A biblical community can be destroyed!
Devotions this week based on the Message: “BELIEVE: Week 16: Biblical Community”
(NOTE: This sermon series and devotional series is based on a book by Randy Frazee entitled, “BELIEVE.”
You may choose to download or purchase the book as a supplement to your worship and devotional emails.)
A biblical community is a community of grace.
Or is it?
I hope it is. However, truth be told, it easier to believe and teach love and forgiveness and grace than it is to practice love, forgiveness and grace.
But you and I wouldn’t be the first to struggle with this.
The Apostle Paul wrote these words to a group of Christians in the region of Galatia:
Galatian 5:15 If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.
Like a human family, a family of believers can struggle to get along at times.
We can be mean.
We can hold grudges.
We can be judgmental of others.
We can be critical.
We can be condescending.
We can be cold.
We can be unforgiving.
We can be ___________________.
Who wants to be part of a community that has these characteristics.
I wouldn’t think anyone does.
Charles Spurgeon once said, “Beware of no man more than of yourself; we carry our worst enemies within us.”
The reason a biblical community can “bite and devour each other” is because each person has a sinful nature that is wreaking havoc on the work of God’s Spirit. The sinful nature leads us to all of the above reactions.
So what is the solution? How about working with God’s help to do the following:
- Ephesians 4:29 Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen… 31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. 32 Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.
- Colossians 3:12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
- 1 Thessalonians 5:14 And we urge you, brothers and sisters, warn those who are idle and disruptive, encourage the disheartened, help the weak, be patient with everyone. 15 Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always strive to do what is good for each other and for everyone else.
The reality is Satan wants to destroy a biblical community and he will work inside each of us to love grace for ourselves, but fail to show grace to others. He will get us to treasure forgiveness for our sins, but invite us to hold grudges against someone who wronged us. He will allow us to bask in the love Jesus has shown to us and give us excuses why we don’t have to show love to others.
So to develop and maintain a biblical community, we must seek the Spirit’s help to do the following:
James 4:7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Come near to God and he will come near to you.
Did you hear the promise in this? Grow closer to the love of God and God’s love will come closer to you. And as God’s love, grace and forgiveness fills you, you too can be part of filling a biblical community with his love, grace and forgiveness.
Apply: Which attribute encouraged in the passages above would make a difference to your church community if you intentionally worked to do better yourself and encourage others to do the same.
Prayer: Lord, help me with your Spirit to be a catalyst against Satan and for your Spirit to develop a biblical community that focuses on and lives out your love, grace and forgiveness. AMEN.
A biblical community is humble and patient…
Devotions this week based on the Message: “BELIEVE: Week 16: Biblical Community”
(NOTE: This sermon series and devotional series is based on a book by Randy Frazee entitled, “BELIEVE.”
You may choose to download or purchase the book as a supplement to your worship and devotional emails.)
Sin divides. Always has. Always will.
The church is not immune from divisions that come as a result of sinful people coming together seeking the forgiveness and love of Christ at the cross.
In fact, if you have been in a church for any length of time, you probably have experienced some sort of division over some issue that could be a serious doctrinal straying from the Bible or a matter of opinion over paint colors in the church remodel.
Or perhaps you are or know someone who is staying away from the church because of the division or “politics” in a church. So indirectly divisions in the church divide someone not even in the church from the church.
Satan loves it when a “biblical community” is a divided community.
It’s no wonder the Scripture encourages:
Ephesians 4:3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.
A biblical community works to maintain unity…true unity.
So how do we build a true peace in the community of believers? Here’s a few thoughts to reflect on.
Ephesians 4:2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.
Pride easily creeps into our hearts and can affect how we interact with others. Sure we may say a friendly “Hello” or we may smile as we pass by an individual, but we can think, “I would never want to hang out with them.” Pride can come up when we look down on how others parent their children. Pride can come up when we look at how others are dressed and make a judgment about them. Pride rears its ugly head when we think our ideas are better than someone else’s. Pride comes up when we wonder why no one said thank you for financial gifts or volunteer effort that was given.
And division happens inside my heart with someone else or the church as a whole.
So the Apostle Paul says, “Be completely humble.” A biblical community is filled with people who are humble. Humility realizes that its about Jesus, not them. Humility seeks to understand someone’s situation and seeks to help, not judge. Humility serves with the satisfaction it is done to the Lord and doesn’t need accolades from others. Humility realizes that what makes us all the same is we are all sinful people in need of the forgiving, saving work of Jesus and we are just grateful to gather together around the cross.
Impatience. How long do we have to put up with so and so’s behavior? How come that person can’t get on board with the rest of us? Why does that person always speak negatively at meetings? Why can’t they give up that addiction? How many times do we have to financially help that family? And the list goes on. We want everyone to be at the level of Christian living we are at (assuming we have “arrived”…hmm, pride…) or do things the same or think the same and we become impatient when it doesn’t happen. And Satan loves it.
So the Spirit says, “Bear with one another in love.” I’ll add, “…just as Jesus has born with you in love.” Think of how many times we do the same sin and need forgiveness. Think how slow your mindset has been to transform into the mindset of God. Think of how long it has taken to you to overcome a pet sin of yours…or how you still fall for it? The point is the patience of God is deep and his love for you is wide.
So…we get to share and live out that love with one another. Yes, at times it is hard. At times it doesn’t come easily.
But we go back to the cross and see the humble service of Jesus and the patient love he has shown to us.
Satan hates it when we are humble, patient and loving. The Spirit loves it.
And that’s what a biblical community does.
Apply: How are you prideful, impatient, or unloving? Repent and ask the Spirit to show you how to be humble, patient and loving.
Prayer: Lord, thank you for your humble, patient love for us prideful, impatient people. Help us to be the same to the people in our church family and the community around us. AMEN.
A Biblical Community Loves!
Devotions this week based on the Message: “BELIEVE: Week 16: Biblical Community”
(NOTE: This sermon series and devotional series is based on a book by Randy Frazee entitled, “BELIEVE.”
You may choose to download or purchase the book as a supplement to your worship and devotional emails.)
Life is meant to be done in community…especially the Christian life.
Over the years I have heard people say, “I worship God on my own.” Or, “I don’t have to go to church to be a Christian.”
On the one hand, we could agree, but to be honest, I always think (and perhaps have said), “That’s weird.” God didn’t intend his followers to be isolated.
However, I think a better answer is, “You’re missing out.”
Without a community around us we miss out on the blessings others bring to us and the opportunity to be a blessing to others.
Yesterday was Valentine’s Day. The community of faith is to be one where love is received and love is expressed. Here’s a few examples:
- John 13:34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
- Romans 13:8 Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law. 9 The commandments, “Do not commit adultery,” “Do not murder,” “Do not steal,” “Do not covet,” and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
- Galatians 5:13 You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love.
- Ephesians 4:2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.
- 1 John 3:11 This is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another.
- 1 John 4:7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.
- 1 John 4: 11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
Love is the reflection of God’s love for us. Let that be at the center of our hearts, the center of our church and the center of every relationships.
Apply: Which of these passages speaks most to you. Spend a few minutes to memorize it!
Prayer: Lord, thank you for loving us first. Help us to always love others.
What does biblical community look like?
Devotions this week based on the Message: “BELIEVE: Week 16: Biblical Community”
(NOTE: This sermon series and devotional series is based on a book by Randy Frazee entitled, “BELIEVE.”
You may choose to download or purchase the book as a supplement to your worship and devotional emails.)
What does a biblical community look like?
I remember a segment on the morning news years ago called, “Shabby or Shiek.” The viewer had to look at two models and determine which one was wearing a very expensive outfit and which one had an expensive look, but at bargain prices.
It was hard to tell because they looked very similar.
Expense isn’t the point, but experience is.
Can you tell a biblical community from any other community?
If one were to take a snapshot of the community in which you live and a snapshot of your church community, could you tell the difference between the two? Perhaps similarities would be in demographics and the type of people which are in each (although that is not always the case). But could you tell the difference in how people interact in each? How people are treated in each? How people engage in each?
Let me start this week’s devotions by being the first to repent of ways I have not exhibited the love and grace in Christ in our church community and ways that have left the experience in church not much different than the community around us.
Let me start this week again in the grace of God and asking for his Spirit’s help to be part of and build a truly biblical community that is both encouraging to those who are part of it and attractive to those who interact with it.
Immediately after Pentecost, the group of Christians were described in this way:
Acts 2:42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. 46 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, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
Three things stand out about this group of Christians:
- They grew in their faith as a community.
- They shared all aspects of life as a community.
- They readily welcomed others into the community.
The community of believers was the place where faith and life intersected. The cross of Jesus and his saving work was realized by all and was the place to which and from which all the activities of the Christian church originated.
God designed and formed this community by the power of his Spirit. He designed people to be in community with him and with each other. It was what he created at the beginning and desires all to enjoy on earth until the ultimate manifestation of community is experienced in heaven.
But Satan wants to destroy this community. He wants Christians to look just like the rest of the world and the church to look worse than the rest of the world.
So this week we are going to ask the Spirit of God to start in each of our individual hearts to strengthen our community with the Lord. From that point ask him to strengthen the community of believers we are part of so we too experience the blessing of growing in faith together, doing life together, and welcoming others into the family of faith.
Apply: Evaluate the three areas of Christian community in the place you are. Which is strongest? Which can use some help? How can you be part of strengthening the biblical community you are part of?
Prayer: Lord God, thank you for creating and designing the church to be a community that comes together around the cross of Jesus to do life and faith together. Help me to grow in my relationship to you, my connection with others, and to be a catalyst for strengthening the bonds of faith in the community in which you have placed me. AMEN.
I no longer live…
Devotions this week based on the Message: “BELIEVE: Week 15: Total Surrender”
(NOTE: This sermon series and devotional series is based on a book by Randy Frazee entitled, “BELIEVE.”
You may choose to download or purchase the book as a supplement to your worship and devotional emails.)
Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
This passage is a great way to wrap up the week and captures the essence of what “Total Surrender” looks like.
“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.”
In order to follow Jesus, the sinful nature inside each one of us must be daily crucified, i.e. put to death. Martin Luther as he explained the blessing of baptism put it this way:
What does such baptizing with water indicate?
It indicates that the Old Adam in us should by daily contrition and repentance be drowned and die with all sins and evil desires, and that a new man should daily emerge and arise to live before God in righteousness and purity forever.
Where is this written?
St. Paul writes in Romans chapter six: “We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.” (Rom. 6:4)
Often we start our days without a thought as to how will we approach the day ahead. Will today be a day I allow my sinful nature to make the decisions and chart the direction? Or will today be a day where the Spirit of God guides my decisions and charts my direction? Will today be one where I live to receive glory or give glory?
It’s tough, but here is the practical value of daily remembering our baptism. Our baptism personally connected us to the crucifixion of Jesus and his resurrection. As you take a shower/bath today, let the water that washes the dirt off your body remind you of the waters of baptism that washed sin from your soul. The only way to live “totally surrendered” is in the reality that you are a redeemed child of God.
“The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
Life takes on a new focus and perspective when it intersects with the cross. The cross reminds me of the total sacrifice that Jesus made for me! The cross screams the reality of God’s love for me! What else would drive Jesus to suffer and die for me? Nothing but his love for me.
When you consider how you will live your life and for whom you will live your life consider this. If your motivation for living is some earthly reward and your life’s focus is to live for a human being, life will always be empty. Earthly things will go away and the use of them stops at the grave. Although you live to serve others, if the only motivation for your living is how someone else reacts, it will be challenging. God lays out the value of Total surrender. We live under the ONE who loves us unconditionally and spend a life serving the ONE who gave himself for me. And one day we will enjoy the presence of the Son of God.
When God’s Spirit plants the proper perspective in my heart, total surrender is not something done from a place of coercion or pressure, but from a heart that has been deeply touched by the one who “loved me and GAVE himself FOR ME!”
Enjoy a life of total surrender to the one who totally sacrificed himself to you!
Apply: What does it take for you (mentally, spiritually, emotionally) to be a person who is completely surrendered to God’s purposes?
Prayer: Lord, help us always live in view of your mercy, in the shadow of your cross, and with the full assurance that you love us and gave yourself for us. Only with this perspective will I be able to live a life of total surrender to you. AMEN.