We are the church, together!

Yesterday, I attended the funeral of a treasured colleague.  Though he was a good age, it was still difficult for his family and his friends.  His daughter-in-law read a letter from friends who could not be present.  His son shared about him in a loving way, and another colleague, who took the service, spoke warmly as well.  But if that was all there had been, it would have felt like something was missing:  fellowship.

I was grateful that there was an opportunity for fellowship after the service was over.  Throughout most of the last two and a half years, the fellowship component to funerals has been missing because of concerns over the pandemic.

But I’m glad it was back for this gathering, because there were people who are dear to me with whom I wanted to be able to express personal condolences and have a conversation.  I know from experience that in many ways, as important as the service itself is, the opportunity to share grief in community makes a significant contribution to the healing process.  

Likewise, community is strengthened when there is an opportunity to share table fellowship.  Last Sunday, our congregation had its first pot luck lunch in almost 3 years, and it was wonderful.  Twice as many people stayed as had actually signed up to stay, which was great – there was plenty to eat – but it was a sign that people hunger for fellowship.

Since March 2020, when the world shut down, fellowship has been hard to come by.  For a while, of course, people stayed apart on the advice of officials who were still trying to figure out the unknown communicability of COVID-19.  But, thanks mostly to the media, that caution became an abject fear in some people that has continued to this day.

And, as a result, they are losing out on one of the most wonderful things about being human:  community.

This is especially true for followers of Jesus, because Christianity is definitely a team sport.  We can’t go it alone; we need each other.

So be cautious, yes, but don’t deprive yourself of the fellowship you need to keep your faith strong.  Christian, you are the church!  We are the church, together!

“And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near” (Hebrews 10.25, NLT).

Welcome home

In Ontario, it was announced this week that the mask mandate, put in place to help prevent the spread of COVID-19, is being lifted as of March 21 in most settings.  This means that many people are thinking about resuming “normal” activities – things they did before the pandemic hit.

A lot of those activities will involve other people: being involved in community.

For those who walk with Jesus in faith, community is a significant part of our journey.  We engage in Christian fellowship through corporate worship; through participation in small groups for study, prayer and service; and through more casual means such as getting together for coffee with a friend or having people over for dinner.  

It will be nice to be able to resume these activities as we did before.

But did you know that community is also a spiritual discipline?

Very, very few Christians are called to be hermits.  They have existed over time, but they have been the exception to the rule.  In general, followers of Jesus are called to function in community.  This is true regardless of one’s state in life:  married or single, children or none; no matter our race or job or ability, we are called to function in community.

For some, this has meant living in intentional community, where believers live together under one roof, or in a commune-like setting, essentially becoming a church.  For many, though, functioning in community has meant living with one’s family, or alone, and engaging in community through the local church.

The word church, after all, literally means “those called out” – people called by God to faith in Christ, called to separate themselves for his Kingdom, called to do together what is either difficult or impossible to do alone.

It saddens me that these two years of restraint have, in a sense, cauterized some people: they have lost their sense of the value of community.  Church has become something they tune into on their computers, not people with whom they can ‘do life’ together.  They forget that the church is not the building, but the people.

If you follow Jesus, you are the church.  If you’ve been waiting for the “all clear” to be sounded, it looks like that signal is coming later this month.  See it as a call from God to be the church, to worship, study and serve with others who likewise are looking to Jesus as the Author and Finisher of their faith (Hebrews 12.1).

Welcome home.

“Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other” (Romans 12.5, NLT).

Community and Justice

In this worship gathering, we mark Remembrance Day, and hear a message that helps us understand justice and community in the context of the church. “Community and Justice” is based on Colossians 3.1-17. You can watch the message alone below, or the whole worship gathering below that.

Life Together

In this series entitled, “Epidemic in the Church”, we’re learning about the problem of spiritual immaturity. If we live as Jesus did as shown in the gospels, we will develop spiritual maturity. So far, we have looked at the characteristics of identity and intimacy; this week’s message focuses on the characteristic of community, and how Jesus valued it and espoused it. And so can we! The message is based on Matthew 18.15-20. You can watch the whole worship gathering below, or just the message right below that.

One Voice

In this video, we hear a message about the importance of setting aside selfishness in favour of serving others – something that will become very important as the church emerges from the pandemic, with many worshippers choosing to remain online and not gather in person, either because they are at a distance or because they don’t have experience as in-person worshippers in community. It’s based on Romans 15.1-13. The whole worship broadcast is available below, and just the message below that.

A snapshot of the church

This worship gathering was primarily led by young people, and their theme was the Holy Spirit; my job was to integrate with their theme, so I chose to bring a message from Acts 2.42-47 that shows a picture of the early church as it responded to the giving of the Holy Spirit.  The message itself starts at 39:37, or you can watch the whole service below.

Bonus: an audio recording of the message is below, if that suits you better…

What Matters To Us (2)

In this (delayed) second instalment in our discussion on core values, we look at service and community and why they matter.  This message includes a few folks talking about why their LifeConnect Groups are important to them.  It’s based on Mark 10.35-45 and Hebrews 10.23-25.  Watch or listen below!

https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fjeff.loach%2Fvideos%2F10215428104632961%2F&show_text=0&width=560

Being ‘neighbourly’

This is one of those months that has five Sundays in it.   Any church treasurer I’ve known wishes that every month had five Sundays!  While it doesn’t happen every month, I’ve often wondered whether the unusual nature of the rhythm-breaking fifth Sunday could be harnessed in some way. While we like the idea of an extra Sunday of offerings, perhaps that fifth Sunday could also benefit those outside the church.

A couple of years ago, one of our Encouragement subscribers, Sharon, told me a story (which she gave me permission to share) about what happens in her church on the fifth Sunday of the month. In her congregation, they gather for a short worship time, and then go into the community to help their neighbours.

Sign-up sheets are provided so that activities and helpers can be coordinated. The first time the church did it, one group went to a nursing home to visit residents who never get visitors. Another group planted a vegetable garden on church property so that fresh vegetables could be provided for their local food bank.  Another group helped neighbours with physical challenges tend their gardens.  And yet another group picked up trash near a railroad right-of-way.

“The response from the congregants and the community was amazing,” Sharon told me.  “Great bonding, lots of laughter, many community members really impressed that we would leave church to come ‘out’ and help others.  It was a most powerful experience.”

If the church of Jesus is going to grow as God intends, one thing we know for sure is that reaching our neighbours is key.  I encourage you to consider this tangible way to reach out, whether on a fifth Sunday or some other time.  God knows the difference you could make by being ‘neighbourly’.

“Therefore, whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone—especially to those in the family of faith” (Galatians 6.10, NLT).

ADVICE FROM A MENTOR: 5. Care Intentionally

Paul’s directives to Timothy in 1 Timothy 5.1-6.2a focus on widows, elders and slaves, but mostly on widows.  What can this first-century letter teach us about caring for the needy?  The big idea is that to do God’s work – to care intentionally – we need each other.  You can watch it on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fjeff.loach%2Fvideos%2F10210347413618861%2F&show_text=0&width=400“>here, or listen below:

PRACTICAL LOVE: Like A Good Neighbour

The question I wanted us to consider in this message is, “How can we, as a church, be a good neighbour?”  With thanks to Brad Bridges, I adapted some ideas he came up with as concrete ways that our congregation – and yours, too! – can be good neighbours to the community.  Based on Jonah 4 and Acts 1.1-11, you can listen to this message here:

Communion and Community

Often, Christians come to the Lord’s Table and think it’s a “you in your small corner and I in mine” kind of experience, where we meet with the Lord one-to-one, and there just happen to be other people around.  But that’s not what Communion is supposed to be at all!  It should be a gathering of God’s people – together – being in such a good relationship with each other that there is nothing separating us from each other, or from God.

Reality often shows us that human relationships are not always what they’re supposed to be, but Jesus envisioned better for us.  As we approached the Lord’s Table today, we heard a message based on Matthew 5.21-26, and Matthew 18.15-17.

During this message, I showed the video you can watch here.  Listen to the message and consider your relationships with fellow Christ-followers.

Christ our Foundation

One of the things my addiction to HGTV has taught me is that foundations matter.  A lot.  And the same is true in our walk with God.  Jesus needs to be our true foundation, our cornerstone.  Our reading from 1 Peter 2.4-12 teaches us about our identity in Christ, too.  A rich passage indeed!  In this message, I quote Richard Foster, from Celebration of Discipline, who wrote:

Superficiality is the curse of our age. The doctrine of instant satisfaction is a primary spiritual problem. The desperate need today is not for a greater number of intelligent people, or gifted people, but for deep people.

Listen to the message here:

Sanding off the edges

Most readers of Encouragement From The Word are involved in a local church, so I probably don’t need to sell you on the importance of engaging in worship. We understand the importance of the church, and we get that it’s not just a building; it’s the people that matter. It’s a community of faith. To encourage your ongoing participation, though, I want to share a quotation I read earlier this week: “The community provides rules and boundaries against which I can break off some of my sharp edges (or they are broken off!). And it provides authentic models” (Norvene Vest, Preferring Christ [Morehouse, 2004], p. 148).

Did you ever think of the church playing those roles for you? The church, the community of faith, can round some of our corners and sand us down a bit. Most of us would rather not admit our need of this, but if we’re honest, we know we all need a bit of, shall we say, smoothing out. And loving, caring Christian community can do that for us.

The church can also provide models in authenticity for us and for our children. There aren’t enough role models out there today whom we can really trust, are there? Many parents say that their kids won’t listen to them, but they’ll listen to other adults in their circle of acquaintance. The church can be the place where you find a mature follower of Jesus to mentor and disciple your son or daughter – and where another parent finds you to mentor and disciple her or his child! It also can be the place where you yourself find someone who will make a difference in your own life and walk with the Lord.

All this means, of course, that the church is not just a body gathered together for an hour (plus coffee) on Sunday morning. Deepening relationships involves an investment of time. Make no mistake – it is an investment: there are dividends that are paid. Those dividends, though, are not paid to us, at least not directly; they are paid to the person in whom we invest, and in turn, in the Kingdom of God. Think of those whom you may meet in heaven who will be able to thank you for spending time helping them love Jesus better! They may be little ones you taught in children’s ministry or adults you walk with in a small group. They may be people with whom you spent an hour in the coffee shop one day, on a whim. All because you journeyed together as the church of Jesus Christ.

Along the way, others may have come along and helped to make you a more beautiful disciple, shaping and sanding and breaking off corners to help you live more like Jesus.

Sure, there’s sawdust on the floor, and maybe bits of clay. There are empty coffee cups, poopy diapers, and notes tucked into Bibles, written on napkins. Being the church, being active, can be messy. But with God, not one bit of it is wasted.

“Let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near” (Hebrews 10.25, NLT).

“What do you like about your church community?”

Yesterday, I heard a story from a woman who has experienced real community in the life of her church.  When she was a new believer, she found herself on her own with four children.  In need of short-term housing, one of her church friends took her and her four children in.  When that short term needed an extension, it was graciously granted.  When she acquired housing for herself and her kids, her church family came together to bring trucks and trailers to help them move.  They set everything up, put pictures on the wall, and made it look like they’d live in the house for years.

When Christmas came, a tree was cut down for them, and people brought gifts for her and her kids.  There always seemed to be food available when they were hungry.  Hers is a church that takes “love one another” very seriously.

There was even more to the story, but it all spoke in grateful praise for a church family that put love in action…all in response to the question, “What do you like about your church community?”.

I asked an entire group that question, and got a wonderful rainbow of responses.  Often, as followers of Jesus, we find it easy to love the Lord, but we don’t find it as easy to love his church.  Yet when the church is truly being the church, there is much about her to love – because the church reflects her Lord.

Take a few minutes and do an audit of your own church:  does your church reflect the Lord whom she serves?  As a church, are you functioning as the body of Christ?  Are you using the gifts that God has given to you in community?  Twentieth century thinker Francis Schaeffer said, “Because every (one) is made in the image of God and has, therefore, aspirations to love, there is something that can be in every geographical climate – in every point of time – which cannot fail to arrest his attention.  What is it?  The love that true Christians show for each other and not just for their own party.”  (The Mark of the Christian, p. 16)

How is your church living out God’s love?  How could it live out God’s love?

“God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him” (1 John 4.16b, NIV).