Women and Church. That particular string of words may conjure strong opinions. If not in yourself, definitely in others. If your opinion is determined in part by what is seen in media, culture, dax, it has likely been shaped by loud, perhaps even extreme, voices which may not always represent the majority.
With Mother’s Day approaching, we thought it would be a good time to remind the women in our lives that we love them. There are many types of mothers- birth mothers, adoptive mothers, step-mothers, grandmothers. Then there are those we refer to as “others.” These women may have stepped into our lives as mentors, friends, colleagues, friends of our mothers, or any “other” way. We all know having a mother or “other” to walk alongside us in life is incredibly important to our earthside journey. Take the time this week to share your appreciation to the mothers & “others” in your life! We went ahead and had a few women share their appreciation in the blog post below about some women in our church! Take a look for some inspiration!
Covid has scattered the local church.
The initial need to socially distance and stay safely at home in our jammies to watch worship services online has had far-reaching implications, many of which have not been positive.
Not regularly gathering together for worship made it easy for members to disconnect from their church community, get used to not being part of corporate worship, passively listen online and even stop listening at all. Eventually this led to many people feeling out of the loop with what is happening within their own church, to stop attending entirely and to get spiritually lazy. Others responded by “trying out” different churches and leaving the church communities they once considered family. These things have weakened our churches as a whole.
“Immanuel, God with us,” is without question one of the most beautiful, life altering, hope inspiring phrases in the entire world of words. It was an Old Testament prophecy foretelling of Jesus (Isaiah 7:14), a fulfilled reality testified to in the New Testament (Matthew 1:20-23), and it has been our church's theme the entire month of December. It is also one of my favorite names of Jesus.
The first Candlelight Service at Council Road was in 1970, when I was six years old. Fred Wilhoite, our first pastor, was a kind, older gentleman, and I remember children like me were naturally drawn to him. The tradition of children climbing onto the stage for the Christmas story didn’t start until years later. About 12 years ago, Norman had a wonderful idea to begin writing and publishing our own children’s books for that service, with each child getting to take one home.
Christians should be familiar with the call to be servants, right? 2 Corinthians 9:7 tells us “God loves a cheerful giver,” while Acts 20:35 admonishes “It is better to give than to receive.” It requires selflessness and sacrifice to be a giver. Let’s be people who give as the Lord has given so much to us. But, when we talk about receiving or asking for help, I can get a little squirmy. Who wants to be in a position where they need to ask for help? I’m sure you can think of a time you were in that spot. Christian community must do more than give; they must also be willing to receive.
Millenials have turned coffee shops into the place you go for everything: business meetings, first dates, friend dates, devotional time, study time, interviews, and more. Of course, all generations can enjoy time in a coffee shop. We would like to encourage you to use this “coffee shop for everything” idea to invite someone you don’t really know to coffee. Bonding over coffee (or tea for the non-coffee crowd!) is a great way to build a friendship or relationship with someone.
