Love, Grow, Connect, Serve – These are the four core values of Rexmont EC Church. What do we mean by these values? Today let’s look at each of these in a bit more depth.
LOVE
There was a woman caught in adultery. The religious leaders at the time asked Jesus what they should do with her, stone her, as the law required, or let her go. They were trying to trap Jesus. If he said, “Let her go,” he was breaking the law. If he said, “Stone her,” the crowds who were following him would turn away.
Instead, Jesus bent down and started writing something in the sand. We don’t know what it was, but all the accusers left. After a bit, Jesus looked up and asked the woman, “Where are those that accuse you?” “They’ve gone,” she replied. “Then neither do I accuse you. Go and sin no more.” Jesus showed love to the woman in that he offered her forgiveness, but also reminded her that she couldn’t continue in her sin.
Lord, please allow us to show the same love to others today that Jesus showed those around him.
GROW
Too often, when people look at a church, they want to know if the church is growing, and what they mean is, “Are more people going to your church this week than last week?” But if you read our church mission statement, the phrase says, “grow together.” A good church may not be growing in terms of numbers but is still healthy because the members are growing together spiritually. A church that has thousands in attendance, isn’t necessarily a healthy church just because they have a lot of people attending, if people’s faith isn’t growing.
And it’s not just growing as individuals, but also growing as a community of believers. As we individually grow closer to Jesus we will also, as a church, grow closer with each other. That’s how the Christian life works.
Numbers are important in a church, but not nearly as important as growing in our faith and growing together as a congregation.
CONNECT
Connecting with each other is an important part of any body of believers. The reason we gather together in congregations is because we feel that connection with each other.
In our pandemic affected world, sometimes it’s just easier to watch the church service on the TV from home than it is to get the kids up and dressed, breakfast eaten, everyone ready for church and out to the car, and the drive to church.
However, in Hebrews 10:25, the author, most probably Paul, writes, “Do not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encourage one another.”
Connecting with others also means connecting with people outside of our church walls. Whether that is visiting our homebound (more about that below), various outreach events, and connecting with others through missions, to connect is an important part of the life of the believer.
SERVE
In our western society, service is not something that is often looked on as being praiseworthy. “Service oriented jobs”, janitors, custodians, waitresses, store clerks, etc., are usually lower paying jobs than others. And yet we as Christians have been called to serve. Jesus himself claimed the role of a servant in Mark 10:45 when he said, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
I love that our purpose statement as a church just ends with the phrase, “and serve.” There isn’t any qualifier. Service is not limited to the church, or other Christians, or our local community. We are to serve. Period.
Billy Graham wrote, “The highest form of worship is the worship of unselfish Christian service. The greatest form of praise is the sound of consecrated feet seeking out the lost and helpless.”
A wise man, that Billy Graham.