5th Sunday is Almost Here!

First, I want to apologize for my last post.  It was a very lame attempt to be funny. 

Next, I'm very excited that 5th Sunday is just about upon us.  If you have not heard of 5th Sunday before you can go here or here to find out more about it.  Basically, 5th Sunday consists of churches going outside the walls of their buildings and into their local communities.  Part of the idea behind it involves trading the time normally spent gathered together on a Sunday morning with time spent worshiping through service in the local community.  Here is how we are planning our time for Sunday:

10:00 - Gather for music and prayer - after a song together we will divide up into our service groups and pray together for the day

10:15 - Depart for project locations

10:30 - 12:00 - worship through service

12:15 - Return to the building

12:15 til ?? - Share a meal together and share together about the events of the day

We have three main areas of service planned: (1) litter clean-up on a local route near the church building, (2) a litter clean-up at a nearby state park area along the Delaware River, and (3) visitation to a local nursing home just a few miles up the road from our location.  Also, our youth are going to a widow's house for some yard work and cleaning.

Another church about 10 miles from us is also participating in 5th Sunday.  They are doing things like handing out water bottles at a local parade, giving out $5 gift cards at a local gas station and visiting people in the hospital.

I know that this is just a small step in the eyes of many.  But I also think it is a big step too.  Many of us in the church are not use to something like this.  Swapping the regular meeting time on Sunday morning with service to the community is foreign to many of us.  Please pray for us this week that God would have us impact the community in some way and that our hearts would be changed to make this sort of thing "normal" for our day to day lives.

I can't help but think to myself:  "What if every church did this?  What if on months with 5 Sundays every church building was empty because they all went out to serve?  What kind of impact might that have on a geographical area?"

Jesus said that the world will know that we are his disciples by our love (John 13:35).  Do our local communities know this?