It was Canon Holmes, of India, who more than twenty-five years ago called attention to the inferential character of the average man’s faith in God. To most people God is an inference, not a reality. He is a deduction from evidence which they consider adequate; but He remains personally unknown to the individual. ‘He must […]
helping them connect to Christ
“Paul, even with the Corinthians with whom he experienced excruciating conflict, began his second letter to them by identifying with them. Ten times in five verses he repeated a form of the Greek word for “comfort” (2 Cor. 1:3-7). Think about that. When you are in conflict with people, is your first thought (and your […]
We belong to one another
Christianity means community through Jesus Christ and in Jesus Christ. No Christian community is more or less than this. Whether it be a brief, single encounter or the daily fellowship of years, Christian community is only this. We belong to one another only through and in Jesus Christ. (Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together, p. 21)
the bodily presence of a brother
“The believer therefore lauds the Creator, the Redeemer, God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, for the bodily presence of a brother. The prisoner, the sick person, the Christian in exile sees in the companionship of a fellow Christian a physical sign of the gracious presence of the triune God. Visitor and visited in loneliness recognize […]
Didn’t Give Up
“There is no other way to grow in anything apart from constant practice and risking. The only good athlete you will ever see is a bad one who didn’t give up. The only good disciple you will ever see is a bad one who didn’t give up…If we don’t risk, our gift will not grow, and if our gift […]
Keep the mission in mind
“I find it sobering that my small group is the size of most church-planting teams…or bigger. When I hear of a church-planting team being sent out, I fully expect it to multiply until it has made a lasting impact on the city it has targeted. Do I have similar expectations of my small group? The […]
On The Way
“[as you drive to your Bible study] Ask God to send his Holy Spirit in power. Ask him to direct your leader. Ask him to bless the other members. And ask him to help you participate enthusiastically in worship. I can almost guarantee that a few minutes of prayer on the way will revolutionize your […]
There is celebration in the forgiveness
“’Confession begins in sorrow,’ writes Richard Foster, ‘but it ends in joy. There is celebration in the forgiveness of sins because it results in a genuinely changed life.’ Not only will you receive God’s grace as you confess sin, but the whole group will be provoked.” (Greg Somerville in C.J. Mahaney Ed., Why Small Groups?, […]
as the bugs and fungi were burned away
“The world is perishing for lack of the knowledge of God and the Church is famishing for want of His Presence. The instant cure of most of our religious ills would be to enter the Presence in spiritual experience, to become suddenly aware that we are in God and that God is in us. This […]