Building Gospel capable relationships

One of the striking things from 1 Thessalonians as we have studied this letter has been the nature of the relationships which were so integral to the founding of the church. It is these relationships where life was shared and the gospel seen and modelled that enable Paul to write so confidently to the Thessalonians that they has witness how the evangelists lived. It is an incredible challenge to our culture, and way of doing church.

We need to be building relationships to be sharing our lives one with the other, but how?

1. Destroy the castle walls - our home is not our castle and it is not mean to be impregnable, the New Testament pattern is of believers in and out of each others homes.
2. Committing to one church - we need to resolve to commit. Commit first and foremost to one church - do not church hop - but find a church which will be your family and go week by week. Become a member and ask its leaders to keep you accountable for coming along.
3. Commit personally - build relationships, don't content yourself with a passing knowledge of the crowd but get to know some people deeply.
4. Get over pride - Pride stops us really engaging in relationships, we need to get over pride. In the church we are all sinners saved by grace. If we will not let others see our struggles we cannot expect their help. We need to be real.
5. Give your time - someone has said that in our society we show who and what we value by the time we give to it. Invest in relationships.
6. Go, go, go - Be where people are. Make home group a priority in your week, and involve yourself in that group.
7. Share experiences - do things together, go places, have fun. Shared experiences are what grow relationships and enable communication.
8. Be intentionally gospel focused - Church is not just to be a place with great friendships - though it should have those it should be a place where those great friendships facilitate speaking God's word to each other, lovingly exhorting and encouraging one another to live lives worthy of God.