Greetings on this beautiful morning – in the name of Jesus Christ! I trust that you had a good weekend and enjoyed the ‘cool’ weather…and I hope you are excited about the week ahead, with all the blessings God has in store for you. Today I will be praying for you, asking Father to cover you with grace and mercy.
Did you notice the lawn signs around the city…or one of the billboard signs…or the article in the local newspaper…or the radio advertising highlighting – “September 20th Back To Church Sunday”. This is a promotion for all the churches and financially supported by some of the churches and a few local businesses. The intent was to simply let people in our community know that the “CHURCH” is still there and they are being encouraged to “come back” . There are more than a few people in our community who left church for a variety of reasons. Hopefully, if they came back…there may be a restoration of relationship with God in a “family of faith” setting.
But is that what they will find…has the church environment changed since they last had contact? I ask myself the obvious question: “Come Back” to what? I would ask you to pray for this Sunday and use the words of Scripture: “May we as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe ourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. May we bear with each other and forgive one another if anyone has a grievance with someone. May we forgive as the Lord forgave us. Over all these virtues may we put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Oh! may the peace of Christ rule in our hearts, since as members of one body (the church) we were called to peace. And may we be thankful. Father, may the message of Christ dwell among us richly as we teach and admonish each other with all the wisdom we have gleaned from life experiences – through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in our hearts.” adapted from Colossians 3:12-16 NIV.
As I write this, I am listening to a song called: Ain’t Nobody (Till You’re Loved) – Sidewalk Prophets. I believe that more than anything else we want anyone returning to church to experience love and acceptance…so they can be a “somebody.”
Something to ponder…enjoy the blessings of today!