The Power and Purpose of Spiritual Family (aka – church membership)
Becoming a member of Encounter Christian Church means joining a family of believers seeking to love God and to love people with all of our hearts.
God has ordained the family to be the place where we learn how to give and receive love. This allows us not only to be healthy in relationship with each other but also to see the love our family gives us is really God tangibly showing his love for us.
As we learn to receive God’s love then we’ll have the natural response of wanting to love him back. I John 4:7-8 – Let us love one another for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. This love will compel us to let others know about Christ as Paul says in II Corinthians 5:14.
If we try to do a bunch of things for Christ before we have his love in us – we’ll wear out. We’ll have the Martha syndrome when we first must start at Jesus’ feet like Mary – learning His love.
This is why being a member of a local congregation is essential. If we are to be a spiritual family we must be committed to each other. Its obvious in a nuclear family if there is not commitment to sticking together through thick and thin that relational health is hindered. Commitment provides the security to share your heart with others. Commitment provides a safe place to retreat after disappointment. Commitment provides protection from outside threats.
Today spiritual family through the local church is more important than ever before because the nuclear family is growing more unstable all the time. Encounter Christian Church desires to be a place where members truly feel apart of a family.