Last week I reflected on what it looks like both personally and corporately to be a true follower of Jesus rather than just a "cultural Christian"--one who embraces the term Christian because of tradition or family precedence. You can read that post here.
As I've shared previously, my church has a new pastor. I have to admit that I'm fairly biased in my adoration of him, because I was on the committee that helped pick him! :) However, I knew that our choice would have to be proven right over time. I'm happy to report that John Mark Harrison, a man who seemed to be passionate about living brightly for Jesus in this world, is living up to everything that I believed about him.
Having said that, I have a confession to make. When I found out that my pastor and our deacons had made a decision to truck in SNOW to our Christmas Eve service, I reacted with cynicism and vehemence. "How much is THAT going to cost?!" I asked my deer-in-the-headlights, deacon hubby. "How many homeless people in downtown Raleigh could it feed?" I demanded. Hubby defended the group's decision, but I remained unconvinced.
My heart began softening when I saw the reaction of the children sitting around me in church on Sunday when the announcement was made that there would be snow AND a sledding track. (If you live up north, you have to just imagine how DELIGHTFUL this is to southern children!) Children all around me began LITERALLY bouncing up and down in their seats. "Hmmm...," I thought. "Maybe I was wrong to react that way. This could have possibilities."
Well, I'll just go ahead and skip to the end. I was wrong. An amazing 1,100 people came to our 2 Christmas Eve services, more than had ever come to any service before held at our church. Here's the best part...drum roll please...those 1,100 people might have come for the snow, but they heard about JESUS. He was lifted up, and now there are 10 new believers added to the family.
Now that's being the light in our community. That's taking money and converting it to souls. It was an eternal investment.
Do we need to invest in feeding the hungry? Of course. And my church does a lot to make sure that's done too. Do we need to also reach out to people who don't know Jesus who are in the middle class? Yes. It brings me joy to know that I was wrong!
As I've shared previously, my church has a new pastor. I have to admit that I'm fairly biased in my adoration of him, because I was on the committee that helped pick him! :) However, I knew that our choice would have to be proven right over time. I'm happy to report that John Mark Harrison, a man who seemed to be passionate about living brightly for Jesus in this world, is living up to everything that I believed about him.
Having said that, I have a confession to make. When I found out that my pastor and our deacons had made a decision to truck in SNOW to our Christmas Eve service, I reacted with cynicism and vehemence. "How much is THAT going to cost?!" I asked my deer-in-the-headlights, deacon hubby. "How many homeless people in downtown Raleigh could it feed?" I demanded. Hubby defended the group's decision, but I remained unconvinced.
My heart began softening when I saw the reaction of the children sitting around me in church on Sunday when the announcement was made that there would be snow AND a sledding track. (If you live up north, you have to just imagine how DELIGHTFUL this is to southern children!) Children all around me began LITERALLY bouncing up and down in their seats. "Hmmm...," I thought. "Maybe I was wrong to react that way. This could have possibilities."
Well, I'll just go ahead and skip to the end. I was wrong. An amazing 1,100 people came to our 2 Christmas Eve services, more than had ever come to any service before held at our church. Here's the best part...drum roll please...those 1,100 people might have come for the snow, but they heard about JESUS. He was lifted up, and now there are 10 new believers added to the family.
Now that's being the light in our community. That's taking money and converting it to souls. It was an eternal investment.
Do we need to invest in feeding the hungry? Of course. And my church does a lot to make sure that's done too. Do we need to also reach out to people who don't know Jesus who are in the middle class? Yes. It brings me joy to know that I was wrong!
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2 comments:
What a great presentation!!! Your church sounds wonderful.
Thanks, Anita! I really love my church family.
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