We begin our summer series called "Meaningful Membership." The focus of this series is on the beauty, glory, and goodness of God's people who assemble in a particular place. I will introduce the vision and big picture of our series Sunday by defining what we mean by the church and we will look at some of the reasons this is a complicated, unclear, or distant topic for many Christians. My hope is that we will all be reminded, refreshed, and maybe even blown away by the gift that the local church is and that we all will feel a deepened passion for what Jesus is doing in His local bodies, not least ours, the Chapel Hill Bible Church.