Today we are going to address our goals in finding and cultivating Christian community. As we finish our conversation on Christian community today, may we remember the value in having other believers around us and the blessing that they are to us and we are to them.

This Week's Bible Focus:
Acts 2:42 says, "The devoted themselves to the apostles 'teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer."

Key Points:
1.Christian Community is rooted in Jesus, His Word, doing life together, and prayer.
2. You can tel the different between worldly community and Christ-centered community
3. Christian community is consistent and healthy

Call to Action:
Is your Christian community rooted in Jesus, grounded in His Word, doing life together, and praying? If any of these are missing, what can you do to help get the group back on track?
2. What are some positive ways that you and your Christian community looks different from your worldly community?
3. In your church or ministry consistent and a priority in you life? If not, how can you begin to value this more in the way you plan your weeks?

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Today, we are going to address some of the challenges against Christian community and how we can overcome them with the help of God and support from each other. There are three big ways we can self-sabotage our efforts to form community:

1. Fear
2. Hurt
3. Laziness

This Week’s Bible Focus:

Hebrews 10:23-25 says, “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.”

This Week's Call to Action:

1. What is your biggest challenge when it comes to community?
2. Do you resonate with fear, hurt, or laziness more? How can you take steps to overcome these things?
3. What might you be missing out on if you do not take steps to connect?

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SARAH’S BIO:
Sarah is a 20-year-old psychology major. She has been a follower of Christ for about 3 years now, and it is “hands down the best life altering decision I’ve ever made.” Most of Sarah’s time is spent working with special needs children, finding new hobbies such as: learning guitar and painting portraits, and spreading the gospel while also helping other young women in their walk with Christ.

FOLLOW SARAH:

TikTok: ssimplysarahh

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Satan wants us to be overcommitted and burnt out by community or isolated and bitter about it. Our yes or no is by the strength of the Holy Spirit. He empowers us to do what we can only do through Him, which is to say yes when we need to and no when we need to.

KEY BIBLE PASSAGES:
Matthew 5:37 says, “But let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’ For whatever is more than these is from the evil one.”

2 Timothy 1:7 says, "For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.”

CALL TO ACTION:

- Are you over or under committing right now?
- What are you saying yes to? What are you saying no to?
- How can you be more intentional with the community God has called you to in this season of life?

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Christian Community is mutually beneficial. We receive relationships from others and we give back to them. Christ-centered relationships refine us, encourage us, and spur us on in worshiping Jesus. Community gives us a wider view of the Lord through the various perspectives of others looking at the Bible. It helps us to see how God Himself values relationships because He is Trinity. It provides a family to those who do not have anyone. It gives extra arms to lift us up in hard times. It enables us to grow with others and go further in learning than we would on our own. It helps us to evangelize and invite new people into what is already happening. Where a clique says, “Get Out” a community says, “Come in.”

BIBLE FOCUS:
Genesis 2:18 says, “The LORD God also said, ‘It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make for him a suitable helper.’”

CALL TO ACTION
-How have you been tempted to remain alone?
-What fears or past hurts are keeping you from community today?
-How can knowing that God’s best for you is in community encourage you not to give up on it or pull away from it?

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The goal of unity in the church comes not through one person, but in the many diverse people coming together with their spiritual gifts and bringing glory to God. This type of attitude of togetherness provides maturity. Immature believers are those who allow non-core issues to stand in the way of relationships or who are in a competitive mindset of building their own name.

1. United in Thought and Purpose:

2: Are We Making Efforts for Peace and Mutual Edification

3. Unity is a Sign of Maturity

Key Bible Passage: Psalm 133:1 says, “How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity!”

Call to Action:
- How have you not been wearing the hat of unifier among your own church body?
- What is an area that you need to release to God that is not a core issue among the body of Christ so that you can mature and keep your focus on the great commission?
- How can you make efforts to create unity among the believers in your area?

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Sometimes the most difficult place to be a unifier is not at church or in our communities, but within our own homes. The people who know us best see our good moments and our ugly ones. They know our weaknesses and can push our buttons. They catch us off guard and can get the worst of us if we do not. Have self-control over our tongues. Being in family or having some type of roommate dynamic where you live, can create a space of chaos and disunity if we are not careful. Our greatest battle in being a unifier in our house is often ourselves. We must deal with our own insecurities and selfishness so that we can love others better and more like Christ.

Bible Focus:
Colossians 3:13-14 says, “Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.”

Pray Hard Prayers:

David prayed in Psalm 139:23-24, “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”

It is convicting to read that David asked the Lord to search His heart and test him. He wanted to know if there was any offensive way within him. This is the kind of humility required when we are seeking to be unifiers within a home. Instead of focusing on all of the issues that “the other person has” living under the same roof, we need to be asking God to evaluate our own hearts. We need to realize our own sin struggles and confess them, then ask the Holy Spirit to help us to turn in repentance away from them.

Call to Action:
-Who have you been pointing the finger towards at home?
-What sin in your life is preventing unity in your house?
-What can help you actively choose to put on love each day?

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In this episode, Emma and GraceAnna discuss Biblical unity and the hurdlers for Christ-followers to be unifiers.

GraceAnna McCray is a graduating education major at the University of South Carolina Upstate. While in school she was a part of the Cru worship team and a SC Teaching Fellow. Upon graduation GraceAnna will commission into the US Army Reserves and serve while she pursues a Law Degree.

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Bible Focus: John 13:35 says, “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

1. Everyone will Know

When Jesus says everyone, He means all people. The Greek word found in John 13:35 is "pantes" which means all or for all. Part of wearing the hat of unity means that as Christ-followers, we are not inclusive to only love one type of person or a certain group of people. Unity means inclusivity.

2 My disciples

As we think about Jesus saying, “My disciples,” it leads us to think about the personal relationship that He has with those who follow Him. This causes us to ask the question, “Are we living in a way that honors Him?” Am I living like a disciple of Jesus? It is one thing to say I believe in Christ, but out of a true understanding and genuine faith, will my life choices reveal my commitment to Him.

3. If you love one another.
Loving one another helps others to see Christ. This is convicting because the body of Christ, myself included, has not loved one another perfectly, or even well.

Call to Action:
1. What is one area of your life that you are causing disunity in and how can you turn to the Holy Spirit for help to better represent Jesus?
2. How are you welcoming people who are different from you into the body of Christ?
3. How have you been fearful of Christ-centered unity because of the way the world defined unity?

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Key Verses:
Galatians 3:26-28; Ephesians 4:3

As we ponder these verses, we think about the exact opposites that Paul is referring to: Jews and Greeks, slave and free, male and female. The one common denominator between what would be groupings of people who seemed very opposite is Jesus. When we encounter Jesus, we join His diverse family.

When we think about unity, we remember that for there to be a need for unity, there is a fight from the enemy for division. Where Christ loves multiplication, Satan sure does love division. The enemy wants us to see and focus on all our differences to separate us from each other and ultimately from God’s best. For us to wear the hat of unifier, we must first recognize that Jesus calls us to unity and that Satan is going to do everything in his power to ruin it.

What Emma covers in this episode:
1. Unity Versus Uniformity
2. Eliminating Barriers
3. Unified with Christ before Others

Call to Action:
-How can you be a unifier this week?
-Who is a group or a person who you have outcasted or pushed away from Christ?
-How can you be a unifier without conforming to the ways of the world?

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