when the church isnt on a time limit

how many times during a service do you check the time, wonder how much longer the sermon will last, run out the door during the invitation just to beat the crowd, or just sit in the back to get out faster? That's me sometimes, and that's probably most people who attend church in America. We have agendas that are packed to the brim with activities, and if the service runs any longer then the allotted time, we have to run out of there for fear of missing some other event. But in Kenya it was different, people came to church, but they never left, or so it seems. While the service already was 3x as long as our normal one at home, there wasn't a rush out of the door when the service ended. Church wasn't an event it was THE event, the place to be. No one had even considered scheduling anything else near the time block of church because church, God, and the community of believers were placed on higher priority than anything else in their lives. they have nothing else to hold on in their lives, church is it, so they spend as long as they can with their christian brothers and sisters, encouraging them and energizing them for the spiritual battles they will face in the week. So maybe we can take a lesson from the Kenyans and be sure to remember that God is more important that seeing the kickoff on Sunday afternoon, or being on time for the family brunch. So this weekend as you stand up to run out of the sanctuary just ask yourself if food and football are more important than the family of God and fellowship with them.