Community begins at three and ends at fifteen

Someone once said, "Community begins at three and ends at fifteen." Keeping the group small maintains the feeling of community. Only in the intimacy of a small, closely knit group will people confess their faults one to another in order to be healed (see James 5:16). Open sharing becomes more difficult when the group grows to more than fifteen.

- Joel Comiskey, The Spirit-filled small group: p. 96

The church is a hospital

"The church is a hospital, not a performing arts centre."

- Joel Comiskey, The Spirit-filled small group : p. 79.

I like this quote, because when we remember its a hospital, we don't put up masks - we get more real with each other. (I don't think it's always a hospital - but it should certainly resemble one sometimes!)

Renovare - charismatic and social justice

On Monday, our Renovare group did the charismatic study. This is one of the areas I identified as a weakness in my life. I have always found it easier to relate to God with my head than my heart - and I know I have to get God into all of me.

The homework exercise I chose to do was to pray for an hour for the Holy Spirit to begin working in a new and powerful way in my life. I found it so hard to pray for an hour. I get distracted too easily; I start thinking about other things - especially when I'm listening rather than talking.

I felt God speaking in two ways to my life. I have to stop being like Jonah who didn't want Ninevah to be saved. He wanted to stay the only one who had a special relationship to God. Unconsciously, I think God is telling me that I'm sometimes like this. A book I've been reading talks a lot about having a hunger for the lost, so much that you cry tears over them - and I think this is the direction I have to head.

The second thing he is telling me is to let go of my ambitions - something He's been telling me a long time.

This morning we met again, this time discussing the social justice tradition study. We read the parable of the sheep and goats, and as always I felt cut to the quick. This week, if I get asked for change on the way to work, I'm going to see what the person asking really wants, offer to spend time with them, make sure I look after their needs.

Putting the eating back into meeting!

The Lord's Supper was actually more a substantial supper with a symbolic
meaning, than a symbolic supper with substantial meaning. God is restoring
eating back into our meeting.

- Wolfgang Simson, Houses that change the world, p. xxii.

I am writing an article for Oikos magazine at the moment on the Lord's Supper as a shared meal, and just have to use this quote.

Renovare course

We haven't started a church yet, but we are doing the Renovare (Latin for renewal) course. It is a course for small groups which goes through six Christian traditions (all rooted in Jesus) and what we should learn from them to be a balanced Christian.

The traditions are:

• Contemplative - the prayer filled life
• Holiness - the pure life
• Charismatic - the Spirit empowered life
• Social Justice - the compassionate life
• Evangelical - the Word centered life
• Incarnational - living Jesus in everyday life

We have done the first three, and each week had a piece of homework (a spiritual exercise) to complete. Knowing I'm going to be accountable to someone to do what I have said I would do has been a great motivation to actually do it.

We've eaten as part of our meeting, and that's been important. It's created deeper fellowship and made us more relaxed with each other.

The book we've been using is called A Spiritual Formation Workbook, by James Bryan Smith. The Renovare website is poorly organised and doesn't state clearly that this is where to start; in fact, I couldn't find this book on their site just now. You might be better getting it from Amazon.

Richard Foster, founder of Renovare, has written an amazing book called Streams of Living Water, which goes through all the traditions. It's an enriching read; it made me excited about church history and about bringing together so many Christian traditions in my life.