{{2011_09_29_t1.jpg}} {{2011_09_29_t2.jpg}} {{2011_09_29_t3.jpg}} [[http://www.jesusnetwork.eu/de/doku.php/jn_de_2011_09_29|Deutsche Version]] [[Start|| Wiki Start]] [[topics_collection_iii|| Topics Collection iii ]] ======The Church IV ...====== Thursday, September 29, 2011. How do we realize living as the church? {{2011_09_29.jpg }} **Practical Thoughts ...** A church needs members which know each other. It needs people who have a relationship. That is the case in many small churches, in free churches, which usually arise from small groups of believers and then grow into larger entities. It is not the case in many of the "state churches", where a pastor runs the main business and only a small group of elected people does the rest. Many churches today have made good experiences with small groups. That can be bible study groups or house groups which meet every week to pray and to talk about a topic. Here, people get to know each other better. Friendships can grow. It might be a good idea for your church to start small groups. It might be a good idea for you to join such a group! The topic community is important - and I would say it is not completely resolved in our modern society. We have very small entities - the families. But more and more people are single and live alone in some small flat. It is good for humans to be part of a layer of communities, small, medium, larger ... But today we do not have a natural way to build such communities, neither in society nor in our churches! {{ 2011_09_29_2.jpg}} **Keep an Eye on Him ...** The Christian idea of a good community is that God should be the key part of it, he should be the center and guide. That is, of course, realized by the local church as a hole if everyone attends the services and if everyone is taking part in a whole collection of activities which make the interaction with the Lord practical. But I think it is not guaranteed that it really works! The New Testament communicates a particular image of our relationship with God. It calls him the vine, us the branches and fruits. We need to take everything from him. But you can be in the middle of a Christian community without living like that! So how do we make it real to be the branches? How do we let it happen? Can we DO something? Or is it a point of inner attitude? I believe that Christian life IS possible. That he can be the vine, we can be the branches. And I believe that a lot of things happen when we let him be the driving force of our life, when we keep the contact in prayer, in words, in actions and activities. I also think that there is a lot of potential unused, which the Christian church could catalyse ... there is a lot to do, let us move forward in these things! (Roland Potthast) [[http://www.jesusnetwork.eu/en/doku.php/topics_collection_iii|... more texts]]