| The Visit |
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Last night I visited a church I had never attended before. It's a long story how I became aware of it and I won't go into that here, but I gave myself plenty of time to find it and got there about 10 minutes early, or so I thought. Actually I was almost half an hour late since the pastor was already into his message of the evening. Oh well. :-)
As I entered the building from the parking lot I could hear his strong voice, and when I pushed open the second door I immediately found myself right smack dab in the middle of the aisle by the back row of a very small church with the speaker only about 7 or 8 pew-lengths directly in front of me! It was slightly disconcerting but most in the little congregation didn't see me come in and, in spite of my grand entrance, the pastor didn't skip a beat.
I stood there for a moment to survey the territory, becoming keenly aware of the manifest Presence of God swirling around me! Awesome! I quickly sat down in the back pew and began paying attention immediately. I was not disappointed.
The message was powerful and was right on target. I was blessed and challenged by the words spoken and by the music and prayertime that closed the service. I drove home with a song in my heart, very glad I had been there.
When I emailed the pastor later I learned that the little church is fairly new, with fairly new believers. The group is non-denominational and meets evenings twice a week in a building that is used by a denominational church during the day the rest of the week.
Last night that congregation was encouraged to "be the church" in these times. Of course this applies to all of us who believe that God is in control even when our economy is changing. Of course we must all make some adjustments in 2009 but we can do it, and we can help others to do it! Christ lives in us: think what that actually means!
Jesus helped those who hurt and He also knew how to tear down spiritual strongholds which basically means that we as Christians also have the authority to pray that good replaces evil. I know that different churches look at "tearing down strongholds" in different ways but however we each understand it, let's go for it! Christ in us is the answer for anything that happens to any of us in the next few years. If we believe it, let's each move forward, acting on those beliefs!
I'm glad I visited that little church. I will pray for them; they will pray for me. Together we can pray for our families, friends, nation and world. Let's do it! Together we can all make a difference! |
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