Our Church

A couple of months ago, as kind of an afterthought to an unrelated blog post, I included a photo of the church where Doug and I worship. It was a photo from 2013, and I mentioned that the building had been updated since then. So this post is to give you a look at the work that has been done on the building since Doug and I began attending there in 2011.

December 8, 2011

June 18, 2013

February 13, 2018

These pictures show only the main church building. A large building, that we call "The Barn," has been added. It's used for a monthly outreach to senior citizens, fellowship meals, and a weekly food distribution ministry. 

A second, smaller, barn has been added for more storage related to the food ministry.

And the house next door to the church property has been purchased to provide a facility to house guest speakers as well as providing office space, classrooms, and a place for the youth to meet. 

Almost all of the work has been done by volunteers from our church, as well as by volunteer work teams from other churches, often from areas far away. These work teams use their vacations to help churches that have a need. 

Last year, there was a work team of more than eighty who spent about 10 days sharing their time, talent, knowledge, and muscle to accomplish several projects for our church. And then, after all that, they gave a large monetary donation before returning to their homes and jobs.

Words are inadequate to express the blessing and encouragement that these teams are to all of us.

An Early Fall Assortment

These photos are all from early October, as the fall colors were just beginning to show themselves.

Part of a Trail at Ouabache State Park

A Busy Bee 

Mushrooms

Early Fall Color

Luke Bryan Farm Tour - New Haven, Indiana - 2017

We took a different route home from the park that night, driving down some back country roads; and our route took us by a farm where Luke Bryan was performing a concert. Judging from the amount of traffic on those back roads, the concert must have been well attended...but many were arriving late due to the traffic jams.

Maples United Methodist Church

Not far from the location of the Luke Bryan concert was Maples United Methodist Church. The image of the church was a drive-by shot. It looked so pretty in the late-afternoon sun, with the ripened soybean field in the foreground, that I just had to try for a photo.

Montana Country Church

Two years ago, when driving along Highway 2 in Montana, we spotted this little church, just begging to be photographed.

I couldn't quite make out the name of the church, other than that it was Presbyterian.

Linking to InSPIREd Sunday.

Homer Independent Baptist Church, Alaska

When Doug and I drove to Alaska in 2007, we visited the Homer Independent Baptist Church in Homer, Alaska.

I didn't capture much of the building itself in the photograph because I wanted to include some of the beautiful setting. Can you blame me?

If you'd like to see more from that Alaska adventure, scroll down my sidebar to the section, Blog Post Topics, and click on "Alaska Trip 2007." You'll find a series of posts chronicling the entire adventure.

 

Linking to InSPIREd Sunday.

First Presbyterian Church in Coldwater, Michigan

This church dominates the downtown cityscape in Coldwater, Michigan. Built 1866–1869, it is a Michigan State Historic Site and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Wishing you all a blessed Lord's Day.

Linking to InSPIREd Sunday.

A Little Country Church

Back in May, while on a drive in the country, I found and photographed a little country church that a friend, who is also a photography enthusiast, had told me about.

The late-day sun was shining through from the other side, lighting this stained-glass window.

Thoughts on Church

A strong wind was doing interesting things with the clouds last Sunday, when I took this photograph. The church in the picture is not the one that Doug and I attend. Actually, the shot was made from our church's parking lot.

As I thought about that, I thought about the reasons that different people choose different churches. For three years, Doug and I drove 30 miles to attend church in another town. While we were doing that, a couple from that town was driving the same 30 miles in the opposite direction to attend the church we're now attending with them.

I suppose most often a church decision is made based on the attributes of a particular pastor. Some look for one with an ability to teach the Word of God clearly and with application for daily life. Some may reject a pastor with good teaching ability in favor of one with good people skills. The ideal is when both traits exist in the same individual.

Some may look for a church in which the people are friendly. That should be the case among all Christian churches; but, sadly, it isn't always the norm.

In today's church culture, a big factor in choosing a church is often the type of music used in worship. Many churches today have adopted non-traditional music, usually played at great volume and with a pounding beat. Many people seem to be drawn to this type of music. Others prefer what they consider to be the more worshipful music and theology of the traditional hymns.

Local churches exist in such abundance that it's easy to just move on when a disagreement arises over church policy or in personal relationships within the church.  The argument can be made that it's better to just move on than to cause division in the church. There's something to be said for that. But I don't know if moving on is always the answer. It is, however, a fact of life in today's culture.

And that reminds me of this story:

A man had been shipwrecked and stranded on a deserted island. Years went by, and his hope of rescue began to wane. Still, he always kept a signal fire ready to light as he watched continually for any ship that might approach.

Then, one day, miracle of miracles, he spotted a ship on the horizon. He quickly lit the signal fire and began jumping up and down and waving anything he could find to attract the attention of the ship's crew. Slowly but surely, the ship began to come closer; and the man knew that rescue was finally at hand.

A landing boat came ashore with the captain and a couple of crew members. They couldn't believe what they were seeing.

"How long have you been living here?" asked the captain.

"I'm not totally sure," replied the man, "but I think it's been around five years."

"Is anyone else on the island?" the captain inquired.

"No. No one but me," the man replied.

The captain looked puzzled and asked, "Did you build that structure over there on the left?"

"Yes. That's my home," said the man. "I built that to live in."

"Well, what's this structure next to it?" the captain asked.

"Oh, that's where I go to church," replied the man.

The captain pointed off a little distance and asked, "What's that structure over there?"

"Oh," replied the man, "That's where I used to go to church."

Merry Christmas!

On Christmas Eve afternoon, we went with some friends to their church for a Christmas Eve program. This nativity scene was set up in the church's baptistery.

Then, on the way home, we stopped in a small town for gasoline, and this pretty church was right across the street.

To all of you who have become blogging friends and who have supported me in this venture into the blogging world...my sincere wishes to you and yours for a very 

MERRY CHRISTMAS!