Kristy 0:06

Welcome to Unshaken, the podcast where unwavering faith meets real life. I'm Kristy, and together with my husband Tony, we dive into authentic conversations, offering biblical insights and sharing stories that inspire resilience, especially for families navigating the unique challenges of disabilities. Join us each week as we explore faith, family, and the journeys that keep us grounded in Christ. Don't forget to subscribe so you never miss an episode. Let's stand firm together. Hi, Unshaken family. This is Kristy. I'm here with my amazing husband, Tony. If you guys have listened to us at all before, then you're probably aware that we're really very passionate about the way people with disabilities are treated, involved in, and welcomed, I guess you could say, by the church. Here's the thing: Christians with disabilities are not standing around somewhere outside the body of Christ, waiting for the church to decide that there's room. That's not something that we have control over. We can't decide whether people are a part of the body of Christ. They belong because Jesus says they belong, and that's his decision to make. Scripture tells us that the parts of the body that we as human beings might be tempted to see as weaker are indispensable. We need them and not just need them, like they're mission critical. Yes, accessibility matters, accommodations matter. And we talked about a lot of this. Um, our episodes 47 and 48 were around that kind of material where we were talking about what it is to help a family feel welcome in a church and to kind of remove barriers for attendance and participation. But today we want to go a little bit farther, a little different direction. And we should be paying attention to the things that make it possible for people to participate fully in the life of the church. I think that's all very important. But there's more because the goal isn't to just make sure that disabled people living with disabilities can just get into the building or sit through the service or participate in a program or something like that. We want these people to be known. They deserve to be discipled. They deserve to be challenged and loved and to grow in their faith just like everybody else. They deserve the opportunity to be equipped and then to be expected to use the gifts that God has given them for the good of the whole church. That's really what it means to be treated as a part of the body of Christ. Sometimes that's the one step that we just don't quite get to. What happens after somebody comes through the door of the church? They're welcomed at the door, they're accommodated, somebody says, Hey, let me help you get to a seat. There's a great spot for you right here. Is there anything I can do? People ask those questions, get them inside. The thing is, a person with a disability can have an accessible seat. They can have earplugs or a looping device to help them listen, or there could be an interpreter. There could be any of these things that make church accessible, but still have no meaningful place to serve inside that church. A kiddo can go every Sunday to Sunday school or to the nursery program or whatever it is, while nobody thinks seriously about what it is to disciple that child, to grow her or him into an adult who functions as a full member of the body of Christ. And we can love people beautifully. I think it has nothing to do with love. It has nothing to do, like we're not not loving. I think it's just one step that we really need to be taking after we clear those hurdles, after we remove the barriers, after we welcome with love and greet with love. We don't ever want someone to be the object, I guess you could say, of ministry without ever being recognized as somebody that God uses to minister to others. They're not always the receiver. They can be the giver too, and they want to, and they deserve that opportunity. Access matters, welcoming people matters, but neither one of those things is the finish line. And there's a scripture that Tony and I think is it's probably the best, there's a lot of places in the Bible to talk about disability and and inclusion, the way that God had it in mind. I think this is probably one of the better ones. Um and it comes from 1 Corinthians 12, verses 12 through 27. Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one spirit so as to form one body, whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free, and we were all given the one spirit to drink. Even so, the body is not made up of one part, but of many. Now, if the foot should say, Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body, it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. And if the ear should say, because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body, it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact, God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, I don't need you. And the head cannot say to the feet, I don't need you. On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem weaker are indispensable. I'm just gonna read that one again. Those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable, we treat with special honor, and the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty. While our presentable parts need no special treatment, but God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it. If one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.

Tony 6:32

When we go back and look at verses 21 and 22, the eye cannot say to the hand, I don't need you. And the head cannot say to the feet, I don't need you. That concept of every part is truly indispensable. It's really important that we as a church body we realize that every part, every member of our body is truly indispensable. That's where we truly want to focus this because Paul doesn't describe weaker seeming members as charitable additions to the body. They're not lucky to be a part of the body. They have value because God says you are part of the body, and so you have value. Those parts of the body that seem weaker, they belong to it. At the end of the day, the church body needs those members that may on the surface seem weaker.

Kristy 7:34

So, what changes when we stop asking, how do we include people with disabilities, and we start saying scripture already tells us they're part of the body of Christ, how do we help facilitate that? What how does that look different?

Tony 7:48

We need to move from thinking that people with disabilities are only there to be served, and rather need to shift our mindset to those with disabilities can serve right alongside those that don't have disabilities. If you guys have been with us for any length of time, you guys know that we serve with Joni and friends. And Joni has a great saying that it's not disability ministry until those that are disabled are ministering right alongside and as part of the ministry. I think that's the biggest shift is moving from just serving those with disabilities to a model of serving with those that have disabilities.

Kristy 8:41

I can tell you, this week we went up to, we lined up, went up to the front for communion. And when I got up to the front, there's a young man, and you could hear him through the service. He spoke out when he, you know, when he had an opinion about what the pastor was teaching, he said so. And when, you know, we were singing songs, he you could hear him distinctly, like just a different kind of dude. And when I got up to the front, do you know he's the one that was holding the cups? He's the one that was offering, you know, the juice and and the empty cups for the people that wanted wine. I was given my bread and I stepped to him and I took mine and I said, Thank you. And he yelled out, You're welcome. And I was like, dude, sweet. How neat. Like he could be one of the kiddos that attends my school. As it works out, he's not. But it was just, it did my heart good to see that he's standing up there along with everybody else being part of presenting that sacrament to other people. And why wouldn't he be? It doesn't take any special skill that that he didn't have or that the the people next, I mean, like there's nothing stopping it. And yet that was the first time I've ever seen it. And I was thrilled to see it happen today.

Tony 9:48

Before some families ever arrive on Sunday morning, they may already have thought about parking, seating, the noise, the communication, the mobility challenges, medical stuff, safety amongst a mile-long list of things that they deal with every day that is for them is as natural as breathing, and most of us take it for granted. Just getting through the door, it's not the destination, it's just a starting point. I think we as a church body, we have to realize that disabled adults may be asking whether or not they'll be addressed directly. And I know, even though I'm on this podcast on a weekly basis, and you guys hear me, you guys hear my voice, so you guys know that I can speak for myself. It would probably shock you to realize how many times Kristy and I are somewhere out in the world together, and instead of addressing me directly, the person that we're interacting with will basically ignore me and address Kristy before even considering that I can answer for myself. There are always those kind of mental questions and mental fears of am I going to be addressed directly? Am I going to be treated as someone who is my age? Or are they going to assume that I needed to be treated as somebody younger? Am I going to be allowed to communicate in the way that works for me? Obviously, for me, I can speak, I can verbalize my communication, but for others, maybe they've got a device that helps them speak. You know, maybe they're a speller, maybe they speak through sign language. There's any number of methods of communication. And those of us that have disabilities, these are mental questions that we ask ourselves as we walk into the building.

Kristy 11:58

There's a real difference between helping someone come inside, greeting them with welcome, greeting them with love, removing all the barriers and treating them with belonging. It's that creating a sense of belonging, I think, that you're kind of talking about because if we're underestimating you, if we're putting you in a situation where you're going to have to worry how you'll be received or how your method of communication is going to be received, or if you're coming in worried, thinking about your disability and worrying, then we haven't created a situation where you can feel like you truly belong. You're still feeling different, you're still feeling separate.

Tony 12:39

When you walk into church, the focus should be on I'm here to worship God. And instead, my focus more times than I care to admit is on how am I going to navigate with the different people that are looking to accommodate me, but not thinking that I actually belong here.

Kristy 13:02

Something I would call out, it's nobody's fault, but also nobody thinks about it. When we go into the church and when we're standing around in the, you know, in the atrium, the lobby, before we go into the sanctuary, it's hard for Tony to stand still. Tony's good to sit and he's good to walk. He can walk for miles, but to stand still is really tough. And so when we go in and we're looking for friends or for places to connect or for somebody that we needed to talk to about some mission of the church or whatever like that, both of us are calculating, we're planning what's going to be our route, how are we going to get there through this crowd? And when we get there, is there a place that we can lean? Is there a place that Tony can lean on so that we can have this conversation? Something as basic as that, it's easy to think of that as a barrier situation, as an accommodation situation, as an access situation. But it's more than that, right? Because it affects the way that he can participate. It affects the way that he can have conversations. And I'm not saying that every church needs to have a plan in place for that kind of thing. But if somebody had ever asked, if somebody had ever asked any question about what would help, I think that starts to be the place where we stop meeting those basic get you into the building and find you a seat sort of needs, and really helping you to function as a full part of the body of Christ, because you can have your conversations the same as everybody else can. You can have those interactions the same way you can disciple and be discipled. Because I feel like those like 20 minutes that we're standing around out there are some of the most impactful ones.

Tony 14:45

Yeah, I agree. And this is one of those things that I really loved about our former church home because in their sort of lobby, atrium, whatever you want to call it, number one, they had tons of places to sit. They were very intentional about creating, I'll call them pods of chairs and seating areas for people to naturally sit and have a conversation. They wanted you to linger, they wanted you to have fellowship and stay a while.

Kristy 15:19

It's like a furniture furniture store almost where there's like a little room unto itself and then some space. Yeah.

Tony 15:25

And beyond the seating areas, there was also many high-top tables. So even if I couldn't necessarily sit somewhere, there usually were high-top tables that I could lean on and still have a great conversation with anyone that I needed to talk to that maybe either didn't have time to sit or it just wasn't, you know, a convenient place to sit. There just was a lot of options that naturally lent itself to conversations that I think our former church home did really, really well. Another piece of scripture that I think is really impactful comes out of Hebrews chapter 10, verses 19 through 25. The author of Hebrews here is really trying to encourage God's people to continue to meet together in this time because of persecution, because of the hard times that were going on. Some had just stopped meeting together. That's not what God is calling us to do. God wants us to meet together in our churches as a body of Christ so that we can encourage each other, so that we can lift each other up, so that we can serve one another. That gathering is just meant to draw us together and draw us towards God. So, yes, access matters. Access matters because participation matters. We're not called to just show up and just listen to a sermon. We're called to be active participants in the Sunday morning service, whether that be serving like this young man who was serving at church this morning, or it could be as a greeter, it could be I mean, there's any number of ways to serve at all of our churches. Access just gets someone through the door, but when they feel like they truly belong, it gives them a place inside the the body of Christ. And it gives them a place to just be beyond just listening, passive listening. Sometimes churches have made the mistake of feeling like physical presence was belonging. What can someone technically have access to while still remaining on the outside looking in?

Kristy 17:52

I think it's it's the difference between including and considering someone indispensable. I think you're right. Like getting them in the building is including, and that's great. Welcoming is better, loving is better, but seeing them as critical to the success of the body in function in that organization, I think that's huge because they are. And I'm not saying that no one else could have held that tray of juice and cups. I think the point is that anybody can hold that tray of juice and cups. And yet there are people with disabilities that just never get the opportunity because no one thinks to ask.

Tony 18:29

If you have spent years doing the work to just get your family through the door, I need you to hear this. Needing access is not asking for special treatment. To move from access to belonging, it's asking for the opportunity to participate in the life that God is calling us to be a part of. We need to stop the idea that just getting into the building is good enough. Part of this is the idea that Kristy touched on earlier, and this idea of indispensable. Indispensable, when you look at it in this context, it means that the church body needs all of its members. That includes needing all of the gifts that all of the members bring to the table that God has given us. And so, you know, when it comes to Kristy mentioned earlier the idea of discipleship, part of discipleship is helping those that you're discipling, helping them figure out what their spiritual gifts are. And then once you figure out what those gifts are, the next step is logically figuring out how we can use these gifts to serve in the body. We need to look at that aspect of spiritual gifts and serving as part of the discipleship process. It's not just a bonus, it's actually part of discipleship. And we need to change and challenge the notion that those that have disabilities are just to be ministered to. We need to move to a a a place where we are now ministering with because through the discipleship we've discovered what those spiritual gifts are and we've found opportunities for them to use those gifts.

Kristy 20:37

Yes, to all of that. Someone's disability might impact how they communicate or how they move or learn. It might make the way that they participate look different, but it doesn't stop the Holy Spirit from dwelling inside them, just like everybody else. I think asking questions about what that person believes and what they're learning and what they care about, in addition to finding out what they're good at, what their gifts are, how might God use them here, what can the rest of us receive from them? If we only know how that person walks or how they communicate or what their diagnosis is, what their support needs are, and we don't know how they would love to serve in the church or what what role they would like to hold or what they feel like they're very good at, then we don't really know that person at all. It's a very surface, a surface knowledge. That's not a way to be a friend as a Christian. That's not a way to be a friend.

Tony 21:40

Disability, the fact that I I have Cerebral Palsy, which the world sees as a disability, for much of my life, as I walked into new places and new spaces, what I had in my mind was I'm going to be tolerated. If that's you, if If you've always felt like your presence has been tolerated, I want you to know that scripture is much more clear about this. You're not tolerated in the body of Christ. You are needed in the body of Christ. That's why scripture uses the word indispensable. Whatever your disability is, it doesn't erase your place, it doesn't erase your gifts, and it doesn't erase how you can contribute to the body. Whatever supports you need in order to be an active participant in the body, that doesn't cancel the gifts that God has given you either. So if you've spent years feeling tolerated, please don't. Please know that you are indispensable.

Kristy 22:51

I think that another thing that we do, and we do it with the best of intentions, and yet it causes a lot of damage, is to lower expectations as an expression of kindness. I see this all the time at work, right? I have kids that come to me who are 15 years old and capable of doing age-appropriate schoolwork, but because they were never able to communicate that society assumed that they couldn't understand or that they couldn't do the hard things. And so they did what they thought was the loving thing and continued to stay with the most basic of lessons and the most basic of teaching. And it's a misguided assumption that the person with a disability wasn't able to correct. I think it was a solo that I did, uh, an episode around presuming competence in people who have disabilities. And I think that's something that's really important here. People who live with disability, they need and they deserve access to age-appropriate discipleship. They need and deserve friendship, prayer, and prayer for the dreams that they have and the wishes in their heart and for the growth that they're trying to pursue, not just that they might be healed or that God would make things easier for them. They're a whole person with a whole life. You know, they need and deserve to be full members. They should have appropriate rules, appropriate guidance, everything that everybody else has. They should be able to be part of small groups and part of the larger service and they should get to learn theology. I mean, like I could go on and on. They deserve the pastoral care that everybody else would get. And they deserve to have opportunities for spiritual growth. I think at the end of the day, that undergirds all of it. They should be able to have opportunities for spiritual growth. So often we underestimate someone's intelligence. And maybe there is, maybe there is a cognitive delay, maybe there is a learning difference, maybe there isn't, and there's a communication difference that prevents us from knowing. It doesn't matter. I don't think any of those things really matter because none of those things would stop a person from having a really rich, beautiful, meaningful spiritual life. We would hope that someone would never spend decades in a church and not grow, you know, their whole life, grow up in church and not have visible, significant growth. We would never look at a member of the church and say, I hope you don't wrestle with scripture. I hope you don't grow. Like that's just not something that would ever be. But our actions sometimes carry that out for people who have disabilities. We need to be really mindful. I think the welcome is there, the love is there, the inclusivity is there, the desire to do right is there. And I think the methods might need to change. But beyond that, the person needs true friends and true outreach from the church in the way of, hey, we need a reader for the 10 o'clock service. Would you be willing to do that? And yeah, it might sound different. And it might take a little bit longer and it might take a minute for that person to get up onto the stage and behind the lectern. The pacing of the reading might be different. Who knows? It could be different in any number of ways, but they can read and it's scripture. What's stopping us from making that match? I think there's just any number of ways that we can disciple a person and include the person and be intentional with that person's growth. You know, when I think about discipleship, Jesus had 12 of them that we count. But the thing about his discipleship with them, it wasn't so much the small group activity. It was his one-to-one relationships with each of those young men. And somebody in every church needs to be that for somebody else. And everybody in that church needs to have that from somebody else. And everybody includes people who live with disabilities. I think people who live with disabilities, they need that discipleship more than anybody else because, again, they've been neglected. It doesn't mean we lower the bar to be, you know, to be kind. It doesn't mean we dumb it down. It doesn't mean we make it easy. You know, it means we get to know the person and meet her or him, where she or he is, with the needs and the desire and the love for Jesus and the understanding that they have, just like everybody else, because we know how to disciple somebody. We have to take those same principles and apply them across the board. And then we also need to give that person the opportunity to disciple somebody back. Because I'm here to tell you there's a whole lot to learn from people who have disability, who live with disability, who are different in some way. The richness of their experience is not something that can just get anywhere. The insight that people carry based on the way the world has interacted with them and the way that God has met them, the way that they have interpreted, and the way that the spirit has helped to facilitate all of that learning, like that's not something that just everybody carries. And so if we're not also asking in some way for their discipleship, in addition to providing discipleship, I think we're getting it wrong.

Tony 28:39

Scripture talks about the different gifts that God gives us. And I want to uh go to a specific passage in Ephesians, it's uh chapter four, verses eleven through sixteen. It says, So Christ Himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors, and the teachers to equip his people for the works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is in the head, that is Christ. From him, the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love as each part does its work, and this speaks to just the discovery of spiritual gifts God has given each of us, and that includes those that are living with a disability. And maybe that someone that we love learns or communicates or responds differently, it doesn't mean that they don't need or get discipleship, it just means that there might be a different path to discipleship. We need to remember that we serve a big God, and God is not limited by a single method that works for those that may not have disabilities. God works in so many ways. God can and does speak to those that have disabilities just as He speaks to those who don't have disabilities.

Kristy 30:51

You know, something I was thinking about when you were saying that is that, you know, we're all unique. And I think sometimes the gifts and the talents and the interests that somebody has, they might not align with typical traditional church roles, right? You may have somebody who loves beautifully, who prays constantly, who's the first to notice when somebody's hurting or somebody is sad or struggling or when somebody's off. You know, the the person's biggest gift might just be the way that they love. And I think that even if none of those fit a traditional role, it doesn't make them less valuable. We can find ways to use that person's gifts within the church to help them, to plug them in. They don't need help. They need connection, they need to be aligned with someone who says, Yes, here we go. You're great at this. Man, do I have a job for you? And let them do that. Let them love, let them pray, let them do this thing that is such a service to the body of Christ and to is such a service to the church itself and to its members and maybe to the church as an organization, but certainly to the people who show up there every day.

Tony 32:16

Along with that point, we need not make the mistake of turning an entire family into a single person's ID. And what I mean by that is if little Joni is the one that's got cerebral palsy, mom and dad and siblings are still individual people with their own gifts and and they deserve to be seen as individual people. It's it's not just Joni's brother or Joni's sister or Joni's mom or dad. No, that's Bill, that's Sally, that that's Susie. These are individual people that all need to be discipled, all have gifts so that they can serve in their own ways, and they need to be seen as members of the body of Christ, not just Joni's people.

Kristy 33:14

Tony's disability is visible. And if people call me Tony's wife, nothing makes me prouder in the whole world than to be Tony's wife. Like I'm so grateful for the gift of him and all of those things. But if you call me Tony's wife, call me Tony's wife because you're thinking of Tony as someone who's participating in ministry, because you see Tony as the man that he is and and not just the guy that walks funny, that walks with a crutch or that needs accommodation or whatever like that. That's what I would say that the people in the family would value the most. It's sure, like we don't ever want to dismiss anybody because of someone's disability. Nothing is harder for me to manage than when somebody underestimates or undervalues my husband because I know the man that he is. And his disability is irrelevant when it comes to his value and his contribution. And so, yeah, if you call me Tony's wife, call me the wife of Tony the minister, not Tony the disabled guy.

Tony 34:24

For church leaders and church staff that may be listening to this episode, this does not and will not require an unlimited budget. That's not what this is about. This is more about mentality and culture. And this is about shifting the mindset more than a program or staff or specialized building or anything like that. Yes, there are physical barriers that if you can address them, please do address them because we don't want a physical barrier to stop someone from getting into the building. But this episode is more about the culture that exists inside the building. And no church is going to get this right 100% of the time. We want this to be something that we are growing and learning as a church body together.

Kristy 35:26

Here's the thing the person with the disability is also not going to have a flawless Sunday every Sunday. The reasons that people need accommodation, they still exist even when the person has been accommodated. There's going to be Sundays where somebody is particularly noisy or particularly clumsy or quiet or emotional or whatever the situation might be. And that person may have had a role in in service that week. You know, that might be the case. Kind of to Tony's point, the person who sits with that, that person might have been sick that day. It could just be that they were having a hard day on their own. Like, who knows? Any reason why this is going to happen? The room might be loud or mom might have forgot the headphones that the kiddo typically like, it could be any reason, right? The thing that matters is what happens next. How do we handle that situation? Are we curious instead of judgmental? Do we protect that person's dignity when we're trying to get to the bottom of what might have happened or what we could do differently going forward? Are we looking to repair? Are we looking to create a situation where that doesn't become trauma that that person associates with being there, right? Are we protecting them from that? Are we leading with love? Even a healthy church, right? Even the best of churches, the best of the people among the best of churches sometimes might say, we don't know how to do this yet, but you matter. And so we want to learn. There's a lot of situations in life where the person who has been wronged becomes responsible for teaching everyone else how to fix that. And I think that's not fair. But I also think that because situations where someone lives with disability are as unique as snowflakes, I think there is a role for that person or her or his family to get involved and say, hey, you know, we see you. We see you trying. This was a miss. Next time it would be better if this, or could we try this? I don't know if it's gonna work. But that's a dialogue that has to happen on both sides with open hearts and open minds and just a desire to see God's will be done. And I think that's important. I don't think there's any, there's no shame in either side getting it wrong as long as both sides try to make it better going forward.

Tony 38:09

When there is someone who is living with disability and they are willing to help in that conversation, I think we need to take them up on that offer. I think when you are able to be a part of the solution, it also helps to break down the gap between access and belonging because now you are invested and you're a part of what made this church better.

Kristy 38:42

One thing I'll add to that is if there's safety issues, if the church as a whole has been wonderful, but this one person continues to be dismissive, you know, if if there's a situation, it doesn't mean that you don't, that you shouldn't or don't deserve to or don't need to bring that up, right? Because just because the church is trying doesn't mean that every single person is is getting it right. And um, you know, I would never ask you to turn a blind eye because they're trying. That's not gonna help anybody either. But I think, again, to Tony's point, it's relationship that matters. It's is there curiosity, is there humility on both sides? Is there growth? Are both sides committed to making it better? It's that commitment mutually that I think is gonna make the difference. And you're right, of all of the ways for a person who lives with disability to serve the church, to make it better for other people that have disability is not a small help. That's huge. So ultimately, it all goes back to the long passage from 1 Corinthians. The less beautiful should be most on display, the less desirable are more necessary. Is the church getting that? If the person with the disability and their family that also has gifts and talents were to leave, what would the church lose?

Tony 40:15

Belonging is not proven by whether or not a church can point out where you sit. It shows up when people know your name, when they know how you're growing in your relationship with Christ, because that's discipleship, when they are seeking out and making room for the ways that God has gifted you, and that they notice when you're not there. So we need to get away from the idea of that section over there in the corner, that's where we put all the wheelchairs. That's great. That's access, that's not belonging. What can you tell me about that guy that's in the wheelchair that's been faithfully showing up week after week after week? Do you know anything about him and his family? Is he serving? Is he growing? Do you even know the answers to those questions? Tell me whether or not he actually belongs.

Kristy 41:18

If you are someone who lives with disability, either because you have a disability yourself or because someone that you love has a disability, you are a whole person with all the same needs and desires and wishes as literally every single other person in that sanctuary on a Sunday morning. Seek out the opportunities. You deserve that. It doesn't matter if there's not a clear path or if it's going to take a little bit of work on somebody else's part to make it so. We take care of each other. We are commanded by Jesus, the boss of us all. We are commanded to take care of each other.

Tony 41:59

Disabled Christians are not projects for the body of Christ. They are members of the body of Christ. When we remember that, we start to move from just providing access to showing someone that they truly belong. Let's pray together and let's ask God to give us fresh eyes to see those families that are walking into our churches. And let's move from merely providing access to helping those individuals and families feel like they truly belong. Father, we come before you today thankful that you see those that you created as indispensable. Those that are part of the body, whether or not they are seen as weaker or not, they're still part of the body. Father, help us to have open communication and be humble with one another and be loving towards one another so that we can all grow together to be better disciples, be stronger disciples, and be brighter lights for this world that desperately needs you. Thank you, Father, for the gifts that you've given us. Give us eyes to see those gifts and to see the ways that those gifts can be used, even if it's not what we have typically seen in the past. Ultimately, Father, just help us to love one another the way that you love us. If we can do that, I think things will take care of themselves. We thank you, Father, for the example that you've given us in Jesus. And we thank you that He provided a way for us to have a relationship with you and to be a part of the body. Help us to be stronger, help us to lift each other up and help us to know you better. It's in your son's name that we pray. Amen. Amen. Thank you guys so much. Hope you guys have a great day and a great rest of your week. And we'll see you next time.

Kristy 44:01

Bye, friends.