One of the most important things we can do to develop our church is build relationships. In fact, that is one of the most important things in life. Everything you do is built around relationships with others. Your family, your friends, your job, your hobbies, your neighborhood, your church is all about your interaction with others. How deep that relationship goes is dependent on the time you invest into that person or persons.
To build a relationship takes time and commitment. Not something people have a lot of these days nor something they are willing to give up. We learned quickly at Oasis, people, as a general rule, were coming because of Bubba and Nedra. Either from relationships they had established the first time they lived there or because of the ones they were developing this time. When they met people they showed a true interest in the person and their family. People responded to that, they felt welcomed and valued. This is something we are trying to do here at C@TL.
Relationship as defined by the dictionary is: 1. a connection, association, or involvement, 2. connection between persons by blood or marriage, 3. an emotional or other connection between people. Some of the synonyms for relationship are accord, affiliation, affinity, alliance, association, bond, communication, conjunction, contact, correlation, dependence, dependency, exchange, interconnection, interrelation, kinship, liasion, link, nearness, and tie. All of these mean more than just surface, more than just a casual knowledge. Surface is easy, to gain any depth requires work on both parts. The more work you put into it, the more you get out of the union. It also requires honesty, flexibility, and perseverance.
You have to be willing in a relationship to look past personality traits, shortcomings and defects. Everyone has those. No one will ever be without those. We know from the bible, there has been only one perfect being in Christ. While we can never attain perfection, we can work towards becoming more Christ like. Jesus was all about relationship. He spent time with the people, all people, all the time. There were few instances where he wasn't among the masses, building relationships. The core of which was always love.
I truly believe we suffer today as a human race because our advances in technology have pulled us farther and farther apart from important relationships. The cell phone, internet, Skype, video conferencing, email and texting has taken the personal intimacy out of our interactions with others. It has broken down lines of communication and desensitized us to others feelings. We don't learn body language and facial cues from any of these. Bottom line, we suffer. We are lonely and have few to turn to when we are in need.
There is no way to express to you the value of relationship. You will only understand that by having one. Take some time to invest in your family and friends. Turn off whatever is plugged in and spend time getting to know these people. I promise you will benefit from it in some way.
In His service
Mally
To build a relationship takes time and commitment. Not something people have a lot of these days nor something they are willing to give up. We learned quickly at Oasis, people, as a general rule, were coming because of Bubba and Nedra. Either from relationships they had established the first time they lived there or because of the ones they were developing this time. When they met people they showed a true interest in the person and their family. People responded to that, they felt welcomed and valued. This is something we are trying to do here at C@TL.
Relationship as defined by the dictionary is: 1. a connection, association, or involvement, 2. connection between persons by blood or marriage, 3. an emotional or other connection between people. Some of the synonyms for relationship are accord, affiliation, affinity, alliance, association, bond, communication, conjunction, contact, correlation, dependence, dependency, exchange, interconnection, interrelation, kinship, liasion, link, nearness, and tie. All of these mean more than just surface, more than just a casual knowledge. Surface is easy, to gain any depth requires work on both parts. The more work you put into it, the more you get out of the union. It also requires honesty, flexibility, and perseverance.
You have to be willing in a relationship to look past personality traits, shortcomings and defects. Everyone has those. No one will ever be without those. We know from the bible, there has been only one perfect being in Christ. While we can never attain perfection, we can work towards becoming more Christ like. Jesus was all about relationship. He spent time with the people, all people, all the time. There were few instances where he wasn't among the masses, building relationships. The core of which was always love.
I truly believe we suffer today as a human race because our advances in technology have pulled us farther and farther apart from important relationships. The cell phone, internet, Skype, video conferencing, email and texting has taken the personal intimacy out of our interactions with others. It has broken down lines of communication and desensitized us to others feelings. We don't learn body language and facial cues from any of these. Bottom line, we suffer. We are lonely and have few to turn to when we are in need.
There is no way to express to you the value of relationship. You will only understand that by having one. Take some time to invest in your family and friends. Turn off whatever is plugged in and spend time getting to know these people. I promise you will benefit from it in some way.
In His service
Mally
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