While in PEI, there was a couple camping beside us. I was talking with them on Sunday afternoon and they knew that we went to church and that Ken was preaching out there. Our conversation moved to the spiritual. They are catholic. Church for them had become routine and didn't mean anything anymore, so they quit going. They said that they have their own kind of spirituality from home.
In the last year, their daughter joined a church. She loved it so much that she got a job transfer and moved to be closer to the church. They couldn't understand that she had found a community to be part of that was so important to her that she uprooted.
I explained that church people aren't just a community, they are family. They walk with you in the joy and sorrow. They laugh and cry. They rejoice and grieve. They serve you (and you serve them) spiritually, emotionally and physically. The Lord uses pastors, elders, deacons and people in the pews as mighty instruments in our lives. They are the hands and feet of Christ. It's the gospel in motion.
I told them that I could open the church directory and call almost anyone in there and ask for assistance, regardless of what it was it for- Even the ones that I don't talk to every week. I have at least 100 people that would help me at a moments notice and that's just in my own church. There are many people outside my home church that I could call too. I wouldn't hesitate to call and they wouldn't hesitate to come. I think they thought that I was exaggerating. It's truth. As I was speaking, I was filled joy and thankfulness for God's beautiful gift to me. It was a physical fill. It was bubbling over.
Ken and I grew up in our church. I was gone for a few years when I was young and Ken and I were gone for a few years after we were married and for seminary, but it's always been our home base. Walking into our church is like coming home. It's a place that my kids have amazing friends. It's a place that we are encouraged through ministry, the work of elders and deacons and through our people. The fellowship at church is very special to me and often the conversations spill into messages through the week.
Our church is a place full of imperfect people who live in an imperfect world. But I am so grateful for the ministry, the communion of the saints, the deep relationships and the beauty it brings to my life.
My church family does not end in the building of my home church. My family of Christ is massive and far reaching. There is something very special about meeting a fellow Christian and feeling that bond that belief in Christ can bring. But this post is just about the appreciation for the closeness and personal day to day relationships with the people of the Lord.
In the last year, their daughter joined a church. She loved it so much that she got a job transfer and moved to be closer to the church. They couldn't understand that she had found a community to be part of that was so important to her that she uprooted.
I explained that church people aren't just a community, they are family. They walk with you in the joy and sorrow. They laugh and cry. They rejoice and grieve. They serve you (and you serve them) spiritually, emotionally and physically. The Lord uses pastors, elders, deacons and people in the pews as mighty instruments in our lives. They are the hands and feet of Christ. It's the gospel in motion.
I told them that I could open the church directory and call almost anyone in there and ask for assistance, regardless of what it was it for- Even the ones that I don't talk to every week. I have at least 100 people that would help me at a moments notice and that's just in my own church. There are many people outside my home church that I could call too. I wouldn't hesitate to call and they wouldn't hesitate to come. I think they thought that I was exaggerating. It's truth. As I was speaking, I was filled joy and thankfulness for God's beautiful gift to me. It was a physical fill. It was bubbling over.
Ken and I grew up in our church. I was gone for a few years when I was young and Ken and I were gone for a few years after we were married and for seminary, but it's always been our home base. Walking into our church is like coming home. It's a place that my kids have amazing friends. It's a place that we are encouraged through ministry, the work of elders and deacons and through our people. The fellowship at church is very special to me and often the conversations spill into messages through the week.
Our church is a place full of imperfect people who live in an imperfect world. But I am so grateful for the ministry, the communion of the saints, the deep relationships and the beauty it brings to my life.
My church family does not end in the building of my home church. My family of Christ is massive and far reaching. There is something very special about meeting a fellow Christian and feeling that bond that belief in Christ can bring. But this post is just about the appreciation for the closeness and personal day to day relationships with the people of the Lord.
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