...keeping guard

   over the sanctuary.

          Numbers 3. 28

(How do we keep guard,

protect, watch over,

respect, nurture,

take care and maintain

the church

      in this culture,

      in this city,

      among people?

Worship far exceeds

  the walls of the church

and infiltrates the lives

   of those who worship

   and even those who don't.

We are not called

       to attend church.

We are appointed

       to be the church.

Our lives should look different

   not because we belong

              to a church,

but because we

           belong to Him.

Deeper love,

ready response,

faithfulness not to a cause,

    but to our Savior.)

O LORD,

Help us to not just

             find community,

but to be the community

               of believers,

engaged,

woven in,

living out Your Word

   in worship,

       witness,

       and with-ness.

Help us to not neglect

   the profound significance

   of the church

            in our wellbeing

     and in others' lives,

the salt and oxygen

           of our little habitat,

    which is never so little.

Help us to realize how much

    we need church family

and how much our world

          needs the church.