Get Involved

  Pastor Ben continued the series this weekend of what is the church and the focus of his message was about getting involved. There are more than one way to get involved in church and here are some initial thoughts. 

  The first way is realizing that church is not a spectator sport or activity. How often do we consume worship and treat it like a concert. We have talented worship teams, but their goal is not to put on a show, but lead us into the presence of God so we can worship God together as a family. We also have pastors who are great men of God and who preach His Word so not that we can have more head knowledge, but so  we can take that knowledge and put it into practice. How we can move church from a spectator event to being fully engaged is taking what we do in church and do it all week long. How we worship is more than singing a few songs and hearing a m sage, but it is how we treat people especially those we don’t like. Or it’s working diligently and to the best of our ability at work or raising children to mowing the lawn. In his song When I Survey the Wondrous Cross, Isaac Watts finally line is that the cross demands my soul, my life, my all. The same could be said about our worship because we all worship and it might as well be the Creator of the Universe. Can you you worship God even in the mundane things? Also p, is worship something we do to get noticed be others or do we do it for an audience of one which is God?

Another concept is that at one time, attending church on a regular basis ment going twice a month. Are we making church a priority.  Church has to be more than crossing something off of our list and just showing up so we can collect a participation trophy. Anything worth doing is going to cost us something and it is often something great. Church is no different.  We often get out of it what we put into it. Church is also a place where we can grow and to lay our hurts down. How often have you had a rough week at work or with family and the pastors message is what you needed to hear or getting a bear hug from a trusted friend along with shedding some tears and hearing some encouraging words and prayer. It’s also doing the same for others. I attend the Saturday night service and one of the things that I look forward to is Al coming up to me and shaking my hand and asking how I am doing. If you know him, you know his smile and laugh is infectious. It’s our way of checking in on each other and that is being the church. I could go on, but how are you not only getting involved, but investing in others? Is it getting involved in kids ministry and talking about superhero’s, or is it getting involved the youth and wadding through relational drama, or getting up close and personal by leading a small group and diving into people’s lives?

  The last thought is that being committed to church or a cause means we see the big picture, and we participate in the mission, even when things are tough.  Being committed is wanting to grow and to invest in others and actually do it. We have to be willing and actively finding ways to get out of our comfort zone. A part of doing church is inviting others to join us so they might find the joy we have in Christ. Or it’s being committed to either having tough conversations with others or hearing and understanding those tough conversations when people have them with us. Being committed is taking the time to grow and mature personally and it invest in others to do the same. 

  To close out the Apostle Paul makes the bold claim that the church is one body filled with many parts (1 Corinthians 12) and that we all can’t be hands or feet. If we were, the church could not operate because everyone would be trying to do the same thing and some people don’t hand those gifting which makes the church operate not at full capacity and it make Che church dysfunctional at best. We all have particular gifts for a particular reason, so when we use those gifs as God designed, not only are we worshipping God but we are pointing others to God and His Grace. So, do you actually know what your gifts are and are you hands  trying to be eyes and see what is going on or do you realize that you are hands and are finding ways to serve? 

Grace and Peace 

Tom Boustead