The Lord taught me multiple things through the preached Word this weekend. The sermon was the second in a series about the institution of the church and what Jesus has to say about what it should look like. David summed up last week's sermon in a statement similar to this: "The church should be marked by a childlike humility that communally puts the world on notice that Jesus Christ is supremely valuable." This weeks might read: "The church should be marked by honoring Christ in humbly receiving one another, on the basis of the gospel!"
It's been only in the last year and a half of my life that I have embraced the "communal living" aspect of the church that we're called to as Christians. Father continues to reinforce the doctrine of the church that I denied for most of my life, by having it come up time and time again in my study of the Word as well as in the preaching at C3. God is showing me that He is a God of community, and we are called to love each other in a way that brings attention to the gospel we are saved by as we hold that gospel supremely valuable in our lives, TOGETHER.
My response for the sermons these past two weeks has to be one of childlike humility in which I forget anything the world will try to bring to my attention that could result in me treating my brother or sister in a way that doesn't reflect my attention upon the gospel. I must ask the Lord to humble me and have me submit to communal living the way we are called to. I must stand alongside my brothers and sisters, never denying another brother or sister that same fellowship, and further, reaching our hands out to them that they may be transformed and made new by the power of Christ-centered community.
-- Joshua Miller - C3 Student
