Reaching Up, Reaching In, Reaching Out

Shared this today with the people of Living Water Lutheran Church of Springboro, Ohio, on the congregation's Facebook page:

Remember the five building blocks of church life and of personal discipleship?

• Love God
• Love our neighbors
• Love our brothers and sisters in Christ
• Make disciples for Christ
• Personally grow in Christ

Growing in Christ entails a commitment to building our lives on these five building blocks, which we have summarized as:

• Reaching up
• Reaching in
• Reaching out

Reaching up means loving God through worship and prayer.

Reaching in entails loving our church family through mutual care and through involvement in group Bible study.

Reaching out includes making disciples through involvement with kindness outreaches and personal faith sharing and serving our neighbors through congregational opportunities and in our everyday lives.

Reaching up, reaching in, and reaching out reflect levels of growth as followers of Jesus.

It begins with worship of God and a relationship of daily contact with God, when we seek His forgiveness and His guidance and will for our daily lives. That's reaching up.

It continues with a commitment to caring for the needs of our fellow Christians, serving and encouraging them not only in adversity and not just with words, but with acts of practical service. A strong congregational family that shares in the love of Christ and works out conflicts in healthy, Christ-honoring ways is a launching pad for the deepest level of Christian discipleship. That's reaching in.

Reaching out is being the vital connection between Christ and a world lost in sin, death, and darkness. It shows in acts of service to neighbors--locally, nationally, and internationally. In the next few years, there will be more opportunities given to the people of Living Water to grow in this area. We will be allowed to take baby steps in ministries of outreach such as kindness outreaches, but also in personal discipleship. God wants us to feel confident in fulfilling our one and only mission as Christ's Church, making disciples. That's part of reaching out.

Please prayerfully consider where you are on the reaching up, reaching in, and reaching out continuum and ask God to help you move with faith, hope, confidence, and humility toward becoming more of what the Lord can empower us to be as individuals and as a congregation.

God bless you!