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| The Tangible Kingdom Primer |
Incarnational Community:
a group of people
with the posture, tone, motives, and
heart of Jesus;
those who physically represent
Him in a particular location
As Emmaus City Church steps into Spring 2025 with a focus on prayer, holiness, courage, and faith (i.e. good risk and trust), we're revisiting a map for a 2-month journey that helped shape us for our first decade as the first congregation of missional communities (MCs) in Worcester, Massachusetts.
The Tangible Kingdom Primer: An Eight-Week Guide to Incarnational Community helped our first City Group (MC) lean into apprenticeship with Jesus together. And the memories, lessons, and formative experiences have continued to shape people among Emmaus City in fruitful ways to this day. You can read more here:
TKP: Apprenticeship in Jesus' Way
TKP: Apprenticeship in Jesus' Way
While one brief post can never replace what day-by-day meditations, practices, steps of faith, and reflections provide, this adapted excerpt from Week 4 (Tuesday, March 25 — Monday, March 31, 2025) of The TK Primer is provided as a review of content to come back to and to provide food for thought for when City Groups connect for our Sabbath gathering on the 5th day (Saturday, March 29 in this case).
What Is Community?
Day 1: Exploration
When we think of community, a number of words come to mind: unified, joint, participate, love, common, cooperate, connect, sharing ... "Community" is a word with many meanings and contexts.
Community is
an ideal,
a hope, and
a hope, and
a need.
Community
cannot be created in isolation,
nor does it happen without action.
It requires people to navigate
the tensions of interpersonal relationships.
cannot be created in isolation,
nor does it happen without action.
It requires people to navigate
the tensions of interpersonal relationships.
Creating community doesn't come easily,
but when it happens,
the rewards are worth the effort.
Examples of Discovering Community:
People intentionally moving to other parts
of the city to be closer to those
in their community.
Communities going through
the good pain of sending out
close friends to start another community
simply because they wanted
to bring mission to 2 or 3 sojourners.
When a member
was having financial problems,
the whole community taking money
out of their wallets on the spot
to help her with her car payment.
Communities growing deeper
through hard discussions,
confrontations, and
interpersonal challenges.
Key Exploration Question
What are your biggest hopes and fears as you think about the potential of being involved in a Christian community?
Day 2: Meditation
Community is talked about all through scripture. Whether it's Abraham and Sarah's huge family, King David's band of misfits and mighty men, Paul's reference to the women and men in each town at the end of his letters, or the passages where Jesus is together with the disciples (ex. Peter, James, John, Mary, Martha, Lazarus), the context in many scriptures includes a deep sense of community.
Christian community is unique
in that it must be based on
three primary themes:
(1)
personal devotion to Jesus,
(2)
the common call or
mission of the Gospel
(3)
the inclusion of all people,
especially those who don't fit in
Key Meditation Questions
What would you need to change to incorporate more opportunities for intentional, Gospel-centered community to take place in your life? In your heart? With your time? With your possessions?
Day 3: Change
In Acts 2 and 5 we see that the Christian community "found favor with all the people" and that they were held in high regard by all who watched their lives together. So often we think that the conversion process is dependent upon our individual witness, but the scriptures are clear ... it was about them together.
For the local church in Thessalonica, people heard about their joy, their faith, and how they collectively turned from idols to serve the living God. Paul tells them that their common story actually "echoed" throughout the entire region. Likewise, Paul reminded the Corinthian communities that God "always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of Him. For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved ... " (2 Corinthians 2:14-15).
Their common struggle was evident to all:
They shared their food,
their homes, and
spontaneous life experiences together.
Because of their common commitment
to prioritize God's mission to the world,
they were
determined,
consistent,
hospitable, and
gave priority to the community
over their individual needs.
Here's rub ...
we all live out of individualistic values
instead of communal values.
We protect our time,
prioritize our agendas.
We deal with our struggles in isolation
and get sucked into a pace of life
which leaves no time for
spontaneous or intentional community.
Key Change Consideration
Write a prayer expressing your frustrations, struggles, feelings, and hopes about community.
Day 4: Action
A key component of community is hospitality. One of the definitions of hospitality is to show friendship to a visitor. The idea of "brotherly love" as described in the New Testament "to love outsiders as if they were our own brothers or sisters."
Day 5: Community
Talk about what each person thinks is the most important aspects of community.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer said:
"He who loves his dream of a community
more than the Christian community itself
becomes a destroyer of the latter,
even though his personal intentions
may be ever so honest and earnest
and sacrificial."
Group Discussion:
Which community ingredients are you most drawn to?
Day 6: Calibration
One of the major barriers that prevents us from moving into community is individualism. Our culture glorifies the pioneer, the lone hero, and the overachiever, but in reality this individualism tends to work against community by prioritizing things done in isolation over things done with others.
Key Calibration Questions
List some of the things that contribute to individualism in your life. At work? At home? With your time? With your faith?
Day 7: ReCreate
Rest and consider:
We never have to earn our adoption;
it is a gift from God
to be a part of the family of God.
Next Post
TKP Wk 5: Living Out
Come, Lord, stir us up and call us back.
Kindle and seize us.
Be our fire and our sweetness.
Let us love. Let us run ...
Let us sing a new song,
Not with our lips but with our lives.
+ North African St. Augustine
May God's Kingdom come, His will be done.
Que le Royaume de Dieu vienne,
que sa volonté soit faite.
愿神的国降临，愿神的旨意成就。
Nguyện xin Nước Chúa đến, ý Ngài được nên.
Jesús nuestra Rey, venga Tu reino!
🙏💗🍞🍷👑🌅🌇
Rev. Mike "Sully" Sullivan
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