Pastor Jeff has been doing several blogs on the topic of "why church membership?" He asked me to keep that theme as I write this week. This might one of the easier topics to write about! We came to this church about 10 years ago. Neither my husband or I have family in the immediate area, and it soon became clear that this church was a body of believers that we could not only worship with, but that we could come to trust and count on in times of need. I will be honest, we "joined" the church because we wanted to have our daughter baptized, and you had to be a member in order to do that. So, we went to the new members class, met a few more new people, stood up before the church, and then we had our daughter baptized. It could have easily been the end of our church involvement story. But, thankfully, God opened more and more doors for us to come to know people at the church and really start feeling like we belonged.
The church provided so many opportunities for us to see the love of Christ. The people in KidZone loved our kids and were always excited to see them. In fact, when our son was hospitalized as an infant, it was a nursery worker who was close with my older child (who was a toddler then) who came into the hospital to sit with us one Sunday afternoon, because she had heard at church that day that he was still admitted and would be there a little longer. She came straight from church. She brought us balloons and a smile. And, I will always remember that.
We began getting involved in different small groups, which really helped us start to connect with others on a deeper and more personal level. If you have never jumped into a small group, I encourage you to try it out. It can be uncomfortable at first, and I know for many, it definitely is out of your normal comfort zone, but the benefits far outweigh the initial awkwardness. When Pastor Gary talked about our safety net and what people would be there for you, I immediately thought of my friends from home group. I have some sisters in Christ who are praying up a storm right now for my family and some situations we have. I know if I called out in a crisis, these women would be there with a safety net, and probably food too! While we laugh and have a lot of fun together as a group, we know that these are people in our lives who will come together and support us when we are in need.
As we continue in this month of renewal, I encourage you to look for ways that the church can or does help you. Look for ways that you can or do help the church. Really, these are not separate things. We are the church. Our membership is a commitment, not a piece of paper. And that's because, as a body of believers, relationships are increasingly important to our relationship with Christ. Loving others can certainly be messy. But, I can tell you that when you're the mess that needs some help, you'll be glad to have some folks in your corner, speaking the truth in love to you and speaking the God's truth over your situation to you. That's something the world cannot offer.
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