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Dear Leaders,
Committed to Christ Series
We are in week four of a six-week series calledCommitted to Christ
. We are reviewing, as we try to do each Fall, the basics of the Christian faith. How would you explain to someone who is from a different tradition, how you practice your faith?
My weekly blog posts for these six weeks are going to focus on
six aspects of discipleship:
- Prayer
- Bible Reading
- Worship
- Witness
- Financial Giving
- Service
The goals of this series are:
- To engage the entire congregation in praying and growing together in faith
- To develop small groups that grow faith and bond the congregation together in strong
- friendships
- To welcome newcomers and close the back door of the church
- To grow faith and generosity
The key components of the series are:
- Daily devotions
- Weekly home groups
- Sunday worship
In many of our congregations, the last Sunday in October is Reformation Sunday. As we approach the 500th anniversary of the Reformation next year, there are some important things to keep in mind. In particular, the way we tell the story is important. Any time there is a conflict, between individuals or groups, opposing sides tell the story of "what happened" in different ways. Both sides may give completely factual accounts, but which facts they choose to use and which they leave out can have a profound impact.
Lutheran and Catholic leaders are asking us to commemorate the Reformation in a way that will serve the proclamation of the gospel, rather than the promotion of our tribe. I would encourage you to
look at these resources, in particular chapter 3 of From Conflict to Communion, and work on how you tell the story of the Reformation.
For those who are doing the Committed to Christ series, this is a nice fit with this theme's topic of "witness." We proclaim the gospel of justification by grace through faith. This is a departure from the typical human religion of laws to be obeyed in order to get right with God. Here are the texts for Reformation Sunday:
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