Weekly Update// Pastor Chris

Dear Asbury Family,

 Last Sunday in worship, I preached a message titled “Lie #2: The Church is about Me.” The message was part of our “MythBusters” preaching series in which we are seeking to “bust” several lies we tell ourselves about the church. In my estimation, the notion that the church is about us is the most pervasive lie about the church that’s out there right now. As I explained in the message, we owe this lie to the consumerist culture in which we live. Consumerism is the air that we breathe and the water that we drink. It’s no wonder, then, that consumerism has come to affect our modern approach to church. (Think about it. We even use words like “church-shopping” when searching for a new church home.) 

 At the end of the message, I challenged us to adopt a missional approach to church rather than a consumer approach. Here’s the difference:  

 A consumer church is seen as a dispenser of religious goods and services. People come to church to be “fed,” to have their needs met through quality programs, and to have the professionals teach their children about God. Those who approach the church with this mindset will say, “I go to church” like “I go to the gym” or “I go to the grocery store.”

A missional church is a body of people sent on a mission who gather in community for worship, community encouragement and teaching from the Word in addition to what they are self-feeding themselves throughout the week. Those who approach the church from this mindset will say, “I am the church. We are the church.” 

 Imagine what would happen if all of us adopted this second approach! I truly believe, by God’s grace, we would become an unstoppable force that would change our community and even the world.

This Sunday (10/24) we’ll close out our “MythBusters” series with a message titled “Lie #3: It’s Enough Just to ‘Go to’ Church.” I hope you’ll join us for Sunday worship (in person or online) as we discover what it means to be the church. 

 I also hope you’ll stop by the Rummage Sale on Friday or Saturday from 8am -2pm. All the money will go to support missions. A huge thanks to Cyd Frank and our United Methodist Women for all their hard work here.

Have a great rest of your week, and I’ll see you soon.

 Blessings,

Chris