In community we are challenged. In community we are encouraged. In community we are served. In community we learn. In community we are corrected. In community we mature. In community we love. In community we are loved. In community we thrive.

There’s a story about a minister who went to see a church member who had missed a few weeks at church. After the customary greetings, the minister comes in and sits down by the fire. The two sit in silence for a few minutes watching the active fire when the minister goes over to the fireplace and, with the fireplace tongs, moves a burning coal away from the rest of the fire onto the hearth. The bright glowing ember soon fades and eventually loses it’s fire. The minister then takes the dead ember and places it back in the fire where it immediately begins to glow again from the heat of the rest of the fire.

In Christ, we find community. But only if we participate in the service of Christ, cooperate with the work of Christ, share in the suffering of Christ, dwell among the body of Christ.