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In times like these, it is wonderful to have a faith family.
- Date: Fri, Jun 4, 2010
- Author: Linda Roddis
I hear this quote over and over again by church members. The sense of belonging to a loving and supportive faith community is a benefit of church membership.
This is the purpose of joining a church and making a commitment to a particular community of faith. We give our time, talent, and resources so that together we can share the Love of God with all people. Our faithful attendance and involvement in the church’s ministry is a sign of this commitment. God designed the Church to be the gathering place for followers of Jesus. The church has been called, “a God-ordained institution” for Christians to worship together, grow together in faith, and work together to serve those in need.
The UCC’s emphasis of church membership is to welcome and accept each person. This means that joining a church is not a ticket to heaven, nor a ticket to be involved in a church’s programs. Membership is simply a way to claim your place in a church community.
If you have been visiting for a few months, I invite you to consider joining before our new pastor arrives. It will be a way for you to express your commitment to this loving, accepting, and supportive congregation.
At Bellevue First Congregational Church the membership process is simple. We invite all who are interested in joining our community to contact a pastor and tell us you are interested in membership. You are also invited to attend a visitor inquiry class, (June 23 & July 18 at 9:30 AM) and then come to Membership Sunday (July 25). At this church there are no particular beliefs you must embrace and no conditions of membership, we simply invite you to become a part of our Spiritual Family.
Here you will find love beyond measure, justice which overflows, and a family who loves you even when you make a mistake and accepts you even if you are different. This is a household of God, in the best sense of the word. If you haven’t already, I encourage you to take this step and make a commitment to this family of faith.
These are the scripture readings in the Revised Common Lectionary for the forthcoming Sunday:
Psalm 146
Put Not Your Trust in Princes
146:1 Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord, O my soul!
2 I will praise the Lord as long as I live;
I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.
3 Put not your trust in princes,
in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation.
4 When his breath departs, he returns to the earth;
on that very day his plans perish.
5 Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the Lord his God,
6 who made heaven and earth,
the sea, and all that is in them,
who keeps faith forever;
7 who executes justice for the oppressed,
who gives food to the hungry.
The Lord sets the prisoners free;
8 the Lord opens the eyes of the blind.
The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down;
the Lord loves the righteous.
9 The Lord watches over the sojourners;
he upholds the widow and the fatherless,
but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.
10 The Lord will reign forever,
your God, O Zion, to all generations.
Praise the Lord!
1 Kings 17:8-16
The Widow of Zarephath
8 Then the word of the Lord came to him, 9 “Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. Behold, I have commanded a widow there to feed you.” 10 So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, a widow was there gathering sticks. And he called to her and said, “Bring me a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.” 11 And as she was going to bring it, he called to her and said, “Bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.” 12 And she said, “As the Lord your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. And now I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it and die.” 13 And Elijah said to her, “Do not fear; go and do as you have said. But first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterward make something for yourself and your son. 14 For thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘The jar of flour shall not be spent, and the jug of oil shall not be empty, until the day that the Lord sends rain upon the earth.’” 15 And she went and did as Elijah said. And she and he and her household ate for many days. 16 The jar of flour was not spent, neither did the jug of oil become empty, according to the word of the Lord that he spoke by Elijah.
Luke 7:11-17
Jesus Raises a Widow's Son
11 Soon afterward he went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a great crowd went with him. 12 As he drew near to the gate of the town, behold, a man who had died was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow, and a considerable crowd from the town was with her. 13 And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, “Do not weep.” 14 Then he came up and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, “Young man, I say to you, arise.” 15 And the dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother. 16 Fear seized them all, and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has arisen among us!” and “God has visited his people!” 17 And this report about him spread through the whole of Judea and all the surrounding country.
