For my April 7 sermon, I asked “why are we here as a church?” More pointedly, in what ways do we bear witness to Jesus?
I shared two primary ways that I see our congregation bearing witness to Jesus:
1. Worship – this is one of the primary ways we have of being church together, worship is part of what it means to follow Jesus, it helps to define who we are.
2. Empowering people to use their God-given gifts both within and beyond the church.
Then I asked the congregation–what would you add as a third thing to this list? Or would your list of three things look entirely different?
Here are the answers I’ve received so far, mainly by email:
- hospitality – “This is the friendliest church I’ve ever been to.”
- service – “So many people are in service vocations or have been in voluntary service, and we have a higher proportion than most churches of people serving in different ways in the church and in the community.”
- search for community, or a sense of belonging
- to encourage one another
- to nurture and encourage the development of committed disciples, responding in friendship to those in spiritual and material distress in our community
- to love and be loved
- to help build His Kingdom through His church
- and one question: could we perhaps sing one less song each Sunday and read more Scripture, and be known as a church that reads Scripture?
More answers are welcome in person, by email, or be brave and please leave a comment below.