Dear Caldwell Family:
This week, many of the Caldwell 4×4 Groups will hold their first gathering, kicking off a season of listening deeply to each other’s stories and talking openly about our lives, what makes our journeys the same and what makes them different. We do not come at this from a context of division, thanks be to God, but rather a commitment to enrich our life together as a diverse, multicultural community of believers and seekers.
Sometimes we preachers will say this kind of initiaive brings us closer together “in Christ.” Sometimes, we all get – or send – a letter or an email with the words “In Christ” above our signature. Those two little words get thrown around pretty casually at times. But what do they really mean?
Yesterday in worship, our guest preacher Insook Lee reminded us how distorted our relationship with our creator can get – including our attempts to reduce God to Santa Clause or to negotiate with God. To think about what it means to live “in Christ” is one way of keeping right relationships, with God and with each other.
As our 4×4 groups get started, I wanted to share one author’s thoughts on what it means to be a “community in Christ.” I hope the excerpt attached in the link below by name at bottom, from Discovering Community by Stephen Doughty, provides some helpful preparation as these wonderful conversations begin.
Yours “In Christ,”
John