• You and I are a chosen people. Not that we went “shopping” for God, but God chose you.  He chose you first.  You are His child. 
• You are a priest, a person who communicates and connects people to God.
• Where in your life is God calling you to be a connector? Who are the people who God is calling you to connect with Him?
• To be a priest isn’t to be a Pharisee, instead, it means to be blessed by God and gift with a purpose to be a connector.
• From God’s vantage point, we are holy. This is the view of the Gospel.  This is completely different than being self-righteous.
• To be united with God is a great blessing. How is being a part of God’s family affecting you?
• We are called to live in the light and share the light.
• As a missional outpost, we remind each other who we are, help one another to live in the light, and then we go out and share the light of Jesus Christ.

As you think about church, reflect on the following questions:

• What is your earliest memory of church?
• How has the church been a formative (for good or for bad) part of your walk with Jesus?
• What does this church look like at its finest?
• How would you define the church?

As you think about your definition of church, spend some time reading through the following Bible passages and consider what they are teaching us about the church? 

• Matthew 16:18
• 1 Corinthians 1:2
• Colossians 1:15-23
• Acts 2:42-47
• Romans 12:4-8
• Ephesians 2:19-22
• Ephesians 5:25-27

As we think together about this idea of church, let’s go back to the original Greek word that is translated church: ekklesia.  This word literally means those who have been called out.  As we reflect upon that word, Scripture is reminding us that the very foundation of what it means to be the church is not what we have done but what God has done for us in     Jesus.