You're invited....Why not come?

Have you ever been somewhere or experienced something so incredibly awesome that you had to tell people about it? I mean, you just couldn't stop talking about it?

This week, I've really been thinking about God. About His goodness. About His provision. About His church. About His love. About Him giving Jesus because of my sin and your sin.

I've been thinking a lot about HIS CHURCH. A few weeks ago, we were out of town for Brooke's wedding and our pastor preached a sermon called "The 20/20 Vision". It's about the future of our church in the next 10 years! In recent days, the First Baptist Church of Atwood has experienced exciting growth, new families, lots of babies being born, more people attending Sunday school...and the list goes on. God is moving in HIS church. However, I am not satisfied unless you all know that you are invited too. I'm not inviting you because I want 500 people to come to our church. (We currently have about 150 on Sunday mornings). I'm inviting you because I experience something every week that most people don't ever get to experience! I get to experience church, God's way!

Now, this isn't your typical "me telling you about Jesus" posting. I am really just wondering here... and you're free to respond to me via this blog, facebook or my email:aplby2@yahoo.com.

First of all, I go to the First Baptist Church of Atwood in Atwood, Illinois. Check out our website: www.firstbaptistatwood.org First Baptist Church has this motto "Committed to becoming and bringing others to be fully devoted followers of Christ". That pretty much sums it up. That's who we are and what we do. We are committed to Christ and committed to bringing others to know Him. Why in the world would we care? We care because we care about you and your soul in eternity. If you don't come to church because no one cares, then come to our church.

What do we offer? First of all, our pastor, Lanny Faulkner, preaches the Word of God. It is not watered down, sugar coated or a feel good bunch of mush. I can say that He preaches what God lays on his heart and what the BIBLE says. He heeds the Holy Spirit! He encourages us, leads us, teaches us and prepares us to make it through another week and make it through the rest of our lives. He teaches us God's Word, all of it, and does it all according to the Scriptures! We don't preach what the world wants to hear. We don't skip things we're uncomfortable with. If you want that, go to a different church :) We preach exactly what the Bible says! If you're not going because you're not really hearing the true Word of God, then come to our church!

Next, we love people. I mean that with all sincerity. When we moved to central Illinois in 2001, we looked for over a YEAR for a church home. We looked every Sunday morning and nearly every Sunday night. We visited churches that were big, small and in between. We never felt like any of them were where God wanted us. We went to many church services where no one spoke to us. They didn't even acknowledge we were there. Have you ever experienced this? Gone to a church and no one even spoke to you? That's hurtful and wrong. The day we walked into the First Baptist Church of Atwood, Ron Eagan and Kenny Collins were at the door greeting us. They were so glad we were there. They introduced us to lots of people right away. We walked into the sanctuary and I'm not kidding, I KNEW we were home. Everyone was excited that we were there and made us feel welcome. The music started and so did my tears! We found what we were looking for! It's been 8 years since we've joined FBC and they have always been our family. If you're not coming to church because you don't feel welcome, come to our church! We will welcome you.

Maybe you don't go to church because there's nothing there for your kids to do. When we started going to FBC, we didn't have kids and were not even thinking about having kids. Quickly after joining, we started teaching highschool Sunday school. We soon realized that this was a church that loved kids! My goodness, anything the youth needed, someone in the church was willing to help with. As we grew up (Andy and I) and had a family of our own, we realized that it wasn't just the youth, it was all children! We have a nursery for infants AND toddlers that are fully staffed! You don't have to sit in the nursery every week and listen to a box with the Pastor's voice coming through while you also listen to your child scream and play. We take turns in the nursery so we can all sit and enjoy worshipping together! We have Sunday school for all ages and Sunday school for moms and dads, grandmas and grandpas, young adults, etc, etc, etc. We have children's church for 4 year olds through 3rd grade on Sunday mornings. We have youth group on Sunday evenings. We have AWANAs on Wednesday nights. We're getting ready to start Bible Drills on Sunday nights. We go to church camp, have VBS and do just about everything we can for kids! If you're not going to church because there's nothing for your kids to do, then come to our church!

Now, if you don't come to church because you've been burned or because you think Christians are hypocrites, then I don't know what to tell you other than that we are all sinners. We're all hypocrites and we've all dissappointed people. Every day, if you are a Christian, you have to get up and fight the devil and try to live like Christ. It doesn't always work. Sometimes we fail. I sin all the time, even though I try not to. I am human and so is everyone else in every other church in America. Hopefully you find a church where we are saved sinners, who want to truly live for Christ. If you're not going to church because you've been burned or because churches are full of hypocrites, come to our church. We're all sinners, but we love Jesus and are constantly trying to live more like Christ!

I don't know what your reasoning is for not visiting our church. Maybe you've always gone to a certain church, maybe your family goes there, maybe you just don't go at all. I'm not suggesting you leave your church to come to ours if you already attend a wonderful church. I am suggesting that if you're looking for a home church, visit us! We're excited about Jesus! We're excited that He's coming again. We're excited to do HIS WORK in HIS CHURCH!

So, why don't you come to our church? I'm inviting you. Will you come? I promise you, it's worth the drive, no matter where you live. We don't want you to come because we want to fill the church and count people. I want you to come to experience Christ. Maybe you don't know who HE is. We want to lead you to Him. I want you to experience fellowship the way God intended it to be. I want you to expereince the fellowship our church has to offer. I want your children to be a part of the next generation of Believers who carry on the Great Commission. Whatever your reason, I hope you'll consider visiting. I want you to experience what I expereince EVERY week. I'll be there. Usually in the 3rd row on the left. Andy will be there. Katie in the baby nursery, Ryan in the toddler nursery and Molly in children's church. Come and join us. Be our guest. You are invited and you're welcome to come!

As our pastor says, "It's Friday, but Sunday's coming!" Be in prayer about it. Call us if you need a ride. Experience what we experience.