I keep coming back to Paul’s words >
“For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you— that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine.”
He begins by saying that he longs to come and strengthen them, but then almost seems to correct himself: “…that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine.”
There’s something there about church that intrigues me—not simply pastors caring for people, or some of us having a ministry to others, but ordinary believers knowing one another well enough that we notice, listen, encourage, pray, and sometimes simply stay alongside one another.
What might it look like for us to become that kind of church more intentionally? Who are the people among us who already seem drawn to this naturally? What have they learned by doing it—and what might we discover if we brought some of those people together, not because we already know what to call it or how to organize it, but simply to listen to one another and ask what God may already be doing among us?
Running Down Vimy 