Welcome to our study on Made for Community. I’m so glad you have joined us.  I think this will be a great eight week series.

This week we are looking at Made For Community with God.

(Click here if you can’t see week 1 video)

I am an introvert to the core. I LOVE being alone… it energizes me and makes me happy. But even as an introvert I crave meaningful relationships with others. I’m not a hermit.

No matter what kind of person you are, introvert or extravert, you were created for community.

Why is that?

We find the answer in Gen 1:27.

“So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.”

God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are in community with each other. Before anything was created these 3 persons of the Godhead lived in perfect, deep and fulfilling harmony.  Community is a part of his character.  You could say that God is community and we have been created to reflect that aspect of his character. This is why we crave being known and knowing others.

The most important relationship you will have in your life is the fellowship you have with God.

Adam and Eve knew what it meant to have perfect communion with God. It is something that we can’t even begin to wrap our brains around because sin has made that impossible.

Thankfully God has made a way to restore our relationship with him (as we read in Ephesians 2). Through Christ we once again have access to God, not as our judge but as our father.

You know the expression better than new? Well, that’s what our relationship with God, through Christ, is like. The fellowship Adam and Eve experienced could be broken (as it obviously ended up becoming). But Christ repaired this broken fellowship with his blood, and therefore it cannot be broken again.

It’s what makes this relationship so precious. It cannot be ruined because you cannot ruin the blood of Christ. It can’t be undone because you cannot undo Christ’s work for you on the cross. Instead it is eternal and comes with blessings upon blessings.

When we study, we need to ask the question “So what?” Why does this matter? Why is community with God so important?

One of the reasons this matters  is that all the other circles of community that are important in our lives, like family, church, and friends will be less satisfying and less healthy, they will be weakened and corrupted if it is not anchored in the fellowship we have with God.

Our communion with God equips us for the other relationships in our lives.

Community with God teaches us how to love others, how to forgive painful grievances and how to serve selflessly. In our relationship with Christ, we see what self sacrifice really looks like, how to be humble and what truth is.

Therefore it is of utmost importance that we cultivate our relationship with God.

One of the things I love to do is study theology. Not because I want to accumulate tons of information, but because studying God will cause me to grow in faith and love.

We should never be satisfied with our knowledge of God.  The challenge for us this week is to choose one of God’s attributes and spend time studying and reading about that attribute. Choose one that you may not be as familiar with or have not studied before. (Ex. Sovereignty, faithfulness, kindness, omniscience, self existing, impartial, immanent, incomprehensible, mercy, jealousy, justice …)

Looking to Jesus,

jenthorn.com

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WEEK 1 Reading Plan:

WEEK 1 Memory Verse:

WEEK 1 Challenge:

Jen Thorn

Jen Thorn grew up in Germany and then spent her teenage years in Africa, where her parents were missionaries. She moved to the United States for college and attended Moody Bible Institute in Chicago where she met her husband. They have been married for twenty-two years and have four children. Jen lives in the suburbs of Chicago, where her husband is the pastor of Redeemer Fellowship. Jen is passionate about theology and the connection to daily living.