A HEALTHY ENVIRONMENT FOR FLOURISHING

“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.”  (Acts 2:42 NIV)

We live in an increasingly fragmented and disconnected world. Though social media and other technology have made our world seemingly more connected, people have fewer genuine friends than ever before. It feels scary and threatening to allow ourselves to be known or to invest in knowing someone else at a deep level. It is much easier and more convenient to stay on the surface. Yet when we take the risk of being authentic with a small group of people, we can experience God's grace and love coming through others, which leads to freedom and transformation.

John Ortberg writes: "God uses people to form people. That is why what happens between you and another person is never merely human-to-human interaction -- the Spirit longs to be powerfully at work in every encounter." So the goal of small groups is to create environments where Spirit-driven, life-giving experiences can flourish. While the type of group or study can help promote a positive environment, the real things that promote a healthy environment for flourishing are prayer, support, service, confession, worship, accountability, conflict resolution, social gatherings, and simply doing life together. Regardless of the specific guidelines a church may have in their small-group ministry, its objective ultimately is to help people engage in relationships that help them become more like Christ. Spend time building an environment that allows true relationships to flourish. 

-- Excerpted from an article called “Making a Case for Small Groups” by Carolyn Taketa

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THE ABUNDANT, FLOURISHING LIFE

Jesus said, "I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly." (John 10:10b)

I've often considered this one of Jesus' most important teachings, and I've spent years trying to understand it. What does Jesus mean by life? Obviously, life for Jesus means more than physical life, the heart pumping blood through the body and the brain pulsing waves detectable by the sensors of an EEG.

The life Jesus came to give us involves more than adding years to our earthly existence. The fact that the person who reveals to us what our life can be died at age 33 indicates that living involves more than extending the timeline of our days a little further. Life in God, eternal life, involves a deepening, not merely an extending. It is a life of unending depth and meaning rather than of unending [earthly] days. It involves richness, fullness, grace. The flourishing life involves knowing what it means to love and to be loved, to find a sense of meaning and satisfaction from our contribution to others, to discover purpose, connection, community, God. There are people who enjoy a vigorous physical health while missing out on abundant life altogether, just as there are people in hospice care with severely limited prospects physically and certain prognoses who nevertheless live fully, gracefully, and perhaps even joyfully.

What does abundant life mean? What does the gift of life in Christ give us? What makes for eternal life? These are questions stimulated by Jesus' single line, "I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly." 

-- Robert Schnase, from his blog “The Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations” 

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DESIGNED TO FLOURISH

God showed the prophet Ezekiel a vision of languishing: a valley full of dry bones.  It was the image of a failure to thrive.  God asked “Ezekiel, “Can these bones live?” and Ezekiel answered, “You alone know.”  God did know, and he made them come alive.

I know a man named Tim who was an addict, lost his family, lost everything, found God, gave up his addiction, and got his life back again.  I know a man named Peter who was a tormented slave to sexual impulses, and God got ahold of him and that changed.  I know a woman who hated confrontation so badly she once drove on an extended road trip with her best friend for three days in silence to avoid confrontation.  Today she confronts recreationally.

God wants you to grow!  He created the very idea of growth.  The Talmud says that every blade of grass has an angel bending over it, whispering, “Grow, grow,” Paul said that in Christ the whole redeemed community “grows and builds itself up in love.”

Your flourishing is never just about you.  It is a “so that” kind of condition.  God designed you to flourish “so that” you could be part of His redemptive project in ways that you otherwise could not.  He wants you to flourish “so that” people can be encouraged, gardens can be planted, music can be written, sick people can be helped, or companies can thrive in ways they otherwise would not.  When you fail to become the person God designed, all the rest of us miss out on the gift you were made to give.

-- John Ortberg in The Me I Want to Be

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MAKING A DIFFERENCE

Nothing in the spiritual life adds so much satisfaction as truly making a positive difference in the lives of others. Serving others helps those we serve flourish; and we flourish in the serving of others.
-- Robert Schnase in Five Practices of Fruitful Living


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MADE TO FLOURISH

God made you to flourish -- to receive life from outside yourself, creating vitality and producing blessing beyond yourself. Flourishing is God's gift and plan, and when you flourish you are in harmony with God, other people, creation, and yourself. Flourishing is not measured by outward signs such as income, possessions, or attractiveness. It means becoming the person [God] had in mind in creating you. Flourishing means moving toward God's best version of you.

"The righteous will flourish like a palm tree… they will flourish in the courts of our God." (Psalm 92:12-13)

-- John Ortberg in The Me I Want to Be


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