Thought For The Day

Joy Comes Through Care

We have always had our “Welcome Time” (when people greet each other and our guests), and it is followed by our Prayer Time and the message from God’s Word.

I am convinced we must understand why we do such a thing and so I asked the “man in charge”-  “why do we greet other people when we have probably already spoken to them in an earlier class or moment of contact?” So he begin to give me this “song and dance” about how much it means to people to be greeted by others with enthusiasm, genuine care, and happy, carefree excitement that we have all gathered in this place to Worship, learn, grow, and share our lives. He said he thinks it may be an important part of the Worship experience. . .far more than an exercise to make sure no one feels unimportant. He said Worship is partly about our “serving” the Lord God of Heaven, and there are few better ways to serve than caring about the Savior’s sheep. The sheep have gathered so that the under-Shepherd can (and must), by the exposition of Truth, present that which protects them from the Enemy, feeds them with the living bread, and gives opportunity for the Spirit to use that Truth delivered to build them up in the faith, continue the maturation process, and keep them moving toward conformity to the Savior. What better time is there than just before that message is delivered to tell people how excited we are to see them involved, how happy we are to be together, and with joy collectively receive the knowledge that all of us are vital to this hour’s experience.

We come together for several things, obviously. One that is not less important is helping to make each other know we are family. . .the family of God.

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