We are returning to 301 ElCano Drive to worship at Mountainside Church Easter Sunday

Relationships

Relationships

Mankind cannot live by bread alone; we must have relationships!  Or maybe you’ve heard this one – no man is an island. It’s a funny way to state it, but we need to have relationships in our lives.  Even though some may dream of living all alone in the mountains in a little log cabin, isolation can be maddening. But we’ve seen the documentaries of men living alone in the woods or mountains, and how they interact with the animals!  Ha! Gotcha! Relationships!


In the movie "Dances with Wolves" Kevin Costner plays a Lieutenant sent to a far western outpost.  He alone in this small, one building camp with only his horse. He spends his days repairing the deteriorating building, writing in his journal, and talking with his horse.  He befriends a wolf which he names Two Socks, and eventually develops relationships with members of the nearby Sioux tribe. Even though the Lieutenant was disillusioned by his experience in the Civil War and wanted to get away from it all, being alone was not the way.


We can search for meaning in relationships.  We have relationships with new friends, life-long relationships with best friends, relationships with our favorite business, and relationships with our neighbors, as well as many more.


Each type of relationship fulfills a specific need in our lives.  Our best friends fulfill the need of trust and honesty. We need to have someone in our lives with which we can tell all, whether that is that life-long best friend or a spouse.  Non-judgmental confession and acceptance can only come from a person we trust. The business relationships also have a thread of trust within them. We trust our favorite mechanic to repair our car correctly, and not add a lot of unneeded repairs.  We have our favorite restaurants we patronize knowing the atmosphere is good, the food is consistently good, and even a welcome smile from the owner as you walk in on your regular evening makes us feel good. We all have the need to not only trust and be honest in our actions, but to be treated in the same manner by others.  Kevin Costner needed the company of Two Socks, and over time each trusted and relied on each other’s abilities to spot trouble on the prairie.


Were we created for relationships?  God’s Word says we were. Man (Mankind) is the only part of creation that was created in God’s image.  In the book of Isaiah, we find man was created to glorify our Creator. But exactly how do we glorify God?  In Psalms, we are told to worship God with gladness and "know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture." Part of what it looks like to glorify God is to acknowledge who God is (our Creator) and to praise and worship Him as such.


The purpose of glorifying God is when we live our lives in relationship and faithful service to Him.  If we keep the relationship with God first, the one for which we were created, all other relationships will be established, guided, and sometimes even tested through the revelations God gives us.


  Mountainside Church · 301 Elcano Drive
Hot Springs Village · AR 71909

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