Just what exactly is, 'the local church'?

Bill Hybels popularized the saying, "The local church is the hope of the world."

For years I trumpeted it too.

But just what exactly is, 'the local church'?

In your neighbourhood who is, 'the local church'?

In my neighbourhood there are 3 identified churches that own a building. None of them I think in any seriousness would claim they are the hope of this local community.

I would imagine your neighbourhood is similar.

Who takes responsibility to look into what God is doing in your neighbourhood?

Who then joins Him there and celebrates that with others?

Might this be the local church that is the hope of the world?

Are you a part of a, 'local church'?

If we enter community because of our own choice, we will stay only if we become more aware that it was in fact God who chose us for this community. It is only then that we will find the inner strength to live through times of turmoil.

Is it not the same thing in marriage? The bond becomes truly deep when husband and wife become conscious that they were brought together by God, to be a sign of love and of forgiveness for one another. Parker Palmer writes,

'Community is finally a religious phenomenon. There is nothing capable of binding together willful, broken human selves except some transcendent power.' Jean Vanier