Dear Faith Family,
"Now may the God of peace Himself saintify you completely;
and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be kept blameless
at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
He who called you is faithful. He will surely do it."
(1 Thessalonians 5:23-24)
In September, we began to consider what our faith family's name means for our day-to-day life of faith. Not what Christ City Church means, but the name our earliest sisters and brothers used for one another: saint. Saint: one set apart by God, whose person and purposes cannot be known accurately apart from God's intentions for and persistent attention to them.
Saints are who we are by the faithfulness of our Lord Jesus Christ, and as we learned, it is both a gift and a task. A name, as Paul says, that speaks of something already true of us and that we are to grow into, together as "the church...those sanctified [already made holy] in Christ Jesus, called to be saints [holy ones] together..." (1 Cor. 1:2).
Together, over the last decade plus, we have sought to encourage and equip one another to live into this name, wholly. To be saints in our "whole spirit, soul, and body" (1 Thes. 5:23) through the unadorned habits and practices of faith. Practices and habits that have shaped our Gatherings over the last month. Practices and habits that have helped me, for one, find peace amid a month when my daily roles and responsibilities felt more than I could manage some days. As you may have noticed, it's been a month since my last email!
There was nothing particularly extra-ordinary in October. In many ways, it was like most months: a mixture of good days and long days, full schedules and moments of quiet, things to celebrate and things to grieve. Still, the ordinary felt heavier, and the days required more to get through. And in the fatigue, I was most grateful for the habits of faith.
The individual and corporate practices of our faith family, along with the prayers of saints like you(!), helped my whole self — spirit, soul, and body — rest amid the weight of days. And in the rest, receive the gift and be refreshed for the task of our faith family name.
So, as we come to the end of this month, I want to invite you again — and again, and again — into the habits that have helped us live into our name these last decades and last weeks. Here is how:
Consider what "part of" you feels most fatigued.
(re) Listen, Watch, or Read the Sermon(s) below.
Choose one habit or practice to begin or be more consistent in.
Invite your spouse, friend, or GC to encourage your efforts.
"Simple Spirit"
"Simply Soul"
"Holy Body"
May we become who we are made to be in Christ, together, now and for years to come.
Love you, faith family. God bless.