Reasons I Am Excited About Sunday
I had lunch with a guy on Wednesday who has been coming to our church. I always ask how people find us. He found us (as is often the case) through the Internet. ICB is full of people who are well-described as "golden-rule Christians" (a term coined by Nancy Ammerman). Golden-rule Christians are more comfortable showing our faith and talking about it. One of the chief areas we need to grow in as a congregation is to learn to be more comfortable talking about Jesus. But I digress.
The thing that made me proud of my church was that this guy said one of the reasons he chose our church to visit first was because it was clear that we put a lot of time and effort into mission. Not only that but mission focused on meeting the needs of some of the most vulnerable people in Thailand (the orphans, widows, disabled and poor). That's absolutely true.
I often marvel at the diversity in our congregation. Where else do you find progressives and evangelicals worshiping together in harmony? You know what holds the thing together? We don't get sidetracked into peripheral issues. We have a dogged focus on Jesus. And that means we are unified by our love for Him and by extension our love for the "least of these" (Matt. 25).
That's a church I am proud to pastor. Here are some other reasons I'm excited about church THIS Sunday...
10:00am
(1) We are going to have communion.
(2) We are going to sing "Jesus, Name Above All Names" AND sing a verse that people in our Sunday Night Worship Service wrote last week during the service.
(3) I'm preaching about how Jesus led a balanced life. Balance is actually something I do pretty well. It's good to preach occasionally from something you are good at! :)
(4) South Africa is one of our prayer focus countries this week. The violence against immigrants is something I really want to see the whole church pray about.
6:30pm
(1) We are going to have communion.
(2) Den and Mark are BOTH going to be present for song leading. When you bring two talented people together it's always good.
(3) My sermon is about How to Pray for Other Christians? I hope that some other Christians begin to pray for me like Paul prayed for the brothers and sisters in Philippi.
(4) Sunday Nights are always chilled out and plain fun. Last week we wrote a song during the service. That was cool.
Hope to see you at one or both services. Peace.
The thing that made me proud of my church was that this guy said one of the reasons he chose our church to visit first was because it was clear that we put a lot of time and effort into mission. Not only that but mission focused on meeting the needs of some of the most vulnerable people in Thailand (the orphans, widows, disabled and poor). That's absolutely true.
I often marvel at the diversity in our congregation. Where else do you find progressives and evangelicals worshiping together in harmony? You know what holds the thing together? We don't get sidetracked into peripheral issues. We have a dogged focus on Jesus. And that means we are unified by our love for Him and by extension our love for the "least of these" (Matt. 25).
That's a church I am proud to pastor. Here are some other reasons I'm excited about church THIS Sunday...
10:00am
(1) We are going to have communion.
(2) We are going to sing "Jesus, Name Above All Names" AND sing a verse that people in our Sunday Night Worship Service wrote last week during the service.
(3) I'm preaching about how Jesus led a balanced life. Balance is actually something I do pretty well. It's good to preach occasionally from something you are good at! :)
(4) South Africa is one of our prayer focus countries this week. The violence against immigrants is something I really want to see the whole church pray about.
6:30pm
(1) We are going to have communion.
(2) Den and Mark are BOTH going to be present for song leading. When you bring two talented people together it's always good.
(3) My sermon is about How to Pray for Other Christians? I hope that some other Christians begin to pray for me like Paul prayed for the brothers and sisters in Philippi.
(4) Sunday Nights are always chilled out and plain fun. Last week we wrote a song during the service. That was cool.
Hope to see you at one or both services. Peace.
