The Gift of a Christian Community

“Because God already has laid the only foundation of our community, because God has united us in one body with other Christians in Jesus Christ long before we entered into common life with them, we enter into that life together with other Christians, not as those who make demands, but as those who thankfully receive. We thank God for what God has done for us. We thank God for giving us other Christians who live by God’s call, forgiveness, and promise. We do not complain about what God does not give us; rather we are thankful for what God does give us daily. And is not what has been given enough: other believers who will go on living with us through sin and need under the blessing of God’s grace? Is the gift of God any less immeasurably great than this on any given day, even on the most difficult and distressing days?” — from Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together

At Fountain of Life, God has blessed us with a wonderfully caring Christian community that many can lean on in both easy and difficult times. How many of us have felt the caring hand of our community as we dealt with personal or family struggles, received a difficult medical diagnosis, or the death of a loved one. God has made the fellowship we have at Fountain of Life special.  However, God calls it to be more. God has us in fellowship not merely for social interaction and support, but also for a spiritual bond with one another and a unity in a common purpose to extend the table that more may accept the free gift of salvation through Jesus Christ.

Closing thought for meditation and prayer: Reflect and give thanks for our faith community as a whole and for specific individuals that God has placed in our community. Pray that God helps you to support and care for others. Prayerfully think how God can use you to make this community a blessing for others – to be an active part of this fellowship.