One of the frustrating things about being a pastor is a rainy Sunday.
They told us in seminary that if it rains on a Sunday, you can expect up to one-third of your people to stay home. That probably harkens back to the days when transportation was by horse-drawn carriage and no one wanted to go out into the field and hitch up the team in those kinds of conditions, let alone travel on a muddy road where you would most likely get stuck in your Sunday best clothes.
It is unbelievably frustrating for pastors to see people sidelined by rain. On Sundays when it rains, such as yesterday, it is difficult to not get angry at people who would go to work in the rain, go to school in the rain, go to a UK basketball game in the rain, but not to church.
Well, this isn't a blog castigating people who stay home when it rains. Quite the opposite.
One of my long-time mentors told me, when I asked him what was one regret he had in ministry, "I wish I would have spent more time appreciating who was there rather than being mad at who was absent."
Yesterday, on a dark, rainy Sunday morning, there were tons of people at church. There were lots that were missing, but there were many more who WERE there than who weren't.
Oh, Lord, how faithful they are.
Every Sunday, people set aside time in their Sunday morning to come to Catalyst to worship, to participate in the community, to fellowship, and to be part of the Body of Christ.
Oh, Lord, how faithful they are.
Every Sunday, people give of their hard-earned money to support the church. We don't scare people into giving. We don't say that they will burn in hell if they don't. The people give of their own free will and their own choice. And each week we have enough to meet all our needs.
Oh, Lord, how faithful they are.
We've been a church for almost eight years now. We have never missed a Sunday; never called off worship for Christmas or rain or snow or ice. There have been people attending Catalyst Christian Church for four-hundred and fourteen Sundays in a row.
Oh, Lord, how faithful they are.
We have Catalyst members who are foster parents, who are adoptive parents, who do missions in Honduras, Haiti, Jamaica, Kenya, India, and Nepal, who support foster and adoptive parents, who fill backpacks full of food to feed hungry kids on the weekends, who teach fatherhood skills in prisons, who serve on the worship team, who volunteer in children's ministry, who volunteer in our youth ministry, who greet and usher on Sunday mornings, who prepare communion, who prepare the baptistery for baptisms, who share their faith with friends and family and bring them to Christ, who are discipling their children in their homes, who gave Thanksgiving and Christmas to children of inmates, who serve and serve and serve and never ask for any recognition whatsoever.
Oh, Lord, how faithful they are.
We have a congregation who gave of their treasure, above and beyond their normal giving, in order to move into our first building in 2009 and now into our current building in 2014.
Oh, Lord, how faithful they are.
We have people who give of their time to lead community groups to pastor and teach people, and people who give up a night a week to host and attend these groups. They are growing each day closer to the Lord.
Oh, Lord, how faithful they are.
I could go on. The faithfulness of the people in the church is amazing. What I listed was just a small portion of what goes on daily in the lives of Christians. No media, no front page news, no announcement or plaques or awards given. Just day to day faithfulness of the believer in Christ.
When I'm tempted to get upset at people who stay home on a rainy day, Lord, remind me of the amazing amount of faithfulness demonstrated by the people. Pastors, I encourage you to do the same. Remember the words of my very wise mentor:
"I wish I would have spent more time appreciating who was there rather than being mad at who wasn't."
They told us in seminary that if it rains on a Sunday, you can expect up to one-third of your people to stay home. That probably harkens back to the days when transportation was by horse-drawn carriage and no one wanted to go out into the field and hitch up the team in those kinds of conditions, let alone travel on a muddy road where you would most likely get stuck in your Sunday best clothes.
It is unbelievably frustrating for pastors to see people sidelined by rain. On Sundays when it rains, such as yesterday, it is difficult to not get angry at people who would go to work in the rain, go to school in the rain, go to a UK basketball game in the rain, but not to church.
Well, this isn't a blog castigating people who stay home when it rains. Quite the opposite.
One of my long-time mentors told me, when I asked him what was one regret he had in ministry, "I wish I would have spent more time appreciating who was there rather than being mad at who was absent."
Yesterday, on a dark, rainy Sunday morning, there were tons of people at church. There were lots that were missing, but there were many more who WERE there than who weren't.
Oh, Lord, how faithful they are.
Every Sunday, people set aside time in their Sunday morning to come to Catalyst to worship, to participate in the community, to fellowship, and to be part of the Body of Christ.
Oh, Lord, how faithful they are.
Every Sunday, people give of their hard-earned money to support the church. We don't scare people into giving. We don't say that they will burn in hell if they don't. The people give of their own free will and their own choice. And each week we have enough to meet all our needs.
Oh, Lord, how faithful they are.
We've been a church for almost eight years now. We have never missed a Sunday; never called off worship for Christmas or rain or snow or ice. There have been people attending Catalyst Christian Church for four-hundred and fourteen Sundays in a row.
Oh, Lord, how faithful they are.
We have Catalyst members who are foster parents, who are adoptive parents, who do missions in Honduras, Haiti, Jamaica, Kenya, India, and Nepal, who support foster and adoptive parents, who fill backpacks full of food to feed hungry kids on the weekends, who teach fatherhood skills in prisons, who serve on the worship team, who volunteer in children's ministry, who volunteer in our youth ministry, who greet and usher on Sunday mornings, who prepare communion, who prepare the baptistery for baptisms, who share their faith with friends and family and bring them to Christ, who are discipling their children in their homes, who gave Thanksgiving and Christmas to children of inmates, who serve and serve and serve and never ask for any recognition whatsoever.
Oh, Lord, how faithful they are.
We have a congregation who gave of their treasure, above and beyond their normal giving, in order to move into our first building in 2009 and now into our current building in 2014.
Oh, Lord, how faithful they are.
We have people who give of their time to lead community groups to pastor and teach people, and people who give up a night a week to host and attend these groups. They are growing each day closer to the Lord.
Oh, Lord, how faithful they are.
I could go on. The faithfulness of the people in the church is amazing. What I listed was just a small portion of what goes on daily in the lives of Christians. No media, no front page news, no announcement or plaques or awards given. Just day to day faithfulness of the believer in Christ.
When I'm tempted to get upset at people who stay home on a rainy day, Lord, remind me of the amazing amount of faithfulness demonstrated by the people. Pastors, I encourage you to do the same. Remember the words of my very wise mentor:
"I wish I would have spent more time appreciating who was there rather than being mad at who wasn't."
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