| THE LOVE CONNECTION Pastor Alfred & Louise Booker, Sr. Psalm 127:1-3 Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain. In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat-- for he grants sleep to those he loves. Sons are a heritage from the LORD, children a reward from him. NIV Solomonıs father taught him to look higher, and to take God along with him in his undertakings. He was to be a man of business, and therefore David instructed him how to manage his business under the direction of his God. A Dependence Upon the Lord. Building a house and watching over a city cannot succeed (according to divine standards of success) if God is not included in man's plans and efforts. Even the diligent man who works from early morning until late evening cannot hope for success without God's blessings and sanction. Psalms 127:3 Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward. The concept of the necessity of dependence upon God is carried over into the building of a family. A recognition that children are God's gift is the basis for building a successful home. Joy and protection are pictured as the results of fruitfulness in the bearing and rearing of children. SINGLES COMPLETE IN CHRIST Deborah Hill, Singles Ministries Coordinator You are a complete person apart from any romantic relationship you will ever have. Thatıs right. The person you are today, with all your abilities and talents, calling and desires, is a full person in the Kingdom of God. You are capable of doing great things for Him not sometime down the road, but right now in the town where you live, in the church you attend, and among the people who live you touch. No romantic relationship, however permanent, will ever make you more satisfied, more complete, or more ready to serve Christ than you are today. You are a complete, whole person that God is interested in using now for His Kingdom purposes. God is calling you to be content in Him first. He is calling you to look to Him in your loneliness, in your sexual struggles, and in your feelings of rejection and hurt. He is calling you to be complete in Him. THE BLENDED FAMILY Linda Dobbs, L.L.S.W. The Blended family is a family where at least one parent is not the childıs biological parent. It also emerges from remarriage where children have often been called stepfamilies. American families have under gone fundamental changes within the last generation. Contemporary families are characterized by diversity in family forms and styles. The traditional nuclear family in which the husband works outside the home for wages while the wife works within the home and cares for children accounts for a small minority of todayıs families. We have a multiplicity of family from; single-parent families (the fastest growing family form), dual-worker families, blended families (also know as stepfamilies), and traditional families. And the institution of marriage is being altered significantly with the rise of divorce and remarriage. The key issue for Blended families today is solidarity; the feeling of oneness within the family. There are several variables that causes resentment to flare between households, they may include:
Families Are In Crisis When The Following Occurs:
Domestic violence has reached epidemic in our society. Every day, families are torn apart and new generation are born trapped in the cycle of violence. To break this cycle, we need to not only provide a safety net for victims, but to address the issues of the perpetrators as well. The New Testament scripture of Galatians 5:1 states, "Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherein Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage."
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