Culture: the characteristic features of everyday existence shared by people in a place or time. How I grew up involved a culture and shaped how I view the world around me. It taught me to respect people, to help others, and to laugh with friends. Looking at the culture of the United States. It is vastly different than other countries; for better or for worse we have a culture here. However, from each state, to each city, to each town, to each suburb, to each family, has their own culture. There is a culture at The Sound based around our mission statement; Many Voices. One Call. Culture is everywhere; part of our everyday lives, in everything we do. There is no avoiding culture but we are able to shape it and change it. That has been my goal: to shape a culture within Sunday Nights and to change the culture around our daily lives for the better
What I mean “for the better” is to have the Sunday Nights group go from glory to glory, because better means “greater than half”. I do not want us to do half measures. I want Sunday Nights, The Sound, and the Church as a whole, to go from glory to glory. Genesis chapter 20 shows the weight and the responsibility of something like receiving and giving glory and honor to someone else. It explains how Abraham lies (again) about Sarah being his wife; he explains she is his sister to the king of the nation they have entered. This is King Abimelek. God keeps Abimelek away from Sarah and tells Abimelek that she is a married woman. God explains how Abimelek now needs to make a decision with the information he has. Knowing this information, the truth, puts a weight on Abimelek, a responsibility. Abimelek’s decision is not only to return Sarah to Abraham but to bless Abraham with an abundance of animals and treasures. Abimelek goes over and above what he should do in this situation. He gives glory and honor to Abraham when Abraham did not deserve it.
When God shows us love, honor, or glory, we have a responsibility to give it to others. We need to share what God has given to us. In everything that God does, shows, or has for us, we need to ask ourselves certain questions. What are you going to do now? What do you do with what God has given you? How do you give it to others? These of questions are essential to what The Sunday Night Crew is becoming when it comes to specifically honor.
Honor is our focus right now. We are shaping Sunday Night culture around honor and what it means to our group; the different layers of honor, how it looks to the world, and how it will be applied to this group. We are growing in our honor from God to give it away to others so they know and feel they are valued. When we show people, instead of tell people something, they are more inclined to believe us. Showing honor to someone builds a connection with them. Connections are the key for someone to know Jesus and know who we all are.
So, I encourage everyone who is reading this to learn about honor and humble yourself to give honor to someone you know or even a stranger! And if you want to know more about Sunday Nights, come talk to me or join us at 7PM each Sunday night! Remember honor is a responsibility given to us by God. Give it away freely to shape and change the culture around you!