I think it is great when the congregation gets enthusiastic and the preaching hits you straight in the heart and the choir is exuberant and the soloist hits all the high notes without missing. I love it when I get goosebumps in the service. My friend decided not to leave the church. Now here s a surprise, you re probably thinking. Well, there are a lot of reasons why we could call the local church a family.
Family is an inclusive word, and nowadays thanks to politicians it is a very popular word.
There are family doctors, family restaurants, family movies, and there is a family channel on cable television in the United States. I have even seen family restrooms, which on the face of it doesn t sound very wholesome. Someone once said that home is the place that when you go there, they have to take you in. And a family is like that. It is the one place where we find a common bond, despite our peculiarities and foibles, and it is the one place where we can count on people to lift us when we fall, to forgive us when we sin, and to love us when we are unlovable.