Skip to main content

One In Christ

i've never made a secret of the idea that one of my favorite authors is james m. boice. his commentaries are a staple of my Bible study diet, and his Foundations of the Christian Faith is my systematic theology of choice.

so this week, i've been reading his writings on the church and as always, the highlighter is going crazy. but a couple things he said, worked in with the justice and mercy thoughts that are marinating on my back burner. so i thought i'd share those here:

The church must actually develop brotherhood, a sense of family oneness, among those to whom the gospel spreads. Many barriers to such a union existed in the early church. There were barriers of race - the Greek despising the Roman, the Roman contemptuous of the Greek. There were barriers of nationhood - most captive people chafing under the yoke of Rome. There were barriers of sex, language, and culture - the same barriers that exist among people today. But they were broken down as those who were called to faith in Christ increasingly came to see their oneness in him. "For he is our peace, who has made us both [Jews and Gentiles] one, and has broken down the dividing wall of hostility" (Eph.2:14) To the Corinthians, Paul wrote, "God...through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation." (2Cor.5:18)

He quotes Martin Lloyd-Jones:

"We are all equally sinners...we are all equally helpless...we have all come to the same Savior...we have the same salvation...we have the same Holy Spirit...we have the same Father...we even have the same trials...And finally, we are all marching and going together to the same eternal home."

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

10 Summer Activities To Keep Your Small Group Connected

I just sent an email to all our small group leaders (I do this 3-4 times each month). This week's focus was STAYING CONNECTED THROUGH THE SUMMER. Below is a list of 10 summer activities a small group can use to stay connected. These are specifically created for groups at The Gathering, but you can pretty easily modify the list to fit your church or your community. Go to a Dragon's Game together. You can buy tickets as a group from the church for the game on July 11. Design a Progressive Dinner. Have appetizers at one house, salad at another, the main course somewhere else and dessert at a final destination. Have a monthly barbecue party. Serve together. Pick a place (Good Neighbor House, St. Vincents, Victory Project, Pirate Packs, Caring Partners International, One Bistro) and sign up to serve as a group one afternoon or evening. Meet up at the Family Movie Night on June 15. Spend a day at King's Island. Work at the church for an afternoon. We have many proj...
Post a Comment
Read more

20 Questions to Build Group Connections

Here is a great exercise for a new group. The instructions are pretty simple. Go around the group giving each person the opportunity to choose one question and answer it honestly. Anyone can follow-up with an opinion or clarifying question (no critiquing each other's answers, though). Once a question has been answered, no one else may answer that question. If your group is larger, you may want to alter the rule and allow each question to be answered 2 or 3 times. Ideally, each person should end up answering 3-5 questions. As the leader, pay attention to the conversation. Let the discussion run its course as this is how people in the group build their relationships with one another. You can use these questions, modify them or create your own.
Post a Comment
Read more

5 Conversations Every Small Group Should Have

Small group gatherings are not business meetings. They need not have rigid agendas or strict time constraints. Although effective groups often follow set curriculum, there are times when they can take a break from their plans and have conversations about their group’s health. These five questions can be used together or one at a time. They are designed to help groups’ determine their identity, diagnoses their health and develop a plan for the future. How can we meet one another’s needs? Acts is full of stories about Christians finding creative means by which they can meet each other’s needs. Some even sold their properties and possessions. The small group is the ideal lab in which we can work out what it truly means to love one another as Jesus loved us. If the greatest love of all is laying down our lives for each other (and it is), then meeting the needs of others in our group should be one of our first and highest priorities. How can we encourage one another? 1...
Post a Comment
Read more