Better TogetherSample

DAY SEVEN: BETTER TOGETHER

The Duomo of Milan is one of Italy’s finest cathedrals, and the third largest in the world. Its history is fascinating— a church under construction for nearly 600 years! Can you imagine a church building being constructed by over 20 generations of builders, craftsmen, stonemasons, and artisans? 

A church like that requires a few things, chief among them is a centralized vision and willing people. Imagine the people of Milan giving up in the middle of the 1600 hundreds, or worse in the early 1900’s when the final touches were finally happening after 500 years of waiting? But the people didn’t just have to be willing, they had to be united in their pursuit and generous with their lives regardless of the small part they played. It wasn’t one family that built the cathedral, the story of the cathedral is the coming together of an entire city and region dedicated to building something great to the glory of God. 

Every time we see a church, we shouldn’t just see a beautiful building. Instead, an anthem of a people who have collectively put their hands in, to create something that will last the sands of time. A building that tells the city, the nation, and the world about the Glory of God. Every brick, every stone, is a single mom, a young couple, a school teacher, a student, a retiree, a widow, a kid with a lemonade stand or a paper route, a millionaire, all collectively putting in their brick, their stone, their part in the building of the house of God.

Sometimes we can devalue our offering, hold back, or miss the opportunity in what we have to bring to the house of God. The reality is that it was not one generation that built the Duomo of Milan, and it is not one person or generation that is required to build the kingdom of God. God is using us all regardless of how we got here, in what He is building. God is asking us to look at the materials we have in our hands, in our storehouses, and begin to use them to build the house of God. It isn’t on me and it isn’t on you; it is on all of us, all in, collectively doing our part, placing our brick, our offering, our stone into the building of the house of God in our great city. The truth is, in all of this we are better together.

Would you join us in considering how you can play your part in building the house of God across our great cities this Heart for the House season?