Be
Intentional:
When
you come on Sundays, consider why we do what we do. As a church, our mission + vision is to drive all we do:
"Grace Church is a community of changed people committed to serve + renew
the Greater Dunedin area with the movement of the Gospel." Everything we
do is to this end and it can be summarized with discipleship (Matthew
28:19-20).
So,
when we come to a Grace Church Sunday morning Gathering, let's remember WHY WE GATHER and come with an intentionality
to grow, to learn, to serve, to give, to encourage, and to worship.
Do
not come solely for social reasons. Do not come to be entertained. And do not
come out of some begrudging sense of obligation (whether to God or to your
church community).
Come
because the MOST SATISFYING OBJECT in the universe has invited you to come and
experience Him the best way we can, together.
Be
Committed:
So
come with a clear intentionality and, may I add another key component, come
regularly. Make our time of worship, service, and teaching a core part of
your week. God, most certainly isn't to be viewed as an "add-on" to
your weekly endeavors and neither should His people (nor our involvement with
His people). "Let us not [give] up meeting together, as some are in
the habit of doing, but encouraging one another-and all the more as you see the
Day approaching" (Hebrew 10:25).
Also,
as expressed in earlier seasons of Grace Church, positive, forward momentum is
a huge help to the advancement of any church. A huge momentum-killer is a low
turnout to church meetings. When you come, and arrive on time, your simple
presence and participation can do a lot for our church's forward momentum.
Please consider that and realize what a crucial part that plays in the
kingdom-building cause of our mission + vision.
Be
Punctual:
Also,
and related to that, being on time is also very important. When a large
percentage of the Sunday morning crowd is 10 to 20 minutes late,
unintentionally, a negative message is sent to our new comers and visitors.
When the auditorium is empty at 9:56am, not only does the already big DHS
auditorium feel empty, there's also, and more importantly, no one there to
greet them and welcome them in their seats. And they can very easily get a
sense that corporate worship may not be a priority to this group of people.
Obviously, that's not the case for us and we don't want new comers to
feel awkward, so let's do our best to be on time.
Be
Expectant:
Come
ready to learn. May I encourage you to invest your mind and prayers into our
teaching series and/or topic. Give some thought to the text ahead of time.
Listen to the Grace Church Podcast to catch up if you missed a
week. Consider doing some of the extra readings recommended throughout the
series. Check the blog and Facebook page for more resources and
quotes.
The
more personal effort you put in to our teachings, the more you will,
inevitably, receive. (This same principle applies to Community Group. Not
reading through the questions and prayerfully thinking through them, before
your Community Group, will significantly hinder your opportunity to grow and be
discipled through our Community Group ministry.)
So,
may I encourage you to come ready to be challenged and ready to learn.
In
summary, coming with intentionality and expectancy while remaining committed
and punctual will greatly help our Sunday morning Gathering experience
together.
Let's keep going! May we experience
all the spiritual growth and vitality we possible can together!
