What is the church? Is the church a building? Is it the place where believers gather to worship? Or is the church the people--the believers who follow Christ?

The founder of the "home church" movement in England, Canon Ernest Southcott, said:

"The holiest moment of the church service is the moment when God's people--strengthened by preaching and sacrament--go out of the church door into the world to be the church. We don't go to church; we are the church."

How we understand and perceive the church is quite important in determining how we live out our faith. For the purpose of this study, we will look at the idea of "the church" in the context of "the Christian church," which is a New Testament concept.

• Read: What is the Church?

More About the Church
• What Does the Bible Say About Church Attendance?
• Why Don't You Go to Church?
• How to Choose a Church?

_{Image: © Bill Fairchild}

This week's post is a Thanksgiving prayer called I Thank Thee. This Christian poem was written by Jane Crewdson (1860) as a prayer of thankfulness to God for all things in life, both the good and the bad, the bitter and the sweet.

Image: © Davide Guglielmo
I Thank Thee

O Thou whose bounty fills my cup,
With every blessing meet!
I give Thee thanks for every drop—
The bitter and the sweet.

I praise Thee for the desert road,
And for the riverside;
For all Thy goodness hath bestowed,
And all Thy grace denied.
Read more ... I Thank Thee by Jane Crewdson (1860).

Do you have an original Christian prayer that would encourage or benefit a fellow believer? Perhaps you've written a unique poem you'd like to share with others. We are looking for Christian prayers and poems to encourage our readers in their communication with God. To submit your original prayer or poem, please fill out this Prayer / Poem Submission Form.

More Thanksgiving Prayers:

• Thanksgiving Day Prayers & Poems
• Pause and Give Thanks - Poem

Need a few outstanding gift ideas this holiday season? From now through Christmas, I'll be offering suggestions of items I think would make great gifts for the important people on your Christmas list.

For those (like my husband) who love to collect Christmas music, consider one of these Christmas albums for Christians. Topping my list this Christmas 2009 is Glory in the Highest, Chris Tomlin's first holiday CD and one I hope to find wrapped up in my stocking. As a big fan of Chris Tomlin's passionate, devoted worship style, I know I will treasure this collection. It includes a few traditional Christmas favorites as well as original contemporary music recorded live with Matt Redman, Christy Nockels, Ed Cash and Audrey Assad.

• Top Christmas Music for Christians
• Top New Christmas Albums of 2008 by Christian Artists
• Top 10 Traditional Christian Christmas Songs

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A series of terrible tragedies could have left Mama Kel devastated and angry with God. Instead, her strong faith and trust in God helped her to see that tests and trials have a purpose in life. She now looks back with thankfulness for everything she endured.

Mama Kel's true story is one of our many uniquely featured testimonies from you, the members and visitors of this site. Each story reveals a life transformed by Christian faith. If your relationship with God has made a significant difference in your life, we would like to hear about it. Submit your testimony by filling out this Submission Form. To receive weekly messages of hope and encouragement from real-life stories of changed lives, sign up for eTestimonies.

• Read: Mama Kel's Trials
• Show & Tell: Your Salvation Story

Ever since I started accepting Christian testimonies for publication on the site, not a week has gone by that I haven't received at least one meaningful story from a member or visitor about their life transformed through faith. They are real life examples of how a relationship with Jesus Christ can make a difference in someone's life. Many of these salvation stories tell incredible accounts of dramatic change. Now, I'm excited to offer a new way for you not only to tell your story, but show how your faith in Jesus has changed you!

Do you have photographs that document your transformation? Do you have a remarkable before and after story? Please show and tell us about it!

• Show & Tell Us Your Story

_{Image Courtesy of Brooke D.}

Throughout the month of November, I'll be featuring prayers for Thanksgiving in each of these weekly posts. This week's prayer is A Thanksgiving Day Prayer submitted by About.com member, Scott Wesemann.

Do you have an original Thanksgiving prayer that would encourage or benefit a fellow believer? Perhaps you've written a unique poem you'd like to share with others. We are looking for Christian prayers and poems to encourage our readers in their communication with God. To submit your original prayer or poem, please fill out this Prayer / Poem Submission Form.

Image: © Davide Guglielmo
A Thanksgiving Day Prayer

Lord, so often times, as any other day
When we sit down to our meal and pray

We hurry along and make fast the blessing
Thanks, amen. Now please pass the dressing

We're slaves to the olfactory overload
We must rush our prayer before the food gets cold

But Lord, I'd like to take a few minute more
To really give thanks to what I'm thankful for

For my family, my health, a nice soft bed
My friends, my freedom, a roof over my head

Read more ... A Thanksgiving Day Prayer by Scott Wesemann.

More Thanksgiving Prayers:

• Children's Mealtime Blessings
• Mealtime Blessings

Need a few outstanding gift ideas this holiday season? From now through Christmas, I'll be offering suggestions of items I think would make great gifts for the important people on your Christmas list.

For those who love to read, consider one of these popular Christian books. I've just updated the list with these Christian bestsellers and "most wanted" Christian library books. Topping the list right now is Francis Chan's Crazy Love.

• Top 10 Most Popular Christian Books

Also:

• Favorite Books for Thanksgiving
• Top Family Christmas Books

The Word is Out—Literally!

Knowing a secret isn't much fun until you finally get to tell someone. So, I'm very excited to be one of the first to announce today's release of Logos Bible Software 4.

I've had a little time to investigate the software, but not enough for a comprehensive review like this one of the previous version, Logos Bible Software 3. Today, I'll briefly discuss what's new, what's different, and what's best about Logos 4. But before I do, let me address the question that's almost certainly on your mind if you're already a Logos Bible Software enthusiast. Yes, Logos 4 comes with the same unique engine—the Libronix Digital Library System—that powered its predecessor. That's good news, because there's still nothing like it. The fully-indexed Libronix system lets users almost instantly search and access every available resource in their digital library. With Logos 3, I said it was "like having your own personal librarian, who, at the touch of a button, will quickly look up and organize all of the resources and information you'll ever need for comprehensive Bible study." Now, that smart little digital librarian works even more efficiently in Logos 4.

What's New and Different?

Attractive Home Page
The home page of Logos 4 is completely redesigned, very visually pleasing, and displays an assortment of content from your library. It's like opening up an inviting smorgasbord of options for Bible study each time you load the program. Even so, the selections don't clutter or get in your way, and you can find exactly what you need, faster than ever. Absolutely everything necessary for an in depth study is located at the top left corner of your screen. For even quicker access you can custom arrange shortcuts on your home page by dragging your most-used resource tabs to the top menu bar. Read more...

Vance had fallen so deep into trouble, pain, and emptiness, he no longer knew the way out. He felt as though he was wasting his life. But God reached down from on high and took hold of Vance, rescuing him out of the deep waters.

Vance's true story is one of many uniquely featured testimonies from you, the members and visitors of this site. Each story reveals a life transformed by Christian faith. If your relationship with God has made a significant difference in your life, we would like to hear about it. Submit your testimony by filling out this Submission Form. To receive weekly messages of hope and encouragement from real-life stories of changed lives, sign up for eTestimonies.

• Featured Testimony: Vance's Rescue from Deep Waters

On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther nailed his famous 95-Thesis to the University's bulletin board—the Castle Church door, formally challenging church leaders on the practice of selling indulgences and outlining the biblical doctrine of justification by grace alone. This act of nailing his Thesis to the church door has become a defining moment in Christian history, symbolic of the birth of the Protestant Reformation.

Martin Luther was a German monk and religious scholar who challenged the unbiblical practices of the sixteenth century Roman Catholic Church and translated the Bible into the German language for common people to read and understand for the first time. More than any other church reformer in Christian history, the impact and influence of Luther's contributions are hard to adequately describe. It's no exaggeration to say that almost every branch of modern Protestant Christianity owes some portion of its spiritual heritage to Martin Luther, a man of radical faith.

• Learn more about Martin Luther.