Good Morning Everyone,
Our theme for this month: “Celebration”
Our Bible verse for today: “This day in early spring … you have been set free … You must celebrate this event … You must explain to your children, “I am celebrating what the Lord did for me.” Exodus 13:4-5, 8 (NLT)
Our thought for today: “A good church family helps us celebrate what the Lord has done for us.”
Celebrations help us to mark and remember important milestones in our lives. That’s what birthdays and anniversaries are for. Celebrations also serve to honor and call attention to significant events such as winning a championship, or getting a promotion at work, or making the honor roll. I once baptized a young woman whose family then threw a “baptism party” for her. They brought a baptism cake and some drinks to church and asked everyone to stay after the morning service and to celebrate with them in the fellowship hall.
The Lord’s Supper is a form of celebration as God’s people gather together to “celebrate” what Jesus did for us and the fellowship we now have with Him, and with each other, as a result.
Another reason for celebration, especially within the context of church life, is as Moses explained in Exodus 13:8, to teach our children. Celebrations as part of church life – be it the Lord’s Supper, a baby dedication, a baptism party, or whatever, help to teach important spiritual truths and to mark the spiritual progressions people go through as life unfolds.
This then is one of the important benefits of church life. Not just being active in “a” church, but remaining committed “to the same church” for years on end – generations even. The Lord has assembled us into church families so we can walk through the seasons of life together. As we do that, year after year and generation after generation, together we celebrate all the passages of life – the births, baby dedications, birthdays, baptisms, graduations, marriages, promotions, retirements, and eventually the funerals which are the ultimate and final celebration of a life lived well.
Active participation in the life of a good church family – sustained over many years, is good for us. One of the things it does is it provides us with brothers and sisters who walk through all the seasons of life with us, celebrating along the way.
God Bless,
Pastor Jim
Oak Hill Baptist Church 