COMMUNITY The early church after the death of Jesus are described as a community or fellowship. The Greek word for this is Koinonia- literally that which is in common. Other translations might include union, partnership, or being yoked together. A yoke is a shaped piece of wood that goes across the shoulders, often linking two animals. By combining their strength, it helps work to be done and burdens The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body 1 Corinthians 12 v 12-13` to be carried. Koinonia expresses the quality of relationship within the Christian community. This is based on fellowship with Jesus. Through him, Christians share the relationship that Jesus has with God. They are all members of the same family and are interdependent: all are needed and valued; each person is important to the But God has combined the members of the body.so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honoured, every part rejoices with it. 1 Corinthians 12 v24-26 whole. This idea is found in Paul s image of the Christian community as the body of Christ. Each member of the body shares the joys and sufferings of the others and each depends upon every else. The foundation of Christian fellowship is Christ s self giving on the cross, the supreme demonstration of his love for all. We love because he loved us first. For the first Christians, this was expressed in a genuine common life with shared meals, shared possessions and practical support for the poor. The Christian church today continues to serve not only those within the Christian community but any who are in need.
COMPASSION Compassion and sympathy have much in common and both are stronger in meaning than simply feeling sorry for someone. The words have their roots in the idea of suffering with someone, putting yourself in someone else s shoes and experiencing what they experience. This leads to a desire to act, to do something. It is not patronizing. It is not about doing good from a position of strength or remembering those less fortunate Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble. 1 Peter 3 8 than ourselves. Compassion requires an act of imagination and humility to share in the lives of others. Christians have always had to wrestle with the problem of how a loving God could allow there to be evil and suffering in the world. Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. There is no simple answer to this but we make the first step towards understanding when we grasp the idea that God the Father is not passively observing the suffering of the world from the outside. God fully identified with human suffering in the life and death of Jesus and continues to work to transform the sufferings of the world through the work of the Holy Spirit.
For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations. ENDURANCE The Bible gives the assurance that God s love, mercy, faithfulness and righteousness endure forever. Emphasis upon endurance as a human quality is common in the New Testament where it is linked with patience and suffering. St Paul is certain that endurance is honed by suffering, is character building and is characterised by love. It is linked with self-control, godliness and steadfastness. Psalm 100 v 5 Endurance is recognition that life is sometimes difficult and painful, and that it is important not to give up in the face of adversity. Jesus endured rejection, abuse and the cross, and his followers are warned that they may well have to share that pain. Discipleship is depicted as taking up the cross Jesus footsteps. Then he said to them all: If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. Luke 9 v 23 daily and following in Endurance and perseverance are only possible where there is hope and that hope is based on the enduring nature of God s love and faithfulness. Even Jesus, for all his strength and ability to endure, looked to his disciples to help and sustain him by watching and praying with him.
FORGIVENESS Forgive us our sins as we also forgive everyone who sins against us Luke 11 v 4 Forgiveness is fundamental to the character of God. Throughout the Bible, God is described as slow to anger, abounding in love and forgiving sin. Jesus was uncompromising in his command to forgive. Forgive, he said, seventy times seven (Matthew 18:21). In other words, forgive and keep on forgiving without limit. Forgiveness was at the heart of everything he did. We forgive because we are forgiven. The parable of the Unjust Steward tells of a servant who was forgiven his large debt only to be condemned because he refused to forgive a small debt owed to him. Jesus said, Father forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing. Luke23 v 34 Forgiveness cannot be given or received unless it is asked for, and the asking must be genuine and from the heart. Too often sorry is said very easily, implying: All I need to do is say I m sorry and everything will be OK. Real repentance demands that we take what we have done wrong with the utmost seriousness and have a deep desire not to do it again.
HOPE Sometimes the everyday use of the word hope can be trivial. We hope that it will not rain for the picnic, or that the car will start or that the plumber will come tomorrow. At a deeper level, hope is a universal human phenomenon. People hope for peace in time of war; food in time of famine; justice in time of oppression. Where hope is lost there is despair and disintegration. Hope generates energy and The LORD is my rock, my fortress, and my saviour; my God is my rock, in whom I find protection. He is my shield, the power that saves me, and my place of safety. Psalm 18 v2 sustains people through difficult times. For some people, hope is so strong that it inspires self-sacrifice to turn hope into reality. True hope is a hope rooted in the love and faithfulness of God. Hope is not wishful thinking but a firm assurance that God can be relied upon. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love.. but the greatest of these is love.... 1 Corinthians 13 v 13 Christian hope means trusting in the loving purposes of God. It means believing that, ultimately, we are destined to share in that goodness because of what Jesus has done. He had to pass through the valley of the shadow of death but the victory has been won and our share in that victory is assured. Hope is not always spontaneous or easy. As well as trusting God, we have to develop qualities of steadfastness in our own character. Paul says: We know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. (Romans 5:3-4) Hope is coupled with faith and love as one of the three most enduring gifts of the Spirit (1 Corinthians 13:13).
HUMILITY Humility has a central place in Christ s teaching. It is contrasted with pride, where people ascribe to themselves the honour and glory which is God s alone. Ultimately, pride seeks to compete with God, whereas humility acknowledges that God is God and that we should live in trusting dependence upon God. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Ephesians 4 v 2 Throughout his teaching, Jesus uses a series of images and examples to encourage his disciples to take the lower place, or to wash each other s feet. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Philippians 2 v 3 The Christian doctrine of the Incarnation - the Son of God taking human flesh - is presented by Paul as the supreme act of humility in which Christ emptied himself and took the form of a slave (Philippians 2:5-11). The Bible makes it clear that God is on the side of the humble and against the proud. As Mary sings in the Magnificat, He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble (Luke 1:52).
JUSTICE Let justice flow like a river and righteousness like an everflowing stream. Amos 5 v 24 When thinking about justice, some people think first about giving wrongdoers the punishment they deserve. Justice evokes ideas of just deserts, the punishment fitting the crime, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. However, that would be a one-sided picture of justice. Justice also means giving all people - particularly the poor and oppressed - what it is right and fair for them to have: life, health, freedom and dignity. It is about acting out of a concern for what is And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. Micah 6 v 4 ` right and seeing right prevail. It is about social justice, especially for those who suffer most and are least able to protect themselves. Isaiah says: Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow (Isaiah 1:17). Justice is the plumb line by which society is measured (Isaiah 29:17). Justice is not about a culture which encourages everyone to insist on their own rights at the expense of others. It is about a community that knows that everyone s well-being is bound up with that of everyone else. A commitment to justice leads to fierce opposition to injustice in whatever form it may be found. Without justice there can be no peace.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. RECONCILIATION Working for peace and reconciliation are important roles for Christians. The word used for peace in the Old Testament is the word used today as a Hebrew greeting, Shalom! Shalom has a deep and complex meaning, encompassing much more than simply the absence of hostility or war. Shalom includes ideas of healing and health, wholeness and wellbeing. It means harmony, stability and security within a community. It refers to relationships based on truth and righteousness, where people flourish because they are nurtured. Matthew 5 v 19 In Jesus message, peace is an almost tangible element. It is his gift to his disciples. Paul describes God as the God of peace, the Christian message is called the gospel of peace and peace is one of the fruits of the Spirit. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. Colossians 3 v 15 ` In the Bible, the word peace is often used in parallel with the word righteousness. Peace cannot come by simply wishing it to be the case. Peace is founded on righteousness and justice. Christians are called to share in Christ s work of restoring wholeness through healing and reconciliation.
REVERENCE Ascribe to the Lord the glory of his name; worship the Lord in the splendour of his holiness. Psalm 29 v 2 As Moses approached the presence of God in the burning bush, God said to him: Do not come any closer. Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground. This scene captures something of the essence of reverence. Reverence is the proper human response to what is holy and sacred. It is related to awe and respect. It is this profound respect that is expressed in the Biblical phrase the fear of the Lord. This is not fear in the sense of terror or abject grovelling but a reverent acknowledgment of God s greatness and our complete dependence. Such reverence is the proper response to the mystery of life and death, or to the created world in which we live. This profound respect for God is the spring from which true worship flows. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honour one another above yourselves. Romans 12 v 10 Although only God is truly worthy of reverence and worship, the Bible also contains the related concept of honouring. We are asked to honour one another and one of the ten commandments instructs us to honour our father and mother.
SERVICE Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. John 13 v 14-15 many. Service and being a servant are ideas central to Christian belief. Some important prophecies in Isaiah speak of the coming Messiah as the Servant of the Lord and of his role as a suffering servant. That is why Jesus said that he came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for Jesus washed the feet of his disciples at the Last Supper. This turned upside down the normal relationship between master and disciple, leader and follower. In many ways, this astonishing action symbolizes the essence of the Incarnation: God stooping to share the human condition. Jesus is very clear about the meaning of his action: Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another s feet. I have set you an should do as I have done. example that you Serving God means serving others. It also means that we cannot serve other masters as well - such as money. However, the Christian message is equally clear that service is not all about restrictions. It is precisely in a life of service that we become most truly free. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. Philippians 2 v5-7
STEWARDSHIP God saw all that he had made and it was very good Genesis 1 v31 Belief in God as creator is not merely a belief about how everything began; it is the perspective from which we are to view all life including our own. It means that we place the highest value on this earth and see life as God s gift. In Genesis, God gives humans certain rights over his creation. With these rights, come responsibilities. We are stewards. A steward manages an estate on the owner s behalf. We have been given the earth to look after by God and to hold it in trust for future generations. If the earth is children and succeeding generations, this clearly places limits on how we treat the earth. There have always been elements in the Christian tradition to remind us of our responsibilities for the world. The Law of Moses made provision for a to sustain our When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? Psalm 8 v3-4 year s Sabbath rest for the land every seven years. Francis of Assisi addressed the sun, moon, earth, wind and water as his mother, sisters and brothers. Harvest and Rogation remind us of our dependence on the earth for our survival, and lead us to thank God as the ultimate source of all the earth s riches.
While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, Take it; this is my body. Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, and they all drank from it. Mark 14 v 22-3 THANKFULNESS Thankfulness has always been at the centre of the life and worship of God s people. Under the Law of Moses, there were not only sacrifices for forgiveness, there were thanks offerings as well. Praise and thankfulness are at the heart of Christian worship. Thankfulness is directed towards God who gives and sustains life. Seeing the world as God s creation underpins the way we approach everything in life, seeing it as a gift and not as a right. Thankfulness is important. Luke tells the story of the ten lepers who were healed and is probably challenging his readers to examine themselves when he tells of the amazement of Jesus that only one, a Samaritan, came back to thank him. (Luke 17:11-19). The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song. Psalm 28 v 7 For Christians the greatest of all acts of worship, the Eucharist, is simply called thanksgiving - eucharistia in Greek - thanksgiving for the death and resurrection of God s Son and the way of forgiveness that is opened up.
TRUTH Truthfulness and honesty are celebrated throughout the Old and New Testaments. Personal integrity and the need to speak the truth are important values for Christians. Truth is one of the elements of the armour of God described in Ephesians, Stand firm then with the belt of truth buckled around your waist. Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Saviour, and my hope is in you all day long. Psalm 25 v 5 Jesus came to show us truth and he leaves with us the Holy Spirit to help us to discern the truth, When the Spirit of Truth comes, he will guide us into all truth. Jesus is the source of all truth, I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. This means that, for Christians, intellectual integrity and allowing people the freedom to be true to what they believe are very important. Christians believe the search for truth will lead to God. The search for truth is not dangerous and unpalatable Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 1 Corinthians 13 v 6 truths need investigating; they are not something from which to turn away.
WISDOM There is a type of literature in the Bible that is sometimes called Wisdom Literature and an important idea in these writings is that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Wisdom is insight into the way life works: a proper understanding of the consequences of our thoughts, words and actions and an awareness of the true value of things. It is rooted in proper reverence for So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong 1Kings 3 v9 (Solomon s request for wisdom rather than power and wealth) God who is the source of all life and all values. Although related to education and knowledge, wisdom differs from cleverness. Wisdom may be best described as discernment gained through life experience and distilled into guiding principles. Sometimes, the word is used in the Bible to refer So God gave Solomon wisdom and very great insight and a breadth of understanding as measureless as the sand on the seashore. 1 Kings 4 v 29 to the practical and technical skills possessed by an experienced craftsperson or administrator. In the book of Proverbs, Wisdom is sometimes personified and, at one point, is spoken of as she who worked alongside God as a master craftsperson when God created the world. The wise person recognizes their own limitations, trusts in God and understands that there is more to life than may be seen on the surface.