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Dear Shiloh Family,

Why do they do it? It’s completely voluntary. Yet, all Summer, high school athletes, specifically football players, get up long before their peers’ feet hit the floor. Is it boredom, loyalty, comradery, or love that drives them to exhaustion, blood, sweat, and tears?

Would student athletes abandon Nintendo Switch, and X Boxes to frequent the court or field simply because they have run out of things to do at home? Does the insignia on the uniform instill depths of pride that brave near 100-degree temps? I can’t help but believe that it is something deeper, something that originates from a love for comrades and an even stronger desire to become better at the game they love.

Consequently, it is no mystery why individuals who show up at the end of non-mandatory workouts often feel alienated and disconnected. It takes a while for them to adjust…and some never do. However, the faithful few bond and become a true team…family.

It is amazing to me how similar scenarios play out in the church setting. Why do we come to a building each week for worship? Why meet for Bible study on Monday, and Tuesday and then again on Wednesday? A faithful handful gather for choir practice on certain Thursday evenings, and others fellowship in small groups on various days.

Are we bored with life in general? Is it religious formality or fear of judgement that presses us into voluntary service? The more I labor with God’s people, the more I realize what must be the deciding, driving factor in the army of our Lord. Obligation won’t get it done, religion will fail, and mere comradery can be found in any secular social setting. No, the connecting, compelling, magnetism of church servanthood stems from a genuine desire for righteousness, and more importantly, an intimate, pure, supernatural love for Jesus Christ.

2 Corinthians 5:14-15: 14 For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; 15 and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again. NKJV

Oh yes, I have also discovered that when I am absent, and fail to attend certain ministry events, I often feel alienated, disconnected, and often discouraged. However, personal gain, religion, and obligation will frequently yield only exhaustion and frustration. A Love for Jesus Christ and an unwavering bent to follow Him is the force that binds hearts, minds, and souls into the church…family.

Hebrews 10:24-25: 24 And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, 25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching. NKJV

Thanks to all of you who are sold out, surrendered, and committed to our Lord and His ministry at Shiloh Baptist Church. 

We often come apart because we are not a part. 

God bless you all,
Pastor Derrell