What Makes a Church Awesome?

Series: An Awesome Church
2/9/14
On the run, in a barren wilderness, alone, and tired, Jacob stopped for the night. The place is described as a certain place, because it could be anywhere really. What is important is not its geographical location, but what happened in that place. Jacob encountered God in a real and powerful way. In V17, Jacob declared, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven.”
        
When I read the words it grasped my heart, and I began to think about what makes a church more than just a building, just a location on a map. What makes a church, an awesome church, the house of God. How did a certain place become an awesome place? How did Luz, become Bethel (God’s house, v.19)? How was a pagan town transform into a gateway to God?  What will it take to transform the place where God has called us into a gateway to heaven?

Several truths stood out to me from the story of Jacob, that I believe are the characteristics of an awesome church, the House of God.