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APPENDIX
#3 — “We
Learn to Worship God!”
Church was not his
favorite pastime! In fact he
became a “church drop-out” at the age of five years old. He came home from church worship services one morning and
announced to his parents that he didn’t much like church.
It was boring, the pastor was stiff and formal, the music wasn’t
the kind he liked, he had to sit still for such a long time, and he had
better things to do with his time. It
was quite a statement for a young five year old child.
His parents told him that was alright with them.
If you want to quit going to church, that’s fine.
Maybe his parents were relieved as well!
Anyway, church was not all that important to them to begin with,
they were trying to fulfill an obligation that they felt towards their
child. So, at five, he was an official “church drop-out”.
This is a true story, as told to me by a member of Joy! Lutheran
Church. ( Only the names and
places have been changed.) During the fellowship
time between services, I enjoy visiting with people — both members and
guests — and hearing their “story”.
Everyone has an interesting story to tell — where they are from,
their area of work, their interests, their family, and their spiritual
journey. It is amazing what one can learn in a short 5 to 10 minute
conversation with a cup of coffee in one’s hand. I enjoy picking out new people in the crowd, or at least
people that I have not met before. On
this one Sunday about 5 years ago (1997), I approached “Bill” and
introduced myself. He was out
going and very friendly. After
some small talk about where he grew up, what he did for a living, his
family and how poorly the Bears had done last Sunday; I asked him,
“Bill, how did you end up coming to Joy!?”
He literally responded, “Well, let me tell you my story!”
I sensed excitement in his voice as he began.
He told me the story I have shared above, how he literally dropped
out of the church. Then he
told me about the rest of his life up to that point — how he had gone
through grade school, high school, college and graduate school and had not
looked back upon leaving the church and a faith relationship out of his
life. He met his wife, they got married and they had a wonderful
family of three children — three, five and seven.
His wife was not interested in this church and faith stuff either,
so there was no discussion or struggle about going to a church.
Life was going along well. The
American dream was being fulfilled. Then one evening as he
was tucking in his children to bed, the oldest child looked at him in the
eyes and said, “Daddy, do you know who Jesus is?”
“Bill” was dumb-founded! Where
did that question come from? They
had not even uttered His Name in their home!
Why was this of interest to his child?
“Bill” did not know what to answer.
It had caught him entirely off guard.
But being the smart and intelligent person he was, he suggested
that they go together and try to find out who Jesus was. So the next Sunday
“Bill” took his children and they began church shopping! After several Sundays of shopping, and not really being
satisfied; they happened upon Joy! Lutheran Church. The worship experience was certainly different from what
“Bill” had experienced during his childhood; the people were very
friendly, his children were occupied during the worship and even had a
children’s message time; but what caught “Bill’s” attention the
most was the message that was being given through everything from the
music to the sermon. He said,
for the first time in his life he heard a message about a God that really
cared about him and his children as individuals.
It wasn’t a bunch of laws, dos and don’ts; it was about real
life and a God who was full of grace and love and mercy.
“Bill” said, we really did discover the answer to his child’s
question, “Do you know who Jesus is?”
(Written
by David Lerseth, a member of Joy! Lutheran Church.)
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