Jesus loves His church. The Church is His bride. He will always protect and be devoted to His church. Jesus sees the shortcomings of the people within His church but Jesus will never tear down the church but build it up.

When I began this journey, I was critical of the church. As God explained, this was the case because my understanding of the church was superficial and institutional.

According to God, this is what the church is:

1. Mystical - It is a transformative process where we become the soulmate of Christ.

2. Physical -

   1. The church is a place of prayer.
      It is not a social gathering hall or simply a place for group worship. It is a place where people can come to be in communion with God. It must be conducive to praying and available to people.

   2. The home of God, His kingdom of earth.

3. Apostolic

   1. Pastoral – provides spiritual leadership

   2. Evangelic – promulgates the teaching of Christ

   3. Sacramental- delivers the sacraments instituted by Christ and other grace-giving rituals/acts.

   4. Ministering – tends to the needs of people and serves as the implementation body of God’s plan of salvation.

4. Ecumenical – A family. It is inclusive and not exclusive.

There is a tendency for people to treat their church as community property or a local community organization. This was a reminder God gave to a priest friend of mine:

The church does not belong to a community; a community belongs to the church.

The church does not belong to the people; the people belong to the church.

It leads; it is not led. It is the shepherd not the sheep.

The famous line of Abraham Lincoln’s speech: A government for the people, of the people and by the people, does not apply to the church. The church is for the people but it is of God and by God. We are molded by the church. We do not mold/customize His church according to what we believe or want it to be. When we do this then it is no longer “God’s church” but “our church”. We, the people, do not define the church rather the church defines us.