The Usedto Church

There's a story about a group of students who were asked if they were religious, and if so where and how did they worship.  Some replied and said, "Yes I’m Jewish and I go to such and such temple, or I’m Christian and I go to Grace Baptist, or 1^st Presbyterian etc.  So another said I go to the Usedto church.  The group leader said "I’m not familiar with that church."  They said oh well my church is the church that used to have a big Sunday school program, and we used ta have a big Wednesday night get together, and we used ta have a lot of Bible study and fellowship groups and we used ta have a good choir and director and organist.  Most of the time when we get together we talk about everything we used to do.  "Well what do you as a church do now."  Well not much that’s why I used to go there.

Being a new creation means we are not a Usedto church.  Instead we are a church that is walking by faith and not by sight, trusting as God as leading as is doing things, engaging in ministry that gives people every reason to boast about us.  We want people to have a chance to boast about us and there are things that we can boast about, our focus on mission and serving as we have sent our missionaries out into our state and will send our youth out of state. We can boast about our community meal, we can boast about our work with Room At The Inn homeless shelter, and our participation in that important community ministry.  But folks there are a lot of things we used to do as well.  That is not all bad because as we have said we need to be doing away with what was old, honoring their importance at one time, but then looking ahead to what is new.  But if we are not doing things new, if we are not making all things new then, all we have is what we used to do.

2 Corinthians 5:17