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Location:
6425 Jefferson Rd. For
directions, click here.
FROM
THE BISHOP From He
noted that we tend to put tremendous
emphasis on the "worship service" as if
it were the single most important
activity of a congregation. Indeed,
most of our clergy have been taught for
decades that Sunday worship is their
first priority -- and that the ability
to prepare and deliver a great sermon
is primary to their
effectiveness: "Get
church members to worship on Sunday
morning and everything else will
fall in place." But
Dr. Strunk believes this is a modern
heresy. I agree. The early churches put
their primary emphasis on what happens
during
the
week,
not on Sunday morning. Now,
don't get me wrong. Our Sunday worship
experiences are important and should be
highly valued within the life of our
congregations -- but we ought to focus
more on what we do Monday through
Saturday. The
New Testament, Dr. Strunk notes, speaks
very infrequently about Sunday worship,
and the great reformers of the Church
were less interested in reforming
worship than they were in reforming
one's faith journey. Dr.
Strunk writes: What
really mattered to them was life
lived -- every minute and second --
in the company of Jesus on the road
to mission.... So...unless
lives are lived in a daily risk with
Jesus Christ, what is the point
[of worship]? Will God honor
our sacrifices, liturgies, and
hymns? Or
as the Prophet suggests, will God
honor only worship that leads to a
spiritual life -- that does good and
inspires us to love, be kind, and
walk minute-to-minute humbly with
the Lord? I
encourage you to attend Sunday worship,
and to make that worship experience as
vital and alive as possible. But
be sure to go worship as one wanting to
grow as a disciple of Jesus Christ and
to serve Him faithfully in the world --
every day. Bishop
G. Lindsey Davis
Gateway
Church gathers
for worship
Sundays
at 10:30 a.m.
(Hwy. 129) in Athens,
Georgia.
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of the
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FALL
2007
Following
Jesus every day
In
a recent
article,
Dr. George Strunk, senior pastor at
Christ United Methodist Church in
Louisville, Kentucky, focused on
Christian worship.
"Preach
a great sermon and all else will
prosper."
What
our ancestors in the faith truly
valued -- what they risked their
lives for -- was the spiritual
life, not Sunday
morning.
North Georgia Conference
The United Methodist
Church