2024 Spring Study: Spiritual Stories
Dear Renewal Church:
We are starting a new group study series called “Spiritual Stories” this Spring. Since the start of this year, we have been focusing on how God’s people are rooted together in a specific place and time. The living God remains ever present and ever new within our community. Over the past seven years, our church community has seen the individual threads of our stories woven together by the living God.
The Church in Corinth: Reflecting Christ in Ever-Increasing Glory
In the scriptures, we encounter some of the most profound pastoral texts in Corinthians, addressing the relational dynamics of God’s people amidst disunity, conflict, suffering, and sin. Yet, within these accounts and the nature of the letters themselves, we find a perspective on the people of God: the Corinthian church is not merely an institution with problems to solve, but a community of individuals being deeply rooted in the living God. Through these letters, we witness intertwined stories and God's gradual work within them.
The concept of slowness, as articulated by Japanese theologian Kosuke Koyama, emphasizes that our transformation into Christlikeness occurs at the pace of deepening relationships. Koyama's insights are particularly pertinent, as relationships and the maturation of our love require time and patience.
“Love has its speed. It is a spiritual speed, different from the technological pace we are accustomed to. Love unfolds in the depths of our lives, whether noticed or not, at three miles an hour—the pace of our walk, and thus, the pace of God’s love.”
The Apostle Paul established the church in Corinth, as documented in the book of Acts, and maintained communication and visits over approximately seven years—an interval a bit to that of our own church. Each letter he sent gradually revealed their progress in mirroring Christ to one another, "with ever-increasing glory" (2 Corinthians 3:18).
The Apostle Paul walked alongside them as they journeyed with Christ.
The God Who Walks and Talks with Us in Our Journeys
The image of God walking and talking with His people is recurrent throughout scripture. However, modern life often feels disjointed, with our walking and talking appearing disconnected. Many Christians find faith in the modern world to be “privately engaging but socially irrelevant” says theologian, Oz Guinness. Modern life seems to pull us into separate mini-worlds, where our office life, sports leagues, church activities, and family life exist in distinct spheres. How do we slow down to deepen relationships when integrating the different parts of our lives under God's story seems so difficult?
Stories on a Pilgrimage
This series aims to cultivate an appreciation and awareness of how our daily lives intersect with one another and with the living God. How is God uniquely at work among and within us in our respective contexts? Our hope is to discern God's movements in each of our lives and engage in ongoing dialogue about how our individual narratives are intertwined with God’s overarching Story. Our prayer echoes that of the Apostle Paul: “May the amazing grace of the Master, Jesus Christ, the extravagant love of God, and the intimate friendship of the Holy Spirit be with us all” (2 Corinthians 13:14, The MSG).
Grace and Peace,
The Elders (Eastertide 2024)