two
words
There are two words that help us stay focused on what God is doing and what He expects us to be doing as a “faith family” (i.e., the Church). Churches get into
trouble when they abdicate the role they can play in people’s lives and start trying to accomplish what only God can do.
As human beings we have the God-given
capacity for relationship but we also live in
the aftershocks of sin-induced dysfunction.
Aloneness::
A God-given capacity
And the LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a companion who will help him."
Genesis 2:18 (NLT)
"Often we act as if relationships are something to be squeezed into our schedule. We talk about finding time for our children, or making time for people in our lives. That gives the impression that relationships are just a part of our lives along with many other tasks. But God says relationships are what life is all about.”
Rick Warren
Fallenness::
A consequence of human rebellion
We are made right in God's sight when we trust in Jesus Christ to take away our sins. And we all can be saved in this same way, no matter who we are or what we have done. For all have sinned; all fall short of God's glorious standard. Yet now God in his gracious kindness declares us not guilty. He has done this through Christ Jesus, who has freed us by taking away our sins.
Romans 3:22-24 (NLT)
“I have come to see the Christian life no longer as a steep and steady ascent to holiness but as a tortuous journey full of twists and turns and switchbacks and perhaps a rockslide or two along the way.
But in the course of that journey I feel the embrace of a God who accepts me as I am in all of my humanity, who loves me unconditionally, in spite of my shortcomings. It is a pilgrimage of joy and sadness, of loving and suffering, triumph and tragedy, but it culminates in sweet union with Jesus, who somehow takes our sad and broken lives and makes us whole.”
Randall Balmer, Growing Pains
“Celebration can’t do anything about people’s fallenness but we can do something about people’s aloneness. As we erase one another’s aloneness God is faithful to bring His mercy and grace to bear on our fallenness.”
Tim Jackson
CCF’s founding Pastor