Three Hours Per Week

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I serve the First United Methodist Church of Lawrenceville. The church’s mission statement declares:

Making disciples of Jesus Christ who

Love God,

Love Others,

and Reach the World.

Most of the members know this statement by heart. It appears constantly in our printed material, Internet presence, social media, and more. This is our reason for being, the core of our identity, and the essence of our DNA.

We exist to make disciples of Jesus Christ. The second part of the mission statement describes three holy practices to facilitate this goal:

  • Love God:                  Worship
  • Love Others:              Small Groups
  • Reach the World:      Service

We believe these three spiritual disciplines are essential to Christian discipleship. We love God through corporate worship which is a unique experience which cannot be replicated, duplicated, simulated, or substituted. We love others in small groups where we love and are loved, know and are known. We reach the world through service in our congregation and community.

So how do we apply these disciplines in daily life? One simple plan is called Worship PluThree Hourss Two. Christian disciples invest a MINIMUM of three hours each week to Love God, Love Others, and Reach the World.

Note that I used the word “minimum” because the minimum is pretty minimal!

We all get 168 hours per week—no more, no less. In an ideal world, we would get 8 hours of sleep per night which equals 56 hours weekly. So this leaves us with 112 hours awake.

Three hours a week is only 2.675% of our time awake! This isn’t much. If you want to dedicate a tithe or tenth of your waking hours to God, then you would need to increase this time to 11.2 hours per week. 2.675% of our waking hours doesn’t sound like much time; but frankly many church members do not commit even these few minutes to God.

To use a sticky quote by Mark Batterson: We all want to spend eternity with God. We just don’t want to spend time with Him! (All In, p. 77)

Worship Plus Two is simply a way of restating our church’s mission statement: Making Disciples of Jesus Christ who Love God, Love Others, and Reach the World. Worship Plus Two means we spend a minimum of one hour per week in corporate worship, small groups, and service.

So . . . how much time will you spend with God this week?

 

2 thoughts on “Three Hours Per Week”

  1. This is so very interesting. Food for thought. I will make a conscious effort to pay attention to how I use my time in service. Thanks so much for your quote.

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  2. This article is indeed interesting. When I evaluate myself, I do corporate worship and as stated there is no substitute for that. Even though I participate in Sunday School, I have a need to be in a Bible Study . Despite the heat I struggle to work in much needed areas such as VBS and Children’s Church. Continuous prayer is important to me, how can I spend eternity with God when I haven’t spent the time to get to know him? I have a commitment to Christ and his Church, it isn’t ok for me to always let someone else do it.

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