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And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell.
But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
-Joshua 24:15
Saw a sign outside a church recently: Welcome back to School, Welcome back to Church. Welcome is a wonderful word. But it struck me that the assumption seemed to be that people had chosen to be absent from church for the summer. I hope you haven't been gone from your family of faith this summer, and that when you've traveled, you've found other places to worship or streamed one of the thousands of options to your phone or listened to a service you missed at JCPC recently as you drove down the highway. The boys and I streamed a service a few Sundays ago when we were in NC and it was a lot of fun for them and me. And I'm sure we will have that for JCPC in the years ahead.
However, if you've been gone, welcome back, and I hope you'll join us for the Sunday school breakfast this week and Youth Group Kickoff on Sunday night. I hope you'll come with your kids, but also as parents, like any back to school night, getting your kids excited for something vital to their lives and finding out what you will need to do to help them succeed, signing up to volunteer and committing to their success. Your child will likely have as many as 8 or 10 teachers and administrators and specialists working with and for your child this year, but even they need volunteers. Your children and youth will need the same or more at church, and that's a family commitment.
I sat last week, drinking from my River Trail Middle School coffee mug, feeling appreciated as this was a gift for coming as a volunteer to Career Day for kids I mostly didn't know. I reflected how this event, one of their best and most important required dozens of volunteers and how they sought to honor that. To instill in our young people a love for God, a love and dedication to serving others, and an understanding that God loves them, we will need dozens of volunteers this year, their parents and gifted members of JCPC who have no children, empty nesters, and young adults. If any church is God's house, for our house to follow the Lord, we will all have to do so together. Come join us. And welcome back.
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