What type of community? ...

Wednesday, May 8, 2013. The book of Acts reports a special kind of community which appeared in the early Christian church, the “community of goods” in Acts 2, 44. The early Christians had all things in common. They even sold their land or houses, to give it to the apostles, which used it for the community of believers …

What community? …

It is a good question, what type of community we can achieve in the Christian church! We are very different people. And we belong to each other, since we are part of Christ in faith. There are deep and important consequences of faith - we cannot just stay ignorant. We cannot just act as if we would not be linked to the Lord, and to the other Christians by the holy spirit!

But when you look practically into the community of the church, you quickly realize how different people are. Often, when we stay away from each other in normal life, we do not realize the differences. But when you get closer to others, you will see quickly how many ways there are to live your day.

Friends of ours have a completely different way to deal with their little kids than we have. Nursing a child, educating a child … there are decisions to be made. When do you say no? What are the consequences of nasty behavior of a child towards others? And with the decisions which all parents need to make, big differences can arise in style and rythm.

Community one layer deeper …

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There is something, which connects us! There is a community between believers, which is much deeper than the superficial things which often catch our view. It is like a subsurface river, like a huge subsurface stream below the ice. When people believe in Christ, the holy spirit lives in them, influences them, works on them. Our community is with the father and Christ, the son.

It is the adventure of our life, to explore God himself, with all what he is, and with all what he brings to us. Part of this adventure are the others. The community of the church, the community with other people, is a fantastic adventure which is given to us by the holy spirit. It means that we can expect great things in our life and in our community. We can expect that the wonders, which always come with the presence of the Lord in many ways, are also part of our community!

What can we do to get deeper into the community which we long for? First of all, it is a community with the Lord. HE enables us to find to one another. It is him, we should search first. It is his community, which will link us together. He frees our mind and our heart. He gives us goals. His love fills us, helps us, holds us, guides us! (Roland Potthast) ... more texts