It’s important
NOVEMBER 15, 2007 (THURSDAY) – Last night our church had its Thanksgiving Fellowship meal.
Does it seem strange to you that a church would have its Thanksgiving meal a week ahead of time?
Our church meets every Wednesday for a fellowship meal followed by a variety of activities, such as youth groups, music rehearsals, Bible studies, and prayer meeting. Next Wednesday, the evening before Thanksgiving Day, all those regular activities are cancelled. Therefore, the Thanksgiving meal was served last night.
You may ask, “Why cancel services?” The answer is simple. The church does not want to distract famiies from their own Thanksgiving celebrations. Thanksgiving has become a day for family reunions throughout our nation. Encouraging families to be as strong as possible is the job of the church. The church’s main duties have always been to enable people, not to enslave people.
The churches of our day seek to help people to live happy, productive lives. They want homes to be strong, the workplace to be productive, human needs to be met, love to prevail, and spirituality to become contagious.
Jesus emphasized daily dedication to God rather than institutional loyalty. “You are the salt of the earth, and the light of the world,” he declared. “You’re like yeast,” he said. All these things enhance and enrich. They are intended to make things better, but are of little value alone.
The church is important. Vital. We need to worship. We need the channels of service it provides. We need the fellowship. We need to be taught and to teach. We need to grow in our spiritual life. The church provides all these things and more and is the hub of our life. Its strength, however, is not so much in what goes on when the people gather together, as it is in what happens when they disperse.
The church emphasizes faith on Sunday, and it’s “a faith for Monday morning.”