The bible lays out the concept of community throughout it's pages. Biblical community is the concept that God has not just saved us as individuals, but He has saved us and called us into a body of believers. God hasn't called us to our lives independent of anyone else; He has called us to be in intimate relationship with each other. All throughout the New Testament we see commands that we often refer to as "the one anothers"; these are commands to love one another, pray for one another, serve one another, confess our sins to one another, etc. None of these things happen entirely during a one hour church service each week. These passages of scripture and more call us to resist the temptation we all have to be isolated, and be actively involved with the lives of others while allowing others to be involved with us. This is not a call to be in a Christian bubble. As believers individually, and as a Christian community, we are on mission with Jesus. Jesus came to seek and save the lost. He has commissioned us with that same initiative. So as a Christian community, we are intentionally engaging the lost world around us with the purpose of making Christ known and seeing souls saved. The clearest picture we see in the scripture of this being lived out is in Acts 2:42-47. This is the type of community we strive for at Remedy Church.
The question is; how do we cultivate that community? At Remedy, one way that we seek to cultivate community is through R:COMMUNITY Groups. (Remedy Community) These are small groups that will meet in homes during the week to practically flesh out that Acts chapter 2 type community. We will always share a meal, have good fellowship and laughs, pray for and with one another, and discuss how we can practically live out the things the LORD is teaching us through His word. The goal of these groups is to be the launch pad for community driven missional living that will take place all throughout the week and will ultimately characterize our lives for the glory of God. Our community groups will always be a place that we are inviting friends, co-workers, family members, and others who may not know the LORD, but that we have been praying for and are seeking to win for Christ with the gospel.
Last night we had our first (unofficial) R:COMMUNITY Group at our new apartment. We were really excited at how it went. Kristi and I made dinner, our friend Talitha made an amazing dessert, and we had 7 adults and 6 kids here fellowshipping and glorifying God. One of my main roles, at this time, is to get R:COMMUNITY Groups up and running and I'm so excited about it. I am passionate about our unity in true, biblical fellowship within the body of Christ, and have a great desire to see legit discipleship flow from these groups. Be in prayer that the people of Remedy would catch the vision for biblical community and devote themselves to honor the LORD through living intimately involved with other believers. We will keep you posted with how God continues to move through these groups as time goes on. As always we would love your prayers. We love you and pray that you are blessed.
~ Issac
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