How to Rewrite a Well-Intentioned but Ridiculous Church PR Statement, by Pr. Rossow

An LCMS church out in the Rocky Mountain District wrote this to their community on their website:

Each week at the Praise Services we gather to celebrate the grace, freedom, and joy we have in Christ. We are learning to be authentic, enthusiastic worshipers who love God wholeheartedly and love others unconditionally.

At the heart of our vision is the desire to reach out to a hurting world. We want to see the lives of people transformed and help them become fully devoted followers of Jesus.

Our mission is to create unforgettable worship moments where people might have an undeniable encounter with God.

It is our prayer that through the music and worship you will be able to sense that God loves you, is for you, and is near to you. We want to invite you to stop in and worship with us. We hope you will join us for a weekend service in the near future!

I took a couple minutes and rewrote it just for fun and maybe to make a point or two:

Each week at Bethany Lutheran’s Divine Services we gather to receive grace and freedom from Christ. We confess that apart from this grace we are lovers of ourselves and totally bound by sin. It is preached against our sinful selves however, at these Divine Services, that God loves us unconditionally even though we are and remain incapable of doing that for Him and for others.

The Father gave the Son a mission and a vision. Jesus totally transformed himself and took on human flesh to be our servant.

His mission was to give his body and blood on the cross to cancel out our sin in this incredible encounter with fallen humanity. And he still gives out his body and blood today.

It is our prayer that you will enter into this Divine Service from God here at Bethany, alongside us sinners and receive these gifts from Jesus.

KONICA MINOLTA DIGITAL CAMERA
The Processional Cross at Bethany, Naperville, Illinois

 

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