*Note: if you have not watched Wes’ sermon from Sunday we recommend doing so for context. *
Our scripture from Acts 2 identifies four pieces that are essential for Christian community: learning, gathering, feasting, and praying. Learning leads to longevity in our faith; gathering leads to goodness; feasting leads to family; and praying leads to power. These things are all necessary to building a healthy, Christ-centered,
community. As I reflect on this, though, I recognize the fact that the way I view community as a Christian is often built more around my own preferences.
I am a small group person. I love being part of a dedicated Bible study where I am going deep with a few people to whom I feel really close. For me, this is what community is supposed to look like. It was challenging when I was in seminary to hear that not everyone feels the same way. I was dumbfounded—how can church be church if we all prefer different structures?
What I saw as I gave myself more time, though, was that the goodness that I experienced within small groups wasn’t limited to a specific model of how to do ministry. My wife and I have been helping develop a Sunday Morning Community with couples in our age and stage that is called Trellis. Six years ago, I never would have imagined that community would look this way, but this community has been so life-giving and good.
This further affirms for me that community shouldn’t be built around a specific ministry model that feels right to me. It’s more about holding to the principles for community that Jesus outlines for us. Are we allowing learning, gathering, feasting and praying to be the highest priorities in our community? Or are we more focused on our own preferences?
These are challenging questions to ask ourselves, but there is incredible fruit on the other side of them. Imagine how our church could grow if we allowed Acts 2 to guide our view of community.