5 Reasons Why CrossViewers Should Never Go "AWOM"

I'm thankful for church members who don't go "Absent WithOut a Message" (AWOM). In our church, as it is still small, we've tried to cultivate a culture of accountability where members message (email or text) the church or pastor when they won't be making it to our Sunday gathering. Here are 5 reasons why CrossViewers should never go AWOM.

First, this decreases the disconnect from not seeing a member for 13 days. If you miss a Sunday and you only see another member on Sundays, to miss two weeks is to go 13 days without seeing them and 20 days if they miss two consecutive Sundays. That's a lot of life, experiences, trials, and things to share. When a member misses two or three consecutive Sundays they can feel disconnected from the church, and so messaging the church regarding where God is sending you this coming Sunday and how the church can pray for you keeps you connected and sharing life with the body.

Second, this encourages the pastors. Now for better or worse, some pastors (like me), get discouraged when members don't come to a Sunday gathering. We have our own issues to work through with pride and misplaced encouragement. My point here is that when members are aware of their pastor's care and responsibility for them, their message helps pastors to know that they are aware of God's leading in their Sunday absence. It also helps pastors to know how best to shepherd them. Maybe they don't have a good reason for being absent and need guidance on how to better think about it. Even when it is a good reason for absence, the pastors can now be more aware of intentionally encouraging the member since they missed the stirring up to love and good works from the Sunday gathering (Hebrews 10:24-25).

Third, this encourages other members. It is an act of love to open yourself to the church members to be known by them. It helps them to hold you accountable. It reminds them that we are connected to each other. Our church covenant is more than words. We actually mean and want to live according to the promise, "We will not forsake the assembling of ourselves together" taken from Hebrews 10:25.

Fourth, it serves as an example to younger and less mature members about staying connected to their church family. Many new members (and some old ones) don't understand the nature of being committed to a church body as a family. When they read a message from one of the members whom God sent elsewhere, it serves as a model to imitate.

Fifth, messaging the church helps members assess whether it was a good reason to miss the gathering. Was God really wanting you to miss the Sunday gathering to go to where you went? Maybe. Maybe not. Messaging the church and telling them where you think God is sending you this Sunday, why you think he's sending you there, and how other members can pray for you requires thought and sensitivity to God's leading. This helps discourage silly or illegitimate absences. It also strengthens gospel intentionality and a spirit of worshipping God as you go elsewhere.

So message the church when you think God is sending you elsewhere, why he's sending you, where he's sending you, and how we can pray for you.

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(This is a cross post with PJ's personal blog)

Prayer for Japan

Prayer for Japan

Father of mercies and God of all comfort, you are in absolute control of every shake and every wave that happened last week. You command the waves to stop where they will and they obey you. You command the sea and wind and they instantly heed your word. We tremble at your power and bow before your unsearchable judgments and untraceable ways. We pray that you would comfort the grieving Christians and future Christians who are in Japan hurting now, with the comfort that you alone can give. We pray that you would draw near to them in a special way that they would know that you near to them through Christ. In Jesus you tasted pain, loss, and the cup of wrath. You know what it's like to lose it all, feel abandoned, and overwhelmed by sin and its effects on one's life.

We pray that you would provide for the needs of your people and those who are not your people. Father you love them all and cause the rain to fall on the righteous and the unrighteous. We cry for mercy for Japan. Not for what they deserve. But mercy. We pray that you would have mercy on them and cause them to repent from their sin and trust in Christ. You desire all men to repent and come to the knowledge of the truth and you certainly can open blind eyes and unstop deaf ears to see and hear of the glory of Christ and his cross.

We are not better than they. You call us to weep with those who weep. But you also call us to weep over our sin. We humble ourselves under your holy majesty and we repent. We too could be swept away and deserve no better than our fellowmen in Japan. You don't treat us according to our sins or repay us according to our iniquities. If you do we'd be undone. We deserve to be overtaken by earthquakes, tsunamis, and nuclear radiation seeping into the atmosphere where we live. We deserve your judgment and wrath. We have taken you lightly. But you call us to repent, for judgment will also come upon us in a moment. We deserve to lose our homes, cars, loved ones, and neighborhoods. So help us to grieve for our sin even as we mourn for the pain and loss, millions of losses, of our fellow humans.

We pray for the Christians there and the Christians who are going there to love their neighbors well and meet needs even as they shine the light of the gospel and seek to explain it in words. We pray for the money of Christians used to bless those in need there, that it would be stewarded well and maximized for the most good that can be done. We pray that you would work this together for their good as you purposed for the display of your glory.

In Jesus' merciful name, Amen.

(I was helped by John Piper's prayer for Japan)

Prayer of praise and prayer of confession for our church gathering

Prayer of praise

Father, we praise you because you are filled with compassion. You overflow with compassion and long for sinners to return to you. You desire that all men be saved from your judgment and come to a knowledge of the truth. When we repent and come to you, you run to us, hug us, kiss us, and put a ring on us accepting us as your children when we deserve judgment and slavery to sin. And then you celebrate our salvation! You celebrate our repentance and faith in Christ. You call others in the church and in heaven to celebrate with you when your children come home. For that we praise you and give you thanks. Your compassion is amazing. We praise you because even though we deserve cursing in our sin, you give us blessing in Christ. We love you our great God and Father, because you first loved us and show your love in that when we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Prayer of confession

Father, forgive us for taking sin lightly. Forgive us for taking you lightly and not caring about your holiness. We have prioritized our building our houses and agendas over building your house, your church, and seeking first your kingdom. We have been overly discouraged in our sin rather than receiving your grace, resting in your forgiveness, and pursuing you passionately. Forgive us for starving ourselves by not living by every word that comes out of your mouth. Forgive us for hearing much more of your word than we actually do. Forgive us for not confessing our sins to you and each other more frequently because we'd rather be thought of as holy than actually being holy.

Please forgive us for these sins and others that we'll confess to you now...