From the Pastor’s Heart

When I was serving another congregation I received a phone call one morning from a woman looking for financial assistance. She began our conversation with: “I AM STARVING. I WANT TWO FIVE-DOLLAR BILLS, A VOUCHER FOR THE LOCAL SUPERMARKET.” She continued by listing a few other items I was to give her. I responded by offering her lunch at the church at noon…a lunch the church provided for the community, monthly.

She started with her verbal abuse…and asked… “AND JUST WHY WOULD I WANT TO COME TO YOUR CHURCH?”

I politely informed her, it was not MY church but God’s Church and by her coming to the church she would receive a hot meal as well as Christian fellowship.

I will spare you the ugly details of the conversation that quickly deteriorated with her verbal battering.

Following our conversation I kept thinking about her question… “Why would I want to come to your church?”

How would you answer that question; Why would I want to come to your church?

There’s an old story about a small church out in a rural area that needed a pastor to fill in for a time. So they contacted a nearby seminary. The seminary sent a student pastor who had never been outside of the city

When he arrived at the church the student pastor was shocked to see a hound dog seated on the second row next to the church’s lay leader, a crotchety older man who was known to run off young student pastors.
           
In a heat of righteous indignation the young preacher headed straight for the dog. He screamed at it and drove it out of the church. The startled congregation held its breath, to see what the lay leader would do, but nothing happened. After the sermon everyone quickly scooted out the side door and waited for the older man to come out.
           
When he graciously greeted the young pastor at the front door, everyone was taken aback. They had never seen him be that courteous to a student pastor before. The old lay leader extended his hand and said, “I want to thank you for kicking my dog out of church.” Everyone was shocked, at the lay leader’s words, including the pastor. Shocked, the pastor said, “You want to thank me?” “Yep,” said the older man, “I wouldn’t have my dog hear that sermon for nothing.”
           
Churches are sometimes funny places. Sometimes things happen in church that aren’t so funny. Sometimes they are downright tragic.

CHURCHES CAN BE A DISAPPOINTMENT TO GOD. 
           
When is the church pleasing to God? I believe God is most pleased with the church when the church practices and celebrates OPEN HEARTS, OPEN MINDS, AND OPEN DOORS. Why would I want to come to your church?  I can think of several reasons why people would want to come to the Sewickley United Methodist Church. One in particular is the ministry of hospitality. Hospitality—the gracious welcoming of strangers from near and far—is one of the most important ministries that the church has to offer.
           
I recently had a visitor tell me: “Now this is how a church is supposed to be!” It is heart-warming to witness the ministry of hospitality to all those who enter the doors of the Sewickley United Methodist Church…boldly proclaiming…WELCOME HOME! WELCOME HOME! YOU ARE NOT ALONE. HERE, WE ARE FAMILY, HERE, WE WILL RESPECT YOU, LOVE YOU, LAUGH WITH YOU, CRY WITH YOU, PRAY WITH YOU…BECAUSE WE ARE PART OF THE FAMILY OF GOD. It is here that we are also nurtured and fed spiritually. It is here where we are equipped to go out into the world and to be about God’s ministry.

I give thanks for the ministry of this loving church family.

Gratefully,

Pastor Russel