A Message from the Pastor

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August, 2010 - Pastor Phil

I attend classes throughout the week at various LA Fitness clubs. I’ve been to at least seven different clubs and even though they all have LA Fitness on the sign I can tell you they are not all the same.

The Fort Worth LA in the Arts District, where I catch an 8:30 AM Wednesday yoga every other week, has treadmills with individual HD TV screens. I think they have a dress code because everyone seems to be wearing spandex, without having to apologize I might add.

The North Arlington club, where I do an every other week 5:45 AM Thursday Boot Camp, has windows behind the weights looking out on I-30. It makes it seem like you are going somewhere even when you are standing still, which you never do in boot camp unless you want the drill instructor to loudly motivate you to move it, move it!

The South Fort Worth club, where I caught a 5:45 AM spin class one morning, is one of the oldest clubs and looked a bit tired, which is how I felt after that spin class. The South Arlington LA was my lifesaver club when during the mission trip I went into endorphin withdrawal and wore out a treadmill with my fastest 5k ever. I also met a Body Works plus Abs instructor who put the fit in fitness and teaches at my home LA in Hurst on Friday mornings.

I tell you all this because of a class I went to at the Euless LA on 121 after a hospital call at Baylor Grapevine. First of all I was the only man in a room full of women. It was like walking into the library the other day where Calvary’s “Happy Hookers” were carrying on, but for some reason the LA women were not nearly as friendly as our Knitting Nannies. And apparently I put my mat down in a regular member’s spot, which is like sitting in someone’s permanent pew at church. And when even the instructor makes comments that can only apply to one person, because he’s the only man in the room, I was a little worn out, not by the work out, but by the lack of welcome.

Share with God's people… Practice hospitality. Romans 12:13

I don’t get out much on a Sunday morning but I imagine we have people who come to Calvary in the same way I go to different LA Fitness clubs. I know at my home LA in Hurst Sarah will scan my card and I’ll probably know everyone there at 6 AM including some Calvary members. (Lynn on the elliptical, Brooke with her trainer, Sharon at spin and one or both of the Gibsons or the Grubbs) But the first time I go to a new class at a new club… well I imagine it’s not that different from the first time someone comes to Calvary.

You know what it is like to feel welcome. People smile at you. They say hello. They introduce themselves and ask your name. They might even show you around and invite others to meet you. When that happens chances are you will come back because it feels a little like home, which of course is what hospitality is all about.

Share with all people because they are God’s people by practicing hospitality so that walking into Calvary for the first time feels a lot like coming home.

Pastor Phil

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