From Pastor Keith,

I would like to ask for a few minutes of your time to talk to you about relationships.  That is one of the central themes that we find in scripture.  Of course the first and foremost relationship that we must have is a relationship with the Lord our God.  That is a theme you find from Genesis to Revelation.  From the Garden of Eden to the Eternal Kingdom we see man in a relationship with his Creator.  Of course today we enter into this relationship through Jesus Christ.  John 14:6 in the NIV has Jesus telling his disciples “I am the way and the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me”.  Jesus did not say “I am one of many ways, one of many facets of truth, and one of many sources of life”.  Simply summarized, it is Faith Alone in Christ Alone.  Paul says this in Romans 1:16 “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile”.  The gospel is later detailed in I Corinthians 15 as “Christ dieing for our sins and raising from the dead”.  Believe that and the most important relationship in your life is forever established.

    But what about the other relationships in your life?  I believe that second on the list is the relationships within a family.  That includes Child-Parent and Husband-Wife.  In our busy culture we find ourselves extensively occupied with work, social, etc. and this is often at the expense of the family.  I watched a movie the other night called Flight 93 which was the 9-11 story of the tragic hijacked Flight 93 that crashed in the fields of Pennsylvania.  As the people on that plane realized they would probably not live through it, they began to make calls to those that they loved.  Not once did they call to see how the Stock Market was doing, not once did they check in to see if the grass had been mowed.  In the final minutes of their lives they knew what was important, the relationships with those they loved.

    There are many other important relationships that we could talk about but let us end it at this for today.  In conclusion I would ask you to do several things:

1.    Ask yourself how your relationship is with your God?  Is He your best friend?  Is He the one you turn to when the going gets tough?  If not, then get into His word and watch your life change.

2.    Start focusing on the relationship with your children or your mate.  Are they getting the “left over crumbs” of your life?  Remember, as long as there is a breath within you, it is never too late to change.

                                                                   Pastor Keith

Sprague Church