Perhaps sitting on the other end of the spectrum from “We’ve always done it that way” is the question, “Why do we do it like that?”
“Why do we baptize by immersion?”
“Why do we take communion every week?”
“Why do we do all those things that make us different from other churches?”
I kicked this series off with a very brief lesson on the history of the Restoration Movement.
At one point in this sermon I refer to what I’m doing as a “quick n’ dirty” history lesson and then correct myself. It’s actually a “quick n’ cleaned-up” lesson. There’s a lot of mud and muck I could have taken the listeners through, but it would have been a much longer sermon.
In that last few years we’ve had an influx of people in our church from a variety of faith backgrounds. I know some of them have been confused about who we are and what we do, so the time was right to start a short series on our beliefs and practices. My leaders were thrilled that I decided to do this one and gave me some great suggestions for topics.
I had great responses to this sermon. The newcomers seemed to appreciate it as well as the life-long Independent Christian Church people. One of my ladies stopped me after the service and told me of her experience in Cane Ridge many years ago. It was great to make that connection with her.
