Community: I Need You (part 1)

  

 

 

I Need You...

So...I want to be honest, this might be because I'm an extrovert, but I get DEPRESSED when I'm not around people for a long time. I don't know why...but I'm very glad that God has given me this very present need for community.
For some reason I have this need for people to be in my life on a constant basis.

I think that God does this for a reason. The need for community is from God he put this in us.

why???

• We are created in His Image
• God has perfect community and unity within the trinity
• because of this we have an urge to be in community and unified with other people

Even with this urge to be around people I can forget that I need people. We have to be around peoole...we cannot live the life that God has called us to live without it. It's impossible.

Jesus said that

 they will know that you are my disciples because of your love

So if we don't have community. If we feel like it's too much of a hassle to have to deal with people or that I don't have time to invest love into people a few things can happen

1. The life that you are called to live in Jesus will be more weight than you can handle

2. You won't see Jesus for who He really is

3. Others won't get an accurate view of who Jesus is

We must realize that community is not a comfort it is an urgent need in our lives. God has made us to where we cannot function properly without it. Even with this internal pressure to be around people I forget that I need you.

Sometimes I don't want to Admit that I need people. 

Sometimes the people I don't like are the people I need the most.

I believe that our independence is a very important quality. I think that we do need to be able to stand up on our own two feet. If you are an Independent person than community looks like this for you:

A group of Independent people who willfully choose to include and depend on other people in their lives.

We can do a number of things by ourselves, but when we choose to include other people, when we decide that I need other people and that they need to be needed than we open ourselves up to a world and a life that Jesus knew would be the most fulfilling for us. 

I would say that I'm pretty independent in some aspects and dependent in others. Like...I hate receiving money to help out with bills or if I'm running low. I feel like I should be the one who other people should depend on not the other way around. But I force myself to take the help...why?

• It reminds me that I need other people in my life
• It lets that person feel needed
• It lets people into my life 

That last one makes me feel a little bit of anxiety. Because what we don't realize is that if we're always the one giving to others...If we're always the one having other people depend on us....And we're never the ones receiving or being dependent on other people...Then we're able to distance ourselves from people. We don't have to show vulnerability to anyone else and we can maintain this image of how strong we are because of how many people we're helping.

In reality...

It's fear.

We're afraid that if we accept help from others they might think
we're weak

or that we can't take care of ourselves.

It's pride.

And it's keeping us from living the life that God wants for us.


What I'm saying is that I need you 
But my pride is telling me that I don't.
So I must combat it.

I need you because:
I'm broken
I'm selfish
I need help...in almost every way possible lol
I can't function and live life the way that it's supposed to be lived without you
...reference to David Guetta's song "without you" lol

 

I just thought I would throw that in there for kicks.

and it's a fun song...

What are some ways that we can remind ourselves on a regular basis that we need people?

What are some ways that we can remind ourselves that we are needed by other people?

Give me some thoughts...

-Sam

Community: acceptance (what does unconditional acceptance look like?)

I've been thinking a lot lately about community.
It just astounds me that a thing like community
can change lives so dramatically.
I wanted to start a blogging series on community,
not because I have it figured out or am any type of
authority on the issue, but mainly because I have a lot
Of thoughts on the issue.

One thought I've been having about community is the necessity of it.
Especially about the necessity of it in college
students (because I am one). My friend Paul told me something that stuck with
me this week. He said "what people really need is not another worship service. What people
need and possibly long for is community".

I've been thinking about this lately because me my friend brent and people from
theCity church are starting a community group at suffolk manor apartments.
There are a lot of people at Suffolk manor but there's no community. We threw a party
There last week and the most suprising thing was
That there were people there who are neighbors and it seemed like they never knew each other.
So my goal is to take these people and try to cultivate community among them.

So my first post about this is on acceptance. I love this aspect of
community because it is so pivotal to creating community.

First things first what do I mean when I say acceptance?
Well the way that I see acceptance is by meeting people where
they are. Loving people purely because God loves them.
Letting people be themselves without trying to change them.
One of the most freeing parts of being free in Christ is
The fact the Christ meets us where we are in our brokenness.
And because Christ has done that for me I am able to
Show grace and acceptance to others. And in it's essence
Acceptance is grace.

One thing acceptance is not is tolerance.
I like what John Burke says about tolerance. He says that
Tolerance is only a lesser substitute for grace.
tolerance is acting like you don't like a person
because of who they are or what they do but u "deal" with them.
Acceptance or grace is different because it comes from Christ.
Acceptance is looking past ourselves and seeing what
Christ sees in everybody.

Now my big question is what does unconditional acceptance
look like?
The way that I've experienced it lately is that no matter how
Annoying, mean, insulting, corny, uptight, broken, and messed up
I am, I know I will be accepted by Christ and by the people
in my community group. Because in all reality non of us
have it all together and we all want grace and acceptance.

The reason why acceptance is so important in a community
is because if there isn't acceptance then all the other aspects
Of community aren't possible. And I think that God knew
that if we were constantly searching for acceptance with him and with others
then the growth in Him would be impossible. So acceptance is
The foundation that we build community on. The bible says
that christ did not come only for us but for the whole world.

Making a City Different

The difference is what God has called us for, and the difference is what we're going to be.

Tomorrow is the 'Walk for Education'. It had me thinking a lot about being the difference that God has called us to be.  
I'm so excited to be leading worship at this great church plant called theCitychurch. This blog is for everyone but I would like to direct this especially toward them. We want the city to be different and tomorrow and in the coming months we'll be doing that full force. The thing about changing a city is that people don't like change. They have accepted the flaws and made them to where they can live with them. But the thing about Jesus is he flips everything upside down. Grace makes everything different. Jesus said that he has come to give us a life to the full. This life and message of hope and grace and mercy is for the people in this city and every city. The difference is everybody can have that 'But God' moment. That's where we come in. I do not believe that we can change the city for one second without Christ. Christ is the one that is going to change this city. He's the only one with the power to save and change the heart of people. So what am I saying? Well, first lets always keep our focus on Christ. He's the heart and soul of this movement and he's the one who's name is worth carrying. 2nd whenever God is doing something there is always someone trying to come up against that. but James says to "Count it all joy my brothers when you meet trials of various kinds for you know the testing of your faith produces steadfastness." So as we start this homework night adventure and all of our other adventures God takes us on just remember that if our God is for us who could ever stop us and if our God is with us what could stand against?

no strings, no catch, just love...