SS COMUNITY 1

Community 1

Illus: decapitated head.

Loving Jesus without living the church is like ordering a mail order bride but only requesting the head.

Church is full of hypocrites. Good you will fit in. Ha.

Are children perfect? Does that mean we don’t love them. We just have dolls instead?

We live in the most connected time in world history, yet as a society we are as isolated as we have ever been.

Social Media gives the illusion of community. Like eating ice when you are hungry.

Our culture is cultivating individualism which bares fruit in loneliness.

John 13:35 CSB

By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

John 17:20–23 CSB

“I pray not only for these, but also for those who believe in me through their word. May they all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us, so that the world may believe you sent me. I have given them the glory you have given me, so that they may be one as we are one. I am in them and you are in me, so that they may be made completely one, that the world may know you have sent me and have loved them as you have loved me.

John 20:21 CSB

Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you. As the Father has sent me, I also send you.”

Matthew 28:19–20 CSB

Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Break out:

What do you normally substitute for community?

What personal barriers have you created to community?

What unhealthy ways have you processed loneliness?

Individualism/Consumerism

Commitment even amidst discomfort, faithfulness even amidst disappointment: this is what being the people of God has always been about.

Do marriages work when you are both selfish?

Comfort. We grow most outside of our comfort zone.

“Growth happens when we push ourselves outside of our comfort zone and allow our confidence and assumptions to be shaken”

“A true gospel community is pushing each other forward in holiness and striving together for the kingdom, joining along in the ongoing work of the Spirit in this world.”

Community is about commitment rather than consumerism. Serving. Filling needs.

Quote:

Communities centered on the gospel fly in the face of isolation and yet convey the grace-filled inclusion that we so desperately desire. These communities bring with them the answer the world is hungry for. It is a community that invites others to feast at the Lord’s table.

The common ground and foundation for community is Jesus. It is the mercy that we receive in Christ that brings us together.

Romans 12 CSB

Therefore, brothers and sisters, in view of the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your true worship. Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God. For by the grace given to me, I tell everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he should think. Instead, think sensibly, as God has distributed a measure of faith to each one. Now as we have many parts in one body, and all the parts do not have the same function, in the same way we who are many are one body in Christ and individually members of one another. According to the grace given to us, we have different gifts: If prophecy, use it according to the proportion of one’s faith; if service, use it in service; if teaching, in teaching; if exhorting, in exhortation; giving, with generosity; leading, with diligence; showing mercy, with cheerfulness. Let love be without hypocrisy. Detest evil; cling to what is good. Love one another deeply as brothers and sisters. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not lack diligence in zeal; be fervent in the Spirit; serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope; be patient in affliction; be persistent in prayer. Share with the saints in their needs; pursue hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud; instead, associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own estimation. Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Give careful thought to do what is honorable in everyone’s eyes. If possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Friends, do not avenge yourselves; instead, leave room for God’s wrath, because it is written, Vengeance belongs to me; I will repay, says the Lord. But If your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him something to drink. For in so doing you will be heaping fiery coals on his head. Do not be conquered by evil, but conquer evil with good.

Romans 12:1–13 CSB

Therefore, brothers and sisters, in view of the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your true worship. Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God. For by the grace given to me, I tell everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he should think. Instead, think sensibly, as God has distributed a measure of faith to each one. Now as we have many parts in one body, and all the parts do not have the same function, in the same way we who are many are one body in Christ and individually members of one another. According to the grace given to us, we have different gifts: If prophecy, use it according to the proportion of one’s faith; if service, use it in service; if teaching, in teaching; if exhorting, in exhortation; giving, with generosity; leading, with diligence; showing mercy, with cheerfulness. Let love be without hypocrisy. Detest evil; cling to what is good. Love one another deeply as brothers and sisters. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not lack diligence in zeal; be fervent in the Spirit; serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope; be patient in affliction; be persistent in prayer. Share with the saints in their needs; pursue hospitality.

Paul explains the biblical foundation for community.

illustrates how we live together in community.

We glory in other things than Christ and it fractures community.

When we rightly live in community it transforms us.