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If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together. Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.
-I Corinthians 12:26-27
As I write this, I’m at Montreat. We took 11 of our youth and one college student for work crew. It’s a joy after a year away to come back. These kids and adults have been starved for connection, which is the theme for this week... called to connect. It’s invaluable for us as created people to connect. And for growing believers, especially, to connect with other believers and with God’s word daily. They have so many opportunities to connect through arts and sports and social groups, but nothing that comes close to the depth and importance of faith connection and formation. There is not one single work day, school day, or activity that can be of the same importance to our eternal existence as tending to our spiritual needs by being in worship on Sunday or taking a week with other teen believers.
Even as we develop more ways to connect through technology, the options simultaneously allow us more competing options to not connect... spiritually. It is easier to skip worship and Christian fellowship. It is more difficult to prioritize serving others with our faith community and to carve out time for our kids to go to camps, conferences, retreats, and worship. They need it as surely as they need good nutrition, education, life skills, opportunities, and love. They need it even more.
If you’ve struggled to keep faith at the center of your life in the quarantine, I hope you’ll take this summer to reconnect, to ask for your faith family’s help. If you have young people in your life that you’re responsible for or have influence over, commit to online weekly worship or bring them. Help send them to conferences and camps like Montreat. It’s vital to their growth and their spiritual life. And it’s vital that as part of our Church body, their spiritual health be a priority for us. If we are all part of the body - and we are - we must take our spiritual health seriously for the good of the whole. I’ll see you in worship.
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