Jeremiah 29:7 (ESV) — 7 ‘’But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.’’
This has always been a basic call of all Christians for all time. Now we (Christians) haven’t always done that to the best of our ability, but the truth still holds today. The communities that we live in are God’s idea of the basic foundations of society, we are created for community.
Community is a challenging dynamic at times. It's challenging because we are made up of a diverse mix of people through nationalities, likes, dislikes, what we believe, what we don’t believe, even down to the footy teams we follow (Go pies!). Diversity is a good thing too, as it gives many different points of view to think about life through.
As we've seen reflected through our media over the past few weeks with Essendon Football Club and Andrew Thorburn, we've seen a range of diverse views and beliefs. People have disagreed with each other. There's actually nothing wrong with that, it’s a good thing for society to be able to have a good discussion on different views to help us all grow in our understanding of each other. It's also good to help us see life from another perspective, through calm and open disagreement.
Can I say that orthodox Christianity has always been about seeking the welfare of the city or community where we live. Just about all charities, hospitals, and education systems have been founded by Christians who have been seeking the welfare of the community. And when we say “community” we mean all people from all walks of life no matter who they are. Christians have always sought to do this regardless of what someone believes, even those who disagree with them through what is taught in the Bible.
The doors of our Bible-believing churches are still open today in Greater Shepparton for anybody to walk into and find a listening ear, because we still seek the welfare of our community as God has called us to. Even for those who are in disagreement with Christian beliefs, you are welcome to come in and share your story because we still seek your welfare.
We seek that welfare because God has entered into His world to seek our welfare. God sent Jesus to show us the way of love and truth so that we could truly love each other. When you truly see who Jesus is and what He's done for us, that you get the ultimate picture of caring for one's welfare. Have an open mind, step inside a Bible-believing church, and you might be very surprised by who you discover.
Pastor Todd Hall
Greater Shepparton Combined Churches
