Dear Christ Church,
This Sunday is our Fall Kickoff! After each service join us in the Christ Church “Backyard” for snow cones, snacks, games, and a chance to visit with others in the church.
Fall Kickoff also signals that small groups will be resuming after their summer break. Our small group leaders will be out at the Kickoff and you’ll have an opportunity to get to know them and find a group in your area of the city.
Speaking of small groups, this week I read an article about the fragmentation of life and the difficulty everyone faces living a fully formed life of faith. The horsepower of our own willpower to live a robust Christian life only takes us so far–and often that’s not very far. The author offers hope at the end of the article by noticing that when Christians gather “into places of vulnerability and accountability” we become formed and whole in a way that doesn’t depend on our own sheer determination.
I love that phrase, “vulnerability and accountability.” At the heart of the community at Christ Church is the small group ministry. Christ Church small groups are those communities of vulnerability and accountability, of healing and challenge. They are the beautiful and often messy meeting space for us who are both sinners and saints. They walk over holy ground where each member doesn’t pretend to have it all together, where faith can struggle and be carried by others, where we can be encouraged and challenged to live faithful lives Monday through Saturday. Or, as one parishioner told me: “If Christ Church provided a home to worship, my small group became the warm hearth where we gathered each week.”
If you haven’t yet joined a small group, take some time to consider how you might step into one of these communities.
See you at Fall Kickoff,
Matt+