Good morning and happy Saturday! Good morning and happy Saturday. And welcome to July. Last night was fun as a group of us from the church went out to watch the Monarch’s games together. We laughed and joked around a lot, watched some less-than world series caliber baseball, wasted money on over-priced food, and Logan even stared down the camera on the big screen for an awkwardly long time. It was good to just be together, spending time with one another.
**Don’t forget that our service on Sunday morning will be at 11:00 am. Sunday school will be at 10:00 am. The evening service is dismissed for the 4th.
What? Is it possible to change the service times for a holiday, even if it so that others can hopefully join us? Would our forefathers agree with such a thing?
Each month I drive through a small town in Missouri. It is one of those locations where you have to slow down from 60 mph to 25 mph as you go through the city limits. Since you are moving at the speed of a snail, it does give you the opportunity to check out the local attractions. The stores that are boarded up with faded for sale signs are always eye catching. The giant car wash megaplex (slight exaggeration) with two bays always makes me smile. Fortunately, the Casey’s is always busy, as is the Co-op. Some of the older houses in the area have been maintained nicely. Others are candidates for a home improvement episode. One of the notable features on this stretch of highway are the number of churches that are located there. It’s not anywhere near the number of flavors that Baskin-Robbins serves, but it seems like plenty. One of them that catches my attention is the Baptist church. I noticed one day the service times on its sign. It lists Fellowship at 9:00, which is good. Most churches don’t offer set fellowship times anymore. Somehow, we have lost the importance of relationships, building into one another’s lives, etc. The assumption is that it will happen outside the scheduled activities at the church. Of course, it should, and that sounds reasonable, unfortunately in this busy, modern world, it rarely happens. So, this church signified the importance of it by listing it on the marque sign. Well, maybe. I say that because the sign also lists that Sunday School starts at 9:15. I am not sure that 15 minutes is enough time to develop and foster deep, meaningful relationships.
Here is my speculation. Sunday school used to start at 9:00. People would show up to church, grab a coffee of delicious, fresh-brewed coffee, and then visit with people they haven’t talked to all week. Others, with no appreciation for actual starting times, would wander in late once again. Finally, the Sunday school teacher, wielding power like a modern-day prophet of the Lord, went to the pastor and threatened to quit unless this outrage was dealt with. The audacity of people seeking to become more like a family of believers instead of hanging on every word that would come from his mouth. The pastor, recognizing that a church split could be in their future formed a committee to study the issue. Interviews were conducted. Observations were made. A survey was sent out. Some wanted Sunday school to be moved to 9:30. Oh, the outrage at such a heretical idea. Since the formation of the church, Sunday school had always been at 9:00. How could any true believer dare suggest something of that magnitude? The old guard fought to maintain the time-honored slot of 9:00 am. How could they conceive of doing anything different that what their forefathers had established so long ago? At long last, the committee finished their report. The time came to present it at a specially called church business meeting. The parking lot was filled, people showed up early for once. The attendance at the business meeting was nearly triple the normal Sunday morning faithful. Having a say in the time of Sunday school was apparently more important than actually attending there on any consistent basis. After a period of discussion, sprinkled with comments not representative of devoted followers of Christ, someone made a suggestion that changed the course of the meeting and the history of the church. The person asked, “What if we recognize that some people do like to fellowship when the get to church?” Instead of moving Sunday school to 9:30 or keeping it at 9:00, why don’t we split the difference and start at 9:15? That gives people time to get their coffee, say hi to their church family and get to class. Beyond that, we should encourage everyone to be intentional about striving to have real fellowship throughout the week. Fortunately, the suggestion was well-received, and the church avoided having to split and start yet another church in town.
1If, then, there is any encouragement in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, 2 make my joy complete by thinking the same way, having the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility consider others as more important than yourselves. 4 Everyone should look not to his own interests, but rather to the interests of others. (Philippians 2:1-4)
Have a great weekend. Be intentional, spend time with one another.
From our neighborhoods to the nations,
Pastor Larry
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