The Good and Beautiful Community: Following the Spirit, Extending Grace, Demonstrating Love (The Apprentice Series)<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.assoc-amazon.com\/e\/ir?t=jescre-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0830835334\")
<\/em><\/strong>. His 4th characteristic is that a good and beautiful community is characterized by unity with Christians because we are Christ-centered and in Christ we are one.<\/p>\nHow can we practice more oneness? What steps are you, pastors, taking?<\/strong><\/p>\nHere\u2019s a tough one:
\n
\nIf we disagree, we must divide; we can only be united if we are united in theology. <\/strong>Why are we afraid of one another?<\/strong><\/p>\nHere\u2019s the next tough one:<\/p>\n
We are one in Christ. That oneness means we can fellowship with one another.<\/p>\n
Jesus: I pray they will be one. Paul: We are one in Christ.<\/p>\n
There is one cup, one loaf, one body. We are to have one mind.<\/p>\n
The final tough one:<\/p>\n
In essentials we are to have unity; in non-essentials we can have diversity through charity. It\u2019s not that things on which we differ are not important; it\u2019s that they are not important enough to divide over.<\/p>\n
We should be united in gender, race and socio-economic status.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Quite the story in this chp: James Smith was invited to speak to a group of denominational leaders; they wanted him to speak about spiritual formation; he began with a funny story and then by listing the various “means of grace” that were part of the spiritual formation movement.<\/p>\n
It all went downhill from there, including a leader standing up and turning his chair around to turn his back to Smith; a few left; 55 minutes into his four-hour session he took a break; he was told it was not going well; he asked to leave; they took him to the airport. <\/p>\n
What to learn from this one? (Beside the obvious: learn the theology of the group you are addressing.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":197,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[484],"tags":[17077,2020,2080],"class_list":["post-8490","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-church","tag-church","tag-james-bryan-smith","tag-unity"],"yoast_head":"\n
Spiritual Disciplines ... for a Church 4<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Quite the story in this chp: James Smith was invited to speak to a group of denominational leaders; they wanted him to speak about spiritual formation; he began with a funny story and then by listing the various "means of grace" that were part of the spiritual formation movement. It all went downhill from there, including a leader standing up and turning his chair around to turn his back to Smith; a few left; 55 minutes into his four-hour session he took a break; he was told it was not going well; he asked to leave; they took him to the airport. What to learn from this one? (Beside the obvious: learn the theology of the group you are addressing.)\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2010\/09\/24\/spiritual-disciplines-for-a-church-4\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Spiritual Disciplines ... for a Church 4\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Quite the story in this chp: James Smith was invited to speak to a group of denominational leaders; they wanted him to speak about spiritual formation; he began with a funny story and then by listing the various "means of grace" that were part of the spiritual formation movement. It all went downhill from there, including a leader standing up and turning his chair around to turn his back to Smith; a few left; 55 minutes into his four-hour session he took a break; he was told it was not going well; he asked to leave; they took him to the airport. What to learn from this one? (Beside the obvious: learn the theology of the group you are addressing.)\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2010\/09\/24\/spiritual-disciplines-for-a-church-4\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Jesus Creed\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2010-09-24T05:06:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2010-09-28T18:36:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.assoc-amazon.com\/e\/ir?t=jescre-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0830835334\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Scot McKnight\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Scot McKnight\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2010\/09\/24\/spiritual-disciplines-for-a-church-4\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2010\/09\/24\/spiritual-disciplines-for-a-church-4\/\",\"name\":\"Spiritual Disciplines ... for a Church 4\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2010-09-24T05:06:34+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2010-09-28T18:36:47+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#\/schema\/person\/5919e847c58ffe6efb5899fb61797252\"},\"description\":\"Quite the story in this chp: James Smith was invited to speak to a group of denominational leaders; they wanted him to speak about spiritual formation; he began with a funny story and then by listing the various \\\"means of grace\\\" that were part of the spiritual formation movement. It all went downhill from there, including a leader standing up and turning his chair around to turn his back to Smith; a few left; 55 minutes into his four-hour session he took a break; he was told it was not going well; he asked to leave; they took him to the airport. What to learn from this one? (Beside the obvious: learn the theology of the group you are addressing.)\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2010\/09\/24\/spiritual-disciplines-for-a-church-4\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2010\/09\/24\/spiritual-disciplines-for-a-church-4\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2010\/09\/24\/spiritual-disciplines-for-a-church-4\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Spiritual Disciplines … for a Church 4\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/\",\"name\":\"Jesus Creed\",\"description\":\"Scot McKnight on Jesus and orthodox faith in the 21st century\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#\/schema\/person\/5919e847c58ffe6efb5899fb61797252\",\"name\":\"Scot McKnight\",\"description\":\"Scot McKnight is a recognized authority on the New Testament, early Christianity, and the historical Jesus. McKnight, author of more than fifty books, is the Professor of New Testament at Northern Seminary in Lombard, IL.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/author\/scotmcknight\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Spiritual Disciplines ... for a Church 4","description":"Quite the story in this chp: James Smith was invited to speak to a group of denominational leaders; they wanted him to speak about spiritual formation; he began with a funny story and then by listing the various \"means of grace\" that were part of the spiritual formation movement. It all went downhill from there, including a leader standing up and turning his chair around to turn his back to Smith; a few left; 55 minutes into his four-hour session he took a break; he was told it was not going well; he asked to leave; they took him to the airport. What to learn from this one? (Beside the obvious: learn the theology of the group you are addressing.)","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2010\/09\/24\/spiritual-disciplines-for-a-church-4\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Spiritual Disciplines ... for a Church 4","og_description":"Quite the story in this chp: James Smith was invited to speak to a group of denominational leaders; they wanted him to speak about spiritual formation; he began with a funny story and then by listing the various \"means of grace\" that were part of the spiritual formation movement. It all went downhill from there, including a leader standing up and turning his chair around to turn his back to Smith; a few left; 55 minutes into his four-hour session he took a break; he was told it was not going well; he asked to leave; they took him to the airport. What to learn from this one? (Beside the obvious: learn the theology of the group you are addressing.)","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2010\/09\/24\/spiritual-disciplines-for-a-church-4\/","og_site_name":"Jesus Creed","article_published_time":"2010-09-24T05:06:34+00:00","article_modified_time":"2010-09-28T18:36:47+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.assoc-amazon.com\/e\/ir?t=jescre-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0830835334"}],"author":"Scot McKnight","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Scot McKnight","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2010\/09\/24\/spiritual-disciplines-for-a-church-4\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2010\/09\/24\/spiritual-disciplines-for-a-church-4\/","name":"Spiritual Disciplines ... for a Church 4","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#website"},"datePublished":"2010-09-24T05:06:34+00:00","dateModified":"2010-09-28T18:36:47+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#\/schema\/person\/5919e847c58ffe6efb5899fb61797252"},"description":"Quite the story in this chp: James Smith was invited to speak to a group of denominational leaders; they wanted him to speak about spiritual formation; he began with a funny story and then by listing the various \"means of grace\" that were part of the spiritual formation movement. It all went downhill from there, including a leader standing up and turning his chair around to turn his back to Smith; a few left; 55 minutes into his four-hour session he took a break; he was told it was not going well; he asked to leave; they took him to the airport. What to learn from this one? (Beside the obvious: learn the theology of the group you are addressing.)","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2010\/09\/24\/spiritual-disciplines-for-a-church-4\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2010\/09\/24\/spiritual-disciplines-for-a-church-4\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2010\/09\/24\/spiritual-disciplines-for-a-church-4\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Spiritual Disciplines … for a Church 4"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/","name":"Jesus Creed","description":"Scot McKnight on Jesus and orthodox faith in the 21st century","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#\/schema\/person\/5919e847c58ffe6efb5899fb61797252","name":"Scot McKnight","description":"Scot McKnight is a recognized authority on the New Testament, early Christianity, and the historical Jesus. McKnight, author of more than fifty books, is the Professor of New Testament at Northern Seminary in Lombard, IL.","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/author\/scotmcknight\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8490","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/197"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8490"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8490\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8490"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8490"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8490"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}