Pastor’s Corner - May 20, 2021
As we head into the summer, I am sharing some reasons to consider church membership. My first reason had to do with the way church membership supports discipleship. Today I want to lift-up the way discipleship supports community. Mark 2:13-17 tells the story of Jesus’ call of discipleship to Levi, a tax collector (then and now not the most widely appreciated and loved profession). Mark tells the story with brevity: As Jesus was walking along, he saw Levi sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And Levi got up and followed Jesus.
After this decision to follow Jesus, what does Levi do? Mark goes on to tell that Levi hosted a dinner party so that his tax collector friends could meet Jesus. The life of graceful acceptance that Jesus offered to Levi was too good to keep to himself, he invited others to join the community.
Just as a community of faith provides the necessary instruction, practice, and encouragement to be a disciple, so too discipleship supports community by inviting others to come and experience the graceful acceptance of Jesus. At Friedens Church we want to be more and more like Levi, eagerly inviting folks into community. To make clear the inclusive welcome we have an Open and Affirming Covenant.
Check out the covenant at https://www.friedensucc.org/beliefs. If you like what you read come and make it real in community.
~Marc
