Our pastor opened the service by saying, “We don’t want this to be a “normal service.”
First of all: What’s a normal service? We did pretty much the same thing we do every week. We opened in praise and worship, as usual. We had our monthly communion, which is customary. We had a sermon, like normal, and we were out by 12:15. Somewhat typical.
And it was great. It was all great. They’re all great. So I don’t know what he means by a “normal service.” I know what I think he’s trying to say. “Don’t just go through the motions. Focus on God and listen to what He’s telling us.”
I doubt there’s ever a service where the intent was, “Let’s go through the motions today. Let’s do everything as we normally would, with nothing extra. Nothing special. Just a normal service. Thanks.”
No, all the services are intended to be special, focusing on God, and listening to what He’s telling us. And if all the services are designed to be special, doesn’t that by default make them all “normal?”
Can we look back at a service and say, “Boy, how about that first week in June? Remember that service? Boy, that sure was normal.”
No, we want come away from each service believing it was better than the last. And while it’s important for the church to present a well prepared, quality service to the congregants, much of the responsibility lies with us in how much faith and expectation we have when we walk into the room.
So it’s not so much about how we logistically structure the service as it’s how we spiritually structure our hearts.
Yeah, the last thing we want is a “normal service.” It’s really not even necessary to say it.
Not normally anyway.