“Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.”
(Philippians 2:5-7)
Happy Mother’s Day! When the call went out to the men of this family of faith that we had an opportunity to honor the women of the church today, I couldn’t believe the number of volunteers who stepped forward! Women, we hope you enjoy it! And remember: since we are a church “family,” that means all women are consider moms! (If you don’t believe me, check out First Timothy 5:2!)
I hope you all have found our new website and online messages at this point; if not, look at the P. S. to find instructions concerning how to find them! When you check out today’s (May 10) message, you will hear what I believe to be a potent illustration of our calling in the kingdom of God.
The illustration goes back to the early years in this country, when horses were the main source of transportation. At that time stagecoaches carried the United States mail as well as passengers. These stagecoaches had two-man crews who drove the horses and protected passengers and mail from bandits or other dangers. At one time stagecoaches were considered a preferred form of travel, but we know little about how they worked today.
A little known fact: when you wanted to travel by stagecoach there were actually three kinds of tickets you could purchase; similar, I suppose, to airlines of today where you can have first class, business or coach tickets. On the stagecoaches the tickets were simply called first, second and third class. The difference …
… If you had a FIRST class ticket and there was trouble with the stagecoach (perhaps a wheel fell off or it got bogged down in the mud), you weren’t required to do anything at all. You didn’t even have to get out of the coach! You simply sat where you were and watched other people fix the problem.
… If you had a SECOND class ticket and problems arose, you were required to get out of the stagecoach and move out of the way until it was fixed. In an absolute emergency you might be required to help.
… But if you held a THIRD class ticket, you were not only required to get out of the stagecoach, you were also required to roll up your sleeves and get down in the mud or the dust or the dirt and help fix the problem. A third-class ticket meant you automatically became part of the crew of the stagecoach. You could get back on only after the problem was fixed.
If you had lived back then, what kind of ticket would you purchase? Our society, by and large, says, “We need to ride first class.” Read the scripture at the top of this page, though. What kind of “ticket” did Jesus accept? It’s pretty obvious! And then we hear, “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus …”
In the worship service, dear Effie played the song, “God Is Here!” It was chosen due to a certain line in the third verse. Referring to the church, it says, “Here the servants of the Servant seek in worship to explore what it means in daily living to believe and to adore.” Had you ever realized that? We are actually servants to The Greatest Servant!
Enclosed in this letter is your own genuine “Third Class Ticket.” This is offered to you simply as a reminder to live as servants to The Servant! How might He be calling you – as a part of His “crew” – to serve today?!
Blessings! Pastor Bill
P. S. – A couple things for you:
FIRST: Although the Arkansas Department of Health changed some of the Arkansas social distancing guidelines this past week to allow houses of worship to resume corporate worship (as long as they followed a number of fairly strict social distancing protocols), they strongly encouraged churches not to return yet!
Your elders met last week and decided to follow this recommendation, since the relaxed guidelines may lead to a second outbreak. I believe this was a very wise decision! What that means is that we will continue to worship via online services for awhile longer yet.
Having said that, your elders also recognize that isolation is painful! Therefore, if you are willing to follow social distancing guidelines, you are welcome to join us as we record the service, Saturdays at noon. If you don’t have a mask, we will provide one.
Instructions for online worship:
- Go to our new website “firstchurchmena.org.”
- Click on the “Sermons” link.
- Go to the worship service you would like to see (most recent on top).
It really is that easy!
