I once heard an old preacher’s story (I don’t know if it is a real account or a work of fiction) about a church with a priority problem.
It started with a simple line in the church bulletin reading “Would the person that moved the trees from the behind the pulpit last week, please return them". The same statement kept appearing each week but with an increasingly harsher tone.
Over the next six months, the interest in “who stole the trees” became a mainstay of the congregation. Each member had a theory over who would commit such a terrible crime. The preacher even got involved with lessons entitled “Stealing from God” and “Thieves and liars will not inherit the kingdom of God”.
The controversy came to an end as just as it had begun with a simple line in the church bulletin. It read, “For those curious about how the trees came to be back with us last Sunday, they were found in the baptistery.
It started with a simple line in the church bulletin reading “Would the person that moved the trees from the behind the pulpit last week, please return them". The same statement kept appearing each week but with an increasingly harsher tone.
Over the next six months, the interest in “who stole the trees” became a mainstay of the congregation. Each member had a theory over who would commit such a terrible crime. The preacher even got involved with lessons entitled “Stealing from God” and “Thieves and liars will not inherit the kingdom of God”.
The controversy came to an end as just as it had begun with a simple line in the church bulletin. It read, “For those curious about how the trees came to be back with us last Sunday, they were found in the baptistery.
Even if this story is not entirely true, it is true that a church can find it’s self so involved with less important matters that it forgets about the lost souls.
That is one of the greatest things about being in a church committed to seeking lost souls. You can see it in the way the money is budgeted, in the volunteers to knock doors and teach Bible studies, the prayers offered about evangelism and in the friendly attitude the congregation has toward visitors.
It is truly a blessing to work with a congregation that has its priorities right.
That is one of the greatest things about being in a church committed to seeking lost souls. You can see it in the way the money is budgeted, in the volunteers to knock doors and teach Bible studies, the prayers offered about evangelism and in the friendly attitude the congregation has toward visitors.
It is truly a blessing to work with a congregation that has its priorities right.
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