Growing Together: Belonging That Shapes Who We Become

This Sunday at Myrtle House Community Church we began a brand-new series called Growing Together, where over the coming weeks we’ll explore five vital areas of church life: Belonging, Discipleship, Leadership, Mission, and Prayer. Bill Chapman opened the series by focusing on the first and foundational theme—Belonging.

Belonging isn’t a soft extra in the life of faith; it’s essential. Bill reminded us that belonging leads to believing. When we belong together, our faith grows deeper, wider, and stronger. People often don’t first read what we believe in a statement of faith—they read it in how we speak, how we behave, and how we treat one another. Loyalty keeps us following, even when life becomes uncomfortable.

Loving God and loving others isn’t just a command to obey; it’s at the very heart of how the Kingdom of God impacts our families, our communities, and our land. God’s desire has always been to place people in healthy community. We are invited into God’s family—a place where we belong, and where we can truly believe that we are loved.

When we spend time with people who know they are loved by God, that confidence changes us. God’s love begins to show through our words, actions, and attitudes. Others start to see the love of God at work in us.

To illustrate this, Bill took us to the story of Mephibosheth and King David. Mephibosheth’s life began in tragedy. Crippled as a child, he lived in exile—hidden, ashamed, and without hope. Yet in 2 Samuel 9, we see a stunning act of kindness. King David seeks him out, invites him to the royal table, restores what was lost, and gives him a place of honour. David didn’t simply show mercy—he offered belonging.

That belonging changed everything.

Because David valued Mephibosheth, loyalty grew in his heart. Even through pain, betrayal, and misunderstanding, Mephibosheth remained faithful. He knew he belonged. And because he belonged, he believed he was worth loving. That belief shaped his character and his response to hardship.

Scripture tells us that loyalty is rare and precious. Proverbs reminds us that loyalty is a choice—it requires reliability, kindness, and faithfulness. Loyalty and kindness are inseparable, and when they are written deep within our hearts, they become a powerful witness to others.

Bill also challenged us with a sobering truth: pain and pleasure can both rob us of loyalty if we allow them to. When we prioritise ourselves above all else, we often miss the greatest opportunity—to glorify God by loving others well.

Mephibosheth was brought from a place of hopelessness into a place of honour because of kindness and loyalty—David’s loyalty to a promise, and Mephibosheth’s loyalty rooted in belonging. It’s a picture of how God welcomes us, and how we are called to welcome others.

As we begin this Growing Together series, the invitation is clear. Let us be people who help others belong. Let us cultivate communities marked by loyalty and kindness. Because when people truly belong, they begin to believe—and that belief changes everything.