Nancy and I attended worship today at another Presbyterian Church in Greensboro. It is very strange to be church shopping after 36 years of being the one being shopped... It drives home to me the importance of one of the things that I have believed for years, and that has been reaffirmed by every Inquirers (New Members) classes we have at Calvin--that first impressions are incredibly important! At each Inquirers class I asked two questions of the participants--why did you come to Calvin for the first time and why did you return. The most common answer to the first, by far, is someone invited me. That points to the absolutely essential role of every church member to be aggressively seeking opportunities to invite friends who do not have a church home to come to Calvin. The second question was answered by something that happened the first visit--most commonly the preaching or the music or the warm welcome.

So, now being a visitor, I see these themes being played out. This morning the service we went to was the later service at this particular church. They had an earlier informal one as well. The people greeted us kindly and introduced themselves warmly. But the service itself was less than inspiring. The special music was not very good (unlike Calvin--cudos to Danny and, before him, Paul), and the singing was not very enthusiastic (once again I received several invitations to join the choir. I get that often, and my usual response is I am loud, but not that good...)

I was, frankly, put off by the semi-common current transformation of Father, Son and Spirit to Creator, Redeemer and Spirit. This shift is simply theologically incorrect as John teaches us that Jesus is the One through whom all things were created and without whom nothing was made that was made. But most of all I was disappointed by the message. When I teach preaching at San Pablo Seminary, or mentor Fuller students in their preaching class, one point I make is that a sermon can be defined, in part, as a message that could not be given by a rabbi. In other words every true sermon has to have the gospel of Jesus Christ in it. If it does not, it may be a fine message, an inspirational homily, or whatever, but it is not a sermon. And a pastor on Sunday is to give a sermon! That is what his or her call is all about. This morning I heard a homily. It was well constructed and had several good points and illustrations--it was about the ninth commandment and how we should not lie. Good stuff--but not a sermon. It did not have the gospel, it did not lift up Christ...

So, while we will not be in Greensboro long this time, it may be our new home. But that church will not be our home church. It must have a place in God's economy, and I am certain that there are many fine believers there. But it will not be for us...

One more unrelated point. I have been asked by Steve and Emily not to post photos of them and the baby on a place as public as this blog. This may be disappointing to some, but I certainly will honor their wishes. So if you want to see more photos from time to time, please let me know and I will add you to a list of those who want to receive them personally as Steve and Emily endorse. In the meantime I am sure you will be thrilled (?) to see photos of North Carolina, churches, parts of Europe, and more posted on this blog...By the way, I leave the 24th for Zurich.
In His Adventures, Will Ackles