While on retreat a few weeks ago with a group known as The Desert Brothers one of the guys showed the rest of us an ad from a magazine. It was a promo piece for Bose earphones. The ad said:
you’ll love what you hear
and what you don’t.
Excitedly he said, “I love this! I wish we could use this for the church.” He looked at me and asked, “Miles, wouldn’t this sound great? ‘Country Club Christian Church, you’ll love what you hear and what you don’t.’” He was right, I really do like the sound of that!
I hope I don’t get in trouble with Bose for bringing this up in a church newsletter but I really like the way that reads as a promo for our church. (By the way, Julie and I have a Bose sound system hooked up to our TV at home and it does sound great. I hope that helps the lawyers relax!)
Think about what that statement means at our church. At Country Club Christian Church you’ll hear about God’s universal love, the forgiveness of God for everyone, and you’ll hear an open invitation to participate in a grace-filled way of life. At the communion table you’ll discover that all are invited to share in the supper of our Lord. When we say all, we mean, quite simply, all.
There is a lot that you won’t hear, too. Like Jesus, we will never call anyone a sinner. Oh, to be sure, we won’t be afraid to confront our faults and failures but never will we label one of God’s children with that terrible name. Here we will never talk about eternal punishment as a possibility for any nor will we use the fear of such a thing as a motivational tool to get you to give your heart to God. We won’t single out people because of their sexual orientation nor will we tell you how to dress for worship or anything else.
You will hear that we trust in God as revealed in the life and teachings of Jesus. You will not hear anything about judgmentalism. You’ll never hear about retribution for sin, only the reconciliation that God desires to create for everyone.
Do our church a favor and get this word out on the streets wherever you are!
Grace and peace to you,
-Glen
