WEBVTT Kind: captions Language: en 00:00:00.200 --> 00:00:05.779 Hi, I'm Miles McPherson and welcome to the First Mile. One day, someone asked me if I 00:00:05.779 --> 00:00:09.769 thought you had to go to church in order to be a Christian? I asked them, can 00:00:09.769 --> 00:00:14.150 someone be a good parent, son, or daughter and not spend time with their family? 00:00:14.150 --> 00:00:18.020 How can you get to know and love your family and be a role model for your 00:00:18.020 --> 00:00:20.180 family, without spending time with your family? 00:00:20.180 --> 00:00:23.360 How are you going to teach your kids right from wrong without being there to 00:00:23.360 --> 00:00:25.730 talk to them about their mistakes? 00:00:25.730 --> 00:00:29.030 How will you teach them to love each other, if you don't spend time coaching them 00:00:29.030 --> 00:00:32.540 through their conflicts? How will you train your kids to deal with their hard times 00:00:32.540 --> 00:00:34.310 if you, at some point, 00:00:34.310 --> 00:00:37.760 are not there for them when they are struggling through their hard times, or 00:00:37.760 --> 00:00:42.410 they aren't there to see you, their role model, deal with your ups and downs. Being 00:00:42.410 --> 00:00:46.190 part of a family means being in a relationship where you have some level 00:00:46.190 --> 00:00:50.510 of responsibility and accountability to love one another so that everybody 00:00:50.510 --> 00:00:55.190 becomes the person God designed them to be. If time with your natural family is 00:00:55.190 --> 00:00:59.600 important, time with your spiritual family is even more important. When you 00:00:59.600 --> 00:01:04.159 asked Christ to be your savior, you joined His spiritual family and church is 00:01:04.159 --> 00:01:05.299 family time. 00:01:05.299 --> 00:01:08.299 The only way to learn to be part of a spiritual family is to spend time 00:01:08.299 --> 00:01:10.399 together doing spiritual things. 00:01:10.399 --> 00:01:13.819 The Bible tells us in Hebrews chapter 10 verse 24 and 25, 00:01:13.939 --> 00:01:18.380 "Let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking 00:01:18.380 --> 00:01:23.329 assembling ourselves together as is the manner of some but exhorting one 00:01:23.329 --> 00:01:28.310 another, encouraging one another, so much more as we see the day approaching." It 00:01:28.310 --> 00:01:33.649 says to not stop meeting together, having family or Church time because it's in 00:01:33.649 --> 00:01:37.789 togetherness that we encourage each other on a spiritual level to love and 00:01:37.789 --> 00:01:42.049 obedience. Church is not Sunday meetings only. It's church life. 00:01:42.049 --> 00:01:45.679 It's mentoring relationships, caring for one another through hard times, 00:01:45.679 --> 00:01:47.959 celebrating the good times together. 00:01:47.959 --> 00:01:51.619 Church is talking with your spiritual family, praying with your spiritual 00:01:51.619 --> 00:01:55.399 family, serving with your spiritual family, and helping your spiritual family 00:01:55.399 --> 00:01:59.119 through the unknowns of life. It's learning about and praising your 00:01:59.119 --> 00:02:01.340 heavenly Father, together. 00:02:01.340 --> 00:02:05.630 That's what church is all about. So today's challenge is to identify and 00:02:05.630 --> 00:02:09.920 attend a Bible teaching church within the next two weeks. If don't you have a 00:02:09.920 --> 00:02:11.730 church or friend who can refer you to one, 00:02:11.730 --> 00:02:14.879 I've included a list to help you search one in your area. 00:02:14.879 --> 00:02:18.900 If you decide to take this challenge to identify and attend a Bible teaching 00:02:18.900 --> 00:02:20.489 church within the next two weeks, 00:02:20.489 --> 00:02:23.790 let us know by following the instructions at the end of this video. Now 00:02:23.790 --> 00:02:25.920 if you need help finding a church near you, 00:02:25.920 --> 00:02:29.040 or you want to hear more messages about getting involved in a church 00:02:29.040 --> 00:02:32.340 I want to attend the Rock Church online where I'm the pastor, 00:02:32.340 --> 00:02:38.370 check out the resource section. God bless you and I'll be praying for you.