Church in a Diner

A friend of mine posted the following on Facebook, and she gave me permission to share it with you. God is working at all times, in all places, and maybe, if we raise our sights to notice, he will work in and through us and we will be able to respond with heartfelt praise and worship.

“This is where I went to “church” on Sunday. While driving back to Minnesota, I stopped in a small hotel in North Platte, Nebraska. Too small for breakfast, they gave me a voucher to this little diner next store. Halfway through my meal, a man and his young son stopped at my booth. “I saw you pray before you ate. Would you allow me and my son to pray a blessing over you?” Where upon, he sat down and offered a prayer straight from the needs in my heart! Then a man, clearly homeless, walked in…dirty, carrying plastic bags, and not smelling very good. When the waitress asked what he wanted, he asked if he could possibly get a free cup of coffee. ” No, smiled the waitress, but how about a stack of pancakes and bacon?” The man in the booth next to me looked stereotypically like he had just gotten out of jail. ( forgive me ,Lord, for judging by looks) for he was so patient and precious with his little boy, and kind and thoughtful with his wife. The Holy Spirit was blowing through that place in even more ways than I have space to share here. “Let your light shine before all men and glorify your Father in heaven.“”

I love this story of people who were simply attentive to the Spirit of God and living out gracious love, obedience, and kindness in a diner on a Sunday Morning. It reminds me that our ideas about church and worship might be a little too small. Yes, going to church on Sunday mornings, thanking and praising God, and hearing a prepared sermon is an uplifting and appropriate way to challenge our spiritual growth and to honor him. However, it is in the day to day living, the other six days in our weeks, that we have the most meaningful opportunities to serve him and show our love to him.

Church, for me, has become a largely intellectual experience, but if Sunday morning worship was a genuine celebration of God’s work in and through my life throughout the week, as opposed to dutifully singing a few songs and taking notes while listening to a good sermon, I would praise and worship from my heart instead of just my head. God would love that. So would I.

Thank  you, Margie, for sharing your Sunday morning worship experience with us and for challenging me to let my light shine before all men and glorify my Father in heaven.

Have you ever experienced “church” like this? Do you praise and worship God for what he has done in your life on a typical Sunday?