Hey Guys,

I had a great time at the Lockout didn't you?  It was a great time to hang out and sharpen your broomball/laser tag/ video gaming/ bowling/ gravity course...skillz.  I loved doing all of those things but one of my favorite parts about the evening was hanging out with you guys and seeing you guys hang out with one another and having a blast doing it.

Community is great isn't it?  It is so cool to see you guys connecting with one another and growing to be like Christ in the process.  That is exactly what we talked about last night.  The big idea for the evening was that "True community happens in person." It isn't that online community is bad its just that it should be a supplement not a substitute for face to face community.  We targeted three things that a true community of Christ followers should be like.

1. A Place of Second Chances

If we are disciples of Christ, we should reflect His forgiveness in our group.  People should be forgiving one another left and right.  We should be accepting of others and love people that are coming to our group for the first time.  That is what the early church was like (Acts 2:38-47) as we studied last night.

2. A Band of Revolutionaries

Jesus followers should also stand against injustice.  We should not be happy with the presence of evil, in fact we should fight against it.  We should hate it when people go hungry and despise those who take advantage of the weak and make slaves out of them.  In addition to that we should have each others backs and lay down our lives for one another (1 John 3:16-17).

3. A Group that Does Life Together

We should also be excited about being around one another.  We should "break bread" together as it said the first church did in Acts 2.  We should laugh together and cry together (Romans 12:15) when necessary.  If someone makes the basketball team and you didn't, you should still be happy for them.  If someone just lost a family member we should be quick to put our arm around them and cry along side them.

These are all great things right?  Some of these things we can do online but definitely not all of them.  You see community loses its sting, its effectiveness, when it is done online.  True community is done in person right?  Come join us at Dgroups, Vibe and our other Events to be a part of this community.  Love you guys.  Check ya later.

Matt