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Events of this weekend have led me to be reflecting on the beauty and significance of church family. The Bible uses the language of adoption to describe what happens when we connect with the family of God. (Romans 8:15) When we talk about being a "Covenant family" we know we don't live it out perfectly, but that is what we aspire to be . . . a Jesus centred family.

Two events have me reflecting on this today. The first is the medical emergency my son had on Saturday. (For those that aren't aware, he had some issues in his digestive tract that led him to Sick Kids in Toronto. He was minutes away from surgery before his body miraculously resolved the issue without surgical intervention.) When he was en route to Sick Kids I sent an e-mail to the congregation asking for prayer for our nine-year-old boy. I regularly send out prayer requests to our prayer e-mail list, but I never know who sees them and if they ever get prayed for. I discovered on Saturday that they do get seen and they are prayed for.

It was overwhelming (in a good way) to receive dozens of e-mails assuring us of prayers, praying in the e-mail, and offering support in any way we needed it. There was little we could do, but wait, but it was a wonderful gift knowing that we . . . and our son . . . had the love and support of our church family praying for and waiting with us. Immediately after sending the prayer request out I received an offer that would free me up on Sunday morning if I needed to go to Toronto to be my wife and son. My older son and I received a gracious invitation for dinner to help care for us and to give us company in our waiting. We were deeply moved and grateful to know that we weren't in this alone.

When I showed up on Sunday morning people came with genuine concern to find out how he was doing. More offers of support were given. Conversations were sprinkled with care, advice, empathy, and support. A meal was delivered to our house. We were not alone and we are so thankful for our church family.

It was evening on Sunday before I was able to sit and get caught up on global events with a brief scroll through my online news feed. It was then that I became aware of the tragic events at First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas in which 26 people were killed when a gunman entered and opened fire in a church. My heart breaks for those in that community and in that church because in that moment my mind and heart went to us . . . to you.

I know that as our congregation ages and as life events happen, we will have to say goodbye to some of our family members in the coming years and decades. It makes me sad to even contemplate this reality and every loss of one of our family will bring grief. I can't fathom the sorrow for those in that Texas church family who are grieving the loss of 26 of their brothers and sisters and mothers and fathers and sons and daughters.

I don't live in fear of an attack like this happening among us, but acknowledging the reality that such a tragedy could happen anywhere (and there are many Christians in other parts of the world who have lived through tragic events like this) makes me that much more grateful for you and for the family that we are together.

Like any family, we won't always see eye to eye. We won't agree on everything. We may not even always get along. But I'm glad that, by God's grace, we're on this journey with Jesus together. Adopted into the same family of God and living out that relationship as a part of this Covenant family.

Together.

P.S. We have three church family e-mail lists:

Covenant Prayer List; Covenant Weekly E-mail List; Covenant News and Updates List.

If you would like to be added to any of our church family e-mail lists please contact Crystal at office@covenantchurch.ca and let her know which lists you would like to be added to.