A Family of Families

My father had tears in his eyes as he spoke in a Church service about the goodness of God toward him. This image is forever emblazoned into my memory, because my father is not a weepy guy. He is a hard worker and a man's man who would rather talk about how the Arkansas Razorbacks are playing than about his feelings. But the thought of God's mercy toward him elicited emotion from him, and made an impact on me. I realized that there must be something important behind the things that he was sharing, and, by God's grace, eventually I found out the truth of God's mercy that had so deeply moved my Dad that night.

I share this episode, because it is a powerful reminder to me of how God uses families as an instrument to lead us to faith in Christ. It is also a warning to me of how much the Church stands to lose if children never see their fathers expressing profound thanks for the mercy and love of God, if they never hear their parents ask forgiveness from one another, if they never hear their brother or sister give a testimony about how he or she came to know Jesus as Lord, and if they never hear their mother pray for the salvation of their souls. It is my prayer that God will make Gilead Baptist Church a "family" in which all of these things occur. It is my prayer that Gilead will be a Church made up of families in which all of these things occur. I am not asking for perfect families or a perfect Church. I am looking for a "family of families" that sincerely seek and sacrificially serve a perfect Savior. This is the work to which God has called us: to begin to truly believe and understand that we "are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household." (Eph. 2.19) My hope is that we will occasionally be amazed by the fact that we have been brought so near to the heart of God, and that our thankfulness will make an impression on our children. May this be the essential flame that warms the heart of this family of families.