05 Gospel Community: The Church Gathered – Mission Community Church Collective

This session is an overview of ‘In’, what we call Family. We will look at why Community is so important in general, looking at its roots in the Triune God whom we worship. Then see how God’s reign is enacted in and through His Good News people.

Reading time: ~20 minutes + time for Reflection

Beginning Community

After looking at an overview of Gospel Living through Up, In, & Out, we come to a very important part of our Identity. In the “Gospel Identity” session we left off with the individual purpose that we have in the reign of Jesus. However, there is a crucial element that is often forgotten, especially in our Western Individualism and the Hyper-Individualism of America—we are not alone. God has not called us to be alone, God never wanted us to be alone.

At the very beginning when God formed man and placed him in the Garden of Eden. The God of the universe, Creator of everything, King over all looked upon the man and said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper as his partner” (Gen. 2.18). He made the animals and brought them to him, but there was not found for a him a suitable “helper” (ezer). This word ezer elsewhere in the Old Testament is only used in reference to God! This is not some lesser being that God was forming to help the man with busy work. No, this was mighty partner that was to rule, cultivate, and care for creation alongside the man.

This is not simply about God making the first marriage, this was the first family, the first community, being born. Prior to this, it was only God and the man and God’s response to this was that He needed to create another to be with the man. Oftentimes we may say, “I only need God”, and though there is truth in this, God says to us, “You really need each other.” God did not create us to live in isolation and His new creation work is not to be done in isolation either. It is to be accomplished by his Good News People living together in love and unity and serving God together as children, disciples, servants, and missionaries.

Here many may say, again, “I am saved, so I don’t need to be in community.” This falls into the in-out mindset that ultimately de-creates who we are made to be. Robert Banks summarizes Paul’s outlook on what true freedom (salvation) means:

Independence

From certain things (e.g., sin, the law, death, and alien or alienating powers);

For certain things (e.g., righteousness, conformity to Jesus, and suffering); and

Resulting in a personal and life-giving experience of liberty.

Dependence

Upon the Father, who created and continues to provide all things for all people;

Upon Christ, who ended humanity’s enslavement through his death and resurrection; and

Upon the Spirit, who communicates Christ’s life and purpose as a received divine gift rather than an innate possibility.

Interdependence

With others, since liberty leads to service and can be practically defined only in relation to others’ needs;

With the wider society and culture, the context of all community, which requires fresh life and innovation; and

With the world, since the universe itself will be liberated from its limitations along with those who are Christ’s.

Robert Banks, Paul’s Idea of Community: Spirit and Culture in Early House Churches (2020), p.23.

In short, we only experience true salvation when we are freed from and for certain things; depending upon our Triune God; and in the genuine self-sacrificial service to others. True salvation is expressed in true service.

We all exist within some form of community (culture, society, relationships), but when we come to faith in Jesus, we are brought into the life of a new community. This community is God’s people and our new creation life is found within this community—only because this new community’s life is found in God.

Church & Trinity

God cares about community because He Himself is a communion of Persons. “God is love” (1 John 4.8b) is a deeply powerful statement that means much more than God has affection for us. First, love can only be truly expressed with others. God is eternal, so for God to always “be love” there must be something for him to love—Father, Son, and Spirit. The love that God shows us, we become full of and express our love, not simply back to God, but also out into creation.

Our person, made in the image of God, is found within this new community of God’s family, that we call the church, which in turn is found within the divine nature of the Triune God. As John says in his first letter, “what we have seen and heard we also declare to you so that you also may have fellowship with us (the church), and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ (Trinity)” (1 John 1.3). Although the Holy Spirit is not named here, John often describes the Triune life as the relationship of the Father and Son by the empowerment of the Spirit. His focus is on the Father-Son relationship which is united and kept within the Spirit. So the Spirit’s role is both the connection between the Father-Son relationship and His power to bring God’s people, His family, into the relationship of the Father-Son. As Darrell Johnson puts it:

“We are co-lovers with God of God; we are co-lovers with God of one another; we are co-lovers with God of the world.”
Darrell Johnson, Experiencing the Trinity: Living in the Relationship at the Centre of the Universe (2021), p.62.

God draws near to us, and in drawing near to us, and draws us near to Himself, so that we can share in how God loves.

God’s desire for us to live in community is not some odd occurrence that he wanted humanity to have. Because humanity is made in His image, we share in the image of God existing in communion. This is more than a “you should live in community because it helps you” this is a “you were designed, from the very beginning, to exist with others who share in your nature because the very nature of God is to exist and dwell with others—Himself, humanity, and all creation.”

There are a few primary types of community we exist in: our local community, the world as a whole, and, if we are in Christ, then the church. The main thrust of what this session is about is the last of these—the good news community—the church. However, it is important to note that God does not draw us out of our other forms of community (though there are instances that we are moved from them and into others), our local community and the world as a whole are the communities that we live within as sent ones—emissaries of God’s reign.

Church & God’s Reign

The church is the new community, the new humanity, formed from the person and work of Jesus. He is the new adam or second man. Because of his obedience, He reversed the disobedience of the first adam. He suffered the complete impact of sin, but it did not take him prisoner, instead He defeated it. He experienced the condemnation meant for the lawless, but His righteousness was above law and destroyed it. Death unjustly claimed Him, but He triumphed over it—raising from the dead. He lived as the perfect Image of God, thus renewing the image of humanity in Himself.

“Since he did this not for his own sake but for the sake of all people as their representative, he is the foundation of a new community, humanity, or creation.”
Banks, p.17

Salvation (freedom or deliverance) does not have merely an individualistic meaning, but is bound up in community. Jesus is not simply an individual, but an individual who incarnated, lived, died, was buried, and rose again on behalf of the human community. Because of this He is the Head, the Leader, of this new community formed from Himself.

This community we call the church (ekklesia which means “gathering”). It is God’s people gathered under the reign of Jesus by the Spirit. The church is not a place you go to, a program you sit through, or a personality you listen to—it is God’s people in Jesus! The New Testament authors use a number of metaphors to describe this new humanity under Jesus. It is the Body of Christ, the Family of God, and the Priesthood of Believers.

A small note about these: they are both singular (a body, a family, a priesthood) and plural (parts of the body, members of the family, believers in the priesthood). Much like the Triune God is One in Three, Three in One; so the church is one as many, many as one.

The Body of Christ — A Union of Diversity

Within the body metaphor, Jesus is the Head and His people are the body (Eph. 4.15; Col. 1.18, 2.19; 1 Cor 12.12-27). He is both the origin (as in, “head of a river”) and authority (as in, “head of a company”) for the church. It is through His person and work that the church is birthed and that stakes His claim as “the name that is above every other name” (Phil. 2.9).

The body is composed of a diverse set of people. Diversity is not simply in gifting, but in socio-economic status, age, culture, ethnicity, race, gender, language, conditioning, and personality. All of these aspects come into play as the Body works together to fulfill its purpose as priests and act as a beacon of love for the world.

The united front of reflecting God to the world and the world’s praises back to God is the heart of the mission of the church. This begins within the people themselves living in humility and peace. When Jesus prayed for his disciples he also prays for His people as a whole:

I ask not only on behalf of these but also on behalf of those who believe in me through their (the disciples) word, that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.
John 17.20-23 (NIV)

Its diverse outlook infused with God’s love becomes a beacon of light to the world. It is the diversity that keeps all the elements the church engages in—worshiping God, living in community, and being missional—continuing. We also see different expressions of worshiping God, different ways of living in community, and different means of reaching out to the world. All this diversity enables the church to continue to grow spiritually, culturally, emotionally, mentally, and through multiplication. The diversity is what makes a church healthy because multiple streams are flowing into it and it has many outlets for service and mission as every person realizes they have a purpose in Jesus’ kingdom.

God’s reign in the church promotes uniqueness of culture and personhood, while uniting it under Jesus through the empowerment of the Spirit. As the Body, we realize that every part has a role and purpose. We’re not just spectators, but intricately called to use our God-giftedness to see the body as a whole flourish. It is difficult for the body to be fed without the mouth or hands; it is hard to get somewhere without its feet and legs; it’s hard to be aware of the surrounding world without eyes and ears. These are not special giftings for only specific individuals, no, every member is a part of the body and has a role to play for the growth, work, purpose, and building up of the body in love.

Read the following passages and reflect upon what giftings God has blessed you with for the building up of the church and revealing God’s kingdom to the world.

There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.

Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.
1 Corinthians 12.4-11 (NIV)

So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
Ephesians 4.11-13 (NIV)

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.
Romans 12.1-8 (NIV)

The Family of God — A Beacon of Love

The question arises if “church as family” is actually a metaphor or if it is a reality. On one hand it borrows from common familial language, but on the other hand the language is so strong and evident throughout the New Testament that it seems to be so much more than simply a metaphor, but a spiritual reality. As mentioned in the previous section: You are a child of the Most High God (Gal. 3.26-29). He is your Dad, Jesus is your older brother (Heb. 2.11-15), and the Spirit of God fills you (Rom. 8.14-16). Every other person in Christ, then, as they too are children, is your sister or brother. Although there is the language of spiritual fathers and mothers; leaders who help apprentices grow in leadership and faith (1 Tim. 1.18). There is also the language of different churches being described as “sisters” (2 John).

The word “family” does not always strike a positive tone for everyone. Some people grow up in highly dysfunctional families that actually mar this idea of the church being a family. Who would want to be a part of a family when their only experience of family is chaotic, dark, and painful? But, although our earthly fathers can be bad, even evil, our Heavenly Father is always good and our older brother, Jesus, is always looking out for us and sharing everything the Father has given Him. If the church family can remain focused on the love and goodness of our Heavenly Father and the love and greatness of our older Brother, then, by the empowerment of the Spirit, we can live in the fullness of love for one another.

Throughout the New Testament, there is an encouragement and emphasis for the family of God to live and act towards one another as God has lived and acted towards us. The capstone of this is Jesus’ new commandment:

Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’ I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.
John 13.33-35

Again, we see that the love the children of God have for each other is reflected out and reveals Jesus to the world. Just as our unity points to the union of God (the Trinity), our love for one another points to the love God has for the world (John 3.16).

Read through the List of “One Another”s—which ones stand out to you? Which ones would you like others to do towards you? Which ones do you think God would like you to do for others?

ONE-ANOTHERS

The Priesthood of Believers — A Fulfilling of Purpose

Within the priesthood Jesus is our High Priest (Heb. 4.14-16) and His people are a (singular) priesthood (1 Pet. 2.4-10). He is the one who made a sacrifice on behalf of everyone—priests and non-priests. He is the one who entered the throne room of God, not with the blood of animals, but His own blood to purify all who come under His priesthood making them rulers and priests (Rev. 5.9-10).

We have already talked a lot about God’s formation of humanity and setting them up as rulers and priests of creation in the beginning. This was the role that Israel was supposed to play in the world as well: “you shall be for me a reign of priests and a holy nation” (Ex. 19.6). A “reign of priests” definitely points back to the role of humanity over creation and a “holy nation” is not that Israel was supposed to be isolated from the world (what often is associated with holiness), rather, they were purified for God’s purpose—this is the meaning and use of “election” in the Bible. Israel, as a whole, was supposed to be a nation that reflected God to the world and drew the world into the praises of God. They were to be a blessing and light to the nations, seeking its peace (welfare, blessing, flourishing, goodness) with God as their King (Gen. 12.1-3; Isa. 42.6; 49.6; 52.7; Jer. 29.7).

This is the backdrop for when Peter says, “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the excellence of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy” (1 Pet. 2.9-10). The church is to reign as priests through the leadership of the High Priest, Jesus.

What does this reign look like? Seeking justice for the marginalized, oppressed, and forgotten; peace through blessing, restoring relationships with God, one another, and creation, and causing people and society to flourish through bearing the image of Jesus; and joy because Immanuel is here, God is with us, as we cultivate beauty for Him, share the gospel of the reign of Jesus, and offer thanksgiving to God our King (Rom. 14.17; cf. Isa. 11-12).

A simple analogy of what acting as a priest looks like in Christ is that we are to be spiritual parents to humanity and creation. We are to be a hospitable presence in the world. We are to care for, help lead, guide, self-sacrifice for their sake, and promote growth and flourishing through Jesus. This is the goal of gospel-centered parenting. We stake our claim that in Christ we are to help spiritually parent others in love, mercy, and grace. It does not mean that everyone will respond to our way of loving them, sometimes there are unruly children. But through prayer, intercession, presence, and openness we can still bring their lives before God our King in priestly intercession.

Reflect upon what it could look like share and embody the reign of God as a hospitable presence.

Church: Past, Present, and Future

A major point of who the people of God are is to realize that it is not only those who exist around you. God’s people are God’s people, whether they live next to you, on the other side of the world, or even in the past. We stand with God’s people, not just across the globe, but across time. We must understand that our faith is not one that blindly came into existence when we did, but that it has existed for thousands of years—even prior to Jesus’ incarnation.

The author of the book of Hebrews, after listing and describing the faith of those who came before them (all Old Testament figures) caps this off with, ‘Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith’ (Heb. 12.1-2a). God’s people of the past lay foundations for us, we learn from their ways, their examples of faithful living, and realize that although their body is dead, because they are in Christ, they are very much alive—for God is the God of the living, not the dead (Matt. 22.23-33).

Just like the author of Hebrews looks back to the great ways the Old Testament figures have represented faith; we can look back to those of the early church, beginning in the book of Acts and moving forward these last 2000 years. Something very important that unites us with our spiritual mothers and fathers of the past are what are called the Creeds.

There are three main Creeds which have been recited for thousands of years and which unites us all under faith in Christ. These are the Apostles’ Creed, the Nicene Creed, and the Athansius Creed. These are statements, grounded in the Bible, and form the foundation of teaching that Christians have lived by for generations.

Take some time to read through these Creeds, or at least what they are about.

CREEDS

We recommend spending some time to memorize the Apostles’ Creed as summary of our faith. This Creed has been recited in during worship gatherings and at baptisms for thousands of years! When we quote it, we are standing alongside, not just those who are reciting it next to us, but those across the globe and through time, in Christ.

I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord,

who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary,

suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried;

He descended to the dead. On the third day He rose again;

He ascended into heaven, He is seated at the right hand of the Father,

and He will come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,

the holy catholic* Church, the communion of saints,

the forgiveness of sins,

the resurrection of the body,

and the life everlasting. Amen.

* ‘catholic’ simply means ‘universal’ or ‘complete’. From katholikos: kata (‘about’) and holos (‘whole’).

Finally, the question of the church and its future. This will be sought further in the final session, but it is important to mention here that being a part of God’s people in Christ means representing Him to others around you and inviting them to be a part of the Body of Christ, into the Family of God, and to be priests of the Most High. The reason why the church still exists today is because generation after generation God’s people have taken up the call to “go”. As disciples come into the church, they are welcomed to partake in community life under the leadership of Jesus and the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

Microchurch

How this idea plays out specifically in the life of MCC is in what we call “Microchurches”. A microchurch is simply:

A spiritual family: a group of servant missionaries, led by ordinary people, who seek to worship, honor, and bring glory to God; live in everyday gospel community; and pursue gospel saturation by multiplying disciples and microchurches in their context.

All the individual microchurch families combined form “the Collective” which is overseen by Elders and Deacons (Equipping Team Directors and Microchurch Leaders). The purpose of the Collective is to support the life of each micorchurch family and to offer an extended spiritual family to ensure that these families are not left in isolation.

Although MCC has adopted the term “microchurch”, it carries the same idea of “house church”, “missional community”, or even “small group”. However, what we want to emphasize is that the microchurch is the church gathered. It is not a support system to the church (like many small group ministries are), it is the people of God gathered for worship, family, and mission.

It is from within this spiritual family that Gospel Community is lived out and expressed. Chester and Timmis share a bit about what this family-life looks like:

The word translated “strangers” in 1 Peter 1:1, 17 and 2:11 literally means “without house” or “without home” or “without family.” We are “unfamily.” It is the opposite of the word that Peter uses in 2:5 to talk about “a spiritual house.” Christians have become “without home” in culture. Roman society was viewed as a family with Caesar as the patriarch. Their new birth meant Peter’s readers had moved outside this family. They had become outsiders, homeless, unfamily. But they are being built into a spiritual home, into a new family (2:5). We are not called to live as isolated individuals alone on the margins. We are being built in a new home. We are born again into a new family.

Peter is not just talking about a Sunday morning service. He is talking about living as a community that loves one another sincerely from the heart and is deeply engaged in the lives of each one in sharing life together. He is talking about dropping in on people on the way back from work, or hanging out with people and praying after a bad day, or simply relaying a great conversation with a neighbor.
Chester and Timmis, Everday Church: Gospel Communities on Mission (2012), p.56.

HUDDLE

DISCUSS IT

What challenged you in the teaching?
What questions were raised in the teaching?
How does this affect your understanding of your “Identity in Christ”? How is our individual and community identity in Christ related?

READ IT

1 Corinthians 12.1-26; 14.26-33

Does this “coming together” sound like a place to receive or a place to serve? Why?
What has God gifted you in that can be used for the body and its mission?
How does the church gathered act as light, love, and life to the world?

APPLY IT

What does it practically look like to live in “Gospel Community”?
Going forward, how will you use your gifts within and for the body?
How do these gifts also translate into serving the world to reveal Jesus?

CONTENTS

Gospel Community

The Church Gathered

TEACHING

Overview