Connection

Gathering

What do our gatherings look like?

The believers came together around Christ and his story. They also came with their own. They came to (re)connect their own stories to his, and to each others'. That was the gathering. They taught, prophesied, shared, ate, sang, and prayed their stories — their lives — together around Christ. The Spirit made the conversation possible. All the people shared the Spirit through whom they met God and one another face-to-face. They urged one another in conversation to grow into the full measure of their freedom and dignity. ...

The sermon and the service have hijacked conversation.

What kinds of new conversation do I envisage? ... people engaging with one another around concern and desire grounded in their everyday experiences. At heart is a rhythm between ancient narrative and modern story; between insight and healing. The agenda is as broad as life. The mood may be analytical and incisive, light and irreverent, deep and therapeutic. Maybe all, some or none of the above. At its heart are people wrestling with the Spirit and one another to know the truth, grace and freedom of Christ in all the particulars of who they are and what fills their lives. I think of them as grace-ful conversations. Conversations marked by grace. Conversations full of grace. Conversations that bring grace.

Going

In progress.

Reframing Paul: Conversations in Grace and Community by Mark Strom, p. 18,19.