Healthy Spiritual Community – God’s Plan

In case you have not heard, our theme for the upcoming year is “Community” and our series for this Fall is “Healthy Community”. The concept is really one and the same. By that, I mean we do not want to build a community of believers that are not equally concerned about the health of our relationships. You can certainly have one and not the other. Even dysfunctional families can have a sense of community but the result of their time together is often destructive and can actually erode their emotional and spiritual health. When that is happening – in a home, at a job or even in a church – there’s a problem. 

The answer to a dysfunctional community is not to abort the community, but to begin to correct and educate the community so it can reorder the way in which it functions. That’s our job – the church and its leaders – have been given the task of helping to reorder, re-parent, and re-calibrate the way we, as children of God, live our lives. To embark on this journey we are going to look at one of the letters/books in the Bible from the Apostle Paul – the Book, or letter to, the Ephesians. As we navigate our way through the letter’s instructions to this early, first century church in the town of Ephesus, we’ll find out that God is all about community. In fact, we’ll see that everything about God and what He wants to do is connected to and driven by community. Therefore, if we want to be His followers and disciples we must find our place and our purpose in His community.

As we begin, let me share a few tasks to help guide us in our effort to discover and become more of who He has designed us to be. First, make every effort to read Ephesians from start to finish in one setting. Second, write down your “big picture observations” and questions. Third, take time each day to read the memory verse. We’ll be memorizing one passage from each of the 6 chapters of Ephesians. The first memory verse is Ephesians 1:7-8. What does this     passage say about God, about you and about us? Take a moment to pray the verse, i.e. “Lord, thank you for bringing me into a relationship with you. A relationship where I am redeemed by your blood, completely forgiven by your sacrifice…etc…” As you meditate on each verse in our study, ask God to empower you by His presence and His word.

The other thing step I must ask you to take is to connect to community. Join a small group and/or a ministry team. We must step into relationships where we are learning, discovering and growing in our faith. That will not happen simply by attending church. Worship attendance is a needed part of the journey but absolutely inadequate to accomplish what God has designed for you. He has chosen you to be a part of community and has called you to be an active     participant in community. Now is the time. Today is the first day of the rest of your life. This is the season for each of us to do our part in building a healthier community.

In His love,

Pastor Jeff

 

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