In our first thematic goal we sowed the seeds of belonging with the desire to cultivate meaningful connection for each person in our church family. With this next goal, Take Root, we seek to deepen those roots by helping each person to see how they are an active participant at Countryside. We are all invited to take ownership in the mission and thriving of our church. This takes place across generations as we lead and serve, growing in our understanding of how God has made each of us and the part we have as a member of the Body of Christ here at Countryside.
As we remember God’s promises fulfilled at Christmas, we are reminded of just how intensely the incarnation of Christ shook the world. The meaning of Christmas goes miles deeper than family traditions, pretty lights, and a chance to refresh your depleted stockpile of socks. Christmas means revolution. Christmas means miracle. Christmas means that God has come for us.
In this letter, John combats false teaching with absolutes: truth and lies, light and darkness, love and hate, sin and righteousness, Christ and antichrist. He shows the church how to tell if they are children of God and how to tell if a teacher is trying to deceive them.
This is a letter written from a wise and loving father to a troubled church. John writes to older men (“fathers”), young men, and children, but he addresses all of them as his “little children”—a term of endearment that a loving father would use for his child.
