Weekly Greeting - May 17, 2024
Dear Bethlehem,
It is getting close to summer when we tend to see a dip in church attendance. As a pastor I have heard lots of reasons people give for attending church less often. Some sound eerily similar to the excuses I found recently of reasons Christians give for not attending sporting events:
12 REASONS CHRISTIANS DON’T ATTEND SPORTING EVENTS
1. The coach never came to visit me.
2. Every time I went, they asked for money.
3. The people sitting in my row didn’t seem very friendly.
4. The seats were very hard.
5. The referees made a decision I didn’t agree with.
6. I was sitting with hypocrites—they only came to see what others were wearing!
7. Some games went into overtime and I was late getting home.
8. The band played some songs I had never heard before.
9. The games are scheduled on my only day to sleep in and run errands.
10. My parents took me to too many games growing up.
11. Since I read a book on sports, I feel that I know more than the coaches, anyway.
12. I don’t want to take my children because I want them to choose for themselves the sports they like best.
What if we were to make an effort to find reasons to attend church more regularly? We still might find things we don’t always like, but it might help us become the people God is calling us to be. Hope to see you in church this Sunday!
Peace,
Craig
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This Sunday is Pentecost Sunday! A special day for all Christians often referred to as the birthday of the church. Our text is Acts 2:1-21. It is a great day to wear red. We will be exploring and celebrating the gift of the Holy Spirit given on the first day of Pentecost. What does receiving the Holy Spirit mean to you? How can we best embrace the gift of the Holy Spirit? How is our experience of the Holy Spirit the same or different from the days of the early church? Read through the text for this coming Sunday and come ready to celebrate this important day in the life of the church!