IMAGINE

Dave Ferguson – Community Christian Church
Genuine Community

Glen Wolfe – record for the most marriages in America and he is a Baptist Pastor – 29 times.

Why did he keep on trying to make marriage work?

We all crave genuine community.

Genuine community is where people are growing together to love God’s world and God’s people

God has always been about community. God is the community creator.

Genesis 1:1
Genesis 2:18
2 Cor 5:19

If God is about community, perhaps we should be about community. Perhaps we should be community creators or redeemers.

How do we train our church to be serious about genuine community?

1. Experience it. To understand genuine experience they must experience genuine community. People must belong before they believe. Treat people like they are Christians until they realize they are not.
2. Permit it. We must permit genuine community. Give them permission to start new churches, to start new small groups that exist for Jesus mission. Give people permission to take risk.
3. Co-create it. Send people out in teams. Never to it alone.
4. Celebrate it. Celebrate the big and the small.
5. Reproduce it.

Be the community!

Filed under: CHURCH PLANTING, Exponential Conference '08 Tagged: | church, community, dave ferguson