To Everything There is a Season

My parents always told me that the only things that never change are death and taxes. That includes church.

Recently, we shared with our folks about a change in our worship schedule. Many, many people have shared with me how excited they are about the new schedule.
For me, it's change -- a change in what I've been used to for a LONG time. I have really wrestled with this one.

Here's the deal… I am so excited about what this will do for our church's ministry for years to come. More importantly, I absolutely believe God will use this to increase our effectiveness.
Sunday night for several years, has been a tough time to come back to church for many of our young couples and senior adults. And attendance on Sunday evenings has gradually dwindled, even while this service has been a great time of worship and praise for all who came. In many ways, it is my favorite time of worship. I LOVE gathering with the family of God.
In these days of faster-paced, hectic lives and heavy traffic all over our area, so many of our people travel from so far that returning for Sunday night services is tough, and we know that our families with young children have a hard time getting the little ones back to church AND ready for school the next morning.

Our Wednesday schedule has become far better attended by young and old alike.

Our purpose as a church is to reach people and disciple believers. Reaching people is the primary purpose of Sunday morning. Discipling believers has always been the purpose of the second service. For decades, Christians have used the Sunday night service for that purpose. There's no real Biblical reason, it was merely tradition that served the church well for a long time.
Now, the needs of our church family have changed. Our Biblical purpose hasn't changed, but our schedule needs to shift in order to better meet this need to disciple our believers.

I can foresee our Wednesday night service growing for years to come. Hundreds can gather for worship and Bible study and discipleship. We’ll continue to have children’s programs for kids of all ages. I can see many believers gather for that mid-week spiritual feast from the Word of God. What a great way to hear from the Lord and fellowship with the church family in the middle of each week!

Change is beneficial, even if it takes some getting used to.
Many years ago, most church (practically ALL churches) only had one service each week. I'm so glad years ago somebody stood up and said, "let's have a second worship service, especially designed to teach the Bible." So they planned a second service in the evening. Very few could come mid-week. Most members were farmers and worked sun-up until sun-down. But their lifestyle and schedule allowed services Sunday morning and evening. Nothing has changed - really. Only that the lifestyles and schedule of our members lends itself to a second service that is mid-week instead of Sunday night. This will actually INCREASE our effectiveness in doing what God has called us to do - disciple our members through that second service.

As you pray, please pray for our Sunday night services through the rest of this year. We have some AWESOME services planned - you don't want to miss them. Then, after the first of the new year, we will have an incredible, God-anointed service that includes some great praise and worship and Bible teaching aimed at challenging and discipling the believer.

Pray that God will always challenge us to be more effective than ever in reaching people for Jesus and making disciples.
Remember, we do "whatever it takes" to help people become fully devoted followers of Christ.

rp