Shoemaker: a redemptive community

Friday, July 3, 2020
    Feast of Thomas the Apostle
Meditation:
    Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification.
    —Romans 14:19 (NIV)
Quotation:
    There are, I should say, four elements in a redemptive community. It is personal, with things happening between people as well as to and in them individually; it is compassionate, always eager to help, observant but nonjudgmental toward others, breathing out hope and concern; it is creative, with imagination about each one in the group and its work as a whole, watching for authentic new vision coming from any of them; and it is expectant, always seeking to offer to God open and believing hearts and minds through which He can work out His will, either in the sometimes startling miracles He gives or in steady purpose through long stretches where there is no special “opening.” It may fairly be said that unless one enmeshes himself in this “redemptive fellowship” of the church, he lessens his chances of steady growth and effectiveness, in his Christian life and experience.
    ... Samuel M. Shoemaker (1893-1963), The Experiment of Faith, New York: Harper, 1957, p. 34 (see the book)
    See also Rom. 14:19; Ps. 32:2; Rom. 12:15; 1 Cor. 10:24; Eph. 4:11-16; Phil. 2:3-4; 1 Tim. 4:6-7; 2 Tim. 4:3; Heb. 13:9; 1 Pet. 1:22; 1 John 2:19; 3:18; 4:1
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, we look to You to shape Your people as You will. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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