Good Morning Everyone,
Our theme for this month: “Success”
Our Bible verse for today: “His unchanging plan has always been to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. And this gave him great pleasure.” Ephesians 1:5 (NLT)
Our thought for today: “You need a church family.”
On CERT International mission trips it always amazes me how quickly the team members bond with one another. We draw our team members from different places around the U.S.A. and from other countries as well. They fly from many different points of origination and the team comes together at a major airport in our host country. Often the first time team members meet each other is at the orientation meeting the first day on the field.
And yet, within a day or two it’s as if they’ve known each other for years. Everyone is laughing and joking, enjoying each other’s company, and working well together. As the mission trip unfolds deep friendships develop, many of which will end up lasting a lifetime. In the course of only 10-14 days the team becomes a family.
That’s the Holy Spirit working in the hearts of Christian brothers and sisters and drawing them to one another in the power of the Spirit, and that bond is always the key to the success of the mission. None of us could have accomplished it on our own. It had to be a team effort.
The same dynamic works in church families. In fact, it has too. If there isn’t a close-knit bond among the members, the church will be fractured and ineffective. If that bond is there, the work of the church will be powerful and successful. And just like on a mission team, no one person can do it alone. The mission of the team, and the mission of the church, cannot possibly be successful unless everyone is working together.
This also means that individual Christians are not living-up to their full potential unless they are part of a united and successful church family. Ephesians 1:5 is just one of the many verses that make it clear that God intends for all of us to be a contributing member of a church family, working with others to accomplish His purposes through that body. There is no model in Scripture for individual Christians to be making their journey through this world without the support and fellowship of a good church family.
God intentionally adopted you into His family and He intends for you to be actively involved in the family. If you’re not, then you are missing an important piece in your life as a child of God. Everyone needs a church family.
God Bless,
Pastor Jim
Oak Hill Baptist Church 