The power of 'Re'. Re:Member

We are getting better at putting new people through courses to help them join the local church. However, numbers of our existing members, some of whom may have been running faithfully for many years, may not feel quite so connected as the newcomers who are being added into them?
They may not any longer make such a strong connection between their serving, their worship, their gifts, their life in the home or the workplace, and the big mission that we are called on together?

It may just be possible that over time, the vision has become less sharply focussed for them:  No longer acting as a directional force behind their actions, or strong pull into a future in God that they long to inhabit.

It's quite possible this is the case, because we recognise the symptoms in our own lives. Honestly? We don't live every minute of every day in the vision zone, pumped, primed and totally clear on our goals and direction!
The truth is, we forget. We get tired and weary, we drift off course, we allow good and bad distractions to divert us or just hold us up for a while. We repeat patterns in our worship and our service over again with faith, but don't always remember why we do them. It's not that the mission doesn't matter any more, everyone agrees that it does - it's just that we're not sure how it all connects up and how we get back on track.

As believers, we are being drawn into the hope of a compelling biblical worldview, which it is possible to lean into afresh and line up with anew. The view ahead hasn't changed - our very New Testament mandate to love Jesus passionately, love one another deeply, and love our lost generation, both near and far away with a compassion that flows from the heart of God. Agreed!

Our RE:Member teaching this month in the local church is a simple attempt to take this shared agreement on the mission, and try to join up the dots for our lives, our serving teams and the main things we do together in church life.

The prefix 'Re' is worth noting. It means to go back, to return again. For example - If I 're'turn home, I am going back to my house. If I tell you that my hair is 're'ceding, then you will understand that the hairline is actively moving back across my scalp!
Or maybe we consider the prefix in the context of doing an action over again? If I 're'arrange the furniture, I am not doing so for the first time, but arranging it again, perhaps into a new configuration or returning it to how it was supposed to be.

In returning to our first call, there may even be some areas of thinking, behaviours or attitudes which no longer line up with the biblical culture that we now see more clearly again. This is our opportunity to reject them, to refrain, recant, reduce or even make redundant.  Even these responses are positive, freeing us to focussed and unhindered momentum once again.

Every church needs time to Re:member, for both new and old. Reminding us all what we are made for, who we are made for, the mission we are on and the connection our everyday lives and serving have to it.

This is our hope and prayer through this season:
That we would be re-energised, re-equipped, revitalised as we rediscover our purpose. May God himself refresh and rebuild us as we reconnect and recall his direction for our lives together.
As reflection and re-evnvisioning enables us to  recalibrate our thinking, let our foundations be firmly re-established, our daily purposes redeemed, our deep hearts for God, one another and the lost world refilled and rejuvenated. Amen

Comments

  1. Thanks for Sunday and some interesting comments. One of the challenges for any growing church is everyone is so different. We have newcomers, existing members, and people at all points in between. We have people who come regularly, some who come occasionally, and of course those who are just visiting, and to each our vision will be received differently.

    Some people join ( and stay) because a Biblical vision is clearly articulated, clearly demonstrated and used to measure and define our activities; "here is a church that lives by the Word". Others come with broken lives, and hurts and they need support and care and only the practical care of a loving family will help them to raise their eyes and see the vision. Other face busy lives with children and families and work; they want to embrace the vision but face the daily pressure of balancing the demands on their time. They need practical help and advice on how to work out and apply that vision in their daily routine in the world, than can so easily press in and overwhelm them.

    So well done on Sunday, a great start, and I pray for much wisdom for you in bringing a message that touches everyone.

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  2. Thanks for your comments Ken. You are absolutely right, and our biggest challenge as leaders is to engage all these diverse groups in the mission. It's just as relevant to all of us, but some respond better to feeling it or seeing it rather than just hearing it articulated. I guess that's why, over time, we aspire to a Discipling church culture, where people sense a deep love for Jesus, love for one another and love for broken lives amongst us and around us. When people catch that authentic demonstration of love and real grace, they connect and flourish in the mission,whatever way they've come in.

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