Trait # 4. Learns And Grows in Community Hebrews
10:19-25
My understanding of a Christian
Community was primarily shaped and developed during my six-month Discipleship
Training School in YWAM India in 1985. It was an international and
multicultural community of men and women. All those in that Community
voluntarily left their homes, families, and countries and came together to
learn and grow in a Missional Community.
Our only goal was to "Know God
and Make Him known." In that Christian Community, I learned about the core
discipleship teachings, such as Quiet time, reading and studying the Bible, Intercession,
Praise & Worship, Spiritual Warfare, Generosity, Hospitality, Submission to
Authority, Servanthood, Forgiveness, Living by Faith, and Evangelism. I felt
valued, recognized, and loved. It was a loving Christian community committed to
making a difference.
However, YWAM was not a Church, so I
sought a Church community. I visited one Church that was too legalistic, and
the other was too traditional. Finally, I found a Spirit-filled,
Christ-centered, and Missional Assemblies of God. I felt at home in that
Church. In the beginning, what started as a six-month stay ended up being
twenty years of doing Life together with YWAM and the Assemblies of God Church.
All our three daughters were dedicated to the Lord in that Church. We only left
that Church when we came to the US.
We want Hope Church to be a loving
and welcoming Church. We want members to know God and be committed to making
Him known to others. We want Hope Church to be a safe and trusted community
where we will learn and grow together to become all God wants us to be.
In our series on Vital
Christian Living, we learned that a vital christian experiences God's
Empowering Presence, engages in God-Exalted Worship, and practices the Spiritual
Disciplines of studying God's Word, Praying, and Works of Service. Today, we
will examine Trait # 4, A Vital
Christian Learns and Grows in Community. Hebrews 10:19-25
I. Why do we need a Community?
While
driving with Keith to the homeless ministry a few Saturdays ago, we saw several
Jewish people, families, and children walking to their Sabbath services. I told
Keith that our Jewish brothers and sisters understand the need to belong to a
community. That need for a community is not only for the Jewish people but a
universal and fundamental human instinct.
The famous saying,
"No man is an island entire of itself; every man is a piece of the
continent, a part of the main. "Taken from a devotional by John Donne, a
17th-century English poet."[1] Humans cannot live
independently, and they need others. During the pandemic, we learned about the
need for Community and felt sad and depressed when we felt its absence.
In her book The Amen Effect, Sharon
Brous, a Jewish Rabbi, notes, "In the past twenty years, there's been
groundbreaking work on the impact of loneliness and social disconnection on our
spirits but also on our bodies and society." The former US Surgeon General
Vivek Murthy describes loneliness as "the subjective feeling that we're
lacking the social connections we need." Loneliness is more an inner state
than an external reality; it is about feeling alone, not being alone.[2] Biologists, neurologists,
psychologists, and clergy attest that human beings need connection. Bren'e Brown
puts it this way: "We are psychologically, emotionally, cognitively, and
spiritually hardwired for connection, love, and belonging.
These are irreducible needs for all.
It's what gives purpose and meaning to our lives. The absence of love,
belonging, and connection always leads to suffering."[3] The Lord knew our need for
a community. After creating the man, he said, "It is not good for the man
to be alone, so he made the woman and placed them in the Garden of Eden (Community)
to serve and to survive.
II. We are blessed when we can live in a Church Community
Since its
creation, God's best intention for humanity has been that they do not live in
isolation but in communities. We saw that pattern of living in the nomadic
communities of ancient Israel. God made a nation of people out of one man named
Abraham and called them His own. God blessed Israel and, in return, wanted them
to be a blessing to the nations of the Earth.
Mark
Dever, the Executive Director of 9Marks, is known to begin his remarks while
addressing college students this way: "If you call yourself a Christian
but you are not a member of the church you regularly attend, I worry that you
might be going to hell." It is pretty shocking. Why would he start with
such a kind of warning? Was he going for shock value? Or was he trying to scare
them into church membership? Not really! "He wanted them to see the
urgency of the need for a healthy local church in the Christian's life and to
begin sharing the passion for the Church that characterizes Christ and his
followers."[4]
When we
give our lives to the Lord, we are adopted into God's Worldwide family, the
Church. But we still need to belong to a local church. There are many examples
in the New Testament of believers living in Christian communities and
worshiping in local churches. Paul wrote letters to local churches, such as the
Believers in Rome, the Churches in Corinth, Ephesus, Colossae, Thessalonica,
and Galatia. In the book of Revelation, we see seven local churches.
A
Christian without a local church family is like a person who says, "I want
to play in the NBA, but I don't want to be a part of any local team. Would that
work? No! Similarly, it is not enough to say that you belong to the Universal
Church; you must be committed to a local church. For quite some time, you have
been attending Hope Church. By far, we are not a perfect Church. Because within
the context of a local Church, we can exercise and grow in our Faith.
III. A Vital Christian Learns and Grows in a Christian
Community
Being part
of a Church community is not a privilege but a blessing of God. You will only
know its value and its need if you live in countries where Christians are being
persecuted for their Faith. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, wrote "Life Together,
during the II World War, has this to say about a Christian community, "In
the period between the death of Christ and the Day of judgment, when Christians
are allowed to live here in the visible Community with other Christians, we
have merely a gracious anticipation of the end time.
By God's
grace, a congregation is permitted to gather visibly around God's word and
sacrament in this world. Not all Christians partake of this grace. The
imprisoned, the sick, the lonely who live in the diaspora, the proclaimers of
the gospel in heathen lands stand alone."[5]
We thank God for Sharon Hope Church, a Christian community and a family where
we belong. We gather every Sunday to learn and grow through Worship, studying
God's word, and Fellowship.
The
Apostle Paul gives seven truths that all Christians must believe and live by
when they come together for worship in a local Church, in Hebrews 10:19-25.
First, we are sinners saved by grace by believing in Christ's redemptive work.
(Vs.19). Second, we are called to a new way of living in Christ. (Vs. 20).
Third, when we sin, Jesus, our great high priest, understands us and forgives
our sins each time we confess them. (Heb 10:21, I Jn 1:9).
Fourth, we are called to draw near to Jesus with sincere hearts and clear consciences. (Vs.22). Fifth, we are to hold without wavering the hope we profess because God who has promised is faithful. (Vs.23). Sixth, when we come together, let us excel in encouraging one another toward love and good works. ( Vs.24). Seven, since the Day of our Lord's return is fast approaching, let us not neglect the assembling together. Let's make it a regular habit.
