January 21, 2022

Reach In

More than 30 years ago, Robert Fulghum wrote a best-selling book, All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten. Here are a few of the things that he listed: Share everything; Play fair; Don’t hit people; Clean up your own mess; Don’t take things that aren’t yours; Say you’re sorry when you hurt somebody; When you go out in the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands, and stick together; and, last but certainly not least, warm cookies and cold milk are good for you. 

The basics principles of loving relationships aren’t rocket science, but sometimes they are hard to live out if we aren’t intentional.  There are more times than I care to admit that I don’t want to share with others.  I may not hit another person, but inside I sure want to.  I don’t want to say I’m sorry when I know that I am partly or even fully at fault.  However, we can’t thrive living with that kind of mentality.  In fact, we can’t even survive.  If we are followers of Jesus, He calls us to be a part of a loving and caring community. Paul reminded the Romans that God has placed us into His body just as He desires with unique giftings and personalities.  Paul also reminded the church at Ephesus that collectively we are citizens of Heaven, members of God’s family, and God’s house – His holy temple.  But how do we lovingly live out being a part of God’s family?

In this last message in the REACH series, the focus will be on cultivating authentic, deep, and loving relationships within our church family. I hope that you will take a moment and read Ephesians 4.1-3 before Sunday to get a glimpse of God’s intention for us as we reach in toward our brothers and sisters in God’s family and practically live out those simple yet profound things that we learned in kindergarten.

Reaching with you,

Tiger