This is Church

 What is Church, anyways?  To answer this question, I usually head to Acts.

"And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.  And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles.  And all who believed were together and had all things in common.  And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need.  attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved."  Acts 2:42-47

When I think of Church, I take from these verses that church includes: Scripture, meeting together with other Believers, prayer, breaking of bread (often known as communion), giving to others, and worship. [Based on other passages, I'd also say that baptism is a part of Church.]  In order to say that we've had Church, I think it's important for these elements to be present, however, they can be expressed in a variety of ways.

Recently, on a Sunday afternoon that we didn't have our usual church service, Jordan and I, along with several others from our church, went to visit our friend and teammate who was in the hospital.  Jordan brought his guitar, and we gathered together in a circle to pray and worship.  It was beautiful.

To avoid bothering others on the roof-top terrace of the hospital, we went into the little chapel.  A few minutes after we began singing, two nurses slipped into the back of the room.  When the song finished, we turned to them and invited them to join our circle.  They joyfully joined us and asked for prayer for a colleague.  "May he be healed in the name of Jesus," one said.  We prayed for them and for their colleague then picked another song to sing.  "We are both strong believers," one nurse said, "but no one is ever in this chapel.  Today, we heard the music and we looked at each other with a smile.  We hardly believed what we heard!  So we hurried up here to join you.  We're so glad you're here!"

I don't know who was more encouraged - the nurses knowing that there were people worshipping the Living God and Great Physician in the little chapel, or us who learned that there are Jesus followers serving the people of Aix-les-Bains in our local hospital.

As we walked from the hospital to a local restaurant, I said to my friends, "This is Church."  We shared Scripture that God laid on our hearts.  We sang songs of praise.  We prayed.  We ate together.  

This is Church.

*As a side note, as a result of our impromptu church service in the hospital chapel, our team has a meeting scheduled with the hospital administration for June 29 to talk about using the chapel for official church services on a more regular basis in the future.