Our church made an abrupt change last Sunday. It was so abrupt that almost half of the members weren’t able to attend the Sunday Service. It is about the schedule of the Service.

When I came in to that Church, Service starts at 10 in the morning. After few months, we have decided to move it at an earlier time (8 in the morning) so we could conduct Sunday school for adults after the service. Sad to say, members doesn’t want to go to church that early, so they came to church around 9 a.m., and later on 10 am. So, our pastor announced that the adult Sunday school shall be 9:30 and Service begins at 10.

Last Easter Sunday, we had our “Sunrise Service” at 5 in the morning. Almost everyone is in the church by 5:20. During the service, our pastor mentioned that he thinks it would be nice if we move our schedule in an earlier time. After the service, some members talked about moving the schedule at an earlier time because of the following reason:

• It feels more relaxed if we go to church at an earlier time
• It is summer (Philippines, tropical country) and it is hot (I mean HOT) at noon time, so if we could go home at an earlier time, we the sun isn’t that “high” yet.
• You can do your “things” that you want to do (cook, go to mall, chat with peers, etc) longer after the service.

Even I, myself, agreed with these. As you can see, the reasons are materialistic and for personal gain.

There was no formal announcement made. We had a Friday Worship last week, and they said (I’m at work that time) that they all agreed to move the service at 8am. And they said that everyone was informed regarding the change.

It was Saturday evening when we were discussing this matter with some of the people involved with this. And I was arguing to them that we couldn’t just change the schedule right away since there is no formal announcement for the congregation. But they insisted that everyone was informed and they have already talked about it.

Sunday came, our pastor was invited in another church. So I am the one in charge. We came at the church around 7:30am. It is already 8:15 and there are only 10 (more or less) people in the room (our regular attendee, 25 – 30). We started at 8:15. After some praise and worship songs, prayers, readings, and hymns, I was called by our “emcee” for the message. My message is from Psalms 40:3 (The reason why we worship and what should happen when we worship).

In my message, I can’t help but to mention what happened. I asked the church who should be the one adjusting with the schedule, is it God or us? We adjust the schedule for “our own convenience”.

Maybe we already forgot, Jesus left all the comforts of heaven. Lived with us humans, suffered and died on the cross, all because of us. He left ALL THE COMFORTS OF HEAVEN JUST TO SUFFER AND DIE ON EARTH for our sins. And here we are, going to church in our most convenient time. We go to a church as long as the place is comfortable for us. We listen to preaching as long as we like the preacher and the message (but don’t listen if the message hurts us). We go to church because of so many reasons that is self centered.

Sighs…

We finished at around 9:30am. We were already packing up things when one family came. They said they were never informed that the schedule had changed (what they know is 9:30 for Sunday school, 10 for the service). So we told them what happened. Just as we were about to close the Church entrance, another family came, and we told them the same thing. And right after we placed in the security locks (my pastor’s away, so no one is in the pastoral house), another family came. Another family was going to the church when they meet one of our members going home. He told them about the new schedule.

Well, at least now, everyone is informed.