MAKE IT A DAY

I was at church all day today.  It was a wonderful celebration service: the music was powerful and Pastor Paul gave a great heart-felt message.  It was wonderful.  After worship, we stayed for a pitch-in lunch and enjoyed getting to know some people that we didn’t know so well.  Heidi then brought the boys home for their naps while I stayed and prepared for the Financial Peace University class that I teach in the afternoon.

After the class, I picked up all of my materials and was ready to head out the door.  And that’s when I realized that I wasn’t alone…

Sorry—that made it sound like a horror movie.  But I wasn’t alone, there were a bunch of people still at the church—some were from the class, but a lot of them were not.  There were kids running around while some were playing cards.  Adults were sitting around talking and laughing.  Everyone was having a good time.

And that got me thinking…that’s what church is supposed to be!  The church is a family.  We should want to be around each other and spend the entire day together.  There was such a warm feeling within me to see this family enjoying each other’s company.

For the last few weeks, I have thought about the cities and towns in the Bible and how neat it would have been to live there.  I envision it to be like a glorified college dormitory—in structure and function only.  Obviously, it was a lot bigger than a single building, but to be within the confines of a wall (the dormitory) and to live in separate residences—yet all together.  I think that would be great.  Yet, I realize that over time I would probably get tired of living that close to everyone; everyone probably would because we’re used to living in our isolated society.

But that’s what makes the church family so great.  We don’t have to live together to be together.  Get together each week and stay around all day; have a good time just being together as a church family.  When you get tired, you can simply go home.

That’s what the church is supposed to be—a family, not just an hour-long “thing to do” each week.  Go to church, be with family, make it a day.