Monday, July 31, 2017
559 - Visiting Spirit
Spirituality
Column No. 559
August 1, 2017
Common Christianity / Uncommon Commentary
August 1, 2017
Common Christianity / Uncommon Commentary
Visiting Spirit
By Bob Walters
Among the beautiful woods, hills, lakes, and towns of
northern Michigan are situated dozens or maybe hundreds of country Christian
churches, happy to see a visitor.
I didn’t
visit dozens or hundreds of churches these past weeks vacationing up north, but
over the years I’ve made it to a few. I always
enjoy walking into a church I don’t know and feeling the immediate fellowship
of a savior and Lord I do.
That’s the reason to go to church,
for the fellowship of likeminded believers. It’s a mistake to think we go to
church to feed God or Jesus or to impress the Trinity with our holiness and
piety. That’s kind of a dumb idea
because the Trinity – God, Jesus, Spirit – already has the goods on each of
us. I don’t go to church to “get”
forgiven – Jesus took care of that on the cross. And He knows what I’ve been up to the past
week.
I go to church – wherever it is –
to remind myself that I am loved and forgiven by a great God who made me in his
image; that I am saved by His perfect radiance and representation that is Jesus
Christ who died a horrific death that I might have eternal life; and to fully
focus on the indwelling Holy Spirit who I occasionally and sinfully push aside
in the rough and tumble of life’s busy and even not-so-busy weeks.
Reading the Bible can accomplish
much the same thing, of course. Scripture
is a conduit to focus on the divine, to immerse one’s heart in the story of divine
grace, and to follow the leading of Christ’s faith, hope and love. And where
those three things lead is to church, where we go not just to feed our souls, but
to both feed and be nourished by the believing body of Christ. Church is where our spiritual muscles are
strengthened among believers so we can carry God’s word with us out into a
challenging world of lost souls. We need
the strength; we share the love; and the world needs the message.
An immediate “tell” of a church at
work for Christ is the number of children you trip over on the way in. Eden Bible Church near Beulah, Mich. (30
miles west of Traverse City), is that kind of place. It was the Sunday before Vacation Bible
School week and kids were everywhere.
Adult volunteers and high school student leaders had turned the whole
church into Paul’s Roman prison, one of those Bible locations that at first
blush might make one flinch but they were going to have a Spirit-led week of teaching
and activities using the example of Paul’s unflinching dedication to Jesus.
The preacher, a wonderful young guy
named Caleb Simerson, asked for a show of hands of those who had helped, and of
the 200-300 folks in the service nearly every hand but mine went up. That’s a Spirit-led church on point and on
mission.
Caleb’s sermon, “Five Ways to
Mature in Christ,” as with many pastors who preach with numbers, actually had
about 10 good points (I was taking notes) while only numerically counting up to
“Four.” He used his logging background
(yes, logging; it’s northern Michigan) for memorable, simple illustrations,
like, “Equipment breaks when it’s cold,” urging us to stay warm in our faith. Basically the “maturing message” was, “Don’t
ever quit; don’t ever think you have finished.” And I thought, “That’s the spirit!”