Week Four

Really belonging — being acknowledged, recognised, celebrated

We need to breathe, we need shelter, we need water… but we also need to belong, we need to feel acknowledged, recognised, even celebrated. Many people — who can breathe easily, have plenty to drink, and secure homes to live in — suffer intolerably for not having a sense of belonging. And many who struggle to breathe, or to find proper shelter, or clean water, still feel the warmth of belonging. God always acknowledges us, recognises us and celebrates us, because we belong!

SEEDS TO SOW: This week consider how you can support individuals and organisations that work to counter isolation and loneliness.

Read Isaiah 55: 1-9

Come for the drink stay for the belonging!

A core part of belonging somewhere is feeling acknowledged — that you are noticed and that your needs are recognised. This is true spiritually as well as socially.

When and where have you felt most welcome in your life? How can these experiences shape how we do shared worship together?

Read John 9: 1-41

Depends how you see it…

The values we stand by often shape the groups we belong to and we are uncomfortable when those value systems are challenged or changed. The Pharisees were uncomfortable with what Jesus was doing. Their sense of belonging was being disrupted.

How do we ensure that even when our Christian values are disruptive to a community that all people still feel acknowledged and like they can belong?

Read Ecclesiastes 4: 9-12

Working together.

“A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.”

The Trinity is a most beautiful image of belonging with the relationship between the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Belonging and being part of something is so important for us. We are not created to be on our own and the Trinity as a Community of love reflects that.

What happens to people who have become spiritually homeless within the church? Who, for any number of reasons, no longer find themselves at home in a Christian community?

Now, take each part of this passage and use it to think about can we support lonely and isolated people. Apart from praying how can we support those who long for a sense of belonging?

Lent Transformations Week 4

The Transforming Community

Every day this week read Hebrews 10: 24-25. After reading those two verses consider what you can do today to spur on others to love and goodness.