Biblical Community Research Paper

Today, in modern day living, people are talking about either of the two worldviews, and the importance of that chosen worldview. However, one can choose to live by the principles of a secular worldview or a biblical worldview. This study highlights the distinguishable difference between a secular worldview and a biblical worldview, the incorporation of belief and doctrine, and the theories of vocations and the efforts for living righteously.

Small groups are the proper environment to develop and grow disciples of Jesus. The purpose of a small group is to develop sacrificial, relational, transformed people who can continue the cycle of disciple development. Small groups must be intentional, individual and missional. There are five primary passages that can be used to form a small group ministry philosophy. Each of these passages have accompanying principles that we can apply to our small group ministries.

According to Ministry Is…, chapter 29, "A healthy Christian small group is a gathering of three to fifteen people who meet regularly together for the purpose of spiritual _____ _____

the Christian community but one that will go out and reach the lost integrating them into the Christian family. A comprehensive youth ministry can only come about when a church is willing to be involved and when a youth pastor, parents, and youth follow the Great Commandment, Commission, and Charge as outlined in Scripture.

Living in Christian community is a necessity for the everyday life of a Christian. Without community, the Christian has no one else to “sharpen” them, no one else to understand the everyday struggle of living in the world, sharing the Gospel, but not partaking in the sinful ways of the world. In “Life Together”, Dietrich Bonhoeffer explores Christian community, and presents not only the benefits of Christian community, but also the toxins that can destroy the community. Living in Christian community brings incomparable joy and community in and through Jesus Christ, but can be easily lost due to humanistic ideals, or “dreams”.

What does Christian community really mean? Life Together: The Classic Exploration of Faith in Community by Dietrich Bonhoeffer gives insight into what Christians relationships were designed to be like. The main theme Bonhoeffer explores is Christ in the Christian community under the Word of God. Bonhoeffer explains God’s gift of community by arguing the following: “It is grace, nothing but grace, that we are allowed to live in community with Christian brethren” (Bonhoeffer, 1978, p. 20). In addition the author adds, “Christian community is like the Christian’s sanctification. It is a gift of God, which we cannot claim. Only God knows the real state of our fellowship, of our sanctification” (p. 30). Overall Life Together is biblically

Covenant encourages prayer, reading, and learning about God’s word. As indicated in Davis’ book, “Every member of the community needs to be growing in the Word. This has implications for our individual habits with the Word and for the way we use the Word inside and outside the classroom” (pg 60). Furthermore, according to In All Things Christ Preeminent, “Communal meditation on the Scripture is vital to Covenant’s academic life” (pg.61). In contrast, my experience with peers at LaFayette High School presented a greater challenge as a follower of Christ. Christians were a minority at LaFayette High School and were scrutinized for professing their faith in Christianity. Teachers were also discouraged from spreading the Word of God and faced job termination for doing so. The Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) was the only type of Christian bonding within the school and even then, it was mandatory that it be student lead and

Living in community will expose selfishness, ambition, jealousy, dissension and impurity in ourselves, allowing us to experience loss, despair, and stress. Even so, all of this is important to our spiritual formation because we mature as Christians,

Dulles states, “It picks up the biblical theme that God has fashioned for himself a people feely communicating his spirit and his gifts” (50). The Body of Christ as stated in Dulles is, “the main point of mutual union, concern and dependence of the members of the local community upon one another,” (43). The body of Christ will only function is the whole community is willing to work together to reach a personal growth in their relationship with God. Now that we have an idea of what Church as mystical communion consists of I will discuss the strengths and weakness of this model. The strength of this model is that emphasizes a shared life with the community instead of shutting them off. This is a strength because when people come together as a whole everything holds so much more meaning and people can form a stronger bond with God, now that it is much more personal and voluntary. Another strength is that this model improves people spirituality and prayer life now that they feel that personal connection that they formed. A weakness of this model is that it creates unsure relationship between the visible and invisible, since Grace allows people to get closer to God through the invisible such as communion while the visible structure like institutionalism tries to emphasize their power over the whole people. I have discussed what the models mean, their strength and weakness of each so now I will note the difference and

Community is when people come together as one for a common good or goal. I give back to the community because I think I my success are not all because of my ability. I have the people who helped me and taught me lesson in life that help me reach my success today. I have given back to the community by volunteering on Sundays to teach confirmation. Teaching on sunday gives me a chance to know my parish better and also teach the students more about their faith. I think it is very important to have bond with those who you go to church with. This summer I

We desire finding others we can discuss our walk with Jesus with, and we long to hear from God in sermons, bible studies, and Christian books. In this

Then we must understand unity is developed when we love one another and serve other selflessly for the benefit of others. In Philippians chapter 2 Paul teaches us the importance of serving others to create spiritual unity as Christ modeled. “When we work together, caring for the problems of others as if they were our problems, we demonstrate Christ’s example of putting others first, and we experience unity” (Life Application Study Bible, 2007, p. 1992). Beyond teaching us the importance of creating spiritual unity Paul guides us in building spiritual unity as he teaches us the manner in which we should serve others. “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit.

Over the years, many models have been developed and implemented to endeavor to make disciples. Some of the models have been effective and others have not. Among some of the most biblical and efficient models are the ones that involve small groups. Within the small groups models, they can be broken down into further detail, such as pastoral involvement, the church’s goal, missions mindedness, etc. In this paper, I will explain my philosophy of small groups in a church and the importance of the relational group in authentic disciple making. I will also explain how missional groups can help the body of Christ move out into the community. Finally, I will summarize my status in regards to living in community with other believers and being missional with that community.

All throughout the bible scripture speaks about how important community is. In the book Ecclesiastes, more specifically chapter 4 verses 9-12 scripture says, “Two are better than one, because they have have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone? And though a man might prevail against one is alone, two will withstand him- a threefold cord is not quickly broken.” Community is a crucial part of the church. We as the body of Christ are called to join together as one, and join each other on our individual journeys with Christ. Times are changing though and technology is a growing force in todays culture, but is the very thing that is so relevant in our everyday lives, also causing a separation within the church community? Whether society believes it or not, most of the world would not would freak out if technology was taken from it, even if it was only for a day. Now a days, people can do and access just about anything on their gadgets with a push of a button. They can pull up the bible, listen to worship music, or even stream a church service but is this a good or bad thing for the church? We feel as if technology is very important and we have become very dependent on it. It is important that we re-evaluate how much we use technology and realize moderation is key. Whether it be only using it

One of the hardest things to do when you are in a mega church is creating a community of genuine discipleship and not just a “Sunday Church”. It can seem like a giant task to take on when looked at head first because creating personal relationships with a thousand or more people is a lot of relationships, but there are ways to do it, and following the mold of pyramid discipleship can be very effective.