Dear Church family and friends,

I pray that as you make the time to do this short study, the Word of God will speak to you and help you to fall in love all over again with what He loves – HIS Church!

What comes to mind when you hear the word “church”?  Many of us have had some exposure or experience with church. Some were not so good and yet others were very meaningful and special.

For the longest time, my memories of church were ones of torment. Of course, I’m joking (maybe!) When I was in my early elementary school years my dad decided he needed to start his religious journey and it involved me. He would get me up before the sun came up on Saturday morning and drag me to the 7 a.m. mass. Back then, the sermon was in Latin. Needless to say, I had no idea what was being said and so I started to act up out of mere boredom. I would glance back to the choir loft to see if any of my relatives were singing that day. I would fidget hoping mass would be over soon. I would stretch and yawn only to have my dad “pinch the snot out of me”, hoping that his torment would get me to settle down! None of his inflictions worked.

By the way, I’m very glad that my dad took me to church and did what he knew to do to expose me to God. I’m where I am today because of him and my early pilgrimage of searching for the truth.

So what is “the Church”? The word “church” is a translation of the Greek word ekklesia, which is defined as “an assembly” or “called-out ones.” The root meaning of church is not that of a building, but of people.

Recent surveys tell us that as many as 79% of Americans identify themselves as Christians, yet only 20% of Americans attend church regularly. And George Barna (survey) tells us that those who think of themselves as regular attenders attend church twice a year, plus an occasional funeral and wedding added in. I guess some people look at going to church as an option or a bother, an inconvenience, an unnecessary burden to be avoided whenever possible. Since it’s a thing they don’t really value, they look at it as a perfectly good hour wasted in order to keep the wife or a pastor or a parent appeased and off their backs. Others see it as sort of like “clocking in” or even earning “brownie points” with God.

• Why do YOU go to church? (Assuming you do attend regularly, not twice a year but frequently.)
• Read Acts 2:42-47. Write down some things that stand out to you about this verse.
• What are the things that this early church valued?
• How did these values affect what they did/how they lived?
• What did they do? (List them.)
• Do you value the Church, YOUR church? Why or why not? In light of what you studied today, how did God speak to you? What changes is God calling you to make?

Don’t forget that this Sunday, September 8th, is a VERY special Sunday in the life of SVCC as we join other churches across the country in celebrating “National Back-To-Church Sunday”, followed by a fun evening of fellowship at Young Park for our annual SVCC “Family Reunion.” Please plan to come and support both events and bring someone with you. Let’s make this an extra-special Sunday!

Praying for you and your family, 

Pastor Ruben and Gayla