Worship
About 20 years ago a number of men from First Christian annually attended stadium worship events associated with Promise Keepers. Those events brought together as many as 60,000 men to one place with one purpose╨to worship our God. The cheers, the singing, the accolades and the tears were all about worshipping God. In a stadium reserved for cheering for the home team, men were gathered simply to express their love for God and to let Him pour into their lives. Upon returning home from one of those events, one man said to another, “I wish our church people could experience the level of worship we did at PK last night.”
Prayer
A big part of our everyday lives is communicating with others. Whether it is with our spouse, our kids, a coworker or a complete stranger, communication is important. An even more important thing is communication with God through prayer. In 1 Thessalonians 5:17 (NLT), Paul encourages us to “never stop praying.” Paul is not referring to non-stop talking, but rather a habit of being with God always and making our whole life a prayer. Every waking moment is to be lived in an awareness that God is with us and He is actively involved and engaged in our thoughts and actions. As we go through the day, prayer should be our first response to every situation, good or bad, and every anxious thought. This way of thinking about prayer will make it one of the favorite things in our lives.
The Truth
Because of the resources the internet has to offer, we can experience the Word of God like never before. With just a click of the mouse, we can access the Bible in thousands of languages, many different versions and various print sizes. We have access to audio Bibles, where someone reads the words to us. There are Bibles with commentaries and dictionaries attached and even Bibles with videos incorporated into the scriptures. How wonderful it is to have God’s holy and inspired Word at our fingertips. The words and lessons inside the Bible make it precious to us. So whether it’s an old worn book or words written on the internet, the truth of God’s word is what makes it special.
Giving
Dropping a dollar in the Dollar Club box, placing a check in the offering plate, children handing their coins to an adult in Kidtown, paying for someone’s meal in a restaurant, doing yard and repair work for senior citizens, purchasing a needy family a grocery gift card, spending a Saturday helping with a food and clothing distribution, buying school supplies for a local back to school campaign, putting cash in an envelope to be donated anonymously to someone in need, helping to fund mission trips-all these are being accomplished by people at First Christian. What does it take to be one of these givers? A loving, giving heart.
Mentoring
Many of us are better because a mentor invested in our lives and thus, many will pay it forward by guiding someone else. Mentoring is at the heart of our mission of leading people closer to Jesus.