From the Desk of an Elder….

What comes to mind when you say “go to church”. Or to put it another way, what is church? What is

supposed to be happening during that time we gather together on Sunday morning? Now this my

opinion but I feel it is also the view of many others.

First and foremost, it is a time to worship and praise God and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. So how

are we to do that? One way is thru song. Sue White and others involved in setting up the service do a

great job in choosing hymns for the morning. The praise teams and pianists both lead us in singing

those words of praise (and by the way, we could use some more praise singers). Another part of our

worship service is the spoken word. This is done in several ways. First, is the call to worship. I try to find

a bible passage that is uplifting and praises God. I also like to do a responsive reading when possible.

That gets everyone involved in worship. When those words are spoken instead of just read, they tend to

be absorbed more by the mind. Then we have the time of prayer during our service. A time when we as

a congregation come together to pray as one for the needs of a few, as well as the needs of many. Also

to give thanks for everything God has given us in our daily lives.

A big part of our “church” service is the reading and “instruction” of God’s word. The Sermon. Even

though we don’t have our own pastor at this time, we have been blessed to have many different

speakers to share God’s word with us. Most of these, do not have what I would call formal education for

being a preacher, but have felt a calling to profess the Gospel. All have a different style or technique in

which they achieve that.

A last item of our “church” or worship service is a very important part to me. This extends beyond the

time frame of 9am to 10 am. This the time before the actual worship service and after. I believe the

apostle Paul has written that the “church” is a fellowship of believers, a group of people that gather

together that believe in God and Jesus. Now I have a strong opinion on this. I think it is great that we

televise and record our service for everyone to watch outside our four walls. This is great for those that

don’t have the ability to be there. But I think that it best to be physically here on Sunday morning to

worship with other believers. I feel you get more out the service. There is the interaction with others.

The chance to talk with people you may not have seen all week or longer. A time to hear each others

challenges to give each other encouragement. A time to build relationships with fellow members. We

come to “church” to build our relationship with God, we also should use this time to build relationships

with each other. It may make for a “noisy” time but I think for a healthier congregation. How cold

would it feel if you walked in to the building and it was quiet, or how inviting would it feel to hear a hum

of conversation of people interacting with each other? Feel free to talk to me anytime before or after

church.

Some thoughts from the desk of Elder Brent Janssen