GROWING TOGETHER IN CHRIST
Matthew 28:18-20
Acts 2:42-47
Have you
ever looked in the bathroom mirror in the morning and seen one of your
parents? Or when you look at the
children in your family, you see the family resemblance to an older family
member? Does she have her father’s eyes
or does he laugh just like Grandma Hattie?
As long
as I can remember, my father told me how much I reminded him of his mother –
Grandma Jenny. Until my father’s death,
the only picture I had seen of Grandma Jenny was her wedding picture. Sure enough – she looked just like me. Same round face, same high forehead, same
coloring. There is no doubt that I am
related to that young bride.
After Dad
died, I was going through an old picture album and discovered a picture of what
looked like my father wearing a dress.
It was a picture of Grandma Jenny in her sixties or seventies. Without thinking, I blurted out to my
husband, Tom, “Honey, I’m going to look like my dad in drag when I get older.”
According
to Tom’s description, I snore just like my mother, so at least I got something
from that side of the family.
These
traits and characteristics we see passed down from one generation to the next
are part of our genetic inheritance, our DNA.
But we
also have spiritual DNA, the spiritual inheritance we receive as children of
God through Jesus Christ. One of those
characteristics is to form community.
In the
beginning, God created – community! A
community of the created order, human beings and God.
Jesus
taught in community. There were no
one-on-one tutorial sessions. He
gathered people around him – sometimes in small groups of the disciples and
sometimes in large crowds, but always in community.
We learn
from Acts that the early church met together in small house groups to hear the
teachings of the Apostles and spend time in fellowship together. And the results in the lives of those who
attended them attracted others to the faith.
The early
Methodist movement was very similar.
People met in small groups to grow in the knowledge of Christ and to
grow in love for God and for neighbor.
Their common goal was to grow into the image of Christ – to become like
Christ in their words and actions. These
meetings were not to replace Sunday Worship.
John
Wesley said that there is no holiness but social holiness. I think that it means that our relationship
with God should have an impact on the lives of others and on the conditions of
this world and we are meant to grow in our faith together. There’s not supposed to be spiritual Lone
Rangers.
Jesus
tells us in Matthew 18:20 that “Whenever two or more are gathered in my name, I
am there with you.”
When we
gather in small groups for the purpose of growing together in Christ with
Christ at our center, incredible things can happen. There’s transformation, there’s mutual
support and care, people discover meaning and purpose in their lives, and
that’s what attracts new people to the church.
Also,
with Christ, everyone becomes both a teacher and a student as we benefit from
each other’s insights.
The
reason I’m standing here before you today is not because of what I learned from
my professors in seminary or because I hung out with super smart biblical
scholars. I’m here because I hung out
with people like you.
I hung
out with people like you in small groups.
People like you taught me through their examples and walked with me on
my own spiritual journey. They prayed
for me and helped me get through some of the toughest times in my life.
The
problem we have in a lot of churches today is that we do a great job with pre-k
through fifth grade Christian Education.
Some churches may even have Sunday school and youth groups for Middle
and Senior high youth, but they fall short when it comes to spiritual growth
opportunities for adults.
Vital,
alive churches are intentional about developing a culture of spiritual growth and
stressing its importance. They create
opportunities for growing together in Christ that are not based just on
cradle-to-grave groups based on people’s ages, but they also plan for those who
are on different places in their spiritual life, from seeker to mature
Christian.
They make
sure that every time people meet in the name of Jesus, whether for choir practice
or a committee meeting, there is time for prayer in a short devotional.
Our
challenge is to continue doing well what we’re already doing – providing Sunday
School for our children and supporting the youth group through Parish
Partners. We need to plan to meet the
spiritual needs of our adults through Sunday School and mid-week small groups.
Because
many adults have told me that they would like to come to Bible study but don’t
because they don’t know the Bible, I’m going to offer this fall a class on
getting acquainted with the Bible.
But I can’t
do it all on my own. We need others to
answer the call to lead Sunday School classes and teach Bible study. This is a challenge we are called to meet as
a community of faith, as the body of Christ.
It is our
Christ-given mission to make disciples and teach them all that Jesus has taught
us. And he is right there with us as we step
out in obedience to meet this challenge.
Comments
Post a Comment