I’ve always been a fan of The Muppets.

For my second birthday I received a plush Kermit doll and immediately I stopped opening gifts. I danced around the living room for nearly an hour.

My parents love telling that story.

Truth is, I still have my plush Kermit. He’s been passed on to my son.

When you stop for a moment and think about The Muppets (no really, think about them for a moment) you realize they are a crazy collection of characters.

You have Kermit the Frog who loves Miss Piggy. Rolph the Dog is pals with Fozzie Bear. Gonzo (who knows what he is) loves Camilla the Chicken.

Rizzo the Rat also tags along with the crew.

Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem is the featured band and their drummer is an animal… no literally, his name is Animal.

The Muppets are a rag-tag mish-mash group of characters that seemingly don’t belong together except for one small detail.

Jim Henson created the Muppets, every last one of them. He imagined them and fit them together just the way he wanted to. I bet he smiled and laughed a lot as he made his Muppet brigade.

On the surface, they don’t belong together, but their creator had other plans.

The Muppets are a great picture of what the church is supposed to look like.

Jesus didn’t give his life so only a select few people could come together and worship him.

The church is supposed to be the most inclusive club ever conceived.

Hopefully when you look around your church on Sunday you see lots of different people with unique and diverse backgrounds.

In the book of Ephesians Paul writes about how unique the church truly is:

“You’re no longer strangers or outsiders. You belong here, with as much right to the name Christian as anyone. God is building a home. He’s using us all—irrespective of how we got here—in what he is building.” (Ephesians 2.20-21, MSG)

Why did God bring a rag-tag, mish-mash group of people together and call us his church?

Because He created us, fits us together and it makes Him happy.

The church is loved by God and we, his kids, are the church.

Jesus is our unifying force. He brought us together. Despite our background there is a place for us.

Irrespective of how we got here, He’s using us in what He’s building.

We are no longer strangers or outsiders.

We fit, we belong.

Together, we are the church.