Rethink Community

Gen. 2:18

We are not made to be alone, like our God we exist to be in community. Without it we are not experiencing life as God intended. Intro
The past 2 weeks we have thought about Rethinking things. First how our Youth is not given to us to pursue our own desires, rather it is given in order to glorify God and we waste it living for ourselves. Last week we discussed that we are made in the Image of God and how that changes our lives. Remember how? How would you define Community?

Main Idea:

community |kmyoonit| noun ( pl. communities ) 1. a group of people living in the same place or having a particular characteristic in common. (I would add friendships as well build community.)
Would you say that our country is a Communal place? Why or Why not? Would you say the Church is a Community? Why or Why not? It seems that so much of our world is telling us that we need to be the only one to make it or succeed, and we should do whatever it takes, even if we have to hurt people on the way up. Sadly, it can be this way in Christianity too. We can often think that I need to do this to stand out in my Christian walk, and we begin to think its only about us and our performance and forget that we are all in this together.

Why Community?
From the beginning God saw mankind and said Its not Good to be alone (Gen. 1:28). We begin to see all the Lord has for us when we are in meaningful friendships that seek each others good. There are many reasons why God desires for us to be apart of Community, rather than going through things alone.

Growth - Others should challenge, encourage you (Heb. 10:24-25) Learning - You learn from what others say and do. (1 Cor. 11:1) Teaching - You can teach people through words and actions (Rom. 15:14) Strength - When hurt comes, community is there to support you. (1 Peter 3:8) Humility - You see Gods grace in your own failures, and in others (1 Peter 5:5) Friendships - You are given meaningful relationships (John 15:13) Mission - Through your group people should see & hear Jesus (Matthew 5:16) How do you get all these things? SHOW UP, SHOW UP, SHOW UP, you cannot expect to build deep friendships, and make a community where there are no people. This is why we have Regroups (Our version of small groups) is to accomplish these things. We do not experience these things when we do not let people into our lives, and we pretend to have it all together. Consider joining a group and allowing others to become a part of your life in order that you may experience the benefits of community.

What does it mean to be a Community?

It means that we are no longer individuals who do what will only work for us, rather we are individuals who are learning to Speak (Eph. 4:29) & Act (James 4:1) in ways that benefit others instead of making our selves look better at the expense of others reputation. This is why Jesus can say that along with Loving God, the equally important command is to LOVE YOU NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF! Its not just about you, its about US! ITS NEVER JUST ABOUT ME, ITS ABOUT WE! We desire to Rethink Community not as a place where you come to only be filled up, but to pour into others as well.

If we all had a mentality of building others up instead of just making ourselves better, how would things be different? How would visitors see things?

Community shows the World what God is like.

Gen. 1:26, Let US make man in OUR image tells us that God exists in a community, Father, Son, Holy Spirit. They have eternally existed in a community pouring out to each other. Like a Picture an Image is to represent something, our community here is meant to represent our relationship with God. But as some of you have experienced, Sin makes it hard to keep community, because we get hurt, betrayed, neglected. But the beauty of Christian community should be that what Sin has broken Jesus has redeemed.

Apart from Jesus death and resurrection, community IS NOT POSSIBLE.

The existence of a loving, gospel-saturated community is a testimony to the truth of the gospel. The Church is meant to be a place marked NOT by people who have their act together, but people who are choosing to love people in the midst of their mistakes and hurts. Its this ability to forgive in the midst of Sin (JUST LIKE OUR GOD Romans 5:8) , do we begin to image God in community and build up ONE body rather than many parts. For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another (Romans 12:4-5 ESV)

So as we leave here, seek to be a place that is marked by forgiveness in the face of sin, and community that seeks the benet of ALL those involved.