A QUOTE AND A FABLE

1) WHAT DID YOU LOSE?
I once went on a 3-week diet and lost 21 days.

Leonard, Jack E.

Comment: Some things we do are a waste of time. But church never is.

2) WHAT DO I VALUE?
The Hart was once drinking from a pool and admiring the noble figure he made there. “Ah,” said he, “where can you see such noble horns as these, with such antlers! I wish I had legs more worthy to bear such a noble crown; it is a pity they are so slim and slight.” At that moment a Hunter approached and sent an arrow whistling after him. Away bounded the Hart, and soon, by the aid of his nimble legs, was nearly out of sight of the Hunter; but not noticing where he was going, he passed under some trees with branches growing low down in which his antlers were caught, so that the Hunter had time to come up. “Alas! alas!” cried the Hart: “We often despise what is most useful to us.”

Aesop - The Hart and the Hunter

Comment: We crown ourselves with bachelor’s degrees, success, and money; but they don’t do us much good when the Hunter comes hunting. Simple things such as faith, the Bible, and the church are most useful to us, because they give us eternal crowns, which the Hunter can never take from our heads.

1) THE VALUE OF CHURCH MEMBERSHIP - STORY

“Do you think a man could get to heaven without joining the Church?” asked three men of a preacher.

“I think he could.”

They laughed and patted him on the back, and called him broad-minded.

“Let me ask you a question, and I want you to answer me just as quickly as I answered you,” said the preacher. “Why do you want to go to heaven that way?”

They were speechless.

“Why don’t you ask me another question?” suggested the preacher. “Why don’t you ask me if a man could get to England without getting on a boat?”

“Well,” they said, “we will ask you that. Now what is the answer?”

“I see no reason why a man could not get to England without going on a ship, provided he was a good swimmer, tied some food between his shoulders to eat on the way, had strength to buffet all the waves - if a shark did not get him. And suppose you did get to England without a ship, do you think you would get there much ahead of the man who goes by ship?”

SOURCE: UNKNOWN

2) WAY OVERDUE - NEWS ARTICLE

(Valleta, Malta) A former British Royal Air Force employee has returned a history book to the Malta public library 42 years after he borrowed it and was given a cup of coffee instead of a fine.

Ernie Roscouet, a resident of the Channel Islands, inadvertently packed the book when he left Malta in June 1962 and returned it when his wife gave him a holiday to Malta as his 65th birthday present.

“It’s actually been on my conscience all this time,” he told the Times of Malta newspaper.

Although he expected a fine he was given a cup of coffee instead.

“Perhaps this story will encourage others to bring back overdue books,” librarian Joe Debattista said.

SOURCE
Returning a Library Book After 42 Years
Wed Apr 21 – Oddly Enough - Reuters

COMMENT
Christ is always happy when we bring our souls back to church, no matter how overdue we have been on returning; but some never make that step because they are afraid of the consequences.

ONE-LINER

SIX STRONG MEN
Don’t wait for 6 strong men to take you to church.

Source: Unknown

UNCHURCHED RISING - SURVEY
The portion of adults who generally do not attend church has risen sharply in the last 13 years, a Barna Group study shows. The percentage of Americans who are “unchurched” grew from 21 percent in 1991 to 34 percent in 2004. Researchers defined unchurched as those who have not attended a church service in the past six months, other than for a holiday service, such as Easter or Christmas, or for a special event, such as a wedding or funeral.

SOURCE
Banks, Adelle M. Survey: Percentage of “Unchurched” Adults Up Sharply Since 1991
May 17, 2004. Christian News. Vol. 42, No. 20, pg. 2

Comment: Apparently this 'growing' problem is not a 'going' problem.

LONGER ONE, SO I'LL JUST SUBMIT THIS ONE

DOCTRINE

...[N]eglecting the Word of God is a serious sin... In fact, every sin is a serious sin because it violates God’s laws and threatens to separate us from our God (Isaiah 59:2).

But to say that every time we fail to attend church on Sunday we are sinning would be to miss the point of God’s command. There are many God-pleasing reasons why we may not be able to attend church on a given Sunday. Perhaps I am an OB doctor, and I am called in to the hospital to care for a woman who is giving birth to a child. That is a God-pleasing profession, and caring for the woman at that time is a God-pleasing action, even though it may mean that I am not able to attend church. Perhaps I am sick and not able to attend. It is a God-pleasing thing to care for the body God has given me, as well as the bodies of others by not passing on my illness to them. Perhaps I live some distance from my church and am not able to attend every Sunday because I have to drive through some treacherous mountain passes. It is a God-pleasing action when I make a wise decision not to put my life and lives of many family members in harm’s way.

On the other hand, if I am lazy or stay up late and prefer to sleep on Sunday morning rather than Saturday night, then that would not be a God-pleasing action. For it would indicate that my priority in life is to pursue my selfish interests rather than hearing the Word of God. Or if I feel it is more important for me to visit friends or go shopping on Sunday morning rather than attending services, again my action is not God-pleasing, for it reveals that my priorities are confused. In all of these things the difference is not what I do but why I do it--my attitude toward God’s Word. Finally I could attend church every week and still sin if I daydream through the whole service or reject what I hear in the Word.

But rather than dwelling on the negative, let’s look at the positive. Why will I as a Christian want to attend worship services regularly? I will want to do so because it gives me an opportunity to confess my Christian faith, and that is something God wants me to do (Matthew 10:32 ). I will want to do so because it gives me the opportunity to grow in my Christian faith and understanding of God’s Word, which again is something God wants me to do (2 Pete r 3:18). Likewise it gives me the opportunity praise and thank my God (Psalm 95:1,2), to support his work with my gifts (Psalm 96:8), to pray for and with my fellow Christians (Acts 12:5), to encourage my fellow Christians in the faith (Hebrews 10:25 ), and to express my unity of faith with my fellow Christians (Acts 2:42 ). All of these are things God wants me to do. And moved by the gospel which fills my heart with an appreciation for all God has done for me in Christ, I will also want to do these things.

Attending Church Weekly
November 7, 2006. WELS Q & A- Church Membership

SINCE I HAVE SO MANY QUOTES & ILLUSTRATIONS COLLECTED, I'M GOING TO START PUTTING UP TWO EACH DAY:

Quiet in Church - CHILDREN'S HUMOR

A Sunday school teacher asked her little children as they were on the way to church service, “And why is it necessary to be quiet in church?”

One bright little girl replied, “Because people are sleeping.”

Room for One More - HUMOR

Zig Ziglar said that he invited a friend to go to church with him. The man answered, “Well, I’d like to go. But the church is so full of hypocrites.”

Ziglar replied, “That’s okay. There’s always room for one more.”

Sermon Central - Contributed by: Melvin Newland

Comment: Does a sleeper equal a hypocrite? It is easy to get distracted even in our worship, but that doesn't mean we are a hypocrite, it just proves that we are sinful, and don't deserve to be in his house. But God in his grace forgives and encourages, receives our prayers, even when our mind wanders half way through. He purifies our worship and calls us to strive for extending our attention span, because he offers us so much through his Word and Sacrament. To come and not listen, or to hear and not believe is as bad as going to the hospital and refusing treatment, or going to a restaurant hungry, and only make use of their bathrooms.