Central Abbotsford

In Hebrews 10:24, the author challenges us to “consider how to stir up one another to love and good works.” The phrase “stir up” is a curious one in the original Greek – it is the word paroxysmos, from which we get the relatively uncommon English word “paroxysm”, meaning “a sudden attack or violent expression of a particular emotion or activity” – not usually a good thing!

In fact, the only other time this word is used in the Bible is in a very negative sense: in Acts 15, Paul and John Mark have such a sharp paroxysmos between them that they end up separating from one another to pursue their ministry callings hundreds of miles away from one another (before eventually reconciling).

Whether used in the positive or the negative sense, however, stirring one another up seems to require one thing at minimum: being in close proximity to one another. This is something that we try to facilitate at Central Abbotsford throughout our time together, from dinner through dessert.

It is also our hope that as you stir one another up to love and good works, you’re not always stirring the same people up every week. Don’t get me wrong – I love that people have made deep and abiding friendships with one another in this place, and I want those bonds to be fostered regularly. But I also know that the shadow side of a group that is close to one another is that it can be hard for a new person to join in.

Thankfully, I haven’t seen that in my time at Central Abby! I know of a number of people who started coming here after my tenure as pastor began, and have been welcomed into the fold warmly and readily – and for that I thank and commend you all!

Now, if you ever find yourself in a situation where you’re at the dinner table with someone new, you might find it a bit awkward to start a conversation. After all, not everyone is an extrovert (I’m certainly not).

If you are at Central Abby regularly for dinner, you might have noticed that we have a few different centrepieces on our tables. Maybe the stands with pictures on them have captured your attention (or you’ve at least taken a look through them to see if you’re featured somewhere). Maybe you’ve taken a peek at one of the QR codes directing you to our Serve Team application form (we can always use more helping hands!). But one of those triangular stands is filled with icebreaker questions! 

We’ve actually had these questions on the tables for the last few months now – so I’m interested to know: are they working? Have you noticed them? Have you asked someone any of the questions on them (or been asked one of the questions)? Have you learned anything new about someone from these questions? I’m interested to know! Send me an email at eheath@northview.org to tell me your success story!

And, above all, keep up the paroxysmos! The good kind, at least.