"Two Services: Love Compels Us"
by Tom Goodman
February 8, 2006

We’re gearing up for two distinct morning services beginning Easter Sunday.  To help you get ready, I’m covering six topics in six weeks of newsletters:

      o  What the services will look like
      o  Why we are going to two services
      o  What the revised schedule will look like
      o  How the revised schedule will improve our ministry to families
      o  How we will create a new hour of Adult Bible Study
      o  How you can be a blessing to your church family

Last week we looked at the first topic (archived here).  Now let’s look at the second:  Why we are going to two services.

Love compels us—love for our church family and love for our community.

First, we love our church family.  God has not commanded that we worship him with a certain style of music, but he has commanded us to love each other.  When we respect the kind of music someone prefers, that’s a powerful expression of love.  The way we prefer to worship is partly a generational thing, and generally most in the second half of adulthood prefer a “smooth” style of worship while generally most in the first half of adulthood (and most students) prefer the bolder sounds of a more contemporary service.

We’ve tried to address these diverse needs all in one service, but we’ll be more effective with two services.  Those who prefer our smooth service can continue to come at 10:45 a.m. and those who prefer a bolder sound can attend our new 9:30 a.m. service.

Second, we love our community.  Jesus called us to fish for people (Matthew 4:19).  Just as good fishermen have a variety of lures in their tackle box, good fishers-of-men need a lot of ways to draw people to the Lord.  A new service will put another hook in the water.  As you build relationships with your THEMs, soon you will be able to bring them to whichever service you know they will like.  Sounds to me like Paul’s strategy in 1 Corinthians 9:19-22.  It’s a Bible passage worth reviewing as we get ready for April 16.

So, love compels us—love for our church family and love for our community.  In next week’s Winning Ways I will cover what the revised morning schedule will look like.

—Tom


Notes:

Next-Level Living.  Learn how to live at the next level from the one you’re on!  Our Sunday morning series through Colossians continues this Sunday.  If you want to review the messages from the first four weeks, click here.  You will also find instructions for receiving the sermons as weekly podcasts to that new iPod or MP3 player you got for Christmas.