These cans of veggies illustrate two ways to do church:

These cans represent the traditional way of having church.

These cans represent the way of doing church taught in 1 Corinthians 14:26.

2 ways 2 do church:

1) Line everybody up in nice rows like shelved stacks of canned vegetables and let one person give a talk from the platform.  This traditional way of holding church meetings keeps us closed up in our cans.

2) Let everybody open up and share what the living, resurrected Jesus has put in his or her heart. (The way of doing church taught in 1 Corinthians 14:26.) This New Testament way of doing church opens us up so that we can share what Christ is doing in our heart with one another.

If Jesus is really alive (like we preach that He is), then when we gather in His name, let’s allow Him to take us off the shelf, open us up and take the lids off our cans, and then lead us to share with one another what He is doing in our lives.

“The Holy Spirit wants the platform back!” –Ryan LeStrange
–Let’s get out of the Spirit’s way and allow Him to speak through anybody present, not just through the pastor and/or whoever else controls the platform.

God doesn’t want you to sit on a shelf and keep your relationship with Him under a lid. He wants to open up your can and share the spiritual life in your heart with other members of his body and with the world. Christ in you is the hope of glory! Don’t keep Him to yourself.

Church is off the shelf and the cans are open at The Salvation Army Berry Street, where ordinary people show and tell what God has done. Come and be fed by the Holy Spirit working through everyday people. Experience open cans, off the shelf, sharing Christ with one another — Sundays @ 10:45, 225 Berry St., Nashville 37207.

The flag in the pic is The Salvation Army Flag. The star in the center reads “Blood & Fire.” The red stands for the blood of Jesus; the yellow stands for the fire of the Holy Spirit; and the blue represents a lifestyle of daily following and obeying the living, resurrected Jesus Christ.