Well, this week our Fuel Groups started at Ignite. We are excited about these groups as people are showing an interest in growing in thier faith. The church of today is lacking in the area of growth! There is an apathy to the study of doctrine that I believe is devastating the local church and having a severe impact on the advancement of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It encourages me when I have 11 people show up in my house to spend an hour talking about the doctrine of the church, praying together, and just enjoying spending time with other brother and sisters in Christ.
This year we want the Fuel Groups to be a place where you learn, build relationships with others, care for others as you are cared for, and use the gifts that God has given you. So, we cut our teaching time back from an hour to 20 minutes, are seeking to spend more time sharing what God is doing in our lives individually, praying for each other and others we know, and just having a good time as a body of believers. When you look at the early church in Acts I believe those are all aspects that you find within them. It is wise for us to follow thier example!
Last night we talked about the basics, “What is the church?” This is the definitiion that we are using for class: “The whole body of those who through Christ’s death have been savingly reconciled to God and have received new life. It includes all such persons, whether in heaven or on earth. While universal in nature, it finds expression in local groupings of believers that display the same qualities as does the body of Christ as a whole.” (Millard Erickson; Christian Theology) I feel this is a good working definition.
We also discussed two metaphors that the Bible uses to describe the church. There are multiple but with limited time we only discussed two. The church is referred to as the people of God and the body of Christ. It is amazing to think that those who are in Christ are God’s people. Those outside of Christ can not say that. As God’s people He takes pride in us, protects us, and calls us to act like it. We are also the body of Christ. Christ is the head and we are His body. As His body we should be carrying out His mission here on earth.
I would love to hear different thoughts on local church membership from you, that is our topic for discussion next week.
Posted in Uncategorized
