Dear Friends:
Many of you are aware of the church’s invitation to each of us to consider becoming part of a “Dinners for Eight” group for at least the next four months. Those involved will become a new small group meeting together for dinner and to spend time together once a month.
Luke describes the earliest church, immediately following the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, in this way: “All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need. Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having the goodwill of all the people.” (Acts 2:44-47)
Whether Luke is portraying the ideal church or the actual church, it’s clear that followers of Jesus enjoyed and benefited from being with each other—so much so that their belonging in this new faith family redefined how they understood “family.”
Many of us are already plenty busy, and may feel like there’s not enough time to spend with the friends and family we already have. For many people, having others over for dinner feels like a huge burden. Many of us are already happily involved in a weekly small group, and this is fine.
But maybe you have noticed…we tend to enjoy spending time with one another on weekend retreats and at times other than Sunday morning—because then we make new friends and deepen our faith and our bonds with each other in delightful ways we had not anticipated. Our identity as disciples of Jesus in this faith family means we have something important in common with others we might never get to know or even associate with otherwise. Each of us began, at some point in the past, as one who knew almost no one in this church—and many of us have now come to love a number of others as we have spent time with them and progressed on our journey with them. Few of us suffer from too many close and trusted friends.
Those who sign up to take part in “Dinners for Eight” will be matched with other couples or individuals who will then decide on specifics for their “eight.” Some persons and couples enjoy the gift of hospitality: they love entertaining in their home and welcome others naturally. Others are shy to invite others over, but are happy to bring food for a potluck. Some groups may choose to show a movie after supper to view together and other groups may want to just chat. One group of “eight” might decide to meet bringing picnics overlooking the ocean while another might choose to meet in a restaurant. Children are by no means a disqualifier; you and your children will be assigned with others who have children and together your group can work out logistics.
If you are not yet a member, this might be a great opportunity to get to know some of us already involved in this church; if you’re a long-time member this might be a great opportunity for you to offer your time and maybe your home to help encourage and welcome those whom you don’t know yet so that they might one day covenant to join with us. (There’s no telling how long you might choose to meet—after the first four months it will be up to you. I remember when I began to get involved in my first church as an adult how impressed I was—and a bit envious—that one group of eight had been meeting for dinner every first Friday of the month for twelve years. They had developed a deep fondness for one another, seen each other through a lot of ups and downs, and this dinner still remained a great highlight to them all.)
I don’t know your schedule or your inclination—but I do know the Holy Spirit has a way of using and growing us in ways we never regret when we choose to “step out” and make ourselves available for God’s sake.
Please feel free to call me or Rev. Heather with any questions you may have about “Dinners for Eight” (949.202.6400x23, 22.) You may email back the sign-up form or simply phone in your desire to participate to Susan in the church office (x21) - whichever method of communication is preferable to you - but please do so by this Thursday since we will designate groups this Sunday—Pentecost. (And don’t forget to wear red!)
God bless you,
Chip
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