This past Sunday morning, we launched a new series at West Bradenton… The CHRIST-Centered Church.  I know that sounds like an obvious title!  The past seven months we have been working as a team to discern and articulate God’s mandate as well as those areas that matter most to our church.

Sunday, I shared a message focused on being a church who has compassion for every generation.

We live in a unique time in history.  I am convinced this is one of the greatest times to be alive.  What a unique opportunity we have to see multiple generations experiencing life together.  Take the small neighborhood in which we live… there are young families, median-aged families, empty-nesters, retirees, boomerang parents (adult children left home and have returned for one reason or another).  It is a mosaic… a collection of individual pieces that make a whole.

Do you think that’s what Paul was hinting about in Romans 12:4-6?  “Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given us…”

God’s desire for His church is to be one body with many parts…  no requirements based upon age or income or color of sin or physical ability.  In Christ we who are many form one body!

Sunday evening we set aside some time to listen to stories of God’s activity within the lives of our church family.  It was such a wonderful time as folks literally from elementary school to our senior adults shared not only how God has been working in their lives but also how exciting they are for God’s activity within the life of our church.  I am thrilled to be a part of such a unique church who is discovering how to show compassion to every generation!