It's complicated because growing a church means that you have to have close relationships. Jesus did share a moment with 5,000, but he invested...Really Invested...in twelve. And...not only twelve, but he had an inner circle of three. So, in that sense, relationships are nice, but CLOSE relationships are the BOMB!
When we revamped the "Small Groups" our focus and passion was born out of an experience of one of our families. They had an event in their life that demanded a warm embrace...and yet, the embrace they received was limited even cold. As a result, their love of God demanded that they changed the culture...and, they did. They answered God's call by pouring into small groups. They invested their personal time and built relationships. Those relationships are now a third generation of life-giving! Growing discipleship is messy, unpredictable, hard, time-consuming, and worth it!
It's simple, because it is just doing what comes natural -answering the phone, sending a card, sharing your eggs, telling your stories, laughing, smiling, sweating together. That seems simple, but today life is so busy that to do everything that I listed demands that I be intentional. As hard as that sounds...it really is simple!
We are never promised the fruits of our labor, but tonight we have an image that shares what faith relationships could look like. Two children doing what they witnessed adults doing...what we are called to do -talk and celebrate the fracture and healing of our life. Cooper broke his arm, but his bones will mend. Not only will they mend, but they will become stronger than ever. While we heal it means the world to have someone sign their name on our brokenness as if to say...no one will get to you, or I've got your back...even, I'm with you through it all! When we co-sign we are saying that we are co-responsible for you -complicated but simple! Wouldn't it be great if our adults could learn from our children?
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