Finish Well | Start Well
Church. It’s not just something you do. It’s not just an obligation or a moment in the week to tick off your spiritual engagement. Church is the gathering together of the people of God; it’s a deep spiritual expression of who you really are. 1 Corinthians 3:17 reminds us that we together are God’s temple, the place God dwells. As we gather, we live out current and future heavenly realities in present time and space. We become a visible picture of the gospel as we live in grace-filled thankfulness to Jesus and love one another. All this (and more) is why we must give absolute personal priority to gathering for church and why we should long to do it well, both individually and together.
We don’t just go to church, we are the church. Paul expresses his desire for the Christians in Colossae like this:
“We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and giving joyful thanks to the Father.” (Colossians 1:9-12)
Our desire for you is the same, so with this in mind, over the next three Sundays we are going to be helping you to Finish Well in 2023 and Start Well in 2024. There are three things we want you to think about as this year concludes and as next year dawns - supporting the work, joining the work and growing in the work. You will hear more about all three from Sunday and each week in the newsletter. Our goal is to help you ready yourself for another year of bearing fruit in every good work as you grow in the knowledge of God. As always, if you have questions about any of these things, please speak with me or any member of staff. We love you and long to see all of us built up as wholehearted disciples of Jesus. What will you do now to ensure you start 2024 well?
