I love being a part of a church family.  Growth = Health.  Yesterday I got to hold our newest addition to our church family, little Mason Rivera!  This was a special occasion for us as it is our very first 217church staff baby! There is nothing quite like holding a newborn baby as they are so fragile, dependent, light and not to mention extremely cute.  It made me reflect on what makes our church a family.  I was thinking back on all the amazing moments I have shared with Jay and Sandy, the proud parents.  Almost two years ago I had the privilege of baptizing Sandy and then a few months later doing Jay and Sandy’s wedding ceremony and eventually hiring Sandy on to our staff.  When we planted 217church, we envisioned thousands of people getting restored in their relationship with Jesus, and now it is becoming a reality.  We now even have 3 people we baptized that are a part of our church staff! “What makes us a family?”

“By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers….” (1 John 3:16 ESV)

The word “brother” alone shows up over 800 times in the bible, and this is just one family term!  I believe God wants to teach us to how to love through our relationship with our church family and our biological family. What does this look like for us?  What should some of the Rules be for our biological family and our church family?

• A Spirit of Adoption- We have said we are the “church for people who aren’t here yet,” and you are proving it every week!  The way you invite, accept and love people in, is life giving.  When people join your 217group or show up on a Sunday for the first time, you live the vision of being a church where people are rebuilt into their God given identity as the church.  Summer and I are seeking to adopt a child.  Maybe you can’t adopt a child but your family can have a spirit of adoption.
  

• A Spirit of Cooperation – in my family, more gets done if we all yield to one another and pull in the same direction!  We have to be unified.  Inevitably when we try to cooperate we experience conflict. No doubt, you have come into some type of conflict with a brother, father, sister or mother.  During times of conflict we find out what our relationships are really made of, but how we handle the conflict matters just as much as the conflict itself.  Healthy Conflict = Healthy Family and the same goes for the church.

• A Spirit of Encouragement- Never underestimate the power of an encouraging word.  I am constantly using words like beautiful, handsome, princess, mighty man of God, and genius in my house. I recently saw someone at 217church on Sunday give another person a hug and I wondered if that hug was the only form of encouragement that person received that week.  Encouragement literally makes us more courageous to believe in God’s dream for our lives.  It is the catalyst for our health.

• A Spirit of Celebration- Never pass up an opportunity to celebrate!  Other pastors ask me, “why do you make such a big deal of your church anniversaries, events, baptisms? You guys are way over the top!”  My response is “Exactly!”  Should we not be absolutely jacked and excited about every victory God gives us?  The enemy wants us to get complacent and bored.  Not us.

On that note we are going to have a HUGE LIVE DIFFERENTLY party June 3!   This will be our largest celebration EVER!  We will celebrate our 100th baptism, your incredible generosity, the debt you have paid off, the weight lost, new healthy habits, but most of GOD’S TRANSFORMATIONAL WORK in our hearts.  Then Sunday June 10th, we share the vision for the next phase of the church!  Let’s keep going and be encouraged through this…

^“I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”   Philippians 3:12

You are a part of something incredible!  Keep on running towards what God is calling you to!

Thanks for being my family,

Josh