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Weekly Devotional

October 19, 2009

God’s Peace be with you all.

Matthew 11:25-30   ²⁵ At that time Jesus said, "I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants;  ²⁶ yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.  ²⁷ All things have been handed over to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.  ²⁸ "Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.  ²⁹ Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  ³⁰ For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."

            Have you ever thought of church as being a little like a school?  Not only do you have the education aspect, but you have the fear aspect as well.  Do you remember starting school when you were a little child?  Or perhaps you can recall taking your children to school for the first time.  Those of you that are teachers can probably recall the scared looks on your student’s faces as they begin a new year.  Church can be like this as well, especially when your denomination is not like the other churches in town.  This is true for Springs of Grace, and really for the few Lutheran churches in Spartanburg County.  We are by no means the majority, which is quite different than Lexington and Richland counties. 

            Those same emotions that you can recall feeling or seeing might be the same type of emotions our neighbors have when we talk about church with them.    It might be something new, scary, where they don’t know a whole lot of people, etc.  But it could also be a welcoming, inviting, and warm place to go.  The benefit to talking about church to people BEFORE they come is that they then walk in the door not feeling completely lost.  Instead, they can be greeted by fellow peers as we all gather for class.  With God as our teacher, we are able to learn, share, and teach each other.

             Like any program in school, and because we are all students, there are going to be days we don’t like.  But then there will also be exciting times, like the football team winning on Friday night.  The same is true of the church.  We will have our ups and our downs, we will meet new faces, we will say goodbye to others.  But riding above all that is that we will get the chance to learn how to live as the person God wants us to be.  And that is truly something we can share with others!  So go out and brag about your “school”!  Brag about the good times, and the fun we have together.  But also brag about the learning and living that we do together.  Finally invite people to come and be a part.  Having that conversation with them up front means that when they do come to church, they will already feel apart, rather than feeling absolutely lonely.

In our prayers this week: 

Doris, Mary Netta, Ann, St. John’s Lutheran Church, Joseph, Lisa, Kim, Robert, Evelyn, and Michael

God’s Peace,

Pastor Judson