This is the rock on which I will put together my church, a church so expansive with energy that not even the gates of hell will be able to keep it out. Matthew 16:9
We spoke in a downtown church in Seattle some time ago that had a sense of humor. How do we know?
Because this was on the sign in their parking lot: “Church parking only. We will not forgive those who trespass against us.”
Every church has it’s own personality. And when you find a church that fits with yours, as a couple, you are blessed.
Research shows that couples who attend church, even once a month, increase their chances of staying married.
Studies have also shown that churchgoers feel better about their marriages than those who don’t worship together. How can this be?
"The perfect church service would be one we were almost unaware of.
Our attention would have been on God."
--C.S. Lewis
Well, to start, attending church provides couples with a shared sense of values and purpose in life. It also provides couples with a caring community of support – and every couple needs help from time to time.
We have a friend who likes to say that cultivating spiritual intimacy in your marriage without incorporating the church is like trying to drive a car without a steering wheel.
He’s a pastor. Big surprise, right? But we couldn’t agree more.
From the beginning of our marriage, worshipping together in church has been a systematic time of rest and renewal for our relationship.
On Sunday mornings these days, we pile into the car with two boys in the back seat, turn on the Sunday play list, and head to our church where we each disperse into different directions – the boys to their classes, Leslie helping the youngest one, and Les to the sanctuary, reserving a seat on the front row off to the side (before the seats fill up) where Leslie soon follows.
It’s our ritual. Our routine.
But it’s couched in the soul of our marriage.
And it almost always lifts our spirits to worship with others who, like us, are doing their best as a couple to walk in the footsteps of Jesus.
This post was written by Drs Les and Leslie Parrott. For more information go to this site: http://store.lesandleslie.com/collections/books/products/one-year-love-talk-devotional?mc_cid=6cfe914792&mc_eid=8676cc37de
BE HOLY.
BE A MAN.
We spoke in a downtown church in Seattle some time ago that had a sense of humor. How do we know?
Because this was on the sign in their parking lot: “Church parking only. We will not forgive those who trespass against us.”
Every church has it’s own personality. And when you find a church that fits with yours, as a couple, you are blessed.
Research shows that couples who attend church, even once a month, increase their chances of staying married.
Studies have also shown that churchgoers feel better about their marriages than those who don’t worship together. How can this be?
"The perfect church service would be one we were almost unaware of.
Our attention would have been on God."
--C.S. Lewis
Well, to start, attending church provides couples with a shared sense of values and purpose in life. It also provides couples with a caring community of support – and every couple needs help from time to time.
We have a friend who likes to say that cultivating spiritual intimacy in your marriage without incorporating the church is like trying to drive a car without a steering wheel.
He’s a pastor. Big surprise, right? But we couldn’t agree more.
From the beginning of our marriage, worshipping together in church has been a systematic time of rest and renewal for our relationship.
On Sunday mornings these days, we pile into the car with two boys in the back seat, turn on the Sunday play list, and head to our church where we each disperse into different directions – the boys to their classes, Leslie helping the youngest one, and Les to the sanctuary, reserving a seat on the front row off to the side (before the seats fill up) where Leslie soon follows.
It’s our ritual. Our routine.
But it’s couched in the soul of our marriage.
And it almost always lifts our spirits to worship with others who, like us, are doing their best as a couple to walk in the footsteps of Jesus.
This post was written by Drs Les and Leslie Parrott. For more information go to this site: http://store.lesandleslie.com/collections/books/products/one-year-love-talk-devotional?mc_cid=6cfe914792&mc_eid=8676cc37de
BE HOLY.
BE A MAN.
