Jun 25, 2021 The Healthy Congregation – Words of Grace – June 25, 2021
Psalm 1 gave us a picture of a healthy Christian in the image of a fruit-bearing tree planted by streams of water. Psalm 78 tells us that these Christians grow in healthy congregations.
Our mission at Grace Community Church is to bring glory to God by being a healthy congregation that builds spiritually healthy Christians who live in the world faithfully and fruitfully for Christ.
This Sunday at Grace, we will consider the congregational aspect of this mission.
Psalm 78 is an overview of the history of God’s faithfulness to his people in the context of their rebellion and unfaithfulness to him. So, at its core, it is a statement about God.
The psalm also serves another purpose in the life of God’s people. It calls them to remember God’s faithfulness, respond to him in faith, and pass on the history of his grace and calling to the generations to come. This calling tells us what it means to be a healthy congregation that builds spiritually healthy Christians for God’s glory.
A healthy congregation rehearses the history of God’s grace. Each Sunday, when we gather for worship together around the word of God, we look back on God’s saving work in the life of his people and in the cross and resurrection of his Son Jesus Christ. We remind ourselves of the gospel of Jesus Christ because our salvation and our living in this world are rooted in his grace.
A healthy congregation responds to God’s grace in faithfulness. We remember to respond. Sunday worship, small groups and classes, and prayers and conversations stir us up and encourage us to walk by faith.
A healthy congregation passes on the history and calling of God’s grace to the future generations. God uses the discipleship efforts of his people to ensure that the gospel of Christ and the health of his church continue until he returns. The gospel will do its work, and the church will be built by Jesus. And it is his plan to do this through faithful congregations that make disciples for generations to come.
God has put within us the desire to be a healthy congregation in the Greater Nashville area. This Sunday we will consider this calling from Psalm 78 and commit ourselves to serve toward that end.
The July preaching series is entitled, “The Lord is…”, from the Book of Psalms. Others from our congregation will be preaching. I will take a break from preaching and from writing this Words of Grace. I do look forward to seeing you on Sundays in July.
-Scott