That's Ridiculous!

Imagine the following ridiculous scenario:

Yo are single and you hear about a beautiful (man or woman) that you would like to get to know. You do some detective work and find someone who knows them. You then approach this person and begin an inquiry. "How well do you know this (man or woman)?"  "What can you tell me about him/her?" "Are they dating anyone?" "Do you think he/she would be interested in me?" and on and on the questions continue until which time you are ready for a formal introduction. Alas, you hit it off, you begin dating and eventually decide to get married. Ah but marriage is such a huge commitment. What if this, and that… and what if he/she doesn't like my …. or my….. Would I be willing to compromise?  What if …… or ….. and I have to change this or that?  Oh I'm not sure about such a commitment. I mean I really like who this person is and we really enjoy each others company but marriage, man that's another thing.

Maybe I'll ask my friend to move in with him/her and they can then just tell me about what its like to be in a close relationship with him/her. So once a week from that moment on for about an hour you meet the friend who is living with the one you really liked and get the stories and the details about the relationship. Many times you come away from the weekly meeting smiling and imagining how wonderful that relationship must be. But you continue to have this emptiness and longing on the inside. You say to yourself over and over, "I wish I could experience the joy that my friend speaks about each week.   But committing your life to that special person just seems like too much.

 Eventually you stop meeting with your friend once a week. Your meetings become less and less frequent and the stories of the wonderful life of being in a committed relationship become less and less interesting. You remain empty and keep wondering why? You think to yourself, "If marriage is so wonderful, how come it never fulfills me?" " I really don't understand all these married people, what is so special about that?"

Welcome to CHURCH if you aren't willing to get up-close and personal and in a committed relationship with Jesus. The pastor is your safe go-between. You learn about the joys and challenges of commitment without ever committing.  Wonder why so many people have chosen to take church off their commitment calendar?

We are surrounded by our circumstances of life.  Our circumstances become our main focus. The trouble is, all of our circumstances whether good or bad are all temporary. None of them will last past this lifetime. There are only a couple of things that will continue after this life and committed relationship with Jesus is one of them.

We will continue our series on Prayer on September 7th!  There is no service this next Sunday due to the Labor Day weekend.

A "church" person will think that it is awful of me calling off church for a holiday.  A person who knows and loves Jesus will celebrate the holiday with me in full confidence that Jesus understands and approves of our time together as friends and family. It ain't about church!!!!!  It's about a committed relationship with the living Savior.  He's patiently for you.

Love all of you. See you soon. Love, pastor kent