Better Together
It was amazing to read how researchers found that going to church can: reduce stress, lower your blood pressure, build greater personal satisfaction, develop happier and healthier families and marriages, and help you discover a sense of purpose. As we celebrate “Back to Church” Sunday, consider this story.
“A member of a certain church, who previously had been attending services regularly, stopped going. After a few weeks, the pastor decided to visit him. It was a chilly evening. The pastor found the man at home alone, sitting before a blazing fire. Guessing the reason for his pastor’s visit, the man welcomed him, led him to a big chair near the fireplace and waited. The pastor made himself comfortable but said nothing. He silently contemplated the play of the flames on the burning logs. After a while, the pastor took the fire tongs, carefully picked up a brightly burning ember and placed it to one side of the hearth all alone. He sat back in his chair, still silent.
The host watched all this in quiet fascination. As the one lone ember’s flame diminished, there was a momentary glow and then its fire was no more. Soon it was cold and ‘dead as a doornail.’ Not a word had been spoken since the initial greeting. Just before the pastor was ready to leave, he picked up the cold, dead ember and placed it back in the middle of the fire. Immediately it began to glow once more with the light and warmth of the burning coals around it.
As the pastor reached the door to leave, his host said, “Thank you so much for your visit and especially for the fiery sermon. I will be back in church next Sunday.”
This story wonderfully illustrates the vitality of life we receive when we are actively engaged in a church. Unfortunately, when a person walks away from church, they also begin turning to other things in life to find warmth: self-pity, harmful habits, unhealthy relationships, and over indulgences are just a few. But nothing warms them like being in a church with other believers. We are better together!
I am so glad that our church –
- provides a place for families to experience Jesus together
- helps us live victoriously in daily life
- is a safe place to discover our identity without being judged.
Let us continue becoming the church God desires us to be!
Going BEYOND Through Him,
Pastor Gary & Alisa
