Daily Devotional for August 23, 2022

Through the years I’ve noticed that every person in our church has an assigned seat.  While I’ve never actually seen names written on the pews, I know they’ve got to be there.
 
Jerry and Ann sit on the second pew next to the aisle.  The Wolfes sit on my very far left, next to the wall.  They do this so I can’t really tell if they are paying attention to the sermon.
 
And, while I’ve never understood why, Shannon sits in the balcony on the last row as far away from me as she can get.  She says it’s the best view.  I’m skeptical.
 
Having said that, because everyone sits in their assigned seats, I can always tell who is there and who isn’t.  It’s how I take attendance.
 
For these last few weeks, the elevator has been undergoing routine maintenance.  It has at least one more week to go.
 
Because the elevator is down, we moved the first traditional worship service to Grobowsky Hall.  This has really thrown some of our membership for a loop.
 
Now people who usually sit in the back, if they are late, have to sit in the front.  No one has an assigned seat.  People are getting to meet people they’ve never met before.
 
Yesterday at lunch, Pete said he finally met a couple that have been coming to our church for three years.  The reason they hadn’t met before is because they sit on opposite sides of the sanctuary.  This got me thinking.
 
While our church is bigger than most, we aren’t so big that we cannot recognize and relate to each other as a large family.  That’s what we are.
 
Paul says it like this: “So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.”  (Ephesians 2:19-22)
 
Next Sunday, make sure you come to the family reunion.  Sit in a different place, meet members of your spiritual family that you’ve never met before, and celebrate that you have a good God.
 
Prayer:  Dear Gracious Heavenly God, help me remember the people I sit next to on Sunday morning are part of your family.  I am glad to be one of them.  In Jesus’ name I pray.  Amen.
 
Every Sunday we have a family reunion.  Come be a part of it.
 
I pray your day is filled with joy and laughter.
Tom Robbins