Put it in Park!

I've been in church for a long time as many of you have and I've noticed over the years that there are sayings that keep reoccuring in church, things you hear over and over. But I've also noticed that there are some things that you NEVER hear in church, here may be the top 10...

10. “Please let me teach the Junior Boys class.”
9. “Could we put a microphone on the drums?”
8. “Could I have TWO waffers for the Lord's Supper?”
7. “I wish there would be more than just one offering per service.”
6. “I personally find witnessing far more enjoyable than golf, don't you?”
5. “Pastor, we'd like to send you to a Bible conference in the Bahamas.”
4. “Don’t you love it when we sing songs we don’t know?”
3. “The front pew is mine!”
2. “I’m selling my boat so my family can be here every Sunday this summer.”
1.“Praise God, I couldn't find anywhere to park!”

I don't know about a few of those but I am hearing over and over the fact that it's getting harder to find a parking place! And to that I say Praise The Lord! That's a good and a bad situation. God is choosing to bless us in many ways and one way is through many more coming to church...but that means more cars.

I have talked to property and space and we are coming up with several possible solutions, some are short term fixes that can be accomplished fairly quickly and some are long term. This makes a big difference in what we do NOW because we are planning a 3rd service in the gym this fall and that means even more cars on campus and a bigger parking problem and less people if we don't address it now.

In the mean time, for some of you who might not mind walking a very short distance, some of you might consider parking parallel to the trees along the long drive coming up to the church and walking up the hill. I understand that many cannot do that, but some can and for every car that is parked there and family willing to do that, that means one more family is able to find a parking spot and attend worship service. I've been parking in different spots that are less desirable so others can have a better spot.

I really appreciate your willingness to think about this and help out in this way. These are some of the "good" problems we face with reaching more people for the kingdom. In fact as I did my Bible study about parking problems in the NT I found out that the early church did in fact carpool to help take care of the parking problems. It says in Acts 2:46 "They continued daily in one accord in the temple." It must have been the first Honda carpool group! Thanks for helping out.