Dynamic Community

Sorry for the blogging hiatus recently. Been on the road, here and there, been in the middle of leaving my job at Bluewater to transition into a ministry internship with Campus Christian Fellowship at UNC-W, and just busy with life in general! But here's something I was chewing on earlier as I sat on the beach around sunset watching the waves crash on the shore...

Been dwelling a lot on community lately. On what dynamic community looks like. Earlier just before hitting the beach, a friend and I went over to Port City Community Church to see if Overflow (a college ministry that meets weekly) was happening. We got there to find a few cars in the parking lot but locked doors and no one in the lobby. We decided to wait because we were 20 minutes early. Three other people showed up and waited with us, all hoping Overflow was happening tonight, but none of us having been for a few weeks to know if it was still happening while classes were out.

Eventually a lady came to the door and let us know that Overflow was off this week but happening again next week. Even though we hadn't been connected for a few weeks we all showed up, knowing Overflow happens on Tuesdays at 7.

That's a dynamic community. We weren't told by friends, reminded by twitter, fb, or email. We were free to come, and came hoping to find it happening and join in. Community fueled by desire, not by reminders of "come out tonight."

So while on the beach I turned to Acts 2:42-47 a passage I could quote you by now as many times I read it at ECU while a part of their CCF. But this time I noticed something new. Instead of seeing what the church did, I finally took notice of the effect.

"Everyone was filled with awe...all the believers were together and had everything in common...every day, they continued to meet together in the temple courts, they ate bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people."

Is your community filled with awe? Are your people together, desiring to come together? Are they sincere? Glad? Captivating the attention of the people around them?

If not, then they need to see what the early church was devoted to. That's the formula to follow.