Quotes about Community

Who are we thinking about? And whom are we giving thanks to God for? We all need a reminder that we truly become who God created us to be when we stop thinking about me, me, me—and focus on others with the good news of Jesus.

We need each other's gifts, talents, and skills to do the work of the Lord. Empowering others is the key here. This is the beauty of the body: We all have something to contribute; therefore, we need to discover what that is and believe that we can do it. Then it's our job to find out what others have and release them into the life they were intended to live, even if it far exceeds our own.

Is it any wonder why church is so important? Some think they can live the Christian life without a strong local fellowship, but I'm not one of them. I know how important it is for me to unite with others to fix my mind on what is right, pure, lovely, and admirable—to think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. What's on your mind? Is it excellent?

Imagine a church filled with people who simply live to do the will of God and always treat others the way He intended.

Identity always precedes behavior. What you need is someone to come alongside you and help you remember who you are and to whom you belong.

We first must plant the gospel in the hearts and lives of people and then see what form of ecclesia emerges from the transformed community. If we begin with the premise that we are starting a "church," it will often come loaded with intuitional and cultural assumptions. Churches should grow out of the mission, not the other way around.

One hidden act of kindness is worth more than all the burial mounds of rhetoric, all the mumbling and fumbling and tardiness of Christians so preoccupied with cultivating their prayer lives that they cannot hear the anguished cry of the child in the barrio.

It seems that I always am and always have been an outsider. I've never really fit in. I was always too religious for my rowdy friends—they thought I was unbelievably hung up—and too rowdy for my religious friends—they were always praying for me.

The Beatitudes, far from being a new set of virtues that further divide the religious haves and have nots, are words of hope and healing to those who have been marginalized.

One of the most important responsibilities in the Christian life is to care about others, smile at them, and be a friend to the friendless.

Christians must pioneer new ways to bind ourselves to Scripture, to our traditions, and to each other—not for mere survival, but so that the church can be the authentic light of Christ to a world lost in darkness.

There's one thing that 82 percent of all unchurched people can't seem to resist. It cuts through their defenses and penetrates their barriers. According to surveys at LifeWay Research, 82 percent of them seem to have a single weakness: if a friend, or someone they know, invites them to church. Reread that: 82 percent of all unchurched people would come to church this weekend if they were invited by a friend.