today, i was looking for somewhere to go and something to do.

so i grabbed my bible and headed west. after a few adventures, including the consumption of food at the commonly attributed time for a midday meal, lunch, i ultimately made it highway 23, a windy mountain road the leads to malibu. as i drove through the road i began to feel like a nascar driver and thinking “my dad would love this road!” then i got behind a driver who was, let’s just say, enjoying the scenery.

so back to reality.

before i knew it, i had arrived at the breathtaking spot on highway 23 where you look out amongst a mountainous terrian to see cliffs, trees, and an ocean. i had arrived. i was not as excited as one would expect because i had not planned on going to the beach. maybe if i had made that my goal earlier in the day, it could have been more satisfying. nonetheless. the beach was gorgeous. pure beauty.

i found a spot off the PCH and parked. i rolled down the windows in my car, blasting ulrich shnauss, grabbed my bible and sat on the little cliff over looking the beach.

as i read through the book of exodus, i became overwhelmed with the “rescue” aspect of God, that He “heard the cry of the oppressed.” God was doing a thing in my heart.

but that’s not the point of this story.

as i got ready to pack up and leave, i was thinking about my time on the beach, reading the bible and admiring His creation, and felt satisfied. i began to type an email to my friend while sitting at starbucks, and i just began to let my fingers run ahead of my brain. after sharing my experience via electronic mail, i looked back on what i had wrote and realized God was teaching my something else.

which is the point of this little story.

as i began to describe to my friend how satisfied had felt just simply reading the scriptures and being in His creation, i found myself laughing at the phrase “and now im heading to church!”

in my heart, i had felt i had already been to church. i thought, church, then, must be something different than the reading of Holy Scriptures and music. i had that at the beach. but, i was alone.

and suddenly i realized the importance of church in the context of “community”, rather than the traditional “song and message.”

church, especially as described in the bible, is so much more than what we expect today. the early church gathered, ate, participated in the Lord’s supper and had fellowship.

wow. what a challenge to what we expect from church today: good music, a good message. and if we don’t get those things, we respond with a negative view of church. i remember going to st. james park, in san jose, and feeding the homeless and talking with them, and hearing their stories and thinking, “this is church!”

when you think of church, what do you think about? the music? the teaching? even as i got to the worship gathering at my church, i sat alone. thought nothing of it, then a friend of mine came up to me and said “you can’t sit alone, come on!” that’s interesting. can you sit alone at church? can church be experienced alone?

God help us focus on what you want us to focus on, and let us do it together, in community with others.