An invitation to worship...
Latecomers to the worship of our Lord on Sunday...
At 4:00pm tomorrow afternoon (Saturday), the Falelima Church of the Nazarene in the Independent State of Samoa will be worshipping our Lord in their 10:00am morning worship service. (Samoa, by virtue of being just west of the international date line, is one of the first countries to worship the Lord on the Lord's Day.)
At 5:00pm tomorrow afternoon, the All Nations Church of the Nazarene in Auckland, New Zealand will be worshipping our Lord in their 11:00am service.
At 7:00pm tomorrow evening, the Carina Church of the Nazarene in Brisbane, Australia, will be worshipping our Lord in their 10:00am worship service.
At 7:45pm tomorrow evening, the DaeKwang Church of the Nazarene in Pyeongtak, South Korea will be worshipping our Lord in the 9:45am worship service.
At 10:00pm tomorrow evening, the Zion Church of the Nazarene in Ho Chi Minh City, in Vietnam, will be worshipping our Lord in their morning worship service.
At 11:30pm tomorrow evening, the Church of the Nazarene International in Kolkata, West Bengal India, will be worshipping our Lord in their 10:00am worship service.
At 2:00am Sunday morning, the Central Church of the Nazarene in Nairobi, Kenya, will be worshipping our Lord in their 10:00am morning worship service.
At 3:00am Sunday morning, the Protestant Church of the Nazarene in Paris, France, will be worshipping our Lord in their 10:00am morning worship service.
At 6:00am Sunday morning, the Church of the Nazarene in Ponta Delgada, Azores will be worshipping our Lord in their 10:00am worship service.
At 8:00am Sunday morning, the Central Church of the Nazarene in Campinas, Brazil will begin worshipping our Lord in their 10:00am morning worship service.
At 11:00pm Sunday morning, First Church of the Nazarene, in Los Angeles will be worshipping our Lord in their 9:00am morning worship service.
At 3:30pm Sunday afternoon, the First Church of the Nazarene in Honolulu, Hawaii, will be worshipping our Lord in their 10:30am morning worship service.
Beginning at 4:00pm Saturday afternoon Chicago time, and continuing for more than 24 hours, our Lord is being worshipped by people in Nazarene churches around the world. (If I had wanted to take the time, I'm sure I could have found a Nazarene church for every hour of the day in any one of the 165 countries the Church of the Nazarene is in, and I just listed Nazarene churches to make it a bit easier to illustrate.)
It turns out that when we meet to worship, we are gathering 18 1/2 hours after the first worship services and just 5 hours before the last. We're kind of latecomers to the worship of our Lord on the Lord's Day.
The reason for listing the specific times of these respective churches is to remind us that our gathering to worship the Lord at 10:30am CST puts us in the company of hundreds of millions of other believers who were worshipping long before we ever gathered and puts us in the company of millions of others who will be worshipping after us.
And the reason for the reminder of the hundreds of millions of other believers who are worshipping the Lord throughout the Lord's Day, was to remind us that we are a part of a great community of people, a church which is at once, one and many, all united by their love of the Savior.
I encourage you to join with the hundreds of millions of other followers of Jesus worshipping the Lord on the Lord's Day.
I believe it will be a good day!
Pastor Mark
At 5:00pm tomorrow afternoon, the All Nations Church of the Nazarene in Auckland, New Zealand will be worshipping our Lord in their 11:00am service.
At 7:00pm tomorrow evening, the Carina Church of the Nazarene in Brisbane, Australia, will be worshipping our Lord in their 10:00am worship service.
At 7:45pm tomorrow evening, the DaeKwang Church of the Nazarene in Pyeongtak, South Korea will be worshipping our Lord in the 9:45am worship service.
At 10:00pm tomorrow evening, the Zion Church of the Nazarene in Ho Chi Minh City, in Vietnam, will be worshipping our Lord in their morning worship service.
At 11:30pm tomorrow evening, the Church of the Nazarene International in Kolkata, West Bengal India, will be worshipping our Lord in their 10:00am worship service.
At 2:00am Sunday morning, the Central Church of the Nazarene in Nairobi, Kenya, will be worshipping our Lord in their 10:00am morning worship service.
At 3:00am Sunday morning, the Protestant Church of the Nazarene in Paris, France, will be worshipping our Lord in their 10:00am morning worship service.
At 6:00am Sunday morning, the Church of the Nazarene in Ponta Delgada, Azores will be worshipping our Lord in their 10:00am worship service.
At 8:00am Sunday morning, the Central Church of the Nazarene in Campinas, Brazil will begin worshipping our Lord in their 10:00am morning worship service.
At 11:00pm Sunday morning, First Church of the Nazarene, in Los Angeles will be worshipping our Lord in their 9:00am morning worship service.
At 3:30pm Sunday afternoon, the First Church of the Nazarene in Honolulu, Hawaii, will be worshipping our Lord in their 10:30am morning worship service.
Beginning at 4:00pm Saturday afternoon Chicago time, and continuing for more than 24 hours, our Lord is being worshipped by people in Nazarene churches around the world. (If I had wanted to take the time, I'm sure I could have found a Nazarene church for every hour of the day in any one of the 165 countries the Church of the Nazarene is in, and I just listed Nazarene churches to make it a bit easier to illustrate.)
It turns out that when we meet to worship, we are gathering 18 1/2 hours after the first worship services and just 5 hours before the last. We're kind of latecomers to the worship of our Lord on the Lord's Day.
The reason for listing the specific times of these respective churches is to remind us that our gathering to worship the Lord at 10:30am CST puts us in the company of hundreds of millions of other believers who were worshipping long before we ever gathered and puts us in the company of millions of others who will be worshipping after us.
And the reason for the reminder of the hundreds of millions of other believers who are worshipping the Lord throughout the Lord's Day, was to remind us that we are a part of a great community of people, a church which is at once, one and many, all united by their love of the Savior.
I encourage you to join with the hundreds of millions of other followers of Jesus worshipping the Lord on the Lord's Day.
I believe it will be a good day!
Pastor Mark