Why Should I Attend Church? It Makes You More Resilient

Presented at Curwensville Alliance Church on 6/10/2018 by Pastor Steve Shields

From the series, Tools for Resilience

When I was a kid, I took guitar lessons every Thursday night. Mrs. Crate required I discipline myself to practice – every day.

And that’s all I could see. The drudgery of practice.

The songs she taught me didn’t help. Go Tell Aunt Roadie, On Top of Old Smoky, Red River Valley…. Drudgery.

And the lesson time wasn’t a real treat. Lectures on better fingering and callous development. Drudgery.

Learning guitar required discipline on my part.

Discipline without direction is drudgery.

When I went to college, something happened. I had a roommate who played the guitar. I mentioned that I always wanted to play, and he said, “I’ll teach you.”

I said, “That will be drudgery.”

He said, “No, it won’t. I’ll teach you well enough that you can make a tape and send it to Laurel.”

Suddenly, I saw purpose in the discipline. I had a direction: Learn to play well enough to play for your girlfriend!

And I learned to play.

Seeing myself playing the guitar on the back porch for Laurel – that was a direction I wanted to head.

My roommate gave me a direction that took away the drudgery.

I wish I could do that for you, in terms of corporate worship. I wish I could help you see yourself after a decade of prioritizing corporate worship.

I can’t do that, but you can.

Look at Christians whose faith you admire. You can have that.

Look at that man of prayer you wish you were like. You can be that guy.

Look at that person who walked through the Valley of the Shadow of Death without fear. You can do that.

Look at that woman whose children respect and admire her. You can be her.

Part of making that happen is prioritizing corporate worship.

This podcast talks about how we can do this.

Lies Even Seasoned Christians Believe — Uselessness :: PODCAST

Presented at Curwensville Alliance Church by Pastor Steve Shields on 2/25/2018

Jim Marshall DT

While playing for the Minnesota Vikings, defensive end Jim Marshall did something embarrassing.

In a game against the 49ers, he recovered a fumble and ran it 66 yards — the wrong way — into his own end zone.

Because he thought he’d scored a touchdown for his team, he threw the ball away in celebration, only to have it go out of bounds, giving a safety for the other team.

Despite this error, Minnesota went on to win the game 27–22, with the victory provided by a touchdown return of a fumble caused by Marshall.

I am sure there are a lot of people who know Marshall’s pain.

And I am sure there are a lot of people who, upon failing so miserably, left the arena. They allowed their failure to be fatal.

Sometimes Christians can feel this way. We see our own failings as tragic, and retire from serving God.

They believe a lie that they are useless in the Kingdom.

This podcast speaks about this and gives insight into why failures don’t have to be fatal.

 

You’re Not Alone :: PODCAST

So, there’s this guy – we’ll call him Willis – and he has a problem. It’s between him and his wife, Wilma. They’re not getting along well.

And he doesn’t know who to talk to.

Even though he has good friends at work, he’s not telling them. He knows that, at times, his workplace seems like a gossip processing house.

Even though he has a good relationship with his pastor, he won’t talk to him. He doesn’t want to because, frankly, he’s too embarrassed.

He’s afraid to tell his family. If his parents found out, they would immediately take his side, and that would injure their relationship with his wife, Wilma.

Willis feels helpless. And he is helpless. He’s helpless because he’s believing a lie:
A lie that tells him he is alone.

This concept of feeling aloneness is pretty universal.

It’s more than just being alone. It’s more than occasional loneliness. It’s a feeling of aloneness — like you have been abandoned or you are isolated from anyone who can help you.

If you’ve never felt it… well, I don’t know what to say to someone whose never felt it. We all feel it.

This podcast speaks of aloneness, and how Christians should respond to these feelings.