Being Community

I came across an interesting article from a guy who helped us out a bit when we were just fresh as a church.  His name is Ryan and he has done a great job building community in his Rancho neighborhood.  I like what he had to say and it really reminded me of what authentic Christian community is like, or can be like.  What we find from the bible is a called out community of believers who were not only sold out to Christ, but to each other.  Ryan is sharing some excellent ideas in this series of articles that you can read at The Rancho Cordova Post.  All of this reminds me so much of what the world around us needs and the church can provide.  The world needs the grace of Jesus Christ.  But they also need community and that is what the church is.  I’ve talked to so many people who have said things like: “Wow, I can’t believe all the love that I’ve received in the church’ and “The church is the family that I never had.”  A classic book on this subject is Life Together by Dietrich Bonhoeffer.  But on your end Ryan, keep up the good work.  On our end, how would you engage your community with the love of Christ?  How would you build up the community of Christ?

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RSS Trackback URL Steve | August 13, 2008 (9:01 am)

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  1. jwolfram

    August 19, 2008 | 2:16 pm

    1

    Someone I know has been pestering me to post on this blog, so here it goes. :)

    Seriously though, the question of how to engage your community with the love of Christ is an excellent question, and one that I believe can be understood to be one of the major threads of the narrative of the New Testament. I don’t have a lot of time to write this post, but I think one of the critical aspects of forging relationships within communities is for the community of Christ (a.k.a. the Bride, a.k.a. the Church) to reclaim our shared identity and heritage centered on the redemptive blood of Jesus.

    There are so many divisions within and between denominations, and even within our local churches that it is no wonder that what we typically offer the outside world as a “better way” has absolutely no appeal at all. It is not difficult at all to see how the world is largely justified in having a jaded and cynical view of this community we call “church”. As the old saying goes, “with friends like this…”

    So I suppose I will throw this out there - that I believe one of the best ways to engage my community as a whole with the love of Christ is to first engage my immediate community of fellow believers with love. As Jesus said in John 13:34-35 we are to demonstrate the love of Christ to the world around us in how we treat each other as fellow brothers and sisters in Christ!

    Sounds simple, but if simple were easy…

  2. Steve

    August 13, 2008 | 1:44 pm

    2

    because that is what God is like. While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8

    Amen on that!

  3. Anonymous

    August 13, 2008 | 9:18 am

    3

    The Golden Rule is meant to be tangible. “Love your neighbor as yourself” sounds like a neat poster statement or fortune cookie message, but it is to be the mantra of all followers of Christ because that is what God is like. While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8

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