Seeking to be an authentic community of disciples, becoming more like Jesus - walking in step with God, alongside each other and seeing lives transformed
Last Friday we started to think about our Core Values - those values that shape everything that we do and say.
Our seven Core Values at CBC are:
Loving, Welcoming, Missional, Servant-hearted, Biblical, Spirit-led and Prayerful
Last week we thought about what it means to be loving, today we're going to think about being welcoming.
If you've been going to church all your life it can be easy to forget just how daunting an experience it can be to walk into a strange church for the first time. Although I grew up attending church at least twice on a Sunday, the first time I visited an Anglican church I was probably in my late teens. I went on my own and I had no idea what to expect. I sat at the back and struggled to follow what was going on - which book was I supposed to be reading out of, when to stand and when to sit, was I allowed to go forward for communion - when should I go, what should I do, were there things I had to say...
New experiences can be quite stressful and it is so much easier if there is a friend who can show you what's what.
We probably wouldn't invite someone into our home for the first time and just leave them standing in the hallway - we'd make them feel welcome - we'd show them where to sit, we'd ensure they were comfortable, we'd sit and talk to them...
Being welcoming as a church means that we are good at practising hospitality. We make a conscious effort to look out for those who are new and then we make sure that they are made to feel welcome.
We might think that being welcoming is quite an easy thing - not something that will get us into trouble. But being welcoming got Jesus into trouble. For example, in Mark 2:13-17 we read a story where Jesus is happy to eat with the wrong kinds of people - tax collectors and 'sinners' - and as a result he is criticised by the religious establishment.
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Depending on which newspapers our work colleagues read, for example, we might find our welcome of and attitude towards refugees makes us stand out in the crowd. In a world where we are increasingly suspicious of anyone who is not like us, we should, as followers of Jesus, be different.
We've talked in past weeks about being authentic - about how church needs to be a place where people feel comfortable to be themselves, to take off the mask. We welcome people as they are - without requiring them to be someone else.
Becoming a follower of Jesus required a lifestyle change - it still does - but the welcome came first.
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