Dear Family,
One of the biggest values in this season is family. And it’s not that “‘Ohana means family and family means no one gets left behind.” That’s only for the movies.
Family is more than flesh and blood relationships. Biblically, family in God’s kingdom is anyone who does the will of God. And it’s people who carry the same heart to hear God and obey.
Family also means we care for one another. If you want to do a fun Bible study, use a computer to search for the phrase “one another.” You will find that we are to love, be affectionate, agree, kiss, wait for, care for, serve, forgive, speak songs to, submit to, admonish, comfort, edify, exhort, confess our sins to, be hospitable to, and have fellowship with one another.
Whenever I have a chance, I brag on our church because we do many of these things. You will also find all of us contributing to the life of the church. On any given Sunday, there are not just a few people helping to setup and breakdown. Everyone puts away chairs, everyone cleans up, everyone cooks, everyone contributes. That is the mark of family. In a family, everyone contributes. It’s called chores. John Maxwell said at a conference once, “I do not give my children allowance for their chores, because they are a part of the family and everyone needs to contribute. I do give them money for reading books which I recommend.” That statement is pregnant with meaning and wisdom for us.
We experienced something last week which I didn’t mean to submit you to. For one reason or another our experts in a couple of areas were not at church and that caused others to have to scramble and “fill in”. While we want to do what we do well. We need to learn what each other does and their areas of responsibility. We need to be able to cover each other’s backs and cover each other’s areas of responsibility. There will be times when people will not be available and someone or a few people will need to step in.
This proverb comes to mind: “Blessed are the flexible for they shall not be bent out of shape.”
We are a church family that is focused on missions and we will be sent out to bless other nations and other churches. Someone once gave us a prophetic word like that which said, “You will be sent out to bless nations. This church will impact nations.” Most of the time we can plan fully for those times, but there is coming a time when the Lord will tell you in the morning to go here or there and then you and I must make a choice to obey or not.
We are a family and I am proud and pleased to be a part of our ‘Ohana.
Blessings,
Pastor Arlen
