Christian Community: What, Why, and How
Section 1: Intro to Christian Community – What is it?
Turn your Bibles, if you have them, to Acts 2:42-47.
I have been given the great honor and task to speak to you today about Second City Church’s second pillar – Community. What is it, why should we practice it, and how exactly we can live this out.
Community is vital to this church, and hopefully it is vital to every church because it was absolutely a pillar in the early church and part of the blueprint of how churches should operate according to the Bible.
Kendall and I, when we first arrived in Chicago, did a lot of “church shopping”. We had and have high standards for the local church that we attend, a lot of that surrounding theological issues. So, some churches we went to didn’t quite meet those standards, but others did! However, after attending a few churches where we agreed with what was being preached from the pulpit, we kept searching because we felt like a face in the crowd, like we couldn’t establish a community there. Obviously we found one, this church, and we decided to stay not just for the bible-based theology we found from the leadership, but because the people here feel like home. This is a church, a congregation, that is deeply rooted in community, and so it is a blessing to be able to speak to you about this pillar of what has been our home for the past 9 years.
So then what exactly is biblical community? Let’s take a look at our key passage today – Acts 2:42-47. Let me set the scene:
Jesus Christ has just finished His earthly ministry, that is the ministry He did while He was literally on earth. He had lived a perfect 33 years, did signs and wonders, traveled to many places healing, preaching, and teaching, died a sinners death in our place at calvary, was buried in a tomb for 3 days, rose again on the third, showed himself to his apostles and 500 more, and then ascended into heaven. His apostles, after seeing the Lord ascend, went into town, the Holy Spirit descended upon them, and then Peter preaches the first sermon to the onlookers. He finishes his sermon, 3,000 people repent, are saved, and are baptized, and the first Christian church is established. Not a building, mind you, but a people. Then our passage begins:
"And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved."
The first church practiced community immediately. They:
Met together (e.g. this passage emphatically states “they” when describing its events)
Worshipped together by learning (devoting themselves to the apostles teaching), spending time and eating with one another (fellowship to the breaking of bread), and praying with one another.
They were unified (had all things in common)
Supported one another no matter the cost (selling possessions and distributing to all who had need)
They did not limit this to weekly gatherings (day by day)
And they had “favor with all the people” even as they were praising God.
The result: the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.
Section 2: Why is this important?
So then, why? Why was this such a big deal and why is it still a big deal that we live out community with one another?
First and foremost, being a community, being relational with one another, is a direct reflection of God Himself.
You don’t have to read very far in your Bible-in-one-year reading plan to find this theological principle. In Genesis 1 God says in verse 26:
Let us make mankind in our image…
God Himself before the creation of the world, before any of us were even here, was and is relational. Our God is triune, three in one, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The father did not make us in his image, the Son didn’t make us in his image, the Holy Spirit did not make us in his image. The Trinity, God, Son, and Holy Spirit made us in his image. But we are not triune, we do not have three parts that can commune with one another. God made us to reflect his perfect self by being with one another.
So why is it important to practice community? Quite simply, if we are to be more like God, the highest calling of our lives, then we are to be in community with one another.
Secondly, we practice community for a purpose. That purpose is of course the aforementioned – to be more like God. But it doesn’t stop there, by doing that it has a radical effect on each of our lives. We practice community to stir up one another to love and good works.
Hebrews 10:19-25 says, “Therefore, brothers [and sisters], since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
Christian community is not just for the sake of a good hang. It has a radical purpose with a radical result. Here is a challenge to all of us, “When you leave a gathering of believers, do you feel encouraged to love more and do good? And, have you contributed to that end for others?”
Within our three pillars, Christ, Community, and Culture, the first two are our root system for the third. By being rooted in Christ and Community, we are able to affect the culture. We do not first become holy, generous, loving, etc. within our culture and then bring that into our relationship with Christ and each other. Rather, we are sanctified through our relationship with Christ and each other in order to successfully affect our culture.
There is a reason our pillars a structured in this order. Those are ranked from most important to third most important. If you skip Christ and Community, you will be ineffective with your influence among your secular communities! We’ll talk about Culture in the following weeks, but I almost want to say “forget about that pillar” if you have not rooted yourself in the first two – Christ and Community. I remember listening to a sermon from another church where the pastor said something to this effect, “If you have come here and gotten saved, this church is no longer for you. This church is for those seeking Christ.” I remember thinking, “that misses the point of church entirely.” Yes, it is a wonderful thing that people get saved in church, but the church is for believers in him to come and meet together in order that they may go out and change the world. Meeting together, in person, under Christ, is vital for the lifeblood of our great commission, to go out and make disciples of all nations.
This is why a local, in-person church is so important! This passage says do NOT neglect meeting together as is the habit of some. I set up our online service during covid and it was a sufficient stand-in while the world was in chaos, but now I see it as a fulfillment of three things: for posterity so we can streamline the recording of our services, for our church members who are ill or out of town, and for the few who want to tune in to see a loved one who may be participating in the service. I want to offer a challenge to our online viewers: if this is your substitute for attending a local church in your area, make this your last service with us. Next Sunday, go out and find a solid church community or come and join ours (if you’re using this to see what we’re all about). Do not neglect the assembly of the saints – online church does not count! There is so much more to be experienced by being with one another, worshipping, learning, eating with one another!
If you were here during our covid online season, you might remember that when we got up and running it was really cool and exciting… for a little while. But something was missing. What was missing was this community, being together, worshipping in person together. Don’t miss it.
Third, we are to practice community so that others can know that Jesus is Lord.
In John 17 we read about the Lord’s prayer. You may know the prayer “Our father who art in heaven…” as the Lord’s prayer… that’s not the Lord’s prayer. That’s our prayer. This is the Lord’s prayer – the prayer he gave for us in the Garden of Gethsemane before he went to the cross.
He says in verse 15-23, “I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth. I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.”
Jesus’ prayer is that we would be one – that we would be together, unified in his gospel, his death, burial, and resurrection – so that the world may know that God sent his son to love them even as God relationally loves Jesus.
What does this look like? Jesus explains just a few chapters earlier to the disciples. John 13:34-35 says, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
Christian community is radical. By living this out, the world should see that we are disciples of Christ because of the way we love one another in community!
Here is another challenge: Do your non-Christian communities know that you are a disciple of Christ by how you love your family in Christ?
Section 3: How do we do this?
This is a high calling! Ultimately, Jesus’ prayer for us is that our root system in Christ and Community will affect our Culture. But what does this look like practically? How exactly can we start or continue to do this?
Let’s take a look back at our blueprint for community – our key passage in Acts 2 – and I’ll give you some thoughts on how this can be practically lived out.
Met together (e.g. this passage emphatically states “they” when describing its events)
We need to meet together! This is a good place to start! We are here, at church. Where are we? We are literally at Green House Theater, but we are at church. The church is the body of Christ. If you’re coming here, we want you to be coming for the church. If you came for Rollan, well sorry you got me but even still that’s only part of what this is! This is the gathering of the body – it’s about us coming together for God. Ask yourself this, if the Green House Theater kicked us out, if our Rogers Park location burned down, if Rollan went on sabbatical, would you still have a church? I hope your answer is emphatically yes because you have this community.
Worshipped together by learning (devoting themselves to the apostles teaching), spending time and eating with one another (fellowship to the breaking of bread), and praying with one another.
This sounds a lot like our Sunday service, but it extends to far more than this!
This describes community groups! If you are not part of one, get in one! It is a Sunday service concentrated into a small gathering within the hospitality of our leaders during the week where we can worship, eat, and pray together and for one another. It is such a practical way to be in community together and live these things out.
This describes lunch after this service! If you don’t have lunch plans, grab someone and go to Johnny’s Beef, Velvet Taco, or one of the many great local places around here and share a meal. There is so much power in good food and good company. Experience this within the next hour!
This describes inviting one another to your homes! Cook for one another, encourage one another in the apostles teachings (the Bible), pray with and for one another!
Remember, the early church did not limit this to once-a-week gatherings. They met together day-by-day! If you can’t do this physically, start a text thread or group chat and commune with each other, send prayer requests, praises, encouragements!
This looks like COMMUNION! We are going to take part in Communion after this message and it’s such an exciting and powerful thing. We’ll take some time to describe what communion is before we participate in it together, but ultimately it is a foreshadowing of the community we will experience in heaven. Communion is literally communing with Christ alongside believers; it is this incredible moment where we together as the body of Christ commune with His saving power, His broken body and spilt blood for our sake. By taking communion we are declaring Christ’s death until He comes – but once we are in His presence, when we are together with Him in Heaven, we won’t literally do the sacrament of communion (the eating of a piece of bread and a bit of juice) but we will instead commune with Him and each other in person for all eternity. Communion is the melding together of our first two pillars, Christ and Community. So if you are a believer in Christ, get excited to take this with us later in the service.
This describes Community Day! More on that later!
This might feel overwhelming. You might know people here involved in this type of community I am describing, you might know me – I’m involved in a lot of things; I serve on different teams, I help oversee Community Groups, Kendall and I run Community Day, like it or not we are a heavy presence in this place. You might be thinking, “I want this, but where do I start?” I want to encourage you with this: start now. Start by doing this – after service, don’t bolt out of here. Stay. Talk to someone you don’t know, get prayed over by our banner, make lunch plans - come to lunch with me! Just start by not leaving immediately. If you have to leave, talk to me and let me point you in the direction of a community group. Commit to going for the next four weeks whether you feel like it or not. You don’t have to do everything I’ve said at once – just start simple and go from there. We want you here.
They were unified (had all things in common) and supported one another no matter the cost (selling possessions and distributing to all who had need)
This one is tougher! It starts to make us feel uncomfortable because it requires us to give, not just take. But Community is about sharing space, time, and resources with one another.
This looks like supporting one another in hard times – emotionally, spiritually, and financially. Kendall and I have been very blessed financially and we’ve had the opportunity to share with those in our church who are in need. Right now, a family from Booklat is in great need of resources. If you want to help out a family who has been part of our after-school community, reach out to Christa. Put this sermon to practice and give! I guarantee you that you will receive far more than you give, it is one of the greatest ironies that God has blessed his family with.
This looks like opening your home to those who need a place to stay. Kendall and I have hosted 2 young men in our home for extended periods of time – Gabe and Garrett. Since then, one has gotten engaged and the other is in a serious relationship. Good things happen to those who stay with us! We have another guest in our home right now, Caroline. Caroline, buckle up and start ring shopping!
This looks like asking for help from your community. If you are in need, we want to know. We want to raise you up, to bless you, to love you.
And they had “favor with all the people” even as they were praising God.
This is a strange dichotomy in the scriptures because even in the Lord’s Prayer, right before the passage I shared with you, Jesus says that the world will hate us because we are not of the world. So how can we be hated and yet have “favor with all people”?
It is simply this: the church and its community is supposed to be attractive to the outside world. Even when people disagree with our beliefs, they must not deny that the way we live is better.
The Bible says that we are a city on a hill (Matthew 5:14-16). That means we cannot be hidden, we are not called to live this life of community in isolation. If that is all we are, then congratulations, you’ve just joined a cult. But we are not a cult – we are a community that welcomes others to come and see that the Lord is alive, that he is transforming us to be more like him, that there is a better way to live. 1 Peter 2:9-12 tells us to live such good lives among unbelievers that, though they accuse of us doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and have no ground to stand on. That the result of this is that they will be among us to glorify God on the day he returns.
Can I tell you more about Community Day? The purpose of Community Day is to have a space where the church can come and fellowship together. But much more than that, we want you to invite others into this space so they can come and hopefully leave that place thinking, “that was different. I want that.” And what is “that”? It’s Christ within a Community of people, being put on display for all to see, hear, and experience. So please, come to Community Day, invite your friends, RSVP, and come and see that the Lord is good.
What was and is the result of lived out community according to Acts 2? The Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.
Two more passages for you and then I’ll close.
Zechariah 8:23 says, “In those days ten people from all languages and nations will take firm hold of one Jew by the hem of his robe and say, ‘Let us go with you, because we have heard that God is with you.”
Who is the Jew under Christ? Galatians 3:28-29 says, “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”
My prayer is that we would be that Jew in Zechariah that the nations take hold of, that someone would say “Let me go with you, because we have heard, tasted, and seen that God is with you.”
In a world that idolizes individualism, self-expression, and self-sufficiency, true Christian community is radically different.
We admit weakness and seek help from our brothers and sisters.
To that end we carry one another’s burdens.
We slow down our schedules for one another and stay with one another to encourage and lift each other up.
We commit to imperfect people in love so that other imperfect people can see that the Jesus is Lord.
We are not perfect. I am not perfect. Voddie Baucham, a pastor in Zambia, says, “I’m just a beggar, telling another beggar where I found bread.” We cannot live out the gospel perfectly, but through the power of the Holy Spirit, by being rooted in Christ and Community, we can show others where we found bread, where we found home.
So go, and radically live out this calling, be in Community with one another, love one another as Christ has loved you, and see the nations turn to God because of it.
