Friday

Acts 16:5 (NIV) So the churches were strengthened in the faith and grew daily in numbers.

Many think of church as a building, a place to go and to worship or pray. It is obvious from verse five that the church is its people, not the structure they meet in. This gives new meaning to the statement, "I'm going to church today." For this writer it signifies I plan to spend time with people, to congregate with my friends, mingle with the Body of Believers, who are family.

Family is the correct use of the word, for in this section we are introduced to Timothy, the first second-generation Christian.  Timothy's mother, Eunice, and his grandmother, Lois, influenced Timothy to the ways of Jesus. That is what family does, they share the important things in life and they guide and influence one another.

It isn't always the parent who influences the child.  Sometimes it is the other way around.  The first Bible study I ever attended was led by my daughter when she was still a teen. I remember to this day, the women who were in the group and the things I learned from that time together in God's Word. Again, family the key, critical to living a life Jesus would want for us.

What does church mean to you?  Is it merely a facility, a place to go, a structure, or is it family?

Acts 16:1-5