Find Power in Community and Faith

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Transcript:

Hello, welcome to Walking in Step with God. I am Steve McDonald. Today we explore the topic “Find Power in Community and Faith” as the last segment of our series ‘Find Your Way to Faith’. In this series, we have explored the amazing journey that all of us have taken – a journey to find our way to God and live a life of faith. We have discussed the importance of learning about our true selves and the plans God has planted in us. We have learned that we can lean on our faith to help us endure the most challenging times of life. In our most recent message, we talked about the many ways we can live out our faith each day. As we wrap up the series, today I would like to discuss the importance of community in faith and how it can be a powerful force to bring light and love into the world.

Through community, we have the potential to change lives in our neighborhoods, our cities, and even across the world. A community of faith is a group of individuals who are like-minded in their beliefs and convictions. A group of individuals who are in alignment with bringing God’s light into the world and seeking His will.

Today, let’s explore ways we can truly make a difference in the world as a community of believers that know the importance of God and His will in our lives. 

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Welcome back. Let’s continue in our discussion of the power of community and faith. 

Encouragement and Growth

The first item I would like to discuss is the power a community of faith can have for encouragement and spiritual growth. A community of individuals, aligned in their faith, can support one another in ways that other communities and social circles could not. For example, members of a community of faith can actively pray for one another and request prayer from others in the group. It is such a powerful thing to know that when you are struggling or experiencing challenges in life, that your brothers and sisters in faith can provide you with encouragement, support, and lift you up in prayer. 

Besides the power of prayer in a community, there can be an atmosphere of accountability for one another. Living out our faith day-to-day can be difficult‌. The world’s ways are not God’s ways, and that can be challenging for anyone looking to live out a faith-focused and godly life. Thankfully, a community of believers can help to keep one another encouraged and accountable. A community can offer loving reminders through discussion and fellowship on remaining steadfast in one’s faith and trust in God despite how things may appear in the natural.

Impact and Outreach

Impact and outreach are two additional powerful forces within a unified faith community. All communities have the potential of impact and outreach, but a community of believers has resources that not all communities do. 

A faith community can affect the lives of others through collective prayer. A community that is united by faith can help many others on a larger scale to be introduced to God and introduced to the power that faith can have in their lives.

A faith community has unique and strong motivation to serve God and therefore, can ask God to direct their efforts, talents and resources to opportunities that only He is aware of. I have often talked about the genuine joy it brings me to know that God will order my steps to cross paths with someone who is in need, knowing I can help this individual. He will do the same with you in your life. Imagine the power of God sending an entire community to change the lives of many on a much larger scale. If a community asks God to order their steps, He most certainly will!

All communities have the potential for impact and outreach, but only communities of faith can use their faith to receive divine direction, instructions, and even resources to carry out God’s will upon the earth.

Grow His Kingdom

Perhaps the most important role a community of faith can have is to grow God’s kingdom. There is so much sin and evil in the world and so many who are lost. As I mentioned earlier, the world’s ways are not God’s ways and all of us at some point in our lives were caught up in the ways of the world. We didn’t know what we didn’t know until someone or something gave us the information that kicked off a process that led us to the life of faith we have today. We all had to learn about the importance of God and His will in our lives.

While each of us plays a role in serving God and helping others to know about God in the course of our day-to-day lives, a community of believers can do so much more. A faith community can organize, coordinate, and mobilize in ways that others cannot. As I mentioned in my previous point, a faith community can ask God for direction on how they can best serve Him, including ways to introduce Him to those who need Him most.

Wrap Up

In today’s message, we discussed the intersection of community and faith and the many unique opportunities that exist when the two come together. We learned of the importance a community of believers can have for one another. A faith community can pray for one another and help to keep each other encouraged and accountable. We discussed the opportunity a faith community can have for impact on the world and outreach. A community of believers can lean on their faith to ask God to bless and direct the works of their hands to carry out His will. This simple truth has powerful implications, as God is pleased to help us learn of ways that we can be a vessel for Him to help others in need. We also discussed the important role that a faith community has in growing God’s kingdom. All of us have lived a life in the world before we knew God. Most likely, someone revealed Him to us. While God can use you or me to introduce Him to someone in our social circles, He can do so much more with a faith community. A community of believers who actively seek His guidance for growing God’s kingdom is a powerful and united force.

We are not meant to live our life in solitude. God built us for community and companionship. While any of us can affect the lives of others and have an impact on the world, we can do so much more when we are part of a broader community of believers aligned with the same morals and convictions through faith.

Are you interested in discovering more about the guidance offered in this message? Learn more in the companion article Going Deeper with the Word: Find Power in Community and Faith