Waynesboro Church Of Christ

Welcomes You!

A pasted message from Matthew!

Past Message From Matthew

Posted Date: July 9, 2008

I remember sitting through chapel at Heritage Christian University as Coy Roper was delivering the message for the morning. Coy Roper was not the most dynamic speaker in the area, but when he spoke you listened. His lessons were always deeply insightful and cutting to the heart. This morning Coy had a lesson about routine and being real. He might not have called it that, but the lesson dealt with taking the special times of God for granted.

This is the problem with excessive routine. Routines can sink into a mindless habit. The Lord Supper becomes a “sip and a chip” instead of a communion with God and with one another. The Body and Blood of the Lord are taken with proper reflection on the majestic work of Christ. A baptism can fall to the status of an interruption to beating the Sunday morning rush to Cracker Barrel. It sinks into a routine while all along one is telling the person dying to self and being raised to newness of life that this is the greatest decision he or she has ever made. Instead of a special time of fellowship and rejoicing, it turns into perfunctory handshakes and half-hearted platitudes. The great actions of faith must never turn into mindless routine or habit. We must always capture the magic and celebration of these glorious times.

Last Sunday night, after the three baptisms, one of the ladies in the congregation that I admire most made an insightful comment. She said, “Matthew tonight was out of the routine, tonight the fellowship felt real.” We had three baptisms, we had deeply sincere prayers, and we had a prayer with one another holding hands as we rejoiced as a congregation with the Ray family. It felt authentic, it felt real, and it felt what church ought to feel like. It felt real.