Have you ever seen what someone else had and thought: I want that? Perhaps you have walked into a restaurant and saw what someone else was eating and all of the sudden thought: I want that. You could have just bought a new whatever and then you see a truck pull in your neighbors driveway. They got a new one too and you thought: I want that. Maybe you have seen it with kids. Our kids can be playing and one of them will bring out a toy we have not even seen in six months because it has been buried in the bottom of the toy box. All of the sudden when one of them pulls it out the other one is saying: I want that. What is that? There is something in us, that when we see what someone else has all of the sudden we want that.

The church should function like that. When the world sees what we have (Jesus) they should say: I want that. However, the church has become lame. It is more of a routine than a revolution. The early church was different. Success was not measured by attendance. It was more than a one hour routine. It was not about a bunch of people singing some good music and hearing a good talk from one guy. The early church was different it was a revolution that turned their world upside down. What did they have? COMMUNITY. By Community I simply mean being connected in relationship. Connected in relationship first with Jesus Christ then with each other. You can hear more about this by listening to the message from today: I want that!

Today we continued our series called: CORE talking about our Core Values at Southbridge. Today we talked about community. During the message I read some quotes people have given us about their community group experiences at Southbridge. Here are some:

“My community group mirrors the community that is found in Acts. We have loved together, shared, supported each other with finances, morally we are unafraid to confront, we are open to each other and others, we’ve fought. They are as close to me as family, and sometimes even closer. Pretty much anytime I am not at work or at church, I am with them or on the phone with one of them.” 

“Through my group, God has helped me to come to the point of trusting people again.” 

“Our group has divided twice so that others could begin to lead and share community with more people. We have seen marked growth – more people reading their Bible consistently and opening up about their struggles.” 

“…I have received unconditional love and acceptance. Life change has been huge in our group and I look forward to attending.” 

“Being the oldest in our group, it’s been refreshing to be able to both learn from the youngin’s and share life lessons from God with them.” 

“The story that comes to mind is when my husband and I were going through a tough time with our families…Our CG was so supportive, and they came over during a week night after the kids went to bed and we had a prayer session. We felt so blessed and could feel the power of prayer from them. It was awesome to know that we have such a close group that they would drop everything to be there for us.”

“My community group went to see the movie “Fireproof” as a group outing, and my mom happened to be in town so she came along and was very welcomed. She accepted Christ as her Savior the next day!”