Today we talk about community. What is it? Can it be "virtual"? Specifically, what does it mean to be part of a Church Community, why it's not just important but essential. God calls us to not forsake the gathering....
NOTES:
- This Weeks Whiskey: Laws Whiskey House - San Luis Valley Straight Rye Whiskey
- Questions:
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- A look behind the scenes (on the YouTube channel) at how we do our Instagram Reels for the podcast
- What is church community?
- Using the terms, Family, Church Community and Church Family are often used synonymously.
- Will Christian's come back to "in-person" church after the Rona era? Can you have true community remotely?
- The very definition of "Community" has changed since the advent of automobiles, which enabled individuals and families to easily relocated from one area to another area of the country... and the definition changed even more so with the Digital Revolution of the internet, where "on-line community" became a thing.
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- Instead of community primarily being centered around family, church and villages (as it had been for millennia, where people don't generally have a choice), people started creating and defining their own communities based around interests and affinity - where they could easily enter and exit the community and where very little was required of them.
- We don't choose the family we are born into and this is the deepest and God intense for this to be our most central and deepest community, followed secondarily by our church.
- Jesus units everyone [in church] under the same banner... and creates a community out of people who likely wouldn't know each other or be friends with each other, if not brought together by Christ.
- Lots of people have left the church in 2020... and COVID seems like the scape goat and justification to stop going to church.
- We are not meant to live in isolation: Digital sermons & "online-community" can supplement real community but is not an adequate replacement.
- Listening to the preached word, is only one aspect of why God calls us to be part of the church and not "forsake the gathering" of God's people.
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- We gather for corporate worship to hear the preached word, prayer and communal worship... and that can't be done digitally or remotely.
- God doesn't give us the option to not gather / not participate in the gathered church - Jesus came to earth to die for His Bride, The Church... so if you hate "the church", you hate what Jesus loves and came to die for.
- Community is messy: You will be hurt and you will hurt others but it's still worth the risk because God didn't design us to be "solo Christians".
- Be safe but safety is not the most important thing in life... get back into the habit of meeting with fellow believers and your church community. God created us to need each other.
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