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Message from Pastor Bill – May 2009
The Church: A Family Training Center
Family counselors, psychologists, psychiatrists, therapists, and divorce lawyers are professionals who often get involved after the damage has been done in a person’s life—after hatred and bitterness have solidified. Sometimes they can help, but too often they cannot. I am embarrass to say that most of time, we as pastors get involved, no matter how many theological degrees we have plastered on our walls, long after the problem has begun. How many times have I received a phone call from a distraught wife, husband or child wanting to see me right away because they “can’t go on like this any longer”? They have become so dependent on the pastor because they have heard our sermons about faith in God and God’s miraculous powers; they expect us to transform their chaotic family life with merely a prayer or two pastoral counseling sessions. St. Matthew, it is not fair to expect any professional to deal quickly with some problems that have continued from one generation to the next, family trauma, frustration, and, most of all, lack of direction.
I am asking all of you to help our family ministry to be that relevant impetus for the church and community by creating space for serious conversation among families so we can be the reality of God’s intention in restoring community manifested in the family structure. To form this church as a family training center members of this church will do the training, supplemented by volunteers and professionals from the community. This activity will be led by me as Director of Family Ministries.
God never intended that the pastor deal with every problem in the church. God, the Holy Spirit, has given gifts to each believer (Rom. 12:6; 1 Cor. 12:4-6), and the Bible makes it very clear that God’s will is that the gifts be used for the common good of the members (1 Cor. 12:7). Gifts are not to be left undiscovered by merely sitting on a pew. The church must take action to help people avoid family problems. It is much easier to train people in preventing problems than it is to counsel them after a problem has taken root and has been watered by pride under the sunlight of ignorance, growing into a destructive monstrosity.
The Bible says, “unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor will be in vain” (Ps 127:1). If we hold firm to this conviction as we develop our family ministry program we can and must move out front, ahead of broken marriages and broken homes. The church has the Word of God, God-gifted members, and God’s power backing it up. What more do we need?
Peace and Power,
Pastor Bill
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