What does it take to survive 25 years as a church?
We have met nearly every Sunday for 25 years beginning January 31,
1988. The only Sundays we did not meet were due to bad weather and that only
happened 3-4 times over the years.
When you take 52 Sundays a year over 25 years you get
1300 Sunday services. That’s 1300 worship services planned and executed; an average
of 4 songs each Sunday meant 5200 songs were sung; 1300 offerings taken up with
people contributing each time (I can’t remember if we ever had a Sunday where
the plate was empty); 1300 sermons; 1300 offertories; and coffee was made most
of those Sundays!
That is the picture of faithfulness. Not every Sunday was
a flawless execution of Christian ministry, but most Sundays were well-done and
meaningful. The people of God have been faithful, and that is something to
celebrate.
We don’t claim to be the be-all and end-all of church; we
don’t even claim to be a good church. We know we’re a small church with limits
to our service and talents, but what we do is pretty good and is dedicated to the Lord. We know we’re not more right, more righteous, or mo’
bettah (sic) than any other church in town. We’re simply a church that comes
together to express our worship and thanks to God the best way we can. We are a
group of families who have bonded together to commit ourselves to fulfilling
the sacred command of assembling together “to equip His people for works of service, so that the body of Christ
may be built up, until we
all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become
mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” (Eph. 4:12-13, NASB) It’s pretty simple, really.
We will follow up our service
this Sunday, February 10, with a potluck dinner. Bring food and be prepared to
fellowship into the afternoon.
And guys, don’t forget Valentine’s Day coming up next
Thursday!
