Friday, November 21, 2008

Belong, Grow, Serve


Have you noticed how everything promises “community”? In fact, everything is community. Facebook and MySpace are online communities. Starbucks is a community for coffee-lovers. Even Olive Garden promises a community that’s like family. Now I enjoy more than my share of technology, coffee and Italian food, but these don’t fill my need for community. So it makes you wonder—what is healthy community anyway? 

I landed my first job at The Pizza Mill when I was 15. We didn’t promise community, but we did make a mean pizza. There I learned the art of great pizza— bringing together three essential ingredients: crust, sauce, and cheese. Healthy community happens when three critical things come together. 

by Mark Schatzman
Teaching/Community Pastor
Fellowship Saturday Night

Healthy community is a place to belong.
Like the crust of a pizza, belonging is the starting point of all healthy community. Relationships hold a group together. We all want and need spiritual friends. And being in a small group is the best place to see spiritual friendships start and grow and deepen.

Healthy community is a place to grow.
Let’s be honest. Some of our small group experiences have been… well… bland. Like a pizza without sauce, something was missing. That something is spiritual growth. Spiritual transformation gives flavor to life. It’s that gives a small group its spice. Real, personal, transformational growth happens best (and maybe only) within a small community of believers.

Healthy community is a place to serve.
Without the cheese all you have is breadsticks. Don’t get me wrong. I mean no disrespect to breadsticks… but it’s not pizza. A small group that includes a missional, outward focus is a beautiful thing. It knows that community is bigger than “just us.” It sees the bigger story of what God is doing around them and how He wants to include them. Serving together brings significance and vibrancy to a small group.
 

Get connected to a small group this month.
Join a Community Group, a men’s Influencers Group or E-team, a women’s study, a CR Step group, etc. 

You can sign up for a Community Group online.
If you need help getting connected, contact 
Mark Schatzman (maschatzman@fellowshipnwa.org, 659.3693) or 
Matt Mooney (mamooney@fellowshipnwa.org, 878.2965).

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