Collective Church

Scripture refers to the church as a family.   Every family at times experiences conflict. Some are better at dealing with conflict than others, but no one actually enjoys it.  If a church is acting like a family of God that we are called to be, then we will have ups and downs together, and at some point, that will include conflict.  This week we're going to look at some frequent causes of conflict at "the table," common responses to conflict, and how we can handle it in a biblical way.

We're continuing our series with a guest speaker today.  Montana Jones is bringing us a message on practicing accountability within the church family (aka "at the table").  This is a difficult subject to tackle and live out.  If we're being honest, no one really likes the word accountability, but it has a purpose.  It can seem painful in the moment, but later on, it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.  So how do we practice this in a way that yields fruit?  

"The Table" is a word picture for the church.  Throughout this series, we've been answering common questions that most people have about "the table."   God made us for biblical community, and we see a great example of that community in Acts 2.  As we read through verses 41-47, we see several things the early church did that we can apply today to help cultivate biblical community. 

In week three of this series, we're looking at what it takes to develop more profound and biblical friendships.  Have you ever found yourself in a place or season of life where you needed to make new friends?  Maybe you long to deepen your existing friendships.  With scripture as our basis, we look at three practical things we can do to make friends "at the table."  We'll take things a step further and identify three characteristics to help determine the friends we should walk alongside.

Week 2 of the series, Take Your Place At The Table.  God seated Jesus at the table and seats us with him.  What hinders us from sitting with Jesus?  We look at a few things that keep us from sitting with Jesus and three practical and biblical ways we can learn to sit with Jesus.

Week 1 of the series, Take Your Place at the Table.  This is a series on deepening and developing the relationships and friendships in your life.   Throughout this series, we'll hone in on this subject in the context of the local church.  

Distinguishing characteristics of a citizen of heaven...

1. Look around for good examples.
2. Look out for imitators.
3. Look and anticipate heaven.
4. Look forward to transformation.

We close out our study in Galatians this week in chapter six with a guest speaker, Larry Barker.

The Bible teaches us that Holy Spirit is a person at work in our lives in order to grow spiritual fruit.  This week we continue into Galatians 5 and look at Three Features of The Holy Spirit.