Fully Devoted: An IntroductionSample

What Does It Mean to Live in Biblical Community?

Once we put our trust in Jesus, we become a new creation, adopted into a new family. And that family is the Church. The Church is not a building or a place—it’s the people of God living out the will of God. 

The Church is a community of forgiven and redeemed people called to bring hope and healing to our fallen, rebellious world. The Church is not a collection of families—the Church is a family. So, the way we engage in this community and as this community matters immensely. 

When the earliest Christian leaders were responding to skeptics trying to disprove Christianity, they didn’t defend the claims of Christianity by presenting philosophical arguments or scientific evidence—they pointed to the example of the Church. They pointed to a transformed community of Spirit-filled believers living as faithful witnesses to the kingdom of God.

As the Church, we are meant to live as a preview of God’s future kingdom. What does that look like? It’s living as if what we say we believe is actually true. It’s treating our brothers and sisters in Christ as fellow children of God. How? By carrying one another’s burdens and loving each other the same way God has loved us. 

We serve others as if we were serving Jesus. We give food to those who are hungry, water to those who are thirsty, shelter for those who need it. We support those who are sick, and care for those who are poor. 

This is exactly what the first Christians did. And because of how radical their love for one another was, the people around them noticed, and God added to their number daily. 

Life change happens in the context of relationships. It’s through our relationship with Jesus that we are made new, and through our relationships with other students of Jesus that we experience the transformation that comes from living out our true identity. 

Our faith has always been, and will always be, expressed by the way we love others. And since the Church is a group of transformed people stitched together by God, we can’t follow Jesus while disconnected from His Church.

Journaling Questions  

• Write down one of the verses from today’s reading. How does your experience of Christian communities compare to the New Testament? 
• How would you define the community you have right now? What are some of the differences you see in your community compared to the one described in today’s reading? 
• Do you think there is a gap between what we read and what we experience? Why? 
• What is one thing you can do today to better serve the people around you? 

Memory Verse

“‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” Mark 12:30-31 NIV