Julia gave us a recap of the year’s teaching on Sunday, you can listen above or read below:
Jan 24 – What is the church? (Rob)
Rob reminded us about who we are as God’s Ekklesia (those ‘called out and gathered’), and had us thinking about a range of our ‘churchy’ activities to consider if they did or did not constitute ‘church’.
Feb 24 – What makes a disciple (Emma)
We considered what makes us a disciple of Jesus. Are we developing spiritual disciplines? Are we producing fruit? Emma reminded us that we’re in ‘training, not trying!’
Mar 24 – Joy & Hesed: Part 1 (Judy)
Joy – the sparkle in someone’s eye because they are pleased to see us. Judy reminded us that God’s face shines upon us because he is happy to be with us.
Hesed – The relational glue that holds us together & binds us to God.
April 24 – Joy & Hesed: Part 2 (Judy)
How we are taught to become like Jesus:
Left brain (slow side) logical thinking, problem-solving. It helps us to believe the truth, and make good choices with the help of Holy Spirit.
Right brain (fast side) is character revealing and shows our reactions under stress! Our identity & relationships are formed here. Judy spoke on the importance of loving attachments to God and to each other and how we can learn more effectively when we feel loved and appreciated.
May 24 – Loving one another (Julia)
This session was looking at group identity in the context of church family, “A new command I give you: love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples if you love one another” (John 13:34)
I wonder how we’re doing with that?
June 24 – God as Father (Graham)
Whilst not directly following our original plan, it was definitely relevant to our personal faith walk. We were challenged to consider how we relate to God; not as slaves, but as children of Abba Father; and to remember that His face shines upon us!
July 24 – Servants (Julia & Emma)
We looked at the concept of servants and serving. We considered our activity levels and how our well-intentioned filling of gaps; getting stuck in roles; and busyness can bring about burnout or cause us to miss God’s calling. We were encouraged to practice spending time in the company of Jesus and to learn to live by the ‘unforced rhythms of grace’.
Aug 24 – Leadership (Judy)
We explored our thoughts about leadership; who is a good leader and what qualities we look for in them. We also considered the qualities that God looks for in his leaders, and finally considered who we each may be called to lead in some capacity.
Sept 24 – What does it mean to be a disciple (Julia & Emma)
Awkward questions session!
Q – If it became illegal to be a Christian tomorrow, is there enough evidence to convict us?
We discussed what it means to be a disciple: The cost; denying ourselves and taking up our Cross daily; and to expect suffering.
Oct 24 – The connections:
Hopefully these topics related in some way to our mission statement:
‘Knowing Jesus, becoming like Jesus, and making him known’
If we’re serious about becoming more like Jesus; the ‘who and what we are’ when we’re not here, but out and about; at school or work, or with friends and family; then it’s important that we spend time together studying God’s word, praying, worshiping and sharing our lives. That’s when the love and grace of God that we receive as we minister to each other, will flow into everything we do, fulfilling our vision which is: ‘to see our communities touched and transformed by the love of God’ (Is 61)
Go Deeper
- What has stood out to you this year and made a change in your life?
- What would you like to see change in yourself going into next year?
- From what you’ve learned about the Church this year, what would you like us to put our focus on next year?