Scripture: Isaiah 49:13
Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth; break forth, O mountains, into singing! For the Lord has comforted his people, and will have compassion on his suffering ones.
Thought for the Day: Mother Teresa wrote, “Joy is prayer; joy is strength; joy is love; joy is a net of love by which you can catch souls.” Joy is powerful, and I think most of us can offer a firsthand witness to that power. You have probably stood in the glow of someone else’s joy, and you found it both magnetic and contagious. Yet recently I have read a number of articles about the unfriendly church. I wasn’t surprised by people who experienced a lack of friendliness when visiting the church for the first time. What did surprise me was how many people talked about visiting a church and hearing or even being invited into disagreements or arguments about some administrative issue within the church… and this was on people’s first visit to the church. Trust me when I say – church administration is not the joyful image we want people to first experience when they come to Cypress Creek Christian Church. Administrative arguments are joy to no one. I have said before, and I’ll say it again, I don’t want us to talk business on Sunday morning. I want to meet visitors, hear about people’s highs and lows, and pray with those who are needing a little extra encouragement. Unless the building is currently on fire, it can wait until Monday. Let’s be a church that knows the joy of the Lord, and exudes it in all that we do.
Prayer: May the joy I know from being in relationship with you, O Father in Heaven, be the joy that others see and experience through me. Amen.
THIS SUNDAY
1 thought on “Ecclesiological Etchings: 05-27-15”
Very good!!