Lately I've been thinking about what it means to serve, what it means to lead, what it means to come Saturday, what Saturday service is even supposed to look like. And I know each of us here does so many things here at Hamilton campus; that we all come here at 1pm with a mission, and a list of tasks to be done today. And it's so easy to let ourselves think that these tasks; doing this, teaching that, attending this, IS church. That church is this big show we put on every Saturday, that church becomes something we do for God, instead of something that we share with God in, something that He's allowed us to be a part of. Acts 2:42-47 says:
They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
Church is about 3 things: Loving God, loving people, and seeing to it that others do the same. When we let our planning, our scheduling, our organizing take away from our simple devotion to those 3 things, we've missed it. We've missed what Saturday service is about.
I've heard so many people talk about excellence, that for the newcomers we need to be excellent in all that we do, and because of that people no longer just consider every detail, they agonize over every one. I catch myself thinking like that sometimes, talking like that sometimes. But what I think is more important, what I think the newcomers will notice most of all, beyond the polish, beyond the snazziness, is the joy, that real, abundant joy that overflows from us because of Christ; of us meeting the head, and now being part of the body. And if our "excellence" is taking away from that joy, then I think we've missed the point of what church is supposed to be.
The question I want you all to pray over this afternoon, is did you come here with joy? As Pastor Paul always says, this is a time of celebration, Saturday service is a party. I'd go as far as to say that if you're not having fun doing what you do this afternoon, you're doing something wrong. Honestly though, I've never had this much fun at any other place than Westside Hamilton, I love being here serving with you guys every saturday. I hope you feel the same way, don't ever forget it. If you do nothing else at all today, remember, and reflect that joy.
