Once upon a time, there was a hungry man. With no food in his cupboards and some extra cash in his pocket, the hungry man went to a restaurant near his house. He had driven by this restaurant many times, but had never stopped in for a meal. He decided to try it. Big mistake!

When he walked in there was no host or hostess to ask him how many were in his party or if he’s like to be seated. He wasn’t certain what to do. Finally he just sat down. After a very long wait, the food server finally came to his table and was quite rude. He mentioned something about how the man was sitting in “Jerry’s Booth.” “Who’s Jerry?” the man wondered. The menu was confusing and overpriced. When his order finally game, it looked terrible. It smelled and tasted worse. Nothing about this restaurant was good. Nothing. He left a meager tip, paid his bill and left. As he walked out of the door, he said, “I will never eat at another restaurant again. This place was horrible!”  We went home and took an antiacid and had bad dreams all night long.

About a week later, a friend invited the man out to dinner. “Oh no, I can’t go,” he said. “I went to a restaurant once. The service as bad. The prices were high. The food was terrible. I vowed to never go to a restaurant again.”  A few months later another friend invited him out for dinner. “Oh no, I can’t go,” he said. “I went to a restaurant once. The service as bad. The prices were high. The food was terrible. I vowed to never go to a restaurant again.” Other friends asked too. His response was always the same. 

His friends told him, “We won’t go to the restaurant of your bad experience. Not all restaurants are the same. We will go to a good one.”

The man would not budge. “They all serve food that no one can stomach. I’ll never go again!” No one could convince him otherwise. He refused to go to any restaurant to eat, no matter how many friends went or how many good reviews the restaurant received.

The man went to a church once too. It wasn’t good either. He’s not been back.

The moral of the story: No one declares after getting a bad meal at restaurant, that they will never go to any other restaurant again. Instead, they find a good restaurant. It’s the same with churches. There are bad churches. There are good churches. Find a good church. Invite your friends. Make it an even better church. 

The end.

P.S. I’m super biased but Central Church is a really good church.