Author: Elizabeth Mullins

Citizens of God’s kingdom embrace God as triune and relational and strive to spend our time in a way that prioritizes relationships and invests in people. We ask the Spirit to empower us to live relational lives, seeking proximity to others. We believe a fitting response to God’s love is to generously give our time to others as an offering. May we waste time on others in the prodigal sense — lavishing and expending extravagantly!

We invite you to read below a spiritual formation article from Publications Editor, Elizabeth Mullins. It was adapted from the Equipper article, Killing Time.

It’s always a good practice to reflect on Jesus’ mission and my participation in it. I believe fellowship is a spiritual discipline, but am I devoted to it? A good formation practice for me is to regularly contemplate whether the way I spend my time prioritizes relationships.

One way I am being conformed to Christ is through relationships. Hanging out with others is how I pursue belonging and connection and build meaningful community. Often the connection that the Spirit intercedes between or among people cannot be planned for and cannot be hurried. Have I made room for availability and spontaneity?

Here are some reflections about cultivating the spiritual discipline of fellowship. May they serve as prompts as you discern with the Spirit.

• • • How much unscheduled time do I have? Why? How am I spending it?
    • When do I choose comfort, simplicity, solitude? When does that choice contribute to my formation in Christ? Is it ever a hindrance?
    • Am I ordering my life around the convenience of privacy and an uninterrupted schedule? Are there ways it has led to isolation?
    • How am I drawing a “wider circle” — wider than my family, my home, my preferred friend group? (Jesus widened our image of family — creating a new family, God’s household. Ephesians 2)
    • Reflect on the last time you spent time with a toddler or an elder. What do they have to teach me about the way we keep time? Are there ways we can celebrate inefficiency?
    • What story is my timekeeping telling? If a stranger observed my bodily rituals, what might they decide that I worship?
    • How might the Spirit be inviting me to create just a little more space and margin for killing time with other people?

Kingdom Living looks like faithfully investing time in people.

Read below about three initiatives in GCI India for examples of this type of investment.

Bible Study Fellowship in Bachupally
The GCI India Hyderabad congregation continues to extend pastoral care and spiritual nourishment beyond the church premises. A group of four families residing in Bachupally, a distant part of the city, have been receiving monthly Bible study and fellowship visits from Pastor Praveen Chinta.

These gatherings include 12 adults and children. They are held in rotation at each family’s home. The meetings are filled with joyful participation, heartfelt worship, and deep reflection on God’s Word. The families have expressed how much they miss regular fellowship with the larger congregation but are thankful for this opportunity to grow together in faith and unity.

Through these monthly visits, GCI India continues to nurture spiritual growth and strengthen the bonds of Christian fellowship, ensuring that distance never separates God’s people from his love or his word. The church is prayerfully hopeful that this small fellowship in Bachupally will continue to grow and, in time, become a thriving GCI congregation serving that part of the city.

Equipping for the Lord’s Harvest
Grace Communion Church Hyderabad, in partnership with RHEMA Glob-al, joyfully completed its 53-day Pastoral Training School held from June 2 to July 25.

The participants graduated, equipped with foundational theological education, pastoral care, and missional training to serve the Lord and his people.

Pastor Praveen, who coordinated the training, expressed heartfelt thanks to GCI India for their generous support and encouragement throughout the program. The Lord said, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.” Matthew 9:37. Let us continue to pray for these new laborers as they go forth to serve in the vineyard of the Lord!

Ecumenical Equipping in Vijayawada
Pastor Praveen has begun volunteering his time equipping co-laborers in Vijayawada. Though many of them have not received formal pastoral training, they are faithfully ministering in their local churches (non-GCI). They show a deep hunger to learn more about Scripture, theology, missional living, and pastoral care.

On October 10, 25 participants attended the first class. Pastor Praveen taught on Bible Study Methods and Rules of Interpretation through the Lord’s Prayer, while Pastor Moorthy from Guntur helped translate into Telugu. The students participated with great enthusiasm and a genuine thirst for the word of God, deeply encouraging the teaching team.

Your prayers are requested for the continued success of this training, that it may strengthen churches in the region and raise up more faithful leaders for the kingdom.

As GCI India continues to live out its motto “Be Blessed and Become a Blessing,” this initiative stands as a testimony to God’s ongoing work in equipping his people and spreading the light of the gospel in local communities.

Jesus used parables as one of the primary means of teaching about his kingdom. “Parables became one of the primary ways Jesus disrupted the default way of thinking in his culture. The word parable (parabole) comes from two Greek words that mean ‘to place or throw beside.’ Para means ‘beside’, as in parallel lines; bole means ‘to throw or to place.’ Teaching by parable means placing two things next to each other in order to learn more about them through contrast and comparison.”[1]

The parables challenge us to think about our beliefs and values, in light of the culture of the kingdom. Even the disciples had difficulty in understanding the parables when first given. After giving the Parable of the Sower, Mark records:

Later, when Jesus was alone with the twelve disciples and with the others who were gathered around, they asked him what the parables meant. Mark 4:10 NLT

Jesus then went on to explain the meaning of the parable. If we ask Jesus to teach us, he does. Ask him.

There is so much we can all learn from studying, discussing, and sharing the kingdom parables, and in so doing, we repent. We change the way we think, as we come to understand more about Jesus, his kingdom culture, and our living as citizens of the kingdom of God.

Prayer
Thank you, Father, Son, and Spirit, for including us in your life and kingdom. Help us, Jesus, to change our minds, to repent. Your teaching, healing, and sacrificial love, has revealed the glory and beauty of your kingdom. Spirit, teach us. Give us wisdom to understand your parables. We’re grateful that we don’t need to perfectly understand the meaning of your parables to be included in your kingdom. Amen.

By Bob Regazzoli, Pastor
Carina, Queensland, Australia

[1] Willard, D. (2024). The Scandal of the Kingdom: How the Parables of Jesus Revolutionize Life with God. Zondervan.

Citizens of God’s kingdom appreciate the importance of multiplying leaders. Ministry Training Centers bring increased focus to the development of emergent leaders in GCI.

Apprenticing and mentoring the next generation to participate meaningfully in Jesus’ ministry is an act of stewardship for the future. It presents an opportunity for mutual learning and fresh expressions of ministry in response to the Spirit. Ultimately, investment in emergent leadership is a natural outflow of healthy church rhythms.

What is a Ministry Training Center?

Read an interview discussing benefits of creating a learning center like an MTC.