THE POWER OF COMMUNITY

1 Corinthians 12:12

As One Heart. One Mind. One Spirit.

These three passages in the Scriptures point to three significant, important events.

In Matthew 26, we read about the Institution of Communion between Jesus and the disciples in the upper room. This event pointed back to the Passover, back to His body and blood.

In John 20, you can find the Disciples receiving salvation on Easter Sunday. Jesus appears to the disciples after He suffered the crucifixion and triumphed in resurrection. The Bible says he breathed on the disciples and they received the Holy Spirit all in one place.

Acts 2 talks about the event where one hundred twenty people, including the disciples, were gathered together and received the baptism of the Holy Spirit in the upper room.

Significantly, all three of these remarkable moments happened in place: the upper room. It’s clear that this was no accident but rather it was communicating an idea. There is something noteworthy about these three pillars of our faith all happening in the same place.

At times as Christians, we like to think that the upper room was a place for ministry to happen. The upper room was never supposed to be a place for ministry. On the flip side, ministry was actually happening anywhere the disciples went. They preached, prayed, and taught the scriptures everywhere they could. The upper room was meant to be a place of retreat. It was a sanctuary for Jesus’ followers. It was also intended to be a place for them to gather together in order to receive.

The upper room represents the community of the early church. It represents their unity.

The upper room represented a place where they could gather and get on the same page, a place to fill their tank and read the scriptures together. Instead of pulling away by themselves to be with the Lord, they would lean in with other believers in order to receive from Him.

What is this communicating? What are the scriptures trying to show us?

There is something significant when we gather with other believers in one heart, one mind, and one spirit! The first-century church gathered in this manner often.

It’s important to note that we see that communion, salvation, and the baptism of the Holy Spirit were all received within the context of community. We value community at NLC. At NLC, we are committed to the truth of the scriptures. What the Bible says about eternity, salvation, communion, water baptism, the trinity, and the church are massively important to us.

Community: An Essential Part of Christianity

The Bible shows us that community is a crucial part of Christianity. We weren’t meant to live life alone. When we surrender our lives to Jesus and are saved, we aren’t just saved from something, we are saved into something: into the family of God, the Body of Christ.

In his letter to the Corinthians, the apostle Paul puts it this way:

“The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So it is with the body of Christ.” (1 Corinthians 12:12)

When we consider the human body and its organs, we can’t even fathom how an organ would survive outside of the body. If an organ isn’t connected to the body it’s not going to make it. Immediately following surgery, medical professionals rush to get organs on ice and rightly contained in order to sustain them. Paul is communicating in this scripture that we are designed in the same way. We, like organs, are meant to be inside the Body of Christ.

That’s how we’re referred to in the scriptures: members of the body. There is something important that is worth noting about living life in community. Not just serving God alone, but together alongside other believers.

Having a personal relationship with Christ, retreating alone to our prayer closet, and quiet, individual time in the Scriptures are all powerful things that cannot be replaced. But in the same breath, there is something significant that happens separate from a private moment and in a corporate setting.

In a corporate setting, we are able to receive from the Lord something that we could never get alone. It is equally as important and essential in our walk of faith to do life together in the same manner the early church did: in one place and in one accord.

As believers, this looks like carving out time in order to be a part of a community. In light of the busyness of life, we are going to have to fight to participate in a godly community. There is nothing wrong with being busy with our kids’ sporting events, family time, and vacations. In fact, those are good and wonderful things. But if we are going to participate in community, we are going to need to make room in our busy schedules to make this happen. Clean the house, make some food, invite people over. Whatever you need to do, we should do whatever it takes to find ourselves rooted in the body of Christ and in community.

Community is an essential part of being a Christian. We need each other and are called to do life together.

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