Introduction

During the next four months  our teaching plan at St Andrew’s Bo’ness is going to explore the following four words that will lead us to consider the ABC of Discipleship.  This theme of discipleship will be able to be followed on the Sanctuary First App. This will allow you access to daily prayers and bible readings which will be integrated into the weekly church theme 

Then ABC of Discipleship highlights the importance of acceptance, belonging and commitment if  we as a congregation are going to grow disciples. We have chosen these words because more and more Christian leaders and teachers are realising that coming to faith in Jesus Christ is a process rather than an instant experience. Often people make their first attempt at reconnecting with their faith through a conversation with a friend who they feel understands and accepts them long before  attending a local church or fellowship of Christians. Research has shown that when people return to church if they feel accepted they will continue to attend. 

I’d love to set up an atmosphere here in St Andrew’s that is creating a kind of “Mission Cycle”.  For the next four months I’d like us to begin to actively reflect on the process that I believe will help us bring more people to faith in Jesus.

September 

ACCEPTANCE

During the month of September we’re going to explore what it means to become a community of believers who are open and welcoming to those who come seeking to know or discover the reality of God. 

Using the  Bible we’re going to explore a number of key passages that will help us understand how Jesus was able to connect with people and draw from them their deepest longings and desires.  The Old Testament  which is part of the Jewish scriptures encourages communities to welcome the stranger and to accept those who may be different from the norm.  No doubt this teaching influenced the way Jesus thought. and taught about the Kingdom of God.  He challenged the religious people of his day to be less judgemental. Indeed he said,  “Judge not, less you be judged yourself. “ In other words he invited his listeners to live out the gospel and by doing so others would come to understand the joy of living life God’s way.

He was also able to offer the outcast and the forgotten, hope and meaning in the midst of their search for security and peace in life.  In our reflections we will also see how the first Christians discovered the importance of accepting people   who seemed to them beyond the reach of the gospel.  At the end of September it is my prayer  we will begin to understand that acceptance is the first step to understand grace and what it means to live a life of holiness and total trust in God.

Acceptance Summary

being affirmed and come as you are before God
the story of the woman at the well
the story of woman caught in adultery
acceptance means to love one another
be shown the needs by the ‘outsider’ -the Good Samaritan
Peter and the vision re animals
the insider (Peter) and the outsider (Cornelius)
Showing us God’s acceptance

September 7  - Communion Sunday 

 Formal               “Acceptance does not mean agreement”            

   ( SF)                 “Having a drink can change your life” 

                             ( John Chapter 4)

                 14       “ Saved rather than stoned “

                               ( John 8. 1-11)

                             “ Love is Patient and kind”

                                (1 Corinthians 13. 1- end)

                  21              Harvest Festival 

                          “ The outsider who became the insider”

                                   ( Luke 10. 25-37)

                                 “ Peter’s Change of Attitude”

                                    ( Acts 10. 1-33)

                   28     “The Gospel begins with acceptance”

                              ( Romans 5. 1-11)

                            “Acceptance is the first step to holiness”

                               (Romans 12. 1-10

October

BELONGING

We are told that no one really joins a club or a fellowship or a community until they feel they belong.  In fact fewer people in our culture seem to want to join any organisation.  People seem to want to maintain loose connections without making commitments.

Often this is the case with people when they start encountering the reality of the Christian faith. They seldom want to become signed up members of the local church,  however it is what they see and feel about the organisation that will eventually draw them to the point of commitment.

It is often when someone encounters for themselves  “faith in action” that they decide they want to belong to a group.  The story of Jesus and his life encounters with first century people in Palestine only help to underline this perception.  Jesus lived and moved among men and women who saw the direct effects of his ministry on their community and it was this that caused many believed. 

Did Jesus not give us the proof text for this idea when he said ‘ let your light so shine before people that they may see your good works and come themselves to glorify your father in heaven?   The woman at the well invites her friends to come and see a man who told me everything I ever did”.   Andrew looks for  Simon Peter his brother, and says,  “Peter,  come and see,” the implication is  you will want to belong.  During the month of October we will explore the idea of what it means to be a community of believers  that is creating opportunities to draw people into “longing to be”  to “belong” to the family of God.

    October  5 -  “ Seeing faith in action creates longing to belong”

                            ( Matt. 5. 13 -16 )

                         “ Everyone needs a job in order to feel useful”

                            ( Eph. 2. 1-10)

                  12       “ Belonging starts with an act of service”

                             ( 1 Corinthians 12. 12-26

                            “ The Parable of the Wheat and the Tares”

                              ( Matt 13. 24 -30 )

                 19      The ‘world’ can be exclusive and reject Christians.

                               (Matt 10. 16-25)

                          How to live as part of the ‘world’ but not controlled or afraid of it.

                               ( 1 Peter 1. 13-25 )                                          

               26     “The longing to belong is global”

                          ( Matt. 11. 25-30)

                       “ Longing for intimacy to belong to cry “ Abba Father”

                         ( Rom. 8. 12 - 17)

Belonging Summary 

Seeing faith in action inspires us to belong
If we are part of something we are drawn to God
We must find our way to belonging
The inclusive vs. the exclusive in relation to belonging
The ‘world’ can be exclusive and rejects Christianity
Yet the ‘holiness’ of God will draw in and attract the ‘separated’
The longing to belong re quote the village of the football community is global.
For community to be attractive and meaningful it must have the characteristics/intimacy of village life?

November 

COMMITMENT

How then can we be a church  that is welcoming  and full of grace, open to the needy  and creating  an environment where men and woman are professing their desire to belong to Christ  and be counted as part of the family of St Andrew’s Bo’ness ?  The answer is simple we need  more committed people.

I think we need to reflect more upon our understanding of commitment and covenant. Christians  believe that God has made a covenant with his people,  we sing, “ We are his flock he doeth us take.”  and at  Communion  we are  reminded of this covenant.  The words, “ This is a new covenant sealed with my blood .” speaks to us of God’s total commitment towards us. We then are required to return our commitment to him. 

After leading in the church for over 30 years  I have found there is an almost-perfect indicator that can help us  monitor the spiritual life of the church and its willingness to obey the call of Christ . It is the presence, or absence, of the  commitment of the elders and those who lead throughout the ministries of the congregation. If our elders are committed their commitment rubs off onto others in the congregation.

Committed leadership is at the heart of any successful enterprise. This means that those who lead need to be willing to make the sacrifices that leadership demands in order to encourage others to follow.  Jesus once said, ‘ No one who puts their hand to the plough and then turns back is fit for the Kingdom of Heaven.”  In other words if you are ploughing a field and you get distracted, you will dig an uneven and squinty furrow.

So its one thing to feel or say you belong but it is another thing to become committed to the cause. Let me  put it another way. A citizen may feel they belong to a country but a soldier who puts his or her life on the line for the country is committed to the country and truly understands the importance of belonging.

If the key for success is to have commitment  from leadership  why not just work with the elders  or leaders who are committed and show that commitment? 

It sounds simple enough, however in practice so many factor come into play. More often than not leaders can feel committed but overwhelmed by the task and then they seek to find a way out of the commitment.  At the heart of this dilemma is often a lack of training and support from within the team of leaders for themselves and also a lack of understanding of  the significance of the bigger picture. I’m determined this coming session to offer more opportunities for training in the kirk session and within the church as a whole.

The truth is that we who are leaders and elders , all of us,  need to be reminded of our calling and first commitment which is to serve Christ in our daily lives and among our families before we seek to lead others in the church. 

During the month of November I intend to call the whole church to a greater place of commitment. November is a fitting time to do this as we remember those who sacrificed so much in order that we could live in freedom to create a better world. We will be asking the question s like; what makes us want to commit?  What is happening in our world  that is always connected without commitment? What does it mean to make a personal commitment to Jesus Christ?

As Christian men and women commitment is always about remembering to fulfil that which we said we would do when we least feel like doing it.  In many ways commitment is not just about wanting or wishing that something might happen. Commitment is about becoming engaged, emotionally, intellectually and practically to ensure it happens. 

November  2   -  Without commitment nothing can be achieved

                            ( Judges 7. 1-8 )

                           Which is more important commitment to the cause or the vision?                                 

                             ( Matt 6. 25-34)

                    9   - The impact and inspiration of a committed leader  

                            ( John 15. 12-17)

                            The leader can never be greater than the cause 

                              (  Ezekiel 34. 1-25  John 10. 1-21)

                   16   We fall in love but our heart holds our treasures  

                           ( Matt 6. 19-24

                           Commitment means time talents and money - 

                            ( Luke 18.18-23)

                   23  Personal commitment to Jesus leads to communal commitment  

                           ( Luke 19. 1-10 )

                          How can we share our wealth as a sign of commitment ?  

                           ( Acts 4. 32- 37)

                   30    Andrew a truly committed disciple  - 

                           ( John 1. 35-42)

                          The Commitment of Father Son and the Holy Spirit -  

                            (John 14.8-20)

Summary  Commitment

What makes us commit?
A sense of disconnectedness and a desire to be connected
We fall in love, our ‘heart holds our treasures’
personal commitment to Jesus leads to communal commitment
Father/Son/HS is the ‘mirror’ for community commitment
Leading to trust, leads to covenant, leads to 'living promise’ of God and us
God comes to ‘belong’ with humanity, God’s commitment to us

Quote Karl Bart: the heart of God is a man