Living in Community

The Austin Stone has been doing a vision series the past few weeks, and this Sunday we looked at what it was like to "minister to other believers" aka be part of a Biblical community. There are three main reasons as to why community is key in your walk with the Lord: Community provides a depth of friendship like nothing else, community is where you get pastored, and community is how we endure in the Faith.

Matt started out by sharing the story of David and Jonathan's friendship found in 1 Samuel 18 1. "As soon as he had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul." David and Jonathan were connected on a spiritual level, they were "soul-knitted" friends. Both of their souls were passionate about the Lord. Their mutual love for the Father is the ONLY way they could connect in the first place. If you think about it David and Jonathan lived two very different lives. David was poor and Jonathan was of a wealthy family; the only reason they were friends was because of their love for the Lord. The question is Do you have a friendship like this? If not ask God for it and let Him know you need it.

Community is a place where you get pastored and where you can learn more in your walk with Christ. Community are people who will come alongside of you and Gospel you when you are going through difficult times. Community is a place that allows "gospeling one another" in times of need.

Finally, community is how we, as Christians, endure in the Faith. Hebrews 3:12-13 says, "Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God. But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called "Today," so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin." We are called to encourage one another day by say. The word encourage stands for a greek word that literally means "to walk alongside" of one another. Within community we can walk alongside other believers who are suffering and suffer with them.

Community is a key element in our walk with the Lord. When I was in Spain last year I yearned for a community of believers and unfortunately did not find much community while I was there. And let me just say that getting through life without the community I had at Ole Miss was hard on many different levels. That semester abroad made me so thankful for community and the role it plays in my life.

In the beginning of the summer when I found out I would be living in Austin I began praying for community and fellowship among other believers. I knew if I wanted to deepen my relationship with the Lord I couldn't do it without community. And ultimately you can find community in a church. So I began praying and praying that the Lord would provide these two things for me here in Austin and that it wouldn't take me long to find them. Well, the Lord knows us well and after attending The Austin Stone Community Church one Sunday I was hooked. And then the gracious Lord provided me with several friends in my program at school and people who are involved in the Stone. My friend Hanna leads a community and asked me to be a part of it and after 2 weekly meetings I love it and I cannot wait to see how the Lord uses that in my life. This message just reinforced the idea that community is a key element in our walk with Christ. After being given an amazing community here in Austin (I mean I've only been here 5 weeks) I am ever so grateful for community and everything it entails. Praise the Lord He knows the needs and desires of our hearts. I encourage you to pray for community and seek out that community if you do not have it in your life. You will be so thankful you did! What a great thing community is!

-Mo