August 27th, 2017

Church is important! To Me! Worshiping God in many different ways is what I want to do. The worship in the Spirit of Christ is important! To Me! Praying in a hundred different ways in thousands of different places is important! To Me! Providing ways to study God’s word for God’s children are important! To Me! Are these things important to me because of my chosen calling or are these things important because of an inner calling instilled in each one of us? In the book of Jeremiah God expresses his desire for us to come back to him, “I will give them a heart to know me, for I am the Lord; and they are my people, for they will return to me with their whole heart.” – Jeremiah 24:7 What about these things? Are they important to you? Do you desire them as much as you desire most other things in your life? Do you desire to be part of church that provides them? Church is NOT important in and of itself. No one is saved by going to church, or denied salvation by not going. The church family, the body of Christ, however, is God’s tool on earth to bring us closer to the Kingdom. How do we do church in a changing world is the basic concern. I sense a lack of enthusiasm in our congregation. Is it time for a change in pastoral leadership? Or do we need to consider what we might do to serve God at this time, and in this place? It occurred to me we need to gather all of our leaders and anyone else who cares to consider what our present and future mission and ministries should be. How do we reach people who are not yet here? How do we reach those who want to be here, but are frankly are uninspired by how we do things? Do we need additional styles of worship? How about new and exciting Bible studies? What are we going to offer the children, youth, and young adults that will help them grow closer to God? A church moves in only two directions. It is either growing or it is dying. I assure you I love this congregation and those who attend. I also pray for those we do not reach. I promise you I will do whatever I can to help revive this church. Are you willing to help? If you have a comment in any way, please, send a message to me, sc_c@hotmail, or call me at 307- 921-9863.Pastor Chuck