by Pastor Mark Chin

How often do we consider the connection between our care for new visitors at church and our holiness? In Leviticus 19:1-2, the LORD speaks to Moses, saying, “Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them, You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy.” What follows are the LORD’s detailed commands and instructions for how the people of Israel are to “be holy” like the LORD who created and saved them. It is worth noting that the commands that follow are addressed to the entirety of the congregation or assembly. Holiness here refers not merely being separate from sin but being chosen by the LORD, being like the LORD in all our ways, and being entirely devoted to the LORD with the entirety of our heart, soul, and resources. It is a requisite given by God not simply for the priests or the elders – but for the entirety of the congregation – for the entirety of life. As we come to Leviticus 19:33-34 – we see that God’s standard of holiness includes caring for the stranger among us in the same way that He has loved and cared for His people. “When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.”

The temptation we all experience every Sunday is to spend the majority of our free church time with our friends. The temptation is to assume that caring for new visitors or strangers is the job of the elders or the Welcome Team. Isn’t that why churches have a Welcome Team? We’ve just spent the week slugging it out at work in a fallen world with fallen co-workers or family members. Sunday is the one day of the week we get a chance to fellowship with believing friends – to enjoy their company and their presence – to catch up on everything we’ve missed in their lives. In truth, this is one of the sweet blessings of life in our Father’s house. However – if the summation of our Sunday is spending time with or serving friends who are just like us – then we’ve fallen well short of God’s standard of holiness, His Gospel, and the way He has loved and cared for us. If we were to take a video or a series of photos of our fellowship Sunday morning, what story would the video or photos tell? Would the video or photos show collections of people who look similar – marrieds with marrieds, parents with parents, collegians with collegians, Asians with Asians, etc… – spending time with one another like any other social club?

The good news of the gospel is that God sent His only Son to live with and die for people who were nothing like Him – for strangers. If our only hope for love and care and time with the Lord was based on our similarities to Him – in spirituality, ethnicity, life-stage, compatibility (whatever that means), common interests – where would we be? As we consider the twelve disciples whom Jesus chose to love and shepherd, we see people who could not be more unlike our Lord and Savior. This, of course, should give each one of us great hope. As we consider our great salvation, we are reminded that Jesus died for us so that we would no longer live for ourselves, but so that we might live for Him – like Him. In fact, the test of true faith, is a life that looks like Christ in every way on every day, including Sundays. As the Apostle Paul says, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I know live, I live by faith in the son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Gal 2:20).

Indeed, as Jesus pointed out in the parable of the Good Samaritan, the test of true God-like love for a neighbor is not a profession of faith or Bible knowledge or position in the church or even a passing greeting. It is the ongoing love and care for the needs of those who are our enemies. One of the saddest confessions that I have heard repeatedly is from church attendees who share that after being at a church for two to three months, they are still greeted like a new visitor. It’s not hard to tell whether the person greeting you really cares for you or whether they are saying “hi” or “welcome” because it’s the right thing to do. As the parable of the Good Samaritan points out, loving a neighbor goes well beyond saying “hi” or “welcome” to a new visitor. It is the sacrificial love that takes time from a busy schedule to learn the neighbor’s needs, to provide for the neighbor’s needs, and to make sure the neighbor and stranger is cared for until he or she is in a safe place and is restored to good health. It is an expression of God’s heart of gospel compassion. Jesus’ standard of care for strangers is a convicting one. We must ask ourselves: is this our standard? If this is the standard of true love and faith, how many of us would be considered Christians? As Sunday approaches, it is worth reading through Luke 10 and spending time in prayer with the Lord, repenting over how far we fall short of His Gospel love and compassion, praying for the strangers who He brings each Sunday to His church, and preparing our hearts by faith to love the stranger among us – even as He has loved us. Caring for strangers is the privilege of every saint, not just the Welcome Team. It is our joy to love strangers in the same way Christ has loved us. It is a testimony to the holiness of the God who has created us and saved us for His glory.

by Pastor Patrick Cho

Back in October, I wrote on the benefits of small group ministries and some possible reasons small groups might not have been as helpful as they could have been for you. Especially in a growing church, small groups can provide valuable opportunities for members to cultivate strong relationships with others. But there are other benefits as well. In an age where it seems there is a greater insistence upon “organic” relationships, a strong case can be made for small groups as a beneficial program of church ministry.

How can we make the most of those times together? How can we ensure that it will be time well spent? I have heard of some small group meetings running over four hours! While I’m sure the time together was enjoyable, most people cannot realistically commit that much time to it. Below are some ways you can help make the most of your small group’s time together and some principles of how you ought to be committed to them.

1. Show up on time. This is not only a common courtesy but also a demonstration of spiritual character. Be considerate of others by coming on time. Consider it a healthy application of the Philippians 2 principle of looking after others’ interests before your own (Phil. 2:3-4). Additionally, the Bible calls Christians to be faithful to their word (cf. James 5:12). If you and your group have agreed to meet at a particular time, it is a matter of faithfulness to not make a habit of arriving late. Your small group wants to make the most of their time together, and waiting for you to show up doesn’t help the group achieve this goal.
2. Finish your assignments. It is a general truth that you will benefit from small groups proportionate to the measure that you invest in them. If you are not taking time to work on assignments or complete reading with excellence (i.e., not rushing to finish assignments 30 minutes before the group begins), you are impeding the quality of the meeting. Not only will you not benefit much from the group, but the others also will not benefit from any thoughtful and prepared contributions from you.
3. Pray for One Another. Sometimes so much time is given to sharing about each other’s lives that very little time is actually devoted to prayer. One way to correct this is to limit the time each person has to get the rest of the group caught up on their life. Try to focus the time on how the group can be praying for each other and then reserve adequate time to lift up these prayers to the Lord. Prayer is not only worship offered to God but can also be a great encouragement and blessing to each other. To further make times of prayer helpful, think through the Scriptures that apply to the things that have been shared and practice praying the Bible and echoing its principles and teaching.
4. Study God’s Word Together. While the general purpose of small groups is usually accountability and prayer, they also provide a wonderful opportunity to study God’s Word together. There are various ways to do this including walking through a verse by verse study, watching good teaching videos together, listening to helpful sermons, or reading a trustworthy Christian book. As Christians we are called to speak truth to one another in love for the benefit of the body (Eph. 4:15). There may be no better way to do this than studying God’s truth together. An added benefit of studying together in a group is getting others’ perspectives and observations from the text that you yourself may have missed. The profit comes from drawing as much as you can from God’s Word.
5. Provide Spiritual Support and Accountability. Most people become members of the church seeking greater accountability for their spiritual lives. I often tell our members that this accountability is most consistently provided through small group ministries. This is because small groups usually provide planned and periodic meeting times where members can look forward to gathering together. As various struggles and trials are shared or sins are confessed, the group can help the weaker brother by praying for him and offering helpful counsel and encouragement (cf. 1 Thess. 5:14). Since the group plans to meet regularly, follow up to any issues can be built into the small group program.
6. Enjoy Each Other’s Company. Some of the strongest relationships in the church are built through small group. One of the reasons for this is that the expressed purpose of small groups is quality spiritual fellowship and not just “hanging out.” While time together talking about nothing in particular can be relaxing and enjoyable, true Christians benefit greatly from interaction over God’s Word and spiritual conversation. Hopefully in small groups you find a band of brothers or sisters that love you and genuinely care for your soul. Hopefully you find a group of true friends who will be there for you especially when you need support and help. Have fun with one another and seek to cultivate these relationships. Oftentimes the lifelong friendships that are enjoyed in the church originate in small groups. There have been many testimonies from people who were ultimately surprised at whom in the church they became close with because of small group ministry.

Because of these benefits and more, I generally encouraged people to be involved in small groups at Lighthouse. As often as our affinity groups offer them, I would suggest being part of them and not allowing work or school to crowd out time for them, if possible. I understand that there still may be some who don’t find small groups helpful for one reason or another, but small groups really can be wonderful contexts for discipleship and relationship building in the church.