Welcome One Another
“What surprised us was how welcoming everyone was our first Sunday. We then visited an MC for the first time and people were calling, texting, and inviting us to things. It felt like family.”
Someone shared this testimony in a recent New City Class. The New City Class is a monthly class where people who have been visiting with us can learn more about partnership (what we call membership).
This drove home to me how important it is to be a warm and hospitable church family. People can tell when they are genuinely being welcomed and invited to be a part of a family. The motivation here should flow from the truth of the gospel.
The gospel tells us that through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, all who believe have the right to call God their Father (Jn. 1:12). This also means that the church is a family - brothers and sisters in Christ. A healthy family is one where there is love and a strong sense of belonging. If this is true of earthly families, how much more should it be true of the family of God?!
The gospel also reminds us that God has given us the greatest welcome of all time! Because Jesus has made full payment for sin and has risen, victorious over sin, death, and Satan, we can approach the Father boldly through faith in Jesus and what He has done for us (Eph. 3:12).
In Christ, God welcomes those who were dead in sin and far from Him. Not because they auditioned for his favor and made a good impression, but because by grace he receives those who trust not in themselves but in Him and His mercy. He takes the spiritually dead and makes them alive. He takes lawbreakers with no hope of ever “tipping the scales” in their favor and fully forgives them and counts them as righteous in Christ. He takes those who were once His enemies and adopts them into His family as beloved children.
This was the good news the Apostle Paul shared with the church of Ephesus:
“But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.”-Ephesians 2:13
For Paul, this same gospel spoke not only to what they were saved from, but also the new life they were saved to:
“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”- Eph. 2:10
As God’s workmanship in Christ, welcoming others in a way that reflects His welcome of us in Jesus is one of the good works the Father has prepared for us to walk in!
This was the gospel-centered motivation that Paul used to exhort the church in Rome to welcome one another in Christ as family:
“Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.”-Romans 15:7
The context of the passage makes clear that Paul did not only mean a nice, one-time greeting at the front door. It was a call to be family and to love and accept one another in Christ. It was a call for the strong to bear with the failings of the weak and to seek the common good by building up one another (Rom. 15:1-2).
This in no way minimizes the importance of a 1st time, initial greeting - it is very important! However, that initial welcome should be a genuine invitation to an ongoing welcoming of one another in the church, motivated and made possible by the Father’s welcome of us in Christ.
At New City, we encourage all of our Partners to participate in this initial and ongoing welcome of one another and those God sends us, either on Sunday mornings or to our Missional Community (our version of small group) Family Gatherings!
On Sunday mornings, our Connect Team leads us in greeting and hospitality! This team welcomes our Partners and visitors with a smile and warm cup of coffee. They also do so many things behind the scenes to make sure our building is ready for worship- bathroom checks, signage, coffee and water, communion preparation, etc. They engage our visitors and help them connect with the church by answering their questions, introducing them to Missional Community leaders, and informing them of different ways to serve and be involved!
We are grateful for them and their example of what it looks like to welcome others in light of God’s welcome of us in Christ.
If you would like more information about serving with the Connect Team, email me at rhett@newcitymacon.org, or visit our website at https://www.newcitymacon.org/serve!