Community

The truth is, life is made up by, and in many ways, defined by your relationships. It seems to me, that if relationships are that big of a deal then we should spend some time talking about why, what, and how we should navigate them. If you like things nice an neat think of it this way: Purpose, Principal, and Practice

1. Purpose: God designed us to live in community - triangle slide

Genesis 2:18 NIV

18 The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”

A.Good community vs bad community (; show me your friends and I’ll show you your future)

A.Good community vs bad community

Proverbs 13:20 NIV

20 Walk with the wise and become wise, for a companion of fools suffers harm.

(show me your friends and I’ll show you your future)

I. Bad - David and Bathsheba

II. Good - David and Nathan

III. Bad community often leads to pain and regret, good company in a Christian community can lead to life and repentance and ultimately restoration.

2. Principal: how we treat others is a reflection of what we truly believe

1 John 4:19–21 NIV

19 We love because he first loved us. 20 Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. 21 And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.

A. What does your behavior tell others about what you believe? (Heart reflections, not just behavior modification)

I. Seen - family, friends, kids at school, etc. - how do you treat people who are not like you.

II. Unseen - God

III. If I can’t make a free throw with my eyes open then what chance do I have of making one with my eyes closed?

3. Practice: talk is cheap. ()

1 John 3:16–18 NIV

16 This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. 17 If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? 18 Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.

James 2:14–17 NIV

14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? 15 Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. 16 If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? 17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

A. Actions speak louder than words - Scott’s tots???

I. How?

Give without expecting something in return.

a. Give without expecting something in return.

b. Listen to one another instead of just waiting for your turn to talk.

Listen to one another instead of just waiting for your turn to talk.

Don’t try to out-give the room, if you give of your time or energy for any other reason than to bless God and a

c. Don’t try to out-give the room, if you give of your time or energy for any other reason than to bless God and a blessing to others you will be disappointed and unsatisfied, not to mention burned out and bitter

-blessing to others you will be disappointed and unsatisfied, not to mention burned out and bitter

ACTION STEPS:

1. Be what you are looking for, for someone else. You need a friend? Be a friend. You need accountability? Be willing to help someone else with their struggles, etc.

2. See other perspective

3. Be here as much as possible, I know you can’t always control your attendance, but if you make an effort to be here as much as possible it will be much easier for you to establish and sustain community.

2. Be willing to help someone else with their struggles, etc.Be here as much as possible, I know you can’t always control your attendance, but if you make an effort to be here as much as possible it will be much easier for you to establish and sustain community.

4. Chose your friends wisely, I’m not saying ditch all of your school friends but I am saying be careful who you let influence you. If you always seem to find yourself in trouble or on the edge of sinning with a person or group then maybe it’s time to spend less time with them.

RE-IMAGE - CONCLUTION:

When I was in high school I had this friend and we were always together, we even worked at the same Arby’s. Well he didn’t like school and I was on the verge of failing all of my classes for the third straight year so we just stopped going to our last class of the day.

I had a car and we’d go to the Taco Bell across from the school every day. And I ended up making small exception after small exception and I ended up on a path that I never would have imagined in a million years. I went form skipping a class here and there to getting high in the woods before work. And it only took a few months. And do you know how long it took me to get off of that path?

One conversation. I was at a Christian coffee house with some friends (cuz I was also a hard core church kid) and I overheard a guy asking a friend of mine if he played bass. Naturally I stuck my head in the conversation and said I do!

To make a long story short, a guy I knew from elementary school was starting a new band and needed a bass player, I auditioned and got the gig. And that band became like a family and this new Christian community I had found replaced my destructive and unhealthy community almost immediately.

And I didn’t ditch my old friend from high school, I just didn’t give him a prominent seat at the table. We still talked, but when he’d ask me to go hang out I never went because I knew where that path leads and I didn’t want to go back. I had replaced my idea of community with actual community. And I began to change the way I treated people, still a LONG way from perfect, but I took a step in the right direction.

Some of you really need to evaluate who is at your table and how loud of a voice you give them. Some of you need to invite Jesus to the head of your table and let Him run the show, we call that making Jesus the Lord of your life. Where you give over all of the secrets and regrets and shame and let Him lead the way to green pastures and find your rest in Him.

QUESTIONS:

Are you in a healthy community?

Does the understanding that how you treat others reflects what you believe about God change the way you think about how you treat people?