(By: Nick Kennicott)

I am very thankful for the emphasis in the following quote regarding the church as a place and as a people. A proper understanding of the means of grace and their use necessitates an understanding of the Church, not as either/or, but both/and:

We do not have to choose between the church as place and as people. Because it is first of all a place where God is at work, it becomes a people who leave the assembly as forgiven, renewed, and strengthened disciples who are prepared to love and serve their neighbors in the world. Of course, the church is not a building, but it is a public assembly where the Triune God is the primary actor. We are not the church merely as individuals and our private spiritual disciplines and moral activity are effects of grace, not the means of grace. Therefore, we mustgo to church if we are to be the church…in the formal gathering of the church, God serves his people through Word and sacrament, and they leave the assembly to fulfill their callings in the world. This is where their good works go: to their brothers and sisters, co-workers, family members, and neighbors who need them. God’s Word comes to us from outside of ourselves, outside of our ability to control it and make it an echo of our own felt needs and aspirations. And then as the Spirit wins our inward consent to its searching judgment and surprising promises, we are filled with love for our neighbors who need our vocations and witness.

-Michael Horton, Renewing the Great Commission