JRMITCH85 Uncategorized

Building Up Our Community

We, as a united community, are called to build a safe and encouraging environment where everyone feels valued and included. Our mission is not just a theoretical ideal, but a practical call to action, inspired by the enduring themes found in various aspects of our culture and faith. It is a collective responsibility that we all share, a mission that binds us together. In the movie Field of Dreams,’ building a baseball stadium symbolizes reconnecting with family and heroes from the past. This act of creation and restoration speaks to a deep human desire to bridge gaps between generations and honor those who came before us. It is a powerful metaphor for the importance of connection and legacy. However, while reconnecting with the past holds significant value, our primary focus must be on connecting with our community in the present. Our mission is to build God’s kingdom here and now, sharing the gospel with those around us. The past can inform and inspire us, but it is in the present that we act, live, and make a difference.

We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. 2 Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. 3 For Christ did not please himself, but as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me.” 4 For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. 5 May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, 6 that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 7 Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God. 

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Ro 15:1–7.

As followers of Christ, we are called to bear the failings of the weak, please our neighbors, and live in harmony. This call to empathy and unity is central to glorifying God and building our community. By supporting one another and working together, we create a stronger, more resilient community that reflects God’s love and compassion. The church, as a safe haven and support system, plays a fundamental role in our lives. This role is deeply rooted in the teachings of Jesus Christ, who welcomed and ministered to the marginalized and brokenhearted. As the body of Christ, the church is called to continue this mission by being a place of refuge and assistance for all who seek it. Life is filled with challenges and uncertainties, and many people seek solace and guidance during difficult times. The church, with its peaceful sanctuary, supportive community activities, and personal prayer and meditation, should be a place where individuals can find peace and comfort, a place that reassures and supports them in their journey.

We must build a community where everyone feels safe and encouraged, regardless of background. In this inclusive environment, people can experience God’s love firsthand. By fostering a sense of belonging and support, we help individuals grow in their faith and contribute to the greater good of the community. God’s love and hope are present in our community; we are called to serve and spread that love. This means actively reaching out to those in need, offering support, and sharing the gospel message. Our actions should reflect the unconditional love and grace that God has shown us.

We are tasked with building a safe place where people can feel God’s love and hope. This involves creating an environment where the gospel message is shared openly and freely. We help build up the community and spread the good news of God’s kingdom. God sent Jesus to die for our sins so that we can share the gospel message and spread God’s love to the world. This ultimate act of love and sacrifice is the cornerstone of our faith and the driving force behind our mission. By sharing this message, we invite others to experience the transformative power of God’s love.

It is not enough to create a safe haven within the church; we must also go out into the world to share the gospel message and build up the community. By actively engaging with those around us, we extend God’s love and hope beyond the walls of the church, making a tangible difference in the lives of others. We are called to build a community where everyone feels safe and encouraged. By spreading God’s love and hope, sharing the gospel, and supporting one another, we create a vibrant and thriving community that reflects the glory of God’s kingdom. Let us embrace this mission with open hearts and minds, working together to build a better, more compassionate world.

JRMITCH85 Uncategorized

Breaking Barriers

Most job interviews begin with the interviewer asking you to tell them about yourself. With such an open-ended question, our minds immediately move toward the right words to present ourselves in the best light. The task in such a setting immediately implies competition with everyone else, and as such, we need to elevate ourselves above others, highlighting that our differences make us superior. This attitude often spills out beyond the specific setting of a job interview, and we start looking at how each of us may claim some superior point of view or characteristic and begin to build up barriers between each other. Since the time of Christ, this attitude has infiltrated the Church, and walls have been built to exclude people because they don’t pass our “job interview,” the church inherits this posture of exclusion instead of the mind of Christ that calls us to invite the masses. Paul reminds us that the Church is not a place for barriers, but it is a place where distinctions melt away.

For Moses writes about the righteousness that is based on the law, that the person who does the commandments shall live by them. But the righteousness based on faith says, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’” (that is, to bring Christ down) “or ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Ro 10:5–13.

Early on, as the Hebrew people began adapting to the law, they realized that God had called them to holiness. The law instructed the people of God to refrain from looking like, eating sacred foods, and assimilating with their neighbors to become a beacon for the goodness of God in the Near East. They would learn to become fully reliant on God by setting themselves apart from the surrounding nations. However, instead of relying on God to help keep them holy, they became reliant fully upon the law. They used it as a bludgeoning device to maintain the religious status quo. The gift became contorted into a weapon that used distinctions to become barriers instead of reasons to praise God. The Pharisees then took the law to further extents and created walls to surround the law, which became an impenetrable barrier for anyone to come close to worship, even Jesus. We must ensure that our worship rules don’t keep Jesus out in its attempt to remain different.

The differences we have can lead us to places that are filled with beauty and understanding of the great diversity that God creates with. However, when we would rather spend all our time in the pools of sameness, for the sake of maintaining our purity, it becomes wholly something other than what the Almighty had planned for us in the world. The barriers highlight otherness as a negative, while Jesus went to the grave and was resurrected to knock down the barriers so that our otherness might blend into the full tapestry of God’s people. Thus we need to confess our brokenness and through it we access the power of God to bring renewal in our lives and in our communities, tearing down the walls that separate us, leading us to relationship and Gospel sharing. When we join together through communion, our differences do mean separateness, but rather through God’s power of reconciling, we are brought closer to God, and as we grow closer to God we grow closer to one another. Thus the Church needs to be called closer to God, and through that motion we are closer to one another, and break through any division.

With this nearness we have with God, we find that the barriers are evaporated, and there are no longer distinctions between one group and another, but rather we are all created and saved through the power of God. Just as Christ was resurrected, all of humanity is granted access to the Gospel, no longer is the message of God’s reconciliation only for a select few, but the entire world is given a key. All previous exclusions are eliminated, and because of Christ’s saving act the world is given access to Shalom. Now because we have access, we are called to share this message of peace with everyone, so that all know that Jesus did the work of reconciliation for them. This becomes imperative that we share this with everyone as followers of Christ. Instead of highlighting the gates and barriers to the law, which far too many churches exemplify, we are called to knock down the walls keeping the world away from the Gospel, and offer the peace that surpasses all understanding to everyone in our communities. We must do this because Christ loves us without distinction.

When we give our lives to Christ, we humbly learn to love people without distinction as Jesus demonstrated. Although there are forces in this world seeking to create bigger barriers and walls, the Christian must be different and holy, breaking down those barriers and those walls inviting everyone to the Gospel. No matter our backgrounds or identities, our identity in Christ implores each of us to work toward understanding that all of us are created in God’s image, and although we sinned and fell short of the ideal standard, Jesus redeemed us on the cross. Therefore, as members of Christ’s Church we must share the Gospel without concern for the person on the other side, and sharing the Gospel means that we humbly come alongside people, in the same way Jesus humbly came to the world and died for our sins.