I was recently meditating on the three words “moved with compassion” that described Jesus’ response to a man with a skin disease who came for healing. As I tried to deeply ponder these words I was struck by this thought, “what must it have been like for Jesus?”
Colossians 1:16 tells us that
...everything was created by Him,
in heaven and on earth,
the visible and the invisible,
whether thrones or dominions
or rulers or authorities—
all things have been created through Him and for Him.
So, as Jesus encountered this ailing man he was directly confronted by the effects of the fall that had so devastatingly ravaged and perverted His beautiful creation. This man, who was lovingly fashioned to bear His very own image, now such a distorted broken reflection. How heartbreaking to see what had befallen that which was created with such love and attention. But this man, though broken and distorted by sin, was an image bearer none the less, and Jesus still having a heart for His creation is moved to compassion. In his healing, we get a glimpse of compassion that leads to justice, and a foretaste of the final restoration that is to come because of the compassion of Jesus.
Tuesday, March 25, 2014
Tuesday, March 18, 2014
3 Basics of Community Discipleship
Our goal for the Hamilton Fellowships is to grow a network of interdependent Fellowships that make disciples, in community and on mission. As we build community we must be making disciples, that is after all, our commission from Jesus himself. The two, however, community and discipleship, inform one another; they go together.
If you are familiar with Jeff Venderstelt and Soma, or of Neil Cole, then you will recognize some similarities with their ideas. These are not new observations, however, some appearing in an article first published 1941 by Dr. W. Maxfield Garrott entitled How Jesus Trained Leaders. The point being that the methods trace back to Jesus, and we can seek to incorporate them, to model our discipleship, after his.
As we learn about doing discipleship in community here are three basics ideas we have found helpful:
1) Community with God
This might seem obvious, but it cannot be overlooked. Consider how often Jesus withdrew by Himself to spend time in direct communion with the Father. Call it a "Quiet Time," "Personal Devotion Time" or whatever, learning to take time alone to read scripture and pray is essential to discipleship. And it does not have to be rocket science. I love the acronym my colleague Paul Johnson shares on the Disciple Maker App (look for it in the App Store under Disciple Maker Stages) that he created and curates. He offers S.O.A.P as a guide for devotional times and journaling: S-scripture, O-observation (what is the nugget of truth, or what jumps out to you), A-application (what do you need to do to make this real in your life) P-pray (use the scripture and you application as a basis for your prayer time). Simple. Straight forward. I love it.
2) Community with Two or Three
Though Jesus spent much time with the twelve, there was even a smaller group with whom He shared more personal and private moments. Consider the Transfiguration or the Garden of Gethsemane. In each case it is Peter, James and John that accompany Jesus. With two or three, confidentiality and accountability can be strong and there are practical considerations of flexibility for scheduling etc. Relationally, it is far more likely to really get to know someone, to encourage and challenge each other in a smaller context.
3) Community with 12
It is important to note that when calling His first disciples, Jesus called twelve and put them in community. It is this group with whom He did the bulk of organized training while also living everyday life together for three years. It was my friend Mike Hampton who first helped me see the diversity within this group. By today's standards, and especially from a modern Western context, the group does not seem diverse at all, but when one considers that zealots and tax collectors were sharing meals together, one can only imagine how awkward those first dinners must have been! This size of group is large enough for diversity but still small enough for intimacy and deeper relationships through which to live out together the things that are learned. Below is a short video in which Ed Stetzer and Eric Geiger share some thoughts on why groups matter.
Why Groups Matter
Whether, like for us within The Hamilton Fellowships, these groups are the larger church context, or you are a part of a much larger congregation, time in a group of about 10-20 is a very special and important investment.
So there you have it, 3 Basics of Community Discipleship. Who are some people in your life that you could start to gather with?
If you are familiar with Jeff Venderstelt and Soma, or of Neil Cole, then you will recognize some similarities with their ideas. These are not new observations, however, some appearing in an article first published 1941 by Dr. W. Maxfield Garrott entitled How Jesus Trained Leaders. The point being that the methods trace back to Jesus, and we can seek to incorporate them, to model our discipleship, after his.
As we learn about doing discipleship in community here are three basics ideas we have found helpful:
1) Community with God
This might seem obvious, but it cannot be overlooked. Consider how often Jesus withdrew by Himself to spend time in direct communion with the Father. Call it a "Quiet Time," "Personal Devotion Time" or whatever, learning to take time alone to read scripture and pray is essential to discipleship. And it does not have to be rocket science. I love the acronym my colleague Paul Johnson shares on the Disciple Maker App (look for it in the App Store under Disciple Maker Stages) that he created and curates. He offers S.O.A.P as a guide for devotional times and journaling: S-scripture, O-observation (what is the nugget of truth, or what jumps out to you), A-application (what do you need to do to make this real in your life) P-pray (use the scripture and you application as a basis for your prayer time). Simple. Straight forward. I love it.
2) Community with Two or Three
Though Jesus spent much time with the twelve, there was even a smaller group with whom He shared more personal and private moments. Consider the Transfiguration or the Garden of Gethsemane. In each case it is Peter, James and John that accompany Jesus. With two or three, confidentiality and accountability can be strong and there are practical considerations of flexibility for scheduling etc. Relationally, it is far more likely to really get to know someone, to encourage and challenge each other in a smaller context.
3) Community with 12
It is important to note that when calling His first disciples, Jesus called twelve and put them in community. It is this group with whom He did the bulk of organized training while also living everyday life together for three years. It was my friend Mike Hampton who first helped me see the diversity within this group. By today's standards, and especially from a modern Western context, the group does not seem diverse at all, but when one considers that zealots and tax collectors were sharing meals together, one can only imagine how awkward those first dinners must have been! This size of group is large enough for diversity but still small enough for intimacy and deeper relationships through which to live out together the things that are learned. Below is a short video in which Ed Stetzer and Eric Geiger share some thoughts on why groups matter.
Why Groups Matter
Whether, like for us within The Hamilton Fellowships, these groups are the larger church context, or you are a part of a much larger congregation, time in a group of about 10-20 is a very special and important investment.
So there you have it, 3 Basics of Community Discipleship. Who are some people in your life that you could start to gather with?
Tuesday, March 11, 2014
3 Keys to Build Community
There is a lot of talk and discussion about creating community these days. I have come to appreciate Mike Breen and the folks at 3DM and there discussion of "oikos"-Family. Similarly, I recently heard Jeff Vanderstelt of Soma ask if, when the world thought about the church, was the first metaphore that came to mind, Family. Building community is a core principle of what we, at The Hamilton Fellowships do as well and so we were recently reflecting on what it means for our Fellowships, our Community, to be family. After working through this idea together, here are three keys to build community family, that I came away with:
1) Eat Together
I recently received a beautiful birthday card from a group of Chinese students who have been connecting with one of our Fellowships and in it they thanked me for a number of different opportunities for community that they have experienced while hanging out with us. In particular, they thanked us for all the different foods that they have been able to try. I laughed. We share a meal each week as we gather with our Fellowship, but we try to keep it fairly simple. The point is the time together, sharing and conversations- the deep fellowship- that happens over food. For international students I suppose it is a bit exotic, (to be honest my favourite times are when they bring the food!), but the relationships that are formed over a meal together probably contributes more than the food to their positive experiences. Lets face it, families eat together and so if we want to be family then we need to do the same. Keep it simple, do it potluck and have everyone help with the dishes. It is well worth the effort.
2) Play Together
One key difference between co-workers and family is that family are the ones that you go home to and plan your weekends or vacation. When it comes time to play, we often play with family. An hour or two together at an organized engagement is great, but not really enough to say that we are family. When people are choosing to spend their down time together, then maybe we can say that we are family. We try to create some opportunities for people to hang out together, sometimes in pace of a Fellowship, and often outside of our regular weekly meetings. It can be as simple as a board game night where we open our home and anyone who is free brings a snack and a friend. Even more important, however, are the times when one family is going to do something and casually invites another family or individual to join them. These unstructured, organic connections say a lot about family.
3) Teach One Another
Think about how much you learned, both formally and informally, from your mom or dad, grandparents or maybe a special aunt or uncle. There is an organic discipleship that happens in family as we learn to speak, ride a bike or to cook the famous family recipe. There are natural mentor relationships that can happen within family. Organic and Natural, however, still require intentionality. How are we mentoring and teaching others in our "family." As a parent, I love the idea of my children learning by watching, engaging and spending time with other mature adults who care for them.
How can you limit this to just three?!? I want to add praying together (if we are talking specifically spiritual communities), and working together (Alan Hirsh has great thoughts about "Communitas" in Forgotten Ways) BUT I will hold myself back and open it up to you. These are three keys that we identified, what others would you add to the list?
1) Eat Together
I recently received a beautiful birthday card from a group of Chinese students who have been connecting with one of our Fellowships and in it they thanked me for a number of different opportunities for community that they have experienced while hanging out with us. In particular, they thanked us for all the different foods that they have been able to try. I laughed. We share a meal each week as we gather with our Fellowship, but we try to keep it fairly simple. The point is the time together, sharing and conversations- the deep fellowship- that happens over food. For international students I suppose it is a bit exotic, (to be honest my favourite times are when they bring the food!), but the relationships that are formed over a meal together probably contributes more than the food to their positive experiences. Lets face it, families eat together and so if we want to be family then we need to do the same. Keep it simple, do it potluck and have everyone help with the dishes. It is well worth the effort.
2) Play Together
One key difference between co-workers and family is that family are the ones that you go home to and plan your weekends or vacation. When it comes time to play, we often play with family. An hour or two together at an organized engagement is great, but not really enough to say that we are family. When people are choosing to spend their down time together, then maybe we can say that we are family. We try to create some opportunities for people to hang out together, sometimes in pace of a Fellowship, and often outside of our regular weekly meetings. It can be as simple as a board game night where we open our home and anyone who is free brings a snack and a friend. Even more important, however, are the times when one family is going to do something and casually invites another family or individual to join them. These unstructured, organic connections say a lot about family.
3) Teach One Another
Think about how much you learned, both formally and informally, from your mom or dad, grandparents or maybe a special aunt or uncle. There is an organic discipleship that happens in family as we learn to speak, ride a bike or to cook the famous family recipe. There are natural mentor relationships that can happen within family. Organic and Natural, however, still require intentionality. How are we mentoring and teaching others in our "family." As a parent, I love the idea of my children learning by watching, engaging and spending time with other mature adults who care for them.
How can you limit this to just three?!? I want to add praying together (if we are talking specifically spiritual communities), and working together (Alan Hirsh has great thoughts about "Communitas" in Forgotten Ways) BUT I will hold myself back and open it up to you. These are three keys that we identified, what others would you add to the list?
Tuesday, March 4, 2014
Of Subways and Sub Zeros
I currently sit in a train car returning to Hamilton from The Big Smoke, Toronto, and it has dawned on me that last month I was riding subways in both Los Angeles and New Tork City. They were quick, short trips to help family members, but none the less that is still pretty cool!
As we enter March, I am back here in Canada and we are experiencing one of the coldest weeks on record. Isn't spring coming?!? Sitting on the train this morning I realize that although this year is the coldest I can remember, for the last three years the beginning of March has greeted us with its own kind of coldness. Two years ago my Grandmother passed away and the very next day my oldest son ended up in hospital. The following year my son was missing when March arrived, and this year we enter March with my father in hospital. March has been particularily dark these past few years. Even so, there are still great moments of light and joy and it is especially important in times like these to mark them.
My dad came through what was a very large, intrusive and challenging surgery with flying colours. Although the recovery will be trying and lengthy, he has done amazingly well thus far and shows every indication that he should make a full return to health.
Our Fellowship @ Locke has welcomed a few new people and I am enjoying meeting with a number of them for further discipleship. We are currently leading the Fellowship through an annual look at our vision verse and refocusing on (or learning for the first time), our core principles.
I am also excited for our Fellowship @ Fifty in Stoney Creek as I have been working with a key leader to develop and introduce a more intentional mission strategy. I am looking forward to Michael leading our group through the initial stages this week.
So March has been a bit of a let down these past few years. This year in particular it is uncomfortably freezing. None the less, there are bright spots and moments to celebrate. Perhaps spring is on the way, maybe just around the corner at the next subway stop.
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