'Next week' appears to be a relative term it seems in my life at least at this point. I have not forgotten. Although it may have appeared I had forsaken the blog topic of 'church membership', I am back. Amidst the technical challenges as well as personal time challenges, I have returned.

So I suppose in the last blog I gave some basis both from the bible as well as our current cultural context as to why membership is important. I'd like to focus the attention to a more localized setting. And use three questions that are raised in a video that I will provide a link to at the end of the blog. The first question is "Can Southside Community Church impact the culture of Riverbend?". The second question is "Should Southside Community Church impact the culture of Riverbend?". The final question is "How should Southside Community Church impact the culture of Riverbend?".

If you watch the video on 'the church in culture' by Stanley you will rapidly be able to answer the first two questions. The third question requires much more thought, prayer and dialogue. This really is where the local church membership factor comes into play. You see membership requires a conscious choice to made. We need to ask 'Am I ready to stand in the fray with a local body and pray, work, dialogue and support the body as they seek to discover, and become what God has called them to be in their community?'. This is where the term "intentional community" moves from a descriptive phrase to a 'verb'. We by choice choose to discuss, pray, give, discover, work and support the work we believe God is leading us into in this community and in the world.

http://www.humyo.com/!#/9955259/roundthebendviews/

Questions I have for us as a faith community that ties to the video are...

1. Which affinity do you believe SCC is closest to grace or truth?

2. In what way(s) should we be preservers of culture in Riverbend?

3. In what way(s) should we be active in reflecting what God is like in this community?

Please answer any or all of these. You may have some ideas stirred up listening to the audio (mp3) Every Monday Matters.

I look forward to your thoughts and comments... wesm@southsidecommunitychurch.com