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.