21 Days of Prayer: Day 12
Community - Community Groups
"And they devoted themselves to the...fellowship"
READ ACTS 2:42-47.
In Acts chapter 2 we see something beautiful and supernatural taking place. Peter had just preached his famous sermon in which three thousand souls were saved in response to hearing and believing the gospel of Jesus Christ! He preached the gospel and they made a public profession of faith and were baptized. The church had just grown from a mere 120 to over 3,000 in an instant! By the preaching of God’s Word and the glad proclamation of His gospel, a people were formed. The birth of the New Testament church was happening right before their very eyes!
As soon as these new believers were supernaturally formed by the gospel, they “devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers” (Acts 2:42). The Greek word used for fellowship here was never once used in all four of the Gospels. This is the first instance of it in the New Testament. The word is koinonia which means “commenness” or “commonality.” Each time this word is used in the New Testament some kind of sharing or giving is always taking place. When we are in a real biblical community bound together by our common faith in one gospel there will always be a natural outflow of sharing and giving to one another. Though we may be different in temporary things (education, career, looks, hobbies, etc.) we are bound together by eternal things (namely, our faith in the finished work of Jesus on the cross!). In a gospel-centered community we are willing to sacrificially give of our time, our expertise, our wisdom, our gifts and our resources all for the sake of making Christ known and making disciples. Jesus laid His life down so that we can experience community the way He intended for us to experience it.
Genesis chapter 1 declares to us that “God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created Him” (Genesis 1:27). Our desire for community is rooted in God Himself. God is a relational being. He is a community in and of Himself. God is one who eternally exists as three distinct Persons. He is one in essence and three in Person. If you take away any of the three Persons from the Trinity you have no God. He is who He is and He exists in a perfect community. Because we bear His image, we have a desire to know and to be known. Before the Fall, Adam and Eve experienced a perfect, harmonious relationship with God and with one another. They experienced community to its fullest degree.
In the Fall of Man in Genesis 3, sin destroyed relationships. It destroyed mankind’s perfect harmonious relationship with their Creator and it fractured mankind’s relationship with one another. Because of our sin, we are lovers of self. We are centered on what makes us happy even if our happiness is at the expense of others. So instead of embracing and devoting ourselves to fellowship the way God has designed it, many times we reject it in an effort to isolate. Why do we isolate?
Think about it: if we isolate no one will have to know our deepest sin struggles. If we isolate no one will know our marriage is struggling. If we isolate no one will know our doubts. If we isolate no one will be able to get close enough to know us so that if something goes wrong in the relationship it won’t hurt as bad when the relationship is severed. If we isolate we will never have to display patience, grace, mercy or unconditional love because it will never be required of us. If we’re alone there’s no one to show patience, grace, mercy or unconditional love to because we’re alone. We’re all saints in isolation! We isolate because it’s easier. We isolate because we are afraid others won’t truly accept us for who we really are. We isolate because we are sinful.
But God in His grace didn’t design us for isolation. By His boundless grace poured out at the cross of Christ He has created us to be known in community. The good news of the gospel is that nothing can ever be exposed about you on this side of eternity that hasn’t already been paid for in full at the cross. Is community hard? Yes. Will a gospel-centered community require sacrifice? Yes. Will a gospel-centered community challenge you in unknown ways? Yes. But this is all part of God’s sovereign design. In fact, He uses community to sanctify us and conform us more and more into the image of His Son. Not only does He make us more like Christ in community but He also helps us to more accurately reflect His image to a sinful, broken and dying world so that others will actually come to know Christ through community. God has chosen to use community to sanctify us and save others! One of our core values at Redeemer is “Gospel-centered Community.” We were not created to be alone.
This is why we have the Discipleship Pathway at Redeemer. The Pathway is not a menu to choose from but a map to equip you to grow in Christ as you follow Him. The whole Pathway is built on relationships in the context of community. A pathway implies movement. There is an end goal in mind. The goal is that along the path Christ has laid out for us we would make disciples who make disciple-makers all in the context of community as we eagerly wait to inherit eternal life with Him! Jesus said this in John 10:10: “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” The abundance Christ bought for you is not material abundance, but spiritual abundance. Experience the abundant spiritual life Christ has purchased for you in the context of community! Make it your priority to share, give and sacrifice in community and allow the Lord to sanctify you on your path to Christ-likeness as you live an abundant life of knowing and being known by Christ and others! Devote yourself to fellowship.
Personal questions:
How has your own personal sin hindered you from experiencing gospel-community?
Are you committed to worshipping weekly with other believers? Why or why not?
Are you committed to joining a Community Group? If not, what’s holding you back?
Prayer points:
Pray that every person in every Community Group would come to a fuller understanding of a true gospel-centered community.
Pray for people who have never joined a Community Group to join one for the first time.
Pray for people who don’t know Jesus to be invited to a Community Group and be saved as a result of the Community Group’s gospel ministry.
Pray for new Community Group leaders to be raised up so we can multiply Groups and reach more people for the sake of the gospel.