This Sunday we started delving into the values our church highlights. If you were there Sunday you learned that we identified these values by noticing members of GCC who made a big impression on the elders. These are the people of whom you think, “I want all of our church to have this person’s character!” The first of these values we call “love as we are loved.”

It is great to realize that there are some very gracious people in our church. There are enough of them that the elders identified these gracious qualities as something which marks Grace Community Church. There are some people at our church who make this a wonderful place to be. The riches of grace they have received from Christ is reflected in how they interact with other people.

So how does identifying this as a value do anything for us? First, it identifies the atmosphere that we want to breathe here. I’ve been to churches where I can tell after few minutes that the people there will relate to other people with a careful measuring stick. The flavor of the church is that they are looking at all outsiders and thinking, “Do they measure up to our norms and standards? Will they be a fit for our church culture?”

I’ve been at other churches where the love of the mercy of Christ flowed freely. Their attitude was to look at newcomers and outsiders as people that need the mercy of Christ as they have received it. It feels different to visit a church like that. It feels like a breath of fresh air.  You feel like Jesus is right there saying, “Come unto me all you who are weary and heavy laden…” Of course, in any church, there are times to talk about hard things and say hard things. An atmosphere of mercy and grace is God’s will for us and His way for us, and we want it to be our flavor as a church.

Second, it identifies a norm for all of us to think about. From staff to elders, deacons, and members, we should think about how we go about what we do. Are we going about things in a way that reflects the love that we have received? Are we relating to one another in a manner that mirrors the way our Father in heaven has treated us? How can we live this out better?  Are there new practices in our ministry which need to emerge? Are there ways from the past we need to abandon? This reflects thinking about something as a value.

Last, it is something to pray about. God produces a grace filled church, by transforming us into gracious people. It is God’s saving work called sanctification that makes a great church like that. We can pray together that he would remake us from the inside out, so that we all “love as we are loved” more and more!

In  Him,

Don