Worship August 2017
Church Family,
I hope you are having a great ending to your summer, as we look forward to a great Fall season together. One of the things that I love about Fall, is that our Church Family is consistently together! During the summer months, we are so busy with vacation, travel, sports, etc... and these are good things to be valued, but I love being together! So as we turn to a new season of weather, life, and ministry, God has been impressing on my heart the importance of Sunday worship. I know that we get tired, I know that we get busy, but on Sundays, we get to do something that doesn't happen any other day of the week. We get to come together as a faith family, we get to fellowship, we get to lift our voices in song, and we get to dive into the word of God together. We get to do this in freedom, and in joy! As I am reminded of so many of our brothers and sisters in Christ around the world that pay a huge price of persecution to worship, people who risk their lives and their families to worship together, we get to come together in freedom to worship the One who saved us. What a great joy and privilege this is!
As a Church, we aren't perfect. Our lives are messy. One pastor once told me, “If you ever find a perfect church, don’t go there because you will ruin it.” This is true, because there are no perfect churches, and there are no perfect people. We’re all imperfect sinners in need of a perfect savior. Thankfully, God showed His mercy to us by sending Jesus to be our perfect savior. What a joy it is to join in the same room with other imperfect people, other messy people, and other sinners, and lift one voice to a perfect Savior. One of the joys of being the Worship Pastor here, is that I get to see and hear the sounds of the saints in front of me every Sunday. The voice of the Church is beautiful. No, we all can’t sing well. We all can’t keep melody, rhythm, etc. But when we are together, the sound of the saints is a glorious sound. It’s one worth sacrificing your time and schedule to be a part of.
So this Sunday, next Sunday, and even the Sunday after that - make it a priority to be at Church with your family. Lean into the joy of God, and join in with the sounds of the Saints. There is nothing like being in the presence of the Church in the presence of God. I love you all. I love worshipping with you.
In Christ,
Jared