A hole in the Soul

A hole in the Soul?

“I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind.”
          Ecclesiastes 1:14.
I watched an article on television the other day. It told of a group or people who had no faith of any kind that were meeting together in London England.
They felt they needed personal contact with other people that they missed in the impersonal big city that is London.
This gathering looked like a church meeting there were songs not religious one’s. As far as I could tell they were secular feel good songs. There were also people who spoke on various topics of interest. Very positive uplifting things.
Like I say it looked very much like a church meeting with out God and all the religious trimmings.
The commentator noted that in England three out of four people don’t believe in God. That the church of England is in crisis. That it is losing members.
That didn’t shock me in the least. My son was watching with me and we both noted that it proved that the main line churches. Church of England, Roman Catholic and many more institutionalized churches are losing people because they are becoming irrelevant.
 It’s not that God and the teachings of Jesus are irrelevant. It’s that the Church of England, the Roman Catholic church and other denominations that over the years have turned into institutions are becoming irrelevant.
These churches may be relevant to the adherents but their ritual and their pomp and ceremony are lost on today’s public.
Sadly the big churches are losing members.
I, a Christian of forty years find the services that they have quaint and nice to watch, but unless you understand the ritual the message can of Christ can get lost.
What these churches have succeeded in doing over the centuries is putting Christ into a very gilded box that is nice and shiny. The messages from many of their pulpits are not relevant. They reflect the ritual rather than the teachings of Christ.
By contrast figures show that the evangelical church around the world is growing. Although admittedly here in North America it seems to be slipping into it’s own rituals. And starting to spout a lot of do’s and don’ts.
Still there are many evangelical groups out there that are reaching those who recognize they have a spiritual hole in the soul as it were.
The fact that there are groups like the one in London and as I understand around the world that are meeting to simply be together tells me, that whether those who attend know it or not they have a spiritual need. A hole in them they are trying to fill by meeting like they do. And I say more power to them.
They and everyone on this planet needs to keep searching.
Deuteronomy in speaking to the Israelites who were to be scattered among the nations said to them something that is relevant to today. He said,
“But if from there you seek the LORD your God, you will find him if you look for him with all your heart and with all your soul.” 
                                            Deuteronomy 4:29.
What the world needs is not a more institutionalized church what the world needs is a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
We don’t need ornate churches. We don’t need a prayer book or rituals for different parts of the week, month or year.
We need to preach directly from the Bible and the truths there in.
What the world need to hear is the Love of God. That they can come into fellowship with a living God. The Creator of the universe.
Jesus Christ is alive today. His teachings are relevant.
For me as a Christian I feel I am getting from my company of believers at my home congregation (incidentally we meet in a converted store front) what those people in London are tying to get.
This Sunday morning I got hugs and a word of encouragement from almost all in our small congregation. That’s at least twenty-five hugs.
My pastor spoke words that were to be lived by. Words written by Paul to Timothy under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
Words, practical words to live by not unreachable ideals.
I like I do every week feel the love of God and see the love of God in the people of our small congregation.
I know that I can call anyone when I am in need of help and they will help me to the best of their ability.
I also know that I can in prayer call upon my Lord and my God and he will be there for me.
This is what it is to be Christian. This is what it is to have the Love of God within you.
What people need is the love of Jesus Christ in their lives because it is relevant to people in the twenty-first century.
Think about it