Healthy Messy Church

Welcome to CROLCC, we are so glad you are here! We just finished our series on Future Family and I hope that as you apply the principles that we talked about during the series, you realized that a relationship in family is always worth fighting for. No, it’s not always easy, in fact most of the time it’s rather hard. But there is always a way, as long as you are willing, and apply the principles that we have learned, you will begin to make progress even in the most difficult circumstances. Don’t give up, because your heavenly Father will never give up on you either.

As a pastor I often think about church and the ways to do church. I read a lot of books about church and I listen and watch how people interact with church. And my conclusion so far is that it’s more or less like a family, and it’s messy. It’s messy and complicated because people are messy and complicated. When we pray our “sinner’s prayer” to accept Jesus as our personal savior we don’t instantly transformed into saints. Rather, God placed us in a local church to learn and to grow. Sounds all great doesn’t it? Until we realized people in church are just as messy as we are, and we are tempted to make a change thinking there’s a better church out there. But even though you and I are messy, we can work together to create a healthy, messy church. What is that? I am so glad you asked.

Moving Forward

When there is an unexplainable gap between what I expect people to do and what they actually do, I will fill it with trust.

Discussion Questions

1. What are some examples of trust that you have personally experience in church?

2. Do you tend to be suspicious or trusting by nature? How does that influence your relationships in church?

3. What are three characteristics that you believe are vital for everyone to develop in a healthy church?

4. How do you balance the tension between being sensitive toward people about their responsibilities and confronting them about their responsibilities?

5. What steps can you take to help build a culture of trust in church?