From
the
Pastor's
Desk...
From
the
Pastor's
Desk...
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