The LINK: 2/23
Dear Church Family,
“Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another.”
The writer of Hebrews reminds us of the importance of coming together in Christian community, for it is here that believers find encouragement to follow the teachings of Jesus which call us to “acts of love and good works.”
We come together in many ways as a congregation. Small home group Bible studies, larger group meetings at the church, ministry teams coming together, children and youth meeting in their groups, and many, many more, are all examples of the importance we place on being to-gether as a church. Further, while we celebrate all these opportunities, we believe that the Sunday morning gathering for Worship is the most important of all, for it is here that we focus our time and energies on giving praise to the God who loves us and calls us into fellowship in order to love one another.
In order to provide diversity in our styles of Worship, we as a church offer two services on Sunday mornings. The 9:00am Worship Service has a contemporary style with the music normally led by a Song Team, while the 11:00am Worship Service has a more traditional style featuring our Chancel Choir and Bell Choir. While this offers options for those who worship with us, it does divide us as a family of believers on Sunday morning. It is not unusual to hear someone say something like, “I don’t know most of the people who attend the other service.” With this reality in mind, we will be trying something new as a congregation for the next several months, a new way of worshipping where ALL of us can come together at the same time on a Sunday morning.
The new Combined Worship Service will meet at 10:00am on the first Sunday of the month beginning in February and going through May. Thus, on February 5, March 5, April 2, and May 7, we will have one service rather than our regular two services. Combining worshippers from the two services, our worship style will be a blend of those services.
Many of you attended the recent January 1 service. Being New Year’s Day, we decided to have one service only. Since I was out of town that Sunday, I had asked Kate Nowlin, a member of our church, to share with the congregation how the grace of God had been at work in her life. Following my return from vacation, I received quite a few comments, all positive, about the service, and requests that we do something similar more often in order to bring all of us together on Sunday mornings. The result is this new monthly Combined Service.
May the Lord continue to bless the worship of our church so that as we gather together, regardless of the time or the style, God will be praised and each one of us will be encouraged to acts of love and good works.
Yours in Christ,