Gather. Rinse. Repeat.

Albert Einstein defined insanity as the act of doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. I think for a lot of churchgoers, church has become somewhat of an example of this definition. I say this because for a time in my life, this was true of me. I would go to church every Sunday and do the same things, and then hope that somehow, God would intervene in my life to make all the other days "better". When my life did not improve, and God did not meet my expectations, I lost interest, as well as confidence in God, and not just who He is, but also what I believed He is capable of in my life.

Then I met Jesus. I heard His voice, His call in my life. Not a call to be a pastor, but a call to follow Him. I was going to church, I was officially a member, but I was far from following Jesus. I was doing church stuff, and felt like I belonged. Although I was part of a church, Jesus had a very small part in me. I was doing all that I could to get Jesus to fit into my kingdom with me instead of making room in me for Him and His Kingdom.

I felt an overwhelming desire to have more of Jesus, but there was a problem: I didn't have a lot of room. I wanted more Jesus but struggled with the willingness to make any room. So little by little, I started giving up things that were important to me. I started with entertainment, and started swapping it out for study and fellowship. Slowly but surely I began feeling different, and everything started to be affected. Church was different. Going to and being at church was different. I had been longing for this to happen, and for the longest time I thought the church needed to change - or I needed to change churches for this to happen.

Paul tells us in Ephesians 5 to love our wives as Christ loved the church, and that we are to wash our brides clean with God's Word, just as we are cleansed by His Word because we are His bride. Get this? We gather as His church to celebrate who He is and what He has done for us. God's Word is read so that we may hear His voice. In this we are cleansed. This is a big deal, because only clean can approach God. This then is encouraging us, and we are then to be an encouragement to others. That is why church matters, not church matters matter, church matters - and we are told to gather, hear His voice and be cleansed, and not stop doing it. So in short, and to sum up church, we should gather, rinse, repeat.

In His grip,

Pastor Pat