If you were with us in worship on Sunday, you may have noticed a change in our service.
We are calling it, “Celebrating Our Shared Life.”
I have often said that there is one thing that drives everything we do.
It is the deep and abiding belief that the abundant life Jesus preached is truly available–now.
The life of peace with God and with one another; the life filled with purpose and characterized by contentment, grace, beauty, and love—is available in abundance right here and right now.
So, at JCBC we pursue that life in a variety of ways. Namely, we connect for community, form for fruitfulness, and mobilize for mission—all within a shared life of authentic worship.
It’s that last piece (our shared life) that holds it all together.
The shared life is worth celebrating.
So, each week we will be taking a moment in worship to do just that.
We will give thanks to God for new members and new guests, to be sure. But we will do more.
We will elevate the consciousness of our shared life, by deliberately focusing on one thing deserving of our attention. It might be to highlight a particular mission or ministry. It may be to observe a special moment of recognition. It could be to pray for a particular need or crisis that has come to visit our neighborhood, nation, or world.
Regardless, it will always be an opportunity to envision what God may be up to in the shared life of our congregation, and to muster our congregational courage to join in!
The Church is not intended to simply be a gathering of individuals who share common beliefs.
It is intended to be the living, breathing, visible Body of the Risen Christ. It is meant to be a gathering of broken and bruised people who simply cannot stop marveling at the mystery of what God is able to do in us and through us, when we share our lives with one another.
It has been said:
“When the Christ in you recognizes the Christ in me, the space between us is holy ground.”
Celebrating our “shared life” together is one way to walk on holy ground together.
In fact, in the coming weeks, we will take even more steps together on that ground, as we participate in a “JCBC Shared Life Survey” with hopes of learning even more about what God is up to in each of us and all of us, as the Body of Christ.
Until then, have I told you lately how much I love being your pastor?
Well, I do.
Shaun
Dr. Shaun King
Senior Pastor
Johns Creek Baptist Church