Friday, September 04, 2009

We are fam-i-ly...

I really do feel like Hub City Church is my family. That's why the following quote was so meaningful to me:
Church is a family. The other members are our spiritual brothers, sisters, sons and daughters. We do not "go to" family--it is not an event or a place. We are family. Of course, healthy families do get together--often. But it is not their getting together that makes them a family; it is their relationship with one another.
Likewise, it is not the meeting itself that makes a church, but the relationships. Being the body of Christ involves much more than meetings.
[Family/Church] is being real with one another, loving and caring for one another genuinely and without hypocrisy. It is the knowledge that if someone is having difficulties, we know that person well enough to recognize the signs. It is learning to take off the masks that we all wear and allowing people to know us as we really are. [Family/Church] takes time and commitment.
That is a great quote from this book. Are you a part of the family?

3 comments:

Jaimee Holmes said...

You're reading a Tony and Felicity Dale book??? wow. What a great excerpt.

Jonathan Everette said...

It's really a phenomenal book and confirms to me that we're doing what God wants us to do. I think that all of our Hub Group leaders should read it. It paints a great picture of what healthy hub groups should look like and talks about things that we too often overlook like prayer and hearing from God. I didn't think I would like it, but honestly, I'm having trouble putting it down.

I think one thing I really appreciate is that they don't push house churches as the "only" way. And because of that humble attitude the book is readable and filled with great insight.

I'll let you borrow it when I'm done.

Jaimee Holmes said...

I would love to borrow it. I have not really let myself read any "house-churchy" books since Reimagining Church. It wasn't doing me any favors, and it honestly was more my attitude than the author's that was causing me trouble. The Dale's are behind the simplechurch.com site that I used to participate in and I was always impressed with how solid and down to earth and non-nit-picky they were when dealing with folks who had obviously taken a long walk off a short pier. Anyway... nifty you are reading them! Looks like a great book!