“Karen’s Notes!
Insights from a Glory-Bound Lady”

Selected Notes
Volume 6 Number 35
#279 “Being in God’s Family and Belonging!”
May the Lord deliver us from cliques and attitudes of elitism.

August 30th, 2023

Some speakers probably would have said, “No thank you,” and run the other direction.
Karen was invited to speak at a conference where she was to develop a message to the ladies on the subject of belonging. Without telling you where this was to take place, a problem had occurred in a particular ministry. Slowly but surely a clique had developed. Some of the ladies who were new to the church were finding it difficult to fit in. What a challenge as a guest speaker to come in and address such a situation.

I will simply share this with you.

Needless to say, we prayed a lot about this meeting. I am only going to take some very brief snippets from the lengthy workshop she presented. Think of the joy that we believers, men and women, have because we “belong”! Let me share the verse with which she began and then what she wrote.

“But now thus saith the LORD that created thee, O Jacob, and He that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou are Mine” (Isaiah 43:1).

Here’s a tiny portion from one paragraph of Karen’s conference notes.

In all the people who are represented today, I am once again reminded of the importance of belonging. Some of your family may enjoy belonging to a sports team, drama club, a particular Sunday school class, maybe even a ladies’ fellowship. However, there is a greater joy. That greater joy is belonging to Christ and being part of His family. Think of the words “I have redeemed thee, thou art Mine!” Oh the blessing of belonging to Jesus!

Oh, the challenge to take with us is so true for all of us in each of our local churches.

We are easily drawn to certain people.
We generally sit in the exact same spot every Sunday.
We typically don’t reach out to newcomers and make them feel welcome (someone else who is better with words will do that, so we think.)

Here’s what we need to take from this.
We must be so constantly aware that the local church must never be cliquish. We who know Christ are all part of the wonderful family of the Lord. Each believer is of equal worth to the Lord and equally loved by Him. Be watching for newcomers and those that don’t seem to be among the “popular folks”! It is great indeed to belong to the family!

How will this impact you this week?