Share the experience

In 2010, I visited Mt. Pleasant for a day during Old Threshers. In 2011, as director of the Fellowship Cup, I spent eight days at Old Threshers. My goal in 2012 ? take the trolley and see the Log Village for the first time. Despite all the time spent on the grounds of Old Threshers, my view didn?t go far beyond encouraging gate volunteers and finding a different vendor for the next meal.

Mt. Pleasant has hung signs, shifted business hours and wished road construction along. Community members have prayed for cooler days and gathered needed supplies for their annual Old Thresher responsibility. Campers are already camping. Steam engines are on the grounds. The spirit of Old Threshers is in the air.

Sure there are some individuals who leave town has they have for the past three decades. Of course, there are a few doubters and grumblers.

Yet, today, as I turned the corner in my car, I saw a new banner and thought, ?Welcome, little child coming for the very first time.?

Can?t you see the eyes of a six-year-old seeing the grounds of Old Threshers for the first time? The jump of excitement. The giggle of joy.

As a pastor, the season of Old Threshers reminds me of a liturgical season like Advent, Lent or Pentecost. The church spends time planning for Christmas. Congregations practice for pageants and cantatas. Lilies and poinsettias are gathered. Banners are hung. Fancy bulletins are printed. Grandparents smile as their family fills a pew.

Even though I spent eight days at Old Threshers in 2012, I have never ridden the train. I?ve never twilled on the carousel. To experience Old Threshers, I need to get out to see, experience, taste and watch the parade. This year I have people to help me experience the event. I may have been at Old Threshers, but I was isolated in my Old Threshers world.

As a Christian, I wonder ? do we invite people to worship as happily as we invite individuals to Old Threshers? I?ve Facebooked friends and former interns, scheduling ice cream breaks throughout the reunion, purposeful invitations. Many in our county have driven by our churches and never entered. Many know church is out there, but in their ?world? it does not come into view.

Community of Mt. Pleasant, as another season of Old Threshers comes and goes, don?t allow another year to pass without inviting someone to worship.

I recently heard this statement: ?How much does a person have to hate another human to know the secret to love and life and not share it with another??

Invite. Watch. Wait. See. Maybe, just maybe, you will see the grin of joy when Christ becomes their best friend. Plant a seed ? worship is more than just music or preaching. Old Threshers is more than food stand hopping.

Experience more. Seek a deeper relationship with Christ. Hold the hand of a child and together step into the grace of our Creator. Help another. Your relationship with Christ will be stronger because of it.