by Rev. Dr. Dale Azevedo, Sr. Minister
“Come home, come home.
You who are weary, come home.”
Will L. Thompson
Come Home
September 8 is Open Doors Sunday. As many of you know, that is the official kickoff of our 2024-2025 program year. It comes at a time that our kids have gone back to school, our boaters lament the passing of summer, and our staff and lay leaders get busy. It is a really fun day in the life of the church, and recently we’ve celebrated that day with a fun, full worship service followed by a cookout and party after church.
I want to invite you to join us for this special Sunday and come back home to church. We have so much planned for you. In worship we have the dedication of our volunteers for children’s ministries, a baptism of the cutest little boy since the last one, a great sermon by Racquel, and a special musical guest. And if that isn’t enough, afterward we’ll have hot dogs, an ice cream truck, activities for the kids, and fellowship.
But not only that, we have so much planned for this fall that you will definitely want to be a part of!
Your sermons
This summer Racquel and I preached a season of grab-bag sermons! We didn’t know what our sermon topic would be until we pulled your suggestions out of a bag. And it was wild! However, there were dozens of sermon suggestions we didn’t get to. And they were great! So, Racquel and I decided to use those suggestions to populate our sermon schedule for this fall. The best part is we get to plan ahead, this time! So this fall we will be preaching your special requests from the summer with topics like:
What is prayer and what does it accomplish?
With so many religions, who is the real God?
What are heaven and hell really like?
How do we coexist with those we disagree with?
Did God stop talking?
The challenge of forgiveness.
It’s likely we’ll publish the list along with anticipated dates later so you won’t miss the sermons that really peek your interest. So, come home and listen to your sermons!
Your family
Whether you 
attend by yourself, with friends, or with your kids/parents, your family will be at church! Who is your family? Everyone who attends! We talk about church being a family more than a group of friends for a variety of reasons. First, you don’t get to choose your family and you don’t get to choose who comes to church. Like our families of origin, we don’t control who comes through the doors, yet we hold many shared experiences in common. Also like your family, there are probably those you get along with a whole lot better than others! (Aint that the truth!)
However, also like family we are here for you when you need us most. We may not agree on everything and we may upset one another at times, but we are called to truly care for one another, to love one another. Where else can you find that? Where do you find it in your life? We pray together. We live together. We laugh together. We cry together. We grow together. That is family, and you are welcome here! Come home and see your family!
Your faith
One of the most common statements I’ve heard from congregation members over the past few years is, “I have nowhere else in my life where I can talk about my faith like this. I can’t talk with my spouse, my friends, and certainly not my coworkers. This is the only place I can discuss what really matters to me.” Whether it is in worship, or Bible study, or a fellowship group, church is one of the VERY few places in our lives where people
feel they can discuss God and ask their questions freely. What a gift that is! Do you have questions about the meaning of life, God, what happens after we die, or even what it is you believe? Then this place is for you. Come home and explore your faith!
Your ministry
How do you live out your faith? What do you do in your life that God would look upon and say, “Well done, my good and faithful servant?” There are so many ministry opportunities here at your church. Just go to our web page and explore our Ministries tab or take a look at our list of current ministry teams. There are so many to choose from. And what’s even better is if you don’t see one that interests you there, you can always start a new one. Our vision for ministry at BCCUCC is that every member, no matter how old or young, skilled or unskilled, faithful or doubting, should have a place to be in ministry. Church isn’t just a place to come and learn and find connection, it’s also a place to make a difference. Come home and get involved in your ministry!