Louder Than Words | Righteous
Good Morning, friends!
Here’s hoping the rain held off, most of you are comfortably dry in a back yard, and only some are here on zoom at 11. Either way, we’re glad you’re here! Join us as we continue our journey through the beatitudes, reflecting on Jesus’ call that we hunger and thirst for righteousness. As always, play the video below and join the conversation however you can this week!
Additionally, let me call out that NEXT WEEK there will not be a video here on the page on Sunday morning. We’ll be meeting together in Eden Park behind Krohn Conservatory where we picnicked a few weeks ago. Hopefully we can get a decent recording of it and have it here by Monday. Check announcements below for details!
Thanks again for rolling with us through these crazy times! Let’s worship.
Dillon
ANNOUNCEMENTS
ONLINE GATHERING TODAY
IF YOU AREN’T ABLE TO PHYSICALLY JOIN US IN A BACK YARD THIS MORNING, CONSIDER MEETING UP WITH THE HAMILTON BACK YARD AT 11:00AM VIA ZOOM.
ECHO 15TH ANNIVERSARY
NEXT SUNDAY, OCTOBER 18 AT 10:30 A.M.
WE'RE GOING TO HAVE A WORSHIP SERVICE IN EDEN PARK. WE'LL ALSO HAVE SOME SPECIAL TREATS TO CELEBRATE TOGETHER OUR 15 YEARS OF BEING A CHURCH.
PLEASE JOIN THIS SPECIAL DAY! WE'LL MEET IN THE SAME SPOT AS BEFORE (SEE MAP BELOW). THERE ARE PICNIC TABLES THAT WE'LL HAVE SET UP FOR WORSHIP, BUT YOU CAN BRING YOUR OWN BLANKETS AND CHAIRS IF YOU'D PREFER.
WAYS TO GIVE
Visit echochurch.org/give any time to worship through giving and support our ministry together — both locally and globally. Of course, you can always snail mail to: Echo Church, PO Box 6067, Cincinnati, OH 45206
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ECHO KIDS
Parents,
A familiar psalm came to mind as I thought of Jesus’ words in the fourth beatitude:
As the deer pants for the water brooks,
So my soul pants for You, O God.
My soul thirsts for God, for the living God;
When shall I come and appear before God?
Psalm 42:1-2 NASB
I find this psalm to be so beautiful. It evokes such a sense of longing for the fulfillment of the presence of the Creator. Hungering and thirsting for righteousness is longing for God himself to show up in the world around us. For God is righteousness. God is truth. And though we humans certainly can’t claim to have all the answers, we can choose to trust and rely on a God who does.
Encouraging our children to seek righteousness isn’t about raising little legalists who point their fingers at sinful friends and loathe themselves for making mistakes. For we know mercy triumphs over such judgement (James 2:13). But we can guide them in developing an understanding of God as the bringer of truth. We can guide them in the knowledge that, through Jesus, we are given power to desire and live out God’s righteousness.
We can emulate this hunger and thirst for righteousness as parents. That might look like having conversations with our children about the evils of prejudice and racism; going out of our way to involve our children in providing food for those in need; allowing them to help care for an elderly family member who is unable to care for themselves; apologizing to them when we know we ourselves have fallen short of God’s righteousness.
Involving our children in such kingdom acts will draw them to the righteousness of God—and as we draw near to God by allowing Him to work through us to do what is right, I believe we all will naturally hunger and thirst for more and more of those kingdom acts to take place within our families and communities.
Idea for Application:
Use a paper plate and cup for this activity or some paper cut into those shapes. Guide your child in thinking of one or more ways they can allow God to work through them to do what is right (e.g.- Being honest with their friends; speaking to other people with kind words; speaking up if they see someone being hurt).
Write these thoughts out on small pieces of paper and glue them to the plate and cup.
-Kendra