Here are some things I love about Daybrook Baptist Church.
You might want to challenge me on what I'm about to write. Please feel free to do so!
Number one: love. As the Apostle Paul writes ...
"Now about your love for one another we do not need to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other. And in fact, you do love all of God’s family throughout Macedonia. Yet we urge you, brothers and sisters, to do so more and more, and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life. (1 Thessalonians 4:9-11, NIV)
This is church where I feel I can love and be loved. I like the idea of making it my ambition to lead a quiet life. Anyone want to join me in that one?
Number two: Service. As Mark writes …
"Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, “Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all.”"(Mark 9:35, NIV)
This is a place where people serve. People give their time freely. Thank you. We don’t appreciate you enough. This verse follows another verse about keeping quiet. This time in the sense that the disciples need to keep quiet so they can listen.
Number three: Instinct. Instincts can be good. Paul writes in Romans about people who instinctively do the things of the Law even though they don’t know it. At Daybrook I find an instinctive understanding of who God is and what he requires. Instincts can be wrong, but sometimes it is good to trust them.
There's nothing here directly about being quiet, but the idea is that we hush all feelings of superiority.
Number four: Welcome
“Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me.” (Mark 9:37, NIV),
Here I find people who put themselves out to welcome others. Churches usually claim to be welcoming, but I find that we are working hard at it. This verse follows another verse where people kept quiet. This time it is the disciples who had been arguing about who was the greatest. Ooops.
I could go on, but maybe you want to add something. May God our Father open our eyes. And teach us when to be quiet.
James
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