Dedication takes time. It takes practice. It takes excitement and commitment. When you add love to time, practice, excitement, and commitment, what you get is devotion. What the New Testament calls for is intimate connection through deep commitment within a covenant community. One that blesses those inside, blesses those on the outside, puts the world on notice and causes the world to take notice. A people who inspire because they have been inspired.

The sermon today is titled "Devotion." It is the second installment in our "Community" Series. The Scripture reading is from Acts 2:42 (ESV) and Romans 12:3-11 (GW). Originally preached at the West Side Church of Christ (Searcy, AR) on April 30, 2023. All lessons fit under one of 5 broad categories: Begin, Discover, Grow, Learn, and Serve. This sermon is filed under DISCOVER: A New Community.

Click here if you would like to watch the sermon or read a transcript.

Footnotes (Sources and References Used In Today's Podcast):

• Tish Harrison Warren, "Chapter 9: Calling A Friend: Congregation and Community," in Liturgy of the Ordinary: Sacred Practices in Everyday Life (2016), pp. 115-27.
• Donald Miller, "Why I Don't Go To Church Very Often, A Follow Up Blog," Storyline blog (Feb 5, 2014). See also Donald Miller facebook post, "The faith I keep, and the religion I leave behind," (Oct 26, 2021). Partially referenced in Warren, Liturgy of the Ordinary.
• Cyprian (AD 200-258), On the Unity of the Church, Treatise 1, sect. 6.
• Francis Chan, Letters to the Church (2018), "Chapter 4: The Gang."
• Philip Yancey, Church: Why Bother? (1998), pp. 24-27.
• George A. Smith, The Apple Tree Community (1960). Referenced in C. Christopher Smith & John Pattison, Slow Church: Cultivating Community in the Patient Way of Jesus (2014).
• Our Lady of the Mississippi Abbey Vows. Referenced in Smith & Pattison, Slow Church.

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