I heard again today...."What church do you go to?"......
We visited a church yesterday out of town, in Sioux Falls. We have friends who attend there and we were planning to spend Precious Maryn's birthday in the city so we packed up at 8am to make it to the service. The church is called The Ransom and you can find them on social media......and the sermons are so, so good. Yesterday, the sermon was about worship.
Worship is not just the 3 songs at the beginning of the church service on Sunday mornings. It isn't even the hour long service.......worship is a lifestyle of seeking God. When our days include opportunities to think about God, pray, sing and serve.....we have days and days of worship. The hour a week in church is really just a time to connect with other believers, and join hands and hearts in Jesus' name. Everything before and after this hour......is also worship.
Earlier this week, I was wondering if Roger was planning to say "yes" to the youth group leader at our church, and agree to be a sponsor for the junior high group. He hadn't told me if he had responded, or if he had made up his mind. I was thinking about how serving at church for our mid-week service is hard for me because Wednesdays are my longest work day of the week.....and when I finally finish, I don't want to put Josiah in a second daycare/nursery for the evening so that I can go be with other people. Sunday morning is the same....if I would volunteer to teach Sunday school, Joe would have to be in nursery too......or go home with dad......but then I wouldn't be getting Sunday dinner on the table until closer to 1pm which doesn't work for my kids. Sigh. I need to do less on Sunday mornings so that my family can really experience the day as rest. (myself included).
Earlier this week, before the Sunday sermon on worship, I made peace with God about all of this. He showed me that the work I do for church takes place all week long. I give rides to people who need them, I make a meal to a family when God nudges me to, I follow up with people who are sick and hurting and offer to help in any way. I write things on my blog posts that point others to Jesus (well, sometimes), I play Christian music in my car. I pray. I repent. I apologize when I mess up. I try hard to be patient and kind and generous and good because, for me, this is the fruit of the Holy Spirit alive in me........I find my church everywhere I go every day.
Living my days looking for ways to help and bless others is self-sacrificing for sure. I often end the days absolutely exhausted and spent.....but how else would Father God fill me back up again? If I only do half of what I could, then I only get half of the filling back up! I'd rather be all poured out every day, and all filled up again with the mercies that are new every morning. The added bonus of living the days this way is that I don't have much time to feel sorry for myself, or obsess about things that are wrong in my life. Mostly, it just doesn't matter that much.
When I live my days this way consistently, I can easily feel the presence of God when I join a church service on Sunday morning......I don't leave the service feeling like I didn't get anything out of it, or that I was annoyed with some part of the service. It's an added bonus to always come away from a fellowship of believers with more of God than I knew coming in. God is just so, so awesome that way.
We managed to get the younger kids to bed around 9pm tonight. I will set alarms to wake up at 6:30am for the first day of school. I will get them all settled and then.....I will go back to church. The church God sets before me as I walk out my Tuesday.....and then the day after that and the day after that. Eventually I will get back to Sunday.....and after a long summer of being gone more than home, I will show up in my church building in my town and I will smile at familiar faces and I will settle my family into a row that has at least 7 chairs.....and we will participate in the service there, too. We will worship. God will be there. He always is.
Worship is not just the 3 songs at the beginning of the church service on Sunday mornings. It isn't even the hour long service.......worship is a lifestyle of seeking God. When our days include opportunities to think about God, pray, sing and serve.....we have days and days of worship. The hour a week in church is really just a time to connect with other believers, and join hands and hearts in Jesus' name. Everything before and after this hour......is also worship.
Earlier this week, I was wondering if Roger was planning to say "yes" to the youth group leader at our church, and agree to be a sponsor for the junior high group. He hadn't told me if he had responded, or if he had made up his mind. I was thinking about how serving at church for our mid-week service is hard for me because Wednesdays are my longest work day of the week.....and when I finally finish, I don't want to put Josiah in a second daycare/nursery for the evening so that I can go be with other people. Sunday morning is the same....if I would volunteer to teach Sunday school, Joe would have to be in nursery too......or go home with dad......but then I wouldn't be getting Sunday dinner on the table until closer to 1pm which doesn't work for my kids. Sigh. I need to do less on Sunday mornings so that my family can really experience the day as rest. (myself included).
Earlier this week, before the Sunday sermon on worship, I made peace with God about all of this. He showed me that the work I do for church takes place all week long. I give rides to people who need them, I make a meal to a family when God nudges me to, I follow up with people who are sick and hurting and offer to help in any way. I write things on my blog posts that point others to Jesus (well, sometimes), I play Christian music in my car. I pray. I repent. I apologize when I mess up. I try hard to be patient and kind and generous and good because, for me, this is the fruit of the Holy Spirit alive in me........I find my church everywhere I go every day.
Living my days looking for ways to help and bless others is self-sacrificing for sure. I often end the days absolutely exhausted and spent.....but how else would Father God fill me back up again? If I only do half of what I could, then I only get half of the filling back up! I'd rather be all poured out every day, and all filled up again with the mercies that are new every morning. The added bonus of living the days this way is that I don't have much time to feel sorry for myself, or obsess about things that are wrong in my life. Mostly, it just doesn't matter that much.
When I live my days this way consistently, I can easily feel the presence of God when I join a church service on Sunday morning......I don't leave the service feeling like I didn't get anything out of it, or that I was annoyed with some part of the service. It's an added bonus to always come away from a fellowship of believers with more of God than I knew coming in. God is just so, so awesome that way.
We managed to get the younger kids to bed around 9pm tonight. I will set alarms to wake up at 6:30am for the first day of school. I will get them all settled and then.....I will go back to church. The church God sets before me as I walk out my Tuesday.....and then the day after that and the day after that. Eventually I will get back to Sunday.....and after a long summer of being gone more than home, I will show up in my church building in my town and I will smile at familiar faces and I will settle my family into a row that has at least 7 chairs.....and we will participate in the service there, too. We will worship. God will be there. He always is.
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