Live in Biblical Community
Isaiah 56:1-9: Romans 12:9-13
Rick Thompson

1. The Bible teaches that we were created for three purposes: to center our lives around God and His glory; to live in loving community with one another; and to care for His created world.

2. The result of our sinful rebellion is that we tend toward self absorption and seek our own glory, leading to our ruin and blown-up relationships.

3. But God would not leave us in this situation and so through Abraham and Moses, He established a new covenant and a new community and through the prophets pointed us to a greater intervention in which He would bring about a new order of things and our ultimate redemption.

4. All of history is, therefore, moving toward a glorious future in which we will be brought together in perfect community for all of eternity.

5. The purpose of our salvation, therefore, is to put us into a new community.

6. It is not enough for us just to come to a church building once a week, God wants us in community to live out His eternal purposes WITH one another.

7. Our sin is what isolates us and destroys us, but Christ has come and taken our sin and isolation onto Himself so that we can be brought in.