As we resume chapel worship, I wonder about the new people who will find us.  The Pandemic and its turmoil have created soul-searching among many.  Will they search for a church?  Will we be their spiritual home?

Gordon Atkinson, a pastor from Texas, published “How to Find a Church” back in 2004. He suggests. . .

• You won’t find “that” church.
• Open the yellow pages. Tear out the entire church section and burn it.  Offer prayers for your journey while warming yourself at the fire.  Dance, if that’s your thing.
• Surely I don’t need to say anything about churches with preachers who have $200 haircuts.
• Find some people you can hang with – people you can trust. Be patient. You’ll change them and they’ll change you.  You’ll meet somewhere in the middle.
• Don’t skimp on the coffee. Get the Good Stuff.

Atkinson is true and funny.  But what if  our shopping for the right church goes deeper?  What if it’s a search for the “right” religious experience:  “that” moment that will secure our belief in God?  What church has the right music, preaching and architecture that reliably produce a religious euphoria?

The Book of Proverbs sees a different way to God – not extraordinary moments but ordinary, daily disciplines.

Extraordinary experiences?  Or very ordinary disciplines?   Can they both lead us to God?  This Sunday we’ll answer that question.