Church Involvement

There is a lot a large family can do to serve. Many programs that our church offers are meant to serve the needs of the church community. The outreach programs are meant to take the name of Christ to those who do not know him. The best we can do is to participate in these as a family in order to teach our children to serve. In serving others we learn to serve each other. Too often many churches become ingrown. What this means is that they cut themselves off from the culture in order to keep from being "dirtied" from the evil influences in the world. But a mere skimming of the life of Jesus, in the scriptures, would teach us differently. We are called out to get our hands dirtied by rubbing shoulders with those in the world and influence them for Christ. So in the spirit of helpfulness, we have determined to serve in anyway we can, as a family, those ministries our church supports. What better way to teach our children to be connected than by ministering to others. The sense of disconnectedness and loneliness is replaced by a sense of worth and usefulness as we serve the church and connect with its vision to the lost. Community is one thing and it is necessary. We come together to serve one another in order to demonstrate the love of Christ to the lost. We come together to be edified and to edify to trust our mutual Lord. When we step outside the doors to our gathering place we become missionaries pouring our lives out to those who have never heard. We need a balance. A church whose primary focus is spending time with each other in community is off balance. Similarly a church whose primary focus is on the people of Africa may neglect the needs in their community and this is also off balance. Let's stop operating from fear and become balanced by trusting God for the needs in the community of believers and for fear of corrupting influences in the world. God is our protector and keeper.

-Joe