Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God-this is your spiritual act of worship.  -Romans 12:1

 As I was listening to the Bridge committee report on their progress yesterday, I began to think of Paul's words to the church; "offer your bodies as a living sacrifice...this is your spiritual act of worship."
 
The Bridge committee steers the numerous work teams, consisting of 35 individuals, who are shepherding our dream of new facilities here at JCPC into reality. The amount of time each member has given, the attention to detail they have slaved over, and learning the answers to the questions they didn't even know how to ask when they first began work is breath talking and inspiring. These faithful servants of Christ are the embodiment of being a living sacrifice.
 
Growing up, I was taught that the church is not the building, rather; the church is the people. Listening to the Bridge committee's presentation gave me a whole new appreciation for buildings. In some ways, buildings look like people. What I mean is that when you look at a person, you see their outward appearance. However, what you are seeing is the untold story of the sacrificial love that has gone into the shaping of this person. Every aspect of our new building has been labored over, prayed over, assessed, re-assessed, and deliberated over. In Paul's terms, the process is a spiritual act of worship! Our new building is so much more than brick and mortar. It is the collective representation of living sacrifice that is truly a spiritual act of worship.
 
The first guiding principle here at JCPC is that worship is the most important thing we do. With Paul's help, we can see that worship is so much more than the one hour on Sunday mornings that we traditionally share as worship.
 
Please continue to pray for the women and men who are
offering their bodies as a living sacrifice and contact these Bridge committee members to hear more about the exciting news: Dawn Melin, Rich Shuler, and Rick Zellmer.

Prayer for Today
 
We thank you, gracious God, for the women and men who are offering themselves as living sacrifices to further your gospel and bear witness to your saving grace. Help us to encourage them and keep them in our daily prayers. Amen.