Order of Service
Theme of the Week: Beyond 'What's in It for Me?'
Andy Cook
Tuesday, April 5, 2005
 1 of 1
Key Bible Verse: And now God is building you, as living stones, into His spiritual temple (1 Peter 2:5). Bonus Reading: 1 Peter 2:4-6
A soldier was wounded in a battle and ordered to the nearest military hospital. Arriving at the entrance, he saw two doors, one marked "For Minor Wounds," the other "For Serious Wounds."
He entered the first door and walked down a long hallway. At the end of the hall, he saw two more doors. The first said "For Officers," the other "For Enlisted Men." The soldier went through the second door.
Again, he found himself walking down a long hallway with two doors at the end. One said "For Party Members," the other "For Non-Party Members." The wounded soldier took the second door and found himself back out on the street.
When he got back to his unit, his buddies asked, "How'd your trip to the hospital go?"
"The people really didn't help me much," he said, "but, man, are they organized!"
Sound like a church you've known? We can be loaded to the gills with organization but not a lot of help to the walking wounded. The church has the greatest message ever told, the life-changing reality of what it is to know God! Yet people aren't getting the message. Maybe the church in America is serving up too many bland dishes.
—Andy Cook in The Search for God's Own Heart
My Response: Could a visitor to my church feel like the wounded soldier? Why or why not?
Thought to Apply: The church is not a museum for finished products. It's a hospital for the sick.—BRUCE LARSON
Adapted from The Search for God's Own Heart (Kregel, 2001) by permission.
Copyright © 2005 by the author or Christianity Today International/Men of Integrity magazine.Click here for reprint information on Men of Integrity. 1 of 1
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As Your disciple, Lord, I recognize I can't remain detached from Your church. Help me to truly connect.
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