Community IS Important

Over the past couple months I feel like I have heard a lot about community. I have heard that it is messy, it is hard, it is biblical, ect...I totally understood community, and then I went to Japan.

This past week I spent some time in Japan for work, but meanwhile was completely out of Christian community. There are three things I observed: 1) I never realized how much community have, from the people I live with, to the people I work with, to the people I hang out with, I am constantly surrounded by community; 2) how grateful I am for the community God has blessed me with, regardless of the fact that it is messy or hard; and 3) how important community really is.

Community is important to help support, encourage, learn, teach, and keep each other accountable. Paul said in Philippians 1:30-"We are in this struggle together..."

Lesson learned: community IS important.

A Promise Never Seen

In Deuteronomy Moses is retelling a new generation of Israelites their story. He is constantly telling them that they should "remember well what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt" (7:18). Its kind of like a grandpa telling the kids their family history (if your family is some 600,000 people).

While reading, one thing that jumped out at me was Deut 1:38. Moses tells the people that the Lord was angry with the previous generation but that "the Lord was also angry with me for your sakes, saying, 'Even you shall not go in [the promise land]'." There are multiple occasions in Exodus when Moses steps in on behalf of Israel to save them from God's wrath. And because of that he is told he will never see the promise land? If it were me, as soon as God told me I couldnt enter the promise land because of the people of Israel, I would probably say something like "Ok God, well I can travel on my own, I don't really need them, as long as I get to go into the promise land" But that is far from what Moses did, he remained faithful to God and to the people of Israel and led them to the promise land, though never setting foot in it. He knew that it was about something bigger than himself.

I wonder how many times I have give up on something or someone because they were not providing what I wanted at the speed that I wanted. For someone who seriously lacks patience, I can think of a couple instances where I have slacked, or even given up, on praying for someones salvation because it wasnt happening quick enough for me.

Moses made a 40 year commitment to the people of Israel while indirectly sacrificing his chance to enter the promise land. Moses saw it more important to faithfully lead the people to the reward (ie the promise land) than actually receiving the reward himself. How often do we do that?

Your church looks like fun...

Yeah my church is fun, it is a lot of fun. Here is a little example of how fun it is.

One of the reasons I love NCC is that these people know how to have fun and at the same time they know how to love God.

I had the opportunity to hear one of our pastors speak the other night about friendship and how the friends you chose will determine the quality and direction of your life. When I look back I can see this oh so clearly, for better and for worse. Regardless of how my friends have influenced my life I am thankful for them because in some way they made me the person I am today. Like Paul said to the Philippians "everything that has happened to me here has helped to spread the good news." It is my hope that everything that has happened to me through the past 23 years, for better and worse can now be used to show the redemption and mercy of Christ.

The people in my life now have helped me to understand that verse in Philippians, and they have also helped to determine the quality of my life and have helped me to find the direction of my life. And the best part, is we have done all of that while having fun, while laughing, while telling embarrassing stories, while watching Never Say Never (what?) and again while laughing. It has all been fun!