September is Groups Month! Group life is an essential part of CRBC. As a church, we take an entire month to showcase the diversity we have in Connection Classes and Small Groups. An entire month should make us pause and wonder, why does CRBC care so much about this topic? Scripture has something to say about it!
I felt lost and alone in 2019 when I had to make the heart-breaking decision to find a new church because where we were was no longer safe for my daughter, Willow, and I. God had released me from a very painful and dangerous situation in my marriage and I had filed for divorce. What followed from church members who did not know the intimate details was hurtful judgment and condemnation. I have always had such a heart for family, but now I found myself in the middle of a terrible divorce and I was frightened about the prospect of more condemnation from the Christian community.
It's really hard to trust God when you don’t know what is coming next. I am a planner; I like to have control over the things in my life. It can be really difficult when I have to relinquish control or admit to myself I never had as much control as I thought I did. The last few years have been a journey of learning how to trust God when he calls me to new seasons of life.
Change. I don’t know why for many of us our gut instinct is to resist change, and we may feel a negative twinge when we know it is inevitable. I think it often happens before we are even born, or it certainly seemed to for my first-born child. He was due July 27 and didn’t decide to make his entry into the world until August 7th on a very hot Oklahoma summer day with the temperatures hitting over 100 degrees. His father and I were on our knees praying the night before that he would decide on his exit strategy or the next day the doctor was going to make the decision for him. And it worked!!
During my childhood, stewardship discussions at my church primarily centered around finances. Therefore, I grew up believing that being responsible with money equated to good stewardship. However, as I matured, I gained a deeper understanding. According to the Holman Bible Dictionary, stewardship is utilizing and managing all resources God provides for the glory of God and the betterment of His creation.
