 I am sitting down at a coffee shop in a hot day. It is Tuesday and I am barely gathering my thoughts after pouring out my heart two times last Sunday preaching God's word.
It is hard to explain what goes through my mind afterwards. But this is not what I want to share with you today. I've thought a lot about what I am about to write, and I can't seem to find the right words. So I hope you give me some grace and trust that these thoughts are written with love. I grew up in church in a time where missing church was not normal for most believers. Over the last year, and even before that, church attendance trends have shifted dramatically. About 50% of any given congregation are not in church on a weekly basis. It is estimated that roughly 50% of those who call their church "their church”, attend about once every 4 to 6 weeks. Now this is not a complain by any means, remember I am sharing my thoughts. It is more of a concern about the strength of the church. This is not a trend of one particular church. Even bigger churches struggle with patters similar to what I am describing. Online Church has helped some in keeping people connected, I still have to meet some of our church members who join us online almost every week. And there are others who I haven’t seen in months. And even though online is helpful, it doesn’t compare to meeting in person. As we navigate through this year, and face the threat of yet another break out related to covid, I want to encourage you to be at Church as much as possible. Pray for other believers, connect with people, if you attend online try to engage and give feedback to your Church ( I am posting this on other platforms hence the emphasis to other churches here), pray for your Pastors, leaders, and especially the volunteers that keep things running. Be faithful, give generously, serve if possible; you were also called. The Church is us, people who are willing to come together to be encouraged, equipped, strengthened in order to go out in this world to shine the light of Jesus. Is it possible to overcome church attendance trend? I don’t know. But I am certain that Jesus is the one building His Church, and He will not fail. So if you are part of the Church, let’s keep the Church moving. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. 38Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” -Matt 9:37-38 If you read this far, thank you. And if I see you on Sunday, stop and say Hi… These were my thoughts for this Tuesday… with much love ^PJ |