Church Update: Blessing Others

⁴⁴ And all that believed were together, and had all things common; ⁴⁵ And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need. ⁴⁶ And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, ⁴⁷ Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved. - Acts chapter 2.

I told you that I would keep you posted on how our church experience was going. So far I've been pretty impressed. I know that it doesn't matter how I feel about it, but I'm certain that it is a body that truly glorifies God by it's actions and love. It makes me think of the above passage. Not that it fits them perfectly, because it doesn't. This group (in the Acts passage) was there because Peter and the apostles led them to Christ. They probably had very similar doctrinal beliefs. The church we have been attending all came together after they had been saved. They had their faith/belief established prior to coming. It's not a huge fellowship: maybe 10 to 12 families. Each one with a different church background.

The thing is that they all respect each others background. They follow biblical guidelines where things are clearly spelled out in scripture. Things that are gray, they go the route of least offense. Example: communion is a touchy subject from denomination to denomination. Some insist that it's taken every week. Other groups take it once a month. Some take it quarterly and some annually. With having families from every denominational background, we probably have some that believe in each of these scenarios. The men got together and decided to offer it once a month. If you want to take it more often (every week) you could do it at home. If you didn't want to take it every month, don't take it. Nobody is offended if a family doesn't partake in the “passing of the elements”. This is the procedure agreed upon by the men of the congregation and confirmed by the elder. The path of least offense. Every man takes a turn preaching, usually leaving hot, gray topics alone. Each family respects each other families belief.

Another area is the help they provide. What really led me to this passage was verse 45. To my knowledge, no one from the congregation has sold all of their possessions, but they certainly see to it that every man that has need, the need is met. We had meals provided to our family for a week after the baby was born. People traveled from Michigan (probably 60 miles or more) Ohio and Indiana to make sure we had a supper meal (usually hot) every night last week. What a blessing! Someone even called on Saturday to ask if we wanted meals for the following week also. We also had friends and family from the area provide meals to us that was a huge blessing. I have also heard story after story of families helping out other families. We have a testimony time at church when people share what the Lord has done for them in the previous week. It's anything from someone tilling someones new yard while the family was away to working concrete for someone who needs a barn floor poured. The person tilling the yard just stopped by, tilled the yard and left without leaving a note or message or anything. They saw a need and met it. God truly receives the glory.

We have been having water pressure problems in our house. Water just trickled out of the faucets some days. I called a plumber and he said it sounded like a well problem. He gave me the name and number of a well digger. He told me before he hung up the phone that “it would probably be expensive”. I was perplexed. I know so little about wells, pressure tanks and plumbing that I was afraid to try to look into it myself. I mentioned this at church at prayer time. I asked that the church pray for God to grant me wisdom on how to deal with this. After the service was over, I was approached by six men asking me the symptoms of the problem. I explained. Two of the men asked if I was going to be home later. “Sure” I said. They stopped in and found the problem. I don't think we ever had as much water pressure as we do now. It was a simple fix and very inexpensive. I told them that I felt bad the one had to come from Michigan to fix such a simple problem (I would have never figured it out on my own). They blew it off and said they were happy they could help us save some money. Most of the men there are either farmers or construction workers. I'm convinced that between those two professions, anything can get fixed that's needs fixed. Families have loaned vehicles to other families for indefinite amounts of time. One family left the Amish belief. They were getting persecuted by friends and family. They were actually getting death threats from some. This body of believers helped to move them out of their house in the middle of the night to help protect this family. One of the other families let them move into an empty house they had until they could get themselves established.

I don't mention these stories to brag or puff anyone up. To my knowledge (unless my wife has given this web-site to them) none of this church knows that I write this. I say this because: 1) I promised to keep you updated on our church experience, and 2) to encourage that there are churches who still believe in the old fashion ways. Neighbors helping neighbors. Families encouraging families. One of the families offered their 21 year old daughter to stay with us for a week or so after the baby came to cook, clean and help with the other children. I have been pleasantly surprised by this fellowship. Not just because we have benefited from it. I could just sit back and watch and listen to the testimonies given about how God has used a certain family or how someone was anonymously blessed by someone else. Without getting too sappy, I'll just say that it truly warms the heart, and the glory goes to God!!

God bless!!