04/19/2022
(excerpt)
But there’s a bigger issue for small congregations in less-than-ideal buildings. The worship space may be whispering anti-gospel nonsense. Like “this is not-good-enough” or “you can’t keep up” or “just look: you’re barely alive anymore.”
Pay attention if you’ve heard these whispers. Because this challenge can’t be undone with a simple project. Or even with a bulldozer and new blueprints. Because this is a challenge of theology, not architecture. It marks a crisis of faith, not space. It means your building has become your hope.
Let’s be clear: the kingdom of God cannot be reduced to brick and wood. Our hope has never been in our addresses, furnishings, and facilities. The Good News has no trouble talking back to sin and death, so buildings can pose no threat. By God’s grace, we are enough, we have enough, and resurrection overturns once-and-for-all the lie of “barely alive.”
God’s people have worshiped in temples and cathedrals. But we’ve also worshiped in wilderness and underground burial chambers. Ezekiel announced it long ago. God rolls with us like a wheel. Even through the rubble of a destroyed temple. Wherever. Emmanuel is our good news. God with us. Here! So we roll out, too. Our worship buildings are simply tools of our ministry.
Small-Group Worship in Big-Group Space: The Challenge, Two Fixes, and How the Good News Talks Back - Small Church, Big God
