A New Perspective

Sunday morning at church I had the privilege of talking to a visitor to the church. She was visiting Peoria for the weekend. I had actually met her earlier in the weekend and so she came to my care group during Sunday school. While we were taking prayer requests, we were also naming praises. My new friend mentioned what a huge praise it was for her to get to worship at Bethany and meet a great group of people devoted to following Christ. She talked about how she doesn't often get to visit other churches and what a neat experience it had been for her while she was away from her own church.

This really got me to thinking. I love Bethany and hate when I have to be away. But when I visit other churches, I don't think that I allow myself to grasp how wide God's love is. I don't often let that visit impact me enough to let me know that God's church is universal and I can worship Him no matter what church I am in. I don't often let the visit speak to me in such a way as to say, "Wow, these people are my brothers and sisters in Christ and therefore are also my church family." Even if I only visit once and never go back again. This new friend allowed me to get a glimpse of this through her eyes as she experienced these exact things and was even willing to verbalize them. What an awesome God we serve!!!