August 18, 2024
“Essential” – Week 3
COMMUNITY: Us to Each Other
Service Overview: God designed Christian discipleship to happen in regular, vibrant community with other believers through both relationship and worship together because frankly, we need each other!
Memory Verse for the Week:
“And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” Hebrews 10:24-25 (NIV)
Pre-Message Insights:
- Your greatest fulfillment in life will come when you discover your unique gifts and abilities and use them to edify others and glorify the LORD. (Neil T. Anderson, Victory Over the Darkness, 146)
- The Christian community is a community of the cross, for it has been brought into being by the cross, and the focus of its worship is the Lamb once slain, now glorified. So the community of the cross is a community of celebration, a eucharistic community, ceaselessly offering to God through Christ the sacrifice of our praise and thanksgiving. The Christian life is an unending festival. And the festival we keep, now that our Passover Lamb has been sacrificed for us, is a joyful celebration of his sacrifice, together with a spiritual feasting upon it. (John Stott, The Cross of Christ, 273)
- The source of most of the problems people have in their Christian lives relates to two things: either they are not worshiping six days a week with their life, or they are not worshiping one day a week with the assembly of the saints. We need both. (John MacArthur, The Ultimate Priority, 105)
- We’re strangers and aliens. Christians must look forward to their homeland… But hold on. There is a place on earth where citizens of heaven can, at this moment, find official recognition and asylum: the local church. Churches represent Christ’s rule now. They affirm and protect his citizens now. They proclaim his laws now. They bow before him as King now and call all peoples to do the same. (Jonathan Leeman, Church Membership, 28)
- The church is primarily a body of people who profess and give evidence that they have been saved by God’s grace alone, for His glory alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. This is what a New Testament church is; it is not a building. The early Christians didn’t have buildings for almost 300 years after the church began. The collection of people committed to Christ in a local area constitute a church. (Mark Dever, Nine Marks of a Healthy Church, 135)
- The Greek work for church, ecclesia, is made up of a prefix and a root. The prefix is ek – out of. The root is the verb coleo, to call. The church in the New Testament is made up of those who are called out from the world, from darkness, from damnation, from paganism, to become members of the body of Christ. (R.C. Sproul, The Purpose of God, An Exposition of Ephesians, 95)
Three reasons healthy biblical community is critical to discipleship…
- Growth in personal faith and obedience can’t happen without it.
(Proverbs 27:17; Matthew 18:20; Romans 12:3-13; 1 Corinthians 12:12; Galatians 6:2)
Autonomous Christianity never works, because our spiritual life was designed by God to be a community project. (Paul David Tripp, Dangerous Calling, 39)
What is true for the human body is true for the body of Christ: The various parts cannot exist on their own, but they depend on the life of the whole body. To put it very simply, we need each other. (Phillip Graham Ryken, City on a Hill, 84)
When we enter into the “in Christ” existence we become one with those who are in Christ. Eternal life is received individually, but it is lived out in community. And the community battles sin in the body by confronting sinners and by requiring spiritual accountability. (Ajith Fernando, The Supremacy of Christ, 183)
- Serving with and supporting others requires being with others.
(Proverbs 27:17; Ecclesiastes 4:9-12; Matthew 20:28; Romans 12:5; Galatians 6:2; Ephesians 2:10; 1 Thessalonians 5:11; 1 Peter 4:10)
The man who attempts Christianity without the church shoots himself in the foot, shoots his children in the leg, and shoots his grandchildren in the heart. (Kevin DeYoung, The Hole in Our Holiness, 132)
The cult of aloneness is one form of narcissism. It insists on individual autonomy without interpersonal responsibility, which of course makes authentic community impossible. (Phillip Graham Ryken, City on a Hill, 74)
- Accomplishing Jesus’ mission is incumbent upon it.
(Matthew 5:13-16; 28:18-20; John 13:35; John 17:23; Acts 2:42-47; Hebrews 10:24-25)
We should not allow people to see the church as a weekly service they attend to make God happy. The gathering of the church is preparation for heavenly battle. We “huddle together” for a few minutes each week to worship God together and build each other up so that each of us can more effectively run the “missional play” throughout the week. (J.D. Greear, Gaining by Losing, 106)
For its own sake, as well as for the sake of the earth, the salt must remain salt. The disciple community must be faithful to the mission which the call of Christ has given it. (Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship, 116)
The body of Christ is harmed whenever its members refuse to accept the part that God has given them to play. (Phillip Graham Ryken, City on a Hill, 83)
What kind of culture must we each work to cultivate if we are to be a healthy disciple-making community?
A. A culture defined by grace.
(Galatians 6:1; Ephesians 4:2, 29-32; Philippians 4:5; Colossians 3:12-14; 1 Thessalonians 5:14; 1 Timothy 6:11; Titus 3:2; 1 Peter 4:8-11)
A Christian church is a caring community in which we consider what happens to someone else to be every bit as important as what happens to ourselves. (Phillip Graham Ryken, City on a Hill, 86)
B. A culture permeated with humility.
(Proverbs 11:2; Romans 12:3-13, 16; Galatians 5:13; Ephesians 4:2; Philippians 2:3-16; Colossians 3:12-16; 1 Peter 3:8; 5:5)
What the next generation needs is what every generation needs: the kind of caring community that can only be found in the church of Jesus Christ. (Phillip Graham Ryken, City on a Hill, 75)
Believers all belong to the same Lord, and are thus one with each other. Therefore anything that denies our oneness with each other denies our oneness with Him. (John MacArthur, 1 Corinthians, 93)
C. A culture which pursues mutual edification over individual satisfaction.
(Acts 20:35; Romans 14:19; 15:2; 1 Corinthians 12:25-27; 14:12; 14:26; Ephesians 4:16, 29; 1 Thessalonians 5:11)
Living God’s way means putting away your self-centeredness and committing yourself to follow God’s Word in spite of any feelings to the contrary. (John Broger, Self-Confrontation Manual, Lesson 5, 5)
We have to stop viewing church leaders as people who minister to us. God clearly explained their role. It was not to coddle you but to equip you. Think personal trainer, not massage therapist. (Francis Chan, Letters to the Church, 90)
There is surely no grace in us if we do not feel for the church of God, and take a lasting interest in its welfare. (C. H. Spurgeon, Treasury of David, Psalm 51)
Challenge question…
How are you forming and being formed by healthy biblical community?
Do we care enough about the growth of fellow believers in our local churches to seriously evaluate our own contributions to its ministry? (Charles R. Swindoll, Insights on 1 & 2 Corinthians, 64)
Spiritual Challenge Questions…
Reflect on these questions in your time with the Lord this week, or discuss with a Christian family member or Life Group.
- Why do you think God said it was NOT good for man to be alone (Gen. 2:18)?
- What are some of the challenges of being in community with others? What are ways you can help mitigate some of those challenges?
- When have you had to extend grace to another follower of Jesus? When have you needed grace yourself?
- What are some important things to keep in mind when interacting with others in Jesus’ family?
- Why is it crucial that Christian community be rooted in the Word of God?
HFM Discipleship Essentials Statement Regarding Community:
Discipleship continues in the context of community (the local church) as we worship, serve, and grow alongside other believers.
God designed Christian discipleship to happen in regular, vibrant community with other believers through both relationship and worship together. Therefore, we not only encourage Sunday morning worship, but facilitate and encourage Life Group participation whereby disciples are encouraged, supported, and challenged via exposure to, and teaching from, God’s Word.
(Prov. 27:17; Matt. 4:4; 18:20; Rom. 12:5; Col. 3:12-16; 1 Thes. 5:11; 2 Tim. 3:16-17; Heb. 10:24-25)
As shared experience and service are vital to Christian growth, we facilitate opportunities for all to serve Jesus alongside others in the church, in our community, and around the world.
(Is. 58:10; Mat. 20:28; Mark 10:45; Acts 20:35; Gal. 5:13; Eph. 2:10; James 2:18; 1 Peter 4:10)
As growth in Jesus comes with inevitable ups and downs, highs and lows, we do everything to promote a culture of grace in our midst which fosters sharing and support.
(Prov. 27:17; Col. 3:12-15; 1 Thes. 5:11)