We Really Need Each Other

Meaningful connections and care. Hopefully you have seen this phrase once or twice over the last year. It is one of the four pillars that have emerged as being on the top shelf for Christ Church to lean into as we continue forward as a church community where the gospel is not only proclaimed but lived out.

It is also a phrase that has been on my mind a good bit lately, both as I see it playing out significantly in the life of many brothers and sisters at Christ Church, but also as I see the pain, struggle and loneliness that some at Christ Church still experience. Like any church, we are a mixed bag in terms of our experience of loving one another and being loved. We are a mixed bag because we are mixed bags individually, men and women with feet of clay, and we are a mixed bag collectively, filled with beauty and brokenness, dignity and depravity.

So what does it look like to lean into meaningful connections and care? Practically, gatherings such as youth groups, C-Groups, Bible studies, the Forge, and many other programs offer spaces structured to foster connection. For example, in addition to these regular offerings, next month we will offer a Journey weekend. The Journey is a gospel-based discipleship course that invites both connection and care as significant parts of individual stories are shared with one another in the light of God's mercy. Beyond the programs and the practical, there is the person-to-person connection that I know many of you are so good at. As the Lord helps us see the needs, hurt, and loneliness around us, the Spirit gives us the energy to move toward one another in the earnest love from the heart that we talked about this past Sunday.