Longing for Our Local Church Family

I'm on a 5-week sabbatical, yet, I worshiped with my faith family at Redeeming Life Church today. Why would I do that. It's a fair question, and four weeks ago, I would have thought it strange that we'd come to Redeeming Life (where I’m the lead pastor) during my 5-week sabbatical. The first half of my sabbatical time has taught me otherwise.

My sabbatical covers 5 Sundays. On the first Sunday, we attended a Presbyterian (PCA) fellowship north of us. It was terrific. The brothers and sisters there were welcoming and kind. But as we were leaving, my entire family felt sadness and loss. We missed those with whom we are in covenant membership at Redeeming Life. It was easier the following week because we were out of town. The Evangelical Free Church we visited was pleasant, but we missed our local faith family even more, now gone for two Sunday gatherings.

Being back in town for our third Sunday, one of my children asked me why they had to bypass the fellowship at Redeeming Life just because dad was on sabbatical. Good question. We deeply missed the brothers and sisters of our local church, so we decided to worship at Redeeming Life for Sunday number three. We looked forward to it all week.

The plan was to get to the service about 10 minutes early, but an accident on the interstate caused us to slip in about 10 minutes late. It wasn't difficult for me to avoid the "work-related stuff," and I loved worshiping and fellowshipping with my Redeeming Life faith family. I got to be a congregant and member like everyone else, which was good for my soul.

It is okay to be away sometimes, but shouldn't our hearts long to gather with our local church. I was refreshed, encouraged, edified, and blessed to corporately sing and pray, sit under the preached Word of God, and fellowship. I find it shocking that some who identify as Christian could take it or leave it. It's the best part of my week, with or without preaching and other pastoral responsibilities. I love my faith family, and it's with them that I want to worship Jesus on the Lord's Day.

If I wouldn’t want to be a member of the church I pastor, should I be their pastor? But I would want to be a member even if I wasn’t the pastor, so how much better for me!

My family is out of town again next Sunday, but Sunday number five will be spent back at Redeeming Life. It's my church, whether I'm the pastor or not, serving or not. If my time sabbatical time has taught me anything, it’s that I’m blessed by my local church!