Back To Normal

The beginning of this month marked the three-year anniversary of my time here at Praise. Before I took the call to serve as a lead pastor, my biggest fear was that somehow I would drive our church into the ground! I imagined myself being like a kid behind the controls of a large excavator…it would certainly be fun for the kid, but maybe not good for anyone else! But after these years, the fact of the matter is, God has been faithful!

As I have been reflecting, though, I found myself thinking back to where God has brought us. In August of 2020, we were in the throes of COVID, wearing masks and social distancing. Many people were tuning in online to our services, and we even had speakers outside so people could sit on the lawn in order to create more distance. Church life was not the same as it was before COVID, and I can say confidently that in those first months of my ministry at Praise, we all longed for things to get back to normal!

Early in 2021, things began to get back to normal. At Praise, we stopped masking and allowed for people to make their own decisions in regards to masking. We moved our chairs back in closer proximity but left some areas spaced out still so that people could return and feel comfortable. It wasn’t long before more and more people began to join our worship services because they missed being part of something, especially since there were many places that were still closed down. There was an excitement about being together at church and worshipping with one another!

Here we are now, two years after that time. Things are pretty much “back to normal.” Covid no longer demands the headlines. Everything is open. People are back to work in their offices, schools are open, and extracurricular activities have all resumed. You can travel and vacation where you want, eat at a restaurant at full capacity, play in sports leagues, go to concerts at packed venues and even grocery shop without concern! Nothing is limited; “the world is your oyster,” as the saying goes.

Back to normal has been good in many ways. But in other ways, it has been difficult for many. I talk with so many people who are struggling. They’re depressed, anxious, and stressed out. They’re busy, running here, there and everywhere, back in their old routines that dictated their lives before Covid. And because our lives are back to their normal, busy state, we are looking for ways to loosen up our schedules yet again. And I can’t help but to notice that one of the first things that gets eliminated to create some breathing room in our resumed, busy lives is the church—the very place where many found comfort in distress is the very place that people are leaving to make room for the other things in life. So here many people are, back to normal and stressed out, tired, frustrated, confused and maybe even hopeless, just like we were before Covid.

Let me be clear; going to church no more makes you a Christian than going to Chick-fil-A makes you a chicken sandwich. The very act of “going to church” doesn’t do anything for you, but being at church does so much. At church, we are under the hearing of the Gospel, the Good News that Christ has died for our sin and rose again from the grave! In His victory, He promises us the hope of eternity, spent with Him in glory, where sin, sorrow, trials, pain and death no longer exist! And the fullness of His grace is given to us simply through faith, by believing that Christ has done this for you. I know I need to be reminded of God’s grace in Christ very often. I need His voice to speak and remind me of this Good News especially when life carries me away. And this happens at church.

Not only that, but we’re with people whose stories are just like ours. The community of faith is a place where we understand the struggles of each day, yet can point one another again to the hope that Christ brings us. Hebrews 10:24-25 encourages us, “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” It is here in the church where we encourage one another in faith and walk together in hope through all of our circumstances!

As things have gotten “back to normal,” maybe you’ve found that life has demanded your time and that going to church has fallen off. Along with that, maybe you’ve also found that it’s been difficult to find hope. Maybe it’s time, then, to get back to a new normal, to hear the Gospel, to be reminded of God’s grace, and to be part of a family that rests in Him!