Forget everything you ever thought you knew about community. Unless you JUST became a Christian (congratulations, BTW) you probably have many ideas about being Christian family that you need to UNlearn. We usually define community around us…they are the caricatures around your story instead of characters in Jesus’ story.

Image-bearing is not done individually. God is Triune – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – and the people He made in his image and likeness were not created to image individually. We were created to image facets of God’s story and glory, joined together in such a beautiful formation that we shine light brighter than the facets of a diamond. God is multi-faceted, and so are we to be in God-glorifying community.

This is not community that simply hangs out, eats meals, laughs together and pats each other on the back because they worship the same God. Jesus washed his disciples’ filthy feet, yet many Christians don’t even lift a finger for those outside their own household, beyond offering therapeutic advice during the obligatory hour of “bible study time” and promising you’ll “pray for ‘em”. Many Christians congratulate themselves for the half-hour of service they provide every other week… as if they’re doing their church, and God, some kind of big favor.

At our campus, your pastors see many Christian husbands and dads thinking like individuals, satisfying their role as image-bearer by serving their wife and children, instead of thinking like the leader of an image-bearing household and seeking how to lead their families into participating in the story of God.

Christian community sees a corporate worship service as a time to grow through worshipful service. Christian community comes together during the week to really pursue deep relationship… not for the end goal of deep relationship, but partnership in the gospel for the purpose of doing mission together. Before we look at mission next week, we have to repent of our enculturated idolatry that keeps us from true community that can image God to this city.

Right click HERE to download or stream the sermon below.