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======Desire for Exchange about your Questions ...======
Wednesday, May 15, 2013. How do you establish real community when it comes
to faith in Christ? Of course, we have our churches, everywhere in th country.
We have services everywhere on Sunday morning, and they are key parts of
Christian community. But is it sufficient to go to some service now and then?
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**Desire for understanding and questions ...**
We have a deep desire for understanding. I mean to be together with others which
understand our thoughts, our questions, our feelings. It is very important to for
us not to be alone - and not to be alone usually means that we have people to
talk and to practice our faith jointly.
In our church, we have cell groups or house groups, which meet weekly and establish
a space for exchange. Reading the bible, praying for each other, talking about
questions and experiences is an important part of these house groups.
But from years of experience I also know that there are very different demands
and backgrounds. Every human is different, has a different personal history and
different set of skills and gifts. This also strongly influences the experiences
and needs. Also, our faith questions are different in different states and phases
of our life.
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**Faith is alife ...**
**
When our faith lives, it will change itself over time. When we are new to faith, we
have some questions. Some of them will be answered, and new questions arise. The
way which God goes with us will lead us to challenges, when time is ripe for them.
But that leads to a changing demand of exchange over time.
Some of us have the need to talk about particular questions of faith, like creation
or ethics. Others do not feel the need to go deeper here - and that is usually
perfectly ok. Not every Christian needs to ask every question or go deeper in every
topical area. But those who feel a need to go deeper, they need to find partners
for exchange as well. Those who want to go into mission need partners to talk
to. It is very important to find those partners ...!
There are two important remarks on this: first, it is not always easy to find the
right people to talk to. When you are someone, who is interested in the
intellectual parts of faith, you want others who can argue on the same level. When
you have a heart for the poor, you need others who have a heart for them as well.
But it might take you a long time to find peers.
What is a good way to find people you can find community with? It is not always clear.
A very generic answer is: pray! Ask the Lord. He knows who can help you, he knows
everyone. And he can bring you together with those who have the same questions. Pray!
(Roland Potthast)
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