Mark 10:29-30

This is how the church was discovered, a discovery that spread a message that turned the world upside down. The church exploded numerically in the ancient world, and in our modern day it is just as extraordinary. We see the pattern in the early church of people gathering to listen to the Apostles Doctrine, sharing fellowship with the saints, breaking bread with each other, and praying for "the kingdom to come."

Something special had been created, and people were amazed. There was a force, there was a power, there was something that was living and breathing that had the ability to change people's lives.

This same dynamic, the church, is just as present today. The church is not a great institution but rather is full of ordinary people who are "believing the truth, knowing the Lord, holding to the teachings of Christ, praying together, and having their lives changed."

When lives are being changed, you can't keep the church doors shut. Real change brings about a love for God and those that surround us that surpasses even the most important earthly possessions. One of the greatest proofs of Christianity is that it changes people, it gives them a new birth, and they become part of a new family.

I would be remiss if I didn't admit there is a cost.

"For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it."

However, even in the loss, it's addition by subtraction. Even though we can lose home and family for the sake of the Gospel, Jesus says we will find a new one.

"Losing family obliges us to find our family. Not always the family that is our blood, but the family that can become our blood." This is the story of countless churches around the globe. There is a oneness that I feel with other Christians that I cannot even begin to express in this article. Perhaps it's said best by the late Martin Lloyd Jones:

"The Christian family bond is deeper than physical, social, or national ties. I would rather spend time with the lowliest of my Christian brothers and sisters, than with the non-believing elite of our time."

And remember these words:

"No one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age."