Why Restore? Deepen Community
Community is a popular word lately--but do we really have it?
The world offers a multitude of communities: Facebook groups, clubs, and notifications in group chats that affirm that you are in, that you are connected, that you are part of something. But are notifications and pixels real connections?
Our groups can be connected only by taste in music, or the latest film, or our opinion on sports. While those things are nice, are they enough? Can those connecting ties hold the weight of struggles with sin and suffering?
When we look at our church groups, it’s not much better. We lack connection here, because we don’t let others in. We’re afraid that our brokenness and hurt will be too much, and they will slash through the small ties that we have. Or for some reason, we may reach out to others but others don't seem to reciprocate.
Does this description resonate with you? Though we live in a culture focused on community, rarely have we felt so alone. It feels like you’re a single musical note, drowned out by a cacophony of fears and dread and struggles that surround you.
But God wants us to be part of His whole symphony--and His melody includes more than our one note. He weaves all of His people into His master melody.
The Community You Were Made For
Christianity has always been about community. God from the beginning has had communal love--all three parts of the Trinity have interacted in love and unity with each other. So when God created us, He made us to be part of communal love too. We are designed for vertical and horizontal closeness--vertical loving God, and horizontal loving other people. And these two are deeply intertwined. God tells us to love Him by loving others (John 14:12), and we can only love others rightly when we love God. Christianity is not a religion of isolation.
But when we have a broken view of our stories, we lose sight of the community we were made for. It’s like cropping a photo; we can only see ourselves and our struggles, and are cut off from the people around us.
Yet as God restores us, we get to see Him enlarge the picture. We see Him working not only in our stories, but also in the stories of others. Our singular music note is no longer alone against the deafening silence--other notes step in, rising in volume, until there is a great symphony, all the richer for the different notes harmonizing together.
We need one another. God said that “it is not good” for man to be alone, and that applies to more than just marriage. God uses His people to sanctify and strengthen each other. After all, we can walk through struggles much better when a friend is by our side.
“God loves to work through our communities to heal our story; and to work through our stories to heal our community.”
God loves to work through our communities to heal our story; and to work through our stories to heal our community. With Restore, we want to give you an opportunity to share with a close community of people, growing close to each other. As you see God together, you’ll be able to work together, cry together, and rejoice together. As you walk towards God, you’ll find you also draw closer to each other, and help each other along the way.
God made us to experience love, both His and His people’s. He wants to restore our stories, and bring us into that love again.
Want to grow deepen your relationship with God and your community? Order your copy of Restore: Changing How We Live and Love. This thirteen-week study guides participants through creating their own storyboards that will connect them to God’s overarching story and help them to rethink, reframe, and move forward. As participants discuss, do response activities, and learn to meditate on God’s Word, they will reconnect with God and reignite their love for him and others. Get your copy today!