We are Family

If you look at the idea of Church and what that means, the Bible gives us 5 main views to describe the church

Lamp stand - Revelation - Church is light in a community

Temple/Assembly - God’s dwelling which was a building but is now us - new temple with Christ

A bride - image of God’s love for us - do whatever it takes

A body - one body different parts

A family - most familiar - it is the one we most live out in our interaction

Biblical community is imperative and very necessary

I can be a Christian and not be a part of church.. Like telling me I’ll hang with you but not your wife

Know Christ with out going to church, you won’t grow in Christ with out it.

It is not always easy and it takes work to build relationships

Galatians 6:10 CSB

Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us work for the good of all, especially for those who belong to the household of faith.

Biblical community:

Can be awkward

Can be uncomfortable

Takes time

But it is worth all of it

We are not meant nor do we have the strength to face everything alone

We need intimate relationships that are meaningful and impactful

There are over 50 one another’s in Scripture - serve one another, love one another, care for one another etc.

How can you one another if there are no others with you?

Truth is this is not going to happen on a Sunday morning

We gather, we worship, we are not getting into each other’s lives

Biblical community is the rule - small groups is the tool

This is where we will grow as a community and individuals

Today I want to talk what when we pursue community in small groups

Turn to Acts 2

Let’s pray

When we look at the early church - it is common to say we need to be the Acts 2 church

The problem is it doesn’t all work today

What we read - is descriptive not prescriptive

It is describing and it gives us a picture of what we should look like but not we have do everything how they did

When we pursue biblical community through small groups we are:

1. Keeping ourselves in God’s Word

Acts 2:42 CSB

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer.

As much as I would like to believe - no one is going to remember every message or sermon.

Maybe a point or two will stick out - but for accountability sake - i see you only Sunday

The question is who is encouraging and pushing you to grow

Acts 2 is nit a Sunday thing - this is them meeting in homes weekly or even daily diving deeper into God’s word

This is small groups not temple courts

When we pursue biblical community through small groups we are:

2. We are surrounding ourselves with others who invest in our lives.

Acts 2:44 CSB

Now all the believers were together and held all things in common.

These are people sharing and pouring into lives together by:

Pray for you and you for them

Rejoice and mourn together

Have fun together

When we pursue biblical community through small groups we are:

3. Following the example of Jesus and the early church

Acts 2:46–47 CSB

Every day they devoted themselves to meeting together in the temple, and broke bread from house to house. They ate their food with joyful and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. Every day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.

Notice a couple of things -

They went to church and they met in their houses

There was teaching, fellowship, worship throughout the week

I think the growth of the early church was not from the temple but was from the homes

Our relationship with each other is the criterion the world uses to judge whether our message is truthful - Christian community is the final apologetic. - Francis Schaeffer

We want to grow as a campus and a community - We must have small groups

We must be a part of one and we should be leading one for our neighbors and friends.

Remember the four worst words - God can’t use me - here He can

When we pursue biblical community through small groups we are:

4. Obeying God’s commands.

Hebrews 10:24–25 CSB

And let us consider one another in order to provoke love and good works, not neglecting to gather together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging each other, and all the more as you see the day approaching.

We provoke and encourage in small groups not in big assemblies

We are Family

We need biblical community - not just on Sundays

Christian community is the place where we keep the flame of hope alive among us and take it seriously so that it can grow and become stronger in us. - Henri Nouwen

We are Family

Week of September 12th we are kicking off our fall semester for small groups

We will have all types through out our entire church

I want to challenge you to find a group, start a group, or both

Go to ourfamily.church/smallgroups

For us to grow we need to get to smaller

For you to grow you need get connected

Let’s pray