I am the product of generations of Methodist believers. My great-grandfather was a circuit riding preacher in Pennsylvania. My grandmother was very active in the church and served as a lay delegate to Annual Conferences, and my parents met in the local church choir, where they later married and baptized me. I was raised in a small church in New Jersey and gave my life to Christ in an altar call there. Basically, if you cut me, I bleed Methodist. Even in later years when I left home to go to college and get married to a Navy pilot, I was heavily imprinted by their example and beliefs.

I don’t think we can put too much emphasis on a parent’s influence over their child’s growing belief system. On Sunday mornings as I look out upon my congregation in Kitty Hawk, NC, I see the young parents and their bubbly children, and I am truly grateful. I know first-hand how hard it is to get kids ready for church early on a Sunday morning. I know how many other options, responsibilities, and activities that have to be set aside to make church happen in a young family. Bless you all who try so hard to help your kids encounter Jesus every week! Kids belong in church. The church depends on you for its future.

In this passage in Acts, we meet a young disciple named Timothy, who was the son of a believing Jewish woman and a Greek father. Can you imagine the conversations they had around their dinner table? Timothy grew up listening to them talk about Jesus from their very diverse backgrounds. Certainly it was solely their influence that helped him know and love the Lord.

Paul, being the master recruiter that he was, sought Timothy out and made him an evangelist:

Acts 16:1-5 (Common English Bible)

16 Paul reached Derbe, and then Lystra, where there was a disciple named Timothy. He was the son of a believing Jewish woman and a Greek father.² The brothers and sisters in Lystra and Iconium spoke well of him. ³ Paul wanted to take Timothy with him, so he circumcised him. This was because of the Jews who lived in those areas, for they all knew Timothy’s father was Greek. ⁴ As Paul and his companions traveled through the cities, they instructed Gentile believers to keep the regulations put in place by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem. ⁵ So the churches were strengthened in the faith and every day their numbers flourished.

I always admire Paul’s ability to read a room. He had Timothy circumcised so that Timothy would be more approachable to the Jews. I wonder what changes we should make in our lives to make ourselves more approachable to people who need Jesus in their lives. Are your habits and interactions winsome to the effort, or is there something about you that turns people away from desiring to know God? I always think about something one of my minister friends said … if you’re cutting people off on the road in your Lexus and flipping them the bird, that ichthus on your bumper ain’t bringing people to Jesus! And she was right. People judge the church by its members’ actions and behaviors. Are you an influencer, or an obstructionist?

I love how Acts gives us a glimpse into the early church. Paul wisely counseled the Gentile believers to follow the teachings of the elders. When they did, the churches were strengthened and they flourished.

It is good for us to go back to this beginning. To be people who love Jesus and follow in his steps. To love who he loved and do his will. To follow his commandments and care for the fragile ones around us. To seek the kingdom with all our hearts.

When we do this, we too shall be strengthened and flourish.

Sing to the Lord a New Song by Michelle Robertson