Act Your Age!
On the door frame of our pantry you will find precious pencil marks that represent the passing of time in the Toone household. Every year on the first day of school, our kids backed up to that door frame and we marked how tall they were. Rachel was in the lead for many years and then, suddenly, Cooper shot up in a year that will be forever remembered as the year of the empty refrigerator! These scratchings represent only one aspect—albeit a measurable one—of the growth process for our two children. Both of them have pretty much topped out, height-wise, but they are still “growing” into the persons God created them to be.
What part did we as parents play in “growing” our kids. Well… some part, anyhow. We provided a safe, healthy environment with lots of food. We taught them the things they needed to learn, hopefully when they needed to learn them. But really, growing is what they were destined to do. If we provided the right environment and support, they were going to grow.
This is true spiritually as well. All of us are at different stages of spiritual maturity. But as leaders, we are realizing that we often treat the process of discipleship as “one size fits all.” This Sunday, we are going to take steps to rectify that. In fact, we are calling these classes First Step and Next Step.
First Step will be the one-class-only start to our membership process. We are going to share something we call the “Discipleship Wheel” which will allow every person to self-assess where they are in their own spiritual maturity. Then, every person will have a personal meeting with a member of the pastoral team to share what they have discovered and to discern what one single commitment they might make to move toward their next spiritual stage. If you are not a member of our church and want to join, First Step is for you. We will meet in the Fellowship Hall for lunch this Sunday right after the second service. Child care is available. LINK
But we are so convinced of the value of this information, we want to share it with those who are already members. We are calling this Next Step and will offer it after both services Sunday in the Gathering Place. In fact, our goal is to have 1,000 of our members complete this single class before September. If you’d like to be part of this inaugural effort, join us after either service this Sunday.
Our mission is “Working together to present everyone mature in Christ.” For the first time, we will provide clear markers and clear next steps to help every interested person discern where they are and what they need to do if they wish to grow. I hope this is as exciting for you as it is for us!
Pastor Mark