Posted in Uncategorized on Nov 15th, 2009 No Comments »
While last week’s Scripture passage used the analogy of Christ as the vine and we the branches, this week Pastor Phil warned against sloppy thinking, the trap of thinking God will do everything and we just need to hang on. Ephesians 4:11-16, 1 Timothy 4:7b-10, 14-16, Hebrews 5:14-6:2, 10-12, and 12:1-2, 11-15 are examples of the apostles exhorting the early church to strengthen its spiritual muscles. We do this best in the company of others who will encourage and support us as we grow. Training at the table makes space for God’s grace to produce growth. Phil gave the example of members of a small group supporting another group member to make his family a higher priority than his job. Phil suggested that an appropriate slogan for us might be, “Spiritual growth - don’t try this spiritual discipline at home alone.”
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Posted in Uncategorized on Nov 15th, 2009 No Comments »
While last week’s Scripture passage used the analogy of Christ as the vine and we the branches, this week Pastor Phil warned against sloppy thinking, the trap of thinking God will do everything and we just need to hang on. Ephesians 4:11-16, 1 Timothy 4:7b-10, 14-16, Hebrews 5:14-6:2, 10-12, and 12:1-2, 11-15 are examples of the apostles exhorting the early church to strengthen its spiritual muscles. We do this best in the company of others who will encourage and support us as we grow. Training at the table makes space for God’s grace to produce growth. Phil gave the example of members of a small group supporting another group member to make his family a higher priority than his job. Phil suggested that an appropriate slogan for us might be, “Spiritual growth - don’t try this spiritual discipline at home alone.”
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Posted in Uncategorized on Nov 8th, 2009 No Comments »
Membership Sunday is a favorite Sunday where our congregation accepts new people into fellowship and hears testimony from them. Pastor Phil Kniss said this, but then went on to say that he struggles with the idea of church membership. The struggle is about the dissonance between what scriptures like Matthew 18:15-22, Romans 12:3-5, 9-11, and Hebrews 10:15-22 sa, and how e live out church membership. The farther we get from table-sized groups, the more difficult it is to hold church membership to its true organic purpose. The challenge is to maintain accountability as a part of membership, not a rules-based accountability but accountability driven by love for other members. Can we keep accountability at a person to person level?
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Posted in Uncategorized on Nov 1st, 2009 No Comments »
As a part of the All Saints’ Day service, Pastor Phil Kniss reflected on the movement within church history to over-emphasize saints, giving them almost magical qualities. We do remember those who have gone on before us, and look to their example, but they were human, just like us. They lived ordinary lives made hallowed by the grace of God. We honor them by remembering them on All Saints’ Day, and we are reminded that we are all hallowed children of God. But we celebrate this day because it is a celebration of God’s grace that redeems our ordinary lives.
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