Somewhere between these two photos we jam-packed our first 5th Sunday service with so much fun and energy. Not only did things look different in the sanctuary, the atmosphere was almost tangibly expectant. That attitude of expectancy kept our spiritual eyes and ears open to what God wanted to teach us, it opened our hearts to the people sitting around us in new ways and it allowed us to see the body of Christ from a fresh perspective. I was glad to be in church on Sunday morning!
There are some things that I took away with me as we shut off the lights and locked the doors on Sunday afternoon. Even as I was wondering how long the balloons were going to stay on the ceiling of the sanctuary (and if they were going to trigger the motion sensors), I was filling my heart with the lessons of the day.
- This church knows how to celebrate one another. You did an excellent job holding loosely to the spiritual gifts test itself and found ways to honour the gifts that you saw in each other. Your conversations were so fun to listen in on!
- This church knows how that age doesn't determine your worth in the body of Christ. From being led in worship by our Kmotion kids to seeing our seniors joining their groups under the coloured balloons, every generation was active and participating in church life. It was a beautiful thing.
- This church knows how to express love in tangible ways... in other words, you know how to potluck. In this church, "potluck" is a verb. Soup isn't fancy and crockpots aren't exactly gourmet presentation but it felt kind of extravagant because your attitude of abundance was so obvious around that ping-pong table. There was nothing begrudging about what you brought to share with your church; there was only the sense of wanting to serve each.
And so, I'm glad that as I talk about "this church" and what "you" did that I'm included in those nouns. Thanks for jumping in with both feet. Thanks for feeding us all a great lunch. Thanks for taking care of each other's kids. Thanks for the conversations that helped us to get to know you better. It matters and the atmosphere we create speaks volumes about what the love of God is doing in our lives.
“As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
See you on Sunday,
Pastor Tracy
This Sunday...
Our outbound message is called Brave:
Erin is going to be sharing about the power of the invitation. Did you know that people are much more likely to come to church when someone invites them? It really can be that simple and it means that we need God to help us to step out and be brave. We are commissioned and equipped to share our faith and each of our gifts allows us to share Jesus in unique ways. So, are you ready for the challenge?
You can also follow along with the message on YouVersion. Here's the link.