ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
August 16, 2026
It’s Sunday again. As clergy often say, “It’s amazing how it seems to come around every single week.” Now I know that I am sort of nerdy when it comes to church, and if someone were to ask, I’d have to admit that I really love Sundays… even the ones that can run from early morning until late at night. I love Sundays because I genuinely love the sense of community that the church fosters. This sentiment isn’t merely a way of kissing up to the members of Cypress Creek Christian Church. While there are undoubtedly challenging and emotionally taxing conversations, there are also precious opportunities to worship alongside individuals who desperately need love, encouragement, and hope. And they find it in the different happenings of Sunday morning. In Ephesians 4, the Apostle Paul wrote,
“…speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body’s growth in building itself up in love” (vs.15-16).
We have introverts and extraverts, those who talk alongside the silent types, and even the jokers who sit beside the serious-minded. Our personality types are going to be different, and that’s okay, but at the core level of what it means to be human, we need community. It doesn’t need to be a large community or even one where we are the centerpiece. But because we live in a world where shaming people, dismissing the humanity of some, or even scapegoating others is routine, it is extraordinarily helpful to find a community of people who have as their calling to build up one another in love. Not that we should think in terms of how to market the church, but I sort of think that would interest a lot of people.
As the message of Jesus comes alongside the power of the Spirit to build us up, O Great and Gracious God, we seek to put aside those things that undercut and damage the purpose of your church. Help us to be the people and the community you need us to be in this moment of time. Amen.
