Ephesians 1:3-10 English Standard Version (ESV)
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, 8 which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight 9 making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ 10 as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.
That is a general description of a church or more precisely The Church.
As I related yesterday, I didn’t know that from experience, only in Word. Experience of being in the body of Christ, which is the church, complicates matters because it is made up of flawed needy people. It is uncomfortable to think of ourselves in those terms. Since becoming comforted by the Comforter, joining a local body of believers feels like that is putting our comfort at risk. There is risk in nearly everything we do in life because we are vulnerable people who do not want to be vulnerable. Past pains make it even riskier to open ourselves up to exposure of our inner most doubts and fears.
I found myself being pulled by some unseen force to find a group of believers. My boss at the time was instrumental in showing me grace and was the elder at a local church. I trusted him and accepted an invitation to come and see what they were all about.
On trembling legs I walked into that church.