Dear First Pres,
In Hebrews 10:24-25 the biblical author is encouraging the congregation to pursue Christ together. The verses say, “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another – and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” It’s amazing how these verses continue to be such relevant instruction for churches, even after some 2000 years.
We’re in the midst of a sermon series on Genesis 1 & 2 called “In the Beginning.” This past week I had the privilege of speaking about God’s most prized part of His incredible work of creation: humanity. We are made in the image of God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. One piece of that reality is that we are made to be in community with others who are worshiping God. Our Christian faith is meant to be expressed, experienced, examined and expanded in the context of the local church. Something is always lacking when we’re not connected with a church community
What does it take to build a healthy connection with your church family? It takes consistency, courage, and commitment (for starters).
As we all know, it’s impossible to build healthy relationships without consistent interaction. Relationships require consistency. If someone wanted to be a high school ministry adult leader (which is a real need right now) but said they could only be available for Rooted youth group once every few months, we all know that just wouldn’t really work. Building a healthy connection with the FPC family takes consistency.
It also takes courage. Some people love initiating new relationships, but a lot of us really struggle with that. Healthy relationships require the courage of vulnerability. To build a healthy connection with FPC it takes courage to step into new groups and new experiences. It takes courage to continue to work toward community in the midst of conflict or differences. It takes courage to extend hospitality. It takes courage to move beyond just coming to worship on Sunday morning. You can’t grow in relationship and connection without risk, so a healthy connection with your church family requires courage.
Finally, it takes commitment. In my experience, participating consistently in worship is only a first step. Healthy church connections require taking additional steps to engage with others in the church. In what ways are you engaged beyond Sunday morning? There are many, many opportunities for that (please scroll down for the plethora of church activities coming up in the next few months).
Consistency, courage and commitment are three key ingredients to building healthy church connections. And let me just remind you, Beloved, it’s totally worth it! We all need it.
So, whether you’ve been around FPC for years or you’ve just started attending worship in the last few months, Beloved, let us be intentional about finding ways to encourage each other in faith – not giving up the habit of meeting together, not falling prey to the temptation of isolation, and not forgetting our core value of transformational relationships. You are an amazing group of folks! Let us lean in with consistency, courage and commitment – “and all the more as we see the Day approaching.”
Blessings,
Jeremy
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