Connectional: Slow to Hold Grudges, Quick to Forgive, Controls the Tongue

First Covenant Church of Willmar

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Connectional: Slow to Hold Grudges, Quick to Forgive, Controls the Tongue

October 16, 2022 • Pastor Chris Pappenfus • Ephesians 4

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One of our four values as First Covenant Church is that we are connectional. We recognize and desire to grow in our connection to God in Christ Jesus our LORD, and we want to reflect our LORD in the manner in which we are connected to one another. I have often heard people describe a church congregation as a family. I remember a conversation I was having with a leader of a previous congregation. As we were pondering how to help restore a broken relationship between two church members, the leader just sighed and muttered, “Ahhh, family.” Knowing that this wasn’t an expression of endearment I looked at him and signaled for some clarity, he simply smiled and added, “Dysfunctional, just like family.”
Well, maturing as connected followers of Jesus actually invites us to move beyond dysfunctional relationships and into relationships that reflect our Savior, Jesus Christ. In this regard, a mark of connectional maturity is that Christians are slow to hold grudges, quick to forgive, and they control their tongues. Our words are powerful (parents on Wednesday night family life groups learned that last Wednesday); and because we desire to grow as connectionally mature followers of Jesus, we use our words to build one another up - not to tear one another down. Connectionally mature Christians strive to be peacemakers and resolve conflict quickly. They refuse to let seeds of bitterness grow into hatred. When angry, they are careful not to stray into sin, which leaves destruction in its wake. Connectional maturity which embraces this is counter-cultural, the very opposite of our fallen human condition, and often very difficult to obtain. This week we will be exploring Paul’s teaching in Ephesians, Chapter 4.

Sunday Service with Guest Speaker, Kara Stromberg

November 6, 2022 • Superintendent Kara Stromberg

Missional: Find it more natural to do God's will than to ignore it.

October 30, 2022 • Pastor Chris Pappenfus • Luke 19:10, Matthew 11:29–30

This Sunday we discuss our tenth mark of Christian Maturity associated with or Core Values. Over the past ten weeks we have discussed what maturity looks like in regard to being Biblical, Devotional, Connectional, and now Missional. Last week we explored the Great Commission found in Matthew 28:19-20 realizing that Missionally mature disciples of Jesus are committed to making disciples who make disciples. Jesus’ instruction to the Church is to multiply. The second mark of missional maturity is that Jesus followers find it more natural to do God’s will than to avoid it. So often we live our lives so preoccupied with the worries and demands of the world that we forget that we are called to do God’s will. Even when we realize this is what we are called to do, we have no shortage of excuses for finding ways to avoid doing God’s will. Additionally, it seems that the confidence of knowing God’s will has become increasingly difficult to discern. However, there is a consistent and noticeable quality among mature disciples of Jesus; they find it more natural to do God’s will then to not do it. They have surrendered to cooperating with the Holy Spirit in ways that seem almost effortless - easy. In fact, they feel burdened when they fall into temptation and sin, not by righteousness. Jesus explains this plainly in Matthew 11:29-30, “My yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Have you ever looked at a fellow sister or brother and thought, “They make following Jesus look easy.” Their secret is not that they are more “religious” than most, it’s because they have a deep and abiding “RELATIONSHIP” with a loving God. This relationship is open to all who would put their faith in Jesus Christ and experience what it means to love the LORD with all their heart, mind, soul, and strength; enabling them to love their neighbor out of the overflow of God’s love in their own life. As we conclude our Marks of Maturity series, read Matthew 11:25-30.

Missional: Committed to making disciples who make disciples.

October 23, 2022 • Pastor Chris Pappenfus • Matthew 28:19–20

This week we move into exploring Christian Maturity in our final core vale; we are Missional. On the surface this may seem obvious. Afterall, we have a Mission Commission, which oversees our missions budget. We financially support local and international missionaries and read about their mission work in our newsletter. Of course we are Missional! But what if maturing in our missional value is more personal and intrusive than that? What does it look like to be missionally mature? One mark of maturity is that missionally mature followers of Jesus are committed to making disciples who make disciples. This is the mission Jesus himself gave the Church in Matthew 28:19-20. Disciples are commanded by Jesus to make more disciples. Thus a missionally mature Christian is committed to making more disciples among more people groups in a more caring and just world. This includes the world right outside your front door. Join us this Sunday as we explore the Great Commission found in Matthew 28.