Oh the Bride of Christ! We are going to be presented to Christ at the end of time unblemished…pure…spotless. I love that. Jesus will have our home prepared for us and the Marriage Supper of the Lamb will finally be held.

I have loved the church since I was a child. I had the good fortune to be raised in a church that nurtured us. Taught the Word. Taught us to care for the hurting and the poor. Expected us to show up and stand up for Jesus.

Sadly, sometimes churches compete with one another. Church members build mini kingdoms. Denominations speak against each other. We see no unity. No love.

I want to share a story of the church caring for people. God’s children taking care of one another. Being a team that worked together.

I had been to Honduras with another church. I only knew a few people on the team. But by the end of the week they had embraced the “grandma”. They are a special group.

International travel is a real bear right now. Lines are long. Security is very stringent. Sometimes the layover between connecting flights is entirely too short.

Returning home we found ourselves barely making the first flight. (No lunch.) And making the connecting flight was going to be almost impossible.(No supper.)

The team leaders developed a plan. We would each have a buddy. Get through security as fast as possible. We would not wait for the next pair. In this way we would get as many as possible aboard the plane home. Those who didn’t get to the gate in time would wait till morning and get another flight.

Two of the younger ladies ran to our gate, told the airline representative there were 13 more of us coming. She said she would help all she could.

I was paired with a young man about my son’s age. When we got through security, we realized we had to run from gate 17 to gate 50. There were only minutes to spare. We ran but I had to stop. My backpack was HEAVY. I take my Bible and my prayer journal etc. Everyone says it weighs 40 pounds but I’m sure that is an exaggeration. If we were going to make it, I had to swallow my pride and let him carry my pack like he had asked.

So I handed the pack over…we ran the rest of the way…we made it in time with no time to spare.

I tell this story to show the beauty of the church. God’s children just worked together to take care of one another. No one tried to break ahead and the older, slower one (me) was watched over and helped along. How good and pleasant it is when God’s children work together. When God’s children take care of one another. That the younger members of the team enabled the older one (me). Our leaders were thinking ahead and formulating a plan. They had everyone’s best interest at heart. They showed the love of Jesus to every member of that team. Their love for Christ just oozed out of their hearts…and we all got home.

Oh that our church body would show the love of Christ to other Believers, non-Believers, to everyone. That our love would be the love of Jesus reflected in daily life. That this Jesus-love would be so irresistible many would come to Christ.

Let’s love one another. Let’s serve one another. Let’s be the Bride of Christ.

Behold how good and pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity!
It is like the precious oil upon the head, coming down upon the beard,
Even Aaron’s beard, Coming down upon the edge of his robes.
It is like the dew of Hermon, coming down upon the mountains of Zion;
For there the Lord commanded the blessing—life forever.
Psalm 133 NASB