Church.

Church. What does that word mean to you? What are your own ideas of church and how did you gather that definition? The idea of church for me is something that has developed immensely since God started CrossRoads back in 2003. Through our times of fellowship, prayer support on the My Family website, special moments of worship, and many other facets of CrossRoads, I have seen the body of believers in action. I think many times we focus on what we know about church and limit ourselves to just that. Well if you look back to the early church, in Biblical times, they have much to teach us and have hopefully influenced where our “church” is today. In Kids Connect this week, we took a look back to Acts 4:32 to see how the early believers treated each other. In verse 32 the Bible says, “Now the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of his possessions was his own…” It goes on to say in verse 34, “For there was not a needy person among them, because all those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the proceeds of the things that were sold, and laid them at the apostles’ feet. This was then distributed to each person as anyone had a need.” Wow! What a clear expression of worship that we can demonstrate when we give! I would encourage you to read the context of this passage to get its full effect, but what it comes down to was that these people were filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak God’s message with boldness and GAVE to one another. There was NO needy person around – all needs were met. What a cool testimony! I hope you now see your challenge. Throughout this summer there will be a big push to help donate food to the Jackson food pantry: just one of the many opportunities to give. As we in Kids Connect focus on giving, partner with us as parents to help our kids see the love of Christ poured out on others.