MORE REFLECTIONS ON TRINITARIAN COMMUNITY.

Even as I emphasized the importance of Community in restoring God’s design for interactions between people, I must emphasize the importance of personal identity and uniqueness of each individual, for the community to be functional and not uniformed.

The three viruses destroying community, Individualism, Isolation, Independence - are interfering directly with Divine roles and revelation of Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  Isolation would never occur if people would see God as Father of all, and community as a family sharing common place.  Individualism would not perpetuate when people accept Christ’s mission and responsibility for all humanity, and Christ’s design of Church as One Body.  The Independence works against the Holy Spirit distributing variety of gifts to many for edification of all, none possessing everything, and needing each other interdependently.

As I keep communicating this metaphor of community, I hope to communicate clearly the fact that community is not about uniformity.  Just like body parts remain uniquely differentiated in shapes, forms, functions, density, composition and size, and do not mesh to become a uniform mass within the body, so do we remain separately unique in Community.  Just as kidney differs from the eye, or a lung differs from tongue, so do we differ in our gifts, talents, personalities in the Common Body of Christ.  Not only that, there is a certain proximity and distance of parts that is designed for effective functionality: i.e. stomach is connected through duodenum to the small intestine on one end, and through the esophagus to the mouth cavity on the other, thumb does not grow beside the nose, and ear is not next to the knee.  So it is in the human community, the Body of Christ.  There are certain talents and people that must be close together, to work and function effectively, yet must be appropriately distant from others.

Next month I will begin a special series of sermons, lasting through the summer, on God’s design for each one of us as unique individuals, on personal responsibilities of individuals in communities.  Quoting a comment I received last Sabbath – God did not design us to be “leeches” on the healthy body, but each a contributing and functional organ.  No believer should see him/herself in a parasitical mode of “take, take and take some more.”

When we abide in one common place, and have a mutual purpose to share then each one has to be both, contributor and recipient, and this are not sequential, but simultaneous.  Examine yourself, are you giving only, or receiving only, or are you doing both?

THREE CHARACTERISTICS OF TRINITARIAN COMMUNITY.

Sharing with the Sabbath School class last week about the importance of righteousness by faith, I did not emphasize enough the verse from Paul’s letter to Galatians (5:5) “for we through the Spirit eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.”  I am concluding my blog on the Trinitarian Community with this emphasis because Godly community, just like righteousness and all fruits of the Spirit we desire for, cannot be produced by our efforts.  Our best attempts are described by prophet Isaiah as “filthy rags.”  All human efforts even if they result in an excellent show, and the appearance of success, if such are void of Holy Spirit presence within, of Christ impulse, are waste of time. 

I share with you the three main characteristics (with 15 sub-points) needed for real functional community.  First we find our purpose in Christ, we are Christ’s Body, and we exist to show him to one another.  This purpose is much greater than any one individual.  It is this Common Purpose of manifesting Christ to one another, which delivers us from the cultural confusion of Individualism, and shapes us into Community.

When we embrace the Great Purpose we have through Christ of reconciling the world to God and to each other, we share common Œauthority, beliefs, Žtraditions, and standards.  We join those who has common mission, who’s on the same journey of manifesting Christ.  For this to take place Christ must dwell within by the Holy Spirit.

Coming together we break the second barrier to community, the Isolation, as we find the Common Place, where ‘spontaneity, ’availability, “frequency, ”common meals, •geographic proximity assist relationships.

Today I invite you to deal with the third barrier, Consumerism, and Independence it produces.  This obstacle can be counteracted by the third set of characteristics of the Divine Community – Common Possessions, which include following:  ¹¹Interdependence, ¹² Intergenerational living,

¹³ Children care, ¹⁴ Responsibility, ¹⁵ Personal Sacrifice. 

As we approach this topic, remember the Holy Spirit gives gifts for edification of the whole Community, not for selfish use.  Our attitude toward common possessions begins with realising that Spiritual blessings we receive belong to others too.

THREE CHARACTERISTICS OF TRINITARIAN COMMUNITY

Last Sabbath I shared with you one of three characteristics needed for real functional community emulating the Trinitarian Relationship.  We find our purpose in Christ, we are Christ’s Body, and we exist to show him to one another.  This purpose is much greater than any one individual.  It is this Common Purpose of manifesting Christ to one another, which delivers us from the cultural confusion of Individualism, and shapes us into Community.

When we embrace the Great Purpose we have through Christ of reconciling the world to God and to each other, we share common authority, beliefs, traditions, and standards.  We join those who has same mission, who’s on the same journey of manifesting Christ.  For this to happen Christ must dwell within by the Holy Spirit.

Today I will address the second barrier to becoming a community – Isolation. And it is counteracted by the Common Place we have.  Our Common Place begins with our realization of our common ancestry, we are children of the heavenly Father, we are God’s family, just as we pray “Our Father!”  And our Common Place has the same destination – we are all marching to the heavenly Zion, the New Jerusalem, the Place we dream about to be all together!

Next Sabbath I will share with you about the third barrier, Consumerism (help me find the “I” word for this term!), and the third characteristic of the Divine Community - Common Possessions.  Don’t be alarmed, I am not going to talk about communism, but about Biblical paradigm of the Spirit gifting, giving different endowments to individuals for the common use.  No one receives gift for self pleasure, but to edify the Body, to edify the Community, to grow and contribute to one another.

As you reflect today on the Common Place, make your place available and ready to receive the community spontaneously, become intentional about frequently coming together with those who are on the same journey.  May our song “shall we gather..” be the desire of your heart too.

THREE CHARACTERISTICS OF TRINITARIAN COMMUNITY.

I trust you are appreciating the Trinitarian emphasis in our sermons, studies and teachings.  It is my intent as your leader to form an environment where we would appreciate and be aware of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit working around, among, and within us. 

In previous blogs I shared with you how the Trinitarian perspective shines through the Three Angels message and this month I am going to focus on the Trinity-model for community, the patter after which we were formed.

I will emphasise three common characteristics: Œ place,  purpose, Ž possessions.

Our Common Place is in the Father, as we are a family, and all people are children of the same Father, just as we were taught to pray – Our Father!  There is no race division, but one human race, created by Our Father God!

Our Common Purpose is in the Son, who came that no one would perish but all would have life everlasting.  The Purpose of discipling all people, caring for everyone to be saved is our Great Commission.

Our Common Possessions is about gifting of the Spirit giving different endowments to individuals for the common use.  No one receives gift for self pleasure, but to edify the Body, edify the Community, grow and contribute to one another.

Today my emphasis is on purpose and there are 5 characteristics that are essential: authority, creed, traditions, standards, mission.  Take notes, think, study, as we are rediscovering Biblical Purpose for our church.  I like an acronym shared by a fellow pastor Frazee, describing the Common Purpose for the Church:

S piritual Formation

Evangelism

Reproducing

Volunteering

 I nternational

Caring

Empathising

preparig for the Trinitarian Community

Preparing for Trinitarian Community.

This month we I’ve communicated the Three Angels’ Message and its significance for our identity as Seventh-day Adventists.  We had been looking at theology and practice of faith through “Trinitarian lens,” appreciating the working of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit around, among, and within us. 

Revelation 14:7 presents the first Angel’s message and invites all to ŒFear and Reverence of God the Father, giving Glory in Christ, who was the glory of the Father, and who invited us to do everything in our physical living to the Glory of God, andŽ worshipping God in Spirit, so does the Message end with Trinitarian identification of God’s people.

Revelation 14:12, chosen as the motto of our movement, also presents the Trinitarian living: Œ patience of the saints – the central part of a set of the Fruit of the Spirit, (Galatians 5:22-23);   keeping Commandments of God, emphasizing the old Testament Decalogue, Father’s Will; Ž and having the faith in/of Jesus.

Next month I intend to share with you the Trinitarian perspective on Community.  Community is an essence of existence.  Without relationships we die.  Another biblical word for “relationship” is “conversation.”  Whenever “conversation” stops a relationship ceases.

The future of the church depends on whether we develop true community.  People can get by for a while on programs, skilled communication, serving survival needs, but unless it develops sense of belonging it will become stale, irrelevant, place of pretence, where sufferers suffer alone, generating conformity.  Chinese proverb says, “whom God want to destroy he sends forty years of success,” implying that often a temporary success, or survival satisfaction, blinds people from experiencing greater growth.

I invite you to make plans and fellowship with us March 6, 13, 20 as we journey through the experience of the first Apostolic Church in the book of Acts of the Holy Spirit.  On the pages of the Holy Scripture there is not only a record of past, but an invitation and a recipe for our own experience. The life of the Holy Spirit in us as individuals draws us closer together, belonging together, coming in unity.

We also want to know what you think, so on those Sabbaths special open ended questionnaires will enable you to communicate with our church leadership.  I personally want to enter into a deeper conversation with you, as we focus on becoming community.