What My Church Means to Me
This post is dedicated to the 100 year anniversary of the First Church of God in Marion, IN. In 1915 God inspired a group of people to start meeting in a saloon (A SALOON!!! THIS IS 1915!). As they grew, they moved to Boots street of the same city. This particular church building is still located in Marion and is still being used as a church (as of September 21, 2015). The church continued to grow. Some land was given the church (from the Baer family) in the 1960’s to build our present building. This church was rebuilt in 1983 after it was 
knocked down by a tornado. It was completely demolished. An amazing group of men (there were some women too) called the “Hardly Able Crew” dedicated 1000’s of hours and rebuilt the church at its present site (Sept. 2015).
A lot of thing have changed over the last 100 years. As you just read, the buildings have changed because of growth and destruction.
The pastors have gotten better looking.
We have seen tremendous leaps in technology. We have gone from red to gray hymnals. Ok, that is not much of a technology change. But we went from hymnals to overheads and slide projectors. We have gone from slide projectors and overheads to video projection machines and flat screen tvs.
The music has changed. We have gone from singing just hymns to singing some of the new worship choruses that God has inspired others to write. Instead of singing from hymnals we are now singing from a screen. We have gone from just an organ and piano to drums, guitars, woodwinds, and jimbaes. We have gone from having a choir to having a praise team.
The people have changed. Some of them have moved on to heaven. Others have moved on to different churches. Still others have moved to different states. We also have some who have gone into full time ministry because of God’s call.
The methods of how we do ministry have changed. We have gone from hosting revivals to hosting block parties and other outreach events. We have gone from using quarterlies to using rightnowmedia.org video library for discipleship. We have gone from hosting church events in our building to community outreach events.
The one thing that has not changed in the last 100 years is the message. Jesus was born of a virgin. He walked the earth and never sinned. He was crucified, rose from the dead, and ascended into heaven and left us his Holy Spirit. For the last 100 years God has been alive and well and changing lives. God still loves humanity. God is still changing lives. He is still waiting for all of humanity to love Him back.
The message of God’s love for mankind will continue on for the next 100 years and there will be more changes. God will not stop until all have heard. Changes will keep coming because the church is a living and vibrant organism that is always changing but never changing her message.
Not all have heard this message that Jesus loves them and wants a relationship with Him. This past summer (2015) the church hosted an outreach event at our local water park. For part of the evening we did Bible trivia for the kids. The kids could ask any adult for the answer. To me, these questions were simple Bible questions that anyone would know if they had been in church for any amount of time. I told the kids that they could ask the front desk workers. Little did I know, the front desk workers did not know any of the basic stories of the Bible. I was stunned. For each question I would tell them the 15 second version of the Bible story (sometimes I just gave them the answer). Not all have heard these stories. Not all have heard that there is a God who loves the world so much that He sent his one and only Son so that they could be in a relationship with Him.
We need to continue to tell these stories. None of us will be on this earth when the next group of people celebrate their 200 year anniversary. It is up to us to keep the story going. It is up to us to tell others the stories that have transformed our life. It is up to us to pass down these to stories to our children and grandchildren.
We need to continue to give away this message of hope and salvation. Why? Because not all of heard. Somebody, some day is going to sit in your spot at church some day. Who is going to be? Who are you going to tell?
If we don’t continue to tell these stories, the story could end. I don’t want God’s story to end with me. I want God’s story to continue for the next 100 years.
Go back to the beginning and click on the pic. You will hear and understand the difference that not only does a church family make in the life of a person but the difference Christ makes in the direction of a person’s life. The reason this church is still making a difference in the life of the people in this community is because they kept telling the story to anyone would listen.
Let’s keep the story going.
If you would like to read the story about the First Church of God and its people in Marion, IN just click on the “100 Celebration Book” below. (if you have a slow computer or slow internet it will take a few minutes to load up)
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