Rhythms: Living in Community

Moving away from compartments

Life in Community, living for Jesus together.

Olivia lost her first tooth this week and she LITERALLY showed EVERYONE!

A few weeks ago she got her first pair of dangly ear rings and she had to have a pony tail the next day so everyone could see.

It is not an activity we need to “fit in” but a rhythm of a healthy, maturing life.

It is natural for us to long for the next phase, the next marker that we are older and more mature.

Then one day we start to realize that getting older brings new responsibilities,

Life in COMMUNITY is our BORN-AGAIN identity. (4:1, 3-6)

Ephesians 4:1 ESV

1 I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called,

we are called to be united -

we are called to be united -

Ephesians 4:3 ESV

3 eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

we are made to be together

Ephesians 4:4–6 ESV

4 There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

eph 4

Our identity is rooted in our unity with God in Christ.

Our greatest commonality is our shared experience with Christ Jesus.

We were not made to be lone individuals on a journey of faith by ourselves.

We are to journey TOGETHER.

It is the very nature of God that has been passed down to us.

But it is something, though innately in us as a need and a characteristic, it is not our natural inclination because of the effects of sin.

Living in “EVERYDAY” COMMUNITY is challenging. (4:2-3)

Ephesians 4:2–3 ESV

2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3 eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

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True, biblical community as Paul is speaking to in verse 1 is not situational or occasional.

It is not something that happens on Sundays and Wednesdays.

It happens in the everyday stuff of life.

The mundane comings and goings.

The excited and the weighty

The big and the small

And that kind of community is not easy.

It requires:

humility- seeing ourselves individually as no more important or valuable that anyone else.

this goes against our sinful bent toward individualism.

Humility touches the way we talk, the way we spend our time and money, and the way we posture our lives.

There are people who have hurt you and humility is necessary if your relationship is going to heal.

And I am not talking about them. YOU need to humble yourself and forgive/seek forgiveness.

gentleness- it literally means “controlled strength” so not to suggested weakness, but a deliberate control to the way our strength is utilized.

The way we speak, the way we react, the way we function in community speaks to gentleness.

harsh, sarcastic or biting words are ways we are not gentle.

patience- longsuffering is a long-form way of saying patience.

People screw up, hurt us, are slow to understand, or hard to understand at times.

Patience is a quality that is essential to community, but incredibly difficult to maintain.

People will mess up, say stupid things, or act selfishly, that is why patience is on the list.

God doesn’t give up on us, and that is our example.

bearing with one another in love- going through the struggles and failure, the joys and triumphs, the anguish and disrepair that defines our lives.

Stay the course

Don’t give up

Love even when it is difficult

Forgive and restore

Maintain unity and peace- this is not a statement that points to ease, it points to hard work and effort.

It is not easy to live in “everyday” community.

We are ALL uniquely GIFTED for the work of MINISTRY. (4:7,11-12)

Ephesians 4:7 ESV

7 But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift.

Ephesians 4:11–12 ESV

11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,

Because it is not easy, we need help, God empowered help

Paul speaks in multiple places about gifts given to believers. , and here in .

In every circumstance he is talking to a group of people about their service toward one another and their unity in ministry to the world around them.

Never are the gifts of the Spirit spoken of as individual talents given to certain people so that they may become the most important people in a church family.

Nor are gifts given a clear hierarchy of importance (outside of a vague statement )

leadership and spiritual gifts are given so that we can equip one another for the work of ministry.

We are all uniquely gifted to serve all the needs of all aspects of the church.

Here Paul is particularly pointing to the gifts given to those called to leadership roles.

for us to not use our gifts is the same as seeing our giftedness as a personal strength for our good.

the purpose of gifts is to minister to the lost and to foster maturity for believers.

Our GROWTH in MATURITY happens only in the CONTEXT of COMMUNITY. (4:13-16)

Ephesians 4:13–16 ESV

13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. 15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

The purpose of community is verses 15-16... to grow and mature into a people that look like, think like, and live like Jesus.

"grow in EVERY way" - not just in certain areas of our life.

"into Him who is the head, Christ." - that in every way, every circumstance, every nook and cranny, every decision and direction, we may be lead by the HEAD, Jesus Christ."

Specifically, maturity is seen:

In our UNITY (vs13) as we grow in showing love to one another and bear one another’s burdens.

The stages of childhood, adolescence, teenage, and adulthood are great analogies of our faith.

It is a growth toward less and less selfishness.

If we don’t grow, there is obviously something broken.

In our KNOWLEDGE of the Son (vs 13) as we grow in understanding who Jesus is more and more everyday.

Notice this happens in the context of community, not as we study in our room alone. (that has it’s place)

Growing in knowledge sit beside growing in unity.

But it also sits beside growing in obedience

In our CONFORMITY to Jesus (vs 13) as we follow Him, listen to Him, and obey Him in the everyday of our lives.

Paul says of this in

Romans 8:29 ESV

29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.

Our maturity will lead to us being more and more like Jesus, together.

The outcome of maturity is:

STABILITY of our faith (vs 14)

WISDOM in our faith (vs 14)

TRUE FELLOWSHIP in community

“Speak the truth in love” is an incredible aspiration for any church family.

Often to speak we feel as if we are not loving, but often the most loving thing to do is to rebuke.

We are awful at this in our church contexts. Both as speaking and at receiving.

But Paul says it is necessary if we are to “grow in every respect to become the mature body of Him who is the head, that is, Christ.”

We must aspire for that kind of fellowship. As a way (a Rhythm) of our everyday lives.

That we may reach the goal:

Ephesians 4:16 ESV

16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

What a place that will be.

Guilt is never a good motivator.

My goal in preaching at your about community is not to make you feel guilty that you aren’t connecting deeper with other believers, THAT IS OUR NATURE.

My goal is to show us the biblical identity we who are followers of Jesus possess because of new life we have received in Christ.

So that when we have the opportunity to lean into community we will see the urgent need we have as believers to “bear with one another.”

In the life of a believer, community nourishes our souls as food and drink to our bodies.

For those seeking to live out their faith in isolation there will be always be a deficiency in your journey.

So I don’t desire to make you feel guilty, but I do desire you, me, and everybody to “walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love.”

Your soul is in desperate need of community.

Those around you today are in desperate need of community.

Our neighbors without Christ are in desperate need of community.