WHY THREE SERVICES? IT'S A PARTY THING!

One of my best friends in high school was Polish. After school one Friday, he told me he was headed to South Bend for a wedding and would see me again on Monday. I said, "A wedding doesn't take all weekend, does it?" He laughed and said, "You've obviously never been to a Polish wedding. This is a three day party!"

Some may wonder why we plan on offering three worship services (8:45 and 10 a.m. in the Sanctuary, The Open Door at 11:15 a.m. at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater) beginning August 10th. It's about room, it's about creating space for us to grow where we can welcome those who come hungry for God, and it's about providing space in our morning schedule for people to connect, welcome guests, and "move" from Sunday school/small groups to worship (or from worship to classes). The primary Sunday school hour will be at 10 a.m.

There are Sundays in the Summer when we are just able to "fit" in the Sanctuary for one service, and so we expect during the school year -we're praying for this to happen- we'll have enough people that one Sanctuary service won't handle the crowd. Even if we could fit, it may send a message to new guests that the church doesn't have room for them. (Like someone approaching a table at a party, and discovering they have to pull up their own chair and squeeze in at the corner.)

The early start of the 8:45 may be tough for some, but for others it will work just fine. The 10 o'clock service has a great tradition. The Open Door is contemporary worship that is well led, and speaks a language that some persons understand better than traditional worship. We're blessed, as a young leader said to me this week, to have both kinds of worship experiences! We are one congregation, in two settings, with two worship languages.

Jesus repeatedly uses a wedding feast or party as an image for the kingdom of God. In Luke 14, Jesus says the kingdom of heaven is like a man who prepares a banquet. He's throwing a party and the occasion isn't made clear. (Matthew 22 says it is a wedding reception.) The king is so eager to have a full house at the party, so focused on having as many people present as possible, that he sends his servants out to extend a personal invitation. Some people shrug the invitation off, but the man tells the servants to keep going, and so they invite everyone they find (Luke points out that they reach out to the poor, crippled, blind, and lame).

This is a man (a God?) who is passionate about having as many people as possible at the party. One servant tells the host, "There is still room." So the host sends the servants out again to extend more invitations.

We're not asking you to start knocking on doors inviting your neighbors, and the strangers around you, to join us for the feast of grace the living God is throwing every weekend here at 8:45, 10 and 11:15. We ARE asking you to -

• Pray for our church to be a faith community that is passionate about inviting people to come join God's party;
• Welcome those who come to God's party, helping them find their way around the building, and inviting them to your class or small group;
• If you are healthy and walking is easy/fun, leave the parking spaces closest to the building for those who have young children, for whom walking is a chore, or for our first-time guests;
• Enthusiastically support our decision to offer three different opportunities for worship so when people come through these doors they'll find room to settle, worship, love and serve! Help us make sure there is plenty of room for all! Choose the service that best fits your schedule, lifestyle and spiritual temperament, and then lift up the others in your prayers.

Why three services? It's a party thing. It's making sure we have more than enough room at the table for those who come. It's deciding that we won't just offer one entrée or one dessert, but there is a buffet of hope and truth and grace ready for those who come here this Fall.

In Christ and for Christ,

Mark