Belonging

We are told that no one really joins a club or a fellowship or a community until they feel they belong. In fact fewer people in our culture seem to want to join any organisation. People seem to want to maintain loose connections without making commitments. Often this is the case with people when they start encountering the reality of the Christian faith. They seldom want to become signed up members of the local church, however it is what they see and feel about the organisation that will eventually draw them to the point of commitment. It is often when someone encounters for themselves “faith in action” that they decide they want to belong to a group. The story of Jesus and his life encounters with first century people in Palestine only help to underline this perception. Jesus lived and moved among men and women who saw the direct effects of his ministry on their community and it was this that caused many believed. Did Jesus not give us the proof text for this idea when he said ‘let your light so shine before people that they may see your good works and come themselves to glorify your father in heaven? The woman at the well invites her friends to come and see a man who told me everything I ever did”. Andrew looks for Simon Peter his brother, and says, “Peter, come and see,” the implication is you will want to belong. During the month of October we will explore the idea of what it means to be a community of believers that is creating opportunities to draw people into “longing to be” to “belong” to the family of God.