Point of Interest

At church sunday morning, I was sitting in back listening sort of half-hartedly to announcements. Then one of the pastors said something that caught my attention... apparantly they are going to be doing a Bible study on "the Christian faith from the Lutheran perspective." As he was telling us about it he said "We dont really get to go into this during the service, so it's a great chance to learn... blah blah blah... so we encourage you to be a part of that." This is when the flashing lights went off in my head.. WHAT?!.. are you saying we arent preaching our faith during church?! I was shocked. Not only at the concept, but at the fact that he said it right out loud and didnt seem to think it something to be acted upon! sure, they're doing a Bible study, but how the heck are they supposed to get the whole congregation in there to learn something as important as that? They cant. Hmm.. you know what would be better than a full-congregation bible study? A CHURCH SERVICE! i just dont get it...

So what is there to do? Just sitting here and not doing anything doesnt seem right. But I cant go to the pastor and tell him I have an issue with something, either. Quite the knot. What I can do, bare minimum, is pray. Pray for wisdom and insight to the pastors, understanding for the congregation, and faith for all. May God answer these prayers according to His will.

I know my church isnt exactly held in high esteem by the other LCMS churches in the area... we arent traditional, we dont use the hymnals or therefore the liturgy, we sing contemporary music with a few common hymns here and there. I completely understand where people have issues with that. Dont always agree, but understand. Becoming more and more evident, however, is an underlying problem... something having to do with the very nature of what we preach. I have just never heard it put so plainly before, and by one of the pastors.

Something else they said... they were trying to figure out the "business of the church" - the money and so forth - and stated that their main focus was going to be bringing people to Christ. Dont get me wrong, that's great. After all, we've been commissioned to "Go and make diciples." But what about after they've been brought to Christ? What about caring for them, educating them in the faith, "teaching them ALL that I have commanded you" ? One would argue that's what church is for. But didnt he just say that we dont really get to teach "the Christian faith through the Lutheran perspective" in church?

So this is what's been floating around in my head lately. May God continue to be with His church on earth always, to the very end of the age. Grace, mercy, and peace.

- Kayla