Day 8 | Contagious Community

When I started to write about community this week, my mind was overwhelmed with thoughts. There is so much I could write on this topic. Community is deeply important to me. I do not know what I would do without my Jesus-loving girlfriends and relationships where I feel known, loved, and supported. I cannot imagine a life without families that love my kids and my husband and believers that are cheering for us. I know what it is to have this, and I want it for everyone!
We are not meant to walk out this Christian life alone. We need each other. Galatians 6:2 says, “Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way, you will fulfill the law of Christ.” This can only happen in community. If we don’t have people to share our burdens with, there is no way they can help carry them. I encourage you to prioritize community and relationships in new ways. If you feel like you don’t need community, ask the Lord to give you a hunger for it.
Proverbs 27:17 reads, “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.” Growth happens in community that cannot happen otherwise. When we allow people to really see us and we are able to share our successes and failures, our sorrows and our joys, our struggles and our hopes in a safe space with people we trust that are cheering for us, something sacred happens … and these relationships grow us.
My prayer is that as a church, we will have a hunger for community and that we will have a love for one another that is contagious. You might be in a place where you are longing for community, and you are just not sure where to begin. A great place to start is to join one of our LifeGroups. This is where Dusty and I started to get to know people at LifeChurch and build community. It took some time, and we had to prioritize it, but it is so very worth it.
This is an example of a prayer we can pray today while we think about community as a church: “Father, thank you for your heart to be in relationship with us. Thank you for constantly being with us and for us, even when our hearts are far from you. Thank you for never giving up on us, even when we do things we know have hurt your heart. Please help us live in precious community with one another in love and unity. Let our relationships be pleasing to you. Please let us encourage one another and sharpen one another as we keep our eyes on You. We ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen.”
Cheering for you all,
Christie Braun
We are not meant to walk out this Christian life alone. We need each other. Galatians 6:2 says, “Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way, you will fulfill the law of Christ.” This can only happen in community. If we don’t have people to share our burdens with, there is no way they can help carry them. I encourage you to prioritize community and relationships in new ways. If you feel like you don’t need community, ask the Lord to give you a hunger for it.
Proverbs 27:17 reads, “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.” Growth happens in community that cannot happen otherwise. When we allow people to really see us and we are able to share our successes and failures, our sorrows and our joys, our struggles and our hopes in a safe space with people we trust that are cheering for us, something sacred happens … and these relationships grow us.
My prayer is that as a church, we will have a hunger for community and that we will have a love for one another that is contagious. You might be in a place where you are longing for community, and you are just not sure where to begin. A great place to start is to join one of our LifeGroups. This is where Dusty and I started to get to know people at LifeChurch and build community. It took some time, and we had to prioritize it, but it is so very worth it.
This is an example of a prayer we can pray today while we think about community as a church: “Father, thank you for your heart to be in relationship with us. Thank you for constantly being with us and for us, even when our hearts are far from you. Thank you for never giving up on us, even when we do things we know have hurt your heart. Please help us live in precious community with one another in love and unity. Let our relationships be pleasing to you. Please let us encourage one another and sharpen one another as we keep our eyes on You. We ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen.”
Cheering for you all,
Christie Braun
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Archive
2023
January
Don’t Waste Your Year | Week of January 1stFasting and Prayer ResourcesWhen You Feel Like You Need A Comeback | Week of January 8thFamily Resources | Week of January 8th21 Days of Prayer & FastingFamily Resources | Week of January 15thHow Is My Appetite? | Hungry | Week 1Day 1 | Hunger Produces ActionDay 2 | Praising God For His MovementDay 3 | Revealing With Dulls My AppetiteDay 4 | Delighting In The LordDay 5 | Constant Access To Living WaterDay 6 | Approaching God Without FearDay 7 | Enlarging Your Capacity For LoveFamily Resources | Week of January 22ndHungry To Love And Be Loved | Hungry | Week 2Day 8 | Contagious CommunityDay 9 | Designed With Desire And Need For CommunityDay 10 | Unity Is Not An Optional StrategyDay 11 | Desiring For Our Neighbor's GoodDay 12 | Community As ProtectionDay 13 | Many AdvisorsHungry To Make A Difference | Hungry | Week 3Family Resources | Week of January 29thDay 14 | Where Do You Take Your Watering Can?Day 15 | Created To Make A DifferenceDay 16 | To Cultivate And Keep It
February
Day 17 | Good WorksDay 18 | A Community Of Civic BenefactionDay 19 | Vision and DirectionDay 20 | Divine PotentialLaws of Attraction | Song of Solomon | Week 1Family Resources | Week of February 5thDay 21 | Koinonia ContributionDating | Song of Solomon | Week of Sunday, February 12thFamily Resources | Week of February 12thSexual Intimacy | Song of Solomon | Week 3Family Resources | Week of February 19thFighting Fair | Song of Solomon | Week 4Family Resources | Week of February 26th
March
Making Love Last | Song of Solomon | Week 5Family Resources | Week of March 5thThe Kingdom: This Is What You Want | Week of March 12thFamily Resources | Week of March 12thJesus Shows Us What Real Love Is | Why Did Jesus Die? | Week 1Family Resources | Week of March 19thJesus Died To Set Us Free | Why Did Jesus Die? | Week 2Family Resources | Week of March 26th
April
Family Resources | Week of April 2ndJesus Died To Take Our Place | Why Did Jesus Die? | Week 3Family Resources | Week of April 9thWhy Did Jesus Die and Rise Again? | Why Did Jesus Die? | Week 4Family Resources | Week of April 16thMercy For Those Who Doubt | Reasonable Doubt | Week OneFamily Resources | Week of April 23rdCan Science and Christianity Coexist? | Reasonable Doubt | Week 2Family Resources | Week of April 30thSometimes I Doubt Because of Christian Hypocrites | Reasonable Doubt | Week 3
May
Emotions, Impossible Questions, and Doubts | Reasonable Doubt | Week 4Family Resources | Week of May 7thGod Loves It | Week of May 14thFamily Resources | Week of May 14thCan Worry Increase Your Life? | Questions Jesus Asked | Week 1Family Resources | Week of May 21stHow Can We Be Made Salty Again? | Questions Jesus Asked | Week 2Family Resources | Week of May 28th
June
Why Are You Asleep? | Questions Jesus Asked | Week 3Family Resources | Week of June 4Do You Want To Be Made Well? | Questions Jesus Asked | Week 4Family Resources | Week of June 11Do You Believe I Am Able To Do This? | Questions Jesus Asked | Week 5Family Resources | Week of June 18Why Are You So Afraid? | Questions Jesus Asked | Week 6Family Resources | Week of June 25
July
Sabbath Keepers | Questions Jesus Asked | Week 7Family Resources | Week of July 2Who Touched Me? | Questions Jesus Asked | Week 8Family Resources | Week of July 9How Many Loaves Do You Have? | Questions Jesus Asked | Week 9Family Resources | Week of July 16What If I Want John To Live Forever? | Questions Jesus Asked | Week 10Family Resources | Week of July 23What Can Anyone Give In Exchange For Their Soul? | Questions Jesus Asked | Week 11Family Resources | Week of July 30
August
Family Resources | Week of August 6Expectation Deficit Disorder | Immeasurably More | Week 1Day 1 | Monday, August 7th | Immeasurably More: God-Sized VisionDay 2 | Wednesday, August 9th | Immeasurably More: The ExamenDay 3 | Friday, August 11th | Immeasurably More: KnockImmeasurably More For Your Family | Immeasurably More | Week 2Family Resources | Week of August 13Day 4 | Monday, August 14th | Immeasurably More: Eternal PrioritiesDay 5 | Wednesday, August 16th | The Deep Stillness of MorningDay 6 | Friday, August 18th | Family TraditionsImmeasurably More In Our Church | Immeasurably More | Week 3Family Resources | Week of August 20Day 7 | Monday, August 21st | Pray, Bless, and Do GoodDay 8 | Wednesday, August 23rd | How to Know if You've Really Been to ChurchDay 9 | Friday, August 25th | Praying Big, Bold, Specific PrayersImmeasurably More In Our Friendships | Immeasurably More | Week 4
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