You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies. (1 Corinthians 6:12-15a, 19-20)
We are a church of Christ: We belong to Jesus because he purchased us with his blood. We find our value in the price he paid for us, and know that we are worth loving because of the way he has loved us. We also believe that the sacrifice of Jesus is for every human being, and so every human being has the utmost value.
As people who belong to Jesus, we are brought together with others who belong to Jesus as well. Our lives are not simply our own. We are a very diverse community, with worship services in English, Spanish, and Korean each Sunday. But we can no longer think of ourselves only in terms of our own identities, be they derived from ethnicity, gender, race, education level, economic status, marital status, career, political outlook, or what have you. If we belong to Jesus, we also belong to each other, and our identities are all wrapped up together in him.We use our abilities, resources, and gifts for each other, not for ourselves. We bear each others’ burdens, and we share in each others’ joys. We pray with each other, cry with each other, laugh with each other, serve with each other, and worship with each other.
We don’t exist in a vacuum. God has placed this church in a particular community: the Mayfair neighborhood in Chicago. Though we belong to Jesus, and belong to each other, we are called by our Lord to be a part of our community. This community is the place where we are called to be salt and light, the place where we make the kingdom of God known by the things we do and say. We share in its struggles and griefs, and we share in its joys and victories. We belong to our community through the acts of service we do to show the love of God in Jesus: feeding the hungry, helping the poor, and visiting the sick and aged.
We are a church of Christ: We belong to Jesus because he purchased us with his blood. We find our value in the price he paid for us, and know that we are worth loving because of the way he has loved us. We also believe that the sacrifice of Jesus is for every human being, and so every human being has the utmost value.
As people who belong to Jesus, we are brought together with others who belong to Jesus as well. Our lives are not simply our own. We are a very diverse community, with worship services in English, Spanish, and Korean each Sunday. But we can no longer think of ourselves only in terms of our own identities, be they derived from ethnicity, gender, race, education level, economic status, marital status, career, political outlook, or what have you. If we belong to Jesus, we also belong to each other, and our identities are all wrapped up together in him.We use our abilities, resources, and gifts for each other, not for ourselves. We bear each others’ burdens, and we share in each others’ joys. We pray with each other, cry with each other, laugh with each other, serve with each other, and worship with each other.
We don’t exist in a vacuum. God has placed this church in a particular community: the Mayfair neighborhood in Chicago. Though we belong to Jesus, and belong to each other, we are called by our Lord to be a part of our community. This community is the place where we are called to be salt and light, the place where we make the kingdom of God known by the things we do and say. We share in its struggles and griefs, and we share in its joys and victories. We belong to our community through the acts of service we do to show the love of God in Jesus: feeding the hungry, helping the poor, and visiting the sick and aged.