Consider Committing…

On Sunday I talked more specifically about what the "consider committing" piece of our Lenten experience might look like. I shared three kinds of commitment in particular, suggesting, depending on where we're at, that God might lead us to make a commitment to:

1. Extend Lenten commitments. A lot of this stuff we're taking on during Lent is good year-round. if you're new to prayer, perhaps during this season, you'll find that God is leading you to continue to intentionally invest in praying in one or more of the directions described above. If you don't normally take time to read the Bible, perhaps during this season, you'll find that God is leading you to continue reading even after our six weeks are up. Either of those would be great commitments to consider if that's where you're at.
2. Get baptized. Baptism is an ancient rite of the Church, publicly marking a decision to pursue Jesus. I know there are already a couple folks up for getting baptized later this spring, a couple weeks after our six weeks are up (4/17?). As we encounter God together in prayer and in Scripture, consider whether God might be leading you to take this step to commit to pursuing Him this way.
3. Invest in what God’s doing at ECV by adopting the ECV community covenant. With various groups of leaders in our church, we've been considering whether God is leading us as a church to articulate concretely our commitments to Him and to one another as we build God's church in ECV. The community covenant expresses our best shot at describing the commitments we sense God calling us to make to one another as we try to orient our lives around Jesus. I really think that this avenue for commitment will be an important one for us in this season.
   

Now, especially that last opportunity for commitment—the community covenant—has raised a lot of questions for different folks. What is it? Perhaps, more to the point, what isn't it (I suggested Sunday that it is not about legalism, or drawing a boundary around our community, or institutionalism).

Basically, what we're hoping for all of the commitments we're considering during Lent is this: that they will serve as opportunities for us to make decisions to orient our lives around Jesus—and support one another as we do so. If you have questions about what the covenant means for you, if you didn't catch the sermon Sunday, check that out; it's available online. And if you still have questions, you should have an opportunity to talk things through in homegroup this week—and, of course, you can feel free to contact me (matt at elmcityvineyard.org) with any lingering questions.

I'm really excited to see what God will say to us as we consider committing in these various ways, taking steps to orient our lives around Jesus. I sense that this is just another step in the good things that God is building in us and through us at ECV. I'm so glad to be a part of it.