September 27, 2020
Throughout the Bible, we hear about community and being part of something bigger than ourselves. Creating Adam was good, but creation wasn’t complete until God made Eve. God blessed Jacob until he had a large family. God called Moses and sent him back to free his people from Egypt. Even though Jesus spent time alone, he never gave up on creating a group that would become the church.
That’s why it’s important not just to believe in God and worship him. Part of worship is to be in the group that Christ made: the church. The church invites us to join a family that praises God, and takes a vested interest in each person’s relationship with God. We love each other, and we also care about how people relate to God.
The church is sometimes called “the Way,” and that shows that we haven’t arrived. We’re all on the way to be with God. It’s a challenge to grow and change in our lives when so many of our relationships are transactional. We go to the store and “connect” with the cashier at checkout. We go to a school and “relate” with the teacher. But each interaction in modern society seems like it’s about getting something.
Church relationships are different. We exist to grow people’s relationships with God without getting a payout for doing it. Like a dojo or training center, the writer of Hebrews reminds us that we need to be training and teaching:
We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are so slow to understand. By now you should be teachers, but you need someone to teach you again the first lessons of God’s message. You still need the teaching that is like milk. You are not ready for solid food. Anyone who lives on milk is still a baby and knows nothing about right teaching. But solid food is for those who are grown up. They are mature enough to know the difference between good and evil.
Hebrews 5:11-14
The Hebrews author goes into the next chapter talking about beginning “grown up teaching” instead of just rehashing what we already know.
Church is a community for anyone who’s become weary and discouraged, to give our authentic selves to something bigger, and to help everybody deepen their faith. If you want to meet us, you’re welcome.