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We Were Created For Relationships

From the beginning, the original model of relationships has been God, “me,” and “others.” There ?s a relationship with God that each one of has as individuals, but in that relationship, there ?s a necessity of relationship with others. Jesus himself sums this up in boiling down all of “the Law and the Prophets” into two greatest commandments: the primary being “Love God,” and the secondary being, “Love Others.” God has created us with a primary purpose of loving him, and in doing so, we are also required to love others.

Although our relationship with God is on an individual level, it does rely heavily on our relationship with others. God views each of us as individuals, in regard to our relationship with him. That ?s why we cannot count on our parents ? relationships with God to cover ours. However, parents are clearly responsible for their children ?s upbringing, and children are clearly responsible for obedience to their parents. It ?s clear that our relationships with others are important to God ?s view of our individual relationships with him.

“Church” Is Built on Relationships

Relationship with God and others is why the church is so important in helping each of us grow closer to God and others. In the typical church body, the driving force usually comes from the large-group gathering, the Sunday morning worship service. This service produces the energy, excitement, vision, motivation, and resources to propel the body forward in fulfilling our individual purpose (love God and others) and the church ?s mission (bring others together to love God and others).

Smaller groups within the church body, whether classes, home Bible study groups, support and recovery groups, affinity groups, or service groups, are often scaled down models of the whole church. Each area of ministry does its part to help individuals and groups grow toward maturity and unity in the whole body. These smaller group settings are vital to the growth and maturity of the body. They facilitate learning, relationships, and mutual burden carrying.

No Choice but to Live in Relationships

My own personal faith hasn’t been characterized by being good at relationships, and as some could tell, I still have my problems with it. However, many more can tell you that I am far more relational now than I was three, five, ten years ago (pity my friends and coworkers). While my faith was largely based upon what I knew about the Bible, the more I studied it and tried to apply it to my life, the more I realized that I really had no choice but to learn how to have relationships and to live within those relationships. There are times when we all might consider that church would be a whole lot easier if it were not for all the people. The fact of the matter is that the church isn’t the church that God intended if we cannot live in relationship with each other.

There’s a part of me that likes to think of the story of the church like a good western. I have this notion that the early church was like a group of pioneers who heard about a fantastic new land to the west that was theirs for the taking if they could just get there and work it.

I see Pentecost being the big day when townsfolk gather together to hear the exciting news about the new land. It sounds too good to be true, but there are a few guys who seem to know what’s going on and who are excited enough to leave everything behind to go and stake their own claim.

The best part is that it’s free!

So with excitement, and maybe a little fear, a wagon train forms, and the townsfolk become pioneers. They head west with big dreams. They anticipate some troubles along the way, but they prepare for them. They leave behind homes, farms, jobs, maybe even loved ones, but they just know they’re heading for something better. Some in the group never thought about leaving what they know behind them. Some have loved ones who have gone on before them and who have sent word that they, too, should come.

It’s a long journey, and they need to stop to rest and eat. Along the way they face some troubles. They face bad weather. They even face attacks. And when trouble comes, they circle the wagons. They band together for safety and support. When the troubles pass, they get back in line and keep moving. They would never consider stopping, circling the wagons, and taking up permanent residence along the way.

That isn’t the point of the journey. That isn’t the goal.

But that’s where the movie ends for some….

Why does the church seem to find itself stopped along the way, circling the wagons, defending itself from enemies real and imagined? Why does it seem to be content to rest in one location, beyond the ability of its resources and people to regain its motion? Why does it often seem trapped by its environment, its surrounding culture? Why does it drag along the unnecessary relics of its past life, despite their weight and lack of purpose? Why does it often cling to the failures of the past and forget the excitement and hope of its future?

We’re not there yet! Let’s throw off the useless baggage. Let’s gather our resources together. Let’s repair the broken wheels. Let’s encourage each other to press on.

Let us uncircle the wagons and get back on the trail.

As I mentioned in the sermon on December 31, we have adopted a few “resolutions” as our mission for this body of believers. We are resolved to love God, to love others, and to make disciples. These resolutions are nothing new to the church; they have been the church ?s top priority since Jesus commissioned the first disciples. But the church has not always done a good job historically in those areas.

We know that we need to love God and others and to make disciples, but when we don ?t do it well, we tend to focus more on being remorseful rather than fixing it. While that ?s probably a healthy beginning, it doesn ?t get the job done. And so, let me offer a few suggestions about how we can refocus our lives in such a way that we can meet our resolutions.

First, we need to remember that the resolutions were made by one body, the church. We need to do our part as individuals, but the responsibility rests on the whole body.

Second, we need to create an environment, an atmosphere that screams “community!” or “family!” We need to focus on our resolutions as a body with many members doing their part in the greater task. We ?ve been doing better building community within smaller groups, but we ?re still struggling with a church-wide sense of community.

Third, we need to identify and build upon our strengths. With such a large community of diverse people, both within and outside the church, it ?s easy to adopt a scattered approach to ministry and community life. Unfortunately, that approach gets ineffective very quickly, and when you draw in a lot of people with something you can ?t maintain, the ministry fails.

In 2007 watch for opportunities to grow as a community. We will be launching a new approach to ministry through teams. We will be building up our smaller groups. We will be increasing our opportunities to fellowship and grow closer together. Let us continue to grow together as a body, as it says in Hebrews, encouraging one another and spurring one another toward love and good deeds.

We are a big church. Maybe we ?re not a mega-church, but since the average church in America has 89 active members, we are certainly a big church.

Being a big church, we have a lot of benefits. We have more resources to work with and more opportunities to use those resources. We also face a few disadvantages. Perhaps the biggest disadvantage is running the risk of losing the familiarity and family feel of a smaller church. For example, the church growth experts claim that most folks can ?t remember more than 60-70 names.

With that in mind, how do we balance the benefits of being a big church without losing the sense of family and community of a little church? And how do we continue to grow? The answer is found in our Adult Bible Fellowship groups.

Adult Bible Fellowship groups, which meet at 9:30 and 10:45, are the key to continued growth, both numerically and spiritually. While they are the place where we place the most emphasis on Bible study, they are also the place where we can place the most emphasis on fellowship.

The Crossroads group, which meets at 10:45 in room 103, is one of the best examples of a “little church,” where they spend most of their meeting time in solid Bible study. Not only do they dig deep into the Bible, but they also spend a lot of time in fellowship outside of Sunday morning, having game nights and other get-togethers nearly every month. These are people who are growing closer to God through the Word and closer to each other in fellowship ?and they know how to have a good time, too!

If you ?re enjoying the benefits of being part of a big church ?but not feeling the family atmosphere of a little church ?check out our Adult Bible Fellowships. They ?re waiting for you!