
March 13 & 17, 2019
2019 Church Wide Goal
As a part of our 5 year vision to reach 80% participation in small groups, in 2019 we will increase the number of our Life Groups from 10 to 20 and will reach 50% total participation in our small groups.
Community is MESSY, Heather Zempel
“Community is messy because it always involves people. And people are messy. It’s about people hauling their brokenness and baggage into your house and dumping it into your living room.”
Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted. Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. If anyone thinks they are something when they are not, they deceive themselves. —Galatians 6:1-3
People are
Dear brothers, if a Christian is overcome by some sin, you who are godly should gently and humbly help him back onto the right path, remembering that next time it might be one of you who is in the wrong. —Galatians 6:1 - Living Bible
Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. If anyone thinks they are something when they are not, they deceive themselves. —Galatians 6:3
Messy people need
A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. They gathered in such large numbers that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” —Mark 2:1-5
Stoop down and reach out to those who are oppressed. Share their burdens, and so complete Christ’s law. If you think you are too good for that, you are badly deceived. —Galatians 6:2-3, MSG
Mess leads to
Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. —James 1:2-4
Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. —Romans 5:3-5
Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man! This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. I gave your master’s house to you, and your master’s wives into your arms. I gave you all Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more. Why did you despise the word of the Lord by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. —2 Samuel 12:7-9
Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” —2 Samuel 12:13
FILL OUT THIS WEEKS CONNECTION CARD HERE
- I have a sin mess but today I am choosing to follow Jesus for the first time.
- I am lonely and tend to hide the mess in my life from others, but today I admit that I need Christian Community in my life.
- I will join a group this spring.
- I am ready to lead or host a group and be “there for others”.