Join God Community MONDAY Community is Linked to Salvation Acts 2:41-42 The book of Acts is an incredible detailed document of how God established His Church by sending the Holy Spirit to radically change lives and turn hearts back to Him. Luke, the author of the book is writing to a man named Theophilus, who had questions and concerns about becoming a Christian. The Gospel of Luke and the book of Acts is a conversation between two people who are growing in the Lord. This is a great sign about how much God cares about community! Jesus has set the Church up to be the way in which we grow as believers and the way the world gets to physically see the presence of God at work. To love and follow Christ means to love and be the Church to one another. No wonder right when 3,000 people hear Peter, the first sermon at Pentecost and get saved, they immediately dive into community. Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day. They devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. ~ Acts 2:41-42 Being the Church is a reminder that I can t make it on my own. If you read on in the book of Acts, some Christians end up doing some really dumb stuff. I mean really dumb (Acts 5:1-11)! Which is why we need a Church family to walk with us and help us learn to live the ways of Jesus. I need wisdom, strength, encouragement and love from others as I pursue this life with Jesus. Being the Church will challenge us! The whole story of God is one of Him being in unity with Jesus and the Holy Spirit. God is never outside of community and we are made in His image. The New Testament is full of one another passages that guide us to how we re to encourage, warn, love, serve and think of others. This is the way in which God grows us. And this is the way He s always grown His people. Read below one of my favorite verses on community. Wounds from a friend can be trusted. ~ Proverbs 27:6 Ever have that time when someone close to you lovingly smacked you with the truth but for your own good? Yeah we all hate them in that moment, but we soon find out that they were right and even though it hurt my pride or ego, I needed to listen to them. Being a part of community helps us to trust people; which leads us to better hearing what they have to say. It also gives us courage to speak the truth to another believer because you love them and God too much to not say something. Being the Church should look more like Jesus than you. The 3,000 new believers started engaging in new practices of being discipled by the apostles, fellowship of encouraging each other to live out our faith, breaking bread together and praying, right after their baptism. These are not commands in the Bible, but they are simply reflections of what Christ did with His disciples. The disciples had unique personalities, but what they clung to more than who they were, was the person and the priorities of Jesus. We lose our identity as the Church when we live life based off our principles and not Jesus. Community is the way God moves us into maturity. So where is God moving you or needs to move you into maturity today? Nate Ross
TUESDAY Community Shaped by God s Word As I prepared to graduate from Bible College and launch into ministry, one of the benchmarks was to preach my Senior Sermon in Chapel service. My Mentor Professor was Dr. Tommy Smith. Dr. Smith has always been known for his ability to speak truth in love. As a Bible College student, I was looking for that balance to swing toward LOVE! His critique of my message was amazingly gentle compared with how he graded most of my papers. But one note has stuck with me after all these years. In my outline I referenced where Jesus had gone back to his hometown and read Isaiah 61. The Nazarenes who knew Jesus as a child had become so familiar with Jesus that when he declared in the Synagogue that HE was the fulfillment of the Isaiah prophecy, many rejected him. I touched on the fact that, as Bible college students, we too could become so familiar with church things that we could lose sight of Jesus. Then I did what I typically do. I made a quick joke to diffuse the discomfort of the room. Dr. Smith wrote, If you have truth to speak, and you can say it in love, you have to say it. While I remember those words, I have not always heeded them. But the older I get, the wiser I realize that counsel was. I have also observed that every time I back away from hard conversations, it doesn t go away. It grows. The elephant in the room keeps eating until I stop feeding him. In Galatians 2:11-16, we read of just such a moment. The Apostle Paul finds himself in the awkward situation where his friend Peter, also known as Cephas, needs some truth in love. Check it out. When Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. For before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group. The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray. When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in front of them all, You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How is it, then, that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs? We who are Jews by birth and not sinful Gentiles know that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified. ~ Galatians 2:11-16 Speaking hard truth can be hard. So can hearing it. God had given Peter a powerful vision in Acts 10 that he later summarized at the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15 by stating, No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are. But old prejudices die hard. What we see in this passage from Galatians 2 above, Peter had slipped back into people pleasing and caused his Gentile brothers great pain. We learn some beautiful truth about how Paul handled Peter s sinful heart. Here are some guidelines this verse gives us for handling those tough conversations: 1. Talk TO the person, not ABOUT them: I opposed him to his face. 2. Test it: let God s Word be the guide for Truth, not our customs. 3. Include those who were affected (or infected) by the error: in front of them all. 4. Focus on Jesus: justified by faith in Jesus. As Dr. Smith challenged me, let those words challenge you. Maybe you have a difficult conversation you need to have with your spouse or a brother or sister in Christ. Remember, If you have truth to speak, and can say it in love, you have to say it. Take some time to pray about what God is revealing to you. Do you have some truth you need to speak? Do you have some truth you need to hear? Brian Combs
WEDNESDAY Community Shaped by Seeking God s Will The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone. Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus. For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything. ~ Acts 9:7-9 Moments before, Saul was on a mission, headed to Damascus with written consent from the high priest to imprison any followers of The Way, these people choosing to trust and follow Jesus. But there was a change of plans. Saul was knocked on his can with a flash of light from heaven and the voice of Jesus giving him a new mission. Saul thought his mission to root out these Jesus followers was a godly one. He was wrong. It serves as a reminder for us that we can be sincere and still be sincerely wrong. Sometimes the steps we take lead us in the wrong direction. And sometimes it takes flashes of light from heaven to change our course. God used physical blindness to expose his spiritual blindness. Meanwhile in Damascus, Jesus came to his disciple, Ananias, in a vision and told him to go to Saul. He even told him exactly where he could find him and that Saul was even expecting him to place his hands on him and restore his sight! Ananias voiced his concerns to Jesus about Saul s murderous threats and all the reports of the harm he has done and intended to do to all who call on Your name (v.14). But the Lord said to Ananias, Go! This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel. I will show him how much he must suffer for my name. ~ Acts 9:15-16 God gives us the ministry of reconciliation. This is the ministry of making right what has been made wrong. This is the ministry of restoration, taking what is broken and mending it. As followers of Jesus, we are the search party, the rescue party, the first responders, the frontline. Jesus intends to reconcile and restore all those headed in the wrong direction on the wrong mission back to Himself, and He intends to do that through His people, His Church, through you, through me, through us. And in this case, even those bent on harming His family. Ananias goes the house where Saul is, enters the house, places his hands on Saul and says, Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 9:17). Just as His Church is called to do, Ananias obeys God s will because he is seeking God s will. He even calls him Brother Saul because the One who sent him was bringing Saul into the family. Immediately Saul s sight was restored and baptism was his very next step, even before eating. And reconciliation begins anew. Who we do life alongside matters. How we lock arms with our brothers and sisters in Christ matters because our mission is reconciliation. God s will is reconciliation. So who in your life right now might God be reconciling to Himself through you? How might He be wanting to use you today to help someone far from Him take their best next steps back to Him? Benjamin Woods
THURSDAY Community Shaped by Living Life Together All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. ~ Acts 2:44-47 Paul is letting us know that life is better together when we have relationships centered on God and HIS Word. When we look at who we are today, we truly are the sum of past and present relationships good, bad, and ugly. Some relationships have left us with gaping wounds and scars, and others have been encouraging and healing. When I was a sophomore in high school my family moved from a small farming community to the suburbs of Grand Rapids, Michigan. I did not fit in at my new high school and was bullied and made fun of. Many days I wanted to stay home by myself. This all changed when Tim Losch, who had a local paper route, stopped by when I was out playing basketball by myself. He shot a few baskets and invited me to hang out with him. Then he invited me to his church youth group where I made another really good friend. This began a friendship with him and others that helped me to stay more connected to God through some of the hardest times of my teen years. When we are doing life alone, the enemy gets one-on-one time to spread his net of lies into our heart and mind. This is why INTENTIONAL relationships centered on God and His Word change everything. Listen to the words from Hebrews 10:24-25: And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another and all the more as you see the Day approaching. God uses intentional relationships founded on the Gospel to spur us on to salvation, belonging, healing, growth, support, and our ministry to include and invest into others! Today spend some time reflecting on the past and present relationships that have shaped YOU! If you are in a life group, how is God using these relationships to grow you? If not, how could a group of people help you to grow in Christ? Jim Veihl
FRIDAY Community Shaped by Family I thank God, whom I serve, as my ancestors did, with a clear conscience, as night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers. Recalling your tears, I long to see you, so that I may be filled with joy. I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also. ~ 2 Timothy 1:3-5 My wife and I are expecting our first child in April. I remember telling one of my best friends as soon as we found out we were pregnant. He said a phrase I ve heard multiple times since: Everything is about to change. At the time, it did not seem like incredibly novel advice. But it did not take long to see that bit of truth come to fruition. In light of our upcoming bundle of joy, I do tend to look at most things differently. When I pick out furniture now, I tend to look through the lens of, Is this safe for the baby? We actually recently bought a bigger, safer car in preparation for transporting this priceless cargo. Perhaps the biggest adjustment has come in the realm of finances. Each time I am looking to buy something for myself, I am reminded that soon I will need to be providing for another human. Diapers do not seem to be cheap, so I have to plan for that new line item in our budget. Beyond short-term financial upticks, I also am asking myself difficult questions I have never had to ask before. Uncomfortable questions like, Will I be able to provide for my family if something happens to me? or Am I on a path financially to take care of my future medical needs and have some left over for my family? I believe all of us want to care for the people we love. More importantly, we want to leave a legacy. I obviously want my daughter (and however many children with which God blesses us) to be taken care of financially; but much more importantly, I want her to be taken care of spiritually. As parents, my wife and I are aware that we are the primary disciple-makers for our children. The Church definitely helps to shape our children! I am excited for her to meet so many great volunteers who love Jesus in KidSide and our student ministry, but studies show over and over that the best way for a child to learn about Jesus is to see their parent(s) have a dynamic relationship with Him. In this passage, we see this is true in the case of Timothy. We see Timothy had a legacy of family members who had dynamic relationships with Jesus. The faith of Timothy was greatly influenced by the faith of his mother and grandmother. It is important to note there are family members who are not mentioned by Paul. Namely, Paul, when recounting the legacy of faith left to Timothy, mentions no men. No families are perfect, and I have to remember that as much as I desire to model a Christ-like life to my daughter, I will not be perfect. I will do my best to love Christ and pray He fills in the gaps in the areas I mess up. May we all remember we have a role to play in our children s faith. May we remember our children are watching us and learning from our actions more than our words. When we miss the mark, may we be quick to repent to God and ask our families for forgiveness. And may we run to our Heavenly Father who is perfect and who will never let us down for guidance in this holy pursuit. Jason Petty