^“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. ⁴³ Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. ⁴⁴ All the believers were together and had everything in common. ⁴⁵ They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. ⁴⁶ Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke breadin their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, ⁴⁷ praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”  Acts 2:42-47

“The common life of the religious, regulated by traditional observances and blessed by the authority of the church, is obviously a most precious means of sanctification. It is, for the religious, one of the essentials…but it is still only a framework. As such, it has a purpose. It must be used. But the scaffolding must not be mistaken for the actual building. The real building of the church is a union of hearts in live, sacrifice, and self-transcendence. The strength of this building depends on the extent to which the Holy Spirit gains possession of each person’s heart, not on the extent to which our exterior conduct is organized and disciplined by an expedient system.” (Thomas Merton, “The Church Sanctifies Her Members”, Life and Holiness, p.55)

The church is a building—but it is not only a building. The church is “the people”—the hearts of believers who gather in that building—but not like a social club. If the Holy Spirit does not possess the hearts of the people, the people may possess the building, but Christ may not be anywhere to be found. As such, the church must continue to pray for the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Without the spirit, we may be laboring, but if the Spirit is not in our labors, we labor for naught.

Pastor Dave