It Takes a Village...a Christian Village

It’s been four weeks since Susan and I have been at Highland. We’ve been traveling quite a bit. I spoke at the University Church for two Sundays (what a sweet fellowship of Christians!). We visited a community church in my home town. Last week Susan and I had “church” in a park in Chicago on a beautiful Sunday morning.

So as we walked into the atrium of Highland this morning after being gone for a month, it felt so good to be back to worship and fellowship with this dear family. As Dorothy said, “There’s no place like home.” I love our Highland family, where we’ve been members for nearly 16 years.

We believers so desperately need the body of Christ! Jesus created the church in His wisdom – not a cold, stiff denomination but a living body of Christ-followers that are learning to love and forgive and encourage each other through the power of the Holy Spirit. Hearing a testimony this morning by a friend of mine made me realize once more how vital it is to stay connected to a local body of Christ.

This friend told his story of being raised in a loving Christian home, attending a Christian high school and university. And yet the devil got a foothold in his life. He ended up wandering into the wilderness of sin and stayed there for many years. He eventually returned to Abilene, but stayed away from church for a few years. Yet the Lord would not give up on Him and gradually wooed him back to Himself. My friend started attending Highland and was deeply touched by the worship, Mike Cope’s sermons and all the love he received.

My favorite story was when he visited a meeting of Highland’s prayer ministry. At the end of the session, as he was about to leave, one of the leaders turned to him and asked how the group could pray for him. They ended up anointing his head with oil and praying some powerful prayers over him. Little did they know how much my friend needed this gift of intercession.

So many others in this church family were used by the Lord to bring my friend back into the sweet embrace of Jesus and the body of Christ. It was a true holy moment as we heard this amazing story of God’s redeeming love. We closed by singing “There’s a Stirring” and then surrounded this brother and laid hands on him as one of our elders led a prayer of praise and thanksgiving to our loving Father.

As we were standing around talking about what a wonderful moment we had just experienced, I walked up to one elder and thanked him for how he had ministered deeply to my friend. He said, “Well, it takes a village.” I responded with the words, “Yes, a Christian village.”

I love the “Christian village” of the local church – where I get to “see” Jesus each week in my brothers and sisters. I couldn’t think of a better place to be!

Jim