Mission To serve the people of the Comox Valley, introducing them to Jesus Christ, welcoming them into His family, equipping them to follow Christ's example, and loving Him with all that we are.
Readings: Ephesians 1: 3-14, Acts 2: 41-47, Mark 3:31-35,
Church of Our Lord is a Christian community serving the Comox Valley. We have been looking at our Mission Statement the past few weeks. So far we have discussed service to others and how to share the good news about Jesus in a natural way. Today we’re talking about what it means to become and enjoy being part of God’s family, the church, and the riches, rights and responsibilities that go along with that. There are many other metaphors for the church in Scripture: Body of Christ, Bride of Christ, a Temple made of living stones, a new person, the people of God, a royal priesthood, etc. One metaphor is that of a family. It was Jesus himself who taught us to call God our Father; he used the Aramaic word “Abba, meaning Daddy, when he spoke of God. We were not meant to be alone. God himself is a community: three-in-one, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. When he made the first human being he said “it is not good for man to be alone.” We were meant for friendship with God and with others within the community of those who know him as Father through faith in his Son, Jesus.
We all have our own stories: depending on our different personalities and on our own experiences, we may approach or be drawn into this family through one of three different ways, though not necessarily in this order: belonging, believing, behaving.
Belonging: Some people need to experience what it means to be part of a loving, accepting community before they can be convinced of the truth of the Gospel: they need to belong before they believe or before their life-style changes.
Believing: Others have to be convinced of its truth before they will commit themselves. Some people approach the church firstly through intellectual questions. Often they need to come to the place where they accept that Christianity is not unreasonable. That believing in a creator, for instance, makes sense. Being a Christian is so much more than just giving mental assent to a list of doctrines, however, there are certain beliefs that we need to accept before we become Christians: “Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that there is a God and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.” (Hebrews 11:6), We need to understand that there is a God, that Jesus is God’s son and died for us, rose again from the dead and is coming back and so on. Certainly, as we mature in faith it becomes more important to absorb and become more committed to the truths contained in His Word, the Bible. But it is surprising how little we need to believe and how faltering our faith can be to begin with, yet God is still able to meet us and draw us into a relationship with him. If we are aware of our sinfulness, are willing to turn from it and desire to know him even a prayer such as “God, if there is a God, please reveal yourself to me”, if sincerely prayed, will be answered.
Behaving: Still others want to know what practical difference believing in God and being part of his family makes to themselves and to society before they will be persuaded to consider the truth claims Jesus made. We cannot expect people to pattern their lives on Christ until they have met him.
For a few pragmatic individuals, though, trying for a while to live as though it were true (eg praying daily, planning their day as though God were real, living out the golden rule because it makes sense etc) might persuade them that the Christian life-style does work. Of course, there is no way we can really live as Christ would have us do without his help, nor can we earn our way into a relationship with him, that is a free gift.
We cannot expect people to change before coming to Christ but we can expect transformation after meeting him. One cannot have an encounter with the living God and be left unscathed. Growing into the family likeness is a process. As the saying goes: he loves us as we are but loves us too much to leave us the way we are.
Our hope for this fellowship is that it will be a welcoming place, where people can feel safe asking questions, experiencing a little of what it means to be part of a worshipping community, gradually coming to believe in the truth as the scriptures teach it, growing in faith, and learning how to follow Christ’s example together.
We can introduce our friends to Jesus in this kind of comfortable environment. One of the best ways to do this is through an informal course on basic Christianity, such as the Alpha course, where after a meal together and a video explaining various aspects of the Christian faith, folks can discuss questions and perhaps even learn to pray together. God has used courses like that to bring many people from all walks of life into a relationship with him.
As John’s gospel puts it: 12Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—
Once we have understood the good news about Jesus, and responded to it, we become members of this community by faith, by trust in Christ, by baptism and receiving his Holy Spirit. We become new creatures, reborn or adopted into his family with all the privileges of being heirs to all the riches God has for us to inherit in Christ. And other Christians are our brothers and sisters.
There is a depth of fellowship that exists between believers in Jesus that cannot exist in any other sphere, although there are some secular settings where friendships can run very deeply: eg on a team that practices regularly together, in a small crew on a ship or in a small military unit. What these have in common is a common mission, purpose and allegiance, a hared experience in facing danger and overcoming obstacles together. Fellowship is deepest when we work together on common goals. In 1 John 15-7 we read
5This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; In him there is no darkness at all. 6If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. 7But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.
Fellowship can only be deep when there is honesty, transparency and accountability to each other. These are best cultivated in small group settings such as a home fellowship, prayer partnership or cell group. At COOL we encourage people to be involved in small groups like that.
Next time we shall talk about becoming equipped to follow Christ’s example.
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