A healthy church is built on?
Dear First Pres SLO Family,
Grace and peace to you in the name of Jesus, the one who is faithful no matter what.
It feels so good to back with you all—back at work here at the church. I’ll stop going on about that sometime soon, for now I still think about it every day. Serving Christ and serving this church is a gift, and I’m reminded of that each time I come into the office or step up to the pulpit.
The idea of the church is an important one to me, which I think you know. I’ve said many times that local churches have almost unlimited potential to make communities better and healthier and more gracious—local churches can change the world.
Because of that, each January I start the year with a series on what it means for us to be the church. The series was delayed a bit, but we begin the 2024 edition this Sunday. Each year I invite you to memorize a sentence with me. It goes like this:
A healthy church is built on a foundation of Jesus Christ, and expressed through fellowship, worship, discipleship and mission.
Over the next four Sundays we’re going to look at each one of those expressions, so we can learn together what it means to be the Body of Christ in this community.
What does it mean to be built on a foundation of Jesus Christ? Obviously it’s a metaphor, a way of seeing the spiritual life of our church being rooted in firm and steady ground. The life of Jesus is meant to be a model for us, not just of what to believe, but of how to live—how to love and serve and even vote (now I’ve done it). It’s Jesus—his teachings and the ways he treats people—it’s Jesus who shows us how to see and how to engage. That’s what it means to be built on a foundation of Jesus Christ.
There are so many ideas and behaviors that are being branded as Christian these days—things that have nothing to do with Christ’s life and work. It’s our job to reflect faithfully and knowledgeably so we can better separate the truth from the lies.
And so I invite you to take these next four Sundays seriously, as we reflect together what it means to be the church. For now, take a few moments to memorize this sentence:
A healthy church is built on a foundation of Jesus Christ, and expressed through fellowship, worship, discipleship and mission.
With Blessings,
Pastor John