Back in Business
This week, we officially got back to business at Elmhurst CRC. All of our groups and ministries have officially launched. Wednesday was an especially big day: nervous and excited kids arrived for the first sessions of Little Lambs throughout the day, and dozens and dozens of grownups arrived for CoffeeBreak Bible Study. In the evening, there were more Bible studies, a choir rehearsing, a Grief support group, committees getting church business done, a giant symphony orchestra practicing in the Worship Center, and off site there was a crowd of GEMS girls gathered for a swim party. I love it when the church is alive with so much activity!
The real joy in all this activity is that these gatherings take place in Jesus’ name and with Jesus at the center. That’s what makes the church different from most other clubs and community groups. The most important person there isn’t visible to human eyes. Without the presence of Jesus and his Spirit, the church is merely polite society. WITH the presence of Jesus and his Spirit, we experience a fellowship unlike any other.
My challenge to everyone who calls Elmhurst CRC their spiritual home is to find a small or medium sized group to take part in. A place to know and be known, to pray and be prayed for, to serve and be served. It could be in a Coffee Break Bible Study group, it could be in the choir, or an exercise boot camp. It could be serving in the nursery or on a committee. It could be as simple as a regular coffee rendezvous with two or three Christian friends to talk about how you are following Jesus right now through the good, the bad, and the ugly of life. The options are infinite! We all have a genuine need for fellowship and spiritual friendship, and Sunday morning worship alone is not going to meet that need in the long term.
One of the new places to plug in is a group called Capernaum, a ministry of Young Life that creates space where teens and young adults with and without disabilities can meet Jesus and grow in their faith. Jackson Kemper, Young Life’s area director and a member of Elmhurst CRC, is helping to spearhead this effort and reported that at Thursday’s first meeting there were nearly 50 young adults, family members, and leaders gathered in ECRC’s youth room. Incredible.
The start of Capernaum bears witness to the truth that Christian community is built on our need for Jesus’ help, healing, and saving. Christian fellowship does NOT depend primarily on the strengths and virtues that we bring to the table. Let me say that again. The Church and Christian Fellowship is NOT all about just bringing the best of our time, talent, and treasure.
The Church and genuine Christian community DOES depend on all of us bringing our trials, troubles, tragedies, and temptations to the table.* You heard that right! Christian fellowship leads with our needs. That’s what points us straight into the arms of Jesus.
This week’s Sunday worship service will spotlight precisely this dynamic. We grow in friendship as we lead with our needs. By the way, the city of Capernaum was the place where Jesus spent a lot of his ministry time and where he called his first disciples—not because they were the best and brightest—but because they were desperate about their need to follow a Savior.
May the same be true for us in these days.
Pastor Gregg
* Thanks to my friend Nathan Plasman who reminded me of this principle and who deserves credit for all the troublesome “t’s” that I mention here.