(Re) Introducing Creekside's Acts 6 team
By Steve Gregg
The early chapters of Acts describe the birth of the church: the miraculous outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, and Peter and the Apostles’ preaching and miraculous ministry all resulting in thousands of people responding to the Gospel and the growth of the Church. In the midst of this growth, the book of Acts tells us there was a moment when the unity and cohesion of the church was threatened. A group of widows in the church who were culturally Hellenistic (Greek) weren’t receiving a share of the benevolence from the church as the culturally Jewish widows were. This led to the first recorded dispute in the church.
A few years ago Creekside had its own Acts 6 moment. The elders received word that some brothers and sisters in our church family from different cultural backgrounds found at times that Creekside was a difficult place to be. These folks loved the church, but at times felt like outsiders in their own church family. The elders called together a team to make it a priority to pray for and discuss what Creekside could do to strengthen our unity across racial and ethnic lines in our church. As the group met, they also considered how we could strengthen unity among other churches in Gainesville.
This group was initially called the Racial Reconciliation team, but given its mission they have decided to change the name to Creekside’s Acts 6 team. This fall the team will host sermon discussion sessions after our Pizza lunches in September (3rd) and October (1st). These gatherings will give us the chance to discuss how Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount informs our thoughts and actions in this area.
Jesus told His disciples that one of the ways the world would know that the Father had truly sent Him would be by watching His followers love each other. (John 13). This is especially true when the world sees folks from a variety of backgrounds loving and caring for each other. We want to make sure that we do all to protect the unity that is ours in Christ as well as model for the world the transformative power of the Good News.
If you want to know more, feel free to reach out to one of the team members: Tatiana Estrada, Kim and Steve Gregg, Bob Hargrave, Wendy Hofer, Kwando Lynch, Patrick and Allison Sell, Bill and Beth Spencer, and Marilyn Youngquist.
The early chapters of Acts describe the birth of the church: the miraculous outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, and Peter and the Apostles’ preaching and miraculous ministry all resulting in thousands of people responding to the Gospel and the growth of the Church. In the midst of this growth, the book of Acts tells us there was a moment when the unity and cohesion of the church was threatened. A group of widows in the church who were culturally Hellenistic (Greek) weren’t receiving a share of the benevolence from the church as the culturally Jewish widows were. This led to the first recorded dispute in the church.
A few years ago Creekside had its own Acts 6 moment. The elders received word that some brothers and sisters in our church family from different cultural backgrounds found at times that Creekside was a difficult place to be. These folks loved the church, but at times felt like outsiders in their own church family. The elders called together a team to make it a priority to pray for and discuss what Creekside could do to strengthen our unity across racial and ethnic lines in our church. As the group met, they also considered how we could strengthen unity among other churches in Gainesville.
This group was initially called the Racial Reconciliation team, but given its mission they have decided to change the name to Creekside’s Acts 6 team. This fall the team will host sermon discussion sessions after our Pizza lunches in September (3rd) and October (1st). These gatherings will give us the chance to discuss how Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount informs our thoughts and actions in this area.
Jesus told His disciples that one of the ways the world would know that the Father had truly sent Him would be by watching His followers love each other. (John 13). This is especially true when the world sees folks from a variety of backgrounds loving and caring for each other. We want to make sure that we do all to protect the unity that is ours in Christ as well as model for the world the transformative power of the Good News.
If you want to know more, feel free to reach out to one of the team members: Tatiana Estrada, Kim and Steve Gregg, Bob Hargrave, Wendy Hofer, Kwando Lynch, Patrick and Allison Sell, Bill and Beth Spencer, and Marilyn Youngquist.