A Gospel Community

Sunday Service

Selected Scriptures

Throughout our society today, we observe people gathering together, uniting around a common purpose, common interests, common characteristics. Many in our society desire a community to be associated with, and are dissatisfied without it. For us in Christ, we have been saved out of the world into the community of the church. God has designed this community to be unique, to be a living testimony to His transforming power. This morning, we’ll look at His Word to helpfully assess whether we are functioning in His design.

1. HOW BIBLICAL COMMUNITY FUNCTIONS
This should be a close-knit community. The priority of allegiance to Jesus Christ should also cause us to place a high priority on His spiritual family, which is the church body (Matthew 10; Mark 3:31; Ephesians 4:15). All should be involved in the work of ministry if the church is to function as it was intended.

2. WHERE BIBLICAL COMMUNITY COMES FROM
The Book of Acts gives us some indication of what it means to be a church body by the way in which believers came to be saved at Pentecost (Acts 2:37). The people who came together as believers during that time (Acts 5:14) had a common bond of love for each other that motivated them to serve one another. They were drawn to themselves through the kind of love that was demonstrated by Jesus Christ. It is in the flesh of Christ that we are given the peace that enables us to become a close-knit community (Colossians 3:11).

To be a Christian is to be saved into a church community. Let us encourage professing Christians that we know, who do not belong to a church body, to consider the importance of being in connection with their brothers and sisters in Christ on a frequent basis. The fellowship we share with one another within the church body comes ultimately from the fellowship we have in Jesus Christ.