Matthew 11:28
Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Been thinking a lot (that could be dangerous in my case) about our Saturday night meeting at Vineyard ReCovery Church. Some folks don't see to be able to grasp the concept of church on Saturday night. They don't seem to have a problem with the idea of a recovery meeting taking place on Saturday night.....but church, real church, is reserved for Sunday morning. If the meeting in question isn't taking place in the daylight, on the Sabbath, then God won't recognize it as legit.
Vicki was talking with a person last Saturday evening before the Cabin Fever Band took the stage. This person was asking about what we did, who we were, why we met on Saturday night. In the end, the person said, "I guess once people come to your meeting, you funnel them to a Sunday morning church don't you?" No. We don't. If they want to find a Sunday meeting, then that is way cool. But we are "church". I guess since we live here in the South, what with the whole Bible-belt thing, if you don't meet on Sunday, then you're not official.
Except for 2 years when we held church on Sunday morning at Rapha, I've always lead a Saturday night meeting. I know it's a hard night for most to come to a church, after all....it's Saturday night. That is time to enjoy and rest from the affairs of the week. Well, to me, Saturday night was a time for some to go to the devil's church. They sang in his choir (usually drinking or using songs), they worshiped at his altar (the altar of "ME") and they gave freely in offerings to advance his kingdom work. It just wasn't seen as church. Believe me it was, and it was the spiritually darkest of dark worship services.
Why not take back Saturday night?
Why not come together and spend time with each other, and with God.
That is what VRC is all about.
We want to be a community that embraces everyone who comes through our door.
I want those who come to be with us to go away with the knowledge and understanding that they have been loved. That love was offered freely. They were not judged. They were not looked down upon as being some kind of 2nd class human. I want them to experience God's love, and know that their addiction does not have to hold them in a death grip that keeps them from ever experiencing God.
I want the word of God to be spoken and taught in plain, simple terms. No religious hype or emotional manipulation to get them to "make a decision" to accept Christ. If I can't trust the Holy Spirit to take the word of God and bring conviction where it's needed, then I need to shut the door and go find something else to do. I want the word to come alive and break through any and all hardness that is a part of an addictive lifestyle. I want the individual who comes through our door on Saturday night to know that they are the most important person in the room.
In this day and age, there are a lot of churches trying to figure out how they can become relevant to their community. They want to attract a certain age group. They want to reach out to a particular demographic of their community, so they have to decide how to approach this group to offer them something that would entice them to attend church.
That is one thing we don't worry about. Why? Because the need to break free from addiction is a universal condition that stretches across all age barriers, and all socio-economic groups. Recovery speaks to the heart that is young, as well as the heart that has more miles on it than you care to talk about. That is the beauty of VRC. We offer a place where a person can come, no matter what age, and acknowledge that they have a problem. From this realization, they can know that there truly is a solution to their life of misery they have been experiencing. The solution is found in an individual, and that individual has a name. That name would be Jesus.
I know it sounds weird, but you really can't state it in any other fashion.
There IS as solution!
Last but not least, we get a lot of people asking if you have to be an addict to attend VRC. The answer is no, you don't. IN fact, the heart of addiction is very simple. Drugs and alcohol are not your problem. Using and drinking are not your problem. You have a living problem. You have a broken relationship with Christ. As such you have discarded Him in order to live life on your own terms. Well,how's that working out? We want to be a place where the solution is talked about every week. A place where people live out the solution every week. A place where we can gather an celebrate every victory we encounter, every week.
God on you....
michael b.
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