Love and Community

Love Wins  •  Sermon  •  Submitted   •  Presented   •  32:41
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Good morning! we are in our series entitled love wins…last week we talked about, “love and friendship."
We looked at the importance of intimate friendships. The Power of friendship and the making of friends… We talking about those 3-5 people in our lives —whom we define as close and intimate friends…
We looked the example David and Jonathan --- in 1 Samuel 18 We told that the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David… that they made a covenant… Jonathan loved David as his own soul… They enjoyed a relationship where there was this intimate Connection and commitment to each other…which lasted their entire lives… these kinds of friends can and should last for a life time! they are there for the duration…
Today we going to talk about love and community
In the church we have both Close and Casual friendship… we have both acquaintances and intimate friendship.. How do we navigate, reconcile and build these types of relationships..
The first thing is that we need to do is appreciate all the kinds of friendships … whether it's acquaintances .. casual , close or intimate .... they are all valuable. We need to celebrate one another because every potential friendship is a gift and blessing from God..
R.C. Ryle says…
Good friends are among our greatest blessings – they may keep us back from much evil, quicken us in our course, speak a word in season, draw us upward, and draw us on. – J.C. Ryle
We should pursue intimate friendships and intentionally build community with our acquanences and casual friends...
How do we do this?
T/s The first thing we should establish is..

1. Our need for Healthy Community.

Each of us had three basic emotional needs.
1. Every one of us has a need for someone to love and someone to love us.
2. We also all need somebody who understands us, who knows how we feel.
3. And then we desire somebody who wants us and needs us. We need to be needed.
We have go to recognize these are intrinsics needs ..that are met within the context of community..We all need to have a sense of belonging, to a family, a community, a circle of friends, etc
David said in psalms 68:6 God settles the solitary in a home… he puts the lonely in families...
Here is the thing… we all have this temptation to say I don’t need anyone outside of my immediate circle.. my family…friends… we are quite happy within this space. but...
There is short sightedness in this kind of thinking… can you imagine how far you would have got in life without a greater community…
Think through all those people in your life that have made an impact… There are teachers, mentors, professors, colleagues.. who have all taught us something… You see our knowledge in life did not come from one place.. it wasn’t a one stop shop… it comes from many life experiences and interactions...
The saying is true that it takes a village to raise a child ….. the reason is Community takes us further than we could take ourselves… We will always be stronger together than alone.
What destroys community is disunity and confusion.. and our ememy the devil has a terminal degree in both displines!
.. if there was ever a time of disunity in the Bible it was after the death of Christ… When Jesus was crucified there was this Diaspora..... this scattering of those who claimed to know Jesus... including the disciples…
After his Resurrection, The first thing that Jesus does is bring back the community. Jesus makes himself known
for forty days we have these resurrection appearances.
Jesus appeared about six times around the region of Jerusalem .... and then after that Jesus makes several other appearances around the region of Galilee.. He reveals himself to the 500 and then to James and his brother and then finally to these seven disciples… Jesus had instructed them to have faith and to wait for him...
So these disciples return to the familiar banks of the Galilee…close to the water… and their fishing boats…
Lets read our text.
John 21:1–2 ESV
1 After this Jesus revealed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias, and he revealed himself in this way. 2 Simon Peter, Thomas (called the Twin), Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples were together.
John tells us there are seven disciples who are together…
These Seven disciples include the inner circle (Peter, James, and John), Nathanael, Thomas— who had doubted… which is significant .and two unnamed disciples.
Isnt it interesting that majority ofJesus disciples were fishermen? I think that there is reason Jesis Chloe them!!!!
Fisherman were brave and courageous people, they were dedicated and didnt easily get distracted… they never quit!
They also knew how to work together as a cohesive community..even when things when horribly wrong!
These disciples they have some shared experiences... They have all spent time with Jesus… they have all felt the same emotions and impact of Jesus death…
but when things went sideways… they didn't disband… they did not quit… they came together.. this word together is an important word in our text… the disciples were together… They are facing a challenging situation… but they are not doing it alone… they are relying on one another…
Here is the power of Community...
They had spent a lot of time together....
There were days in the Past where they had shared in great blessings of being together… Like the day that Jesus fed the five thousand… How about the day when the paralytic was let through the roof… there at least 35 major miracles listed in the gospels…these were amazing days
What a joy of celebration…
But here is group of the disciples…again together in a different set of circumstances…it's a different day.. today they dealing with grief and many emotions… but they are together..
This word together is used in four other places in the NT and speaks strongly to mission and purpose of Community..… Speaks to the harvest time...
In John 4...Jesus told his disciples don’t wait for the harvest to arrive because the fields are ripe for harvest..For the church to be more than community Christ had to be included... … In fact the harvest has already begun… wages were already being drawn… God is already rewarding those who have given their lives for the Gospel...
John 4:36 ESV
Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together.
we are not waiting for the next dispensation - we are already in the dispensation called the last days… between Christs ascension And second comin.
Don’t wait because we are hear — Jesus said already --- the sower and the reaper rejoice.. TOGETHER…
In Acts 2 when the Holy Spirit is being poured out…on the day of Pentecost… that they were all TOGETHER in one place… Here again we have the community being empowered to fulfill God’s mission in the world...
in the book Theselonians at at the last Trump when Christ comes we will be caught up in the sky together.. completion of his mission… we will be together!
And here in our Text the Disciples… have Gone through so much.. but they are Together… here they are poised to be on the mission of God in the World
It is not community that make the church unique…You can find Community in many places… People find community in being part of Rotary Club… . you can go into a sports bar and find community ...joining a crossfit Gym....
The bible does not call us as a church into Community for the sake of Community…as a new community in Christ we are callEd into mission…and purpose… we are a missional community
We have received the great commission to go into all the world and make disciples of all nations… baptizing in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit… We have been given the great commandment love God love others.. The church is a community of Purpose..
Paul in 1 Cor 12 gives us this metaphor of the Church being a community a body..with many members.. When we came to Christ we were baptized into one body… the point of being on body is ONENESS..
1 Corinthians 12:13 ESV
For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.
Our baptism into Christ becomes the center of our Community or our Communion… As we drink into One Spirit so we to are part of the body of Christ.... Our differences arr submerged into Christ… whether you are Jew, Greek or slave… This is the New Community that is in Christ…
The purpose of this Community is tied to be a representative of Christ in the world... and the way that this works is through mutual Care and support for one another.... .
How do we build community...
T/s The first thing we should establish is..
1. Our need for Healthy Community.

2. What dose a Healthy Community look like?

When we talk about a healthy community we are not talking about a destination.. rather its more of a journey of becoming more healthy.... It is a little like a gym membership.. nobody has arrived… in fact most of the people are there because they realize they need to be there...
Billy Graham said … “If you find a perfect church don't join it: You'd spoil it.”
There is a simple reason for this and that is Churches are made up of and led by mere humans, finite and fallen. People are broken. You are broken. And this brokenness can lead to messiness and hurt...
But God uses our brokenness to create something beautiful.
A few years ago on the Canadian Broadcast Company had this interesting interview … about a pothole in one of the neighborhoods in Toronto.... The pothole went unfixed for so long, that someone from the neighborhood with a mischievous streak planted tomatoes… into the pot hole.
One of the neighbors Bryan Link...said that.... one day he walked passed the pothole and he “Had to do a bit of a double-take because what he thought were weeds turned out to be tomatoes… these tomato seeds had blossomed into big, juicy green fruit… He called it a big improvement over the gaping hole that was several feet deep — the result of nearby construction. 
'We all sort of take care of them' and it has become a community
This pothole-turned-tomato-garden became a focal point for the neighborhood, with residents tending it regularly. Someone even went as far as to erect stakes to keep the plants from falling over....
Community is a bit like that Pot hole… everyone of us has some form of brokenness… unpleasantness.. that we have experienced…Instead of ignoring it… leans into brokenness and realizes that God can cause growth and health...
God can still cause growth and flourishing regardless of our potholes..
In our text when Peter and the six disciples of waiting for Jesus… They have togetherness community… but Peter says I am going fishing..
John 21:3–4 ESV
Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We will go with you.” They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing. Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus.
Peter says I'm going fishing -- There is something in Peter that we can see in all of us… and that is our desire for independence… I don’t know what you all going to do… but, I am tired of sitting around, I have to go and do something...
There are different views of this fishing trip… some see it as the disciples were abandoning there mission… kind of apostasy… others see it as therapeutic… that they were doing something familiar they loved to get there minds off what had just transpired in Jerusalem… It has been said that “Never has a fishing trip been so severely judged.”
When you think of what the disciples of Jesus had gone through during the week of Jesus trial and crucifixion… From Palm Sunday it seems like the wheels fell off.. What despair it must have been to see Jesus the Lord on the cross on Good Friday… then to have these random appearances of Jesus after his resurrection...
What a rollercoaster ride…to be honest a good night’s fishing was probably just what good doctor would have ordered..
There is this pothole of brokenness… what do you do with this gapping hole…? What you do is you plant a garden…you sow seeds that are going to produce fruit… the great commandment is to love God and love others (Matt22)
How do we do that?
a. Healthy Community Support Initiatives
When Peter says, Im going fishing.. the other six come along side him and say we are going with you… That is what community is about… it is about companionship for the journey…
Peter didn’t invite the others… in fact you get the sense that he wanted to go by himself… The other disciples took the initiative… we are going too!!!
We are very rarely going to be invited to participate in community we have to engage community… We have to initiate action… we are rarely going to be invited…
The disciples were we are going with you.... How do you build community in the church… We are going with you.. we are going to support you…
Community always means risk...
They go with Peter and they spend all night fishing --- Together they experience failure....
I think there is this fear of failure in community… community is not just about winning… not just about celebrating Wins… community sticks together through losses…
we have bought into a consumer mindset… that the community exists for me… community is about giving… we see community in the God head… the father son and Holy Spirit… each unique but one eternal encouragement… God is perfect… but God has been heart broken, God experienced failure..what? Rejected by his own. Disposed and rejected… cursed Upon spat upon… yes God experienced every emotion you and I have except with out sin.
Here are the disciples together - failed mission… in preaching.. now they are failing at th everything they loved… but when you fail together you failing forward.
T/s The first thing we should establish is..
1. Our need for Healthy Community.
2. What a Healthy Community looks like?

3. Healthy Communities Fellowship with Christ.

After Jesus resurrection there are these 40 days where Jesus appears to his disciples… John tells us that Jesus chose to reveal himself in this way…it was intentional… when Jesus first called these pair of brothers Andrew and Peter and James and John it was on the lake of Galilee.. he had invited them to follow him and he would make them fishers of men.. after sometime they returned to fishing … and in a similar story found at the beginning of their calling... they spent all night fishing and had caught nothing… after Jesus performed the miracle of the catch of fish.,. it established the disciples in their mission... the discipes after the death of Christ wondering what is next… what do we do now? They gathered to gather in community… Jesus is going to remind them of their mission… in a pretty spectacular way..
John 21:4–12 ESV
4 Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. 5 Jesus said to them, “Children, do you have any fish?” They answered him, “No.” 6 He said to them, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in, because of the quantity of fish. 7 That disciple whom Jesus loved therefore said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment, for he was stripped for work, and threw himself into the sea. 8 The other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, but about a hundred yards off. 9 When they got out on land, they saw a charcoal fire in place, with fish laid out on it, and bread. 10 Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish that you have just caught.” 11 So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, 153 of them. And although there were so many, the net was not torn. 12 Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” Now none of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord.
After a night of toiling together… these experienced fisherman arrive back at the shoreline with nothing to show for evening of hard work… there is this beautiful picture of the darkness subsiding and .... Jesus waiting for them on the shore line…
There is something about this vinyet that brings such hope… here are these disciples have given their best… and apparently they had failed together… And there is Jesus standing on the shoreline… On the other side of their disappointment...
Jesus called his disciples… hey lads drop your nets on the other side of the boat … nothing makes sense… time of the day… being close to shore...
but when they obeyed jesus, they have this catch of 153 fish!
The difference between success and failure was the width of the ship!
We are never far from success when we permit Jesus to give the orders, and we are usually closer to success than we realize
The realization hits… this is not a coincidence..
It was John who first realized that the stranger on the shore was their own Lord and Master.“It is the Lord.”
When John points out to Peter that it was the Lord… Peter being impulsive ---was always first… doesn’t wait he wants to get to Jesus…
Peter quickly put on his outer garment and dove into the water!… I know that is backwards… but apparently he had to get dressed before jumping in the water.... While the others struggle with the nets Peter is reunited with Jesus..
When they get to the Shore… they discover that Jesus has already prepared breakfast… the grill is on … and there already a fish on the the bbq… Jesus was inviting them to bring some of their fish … Jesus is reminding these disciples that there mission in life.. is no longer the market place… there communion and their connection is about the harvest.. It is about… no longer fishing for fish but fishing for men…
Jesus called the disciples and us to be “fishers of men.” This phrase was not invented by Jesus; it had been used for years by Greek and Roman teachers. To be a “fisher of men” in that day meant to seek to persuade men and “catch” them with the truth.
For the church to be more than community Christ had to be included...
Jesus feeds graciously shares His food with them, their covenant with Him is renewed. They are drawn together in love by His Resurrection power after having been scattered. Their unity is restored.
This breakfast has a profound impact...
"There can be no maturity in the spiritual life, no obedience in following Jesus, no wholeness in the Christian life, apart from an immersion in, and embrace of, community. I am not myself by myself."Eugene Peterson
So Jesus brings his scattered disciples back into community…
but there is still some unfinished business with Peter..after his three denials…
After Breakfast calls Peter to the side
This is a beautiful scene of the restoration of the ministry of Peter
… As Jesus had predicted, Peter had denied Jesus three times… Luke 24:34 we told that Peter was one of the first disciples that Jesus went to after the resurrection… they had no doubt dealt with Peters sin of denying the Lord… but here we have a public restoration where Peter calling is affirmed and clarified.
Just as there are three denials — there are three affirmations… this is restoration and resolution to Peter’s denials.
John 21:15 ESV
When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.”
The first thing Jesus clarifies is Peters Calling… And He takes Him back to the community of Faith....Peter is given the pastoral responsibility of building community...
Do you love (Agapeo) me more than these?… ( I assume he is pointing to the 152 fish)?
Jesus is talking about Priorities…
Jesus had taught the disciples in the sermon on the mount (Matt 6:24) that no one can serve two masters because he would love the one and despise the other…
There is always going to be something competing for your commitment and your time… We sometimes have to make a decision who are we serving…
The founder of the college went too Gibson would say
let nothing Master you accept the Master.
Then there is this well know interaction between Peter and Jesus where… Jesus asks Peter these three questions...
Jesus said to Peter if you Love me (Agapeo) Peter responds yes Lord YOU KNOW.. I LOVE (Phileo) (brotherly love) you.
Jesus says Feed my lambs… then tend to my lambs…
The third time Jesus says Do you (Phileo) yes I love (Phileo) Jesus says “Feed my Sheep”
Interesting that there is a change of metaphors for that of a fisherman to that of a shepherd...
How do Shepherds build healthy communities? Through faithfully declaring God’s word....
Jesus gave three admonitions to Peter: “Feed My lambs,” “Shepherd My sheep,” and “Feed My sheep.” Both the lambs and the more mature sheep need feeding and leading..
Jesus taught Peter how to how to grow tomato's in a pothole.
Conclusion
T/s The first thing we should establish is..
1. Our need for Healthy Community.
2. What a Healthy Community looks like?
3. Healthy Communities Fellowship with Christ..
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