We had a guest speaker at our church yesterday as our Pastor...(PR) was on vacation. The guest speaker was a man from our congregation who I have known for years. I have to say, he did an excellent job. His message was so good and he was hilarious. He isn't the kind of man that I would see from a distance and think...'he must be funny'...but he sure made me laugh yesterday. He talked about our (Mulvane United Methodist) new vision statement. What it is...
Inviting ALL to experience the life transforming love of Jesus Christ.
...and how they ended up deciding on that particular vision statement. It was a very long process in which a lot of thought went into by many people. The congregation included. He went over the five questions we were asked almost a year ago to help the Vision committee come up with this statement. Our answers...along with a committee who read and studied a book...put together the statement that our church now is living by.
Charlie made some excellent points that I had not thought of before. One in particular really stood out to me.
No where in the vision statement does it say...Inviting all to worship.
This whole time we've been talking about inviting people to church. And to worship with us. We have to physically invite them to come in...yet our vision statement doesn't ask people to come worship. It doesn't even invite them to come into our building!
Because we aren't inviting them to come into our building...or to come into our sanctuary...or our multi-purpose room.
We are inviting people to know Jesus.
Inviting ALL to experience the life-transforming love of Jesus Christ.
Now of course we WANT people to come to church! Of course we intend for them to come and worship...but Charlie reminded us yesterday that some people "know" Christ better in a Sunday School setting...or a small group. Sometimes it isn't worship at all that brings people to "know" Him.
To me...worship is a very important aspect of my relationship with God. But...so is music. Coach? Not so much. He doesn't mind the music, but it doesn't speak to him the way it does to me in relation to my time with God.
Everyone is different in how they are touched by God.
But everyone is to know Him.
And that is what we are doing...inviting All to know Him. To experience Him. To experience His unconditional love...the kind that brings the only joy that there is to find.
I saw on a sign yesterday something that really made me think. It is on a church sign just outside of Derby and it read...
"How many people will be in Heaven because of you?"
Wow.
That really made me think. It isn't about how many people we invite to church. It isn't about how many guests we bring to the sanctuary on Sunday morning. It is about how many people we invite to experience the life-transforming love of Jesus Christ. The love that will in fact bring them to Heaven.
Food for Thought!
My daily devotion calendar for yesterday reads something that I thought was important...
We never really know what the future holds. Our worlds can change in a flash-that's just the way life is. We see this truth in the world around us again and again. A serene life comes from adjusting and adapting-never from trying to control. (Women who do too much)
Hence the saying...it isn't how many times you get knocked down...it is how your rise after you fall that counts.
Have a Blessed Monday all!
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