Sunday

just what i’m thinking tonight…about today.

if what i read is to be believed,  most churches put about 75% of their time,  energy,  and budget into what goes on at their church building on sunday mornings.   preaching,  teaching,  music,  staging,  staffing,  facilities,  parking,  promotion, technology,  equipment,  connection,  follow-up…the majority of it overwhelmingly focused on what we at north point like to call the big show.

i’m really ratting myself out right now.   i know it sounds pretty crude to call something so sacred as worship,  the big show,  but it’s sort of an in-house reminder to keep things in perspective.   we are not in the business of putting on productions.   it is not our job to manufacture programs that entertain or events that draw people to what we do.

yeah…we sing a little and teach a little and pray a little,  but that is not what our sundays are about.   sunday at north point is simply the weekly family reunion.   we come together to be reminded of what’s most important in life.   we reconnect with each other.   we tell stories.   we introduce new people into our circle of friends and do our best to make people feel at home.

our hope is that the teaching time is a strong reminder to be studying the word of god everyday.   we sing together because it’s more fun than singing alone.   we give our money, not just as an act of worship,  but as an act of shared responsibility in family life.   we take communion with each other because that’s what people do in community.

look.   let’s face it.   we are not out to win any emmys for our big show.   we try really hard to do our best every week,  but what we do on the stage is never the most important thing.   ever.

there are 168 hours in each week…and every one of the 166 other hours  during the week are more important than our two shows we do every sunday.   no matter how we define them,  they are still productions…  the other 166 represent real life.

i love sundays at north point,  because sundays remind me that we are family and we are the body of christ.   we need each other if we are really going to live out our faith in front of a world that doesn’t understand…or care.   we need to know that we are not in this alone.   we need the comfort that comes from shared failures and the comradery that comes from common commitment.

we need constant reminders that we are not perfect…that we don’t have all the answers…that we all have doubts…that we need to laugh…that we’re all different…that others need us…and that god is bigger than anything we will face.

like i said…i love sundays at north point.

#sundays