I don’t think my kids are looking forward to going back to school as much as Sandi and I are, but I love this time of year. I love school and the whole educational process, and I believe that it’s one of the central points of what we do within the church.
Paul makes this pretty clear in Ephesians 4:11-16. Verses 11 and 12 tell us there’s a structure in place to build up the body. Verses 12 and 13 say that the areas to build are in service, unity, and knowledge. Verses 14 through 16 tell us that the result is growth in understanding, love, and service. Verse 16 tells us that this growth works only as we work together, each of us doing our part. Basically Paul tells us that in order for people to have the life that God intended for us to have, we need to connect to God and each other, grow in our faith and knowledge of Jesus, and serve together like Jesus.
We have the structure in place; so the next step is to start building up the body in knowledge. We can do that by each of us getting into God’s Word through smaller groups, especially in our Adult Bible Fellowship groups on Sunday morning. We have groups for adults of all ages and in different stages of life. September 7 is the beginning of a new quarter, and each class has chosen their curriculum. You can read about the different classes and what they will be studying in the new ABF brochures which can be found at the welcome center. Then it’s just a matter of checking them out and making the connection.
As a side note, we are working to grow our ABF for young adults. Instead of focusing on college-age adults, whose stage of life doesn’t permit them to attend regularly, we want to build a core group of young professionals, couples, and parents. This will allow this growing segment in our church family to connect, grow, and serve together, and in turn, they can provide a stable “home” for college-age students as they transition from student ministry to adult ministry.