Joy Unexpected

We’ve spoken of community in the past and the encouragement it has brought us. These last few months we’ve seen how community sustains us and brings joy in ways not expected. Community among believers isn’t just at your local church. It includes people from former churches, friends, acquaintances, and family from all walks of life. You may see them often, or it might be years between encounters with them. Christ-filled community means connections beyond time and distance. Hebrews 10:24-25 shares this about community, “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” There’s joy in catching up with a fellow believer and seeing the work God is doing in their lives. When we hear these stories and express our excitement in the work they are doing, it sustains that person and spurs them on to continue in building God’s kingdom. Our prayer is that as you share stories with us and we share stories with you, we will sustain one another and spur one another on to even greater things for the kingdom. The question we often ask ourselves is what type of community do we provide? Are we choosing to stay isolated amongst our neighbors by not opening ourselves to the work Christ is doing within our circle of influence? Or are we engaging in the community God has provided? Part of community means embracing our own flaws, submitting to others, and serving with a humble heart. Out of those actions comes joy in seeing fellow believers and non-believers being drawn to the goodness of Jesus Christ. Romans 12:4-5 says, “For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.” In the Dallas refugee neighborhood, we served in certain ways according to the gifts God gave us. We do the same thing in our family and will do the same thing with our teammates in Marseille. There’s an almost unexplainable joy that comes when you have community with your team, and you see them embracing the gifting God has given them. Part of our job in France is to encourage our team in the roles they play in the community and take on those roles they’ve been burdened with because of lack of other members of the body. It’s a joy to see community function the way God designed it.