Showcase: Assorted Treats

  • My Soul Cries Out in Worship +

    Over the past ten years, Vicki Yohe has written some of the most popular songs sung in churches. This song Read More
  • Worship Matters: A blog by Bob Kauflin +

    Worship Matters is a blog by Bob Kauflin. Good, inspired food for one's soul. http://www.worshipmatters.com/ Read More
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lorienmagnusCommunity.  It's a buzz word right now, especially among the 20- and 30-somethings. What does it mean in our walk with the Lord?  How can we truly live out the sort of community described to us in Acts?

My husband and I recently joined a church in the heart of Atlanta.  We moved several months ago, and were grieving the loss of the community that we had had in our college town of Athens, Georgia. Feeling the effects of being cut off from the people who had become like family, we were desperately trying to find that at our new location. The sermon we heard the morning that we visited our new church could not have been more fitting, and for that matter, more encouraging.

The pastor began his sermon with the word Oikos, the Greek word for family.  He went on to explain that our communities, specifically church communities, should be ones that mirror thisOikos, acting like an extended family.  To be surrounded by people who support you, pray for you, hold you accountable, help you further your ministry. People to be on a mission for Jesus with you.  Oikos is having a group to support each other's individual missions and callings, to offer strength and be the body of Christ.

I tend live in the opposite of this Oikos. As an independent person, I often try to do things on my own.  Isn't that what our culture tells us? We need to be completely autonomous, pulling ourselves up by our bootstraps, do whatever it takes to look out for #1.  But that's not what God tells us.

We see the plan for intimacy and community reflected in the trinity.  We were created to be in relationship with others, to advocate for one another, pray together, and love together.  For it is together that we are the full body of Christ.  Maybe that is why Paul felt the need to remind us in 1 Corinthians 12:15-20,

"Now if the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be?  As it is, there are many parts, but one body."

I know sometimes, I need this reminder.

Lorien Magnus is a second year Marriage and Family Therapy student at Richmont Graduate University in Atlanta, Ga. She is also a graduate and editorial assistant for Conversations Journal.  She loves learning about integrating her faith into her future psychological pursuits as well as doing relational ministry. She and her husband now reside in Atlanta, Ga.

Reflections to Consider

  • Warfare Spirituality

    The Trinity function as farmers of our souls, actively caring for God’s creation: an ongoing, radical reclamation of His creation. Read More
  • Corporate Spirituality

    Encouragement, Accountability, and Worship Solitude, community and ministry are three areas requiring balance and integration in the Christian walk. The Read More
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Publications

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Music

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Audio & Video

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Favorites

  • Praise Adonai by Paul Baloche +

    Who is like Him The Lion and the Lamb Seated on the throne Mountains bow down Every ocean roars To the Lord of hosts  Read More
  • An Interview with Paul Washer by Tim Challies +

    You probably know Paul Washer as the man who preached the infamous "Shocking Youth Message," a sermon that has tallied Read More
  • Glorious by Paul Baloche +

    Look inside the mysterySee the empty crossSee the risen SaviorVictorious and strong Read More
  • Paul's Prayers +

    How do we pray? What should we pray for? Yes, there is the Lord's prayer--Jesus teaching his disciples, and us, Read More
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Hidden Blessings

  • Joy Will Find A Way: Bruce Cockburn +

    Bruce Cockburn’s song Joy Will Find A Way describes the way joy from love can transform one’s life. make me Read More
  • Shepherd's Joy by Luther Jackson Middle School Advanced Chorus +

    Read More
  • Joy to the World! by Surfjan Stevens +

    Joy to the World , the Lord is come!Let earth receive her King;Let every heart prepare Him room,And Heaven and nature Read More
  • The joy of the Lord is my strength by Douglas Miller +

    The joy of the LORD is my strengthThe joy of the LORD is my strengthThe joy of the LORD is Read More
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