A few years ago, AT&T had a major snafu in New York City.  They had an agreement with the city that, when electrical demand peaked, AT&T would switch to their backup generators.  One day they did that, and something went wrong.  When they switched over, the resulting power surge blew a number of rectifiers.  Not only did that knock out phone service in the area, it also disrupted communications for air controllers at Kennedy, LaGuardia, and Newark airports.  Over a thousand flights were affected. 

Usually, technicians would fix that kind of blackout quickly.  However, they didn't respond quickly on that particular occasion.  While alarm bells rang unheard, the technicians were--believe it or not--attending a training session on how to handle an emergency. 

I worry that something like that often happens in the church. Christ has called us to serve the world for which he died.  Worship is that time when we strengthen our spirits for service to the world. When worship becomes an end in itself, we are not being what Christ has called us to be. We need to be shaken from our sanctuaries and into the streets.