September/October 2025

When you grasp the New Testament teaching that we, as God’s people today, are his temple, it unlocks a richness of understanding for the Old Testament theme of the temple. For example, Psalm 84 declares, ‘How lovely is your dwelling place, Lord Almighty!’ We can apply this to the church; how lovely is the church, the place that God dwells today! Imperfect? Yes. Often deeply flawed? Sadly, yes. Yet, there is something lovely about God’s people being together to experience his presence as he dwells within.

We live in an age of casual commitment. Even when arranging a social occasion, you might find some who keep their options open rather than being committed to the get-together. The church has suffered much from this. For some, rather than being the priority, church is what we do when there are no better options. Never mind the perils of trying to ensure every ministry role is covered, from refreshments to sound desks and children’s groups, with such fleeting commitment. Yet how lovely it is that there is always a committed core who seem to get it, those who turn up week by week, worshipping together wholeheartedly, drinking in God’s Word eagerly, and serving faithfully.

What does it mean to be a lovely, local dwelling place of God? In this edition, we wanted to explore the theme of membership of the local church, looking at our responsibilities, commitments and privileges. Katie Allen’s brilliant article will spur you on to love the church, and our very own Jonathan Hodgins explores the art of building walls for the church! Considering the impact that the online world can have on local churches, Jon Barrett looks at the positives and negatives of this, whilst Gwїon Brady addresses the impact of livestreaming on the local church. One of our articles encourages us to consider the church’s responsibility to care for our pastors, and Michael Prest shares his thoughts on how churches can send their members out on global mission and do that well.

With a selection of other articles, we also continue our various strands and themes, finishing up with the usual news and reviews. Why not pray that God would speak to you through what you read?