955 Mt Cross Road, Danville, VA

Church #159 was a beautiful online visit to The New Life Church, and I am actually posting a bit early, which is unusual for me. But my heart needed this exact service today, and I am so grateful for the way the Holy Spirit is working in my life.

Sometimes a service does not just encourage you, it meets you. It reaches into the places you have been carrying and reminds you that God is still near.

This journey has now been going on for over three years, and life has changed so much in what feels like such a short time. When the Bible says life is but a vapor, I have come to know that intimately. James 4:14 tells us, “What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.”

Time does not feel theoretical to me anymore. It feels brief. It feels like something we should not waste sleepwalking through. And maybe that is part of why this service touched me so much. It reminded me again that a real relationship with God is not something to be postponed. It is not something to be squeezed into leftovers or just on Sunday mornings.

The service began with energetic praise and worship music, lifting up the name of Jesus Christ, and it was exactly how I needed to start the day. There are mornings when your heart feels heavy before the day even gets going. There are mornings when you know you need to begin not with the noise of life, but with the name above every name. That praise helped set my heart in the right posture. It reminded me that before I am anything else today, I am His. Before I carry anything else today, I belong to Jesus. Before I face the world, I need to face Him.

I also loved learning more about this church. They say, “We are passionate about helping people grow in their relationship with Jesus,” and that was evident to me. I especially love that they believe we are better together. We need family. We need people who care. We need people who will pray for us, sit with us, sharpen us, encourage us, and remind us of who God is when life tries to make us forget. That kind of community is a gift.

One of the things the pastor shared this morning was the reminder that our relationship with God is meant to be personal, conversational, and even fun. He spoke about how God wants us to enjoy being His family. He wants us to live life, worship Him, love one another, enjoy our lives, trust Him, and actually talk to Him. That spoke to me in such a tender way, because I think many people have been taught to approach God only with formality, or even fear. And yes, there is reverence. Yes, He is holy. But He is also Father. He is near. He welcomes us. He invites us.

I do not believe He saved us just so we could live in a cold, mechanical religion. I believe He saved us for relationship. He did not tear the veil so we could keep acting like strangers. He did not send Jesus so we could reduce faith to a routine, a checklist, or a Sunday obligation. He came near so we could come near. He speaks so we can answer. He loves so we can love Him back.

Today’s reading came from Deuteronomy 6:4,
“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.”

And when you keep reading that passage, it only gets deeper. We are told to love the Lord our God with all our heart, all our soul, and all our strength. His words are to be in our hearts. We are to teach them diligently, talk about them when we sit in our homes, when we walk along the road, when we lie down, and when we rise up. God never meant for His Word to be confined to special events, Sunday services, or little spiritual pockets we visit from time to time.

His Word is not meant to stay in a box.

It’s so easy to fall into the trap of giving God designated little corners of life while keeping the rest untouched. Sunday morning. A special worship moment. A crisis prayer. A church holiday. But God calls us into all-of-life surrender. His Word is meant to live in our hearts, shape our homes, direct our decisions, confront our pride, comfort our pain, and steady our steps. It is meant to go with us everywhere because God goes with us everywhere.

I loved something the pastor did today. He made space for anyone who did not have a Bible or did not know how to access one, and he said to let the church know because they would provide one. I love that. He also did not assume that everyone there knew where each book was in the Bible. He understood that some people may be new to visiting, new to church, or even new to beginning a relationship with Jesus. That was such a beautiful reminder to me. I have not heard another church do that in quite the same way, and it showed such care. Such wisdom. Such gentleness. That is what I believe the church should look like.

Not assuming everybody already knows. Not speaking only to the seasoned.
Not forgetting the visitor, the seeker, the hurting, the hesitant, or the brand-new believer. But making room. Making space. Making sure the door is truly open.

That touched me because sometimes people do not return to church, not because they did not want God, but because they felt invisible, lost, or too ashamed to ask basic questions. And I think churches that remember that are doing something beautiful. Jesus did not shame people for coming with need. He welcomed them.

And that brings me back to the message itself. Our relationship with God should not be contract-oriented. A contract says, “Here is the minimum requirement.” A relationship says, “Here is my heart.” A contract says, “What do I have to do?” A relationship says, “I want to be near you.”

My relationship with God is not a box to check on a to-do list. It is the center. His words are in my heart. Not just around my life. Not just near my life. In my heart. That means the relationship should shape me everywhere, every moment, every conversation, every hard season, every joyful season, every choice, every disappointment, every healing, every ordinary day. It should shape how I love, how I forgive, how I grieve, how I work, how I wait, how I speak, how I trust.

And I think that is one of the strongest lessons of maturity in Christ… learning that God is not only for church moments. He is for all moments. We do not just need Him in the quiet place. We need Him in traffic, in heartbreak, in decisions, in parenting, in marriage, in grief, in healing, in work, in the middle of laughter, in the middle of fear, in the middle of an ordinary Tuesday afternoon. We need Him all the time.

I need Him so desperately in the real places. In the places where life hurts. In the places where healing is slow. In the places where grief shows up uninvited. In the places where joy surprises me. In the places where I am still becoming who He created me to be. I do not want a Sunday-only God. I need the living God. And thank God, that is exactly who He is.

I am so grateful for this service today, and for the way the Holy Spirit used it to remind me that God is not inviting me into duty, but into closeness. Not into empty routine, but into living relationship. Not into a box, but into a life where His presence reaches everything.

Thank you to The New Life Church for a beautiful online visit and for such a timely reminder.

And as this journey continues past the three-year mark, my heart is still in awe of the ways God keeps meeting me right where I am.

I cannot wait to see where the Holy Spirit leads next.

And the thought I leave you with is this, God’s Word was never meant to visit us only on Sundays. It is meant to live in us. To fill our mouths and flood our hearts. Because the Lord never wants a checked box. He wants His children. And I am so grateful He still wants us close.

Love you all so much, thank you for following along in this journey.

-Annie Stewart Lambert