I Get to Worship Freely With My Family. I Will Not Waste It.

Sunday night I posted one short line: I love being able to worship the Lord in this country with my family.

I meant every word of it.

Here is why that line is not small to me.

Sundays I do not take for granted

I have had Sundays when I could not sit in a pew next to the people I love. More of them than I want to count.

So when I get one now, I notice it.

My family in the same row. The old hymns. The handshake at the door. The quiet before the sermon starts.

None of that is promised. All of it is a gift.

Where my faith came from

My mom made sure we were in church. Sunday mornings, youth group, all of it. She passed her faith down by living it in front of us, and that story is on my parents' site.

My dad preaches. When he was ordained, he was asked what his priorities would be in ministry. His answer: God first, his family second, the church third.

I have watched him try to live in that order my whole life. Now I am trying to live it in mine.

What church reminded me about grace

A recent sermon at my church was about grace.

The lesson brought up John Newton. He wrote "Amazing Grace." Before that, he was a slave trader and a wicked man. God got hold of him anyway.

Then the lesson turned to the prodigal son in Luke 15. The part that gets me every time is the father.

"But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him." Luke 15:20

The son was still a long way off. The father ran.

That is grace. It does not wait for you to clean yourself up first. It runs out to meet you on the road.

Free to gather

"I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the LORD." Psalm 122:1

In this country, I can walk into a church in East Texas on Sunday morning and sing as loud as I want. Nobody stops me at the door.

That is not true everywhere. Believers in a lot of places meet in secret, or not at all.

So I want to live like this freedom cost something. Because it did.

Four ways to not waste it

1. Go this Sunday. Even if you have been gone a long time. Especially then. The father in Luke 15 ran.
2. Bring somebody. Offer a ride. Save them a seat. Sit with them so they do not walk in alone.
3. Thank the people who make Sunday happen. The nursery workers. The greeters. The ones who unlock the doors early and clean up after everybody leaves.
4. Pray for believers who cannot gather freely. By name, if you know any.

Then take it home with you. At our house we pray at the table and we pray at bedtime. Some mornings, when I catch a sunrise, I pray out loud for the people working outside, the kids headed to school and the teachers waiting on them.

It does not have to be fancy. It just has to be honest.

If you need a church home, or a prayer

East Texas has a church on just about every road. If you have been looking and do not know where to start, send me a message. I will help you find one close to you.

And if you need prayer, my mom and dad take prayer requests through their ministry. Send them one here. They will pray for you.

I am grateful. I am free to worship with my family. I am not going to waste it.