A man walked by and saw a sentry standing guard for no apparent reason, so he approached the sentry and asked him why he was standing in that particular place.

The sentry replied, “I don’t know.  I’m just following orders.”

So, the man went to the captain of the guard and asked him why the sentry was posted in that place.

“I don’t know,” replied the captain, “we’re just following orders.”

After a little research they came back to the king with an answer.  About one hundred years earlier, Catherine the Great had planted a rosebush and had ordered a sentry placed there to protect it.  The rosebush had been dead for over eighty years, but the sentry still stood guard.

This past Sunday we were looking at Romans 12:1 which says, “Therefore I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God – this is your true and proper worship.”  We have been looking at “The Heart of Worship” on Sunday mornings in our current sermon series.  We learned the past two weeks that what God wants from you is YOU!  He wants all of you, that is the price of worship.  But also look at verse 2, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind . . .”.  We need not pattern ourselves from the world but from God’s Word.  We need not do things just because we always did it that way but do what God would have us to do.  Change is a part of life.  My we never be the sentry that is guarding a piece of earth where there is nothing to guard, only because we have always done it that way.

This last Sunday in February we will have our annual Western Sunday on February 25^th.  It is a Sunday where we ask everyone to come in their best western ware for our 10 a.m. service.  There will be some great worship followed with games for the kids and then a fellowship dinner on the grounds.  The church is providing fried chicken and we are asking everyone else to bring all the fixings.  For more info please call the church office.  This will be a great opportunity to invite your family and friends to come and join us.  I hope to see you there.