People Together in Mission: Designed For Community (Part 5)

Christ Followers are Devoted to the Mission. 

God is relational and His presence is attractive. His love and grace draws people to himself. Likewise, God’s community is magnetic. Note the early church’s experience in Acts 2:27, "The Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved."

The community of God that I find in scripture is attractive. Recall how lonely people are today. When they see the friendships and activity of God’s presence among his people, the church, it’s captivating. This is only possible in an atmosphere of grace as opposed to legalism.

Our Heavenly Father is a relational being. The triune God himself lives in community. He lives in three parts that are intimately involved with each other, so with us being made in His image, it’s natural that He communicates to us through relationships. This community is to be found in His church.

• In true community you can see people for who they really are, people desperately in need of God’s grace.
• In community you can see God for who He really is. 
• In community you can see the true friendships that God desires for every believer. 

When people see these three things they are going to want in. “The Lord added to their number daily those being saved.” You don’t have to feel lonely any more. Do you want to be a part of a community that desires to be in God’s presence? Do you want to join people who are dedicated to each other and are devoted to God’s mission?

In his book When God Builds a Church, Bob Russell said,

"The church exploded in growth because the people loved being together. When you get a group of people together who genuinely believe something and who really enjoy each other, it’s such a contagious atmosphere that you can’t keep people away from it.”  

God’s mission actually resides in the midst of His gathered community. In the book Desiring God, John Piper explains, “Missions is the automatic outflow and overflow of love for Christ. We delight to enlarge our joy in him by extending it to others.” As Christ followers, we are meant for community and this design is missional. As Jesus said, “This is how everyone will recognize that you are my disciples-when they see the love you have for each other” (John 13:35 Message Bible). As God’s gathered people, we are together and we are on a mission.

A People Together: Designed For Community (Part 4)

Christ Followers are dedicated to each other. 

I want you to notice some of the imagery found in Acts 2:42-27. There’s a picture I see of the early church that is quite revealing…Everyone was filled with awe, all the believers were together, and every day they continued to meet together. 

The early church understood and had a clear sense of community. They wanted to be together and they were dedicated to each other’s needs. We are told if a practical, physical need arose, the early church sold their possessions and gave to anyone who had need. If a spiritual need arose, this tight knit group of people would be available for that as well, to help and pray.

Life can obviously be difficult and unfair. Dennis Wholey says, "Expecting the world to treat you fairly because you are a good person is a little like expecting the bull not to attack you because you are a vegetarian." The bad news in life is that tragedy happens. A good example of this is Matt Chandler and PJ Smyth: godly men who have had to battle cancer. There is good news, however. If you are a member of the body of Christ, you don't have to go through difficulties alone.

Do you know what happens when a church loves to be around each other this much? What occurs when hardship comes on one who is part of God’s family? Encouragement is given. Prayers are offered up. Sometimes checks are written. The body of Christ does exactly what our name implies: we become Jesus to that person in the midst of hardship.

The local church is a community called together by God. We are friends together who will help you in anything. So when someone gets a job promotion or a raise or if they’re pregnant or getting married, we all celebrate together! Conversely, if something bad happens and someone loses a job or a loved one dies, we all mourn together. We are a people dedicated to one another. We are called to be like the church in Acts 2, where “all who believed were together and had all things in common.”

A People With God: Designed For Community (Part 3)

Christ followers desire to be in God’s presence.

Often when we think of church, we think of wanting to be around people. However, the church in Acts 2 shows us that although it’s great to be in the presence of others, our first priority is to be in the presence of God. The early church understood that if you are getting together for a spiritual purpose, the most important thing that can happen is to grow closer to the Spirit of Christ.

And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. (Acts 2:42 ESV)

And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved. (Acts 2:46-47 ESV)

The early church prayed, read their Bibles, praised together and grew in their relationship with God…IN COMMUNITY. So, today in the local church we apply the Bible to our lives, we pray for people in our church who need encouragement, and we praise and honor God together. God speaks to us and we do it as the early church did…together! I love what is written in Acts 2:44 NIV, "all the believers were together."

Christ followers desire to grow in their relationship with God together.

Do you find yourself frustrated every time you try to start a devotional with God?

Do you feel dry or empty spiritually? Get involved with God’s people, with the local body of believers. Get plugged into God’s local community, where people will care about your spiritual welfare, where you can have some Bible application and prayer.

Do you want to grow closer to God? Grow closer to His presence by living among God’s community. We desire to know Him…together.

A Devoted People: Designed For Community (Part 2)

In Acts 2, we find a church that is dynamic, active and powerful. In Acts, we see the first churches and they were rapidly growing and on fire. The Holy Spirit was moving, but in the midst of this we see a group of real followers that were devoted to true community. Read Acts 2:42-47 and find out what made this church so powerful:

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

This was a people who desired to be together with a spiritual purpose. This church was not a social club; they were not just a group of Christians who were "hanging out." They were dedicated to the things of God.

In his new book, The Spirit-Filled Church, Terry Virgo expounds on this vibrant community:

The early Christians were devoted to fellowship. They were constantly together and relinquished the right to individualism and selfishness by no longer regarding the things they possessed as their own. There was no coercion…. They expressed commitment to one another as a spontaneous outworking of their new life in Christ.

Commenting on God’s design for community, C.S. Lewis states, "Christ works on us in all sorts of ways…. But above all He works on us through each other.”

WORSHIP: DELIGHT IN GOD (Part 5)

Worship is to delight in the Lord.

The book "Song of Solomon" is a teaching on the sexual delight between a man and a woman. It could easily be a teaching for marriage, love and romance between a husband and wife. This book is also often thought of as an allegory about Christ and the Church, though it is not referred to in the New Testament as a type of Christ and the Church. However, it could be viewed as both and therefore we can't reject either interpretation.

Regardless of these perspectives, the “Song of Solomon” does reveal how God has made us to long for and to desire delight. This desire and delight is to be directed toward God. As we worship, we take pleasure in God. Not in God's gifts, but God himself.

Worship does bring transformation. Worship changes us. When we worship, we experience the alchemy of transformation. Those taken up with God are changed into His glorious image.

Conclusion
Jesus said God is seeking worshipers. In worship we are changed. All ministry must flow from this center, otherwise it is simply a religious exercise. It is legalism and not the grace of worship. We are ultimately gripped not by an objective assent to an idea, but by a personal encounter with the living God. As John Piper writes in his book Desiring God, “To see Him and know Him and be in His presence is the soul’s final feast. Beyond this there is no quest. Words fail. We call it pleasure, joy, delight but these are weak pointers to the unspeakable experience.” May our delight be found in Christ alone, who is worthy of our worship.

A Lonely People: Designed For Community (Part 1)

A study by the American Council of Life Insurance reported that the loneliest group in America is college students. That’s surprising! Next on the list are divorced people, welfare recipients, single mothers, rural students, housewives, and the elderly.

Americans are some of the loneliest people in the world. We are a mobile society where many graduate from high school, move away from home for college, and then move again for a job. Most people will switch jobs 2-3 times. This contributes to our loneliness, and you couple this with our high divorce rate and that makes for some very lonely people.

Concert attendance has been slowly declining over the last 10 years because people no longer want to go and get lost in a crowd. In contrast, another trend over the past 10 years is that coffee houses are up. One person was quoted in The State Journal’s article on coffee houses, "I come here because I like an atmosphere of busyness, I don’t like to feel like I’m alone."

The popular show Friends takes place in a coffeehouse where friends in New York City just spend time together while trying to make it in life. The popular show in the 90s called Seinfeld was said to be about nothing, but was really about a group of friends hanging out and talking about meaningless stuff.

We live in a society that is extremely lonely and many have experienced this feeling firsthand. Charles Swindoll mentioned a Kansas newspaper ad which read, "I will listen to you talk for 30 minutes without comment for $5.00." Swindoll said, "Sounds like a hoax, doesn’t it? But the person was serious. Did anybody call? You bet. It wasn’t long before this individual was receiving 10 to 20 calls a day. The pain of loneliness was so sharp that some were willing to try anything for a half hour of companionship"

Coffeehouses, being with friends and hanging out will satisfy a need in your life, but it’s not the totality of life experience that God wants for you.

God’s Plan for Community
God’s desire is for you to experience "community." In God’s design of us, He said it’s “not good to be alone.” God created the church as a community of people gathered around Jesus and who are called to be together on a mission. Real community is "hanging out with a spiritual purpose." We need to learn to come together for a spiritual purpose.

Larry Crabb makes the simple statement, "Community matters." That’s like saying oxygen matters. Community is essential in a healthy Church. As our lungs require air, so our souls require what only community provides.

You are designed by God (who himself is a group of three persons living in profound relationship with each other) to live in relationship. How can a person tell if he or she is experiencing true community? Answer this question: “How often during the week do I get together with people with a spiritual purpose in mind?”

In a local church, you can experience community any number of ways.

• Sunday morning worship: we gather together and edify one another.
• Become involved in a ministry team.
• Get involved in a small group.
• Pray together with others.
• Encourage spontaneous gatherings with a spiritual purpose.
  

Feeling a bit lonely or detached? Start hanging out with others and have a spiritual purpose!

WORSHIP: PRAISE MUST BE EXPRESSED (Part 4)

Praise must be expressed. The expression of what you are enjoying is the consummation of it. There is a fulfillment and joy found in sharing your expression.

ADMIRATION AND REFLECTION

Praise is admiration and reflection. Just wanting an experience is religious existentialism. Worship must be rooted in reality. God loves us and the experience that His Spirit pours out is a greater reality of what we know. Our worship is a realization of that experience and is flooded with reality. We have a greater consciousness of being with the Lord. There is an appetite for God within us. David expresses this when he declared, "As the deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God" (Ps. 42:1-2). An increasing appetite for God will move us on.

WORSHIP ENTAILS ENCOUNTER

We highly value being in God’s presence. When we worship, God touches us and dwells with us right where we are. The Message Bible describes Jesus’ coming to the earth as God “moving into the neighborhood” (John 1:14). God remains present among us today and worship manifests Him. In worship, there is intensity, God coming upon us with power.

In worship we express that we desire to encounter God. One song expresses this longing with the simple phrase, "I long for you, oh Lord…" We always want to know God and encounter Him in our worship!

We need to long to encounter God and find our highest joy in Him. As John Piper explains in his book Desiring God,

"The enemy of worship is not that our desire for pleasure is too strong but too weak! We have settled for a home, a family, a few friends, a job, a television, a microwave oven, an occasional night out, a yearly vacation, and perhaps a new personal computer. We have accustomed ourselves to such meager, short-lived pleasures that our capacity for joy has shriveled. And so our worship has shriveled."

We must re-awaken ourselves to knowing and encountering the reality of the living God. He is our greatest delight.

O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you;
my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory.
Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you.
(Psalm 63:1-3 ESV)