Family

This July, Sechler family had a great time on vacation to Glacier Park in Montana, and Banff Park in Alberta, Canada. When people have asked me what the best part of the vacation was, I reflected that of all the beautiful places we saw, the best part was still spending time with my family. Hiking a trail, Spending time around a fire, skipping rocks over a rushing river, canoeing on a mountain lake, playing a board game on a picnic table, and even listening to an audiobook while covering the many miles were all made better because we did them together. I love my family and I love spending time with them.

While gone though, I also missed my church family. Throughout the New Testament, family terms like brother, sister, and son are used of the church, and they are not used casually. In fact, we should see the church as an eternal family where we are all part of God's family. We should love, protect, forgive, fellowship, enjoy, and care for one another not just like some dysfunctional family, but rather as the best kind of family and an example for the world.

As Jesus tells us in John 13:34-35, "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” 1 John 4:20-21 tells us,  "If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.  And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother."

So our relationship with God should inspire us to love each other well, and if we are not loving each other well, then we are not loving God well. As the elders have considered how we as a church are called to make disciples in our area, we have discussed that loneliness and disconnectedness is one of the big areas of need in our area. If we can be a loving and welcoming family, we will help one another grow well, but we will also provide a welcoming family to many people who perhaps do not have that anywhere else in their lives.

My prayer is that you will feel loved in this church and that it will excite you to spend time with your eternal family, and that many other people will be welcomed into God's family through our church. I love you and it is a privilege to be part of this family.