Connect With Roots

Just last night we held our annual church picnic with our “mother church,” namely Parkers Lake Baptist Church. The purpose of this annual event is really multifaceted. In a small sense, we attempt to say thank you for launching us out of sacrifice and obedience. In a different sense, we try to simply keep both churches familiar with each other and the respective ministries that each carry on. In addition, we want to just enjoy each other’s company, fellowship, and fun (softball). Greatest of all, however, we intend to rejoice in and celebrate the greatest common factor among us – our remarkable and great God. We want to celebrate Him and make much of His gracious and merciful dealings with us!

It can understandably be said that since most of people from either church do not even know most of the people from the other church, why bother to have a picnic together? This being said, you can see why some do not have a motivation to get very excited about having fellowship with a large group of “strangers” that they don’t even know. This thought is a valid feeling.

My hope is that we will and can get past those uncomfortable feelings and recognize the greater import of staying connected with our roots and heritage. That is easier said than done. To illustrate . . .

My dad is very excited about genealogy. He has researched all kinds of branches on our family tree and has exhausted the search for distant cousins, rogue relatives, and the like. In his zeal, from time to time, I will receive a “packet” of printed material from him containing updated information, ancient photographs, and biographical data. To be honest, I personally, have a hard time getting too terribly excited about learning about a bunch of people that I don’t even know or about people that are long dead and gone. I usually just glance over the material and then toss it in the bin that I keep all of this information in. Perhaps, someday, I’ll want to look at it all.

I don’t fancy myself as very out of the ordinary in this realm. Most of us don’t really want to invest time and effort into strangers!! Try to think beyond that, however, to a greater privilege of connecting with fellow Believers who have demonstrated great sacrifice in obediently launching a daughter church. I want to know how they feel. I want to hear their stories of church life, post-launch. I want to find out how God is using their church to get ready to launch even another church plant in the future. My interests are varied and even somewhat driven by an agenda.

IF we are a “church planting church plant,” then we are going to go down the very same road that they have gone down. We are going to experience equivalent experiences. If for no other reason, I want to stay connected to our roots!