Student Ministry October 2017
Dear Church Family,
My last article was intended to be an encouragement to us all to pursue unity and discipleship by being people who speak the Truth in Love. That is one of the main themes I would like to become a trademark of the Student Ministry here at Oakhill, as well as the parents of our Student Ministry. My hope is that the students will grow in their willingness to be loved with the truth of the gospel. That is why our DNow that is coming Nov. 10-12 has been given the theme: Speak Love. I am really looking forward to this weekend to have the students discuss how to speak love in the midst of a culture that says it is loving, but has no idea what true love really is. I hope our students will be encouraged to go and love their friends by living out and speaking out the gospel. But what I think will actually ensure this outcome would be for the families of our church to be families who emulate this at home. What happens at home happens out of it as well. That is my motivation for writing this newsletter. I hope to encourage our families to pursue unified and godly homes. Note, I did not say perfect homes! But ones that pursue unity and godliness. That means that I hope to encourage you to be gospel centered homes.
You might hear that and immediately feel crippled by the weight of such a high expectation. But do not fear, being gospel centered at home is actually extremely liberating! It allows for failures and imperfection, and it brings about forgiveness and restoration! How can we have homes where imperfection and weakness can lead to abounding love and wholesome relationships? By loving God more than your family. What? How can loving something more than your family make you love your family more?? While the answer is simple, it does not usually mesh with our natural understanding. But, simply put, God is love. He is the source of it. All love (that is wholesome and good) comes from Him and His grace to His creatures. So the question ought to be, how can we really, truly love our families without having the love of God first?
Jesus put it this way: “If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple.” (Luke 14:26) If I were a disciple at that time I might be tempted to think, “well, there it is; He’s lost it. All those miracles have worn Him out and He’s gone crazy!” But Jesus obviously didn’t want people to hate their families, because He told them to honor their father and mother in Matt. 19:19, Mark 7:10, Luke 18:20 and elsewhere. What He is saying is that to truly follow Christ, He must be first in your life. He must be before your spouse, your children, your siblings, your parents, and yourself. If you are like me, you love that list of people very much. And Jesus doesn’t want you to love them less; but simply love Him more! He died for you! I haven’t even died for my spouse… what kind of love is this, O my soul!! Because of this love, we now strive to die daily for Him, our spouses, our children, and our brothers and sisters in Christ. It is because of His love that we love so much more! So, let us ask ourselves, do I live like I love my family most, or God most? Do I have the order right? What would it look like to tangibly love God before my kids, my spouse, and myself? I think that would look like a gospel centered home. Not a perfect home, but a home full of the love of God.
Brian
