Community

This week as I was thinking and praying about a teaching and ministry focus for our fledgling, but growing church, it occurred to me that we were probably ready for some in depth work around what it really means to be a community of believers. At work the wee hours of this first day of the New Year I was re-reading Neil Cole's  Organic Church and came across a wonderful quote that strikes at the heart of what I have been thinking about how to transform us from a small group who gather occasionally for worship and study, into a body marked by deep and enduring relationships.

Cole speaks of church reproduction rather than multiplication, and insists that we don't need seminars and courses to learn how to reproduce. It is in our DNA...a natural part of the human condition. "Inbred in all living things is a desire to reproduce. It drives us.".   He goes on to suggest that reproduction is the product of intimacy. "Even among churches, reproduction is the product of intimacy - with Christ, His mission, His spiritual family, and the lost world." (p.93) 

So, I am thinking I will spend some considerable time over the next couple of months teaching my brothers and sisters what it means to be in intimate relationship with Jesus, with other believers and with the community around us.

Sent from my BlackBerry® PlayBook™
www.blackberry.com