Acts 7:44-50 NKJV

44“Our fathers had the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness, as He appointed, instructing Moses to make it according to the pattern that he had seen, 45which our fathers, having received it in turn, also brought with Joshua into the land possessed by the Gentiles, whom God drove out before the face of our fathers until the days of David, 46who found favor before God and asked to find a dwelling for the God of Jacob. 47But Solomon built Him a house.

48“However, the Most High does not dwell in temples made with hands, as the prophet says:

49‘Heaven is My throne,
And earth is My footstool.
What house will you build for Me? says the Lord,
Or what is the place of My rest?
50Has My hand not made all these things?’

The Church

When I was growing up as a child, and throughout a good portion of my life, the building where Christians met for church services was called “the House of God.” And the room where the services were held was called “the Sanctuary of God” and “Holy Ground.” And the church was not who we the people were. The church was the building, the place where Christians met to hear the Scriptures taught and to sing praises to the Lord in worship of God. It was a place we went to and then we left until we went there again.

And today, that is still how many people view “the church,” as a building where Christians meet for weekly church services. And these churches are not only defined by physical location but also by church denomination. I was often asked by others what I was. Was I a Baptist, or a Presbyterian, or an Episcopalian, or a Lutheran, or a Methodist, and so on. “Church” was not just a building that you went to once or twice a week, but it was a particular church denomination, or else it was regarded as “non-denominational.”

And “church” was also a place where we learned government worship in the singing of patriotic songs. And we were taught to put hand over heart and to pledge (vow) our allegiance (worship, fidelity) to our government and to our nation, which was regarded as “one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” But it has never been that. We are not a people all under the one true God, under submission to his authority and rule, and we are surely not indivisible, and liberty and justice for all is not existent.

But none of that describes the biblical church. Yes, in the Scriptures we are taught about the church in various locations, such as in Rome, Corinth, Galatia, Ephesus, and so on. But “the church” was the people of God, those who by faith in Jesus Christ had been crucified with Christ in death to sin and raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin but now as servants of righteousness in the power of God. They were all those within that one city who were worshipers of the one true God.

So, with regard to “church membership,” if we believe in Jesus Christ, and if we are following Jesus with our lives in obedience to his commands, in practice, we are already members of the church, the body of Christ. So we do not need to become members of these institutions of human origin called “church” which are mostly divided by church denominations and are largely incorporated under (partnered with) the government in unholy unions, most of which are also being marketed to the world, all of which God forbids.

[Matthew 21:12-13; John 2:13-17; Acts 5:27-32; 1 Corinthians 1:10-13; 1 Corinthians 3:1-9; 2 Corinthians 6:14-18; Philippians 3:18-19; Revelation 2:1-29; Revelation 3:1-22; Revelation 13:5-8; Revelation 18:1-5]

Our Gatherings

And our gatherings are not restricted to just one particular location or day in the week or hour of the day, either. For we now worship God “in spirit and in truth” wherever we are located and regardless of what day of the week that it is. And the Scriptures teach that we are to gather together with the body of Christ daily for mutual encouragement and edification, and for instructing one another in the faith, and in how we are to live, exhorting one another every day so that none of us may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

Therefore, we the church, the body of Christ, should be gathering together daily for mutual spiritual encouragement and exhortation. And the location does not matter as long as it is somewhere appropriate. And the gatherings don’t all have to be in physical locations, either. I am seeing much more of the biblical body of Christ in operation on the internet than in many of these physical gatherings where only a few select people lead in singing and only one man usually does all the preaching (prophesying, exhorting).

But the Scriptures teach that all of us who are the church, the body of Christ, have been given spiritual gifts to be used within the body of Christ for mutual encouragement and edification so that we help one another to grow to maturity in our walks of faith, in obedience to our Lord, in holy living. And God has given us all our assigned “body parts” which we are to operate in within the gatherings of the church to help one another to walk faithfully in service to the Lord Jesus in obedience to his commands in his righteousness.

[Matthew 5:13-16; Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 1:8; Acts 2:14-18,42-47; Romans 12:1-8; 1 Corinthians 12:1-31; 1 Corinthians 14:1-5; Galatians 6:1; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:1-16; Ephesians 5:15-21; Ephesians 6:10-20; Philippians 2:1-8; Colossians 3:12-16; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:13; Hebrews 10:23-25; 1 Peter 2:9; James 5:19-20]

Lord, Move Me

An Original Work / October 16, 2011
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

Be my desire, my heart set on fire,
Lord, move me to worship You only, I pray.
Fill with Your Spirit, my heart overflow.
Lord, may I long for You; Your word to know.
Teach me to walk with You, Lord, in Your power,
And may I serve You, Lord, right now in this hour.

Lord, how I want to obey You forever.
Help me to hear You, Lord, so I will not stray.
Teach me to love You; adore You always.
Envelope me, Lord, with Your grace today.
Meet me in my need, and show me Your mercy.
Forgive me for all things, as I humbly pray.

Counsel me, lead me, direct me, and guide me,
So I follow You, Lord, where’er You lead now.
I love to hear You speak Your words to me.
I am so grateful that You set me free.
Wash me, and cleanse me, and make me like You, Lord,
And I will live with You for eternity.

God’s True Tabernacle
An Original Work / May 25, 2026
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love