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Is the church a building - or a community of people?
 

Many people refer to a 'church' as if it just means a building. But this was not the case in the New Testament. There references to 'Temple' are as likely to refer to the human body / self as to a physical structure or an institution (see e.g. 1 Corinthians 3:16-17 and 6:19-20). The Church is not just the building, but the people that form the community using that building - in fact, the whole Christian community.

The concept of 'landscape' can also be interiorized or made into an allegory. Pupils could reflect on and envisage their own interior landscape. How could inner emotions, e.g. of jealousy, love, anxiety, generosity, guilt, be translated into an inner landscape? Swamps, dark forests, mountains, lakes, pastureland, rivers, caves, inner city ring roads…?

Read Isaiah 11 for a biblical idea of how the literal landscape will change with the coming of the Messiah. Can this vision be translated in inner, personal terms? Alternatively, the 18th century hymn-writer Isaac Watts wrote There is a Land of Pure Delight, which envisages a landscape transformed by faith in Jesus. Versions and tunes can be found at:
     Web Link http://www.oremus.org/hymnal/t/t136.html
     Web Link http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/t/h/e/thereisa.htm

Although the words clearly belong to another age and culture, pupils could write their own version of this hymn, keeping only the first line, but reconfiguring the landscape to fit their own vision.

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  Can the Christian Church exist without buildings? Find out how the earliest Christians worshipped.
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