Week 3 – Join

Watch

– 3 minutes –

“The first step is the hardest—just saying yes to it—because you have to really humble yourself. You have to say ‘You know, I’m broken,’ or ‘this is broken’ . . . once we got into that small group, I’ve never gone deeper with people quicker. There’s so much openness and honesty and transparency.”

Read

– 3 minutes –

Colossians 3:16 & James 5:16-20

Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives.

Colossians 3:16

Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results…My dear brothers and sisters, If someone among you wanders away from the truth and is brought back, you can be sure that whoever brings the sinner back from wandering will save that person from death and bring about the forgiveness of many sins.

James 5:16-20

Commentary

– Read together –

Grace Church exists to make mature followers of Jesus Christ. Because the process of sanctification was never designed to be one-size-fits-all, each follower of Jesus will require unique opportunities to intersect with God’s word, specific subject matter, and community. With just a quick glance at the Grace Church website, you’ll notice a schedule packed with a variety of events, classes, and programs. The purpose is not to feed busyness, create a spiritual check list, or even develop fellowship opportunities. Discerning the best use of your time and energy will require self awareness and the admission of potential blind spots. New life seasons and change might require that you join in and experience something new. Your sweet, compliant toddler is turning into a preschooler that has regular temper tantrums. Perhaps the Parenting Institute Classes could speak into that. It’s been 12 months since your mom passed away and you still can’t think about her without crying. Grief Share might help you find words that bring clarity and healing to your pain. Take an honest assessment of your wanderings. Is there a space to join that can bring you back to Jesus Christ (James 5:18) or further you along?

Application Questions

– 8 minutes –

  1. In the past few years (or less) at Grace, what specific programs have you joined?
  2. Given your current season and past experiences, are there areas that could use some extra attention? Who speaks into our life that could help you make some decisions about how to best spend your time and energy for maximum spiritual growth?
  3. What is one specific step you can take this week to assess your need and line it up to what Grace is holding out to you?