UNITY
ONE CHURCH. ONE FAITH. ONE MISSION.
“I, therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3 eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit.” – Ephesians 4:1-4
UNITY IN COMMUNITY
One of the best ways for us to express our unity in Christ is by doing life together. While there is not one life group structure given to us in God’s Word, we are commanded to pray for each other, encourage each other, build each other up in love, and to know each other. Smaller groups are the best way to foster this reality. Consider these important words from Colossians 3:
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. – Colossians 3:16-17
We are re-instituting life groups at Redeemer, beginning January 26. Our hope is to have four solid groups meeting on Sunday mornings during the 9-10 am hour, before worship. These groups could be large to start, and if they prove to be too big, we will split the group. That is an an easier move than adding a fledgling group to a flourishing one. The format will be based on fellowship and prayer, with a few starter questions facilitated by group leaders based on the sermon series. But the idea is that you get to know others in our church that you haven’t previously known well, so we will be placing people in groups – they will not be self-chosen, to maximize our unity. We expect that most will participate – this is just healthy for a church – participate in the life of the church, and the meeting time should facilitate maximum attendance, not asking you to commit another evening during the week. We will ask the groups to meet once a month outside of the Sunday morning for a meal in someone’s home.
These groups are not meant to replace discipleship relationships in your life – some of you have strong friendships or “d-groups” that you have found quite valuable, and we want those to continue. If you don’t have close relationships like this, where you can confess sin and share your heart when it is in trouble, then please let us know in leadership and we will make sure you are connected with a faithful person who can disciple you. Our life groups will not be a place where sin is confessed openly or where we need to get into the weeds on thorny theological topics – let these groups be joyful and full of peace – it’s important that we have fun together and it’s important that we know each other well – so much of the Christian life is to “abide,” which is a dynamic word that means to follow Christ, of course, but also to rest in him. We abide in one another – we rest in just knowing we’re there for each other. So come get to know someone new, make them feel welcome, and grow in Christ together.