24.07.2025
office@gracepointe-mi.org
Summer is a time we find ourselves getting the reset we all need–including in our families. The school year tends to make us busy and then the end of school year time gets downright chaotic. From graduations, to end of year parties, to concerts and recitals, many of us look forward to the summer as a time to rest and reset as a family. As I have been reflecting on my family’s summer so far, I have asked the question, “have we forgotten what matters most?”
Please hear my heart in this, summer is one of my personal favorite times of year. The other favorite, for those wondering, is football season. But what I love most about summer is the time I get to spend with my family. We find ourselves outdoors playing together almost everyday. Whether it is at a park, in our neighborhood, going to the zoo, or just running around our own backyard, we are with one another. We have lots of fun and enjoy our time outdoors. My family even gets the blessing of going on a vacation together later in the summer. A time to reconnect, make memories and rest. These are all really great things and we should do these things but are they the things that matter most?
I know for a fact that our families matter to God. Our families are a gift from God and they are a beautiful representation of the bigger family we have as brothers and sisters in Christ. In our own families, I have been pondering and reflecting what matters to my family?
I believe that our families should reflect God’s heart. What matters to God should matter to us, this is true for our families. Jesus, in His famous “Sermon on the Mount”, talked to us about what matters to God. I want to invite you to join us during the month of August as we talk about Family Matters. We are going to be looking at the Beatitudes we find in Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount and see how they apply to us in our families. I believe that all of us want our families to be blessed and if we know that Jesus speaks of these blessings - how can we apply them to our families?
My prayer for you personally is that God would bless your family and we would begin to live as Christ calls us to live.
-Pastor Joel
