May 10, 2023

Many of you know by now, that the courtyard garden area is once again the home of a mama duck and her 12 ducklings. (There were 13, but one met has gone on to its “eternal” nest.) They will only be here for a short time, until the ducklings can learn to fly and fend for themselves. This area makes sense since the courtyard is generally protected from predators. We like that, don’t we? We like the idea that this is a place that is considered to be safe from many of the dangers that are associated with nature. It is very likely that this mama was once a duckling that was hatched in this same courtyard.

This Sunday, several couples will be coming before our congregation with their children in order to publicly commit themselves to raising their children with the goal of knowing and following Christ. These parents will have these children at home for a relatively short amount of time, but these years at home are so important and formative and we, the church, are called to play a critical part in that. We like the idea that these parents consider our church family to be an arena that is safe from many of the dangers that are associated with this world. But what is it that makes our church family a people that attracts parents to raise their kids in?

1.      We believe the Bible.

This is foundational to our understanding of God, his gospel, ourselves and our world.

2.      We love God.

We acknowledge that God is of the highest value and therefore he occupies the very top place in our priorities of life.

3.      We love others.

Our care for one another is in words and action. We do not do it perfectly, but it is our aim to love others more than we do ourselves.

Put together, we therefore seek to point one another to Christ and encourage one another to follow him faithfully. These parents realize the importance of the church family and want to leverage the church for the good of their children. We can be a wonderful blessing to them as we stay true to clear biblical convictions and categories. We can reinforce godly values as we guard our own hearts from impurity. We provide examples of grace and love as we care for one another and show kids a great big God who loves a great big world as we champion and support well our missionaries. We can show little girls what graceful godliness looks like by encouraging our women to be champions in the faith. We can show little boys what godly men look like by encouraging faithfulness, leadership, humility, compassion and integrity.

God has raised up the church. If you love Jesus, you will love and be involved in his church because you will love what he loves and care for what he died for. Jesus calls us to love his church not only for his glory, but for our good. A healthy church is the greenhouse that God has created to raise his kids. When we faithfully carry that out, don’t be surprised when these kids come back home one day to raise their own here as well.

Grace and peace,

Bob

Sunday’s Text: 2 Samuel 10