the feast of gratitude

Monday, Rachel and I threw our third annual feast of gratitude.  This feast has been our tradition since the first year we were married, and when we were at the college coincided with the end of the semester.  We don't live at school anymore, but we decided to keep the date between Thanksgiving and Christmas just because we like those holiday foods which are so available this time of year.  

Each year we invite friends over, roast a turkey, make a few other dishes and let others bring their own.  Then we eat.  It's great.  We're not celebrating anything in particular.  Rather, we're celebrating everything that is good.  So often we do holiday meals with family, and don't always get to celebrate with friends, and this is a great way to do that.  It's great to gather around the table to talk and laugh.  

This year, as we were preparing I was reflecting on Isaiah, which I have been reading lately.  In Isaiah, and really throughout Scripture, a feast is used to describe what life will be like when God acts to redeem his creation.   Pausing like this every year to feast, for me, is like bringing a little bit of heaven to earth now.  

Do you have any traditions with friends or family which aren't a part of the church calendar or national holiday calendar?

not a product

I have this conversation running through my head right now.  It has to do with church and promoting.  First the context: A few years ago we ordered a bunch of blank bulletins which were formatted for us to allow us to present the same format for our announcements, order of service, prayer requests and other various items.  We're out now and so we need to decide what we want to do about ordering more.  During the discussion we talked about the picture on the front of these bulletins.  Currently it's our church building as seen from the street.  Some thought we should make it a picture of people, because after all the church isn't the building, it's the people.  This discussion went back and forth for a while, and I can't remember how it ended, but it came up again today in a conversation I was having with someone about whether or not we should have an order of service at all in our bulletins.  In that, I asked about what is the purpose of a bulletin anyway... and the response given to me was something to the effect - it's about branding.  So people have something to take home to help them identify with where they were.  It gives them information about what sort of place this is that they visit.  

Okay, a lot of context, but here's my problem that I'm trying to put words to.  A bulletin, or whatever you want to call it is a great way to brand yourself, to help people remember a place, or to provide information for what type of church you are.  It is part of the packaging which helps to sell a product.  I started re-reading some posts from John Chandler's blog back in 2004, and it reminded me of a deep truth, which is what I'm going to remind you of now...

The church (Church) is not selling a product.  It's not.  Jesus is not a product.  He cannot be bought or sold.  I think sometimes we think of what we're doing in church and we want it to be good or professional looking or spontaneous or well-planned or whatever, because we want people to buy it.  To come back for more.  To tell their friends.  

Following Jesus is so much bigger than all this.  Church is a group of people pursing this better way to live.  It's about a relationship and relationships.  These things are not for sale.  

How much time do we spend on designing packaging, and improving a product which is our church, rather than asking how we can better pursue Jesus, whether others follow or not?