The Case for Church

News Flash: Life can be hard.

I know, i know. You're all sitting with your jaws in your laps because no one ever told you that before, right?!
No? ;-) Well then good. We've all learned that lesson! The question then becomes, what do we do when life gets hard?

Through the miscarriage, lies of believing that I was all alone in the world and that I didnt need help anyways, I realized some pretty important things.

I'm not alone. Duh, right? Of course I have my husband and children and a few close friends!

But I have felt alone for a pretty long time because all of my friends are those who I dont really share day to day life with. Angela lives in SC, Lindsay in Lawrenceville but our kids are different ages and we both lead busy lives. April is in TN. Ashley is living single life and kid free. Emily lives in Valdosta. The list goes on... I am SO blessed to have so many friends! However, in terms of our walks with the Lord, there is only so much impact that these types of friendships are going to have because of the distance or different life phases.

It was when I started to realize that i DO need people that i realized that we (as a couple) really dont have any close friends who DO hold us accountable and that we share life with in those kinds of ways.

Why? Well, partially because we're both slightly socially retarded, perhaps ;-) I'm an only child and grew up in the country, not a neighborhood. My cousins were my closest friends (Tracy still is a BFF) and to some extent, I find myself to be a little socially awkward. Maybe I'm hard on myself? Idk. Jeff, on the other hand, was always well liked in school and to this day if you know Jeff, you like him (or dont if you dont appreciate sarcasm and dry humor) but he's a guy... he doesnt really care so much if people like him. And he doesnt take time to invest in friendships (ie: making phone calls) often. His BFF's have been Ivan, who he worked with at the city (and they rarely talk now that they dont work together anymore), Jerry, who we went to church with forever (and they rarely talk now that we dont go to church together), Randy, who was our youth pastor we served under (and they rarely talk now that we dont serve at church together) and most recently Daniel, who has been his running buddy (and they are already not hanging out as much as Daniel is dating his "lobster"... so sweet... love them! but he's young and in love... and we dont go to church together).

See a trend here? Its become clear to me that unless Jeff has face to face contact with someone on a regular basis, he doesnt typically share much of a friendship with them.

I shared that our previous church had no one our age. Hence, his BFF being 21 years old. Well, I've always considered it a blessing to have older, wiser people around us to share life with, but as our kids are growing and we face new learning opportunities, I'm becoming more and more aware of how important it is to be at a church where there are other young families. And THIS was the big decision that came from our loss of the pregnancy in December.

We had gone back and forth for the last few years as to whether or not we should look for a new church. But we love the people at Oak Hill so much! So it has been a decision we've chosen to put on teh back burner for a while... and God, knowing that, and knowing that He had different plans for us, used the miscarriage to show us how important sharing life with others is!

Think about it... one of the MAJOR functions of the first church was for believers to share life together and encourage one another! And I do not believe that Gods intention has changed!

Needless to say, we have been visiting around. And while a decision has not yet been made as to what church to call "home", we finally feel good about the decision. Sharing life with people who are in a similar phase of life as you IS important. Having accountability from those people IS important. Being a part of a chruch, in general, IS important!

And I know that I hear all the time that  patients or friends of mine say "we love God and dont believe that you have to be a part of a church". Well, thats true. You dont HAVE to be. Although Gods word does tell us to not forsake the assembling of ourselves together...

But the real thing to look at here is why would you NOT want to be a part of a church? Do you not want to have friends who share godly values and goals for family? Do you not want the accountability of a body of believers? Church was set up by God to be a GOOD thing. Not something you MUST attend, but hopefully something that would spur you into spiritual growth.

And I know that a lot of people have been hurt by their church's in the past. Hello, preaching to the choir here. We know hurt. We know pain. And we know that that might possibly happen again because the church is filled with people who dont always obey Gods word, me included. But at some point we have to either believe that Gods word is true and applicable, or its not. And if we believe that it is, then we must also believe that we are a part of Gods body that needs to be put to work within a local community of believers in order to see His will established.

Its an obedience thing if you get down to it. And for some reason, obedience is hard.

But then, living life in disobedience is harder.

SO... my point. God is continuing to use hard circumstances to move us to make decisions that He's been leading us to make for quite some time. We were already IN church, but knew that God was wanting to move us from our complacent spot to something uncomfortable. For some people, God is wanting to move you from performing a disservice to yourself by not serving within a local body. Whatever the decision might be, however hard it might seem... Disobedience is harder.

If you're looking for a church, there are a ton of good ones around! But seeing as how we cant seem to pry ourselves away from Bethlehem church, I'd invite you there. Its a start!
www.bethlehemchurch.us