We awoke this morning to a light snow that has continued all day. The wind has been blowing and it is quite cold.
It would have been so easy to just stay home today.
With four children and another on the way it isn’t always easy to get everyone ready in the morning. We had a carry-in dinner so there was also food to prepare and take with us.
It would have been so easy just to stay home today.
We could have worshiped from the comfort of our own home. I am sure we could have even found a service online or on television to watch.
It would have been so easy just to stay home today.
As easy as it would have been to stay home today we would have missed out on the blessing that we get from attending church.
We were warm and cozy inside our little country church and we were surrounded by friends and family. We got to eat a delicious meal and I didn’t have to prepare but a few of the many dishes that were available. We were able to worship, sing and hear a great message with other believers.
When I glanced up from a prayer to make sure that my children were still sitting still I saw their little heads bowed and was thankful we had made the trek out of our home today to attend church.
My dad is our pastor and he told a story today that I wanted to share with you.
There was once a pastor standing in a checkout line behind a woman who was telling the clerk the sad situations she was facing in her life. The clerk told the woman, “I’ve got a great church. It has helped me a lot. I think it would help you.”
The pastor loved the simplicity of what the clerk had told the woman. Later, he was eating in a restaurant and asked the waitress if she attended church. She said that she had wanted to, but wasn’t attending anywhere. The pastor said, “I’ve got a great church. It has helped me a lot. I think it would help you.”
Imagine the woman’s surprise when she showed up at the church the following Sunday and found that her customer was the pastor.
The point of this story is that those of us who do attend church need to make sure that we are letting others know what attending church has meant to us.
Church isn’t just a bulding, I think it is more than that. It is where I go to worship the Lord with others who want God to be at the center of their lives.
Saying “I’ve got a great church.” isn’t just about a building. It is about letting others know that there is a place they can go to learn more about the Lord. I wonder who I can tell this week about my “great church”.
