's purpose is not to shape a collection of individuals to be each like Christ, but to form a Christlike people."

That last sentence "God's purpose is not to shape a collection of individuals to be each like Christ, but to form a Christlike people" is the part that really hit home for me. Of course I want to be like Christ, but more than that I want to be a part of the Christlike People. I want to surround myself with amazing Christ like people so that we may become the Bride.

In today's culture, the goal is to be an individual. When you are "hipster" you are an "individual". *disclaimer: I love hipsters. I like to think that I'm one sometimes.. not always but sometimes. I hangout with a lot of hipsters. Being Hipster Is Not A Bad Thing. I was just using it as an example. But back to my point. In the statement above it states that the goal is not to be an individual but to be a people. I want to be a people. You can't do it by yourself. Being a Christian and being alone is hard! You need a community to keep you in line and eyes set on the prize.

New Goal: To Be a Part of a Christlike People.

what do you think? Do you want to be a part of a Christlike People? What does your People look like? How does carrying out this call look like in your life? Comment below!::

C•A