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Monday, July 11, 2005

"My Whole Family"

"I kneel before the Father, from whom His whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name" (Ephesians 3:14, 15).

We sure had a great experience yesterday. Bruce and Cindy, long time friends from northern Pennsylvania, were visiting us. They joined us, along with our Amish neighbors, to share a service at Longwood Manor, a local assisted living center for the elderly. We met at a beautiful picnic grove where we all had lunch together and then the ladies piled into the buggy for the ride to the center, while we men followed in our van.

The staff had done a great job promoting the service so there was a big crowd. We sang quite a number of old hymns the people enjoyed, Bruce sang several solos and I preached a brief message. I believe it's safe to say we were a real blessing and we certainly were blessed as well! The residents followed us outside and many of them petted Dusky, the horse.  Then Bruce and I crammed into the buggy for the 3 mile ride back to our home, as many of the residents watched the spectacle.

In this series I often refer to my family, my wife Brooksyne and daughter Ester. We also care for my 84 year old widowed Mom, who lives with us. Certainly my family includes my three siblings and their families and then it extends to aunts and uncles and to many cousins. And my family also includes those who I associate with spiritually in my church and in previous churches. They are quite literally my brothers and sisters.

But my "whole family" is much, much larger than that! Paul uses the phrase "whole family" in our daily verse to describe the entire church.  The "whole family" includes all people of every race, from every country and in every time period who have bowed in submission to Jesus Christ.  This family is composed of people in heaven and on earth.  Thus it certainly includes all who have gone on to be with the Lord, as well as believers from all around the world living today.

What a great joy to have family members all over the world. If you are a follower of Christ you're a part of my family! Although I know a lot of people I only know a tiny, tiny fraction of my family. An important perspective is that actually my kinship with fellow members of God's family is greater than all other associations such as my national identity and in some cases even blood relatives.

And you, dear folks, whether or not I've ever seen you face to face are an important part of my family. We are connected not only through modern technology but we join together in spirit as we look mutually follow Christ.

I'm so glad I'm a part of the family of God.
I've been washed in the fountain, cleansed by His blood!
Joint heirs with Jesus as we travel this sod.
For I'm part of the family, the family of God. *


Be encouraged today,


Stephen C. Weber

Brooksyne's Note:  What an experience to ride in a horse and buggy that we've been fascinated watching from a distance on the roads for many years.  Anna Ruth kept Dusky at a pretty good clip which gave us natural air conditioning, along with a distinct odor that comes from sitting behind a sweating horse.  As delightful as our afternoon was in riding the buggy and fellowshipping with our friends, the visit at the Manor brought more joy to us than anything.  One elderly gentleman who sat there with a big grin during the entire service waved me over to him as we were shaking hands toward the end.  He said, "You can't imagine!  This has been such a spiritually uplifting afternoon for me."  Well, as you know, when you give of yourself you get double the return of blessing!

PS: We are seeking through friendship to build a relationship with our Amish friends. The Amish culture tends to be rather closed so we try to be extra careful. But we do share our faith and yesterday Bruce shared his testimony. We just aren't certain the extent they understand about our faith and the truth of Christ's atoning sacrifice and grace. They are very comfortable in their Amish identity and certainly our goal is to present Christ and not to win them over to our particular brand of Christian identity. There is some evidence that they do have an understanding of grace and knowing Christ. In their culture they do not approve of facial photos of adults so of course we honor that. But they were quite happy to have us photograph their children and our buggy ride. In fact they seemed so blessed when I printed out several photos and gave those photos to them.

I thought readers might enjoy several photos today. I'll put a couple on this page and then place several up as links if you care to look at them. (I am not sure how placing all the photos on the page itself affects load time for all readers.)

Bruce and Cindy Jack
Bruce and Cindy have been our friends since the early 80's. For many years they attended the church we pastored in northern Pennsylvania. The last several years Bruce has had some real health battles and has had two liver transplants, most recently in February. But now he is doing very well. They both serve the Lord and are active in music ministry.

Ladies in buggy
All the ladies rode the buggy from the picnic grove to the Center. Ester also had her friend Rene, with her. Brooksyne is holding Sadie, our Amish friends' baby.

This couple will soon celebrate their 65th wedding anniversary. (Sadie wasn't very happy about sitting on her lap!)

Moses, our Amish friends' two year old.
 
I had a real hard time getting into the buggy but the long ride home was just great!

Bruce and I, along with Moses in the buggy.

Pulling into our driveway.

Humorous/scary story – Of course the van could go a bit faster than the horse and buggy so on the way to the center we men stopped at the end of a runway, which ended literally right at the road. We thought it would be neat to see a plane take off right over us. This is a small airport where they parachute into the landing area. Sure enough a small plane loaded with parachutists started at the other end of the runway to take off toward us. I stepped out of the van and prepared to take a photo as the plane took off and flew right over us. My, if that little plane didn't take off but rather than rapidly ascending as I expected it buzzed right toward us and the other guys shouted "look out!" At what seemed like the very last second it gained altitude and went right over us. I don't know whether the pilot was joking with us or it simply took that long to get up due to the load. Anyway the other fellows sure a got a real kick out of seeing me duck.

Ephesians 3 The entire context of today's passage.

* "The Family Of God" Gaither, William J. / Gaither, Gloria © 1970 Gaither Music Company (ASCAP) ARR UBP of Gaither Copyright Management CCLI License No. 2005306

Finally, one more bit of humor. We overheard a couple of the elderly residents discussing whether our Amish friends were "real" or not! I guess one of them thought they were just dressed in costume to entertain them. The other said, "Well, I think they're real."  Yep, they were real alright.

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Scripture references are from The Holy Bible: New International Version. © 1984 by International Bible Society; NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission; and the King James Version.

Personal Mission Statement: "I am created by God to bring Him glory. Through God's Son Jesus Christ I have been redeemed and I make it my life's goal to please the Lord. My mission in life is to honor God through my faith and obedience and to prepare myself and all whom I may influence for eternity."

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