Community is received.

Hey Friends,

Whenever I hear of someone moving to a new city I put myself in their shoes and ask one question: How would I meet new friends?

I can find restaurants and coffee shops. Grocery stores will make themselves obvious. My kids' schools would be shown to me and I'll learn the way over time.

But where will I find friends?

Enter the church. If it weren't for church, I'm not sure how I'd make friends as an adult.

This is a point I often make when I'm talking to new people I meet and I find out they made their way here from, well, not here. It becomes a good way to invite them to church, because it turns out they're wondering the same as me: How do I meet friends?

Our hunger for relationships isn't new, and it isn't going away no matter how much technology we inject in the space between us. We want real people to see us, know us, and care about us. And we find a sense of purpose in seeing others and knowing them and loving them. The joy we share with others is irreplaceable, whether it's as big as finding out they're pregnant or as small as enjoying the best burger in town. But the pain we share is what helps get us through the hardest moments of life. When we can't get pregnant, we lose the job, or someone we love dies, it's others we turn to. We aren't so much looking for answers or help as we are their presence. We just don't want to be alone. In our highest moments of joy and lowest moments of pain we're asking the same thing: Where are my friends?

Here's the key: church community is received.

On the one hand, Christ offers a beautiful group of people who are there to offer love and grace and hope.. But on the other hand, it can be hard to forge new friendships. You may enter a church and look for your people: other married people, other parents, other young married people with 2 young-ish kids who go to this particular school. We soon realize we're looking for a church within a church. Instead, you can receive the church God designed.

In 1 Corinthians 12:18, Paul says that God arranges the church just as he chose. You don't have to look for a church within the church anymore because God has already designed it. This means we show up to the church God is building and we receive those who are there, looking for how God is working in them, and receiving the gifts of the Spirit through them. We get to choose most everything in our lives. The church is a place we show up and receive what God is doing, though. We see these faces and recognize that they too have been called into the kingdom of light. These are my brothers and sisters who have also been adopted by the Father. I need them and they need me.

As we consider our hunger for community, let's resolve to receive what God has provided. Who can you be thankful for today? How can you encourage someone? Who can you begin to build a relationship with that you might not know outside of God's church?

I love you all.

In Christ,

Jonny Day