we are the body of Christ. Romans 12:3-5 says, "3 For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you. 4 Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5 so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others."
When CR and I first moved to Bishop, I dug my feet in the ground and said that I did not want to join his church just because that was the church that his family went to. I wanted to join it because that was where we felt led, if we did. I wanted to shop around first. Well, I never made it to any other church than River Hills Baptist Church. I knew from the beginning that was where God wanted us, but dare I tell CR that right away. While "trying on" River Hills, I also read the book Stop Dating the Church by Joshua Harris. If you have never read that book, I highly suggest it. You will be humbled flat to your face if you have a heart beat. Anyhow, the book had me start looking at what was great and amazing about the church instead of what was wrong with it. Ya, they sang old old hymns, but I began to see that as a blessing, and now those are my favorites to sing amongst the worship music we do now. I began to see how I needed to marry a church - River Hills. Not soon after finishing the book, CR and I walked the aisle to join the church and then a few Sundays later I was baptized (because I had never followed the Lord in that discipline thus far in my life). That fall was really hard on me being so far away from my family, and I joined the "older" women's Bible study. Best decision of my life, well next to accepting Christ and marrying my husband. Those women taught me so much, even though I don't think they knew they did. The leader was so brutally honest, something that I did not often see in some of the Christians I knew growing up. We were studying Old Testament material and bringing it to life for today … and I saw all these grey haired wise women sharing struggles and sins - blew my mind and I loved every day of it. I grew so much and I am so thankful that I can still call those women my friends today. Who cares that we have 20, 30 and even 40 years between us, we serve the same amazing God.
One thing I love about our church is that although it is probably 900 members or more, we go through things together. All together. Young and old, new member or seasoned member, we take the idea of the church being one body very seriously.
I have a video to share, but first to tell you a little bit about this ... the woman that is in the black and white striped shirt with a hat on her head has been battling cancer for about 3 years now. She was a woman in my original Bible study 7 years ago. Last week the doctors gave her the latest test results and told her they had done all they could, there was nothing else to try. She has a son who is in the youth group and they have decided to move to California to be with her family, so that they can help take care of her. Today was their last Sunday with us, so a fellow sister in Christ grabbed her and her family during invitation time to go pray with Brother Bill. Slowly and completely unplanned, others joined in to pray with them. I could hardly hold myself up under the weight of everyone behind me, but I don't think I have ever been so moved before. God is good. Because He lives, I can face tomorrow. Thank you Jesus for my church home and all the many life long friends that I consider family you have placed in my life, near and far.
Here is the video of After our church sermon
I am not sure if you caught what Brother Bill said, but when he said it I thought "hit the nail on the head." He said, "Thank you church for, well, being a church." Amen.
People often ask me, "How did you do it Lauren, how did you move far away from everyone you knew except your husband? How did you meet people and get involved?" Simple answer: I found a church body and dove in. If you are moving, or have never joined a church, I highly suggest you find one and get both feet soakin' wet.
And on a lighter note, here is our sweet Kirby and her choir friends blessing us with a few messages in song: Joyful Noise 1 Joyful Noise 2
"How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, "Your God reigns!" Isaiah 52:7
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