Our Mission
We are called to be a united body under Christ. It is a humbling experience, which teaches us to set aside our pride, learn assertiveness, and enhance our communication skills. As believers, we need to be engaged in community since that is where relationships grow and intentionality ensues. All of us are inherently sinful; however, it is within this brokenness that we are reminded of our desperate need for our Savior.
1. Community challenges you to be more like Jesus (Hebrews 10:24-25). Nothing makes you more like Jesus than having daily interactions with others. Oftentimes, we think of marriage as a refining process; however, the truth is, God created community as a way for us to become more like Him. His Word reminds us that the relationships we have are mean to challenge and encourage us and our fellow believers in our pursuit of the Lord and His kingdom. It is within the context of community that we are given the opportunity to be refined as followers of Christ.
2. Community meets practical needs (Acts 2:42-47). As in the early church, community is a place where we come to meet our physical needs. We need to challenge ourselves to be vulnerable and to ask for help from our brothers and sisters in Christ. Whether we need someone to pick up medicine when we are sick, cook us a meal at the end of a long week, or help us with a financial burden, the body of Christ was made to support and love one another in practical ways. We can learn a lot about love within the exchange of practical needs.
3. Community sustains you emotionally (Galatians 6:2). Emotional needs are just as important as physical ones. We are called to support one another during challenging seasons and to carry each other’s burdens. We cannot negate our responsibility to pray for and love on others; however, we also need to have the courage to ask for prayers for our own struggles. A key component of healthy community is the authenticity and vulnerability of group members.
Member Testimonial
“I have an app on my phone that feeds me a daily Bible verse and today’s was Hebrews 10:24-25. I realize that I have been distracted by life going on around me, and I have avoided meeting with others because I feared being vulnerable. I think God is reminding me to lean on Him and others when this fear arises. I thought of the community group when I read this verse today - everyone seemed so happy to see and encourage each other there.”
— Dana
4. Community reveals your gifts and talents (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12). Two are better than one, because there is double the strength, double the stamina, and double the talents. Within the context of community, we are given the opportunity to not only discover our gifts and talents, but to understand how to use them to bless others. Each individual has a specific role in the body of Christ, and it is within community relationships that our roles can be used to glorify God. We are part of something much bigger than ourselves (1 Corinthians 12:27).
5. Community opens our eyes to the needs of others (1 Thessalonians 5:14). Within community, we are encouraged to seek out and to fulfill the needs of those around us. As believers, we are called to strengthen and challenge one another in order to become more like Christ (Proverbs 27:17). Furthermore, community calls us to die to ourselves and to place the needs of others before our own.
6. Community empowers your relationship with God (Proverbs 27:17). There is power in numbers. When we are surrounded by fellow believers, we can become emboldened in our faith, and we can become more intuned to God’s presence in our lives. There is something real about believers gathering together, holding one other accountable, and being a witness in each other’s lives. We need people checking in on us, asking the hard questions, and challenging us to really live out our faith.
7. Community meets our need for love (Proverbs 17:17). There is no denying that all of us desire love. We were made to, by a relational God who longs for us to be in a relationship with Him. To meet our earthly need for love, the Lord granted us the gift of community. This brotherly love, phileo, is a beautiful representation of Christ laying down his life for us.
8. Community offers opportunities for confession which can lead to healing (James 5:16). There is power in confession. It provides the opportunity to bring light to the darkness and to expose it. In community, we are emboldened to share and be vulnerable with one another, to confess our sins, and to allow the Lord to demolish the strongholds in our lives. Thus, true community requires transparency, authenticity, and confession.
9. Community teaches you how to address and resolve conflicts (1 Corinthians 1:10). If you bring any group of people together, one thing is certain: conflict will arise. However, as the body of believers, we are called to work through divisions. Scripture tells us we are to be a united body, which is not always easy or natural for us. It can be a humbling experience, which teaches us to lay down our pride, to learn assertiveness, and to strengthen our communication skills. It is in the messiness of relationships that we are reminded how desperate our need is for a Savior, and neither one of us is more significant than the brother or sister sitting to our left or right.
10. Community brings opportunity for forgiveness (1 Peter 4:8-11). There is nothing more beautiful than the picture of the Gospel, which is displayed through our healthy interactions as a body of believers. As imperfect people, we know we are bound to hurt and to be hurt; however, within this sinfulness, there is an opportunity to forgive and to be forgiven. Jesus was crucified by those whom he loved, yet, despite their rebellion, he chose to forgive them. One of the hardest aspects of community is conflict, which is bound to arise; however, one of the most beautiful parts is the opportunity to mirror the love of Christ through our response to such hurt.