Dear Ekko,
It’s that time again, Ekko’s Monthly Ekklesia (Regional Home) Gathering. This is where we can continue to do life together rooted in our Lord Jesus Christ. We gather through him, for him, because of him and with him.
I invite you to consider and reflect on these words with me as you prepare to meet.
“Because readers who discern the true message of scripture behold the glory of God in Jesus Christ, Paul tells us, they are “changed into his likeness.” No reading of scripture can be legitimate, then, if it fails to shape the readers into a community that embodies the love of God as shown forth in Christ. This criterion slashes away all frivolous or self-serving readings, all readings that aggrandize the interpreter, all merely clever readings. True interpretation of scripture leads us into unqualified giving of our lives in service within the community whose vocation is to reenact the obedience of the Son of God who loved us and gave himself for us.” - Richard Hays / Echoes of Scripture in the Letters of Paul
- In your gathering this Friday, take some time to read the Scripture aloud together. Perhaps a moment to simply listen and take in what’s being read aloud. A time to meditate and imagine what’s being said in his Word.
- Let the Word, just the Word before any shares, impact you. Let it make a dent on your mind and heart. Give the Word a chance to “shape the readers into a community that embodies the of God”.
- Let go of frivolous and self serving interpreting/translating/importing of the text. Resist the urge to make it support your fleshly desires and dreams and needs. Submit yourself to it, whatever He may be requesting through his Word.
- May it lead you and your Ekklesia group towards community not away from it. Let it humble you and keep you deeply connected to the Body of Humble Followers of Christ.
- And remind yourselves this week that the purpose of our gatherings is to become a “community whose vocation is to reenact the obedience of the Son of God who loved us and gave himself for us.”
My prayer is that through moments together in Ekklesia we would practice -
repentance, realignment, and reenactment.
You ready? I believe in you. I believe in your Ekklesia group. I believe in the Church.
Let's do this.
The Adventure Continues,
Bryan
“Reading Holy Scripture is totally physical… It is the practice of the Christian community to cultivate habits of reading that sharpen our perceptions and involve us in getting this word of God formatively within us.” “The book is not written to flatter us… but to involve us in a reality, God’s reality, that doesn't cater to our fantasies of ourselves.”
- Eugene Peterson
Book Recommendations
