Storytime At Church: The Church--Fundamental Belief #12

Fundamental Belief #12--The Church

The church is the community of believers who confess Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour. In continuity with the people of God in Old Testament times, we are called out from the world; and we join together for worship, for fellowship, for instruction in the Word, for the celebration of the Lord's Supper, for service to all mankind, and for the worldwide proclamation of the gospel. The church derives its authority from Christ, who is the incarnate Word, and from the Scriptures, which are the written Word. The church is God's family; adopted by Him as children, its members live on the basis of the new covenant. The church is the body of Christ, a community of faith of which Christ Himself is the Head. The church is the bride for whom Christ died that He might sanctify and cleanse her. At His return in triumph, He will present her to Himself a glorious church, the faithful of all the ages, the purchase of His blood, not having spot or wrinkle, but holy and without blemish. (Read verses here. Gen. 12:3; Acts 7:38; Eph. 4:11-15; 3:8-11; Matt. 28:19, 20; 16:13-20; 18:18; Eph. 2:19-22; 1:22, 23; 5:23-27; Col. 1:17, 18.)

The Story:
You will need a hand mirror, or even a larger wall mirror will do, near the end of the story so the children can look at themselves.

We Are the Church

It was an awful day. The pastor was in tears. The people were in tears. The children were in tears. What could make everyone so sad? Everyone had been so happy. It was almost Christmas and the people at church were looking forward to the church's Christmas programs and activities. Some people had planned to take food to the homeless, the children and the choir had practiced Christmas carols for the Christmas program, the pastor had prepared a special Christmas sermon. Now, everything had changed.

Very late in the evening of December 23 the roof of the church had caught on fire and soon the whole building was engulfed in flames. The roof and part of the walls collapsed, the water pipes burst and anything not burned was flooded with water. There was nothing that could be saved. Everything was ruined. The church and everything in it was destroyed...or was it?

As the church members sadly looked at the smoldering ruins of their much beloved church building they realized it was only a building and their church was still a strong and vibrant part of the community. They were the church, each and every member made up the church. The church wasn't a building but it was a group of people who loved and followed Jesus. They were God's family and they were waiting for Jesus to come and take them to heaven.    It was a sad day when they lost their church building but it was a happy and exciting day when they realized the real church was not destroyed. Jesus was at the head of the church and it could never be destroyed or lost.

Soon the people were offered a place to worship until they could rebuild their church building. They continued to worship together and do God's work in their community. They fed the homeless, they sang and prayed together, they spread the good news about Jesus and God blessed them. It took a few years for a new building to be constructed and it was a great day when the church finally had a place of its own where the people could come together for worship and fellowship.

(Hold a mirror so each child can look at themselves while you continue the story.)
Boys and girls you can see yourself in the mirror. You are part of the church. Even though we worship in a building the real church is each one of us. Even though the building has been dedicated to God's work, it is the people who make up church. No matter where we are or what we are doing we are still the church.   Jesus is the head of our church and He has died for each one of us so we can come before God all clean inside just as if we had never sinned or done anything naughty.

Aren't you happy to be part of God's family and part of His church? Let's pray and thank Jesus today.

Prayer: Dear Jesus, we are so happy to be part of of your family, to be part of your church. We thank you for your wonderful gift to each one of us. Amen.

Story Source: http://archives.adventistreview.org/article/2304/archives/issue-2008-1536/36cn-christmas-eve-fire-destroys-baltimore-church

The Bible Verses:
Now you are no longer strangers to God and foreigners to heaven, but you are members of God’s very own family, citizens of God’s country, and you belong in God’s household with every other Christian.    Ephesians 2:19 (TLB)

We will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. Ephesians 4:15 (EVR)

The Song:
The following link will bring you to a YouTube video of We Are the Church. You can also hear the song here as well. On the colouring sheet I have used the arrangement that is in the book Sing For Joy. It is the same tune but the verses are arranged differently. This is a lovely song to teach the children and the whole church as well. You will notice the song starts with the chorus.

We Are the Church
Chorus:
I am the church! You are the church! We are the church together!
All who follow Jesus, all around the world! Yes, we're the church together!

The church is not a building, the church is not a steeple,
The church is not a resting place, the church is a people!

And when the people gather, there's singing and there's praying,
There's laughing and there's crying sometimes, all of it saying:

Sing Chorus:

We're many kinds of people, with many kinds of faces,
All colours and all ages, too, from all times and places.

I count if I am ninety, or nine, or just a baby;
There’s one thing I am sure about, And I don’t mean maybe:

Sing Chorus:

Words and music by Richard Avery and Donald Marsh
#141 Sing for Joy