The Mark

Chapter 10

Chapter 10

May

Anna Warners picked up her Bible from the coffee table where she had placed it after church the previous Sunday. It was Saturday night, and she was worn out from a long week. She carried the book into the kitchen and set it on the counter near the garbage can. She flipped through the pages and pulled out a month's worth of bulletins. Her mind wandered again to Henry Greer. She had avoided him all week and hadn't heard anything else since his inner-office mail delivery. Af ter throwing away his note, she decided she would seek out Christian friends through her church, but for some reason her mind returned to that man. Her irritation was fading, and deep down she felt a little silly purposefully avoiding him over such a small disagreement.

When she dropped the old bulletins in the garbage, an insert fell from one and landed on the floor. She reached down and picked it up. Her eyes scanned the bold print at the top of the page. It was titled "Total Reach":

Are you single and tired of being alone? Do you watch the mar ried people pass you by and wonder if you'll ever fit in? Well, look no more. We are a group of single adults, committed to Christ, not look ing for love but looking to REACH out on His behalf. We are TOTALly committed to Him and want to REACH into our community and embrace the local community on His behalf. We want to share the love of Christ with the Muslims, Mormons, and Hindus in our town they will grow for knowingus and we will be enriched for knowing them. Join us every third Saturday night of the month as we gather to REACH. It's a TOTAL experience you'll never forget.

Anna walked over to her calendar hanging on the fridge. She took a pen from her junk drawer and wrote on the third Saturday "Total Reach." She was a bit disappointed it would be two weeks before the meeting, but at least she was following through with her plan to look for single Christian friends. Then when her mind wandered toward Henry, she would remind herself she was looking elsewhere. Anna set her Bible next to her purse and headed off to bed.

Sunday morning came quickly, and Anna threw on a pair of khaki capris and a blue tee shirt with ruffled edges, the one that accented her eyes. She topped it off with a white cardigan, in case it was chilly outside. It wasn't overly fancy, but it looked nicer than jeans and a tee shirt. She tossed her damp hair with a little gel, which held the curls in place, grabbed a Pop-Tart and a glass of milk, and headed out the door. Church started at ten and, as usual, parking was a nightmare.

She found her seat with a few minutes to spare, so she read through her bulletin. As the music on the stage began to call the con gregation to worship, she felt a tap on her shoulder.

"Is that seat next to you taken?"

She glanced up. Henry stood in the aisle, looking down at her. Surprised at seeing him, her heart jumped a bit, but she hid it well. She grabbed her Bible and purse and scooted over a seat so that Henry was on the aisle.

"Thanks. That's a pretty color on you."

Anna nodded, trying to act cool, and Henry smiled that crooked little smile of his, as if he had won round one. Unfortunately, Anna was no longer in the mood to sing, but the music swelle and the ser vice began, despite her distracted state. Henry seemed to know most of the songs and he sang wholeheartedly. Occasionally, he listened with his eyes closed, Anna sang for the first few songs and when Henry was quiet, she stayed quiet, too. She worried that he would notice that singing wasn't necessarily a strength of hers. Plus, she didn't want him to think she was overly happy that he had surprised her.

But by the time the sermon began, Anna had decided that she was glad he was there. He could hear for himself that her church was not some liberal, Bible-straying disaster, but truly a house of wor ship, filled with genuine Christians. Sometimes seeing is believing. She smiled to herself and settled in for the message.

Henry took a deep breath and opened his Bible to the passage be ing read. He had taken the bold step of coming to her church, but he knew the day was far from over.

"For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for his own posses sion, zealous for good works."

Henry's ears perked up. Dave Conover had taught this passage to the fellowship recently, and the notes from the study were fresh in his mind. He had stressed the call for believers to deny their natural de sires and develop godly ones. He said the motivation was the return of Christ, and the sacrifice Christ made was to purchase us and make us like Him. He added that believers are called to look for Christ's re turn and reviewed the signs listed in Matthew 24 that Christ Himself gave. It was pretty straightforward, Henry remembered as he followed along in his Bible.

Reverend Blackmore had a different take on the passage, however, He stressed that God had brought salvation to all men and that cul turally God had revealed Himself through various prophets and reli gions. All paths went to God, who used various belief systems to pu rify man.