Abraham Lincoln -- who never joined a church -- stated
that he
would join a congregation which inscribed over it's portals the
Lord's
words Jesus quoted in his lashing critique of the Temple:
"My house shall be a house of prayer for all peoples and nations."
The Large Catechism criticizes the common image of the church
as a
church building (our 'Ediface Complex'): The (New Testament Greek
and
Latin) word ecclesia properly means an assembly (or
assemblage) of
people. We, however,
are accustomed to the term Kirche, 'church,' by which simple folk
understand not a group of people but a consecrated house or
building. But
the house should not be called a church except for the single
reason that
the group of people assembles there."
However, here are a few linked images which cross over the
boundaries of
the ediface-image.
OTHER (word)IMAGERY symbolizing the Church
in the Confessions of
Faith of
the Evangelical Lutheran Church(es)
include the following:
the holy Christian Church
the universal Christian Church
catholic, universal
inward fellowship
spiritual kingdom
little holy flock
pillar of truth
assembly of saints, believers
fellowship of faith
communion, community
the mother who begets and bears Christians through the Word
servant form: concealed under the cross
the net
the garden where wheat and weeds are allowed to grow up together
the threshing floor
one Church under Christ
"Evangelical churches"
PLEASE FURNISH US WITH
GRAPHICS
DEPICTING THE ABOVE!