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Fresh Start 2011

Fresh Start Sunday – September 18, 2011

(Article submitted to the Strathroy Age Dispatch)

I once received an angry letter from a woman who had been informed that she was to be taken off the roll of active members at a church I was working with.  She had moved away several years previous and, with the passing of her mother, had lost her only remaining connection with the congregation.  Despite this, she was incensed that she was being removed from the roll of “her” church.  She had been baptized there, married there, and had buried her mother out of there – taking her off the list of active members of the church was, to her mind, tantamount to questioning her Christian faith!

In responding to her, I felt compelled to point out to her the difference between a “church” and a “congregation.”  A church is a building, made of wood, stone, plaster, concrete, etc.  It doesn’t care if you are or aren’t inside it on a Sunday morning, doesn’t care how you sing, doesn’t care if you live or die.  A congregation, on the other hand, is made up of people – people who worship together, work together, spend time together and love each other.  A congregation is a community that cares for its members – it welcomes new ones and misses those who aren’t present as it tries to serve the spiritual needs of itself and the world around it.  A congregation is dedicated to trying to grow in faith, hope and love and to building each other up as we all try to walk along the road of our lives, following the Way of Jesus Christ.  Yes, they serve each other in moments of crisis, but they are also encouraged to stand with each other day by day as well.  A congregation is about relationship;  a church is just a place.  God wants us to stand together as we grow in our relationship with Him.

A rabbi once went to a man who had withdrawn from the synagogue for one reason or another.  He took a coal from the fire and set it on the hearth.  Soon, it was cold, grey and dead.  He put it back in the fire and, within moments, it was back to full blazing life.  The man nodded and was back to worship on the next Sabbath.  True life in Christ, true fire in the spirit, requires fellowship and companionship along the way.

If you’ve stopped attending worship for one reason or another, the odds are good that your relationship with Jesus Christ has stopped growing.  Interestingly, we are in a time of “church shoppers,” free to look for a congregation where our souls are fed and not confined to the traditions of our past.  As school goes back and “routine” returns, many congregations are having “Welcoming Sundays” of one kind or another this month.  Instead of just pointing at ‘your church’ as you drive by, why not become part of a congregation, as it lives, breathes, and rejoices in the power and presence of a growing relationship with God?

 

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