Pastoral Devotion For May

Community In Christ
Read Acts 2:42-47
Each year, the National Geographic Channel airs a series in which ten competitors are deposited in a wild and desolate location somewhere around the globe. The purpose of the journey is to find out which of them is able to survive the longest in the wild while being totally, as the title would describe, Alone. The competitors have no contact with anyone. Only if they radio for assistance would they hear another human voice, but such a call means their odyssey comes to an end.

Being alone is contrary to the life God would have for his people. In the beginning, God created Adam but soon afterward made for him a helper and companion. Throughout the ages, God has blessed the human family that people may live in communi-ty with one another. In his book, “Life Together”, Dietrich Bonhoeffer explains that, for believers, community is a gift of God’s grace.

Not all live in such community. Many believers are dispersed throughout the world and live among those who have not believed Christ is the way, the truth and the life. Yet, our God calls some Christians to love and even live among their enemies. Speaking the Gospel of Christ to those who do not believe provides the building blocks of faith, which in turn serve as the seeds that sprout and grow into the fellowship of faith.

God does not intend for his people to live alone. Filled with the presence of the Holy Spirit, believers have what is needed to introduce others to Christ. Hearing the Gospel bring others to faith, and through faith, Christ establishes the community of believers.