It’s what I go to church for

Busbridge Church

For those of you who are church-goers, I want you to think about that moment you step into church at the start of a service.  Think about what you experience.  The smiles and friendly faces (hopefully) of the welcomers, the offers of numerous leaflets that, if you’re like me, you turn down because you’ve already received them by email, the nodded greetings of the people at the back of church working on the sound desk or projector.  You spot people you know and give them a hug; you ask them how their weekend was and commiserate that it is nearly over.  You gradually move towards the pews (or chairs if you’re lucky), take a seat, and wait for the service to begin.

That’s how a service usually starts for me, unless I’m helping out in some way.  What I’ve left out, however, is my thought process as I head into church.  Continue reading “It’s what I go to church for”

Try it out

Brooms help cleaning

I love to help out at church.  It’s an opportunity to give back, to support a community that supports me, to try out new things, to develop skills, to meet people, to do something that makes a difference, etc. etc.  I love doing it for all those reasons.  If I’m being really honest, I also love doing it because I like to feel needed.  That last one probably isn’t the best reason to help out, but I can’t ignore it because it’s definitely one of the reasons I do it.

I’ve pretty much summed them up above, but for anyone thinking of helping out at their church (and these probably apply to many other things besides our churches), here are some reasons why I do it – hopefully they might encourage some of you to get more involved as well,  if you aren’t already…

Continue reading “Try it out”

God-made

Towpath by Shalford lock God-made scenery

Where do you see God?  What reminds you to praise Him, to talk to Him, to acknowledge Him?  When are you prompted to pray?

For some lucky people, reminders are not needed.  God is ever-present in their lives and they have worked hard I’m sure to get that relationship to the point that God is always at the front of their minds.  For many of us, we can go a day (or much longer) without talking to God.  We go about our lives without thinking of Him or interacting with Him.  We reach out to God when something goes wrong, or when we are in a Christian setting (at church or at a house group, for example).  And we reach out to God when we are reminded of Him.

Continue reading “God-made”