My Dear Church Family
Religion is man’s effort to try and reach out to God in self effort. Grace is God reaching out to man through the completed work of Jesus’ death and resurrection.
Come and join us as we worship our Lord!
Pastor Jason
Do you have friends and family that will do almost anything with you except go to church? Listen to Shawn’s story (it’s true by the way) and be encouraged.
Shawn couldn’t remember a time in his life when he was not involved in a church, but he had a growing frustration that many of his closest friends had no interest in church activities and would not come with him to a service. If he asked them to go water-skiing with him, they would always say yes. His friends would even rearrange their schedules and do whatever it took to be out there on the water.
This got Shawn thinking a bit – and gave him an idea. With the blessing of his church (by the way, you have mine as well), he changed his Sunday routine from going to church to going water-skiing. He invited a couple of his best buds along – and of course they said yes.
That first Sunday, he was about to get into the water when he got an attack of the “guilties.” So he said to them, “Guys, you know I’m Baptist, and I’m feeling kind of guilty for not being in church today. Do you mind if I read a bit of Scripture first?” His friends seemed a little uncomfortable, so he read the shortest psalm he could find. Then Shawn said, “We Baptists pray for needs, so does anybody have any prayer requests?” One guy said he was unemployed, and the other guy said his grandma was in ICU. So Shawn prayed and then they went skiing.
The next Sunday, at Shawn’s encouragement, his two friends brought a bunch of buddies. Again he read Scripture and got ready to pray. But this time he said, “We Baptists like to see if there are any answered prayers.” The one friend said, “You know, I did get a job this week. Thanks!” And the other friend jumped in saying, “My grandma was released from the hospital this week.” After the guys heard those kinds of results, a bunch of the guys shared prayer requests. Shawn prayed and then they all went skiing.
Shawn and his friends now do this weekly with more than 60 people. They have breakfast, read a bit of Scripture, pray for each other, take up an offering to give to the poor, and then go water-skiing. Recently they started bringing spare boat parts so if they come across someone whose boat has broken down, they can help out. Shawn looks back on this and says, “I think I accidentally planted a church.”
Challenge: Do you have friends and family that are waiting for you to “accidentally plant a church?”
