Ponderings...

My Church

My church is composed of people like me. We make it what it is. It will be friendly, if I am. Its pews will be filled, if I help fill them. It will do great work, if I work. It will make generous gifts to many causes, if I am a generous giver. It will bring other people into its worship and fellowship, if I bring them.

My church will be a church of loyalty and love, of fearlessness and faith, and a church with a noble spirit, if I, who make it what it is, am filled with those things.

Therefore, with the help of God, I shall dedicate myself to the task of being all the things that I want my church to be!

Was That a Compliment?

After a worship service, a pastor was greeting people at the front door. A woman shook his hand vigorously and said, “That was a very helpful sermon. You know, you ought to have your sermons put in a book.”

“Thank you!” answered the pastor. “Maybe my wife will have some of them published after I’m dead.”

“Well,” responded the elderly saint, “the sooner the better.”

Celebrate Labor Day

Labor Day, first celebrated in 1882, provides a day of rest for working Americans, showing their importance to the country’s well-being.

Christians see work as a gift and command from God. Adam was put in the Garden to “till it and keep it” (Genesis 2:15, NRSV). Even Jesus chose workers to help carry out his mission.

Rest is just as significant as work. God commanded us to rest one day each week (Exodus 20:10). The Sabbath is a time for worship, family activities, renewal and recuperation.

Labor Day is a reminder to be grateful for the creativity, ingenuity, minds and muscle power of countless workers -- all gifts of God. That’s worth setting aside a day to appreciate.

To Worship Is To Sing

The worshiper who sings ... drinks more deeply of the message of the hymns. The gospel as found in our hymns is the same as that in the Scriptures.

The worshiper who sings ... becomes more deeply involved in the service; less of a spectator and more of a participant.

The worshiper who sings ... draws more closely to those who worship with him.

The worshiper who sings ... expresses faith by lifting his or her voice in praise to God.

The worshiper who sings ... upholds the service, making it finer and richer for fellow worshipers, the pastor, the church and God.

See You at the Pole

In April 1990, a group of Christian teenagers in Burleson, Texas, decided to pray around the flagpoles at three schools. Thanks to word-of-mouth publicity and announcements at youth rallies, that September about 45,000 students prayed around flagpoles at 1,200 schools in four states.

See You at the Pole (SYATP) is now an annual, international event. Students of all ages organize prayer gatherings outside of regular school hours, usually at 7 a.m. local time. Many parents, teachers and youth pastors join in. This year’s event occurs on September 24.

Student-led prayer, even at public schools, is free speech protected by the U.S. Constitution. By gathering around their flagpoles, young people take a stand for Christ as they call on his name in prayer.

The Message in an Old Hymn

In 1854, Annie Louise Coghill, an 18-year-old British citizen, was visiting Canada. She felt compelled to write a poem about people’s need to work and make daily contributions to the world. Life is relatively short, she wrote, so we must act now.

Coghill’s poem became a hymn (“Work, for the Night Is Coming”), which once was in many denominational hymnals.

The gist of the hymn is found in the last line of each stanza. Here they are:

Work for the night is coming, When man’s work is done.
Work for the night is coming, When man works no more.
Work while the night is darkening, When man’s work is o’er.

Daily Meditation

Remember, Christian soul, that thou has this day and every day of thy life: God to glorify, Jesus to imitate, the angels and saints to invoke, a soul to save, a body to mortify, sins to expiate, virtues to acquire, hell to avoid, heaven to gain, eternity to prepare for, time to profit by, neighbors to edify, the world to despise, devils to combat, passions to subdue, death perhaps to suffer and judgment to undergo. --St. Augustine

Advantages of Joining the Choir

1. You never have to worry about what to wear.
2. You have excellent seats and are assured a reserved seat for Christmas and Easter.
3. From your advantageous seat, you can smile at, gawk at, ignore, and otherwise enjoy the rest of the people in the congregation.
4. The pastor is nearly always looking the other way.
5. You’re in a wonderful spot to see new members.
6. The cost for all these benefits? Just one evening a week.
7. Oh, yes, one more reason to join the choir: You’re a leader in the worship experience.

Grief

Grief is perhaps the most difficult of human emotions to face, though it also has the potential for being the most therapeutic. Grief isn’t a bad thing; it’s the cost of having loved. If we hadn’t loved, if we hadn’t cared, we wouldn’t grieve. And our lives would have been even emptier.

Bible Quiz

What was God’s plan for Adam in the Garden of Eden?

A. To till it and keep it
B. To manage the animals
C. To enjoy its beauty and the food all about him
D. To fill it with people

Answer: A (See Genesis 2:15, NRSV.)

Fringe Benefits

Can faithfully attending worship actually raise your income? MIT economist Jonathan Gruber thinks so. In a study, he found that income increases by 10 percent when people double their church attendance.
Gruber proposes these possible reasons:

• Churchgoers join in fellowship with one another, resulting in social and job networking.

• They support one another during losses and setbacks. Such encouragement helps people do their best in all of life’s endeavors.

• Churchgoers tend to be less stressed by everyday life, enabling them to work creatively and be more productive.

Boosting one’s bank account isn’t the reason most people go to church, of course. But it’s interesting to note that worshipers reap both spiritual and earthly rewards.

 

updated September 4, 2008