I enjoyed listening to this refreshing message. I agree with Jonathan on many points, such as when two or more gather in His name (the why/what) and share the same resonance of emotions/vibrations, they become the “why”/”what” – part of the larger identity to express the Spirit. Yes, we can see the church as the infusion of Spirit which/whom we all can feel.
We know that church is not somewhere that we go to but rather it is a spontaneous formation or organisation to be in awe of love, and it is not meant to be robotic or ritualistic. As Jonathan also noted, coming together isn’t necessarily the church because people come together all the time and have an identity (as a group) – whether for helping or for harming others.
Church therefore is a body of consciousness in which we become creators because only the Spirit creates. (This reminds me of the verse “the Spirit gives life”). I also remember the word “church” or ekklesia means the “called out ones” – we are called out of religion/rituals/fear/condemnation.
I also agree that the Spirit cannot be confined to a building because the Spirit is explosive with love, and is spontaneous and creative. Like what Jonathan said, the conventional/traditional church is anti-Spirit, conformist and repetitive, a poor copy of the original expression of the Spirit. People are turned off by evangelical christians because their “church” is dead and mechanical, and their accent/lingo/christianese sounds repetitive and fake. It is funny to note that preachers like to say things like “God is gonna be with us today” and “I feel the love of Jesus” – Jonathan thinks this is mindless mouthing of words, and Christ wouldn’t speak like that.
And yes, creation is going on all the time, not fixed within any point of time. To be alive is to be expressive and creative, and appreciate all creation is around us. Life is when you are organised around the love of the Spirit, spontaneous and being in awe of the present moment. A dead “church” is stuck in the past.
We also know that God cannot be confined to a system or a book. There is one God and one Spirit who is within us and around us. The Spirit is always ready to teach us what we need to know – we can tune in to the Spirit anytime instead of our ego/mind. When we know we are not alone, we can “bear being consciousness” – I interpret it as being conscious we are loved and we are love, and we are gorgeous and amazing beings.
Finally, yes, to be enlightened is simply to be conscious we are loved (and the Spirit bears witness with this truth), knowing we are one with all creation/Nature, appreciating and experiencing our oneness like a little child.
Real Rest is the Best 