hello, my name is church

Hello, My Name Is Church

The Unappreciated PastorOct 20, 2013

Hello my name is church,

I'm sure you've heard a lot about me. I have no shortage of critics. Perhaps you have heard that I am...

Boring Shallow Cheap A waste of time

You've heard that I am full of:

Hypocrites Clowns Greedy people The self-righteous

Maybe you have visited me before and discovered:

Horrible music Passionless singing Dry preaching Rude congregants

Maybe you needed me and I was:

Too busy Too "righteous" Too broke Too blind

Maybe you joined me and found I was:

Distant Demanding Dull Preoccupied

Maybe you tried to serve in me but were caught off guard by:

Business meetings Committees Teams Bureaucracy

Maybe you left and were surprised that nobody:

Called Cared Noticed Invited you back

Perhaps your experience has driven you to:

Speak negatively of me Swear to never come back to me Proclaim that no one needs me Believe you're better off without me

If this is true, I have something to say to you:

I'm sorry I was wrong I blew it I made a huge mistake

But remember, I never said my name was:

Perfect Flawless Complete Arrived

My name is church. I welcome the:

Hypocrite Dry Self-righteous Shallow

I welcome the

Sincere Passionate Forgiving Selfless

I cannot shut my doors to the people who make you:

Angry Uncomfortable Impatient Self-conscious

But I would remind you that we couldn't always worship in the same room. In the Old Testament there was a division between the:

Gentile Jew Man Woman

In order for us to all worship in the same room Christ was:

Shamed Beaten Killed Resurrected

Which is far worse than being:

Bored Uncomfortable Embarrassed Ignored

So why not come back to church and let all of these messed up people:

Challenge you Sharpen you Strengthen you Humble you

I can't promise you that the people will be great. This is church. It's not:

Heaven Paradise Beulah Land The Celestial city

Come back.

God wants you here. The body needs you here. The world needs your witness here. You belong here.

Hello, my name is church.

I miss you.

I love you.

I'm sorry.

Can't wait to see you.

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