Love is for everyone!

Ephesians 2:4-5
4But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.

Are we as a church neglecting 4 out of 10 adults? According to the 2000 Census 43.3% of adults are single or are single again! Just yesterday, the world celebrated Valentines Day, a holiday that excludes 4 out of 10 people. In fact, many churches hosted a Valentine’s banquet or provided some sort of opportunity for married and engaged couples to express their devotion to one another. This is a wonderful tool to connect the couples within our churches, but what about those that are not married or engaged? Since our nation and churches are marriage focused we often forget how many people do not fit in that category. I recently had the opportunity to talk to Dennis Franck author of Reaching Single Adults and he challenged me to look up the demographics in my city, Frankfort. I knew we had a lot of singles, but I had no idea how many there were. Look at these statistics from the 2000 census regarding the adults in my mission field of Frankfort, Kentucky.
Ages 18-24 3,254 11.7% of all adults
Ages 25-44 8,399 30.3% of all adults
Ages 45-64 6,224 22.4% of all adults
Ages 18-64 17,877 64.4% of all adults

According to these numbers we have more single adults than married! Wow, I really would not have guessed this to be true. Dennis Franck caused me to realize that reaching the single individuals of our communities has to be a priority for our churches. But how do we reach the single population? Many single programs fail because they begin with the idea that “single people need to be married”. This is not only a bad assumption, but it goes against the feelings of many singles. We as Christians and church leaders need to be focused on the main goal "To seek and save the Lost." The lost meaning everyone, not a particular group, nation, race, or classification of people, but rather all people. In fulfilling the goal of the "Great Commission" we must not allow our assumptions to get in the way of God's plan. This week I encourage you to show Love not only to those in your home, but to those that live without the understanding of the Love of Christ. For Christ loved you before you loved Him and we should love others even before they have the Love of Christ.

God Bless