The World is Our Church

Many people often think of ministry as something that only happens in a church building, such as worship or Sunday school. Other forms of church ministries can take place in or outside of a church campus, such as mission trips, small groups, or Bible studies.  Challenge you to consider how all of them – even worship and Sunday school – can take place outside of the church building. It is important to note that the church is not a building; it is a people called by God to share the good news of Jesus’ radical love, compassion, and forgiveness for all people. In fact, while He occasionally preached in the temple, Jesus himself did most of His ministry outside of a church building, traveling to places where people needed to hear about God at work in their lives. Indeed, for the church to stay relevant, we need to be a people willing to go into the community to places where you might not expect worship or Sunday school to take place.

Ministry and worship can happen anywhere! As one of the pastors of Glen Burnie United Methodist Church, I tend to think of my work as ministry to God’s people wherever they are. I suspect that many of us think of our work in or outside of the church, be it paid or volunteer, as ministries as well. And we would be right!

God gives us the opportunity to welcome people to GBUMC and to demonstrate to them that they can be in ministry to the community wherever they are as well.

A church building does not have to be the only place we worship, and Sunday does not have to be the only day we give our attention to God. Indeed, the church plays an important role as a vehicle of Christian ministries throughout the local community and the world. By giving service to God in venues other than where we normally worship, we can live out that role of sharing the Gospel with the community.

 Let us pray that God invites us to serve and worship every day!

-Pastor Martin