Growing in Christ

When you ask someone what they think about the church, be prepared for any response. What they say may inspire feelings of anger, sadness, joy, or hope, depending on what they have experienced in their dealings with believers. This four-week series for adults explores four congregational values that should define our relationships with those inside and outside the church. When we fulfill our biblical call to the four c’s—commission, community, commandment, collaboration—we can be the church that glorifies Jesus.

Last week we talked about our first C Commission and how we are make an called to make an impact in other around us. It more than just telling someone they are a sinner. Its about loving them and showing them who Christ is. You can all the book knowledge of what the bible say but if you do not show love to other then whats the point.

This week we will be look at community and what that means for us here at Open Door.

If you have your bible please turn to Ephesians 4:1-6. If you do not have it you can follow along on the screen in a few moment.

Before we look at today passage and Paul has to say about community. I have a question for you. So think for a moment.

What is community to you?

When I say the word community what some come mind. Do you have a community that you belong too? Do you have community that makes you feel loved? What is your community?

Many things might come to mind when thinking of community. You might think of group of friend that you have been around for a long time. The place you live could also be your community.

a group of people living in the same place or having a particular characteristic in common.

a feeling of fellowship with others, as a result of sharing common attitudes, interests, and goals.

What does this mean for the body of Christ? Where do we stand in community and what does that look like for you and I?

Lets take a look at what Paul said in

Ephesians 4:1–6 CSB

1 Therefore I, the prisoner in the Lord, urge you to walk worthy of the calling you have received, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3 making every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope at your calling— 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.

We all have a calling

You may be asking what calling? I have no clue what I’m going in this life or where I’m going. This call that Paul is talking about is the call from Jesus to all of us. Jesus want all of us to come to him. To have a relationship with him. There is also a call for us to live in Christ in everything we do. In our work, time with friends, time alone. We are to live a life worthy of what Jesus did for us. The thing is we will never be worthy of that cause we are all sinner. We do not deserve the grace for what Jesus did but he willing gave his life for us so we can have life with him.

How can you live a life worthy of the calling. Paul lays out three thing that we should do. There are more but like take a look at this three.

We all have to have humility

This can be a gut punch for some. Are you a humble person? Most of us might say we are humble in most case but are you humble in all things? Being humble sometimes look down on like being weak our not willing do proud of what you have done. Thats not it at all.

We all should love one another

has most of you know tomorrow is V day. The one day a year that some people show love to the loved ones. We have a hard time showing love sometimes. We often think that love is between a husband and wife type or boyfriend girlfriend type but this love here is different. It’s not to be done only one time at year. The love Paul is talking about is brotherly love. Its the love that you would give our shirt for you friend. It the love that you would do anything for that person down the street. If we are not willing to love one another then we can never have community. The church community has to be be built on love. We are all in the same boat and need to love each other to get though life.

We all should keep the unity

unity is one of the thing that has and can distroy a church in a heart beat. When disunity comes into the church community it can and will divide the community. Most of the time when this happens some type of sin is involved. We all have to be on the same page in oder for us to keep unity strong.

There is only one body

We are all part of the body of Christ. Once you except Christ you are part of this body. There is no diferance in skin color in the this body. There is no polictical diffences. There are no rich or poor parts of this body. When you become part of the body of Christ all your sin is washed away and you are just like the person next to you. The body mean different part and we all work together for to help the body grow and move forward.

We are to grow in Christ together

By pursuing unity and a spirit of humility, we can unleash the indispensable power of the local church to grow and change us into more Christlike people through godly community.

Grow is are next part of our mission statement there are Open Door. All of this morning has come down to this point. We are one body of believer in Jesus and we should come together to learn from one other.

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