{"id":477,"date":"2026-10-25T18:09:53","date_gmt":"2026-10-25T18:09:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lakesidecofc.com\/?p=477"},"modified":"2026-10-25T18:09:53","modified_gmt":"2026-10-25T18:09:53","slug":"at-the-next-appointed-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lakesidecofc.com\/index.php\/2026\/10\/25\/at-the-next-appointed-time\/","title":{"rendered":"At the Next Appointed Time"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201c. . . And bring us back at the next appointed time.\u201d Will you say \u201cAmen\u201d to that prayer? I will! It is right to ask our Father as we leave one assembly to help us return for the next one.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I\u2019m disturbed, however, at how many of us decide not to be back \u201cat the next appointed time.\u201d Most obvious is the difference between the morning and evening attendance on Sundays. Roughly half of the morning crowd doesn\u2019t return \u201cat the next appointed time.\u201d WHY?<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 We have no quarrel with the sick or with those legitimately hindered by employment. Nor do we find fault with those who are away but are assembled with fellow-Christians elsewhere. However, is it reasonable to think that half of our Sunday morning crowd is gone on Sunday evening for these reasons?<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Obviously, neglect and a lack of commitment are major factors. If a poll were conducted most absentees would agree that they ought to have been here. They would be among the first to say that their own excuses were inadequate. Still, they don\u2019t come. Evidently, they lack motivation.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 We could \u201csolve\u201d this problem by resorting to gimmickry. Bring on the magicians and dancers! Even if people attended to see these acts, would God be pleased with such carnal motives? To ask the question is to answer it.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 What motivated the early Christians to worship and serve God as they did\u201d \u201cFor the love of Christ constrains us\u201d (2 Corinthians 5:14l). No matter if that refers to their love for Christ or His love for them, the result is the same. After all, His love for us motivates us to love Him in return (1 John 4:19). So, the early Christians worshiped and served actively and faithfully because they knew Jesus loved them and that they loved Him.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 If you\u2019re not motivated to be here \u201cat the next appointed time,\u201d do some serious meditating on all Jesus went through for you at Calvary. How can you help but love Him?<\/span><\/p>\n

–Joe Slater<\/span><\/p>\n

\r \t
\r \t\t\r \t\t\"\"<\/a>\r \t\t  <\/span>\r \t\tSend article as PDF<\/span>\r \t\t  <\/span>\r \t\t\r \t\t\r \t<\/form>\r <\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201c. . . And bring us back at the next appointed time.\u201d Will you say \u201cAmen\u201d to that prayer? I will! It is right to ask our Father as we leave one assembly to help us return for the next one. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I\u2019m disturbed,…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading… At the Next Appointed Time<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-477","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","wpcat-1-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakesidecofc.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/477","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakesidecofc.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakesidecofc.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakesidecofc.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakesidecofc.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=477"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lakesidecofc.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/477\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":478,"href":"https:\/\/lakesidecofc.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/477\/revisions\/478"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakesidecofc.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=477"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakesidecofc.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=477"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakesidecofc.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=477"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}