One of the most difficult things about the pandemic this year has been the limited contact we have been able to have with others. We have not been able to gather with extended family and friends. Remote learning and social distancing has isolated children and youth. Many activities in the church and community have been cancelled which means that we have not been able to spend time together and work with those around us.
I know many people in our community have missed our Friday football dinners and I’m not sure people have missed the food (as great as it is!) as much as they have missed the socialization. For those who come to eat, it’s a time to gather with friends and get caught up, and for those of us who work, we always have a great time being together. When people ask me how the church is doing, I tell them that we are doing really well in many areas. All of you have been so faithful and in some areas we are even growing, like our online presence, but what worries me the most is that we are losing important connections with one another.
While the outreach and ministry of the church is important, what the church is really all about is relationships. Together we form the body of Christ. This means that each of us is to have a relationship with God which then joins us together in meaningful relationships with one another. As a community of faith, we are then to reach out in love to those around us and around the world. We are called to develop relationships with others where we not only meet people’s needs but share with them the love of God.
The church is all about relationships and here at Faith Church we talk about 3 primary relationships, a relationship with God, the church, and the world. It is these relationships that we focus on when we talk about what it means to live with God and follow Jesus. If you are new to Faith Church, or have forgotten what these relationships are all about, then I want to encourage you to go to our website and get more information. You can learn about these relationships, and the rhythms of life that fuel them, and you can take an assessment that can help you see where you are well connected and where your relationships might need some work.
While I don’t want to oversimplify things, there is one thing we can all do to improve all our relationships. If we do this one thing it will transform our lives and then strengthen all of our relationships, which in turn will improve the social fabric of our community. That one thing is to remain in Christ. Jesus said that if we will remain in Him that He will remain in us, and when Christ remains in us we will bear fruit. John 15: 4-6
Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. .
The image that Jesus gives us about the importance of remaining in Him is brilliant because it is so simple and easy to understand. Jesus is the vine and we are the branches. As long as we remain connected to the vine - we will bear fruit - and the fruit of our faith is relationships. When we remain in Christ our relationship with God will be strong, this makes sense, but what we also need to know is that when we remain in Christ our relationships with others will improve. We know this because of the kind of fruit the Bible says appears in our lives as we remain in Christ.
In Galatians 5:22-23, Paul tells us that the fruit of God’s spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. What all of this fruit has in common is that it improves our relationships. While the fruit improves our overall well-being (who doesn’t want to experience joy and peace every day) what this fruit really does is improve our relationship with God and others. Being faithful and loving improves our relationship with God. Being patient and kind improves our relationships with those around us, and being people of peace and self-control helps us focused less on ourselves and more on others.
The key to the transformation of our own lives, and the key to transforming and improving all our relationships is to simply stay connected to God. If we disconnect from God we will also disconnect from the people of God, and as we lose the fruit of the spirit all our relationships will struggle. Without love, patience, kindness, and goodness, our relationships will deteriorate. If a branch is disconnected from the vine, in time it will die and all its fruit will disappear. So the single most important thing we can do to improve our lives, strengthen our community and improve our divided and broken society is to stay connected to God. Remain in Christ.
Let me share 6 ways we can remain in Christ.
Remain in Worship. Let me just say that all of you are doing a great job of this because you are here today. Online or in person you have intentionally chosen to remain connected to God in worship. While our worship itself looks and feels different right now, we are here because we know that this time together is one of the most important ways we remain in Christ. Let me encourage you to keep it going. Online or in person it’s easy for us to get disconnected from worship. It is challenging right now to stay committed to this time, but keep it going. Over these next six weeks, as we focus on Thanksgiving and Christmas, don’t give up on worship, instead use it as an intentional time to remain in Christ.
Remain in God’s word. For some people, life has gotten so crazy and busy that time in God’s word may have been set aside or forgotten, but every time we set aside God’s word we are cutting ourselves off from the source of life. God’s word is living and active which means that every time we read it and reflect on it we are connecting to the source of life itself.
However you are able to connect to God through his word - keep it going. Sign up for a daily devotion through an online Bible source. Connect with God through the new Advent devotion we have created this year. You can get a paper copy or you can have the daily devotion sent to your email. While the devotions use the carols of Christmas as a theme, they connect us to scripture and provide us opportunities to reflect on God’s love given to us in Jesus. The devotions are also a great way to connect with others as the people of Faith Church are the ones who wrote them.
Remain in prayer. Now this doesn’t have to be set times of prayer each day, and it doesn’t have to be structured or written prayers, although those can be very helpful. In fact, reading books of prayers written by others can be a rich and rewarding way to expand our own prayer life. Remaining in prayer is really all about aligning our thoughts so that we are always focused on God. When Paul told us to pray without ceasing, he didn’t mean we were to sit alone in a room 24/7 to be in conversation with God, he was calling us to direct all of our thoughts and actions toward God and seek to be connected to God at all times. Prayer can be simple thoughts, requests, and comments made to God moment by moment in either the silence or the chaos of our days.
Remain amazed by creation and the Creator. One more way we can remain connected to God is to open our eyes and our hearts to see the power, beauty, and love of God in the world around us. This fall has been beautiful here in Central PA, but one of the things I love about winter here is the amazing sunsets that we have. They come way too early, but they are magnificent and they remind me of the power and love of God who created so many different shades of red and orange. Whether it is the laughter and comfort that comes from our pets, the love of children and grandchildren, or the physical beauty of God’s world that surrounds us, if we stand in awe of what God has created and gifted to us, we will remain connected to God in life giving ways.
All of these ways to remain in Christ are possible even through the social distancing practices we are faced with today, but the last two ways I want to share are more challenging. Part of remaining in Christ is to also Remain in fellowship. We really do connect with God as we connect with one another. In Hebrews we are encouraged to not stop meeting together because being together is important. We were created for relationship, which means that many times we experience the grace and love of God most powerfully through others. Remaining connected to others is important, but this year it has been challenging.
One way we have always encouraged people to remain in fellowship here at Faith Church has been to get involved in a small group, Bible study or Sunday school class. Obviously all of these have been difficult this year and some of the groups that are meeting are limited due to social distancing guidelines. Fellowship also happens in groups like our choirs, children’s church, prayer quilt ministry, and dinners - which have all been put on hold. Remaining in fellowship continues to be difficult, but it is not impossible.
Remaining in Christ through fellowship requires us to be intentional, flexible, and creative. If you are new to Faith Church, maybe you have just been worshipping with us since the pandemic started, and want to get connected with others, please let us know. If you are feeling isolated and alone and want to feel the power of fellowship in some way, again we want you to let us know. We want to keep finding ways to be in fellowship through this pandemic and together experience the spirit of God that comes when we are connected to God through one another.
Last, but not least, we also have to Remain in service. Just like with our fellowship, many of the ways we have served our community and world have had to be cancelled this year and even when we have been able to support some outreach or mission it has often meant just driving through to purchase a dinner or pick up and drop off a shoe box. While it’s not ideal, it does help us remain in service.
I’m thankful that three of the biggest missions we support will still take place this year. Operation Christmas Child is underway now and there is still time to support its work. You can pick up a shoebox and return it next week, or you can donate any amount and help us pack, ship, and send boxes, Bibles, and the love of Jesus around the world. The Christmas Dinner will also take place this year with all the meals being take-out or delivery. It will look different, but we will do it and we will do it safely, but we will need your help. More information on how to help will come right after Thanksgiving. And we will still collect our Christmas Eve offering which this year will go to support our ongoing partnership with Sowing Seeds in Belize.
No matter what our circumstances might be this year, we can find a way to serve others and we need to because when we serve others we stay connected to Jesus. Jesus Himself told us this when He said that whenever we serve those in need we are serving Him.
Matthew 25:31-40
“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
When we serve others we serve Jesus, and when we serve Jesus we are close to and connected to Him, and when we remain in Him, He remains in us. So remain in service.
Remain in me, Jesus said, and I will remain in you. And when Christ remains in us, we will produce fruit, and that fruit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Who can’t use a little bit more of this fruit right now? If you want to taste this fruit yourself, or if you need some fuel to improve your relationships, there is just one thing to do. Remain in Christ. Transform your life and strengthen all your relationships - remain in Christ.
Next Steps
REmain
Read and reflect on John 15:1-17.
● In what ways have you been able to remain in Christ this past year?
Read and reflect on Galatians 5:16-26.
● What fruit have you experienced this past year?
● What fruit do you need in your life today?
● When have you experienced this fruit forming in your life simply by being connected to Jesus?
Six ways to remain in Christ
● Remain in Worship
● Remain in God’s Word
● Remain in Prayer
● Remain in awe of creation and the Creator
● Remain in Fellowship
● Remain in Service
In each of these six areas, identify one specific activity you can commit to between now and the end of the year.
What new habits, routines, and patterns can you develop to help you remain steadfast in each area?
Here are three opportunities for us to remain in service:
● The Christmas Dinner
● The Christmas Eve Offering for Sowing Seeds in Belize
For deeper study: Review the 3 Relationship material found on our website. Which relationship needs more attention? Contact us with any questions or ways to get connected.
