Another morning awake - I am reading a new book for the next few days. The Connecting Church by Randy Frazee. I know I talk alot about "Rock Groups" and maybe folks don't understand that phrase so let me begin by explaining what that is. Since my family and I are heavily involved in our church - Rocky River Community Church - everything revolves around "Rock" because of our name. "Pitt" because we meet at Pitts Elementary School on Pitts School road and we are in Nascar country here in the Charlotte area - so Pitt Crew Chiefs and Pitt stops all come together. But basically what a Rock Group is all about is, a group of families that come together each week and study the Bible together, we live and do life together much like a family. My family and I have never felt so blessed to be connected with these folks. See Carol and I both have families but they live far away. We are not made to do life alone so these families that come together as one, are our extended family. I have to say that it has been fun to get to know these folks, I enjoy spending time with them and I love each and everyone one of them. I even hurt when one of them is hurting or making a bad decision that God would not bless. As the spiritual leader of this group, I take things very seriously and to heart in doing my best to lead, to comfort, to love, to accept and to forgive because that is what Jesus has shown us - thus I must do the same. We all should do the same.
The Connecting Church is all about Rock Groups - how Community is at the core of peoples lives and how to connect with one another and connect to the church. We grow and learn more about Jesus when we are connected with others who share the same values and vision.
Community is all about commitment and how deeply you love people. It’s about how messy you are willing to get. It’s about how much inconvenience you are willing to endure for the people you care about.
Jesus had the first Rock Group with His disciples. He spent his entire ministry life building community and connecting people to one another. He lived by those examples and not just telling people about it. We live in big cities, live in big neighborhoods these days - some of us even attend BIG churches. We could go for months of Sundays without ever seeing a familiar face at some churches. Rock Groups are the only way to connect people to each other. It is a family that is intimate in doing life together, connected in almost everyway.
Jesus showed us these examples in His Rock Group:
He prayed relentlessly for them.
He asked them the hard questions.
He didn’t let them settle for second best.
He loved them daily with an undying love.
His patience was sorely tested with them, but He never gave up on them.
This is what we must do when we are to get any value out of Rock Groups. We hold each other accountable, we have the hard conversations, we aim for Gods Best and not 2nd best, we love each other regardless and we never give up on each other.
We must be committed to each other. It will all come back in blessings when we do this.
This is what it means to be part of a "Rock Group". Its a great foundation to do this life - a foundation solid as a "rock" in Gods word.
Lonnie~
No comments:
Post a Comment