Transformation in CommunityAs we accept the Good News that Jesus is present with us today, we are called to make radical changes in our lives. These changes go far deeper than any that we could effect on our own, touching not only our outward behavior, but also our inward life. And the Holy Spirit is…
The Search for Depth and MeaningThere is a hunger in western society today for a sense of purpose and belonging that goes deeper than the daily grind. We live in a world that is overwhelmingly focused on profit and appearance rather than service and substance. While some of us are fortunate to have paid work…
The Steady March of Progress – And AlienationSince the beginning of the industrial revolution, those of us in the industrialized West have become increasingly isolated from one another as we have grown in wealth, technological prowess and personal mobility. Our small towns and rural areas have been drained of their population, especially young people, and…
As we seek to understand what it means to be the Church in our post-modern, post-Christendom society, engagement is a key concept. How do we interact with the wider society? How do we show Christ’s love to the world, while taking care to not get caught up in the world’s way of doing things? Sympathetic…
The word “mission” comes from the Latin missio, which means “sending.” As a missional movement, we are sent by the Holy Spirit out into the world to glorify God and invite everyone into the life of challenge and transformation that Jesus has shown us. Just like the first Christians in the Roman Empire, we are…
We have talked a great deal about our mission as Christian fellowships, but how do these communities form in the first place, and what sustains them? Most fundamentally, of course, the Spirit of Christ gathers us and holds us together in unity by his grace and power. As Paul writes to the Corinthians, “I planted,…
Our encounter with Jesus changes everything. When Jesus approached Simon, Andrew, James and John while they were working as fishermen by the sea, his call to them was so compelling that they immediately left behind everything that they had known – family, profession, security – and followed Jesus.(1) When we experience Jesus’ presence and hear…