Pastor’s Corner September 2007

The following was published in our monthly newsletter, the Redeemer Report.

The Church is not a building, but…..

As children we learned “the church is not a building, the church is not a steeple, the church is not a meeting place, the church is the people”. I am sure you can imagine the hand motions for this mantra. In essence, the saying is true. The Church of Jesus Christ is made up of redeemed people, not structures or institutions. The Church is about a “called out” people. You can have a duly constituted church without a building. Unlike the Church in the Old Testament, God has not identified Himself with one particular structure like the Temple. The new testament refers to the Church as made up of “living stones”, that is, people. Redeemer is
a church because of the people God has called, not because we have a building.

Now, having provided an important preface, a “church” building
is very important. Besides the need to meet somewhere to worship, study the bible, fellowship, and reach out to the community, a building is an important statement about what a church believes. For Rdeemer, we have always been careful to communicate the worship of Almighty God is our most important duty and calling as people redeemed by Christ, our sanctuary reflects this priority.

As we planned the construction of the sanctuary, it was our constant prayer and effort to build a structure that would help the worshiper gain a lofty vision of God, while at the same time sense immediate access to their Father through Christ and
be close to other worshipers who are our spiritual brothers and sisters. Our building assists with gaining a dual sense of God’s holiness and grace, His otherness and nearness, His glory and his approachability in Christ. All architecture communicates something. We hope our building communicates the dual reality of God’s transcendence and His gracious condescension to us. Donald Bruggink has said well-

– It is most unfortunate that many people understand the word architecture solely in terms of style…A Church is a place where God’s people gather together to worship Him, and how they worship, as well as what they believe, is either reinforced or undermined by the architecture. Church architecture is therefore first and foremost a matter of theology rather than a matter of style.

– It is our hope that Redeemer’s new sanctuary reinforces the fact of God’s holiness in our hearts and minds, yet, at the same time, is found to be a place of grace as we explore what it means to be redeemed by God through His only Son Jesus Christ. This past Lord’s Day, Pastor Nathan took an astonishing picture. In the forefront is our glorious new sanctuary- stately and reverent, a representation of God’s holiness and glory. Arching over the building is a rainbow. A rainbow is a picture of God’s grace (see Genesis 9:11-17). What a picture! What a truth. May it ever be so for Redeemer and our calling as a church- that we reflect God’s holiness and grace.

In the Lamb,
Pastor Tony Felich