Incorporating New Christians into Community

John Cleary

There are several areas we must prioritize in under to incorporate new Christians into community. First, we must prioritize our own growth in the Gospel, ensuring that people are coming into a growing community. We must also ensure we are emphasizing our relationship with the person over the meeting. Often, we need to bring the community to the person, instead of expecting the person to come to the community. We must understand Satan's attempts to harm, and tackle the barriers to believers getting involved in fellowship, while also ensuring they are exposed to the Word, increasing their own personal learning. Finally, we must remember that we are assisting God in incorporating his people, and He has already designed them to uniquely fit into the body of Christ. \r\n

Personal Freedom and the Law of Love

Dennis McCallum

Colossians 2:16-17

Paul has detailed multiple places in scripture what it looks like to live out your freedom in Christ under grace. The driving principle is the law of love. To figure out His will for your life in gray areas it is important to depend on His guidance and sacrificial love.

Forgiveness

Dennis McCallum

Galatians 6:1

Forgiveness is at the center of God's Will and brings wisdom in conflict. Once forgiveness in conflict is extended, people can move towards reconciliation. Being able to reproof if necessary, negotiate, and continue to leave room for God's transforming work is central to the Christian life.

Resolving Conflict

Scott Risley

Romans 13

Part of Biblical love relationships is resolving conflict in an God-honoring way. While we may naturally be tempted to flee conflict, be overly aggressive, or pursue legal action, a Biblical response to conflict is one of humility that doesn't avoid, but rather seeks to restore the relationship in a way that honors God and is loving toward the other person.

Love One Another

Scott Risley

Romans 13:8

Paul exhorts the church to love one another. The Bible's definition of love is a giving of oneself in every area for the good of another; it is forgiving, sacrificial and emotional. There are different levels of relationships--casual, close and intimate--and in each kind we should consider how to initiate Biblical love.

Relationships

Dennis McCallum

Romans 13

Believers in Christ have the ability to move relationships from being casual to intimate. Key ways to develop close relationships include appropriating the power of God for change and being persistent in prayer.

Understanding Love

Dennis McCallum

John 15:11-13

The way that the world describes love is very different than the description Paul gives for God's love. We can see where the world's love is failing all around us. God's love is sacrificial, righteous, forgiving, and emotional. These are four important dimensions to God's love that we can experience in our own relationships, with His help.

The Law of Love

Dennis McCallum

John 15:9-13

Paul reminds the church in Rome that love fulfills the law. All people were created to experience love relationships with God's love at the center. To start the love relationships we were created for we must understand God and start to experience Him, first. God is love and He is the initiator of all love.

Becoming a Community of Truth

Mike Sullivan

Ephesians 4:14-15

Community is an integral and vital part of the Christian faith, but being a community of truth is something that often gets overlooked. We are called to be open with one another, as well as with God, not living double-lives or living in darkness. We need to be accountable to one another in healthy ways and in an environment that supports sharing what is really happening in our lives. Through regularly being involved in this kind of community, we can experience true growth and deep relationships.