Donkeys are Messy

It's been a crazy - but fun - few weeks at Aldersgate. This past Saturday we had our first ever church-wide retreat at Asbury Hills. Talk about a messy church event! Ha! We had 5 generations together for the day - talking, sharing, and enjoying our time together.

We spent the day Saturday - and our worship service on Sunday - focusing on Jesus' parable of the Good Samaritan found in Luke 10. Our theme was "Get off your donkey!" Funny, yes. True, though. In order to help the victim, the Samaritan had to get off his donkey. It says in Luke 10:34 that he put the man on his own donkey and took him to get help. He had to get off his donkey in order to be about God's work, something the priest and the Levite in the story weren't exactly willing to do.

When it comes to messy church, there's really nothing messier than the parable of the Good Samaritan. A victim injured and left to die on a dangerous and dusty road - that's a bit of a mess! And the relationship between Jews and Samaritans - also a mess. Throw in a donkey, well, the whole parable would be perfect for Messy Church!

Isn't that the point, though? The priest and the Levite didn't want to get caught up in the mess of serving. God calls us to love our neighbors as ourselves and that implies getting off our donkeys. It implies that things will get a little messy. Fact is, Love can't happen without a mess!

Even though it wasn't an "official" Messy Church event at Aldersgate, our church retreat goes hand-in-hand with what Messy Church is all about. Generations exploring faith together, getting into the messy God calls us to create as we love God and love our neighbors!

Now that the retreat is over, we're starting to gear up for our next Messy Church on October 27 at 9:45. And I can promise you, this one is going to get pretty messy (in other words, dress accordingly - you've been warned!). Invite your friends and neighbors to join us on what will be a "Dark and Stormy Night." We may even have a special guest with us that morning. And our annual Fall Festival is that night from 5-7. Busy, messy day at Aldersgate for sure!

Keep on the lookout for more info about Messy Church in October - especially for the list of supplies we'll need. It should be posted here and on Facebook soon. And look ahead and mark your calendar for Messy Church on December 8 and a special Messy Christmas on December 22 at 4 pm!