Sharing Food and Sharing Lives
It’s quite clear from the Bible that “church” is not a building, but a community of people. The Bible uses several different metaphors to describe this community, but one really helpful one is “family.” In the New Testament letters, we read repeated references to the Christians being called “brothers and sisters.” Jesus himself said that those who did the will of his Father in heaven were his brothers and sisters. (Mark 3:35)
Just like in biological families, in the church family, we don’t get to choose our siblings. God chooses for us who will be our brothers and sisters – millions of people all over the world and down through history. Some of those people are very like us, and others are not. Again, just like in ordinary families, all kinds of people are included – young and old, rich and poor, black and white, male and female, slave or free, etc. The church is the most diverse community the world has ever seen. Some of the family have been members for a long time. Others have only recently been adopted. Some family members manage to live in a way which honours our heavenly Father, at least outwardly, and we tend to warm to them. Others struggle with habits from their former lives and can be challenging at times. But all of us bring a blessing to the family, and all of us mess up, causing disharmony and disunity. We all have to learn what it means both to be forgiven and to forgive.
One thing that families do is spend time together – with all their diversity, their differences and even their difficulties. It’s actually important – spending time together with others enables us to get to know them better – and them to get to know us. We can help each other as we learn together what it means to follow Jesus and to share his love to the world – at home, at work and in our other networks. Because we are brothers and sisters, there is an expectation that we rebuke one another when there is bad behaviour and encourage one another in relation to what is admirable. We are called to build one another up, and to love one another after the example of Christ.
Meeting together for formal acts of worship on Sundays is great, but the short time of informal sharing refreshments afterwards doesn’t give us sufficient time to get to know one another and build deep relationships of trust. Our growth group programme helps us more, but there is still room for more sharing of lives.
For this reason, we’ve decided to hold a few more social events through the year. Some of us were able to share lunch and cream teas together on St Dunstan’s Day back in May. Others joined for a more substantial church family meal in the home of one of our members at the end of July. We hope that even more will come to our next event – Pizza Night at the Crown Public House (High Street, Hunsdon) on Thursday 17th October. And if you’re reading this and would like to join us, even if you don’t usually worship with us on Sundays, you’d be most welcome… the church has always been a household with an open door where all may come. Watch our social media channels and our church diary for more details over the next couple of weeks – we look forward to seeing you there.
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