Pastor Davis' Weblog
We are not alone
WE’RE NOT ALONE
Earlier this week I met with some other pastors from the area. It was the second time that we have met. Nothing big: coffee, donuts, encouragement, shared ideas, faith in Christ.
The big thing I did take away was the conviction that we are not alone. We have many brothers and sisters in neighboring congregations who are growing in faith and faithfulness. You should be encouraged that in addition to the brothers and sisters you see here in worship on Sunday, you also have many neighbors and friends gathered in other churches as well.
(Actually, this insight is probably clearer to you than it is to me. Pastors tend to get very focused on their own flock and end up with a somewhat narrowed view of the Kingdom of God.)
As the pastors shared, a number of commonalities came to light.
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BIBLICAL LITERACY
One of the pastors expressed concern about how much believers DON’T know about the Bible. He shared how crucial Biblical literacy is to all we do as congregations.
We have been working on that here. For the progress that we have made as more and more have committed to more and more Bible reading, I am very thankful.
But let’s press on! Daily. Daily. Daily, let’s commit ourselves to Bible reading. In fact with as little as 25 minutes a day (skip one TV sitcom rerun or miss one home improvement show or skip two innings of a Tigers’ game {gladly?!}) you will read through the Bible annually. Is there anything that would make a bigger difference in the local Church?
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SKIP THE COMPETITION
One of the pastors talked about competition between churches. There shouldn’t be any, except maybe to outdo one another in love and good works.
We were reminded that there are plenty of people, in fact too many!, who do not attend any church. Those are the people we are trying to reach!
Our ministry is to build the Kingdom of God, not our own congregation at the expense of another.
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TROUBLE WITH AN IDENTITY
One of the pastors shared his congregation’s struggle with its identity. That congregation is not quite sure what its niche is. Not all congregations can do all things. Many chimed in with the same sentiment.
We too continue to work on that at St. Luke. We continue to sort through what our key ministry, direction and so on might be. To that end, let me encourage you to attend the Open Forum on Tuesday, April 29, 7:00-8:30 as we sort through Ministry Outcomes.
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INTRUSION OF COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES
One of the pastors brought up the plethora of community activities, especially those connected with schools and sports. There are lots of things that distract or consume the people of God and pull them away from their faith and their faith community. Even if they are all good things—remember too much of a good thing is a bad thing.
Once upon a time most communities reserved Wednesday evenings and Sunday mornings for church events. (The pastors waxed poetic about the old days- you know pastors!) Not any more. And of course, some of that is that we believers have capitulated on our calendars!
That’s the advent of our 6:33 Service. Because of the reality of community life, we are now offering a weekly worship service on Monday evenings at 6:33. We want to make sure that the people of God banded together at St. Luke are enabled not to let a week go by without a time of corporate worship.
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PORNOGRAPHY IS A PROBLEM
One of the pastors spoke frankly about the problem of pornography in our congregations. He shared heartbreaking statistics that I am sure are all too true.
One of the other pastors shared that he has a program that helps people break such an addiction.
If some of you need to deal with a problem with pornography in your life, let me know and I will get you some help.
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PRAYER
I think you will be heartened to know that the pastors committed to pray for one another. Think that might make a difference in our community?
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Enjoy the spring weather.