Last weekend I attended a different church. I don't get to do that often. In today's installment of these Messages About Purpose and Strategy, I'll share an important realization and a couple observations. What I learned helped me to better understand what churches are supposed to accomplish and how we are doing in achieving our ends.

We had a great time there and really enjoyed the services. My realization has to do with expectations. Our positive experience was in spite of some significant weaknesses. I'm convinced that positive experiences are more closely related to positive attitudes than every duck being in a nice, neat row. We were looking for what was right and not what was wrong. There were many, many, many things right with their services. We went to church with an expectation of meeting with God in worship and we were not disappointed!

I'll still share two negative observations, just for the sake of learning. First, I heard the pastor talk about the importance of God's Word, but he never used Scripture in his message. He even asked us if we brought our Bibles but there was no reason to open them. I enjoyed his talk, but without God's Word, it isn't really a sermon. This was a good reminder for me.

Another observation was also not so great. I heard the pastor talking about family and connection and so on, but we were not greeted. We attended twice and were not approached by members seeking to connect with us.

Both of those observations provide lessons for us by way of negative examples. I don't want people here to miss out on God's Word or on the human, relational element. When it comes to our purpose and the strategies we employ to get where we need to go, it is crucial that what we do matches what we say. But, again, my main observation was that we can also never ignore the power of attitude. Someone looking to get blessed here will find many blessings yet someone looking to be disappointed will be.