Do you have a close community or are you only connected? Knowing people and even having lots of “friends” does not mean that you have a community. In this message, Pastor Jamie Nunnally teaches us how to make room for community in our lives. 

The key to changing what your full of is to change what you feed on.
 
Christian Community is togetherness. It’s gathering around a common faith & shared values, and relying on one another for help, support and guidance—both naturally and spiritually. It’s doing life together.
 
Surveys show that Americans are lonelier than ever.
Don’t confuse community with connectivity. The connectivity of the digital age is convenient, but it is a counterfeit of true community.
Don’t confuse community with being friendly.
Don’t confuse community with assembly.
 
In scripture, the word for community in Greek is koinonia - fellowship, association, sharing, joint participation, intimacy.
 
Acts 2:42
The invitation to follow Christ, is an invitation into community, because other people have been invited, too. Jesus saves individuals, but we grow in groups. 
 
Things that kill community:
Mistrust – our past wounds cause us to view others through a lense of suspicion.
Idealism – everything and everybody is always perfect.
Inauthenticity – unwillingness to be real, vulnerable and accountable. 

You need community.
1. It helps you.
1 Thess 5:11 Everyone longs to belong.

2. It helps others.
Hebrews 10:24
Your faith is not just about you.
 
3. It matures you.
You don’t get better by being comfortable.  Strength comes from stretching.
1 John 4:19-21 
Learning to love people teaches you about God because that what he does.

4. It heals you.
James 5:16 
Many Christians are forgiven of their sin, but they are not healed from it because they have refused to embrace community.  
 
How Do We Make Room for Community?
1. Hang out.
Acts 5:42 
Jesus had groups of 3 (close friends), 12 (spiritual family), 70 (ministry), 120 (acquaintances), & 500 (the church). 
Hebrews 10:25 “And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.”
If you’re gathering with other believers less and less these days, you’re going the wrong way.
If you’re going everywhere but church, you’re going the wrong way.
 
2. Help out.
Galatians 6:2 
 
3. “One-another” one another.
Be devoted to one another (Romans 12:10), honor one another (Romans 12:10), live in harmony with one another (Romans 12:16; 1 Peter 3:8), accept one another (Romans 15:7), serve one another (Galatians 5:13), be kind to one another (Ephesians 4:32), admonish one another (Colossians 3:16), encourage one another (1 Thessalonians 5:11; Hebrews 3:13), motivate one another toward love and good deeds (Hebrews 10:24), offer hospitality to one another (1 Peter 4:9), and love one another (1 Peter 1:22; 1 John 3:11; 3:23; 4:7; 4:11-12).
 
You’ll ask others to watch your stuff, but are you asking others to watch your soul?
 
Are you making room for community?