As we watched from Circle Church, it was quite fascinating to see the attendance boom at Zion Church. There were several Sundays when it actually went over 100. Some of the people at Zion had tears in their eyes because they hadn’t seen this many people out for a good while.
Then the cold hard light of reality began to dawn. We were aware, of course, that a few individuals at Zion had expressed disfavor with the arrangement. The best giver in the congregation, for example, was reported to have left during the negotiations as soon as he heard that African-Americans would be welcome to attend.
The rumors began to float, bit by bit, in all directions. We saw, in disconnected flashes, what were to become the irreconcilable differences of the groups. Some of them were the very things that had made us attractive to one another.
Circle Church people were basically optimistic, while the Zion remnant was justifiably defeated. They were nursing the wounds of a church split that had embittered many of them years before. And, they had been a part of the disheartening, dwindling of a local church.
Many of our young congregation had sought to shake off the emphasis of their upbringing that manifested itself in a preoccupation with externalism. They desired to put aside the market list of “Don’t! Don’t! Don’t!” by which spirituality was wrongly determined.
Many of the Zion people, on the other hand, had no other basis for judging faith. This conflict culminated in a reaction to miniskirts. And, one family left the congregation because of the long sideburns of the new song leader.
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Sunday’s coming. Do you have your sermon ready? Is it relevant? Will it effectively motivate your congregation to walk more in step with the Master? What about that Sermon Series you’ve been thinking about?
Or, if you’re someone who plans well ahead, have you asked yourself what you will preach for your Easter Sermon, your Advent Sermon, your Christmas Sermon?
David Mains and Mainstay Ministries can help. We offer a wide variety of Sermon Starters and Full Sermons that will give you Sermon Ideas to help you prepare for regular Saturday or Sunday sermons, Mid-week Bible Sermons, and Sermons for special occasions.
We also offer assistance as you create Topical Sermons, Sermons Series, and sermons for special times of the year. We have resources available to help you with Advent Celebrations, Advent Sermons, Christmas Sermons, Easter Sunday Sermons, Patriotic Sermons, and more.
For more information on how to create better Bible Sermons and how to turn Sermon Ideas into Sermon Outlines, and then into effective, meaningful Sunday Sermons, please click here to visit David Mains’ website.
You will also find a variety of resources for pastors and congregations at the Mainstay Ministries website. Just click here.
