Years
ago there was a theme song from a hit television show and the lyrics to that
song made a lot of sense. In fact, they
not only made sense they hit the core of who we are. Now please don’t misunderstand my
implications as approving of the show or read too much into my point. However, read this excerpt of the
lyrics.
“Making
your way in the world today takes everything you've got. Taking a break from all your worries sure
would help a lot. Wouldn't you like to get away? Sometimes you want to go where
everybody knows your name, and they're always glad you came. You wanna be where
you can see; our troubles are all the same. You wanna be where everybody knows your name. You
wanna go where people know people are all the same; you wanna go where
everybody knows your name.
The
hit show focused on a secular setting where people would gather to forget about
their troubles and share life with one another.
As I see it that is one of the critical components the world is looking
for in life. Therefore, shouldn’t the
church be seeking to provide this relational aspect? Shouldn’t the church be a place where
relationships are built on a common foundation of dependency on one another and
more importantly on dependency on God?
The church could be the very place to provide a relationally starved
world with more than a temporal fix or a momentary place to forget about their
problems. The church should be a place
where the hurting comes to find healing.
The church should be the very essence of the place where everybody knows
your name and everybody is glad you came!
How
does that happen? Let me relate it this
way. I was made aware of a gesture of
selflessness by one of our church family recently. Miranda Bowie celebrated her birthday
recently. However, she decided to do something
unusual for this particular occasion. She
chose to do an act of random kindness for every year she had been alive. (If you want to know how many that was you
will have to ask her!) So this special
lady set out and chose to encourage, assist, and/or extend some act of kindness
to people. Wow! Here is the heart of a making a difference in
the lives of others. She could have made
this a time when she said, “It’s my birthday!
It’s all about me!” Instead, she chose
to say I want to use this as an occasion to help others.
If
we could approach church with this mentality of making FBC a place where we
seek to minister to others, then we are developing a place where people want to
come. We are providing an atmosphere
where there is love and acceptance. That
is what a lost and relationship longing world is looking to find.
I
am so thankful that many of you see this and are striving to make this the
heart rhythm of FBC. I love that so many
of you at FBC make this a place of acceptance and love. I love that so many of you at FBC make this a
friendly place. I love that so many of
you at FBC make this a place that welcomes people from all walks of life. That is the essence of relational
evangelism. Church family lets continue
to build a great place of worship to our Lord that welcomes all people to
worship and grow in Christ.
Love
People Worship Christ,
Pastor
Ric,
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