Bearing Fruit: Intentional Faith Development

For the last two weeks we have been in the midst of a discussion about what vital congregations look like. Vital congregations are intentional about engaging in activities that bear fruit - that help people share their faith, grow closer to God, and serve the Kingdom. So far we’ve touched on the idea that vital congregations are radically hospitable and continually think about those who do not yet know Christ - and inviting them to come to a welcoming space to get to know the Lord. Vital congregations are also passionate about worship - not simply going through the routine of worship God, but rather worshiping with all they have and all they are.

This week, the third mark of vital congregations is that they are intentional about faith development. Faith development is what we do when we dive into the word of God together. When we help one another grow deeper in our faith lives. None of us are meant to be lone rangers as Christians - instead we come together to study the word and learn from one another. 

This intentional faith development is modeled in the book of Acts. Looking back at the passage we picked up on last week we find that the earlier followers were described as people who “devoted themselves to the apostle’s teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and prayer.” The early disciples devoted themselves to learning about the faith. I firmly believe that even if we spent every day of our lives from birth to death studying scriptures, there will be still things that we need to learn. There would still be hidden treasures for us within the Bible’s passages. 

Have you ever noticed that scripture can speak to you in different ways at different times of your life? You can study a passage one day and a year later, there is something new for you to discover about it? Studying scripture is not a once and done experience, it is a lifetime of being engaged and prayerfully discerning what God has for us in the midst of this passage for our lives right here and now.

Notice that the early disciples devoted themselves to these things - teaching, fellowship, sharing in communion, and prayer together. When John Wesley formed a structure for Methodists to grow in faith he required a covenant to do three things: be in corporate worship, be part of a small group for further prayer, study, and examination of the heart, and have private devotions. Folks were expected to do all three things - worship with many people, study with a smaller number of people, and be in personal study and worship as well. Why? Because we need other people to help us grow in our faith as Christians just as much as we need to connect with God alone. It is not an either/ or. It is a both/ and. 

But just as there is no formula for the correct way to worship corporately or privately, there is also not a one size fits all formula for small groups. At the first church I served - Sunday School was the small group. The Sunday school met every week before worship - one class for adults and another for children. Both dug into the word and talked about how they were to live out their faith. At my last parish small groups were pastor and lay lead topic discussions. Sometimes they were based on a book - like one Bill led on how to allow God to free us from our baggage and find freedom in Christ. Sometimes they were curriculum - like Rodger lifting up Adam Hamilton’s study on finding revival in our spirits and in the church, like the early Methodists. Other groups used a Bible study magazine in people’s homes each week to dive into a particular passage, digging into it slowly and savoring it. 

Sometimes intentional faith development doesn’t start with scripture but rather serving the Kingdom. One church I served had a group of women that met monthly to serve the church and the community through acts of compassion. Another church had a group that met weekly to make prayer shawls and lap robes they gave to shut ins and those who had medical concerns. We all need a group of believers to come along side us and support us as we grow in the faith.

In Ephesians we find Paul telling the church that when we accept Christ we must put away our old selves, be made new in the attitude of our minds, and put on our new selves in Christ. But brothers and sisters, we get in trouble on our faith journey when we only put on our new selves on Sunday morning - when Sunday morning worship is the only place where we seek to grow and engage the Word of God. 

I once had a colleague who told me that nothing frustrated them more then when people would come to him and complain that they didn’t get anything out the Sunday morning service. He would immediately ask them what they were doing to engage the word of God the rest of the week. He found that most of the time, people who didn’t get anything out of the service, where those who did not put anything into their faith lives Monday through Saturday. When we expect one hour of one day to be enough to sustain our faith the rest of the week, we often are disappointed. 

In the Methodist tradition, small groups were also the places where you faced some hard questions, like “how is it with your soul”. Small groups genuinely cared about the person who gathered, so they created a safe space to hold each person accountable. It was a place to confess your sin and ask for prayer. It was a place where people were prayed both for and with. And it was a place where folks were spurred on to the fruits of the spirit. We need more places like that today - places where we can truly be the church for one another. In the Gospel of Matthew we find the oft quoted teaching of Jesus that, where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I with them. We need places to gather and grow in our faith.

In fact, growing in our faith is central to our Methodist heritage. It’s referred to in different ways - sanctification, moving on towards perfection, being on a faith journey. Whatever terminology we use the point is this - faith is never stagnant. We are not finished in our faith when we first start to believe in Jesus. Instead, in the words of Bishop Schase -  “Faith moves, grows, changes, matures.” We all need to continue to mature in our faith - from the new believer to the season saint. 

When I was in college I was part of a very large Christian fellowship. We would come together Wednesday evenings for worship and a time of teaching. There were so many people you could get lost in the crowd. And that was a wonderful time of hundreds of us singing praise to God. But just as important were our small groups of 8-12 that met in places all around town throughout the week - apartments, dorm rooms, and church basements. It was here that we learned to care for one another. It was in those small groups where we learned to understand scripture and what it looks like to be faithful. And we held each other accountable. And we prayed for one another. We all need places like this brothers and sisters - where is your small group? Where is the place you can grow in your faith in community? Amen.