Thought for the Week – 10th July 2016 – Dennis Pethers

And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.  Hebrews 10:24,25

One of the things that I enjoy most about the ‘itinerant’ life that I live is that I have the opportunity to speak in so many different parts of God’s church in many parts of the world.  Almost every week I am speaking to a different group of Christians.  One thing that so many of these groups have in common is that, following the time of worship and teaching, they conclude with coffee and biscuits.

I have made it a habit through the years to eavesdrop the conversations that people are having over coffee. What I frequently hear are conversations about football, family, the weather, social occasions that are taking place….

I have not once heard a conversation about intentionally sharing the gospel with a person who doesn’t know Jesus.

I share this because I think it says something about our need to refocus on why we are meeting.  It is so easy to see Sunday Worship as something ‘in and of itself’ and not to connect this experience with the reality of our daily lives.  I think that the conversations that take place after the gathering reveal something of the intentionality of those that have gathered to worship.  Sadly this intentionality seems to have little to do with ‘Joining Jesus in His Mission’.

So here’s a suggestion –  Next Sunday, over coffee, why not talk with the people you are mixing with and ask them to pray for you as you are seeking to make Jesus known to somebody outside of church?