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We recently celebrated 140 years since the establishment of our church in our city, just ten years after the small township was itself established. So many changes in that 150 years and so many changes in our church—some good and maybe some not so good.

We were reminded though that looking back on our church history helps us to acknowledge our faithful congregation of the past and also provides guidance for the way forward. Not redoing the past, but letting the past inform the future. So many great and wonderful God-glorifying experiences for us to celebrate. At the foundation of it all, is of course God, and family.

The registrations of two hundred people may seem small to those who belong to large churches, but we were thrilled to see those who have been part of our spiritual family return for this celebration. There was a time when we sent out many of our faithful to train as ministers and they are now serving in churches throughout the country.

It was such a wonderful family time—a time to catch up, a time to reminisce and a time to just enjoy fellowship with each other again.

God puts us in families and that is a gift to enjoy and celebrate. Belonging to the family of God has responsibilities around the way we treat each other and the way we talk about each other, not just in our church family but generally. We are commanded to love each other and serve each other. This might not always be easy but we need to do it in obedience to God.

If you do not already do this, find a way of loving the unlovable (including those in your congregation) and find a way to serve both in your church and in your community. ‘Love your neighbour as yourself’ isn’t a suggestion, it is a command which underpins many of the Ten Commandments. We should all know who our neighbour is. If we don’t, reading the parable of the Good Samaritan may help. Our neighbour is everyone.

May you love on your neighbour today and every day. God bless you each as you walk in obedience to Him.

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