So here's a question for you.  Why is the Church important?  If we were to have a gathering and lay that question out, every answer would be different.   Probably varying from the Church providing spiritual needs for members, others would focus more on the community, and still others would name the need for the Church to stand for those who have no voice.  And I'm sure there would be hundreds of more answers, because each of us have been touched and shaped by the Church through our experiences and by the example of the Body of Christ.

Last week Pastor Chelsea wrestled with the question, Why Jesus?, and this week I will reflect upon the question, Why Church?  Only I will do so from the perspective of scripture and tradition.  Though the church is important to each of us personally, that's only part of Jesus' intention in establishing the church.  Jesus seems to focus on the Church, the Body of Christ, being God's representatives and witnesses to the world of the Kingdom of God.

Our first scripture is from St. Paul who lays out what it looks like to live into the Church as a community.  To share the journey and be The Body of Christ to each other and the world.  The second is the story of how Jesus feeds 5000+ people with some bread and fish, multiplying that gift with leftovers in abundance!  There is something powerful about how, when we share the journey together, God finds a way to multiply the gifts of our time, talent, and treasures to meet the needs of those right around us.  When we see, respond, and give, Jesus uses us to change a world that needs changing and bring hope to those in need.