“We shall have to break our habit of having church in such a way that people are deceived into thinking that they can be Christians and remain strangers” – Stanley Hauweras and Will Willimon
I don’t have much to add other than its brilliant and true. We need each other. Christianity isn’t a faith done in isolation but in relationship with God and others. So next time you gather together, go and meet someone. Move past being strangers, and move into being true follower of Jesus.
I’ve been thinking a lot about how we present Jesus. I’ve really noticed something of late.
What I’ve noticed is how much of our language focuses on “church” as the destination. That people are seeking to get others to go to this church service, program, speaker, worship event, etc. There is nothing wrong with any of these things, in fact, I think they are important. But we must be clear, the goal of life is not to get people to go to church, but to go to Christ.
That’s where the disconnection happens, because theologically you never go to church; as a Christian you are the church. You bring church with you. Our message needs to be, come to Christ and become part of the church. Our message is come to Jesus and join the adventure of following Christ together. Our message is good news to all. The church has the amazing role and responsibility of sharing that message. But the church shouldn’t transcend or replace the message.
So all I’m saying is, the church is important, but it’s important only because of Jesus Christ. So when you invite a neighbor to church don’t stop there. Make sure you invite them to discover Jesus as well. Because the amazing thing is that once someone comes to Jesus, they become the church wherever they are…
Last night I went to see a concert with my wife, mom, and my brother in law and sister in law. The concert was pretty amazing. Here’s a clip.
It got me to thinking though. In the midst of all those people I was easily caught up in the whole thing, I wanted to dance, I wanted to shout, wave my hands (which had cool blinking lights on a wrist band you see in the video), and sing along.
And the concert was amazing but it also reminded me that gathering as God’s church matters.
I know it’s odd that a Coldplay concert makes me think of church, but this is the life of a pastor. Everything makes you think of God’s people and sharing grace.
What I thought about was this: gathering together, whether with thousands, or two or three, matters. When we as God’s people, his church, gather together for a common purpose, whether to worship, to serve, or then to go out and bless the world, something special happens. In Hebrews we are told to not give up gathering together (Hebrews 10:25). Because it is together in the presence of one another that transformation can happen, we can get swept into something greater than ourselves, we are reminded that we are in this together.
An old proverb says this, “The individual Christian, is no Christian.” You can’t follow Christ alone; it’s no solo journey. This is what that concert reminded me of. That gathering together for a common purpose matters. So who are you gathering with to worship God? Are you being intentional about joining something bigger than yourself? Who are you partnering with to reach your neighborhood?
We aren’t meant to do it alone. So gather with some friends this week to serve, to celebrate, dance, reach your neighbours, give grace.
And in case you are wondering – yes those bracelets are amazing…and no, unfortunately we won’t have them on Sunday 😉
This week at church we had an amazing Sunday. We celebrated the anniversary of our church, and celebrated the volunteers in our church. Really they aren’t volunteers in the church; they are the church – demonstrating it by how they give. And so as we took time to recognize and thank them I saw Jesus in the little things on Sunday…
So where did I find Jesus this week? I found him in people, his church. I found him in you. This is a beautiful thing.
So this week if you’re looking for Jesus you don’t have to look far. Look to the people who are walking with you. Pay attention and I bet you’ll find him…Because he isn’t hiding…He’s just so close to you sometimes he’s hard to see…
Something recently has occurred to me. Often after Sunday’s service I ask Krista, “How did it go today?” Or more honestly, “How did I do?” And I’ve started to notice something. That those types of questions don’t seem to help my soul, and my connection with God. As I’ve become aware of this, I’ve started to notice, as well, that often after any service people ask these types of questions:
But did you notice something in those questions? They all create distance between us and “the church” or the community.
These type of questions put us in a stance above or beyond what was happening by creating space for us to judge, evaluate, or critique. These questions pull us out of community to evaluate rather than driving us deeper into community to create and connect. While I personally want to pursue excellence each and every Sunday these types of questions don’t lead to excellence, because they negate relationships. They lead to distance, space, coldness, and critique rather than healthy engagement, relationship, creativity, and community connection.
So I’ve decided to ask different questions after each and every Sunday. Now I don’t ask “How did I do”. But instead “What did God do this morning?” Instead of critiquing I search for God’s involvement. This has led to a big difference. Now I often ask Krista these questions:
Do you see the difference? I think that difference is important because it reminds us we’re all in this together.
So this Sunday on the drive home rather than asking, “What did you think?” Ask a different question and discover a different way to look at community. My theological hunch is that going into a service searching for God, for how you can contribute, and connect will change not only the service for you but for others as well.
So this Sunday go expecting to meet God rather than to judge his bride and see how it changes you and your community…
Yesterday we talked about money in church. I know a topic that isn’t often talked about in church. We feel uncomfortable and awkward talking about it. I think this is because it’s been talked about poorly in the past, where giving gets tied to guilt and other wrong motives. But on Sunday we sought to look at giving tied to grace.
We looked at 2 Corinthians 8 to discover how Paul deals with money. Here, there is the Corinthian church that hasn’t given what they’ve pledged. Paul rather than coming down hard, judging, and using guilt to motivate, he talks about grace and God. In fact he says, “Let me tell you a story of grace…” In this story of grace Paul tells about the Macedonian church and how they gave and experienced joy and God’s presence. He talks about how they gave what they could as a response to God, not as a response to guilt or judgement.
Paul in his story of grace is trying to change the Corinthian church’s heart. He’s not trying to guilt them into giving, but instead trying to inspire them through grace. Because the Biblical perspective is that when giving is tied to guilt and legalism it quickly dries up, but when giving is tied to God and his grace, giving never ends. The point isn’t really how much you give, but the heart you give with. Giving is important, blessing others matters, but your heart behind the giving really matters. Is your heart like God’s, generous, open, and appreciative?
Jesus says that the Pharisees who gave a tenth of every part of the income still get it wrong because of mixed up motives and desires (Matt. 23:23-24). The Pharisees did the right action but not with the right heart.
So where is your heart today? Why not be generous and give to someone today out of a grateful heart. Consider all that God has done for you, and find a way to bless someone today. When you do this you might just find yourself like the Macedonians…full of joy…and taken care of…
P.S. Since money is an important conversation we’re committed here to not only be seeking to excel in generosity and grace, but also good stewardship. So if stewarding finances or debt is a struggle we have partnerships, and great people who are here to help us steward what we’ve been given well. Let us know if that’d be a help and we’ll help you make a connection.
This past week our church family experienced a loss. A friend, family member, and person who was a part of our community passed away and went home to be with Jesus.
Whenever loss happens to a community, it affects each person differently. Some are closely connected and deeply affected, others aren’t affected in the same way. But the point isn’t how we are affected but how we, as a community, respond. The point isn’t just how loss affects you or I, but how we, as a whole ,can act.
So what should a community do when loss occurs?
Well this is a time to support, share, and care. Andrew Root writes this “God is present when death is shared, when suffering is joined”. This is so true. When you share in people’s grief, when you join their suffering, when you demonstrate you care, you make God real and tangible. God becomes present when we give food, write a note of encouragement, or ask someone for their favorite memory of their loved one. Because when we do that, we are no longer seeing them go through grief but entering it; we are no longer standing near them,but with them and that makes all the difference.
So today even if your community isn’t going through loss like ours is, remember this: “God is present when death is shared, when suffering is joined”. Don’t shy away from people in need but join them. Church is a place where people journey together towards Jesus and in difficult times, it’s when this needs to be demonstrated most.
So today why not journey with someone. My guess is that you know someone who has experienced loss in the past few weeks, months, or years. Why not write them, call them, or text and let them know you are praying and thinking about them. Why not join them where they are at, and bring God with you.
Because that’s what a community does – joins together and find God in our midst, no matter what we are going through…
I had an odd phone call this morning.
I’m doing my morning devotions, reading the Bible, and praying and I get this phone call. On the other end is a very nice lady, very pleasant offering the services of their company for our church. They were a collection agency.
They thought they could add a lot of value to our church by freely collecting any debts that might be owed to us. She mentioned that if we rent out our hall we could get those debts back for free.
The thing that struck me was how off and odd this was. I’ll make a strong statement: Church’s shouldn’t be using collection agencies. Our two enterprises should never connect. The fact that they called assuming this would be a good thing demonstrates how misunderstood the church is.
Jesus frees us from our debts, rather than demanding payment in full. He covers over our transgressions rather than seeking to hunt us down, and find retribution. The whole thing just struck me as so odd that I actually started laughing. The point where the church starts hiring collection agencies will be the moment when we know we’ve missed the point.
I’m not saying that debts don’t deserve to be paid. They do. We should honor our word, pay what is fair, and respect the contracts we enter. All I’m saying is that Jesus’ example and model is a bit higher and deeper than that; because he pays what we deserved to pay.
So I’m sure you can guess already, but I ended the phone conversation by saying, “thanks for the offer but we won’t be needing your services”…
This week at church we are going to do something different. Different but deep.
Over the past few weeks we’ve talked about how the church is to make disciples. That we make disciples through blessing, which literally means to give life to someone. And we also learned that we are sent to those in our Jerusalem’s, Judea’s, and Samaria’s. This is all true. The church is to make disciples, is to bless, and is sent.
This Sunday though we want to focus in on one last aspect of “being the church”. That’s being a body that loves one another.
Each week we gather to be re-sent out into our next week. But we also gather to care for one another. And this week we are going to do that in a practical and meaningful way. We are going to gather around communion tables, share blessing, share life, and pray with one another. We are going to support one another, because this journey of faith is not meant to be lived alone. Life is better together. And the church is at its best when it is active, moving, making disciples, and blessing people together. So this week the focus is on being together, healing one another, supporting one another, and loving one another.
A church that doesn’t reach out, isn’t a church. Yet it is equally true that a church that doesn’t love one another, also isn’t a church.
We are called to gather and to go. So on this Sunday we are going to gather to care.
The question is what do you need, care and support in? How can we help you? What can we do to love and care for one another?
Important questions…so let us know…because we are all in this together…
This upcoming Sunday we are going to be talking about movement.
Many things are based on movement, and momentum. For example, it’s almost impossible to learn to ride a bike if its not moving. Moving is part of its nature. The same applies to the church. The church is a movement. Part of its very nature is to grow, expand, and move.
So on Sunday we are going to explore the sent nature of the church. How just as God sent his son, he is now sending his church.
The question for us is where is God sending you?
We often think of “where” God is sending us. We focus on maybe going overseas, or on short-term missions, on being sent somewhere else. But we no longer need to go across an ocean to find people who need Jesus in their life. They are all around us. They are our neighbors, our co-workers, our family, and our friends. Now people of each tribe, nation, and religion are coming to live in and with us. So the question then isn’t “where” God is sending us; but to whom.
Who is God sending you to bless? Who is God sending you to give life?
Is it the person across the street, one cubicle over, or that friend at zoomba?
Because the church is meant to be on the move, we are sent to be a blessing. Not only across the sea but also across our street, backyards, and offices.
So who is God sending you to? Because make no mistake he does want to send you…
{ Andrew Mills } 