Woodstock Christian Church

There are two things I hope we will be able to accomplish in May.

The first is to complete our study of the Old Testament in The Story. We will be looking at Israel in exile and Daniel. Then we will see their return home with Ezra. We will see the powerful story of Esther. And finally there is the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem with Nehemiah. There are many lessons to be learned from each of these events. Some of those will be covered in our Sunday schools classes, some in the small groups and some in the sermons. It takes all three to even come close to thoroughly studying these passages.

We will then take a break for the summer so people will not miss these lessons because of summer plans and events. Then the plan is to start back up with the New Testament part of The Story on August 5, with school back in session in Cherokee County. This actually fits the Biblical timeline. There was four hundred years between Malachi and Matthew. Some refer to this as the silent years. There was no prophet of God during this time. God did not speak directly or openly to His people during this time. (Note: I have no plans to be silent (not preach) in June and July. The sermon topics have already been selected.)

God has blessed this special study of His word. Attendance is up in worship and way up in Sunday school. God has promised that His word will not return void and God is faithful to that promise.

That brings us to the second thing I hope we can accomplish in May and the summer. A study of our attendance patterns has shown that we have a continual drop in attendance following Easter. While a big Sunday is understood for Easter, there is no reason for people to not be worshipping our Lord following Easter. If anything, we should be renewed and encouraged to praise and honor Him even more. So let's all remember to be as faithful to the Lord's Day worship as we can possibly be.

I know there will be reasons to be absent. There will be sickness. There will be some travel. But as we have seen in The Story God both demands and deserves our faithfulness to Him. Every day we have choices to make concerning where God fits into our lives. God has called us to live a life every day that is a good testimony of His place in our lives. But God has always set aside one day in the week to be special for Him. In the Old Testament it was the Sabbath (or seventh) Day. In the New Testament the apostles led the church to come together on the Lord's Day (the first day). This was the day of Jesus' resurrection. This is the day we remember Jesus through Communion. This is the day we can fellowship together and encourage one another.

Being in the Lord's house on the Lord's Day with the Lord's people is not a human tradition. It is divinely instituted. God and Jesus deserve our worship and praise. It is also very practical. We need this to be strengthened in our daily walk for the Lord.

It is not just a matter of numbers. Numbers simply represent people. Each person matters to the Lord. One of the key words that describes the Biblical, New Testament church in the book of Acts is the word “together.” It is as we come together that we are most effectively the church. It is as all the members of His family, the church are together that we can be….

Together For Him,
Lynn