Man was it foggy today! As I was driving in this morning, the fog was thick. Now, if you have ever been to our Church, you know that we sit on a stretch of road, that isn’t lit with streetlights, so the fog seems even more dense. (And if you haven’t been to our Church, you really should come sometime! Just saying…) But, as I was driving, it seems like the dark, and the fog just swallow you up, and then I saw it! The Church sign, and the lights on the front of the building. Now, I know where the Church is, and I wasn’t lost, but I have to tell you that for just a moment, there was a sense of relief as those lights became visible. As I pulled into the parking lot, I got to thinking that is what the Church is supposed to be. That’s how it should make us, and others feel. So many of us see Church as a place we are supposed to go, a thing that we are expected to do once a week. And while Antioch does have an address, and we do have Sunday morning services each week (@ 10:45am) that thinking is wrong. The Church that Jesus created is a fellowship. It is intended to be a safe harbor, and a launching point. We are called to be a shining city on a hill, but we are also called to be a lighthouse in the dark and the fog. We may gather here on Sundays, but we gather so that we can go into our communities and be the hands and feet of Christ. I know it sound’s cliché, but the Church is not supposed to be a country club for saints… it is a hospital for sinners. We all have hurts, we all have injuries, scars. We all get banged up as we do life. Some of our wounds are superficial, and others are life threatening, some are short term, and others are life long, but we all have them. And we need a place to go, where we can get the help we need, and that should be the Church. The Church is called to be a place where we are welcomed, no matter what baggage we bring with us; it is called to be a place where we can find truth, and experience grace. The Church is called to be a light shining on a hill, a beacon for all who are trapped in the dark and the fog of life. As we get closer to Christmas, and celebrating the birth of Jesus, never forget “For God so loved the world, he gave his One and Only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” John 3:16-17.