Pastor's lines

“Worship: Option or Opportunity?”

Permit me to stir your gray matter that is your brain cells for a few minutes. Thinking back to our early days in Sunday school, a Bible study, Confirmation Class, or the Church's teaching, think about this. Is attending worship on a regular Sunday to Sunday routine, an option, or is it an obligation?

The word worship as we translate it from Hebrew and Greek, means to reverence, honor and, give homage to a superior being, whether men, angels, or God.

From old English, we have the meaning of worthship, or worthiness.

As worship attendance continues to decline in the United States for all Christian and Jewish faiths, in Asia, Africa, and China, worship attendance is on the rise. We see here in the states, churches are merging, facilities closing, and an lethargic attitude. This causes us to admit we belong to the Church of St. Mattress.

Pursuing some Scripture texts, we hear God saying that eternal arms are open to everyone, and an active life of faith brings rewards. God continually requests that we worship our Triune God. The following verses are all familiar to us, and may cause us to rethink where we are with the God who created us, redeemed us, and sustains us on our daily journey.

As part of God's instructions to Israel through Moses, God said in Deuteronomy 6:13, Have reverence for the Lord your God, worship only him, and make your promises in his name alone. Fourteen centuries later Jesus would quote the same verse to Satan, in these familiar words: Worship the Lord your God and serve only him! (Matthew 4:10). As the early church grew in number and Spirit, we read in the book of Acts, that believers gathered regularly on the Lord's Day for worship which included the Eucharist, or Holy Communion. Later in the life of the church, toward the end of the First century AD, the author of the Letter to the Hebrews, wrote in 10:25, Let us not give up the habit of meeting together, as some are doing. Instead, let us encourage one another all the more, since you see that the Day of the Lord is coming nearer.

As part of the Bacon Memorial Church, your attendance, prayerful and, financial support, as well and involved in the life of the church is what will keep the doors open for future generations. Most of us enjoy having the family visit us in our homes. Transfer that thought over to God and the church. Next Sunday, if we all stay home, will God be smiling in the sanctuary of Bacon Memorial Church?

I present to you, the opportunity to worship God, and grow in your Christian faith. To become a whole person mentally, emotionally and, spiritually.

Your Interim Pastor in Christ,

Rev. Robert W. Peck, Th.D.
Interim Pastor