One of my favorite songs is called "If We Are the Body" by Casting Crowns. It is a song that asks the question, why, if we as a church are considered the body of Christ, aren't our arms reaching? I think that the song asks a valid question. If we consider ourselves Christian, then we are supposed to reach out to others. We need to go beyond the walls of the church and get into the community.

Just as our bodies are made of various parts, the various parts act as one body. We need our arms and hands to perform various tasks. We need our legs to walk. Each part is integral, and each part is used for a specific purpose. 1 Corinthians 12:12 says, "The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ." As a church, we are the same way. We each possess a skill or talent that is essential to the well being of the church.

It is my hope that we can come together, individually, and become the hands, feet, and arms as part of the body of Christ. We are called to be the church that Christ calls us to be. The words to the Casting Crowns song constantly remind me that we need to be reaching out to others. We need to do this as a church community.

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Christianity has always had Communities. From the very first gathering after Christ's resurrection (Pentecost) and to this very day, there has always been a body of believers who commune with one another. These communities often act as accountability partners in our lives. They keep us strong when we feel week. They offer stories of God's actions in their lives when we feel distant from Him. They give us answers when we are in need of guidance.

Communities are so much more than just Sunday morning service. Communities are there for you all the time, weather it's at a cell group at someone's house, at Wal-Mart while you're shopping for groceries, or even just over the phone. A community of believers is like a big family that either wants to be like Jesus, or is seeking answers to life's questions through Gods word. This family creates the body of Christ, acting in different ways to make up on full body. In this body of Christ, every part makes a difference, just as the human body. If the community may be deaf, choosing not to listen to the hungry cries just down the road, or it could be crippled, with no one acting as the feet and making an effort to bring their ministry outside the church walls. Regardless of what it may be that the community is missing, when it is missing, the body of Christ is not complete.

I pray that this week we look inside ourselves and try to discover God's purpose for us if we haven't done so already. What I do to seek this is go to a quite place with no distractions and just listen. Sometime I will pray right before I go into God's word for God to show me his plans for me. I promise you, God will not let you down. Go ahead and try it . . .

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As a community of believers focused on Christ, we strive to do good to all people, but especially to one another, for we are the family of God. From Galatians 6:10

Being a part of a "community of believers" is like having limitless treasure. To know Jesus Christ, our souls' savior is life changing, but to have fellowship with him and Christ centered people is priceless.

The sweetness of fellowship is seeing the kind faces, hearing encouraging words of support, and finding the sense of belonging. Fellowship is not only satisfying to the mind, but also to the heart and soul.
With the week-in and week-out world offensiveness, we all need to be rejuvenated with God's love from one another. It is essential for me and I seek it every time I attend worship, or an event that we do together as a body of Christ.

I am reminded of PB&J sandwiches. Peanut butter - a source of nourishment - with jelly - the sweet juice from fruit - put together on bread can be considered a meal, giving our hunger contentment and our senses satisfaction. Jesus is the peanut butter for our soul. He nourishes and fills us. Our community is the sweet extra of belonging. We support and aid each other, helping one another as needed. Together, Jesus and Christ centered communities are the ingredients for a content soul. Our community is apart of the most important family ever; we are the family of God. It is our responsibility and should be our desire as a Christ-following community to share and extend the priceless treasures of Jesus and our community to all.

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All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord's Supper), and to prayer. (Acts 2:42)

Following the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, his followers gathered together for fellowship, sharing meals, discussing what Jesus had taught them, and to pray that God would bless them. I am sure they prayed that their community grow closer together, and that it's numbers increase. There were many around them who did not have first-hand experience with Jesus, and they would only be able to learn of His great teachings through their actions. I am sure they planned and encouraged one another to broaden their circle of friends and to reach out to the lost and wandering in their community.

Quest is not so different from this initial community of followers. We also believe that we are called and challenged by God to reach out to our community, and to make a concerted effort to reach and touch those lives in the Augusta downtown area. We've been making our plans, and believe we have an approach outlined that will reach some in the downtown community. But planning is never enough, and now we need the entire Quest fellowship to join with us in pray and in their actions as we begin to move forward towards real one-to-one contact in the downtown area.

I am sure there were struggles in this first church community in Acts 2. But we know the outcome. We are here today freely worshiping our God and His Son, our Savior, because of what this group of early followers chose to do. Will you join us as we strive to answer God's call upon our church?

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You are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household. (Ephesians 2:19)

Anyone who has traveled and stayed with friends or family can appreciate the difference between being a guest and being at home. When I'm a guest in someone else's house, regardless of how accommodating they are and how many times they say for me to make myself at home, I can't do it. It's someone else's house, and I can't consider it my own home. When I get home, though, I feel so relieved to freely be able to kick off my shoes, lounge on the couch, and get whatever I want from the kitchen. There really is no place like home.

As members of the family of God and the body of Christ, we can have that same degree of comfort with each other as we have in our own home. It is possible for us to be as real with each other as we are with members of our own household. This is not to say that we should all come to church in our bathrobes and eat off each others' plates, but when you are living alongside someone that closely, it is hard to be anything but yourself.

As members of this community, we have the freedom to be ourselves and the responsibility to be there for one another as we bear our souls and our lives to one another. We're family. It's okay to be vulnerable, and it's essential to the life of the Church that we support each other in everything.

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