Why We Gather
Heads Up!
This Sunday (9/8/24), we have a unique opportunity to gather as ONE large group! We hope you will join us for our All Church Inspire Sunday from 9:30 – 11 am in the gym. And then stay for some fellowship, food, and fun. During the morning, we will sing together, open God’s Word together, and consider what it means to be a purposefully responsive church. We can’t wait to worship with you at the All Church Inspire Sunday!
Just to recap, here are the details:
Date: Sept. 8th
Service Time: 9:30-11am in the gym. Important: This is the only service for Sunday.
- Sunday children’s programming will be available for nursery – 5th grade.
Picnic: 11am -1pm
- There will be affordable food options for purchase. But make sure you bring a lawn chair.
- There will be free inflatables and Kona Ice for everyone!
Also, we could use a few helping hands with some minor outside setup / tear down and inflatable help on that Sunday. If you would like to volunteer, please click here. *You do not need to register to attend.
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Some of my favorite memories from my childhood come from going to church, especially those holiday services when it seemed that everyone and then some were there. I grew up going to a very traditional Presbyterian church that was built in the late 1800’s. It was a large stone building with vaulted ceilings, impressive stained glass, and a massive pipe organ. In every way, it was a site to see. And, yes, there is much that I remember fondly about the physical structure of the church building. Yet, it wasn’t the building that drew me in. It was the people. There was something about being gathered together for a unified purpose that struck me even from a young age. It is also why I loved going to concerts in dingy punk rock clubs through my teenage years. A whole crowd of people gathered together for a unified purpose of enjoying music that expressed how we felt on the inside. Yet, in reflection, these two experiences, while similar, are vastly different. Why? Because only one of them has the Spirit of God at the center. It is a truly transformational experience.
So, why do we gather?
Support – The action of gathering in corporate worship reminds us that we’re not alone in this journey of faith. There are others physically around us, and there is a whole history of saints that have gathered over the last 2,000 years. That is why we believe that the true church encompasses all believers who are alive today and those who have come before us. The large group gathering also reminds us that we need to connect with each other in smaller groups so that we can bear one another’s burdens and experience the incarnate love of Christ. Large group gatherings and small group gatherings work together to support our faith.
Encouragement – In the book of Acts, we hear that the early church gathered together for the teaching of God’s Word, prayer, and communion (Acts 2:42). These functions weren’t merely about coming to a social engagement or a programmatic experience. They were and are about the needed encouragement we all need. We need to be encouraged and spurred on with God’s Word that reorients us as we go into our regular rhythms of the week. We need prayer that helps us hear from God and the voices of the saints around us. And we need communion, this sacred meal that reminds and encourages us with the truth that God loves us deeply. We gather together to be encouraged.
Energetic service – Jesus told his disciples that to be great in the kingdom was to be a servant just as he was a servant (Mk. 10:44-45). We gather to be spurred on in energetic service to Christ by serving in ministry and serving one another. Gathering helps us to consider what it means to be purposefully responsive in our serving through seeing each other and being spurred on by the Spirit of God to take steps of faithful obedience in serving.
We gather because we have been transformed into something new by Jesus, and he continues to transform us more and more as we follow him.