Better put it in quotations

Lately I have been thinking of what people have been saying about my generation, about the 20 somethings. Let me tell you friends, the opinion of society on our age group, is not a good one. They say we are confused, lost, a generation of lazy wannabe rockstars and artists with no voice.

Nothing infuriates me more than lack of expectation in something great.
I believe our generation has the potential to be great.
I believe we have a voice.

We are the generation with the most information at our finger tips and 545486751546542 ways to get our voice out there, so what are we saying? What movement are we creating.

In my little corner of the internet, in my spaceless void of HTML I am using my voice, and proclaiming what I believe boldly. That is what I am saying, and if we are a genration that needs to say something within our social networks, blogs, and wikis, then let the name of King Jesus be there in bold print.

After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.
Acts 4:31

We, as the underapriciated 20 somethings need to put our lovely artistic voice to good use no matter what the critics say.

"Even if your hands are shaking
And your faith is broken
Even as your eyes are closing
Do it with a heart wide open"

Don't do life alone... well, why?

At Potential Church we always say "Don't do life alone".

Why is this such an important element to our church? Why is it important for me to have other people involved with my walk? Why is the aspect of community so important?

I was looking for answers to these questions while working on some stuff for a series at Potential Church's College Ministry, Elevate.
I found that community started at the beginning of our lives. The number one purpose for community began as soon as we were born.

The Bible says that we were all born with a gift.
1 Corinthians 12 says; 7 Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. 8 To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, 10 to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues,and to still another the interpretation of tongues. 11 All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines.

We were all born with a gift to use for the Kingdom and according to Ephesians 4 God created all of us to "Prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up."
Other versions say; "to equip the Saints for the work of the ministry."
We we given gifts to further Christs ministry. The final command to us while he was on this earth was to go forth into the nations ans teach and baptise.
Ministry is not something that can be done alone. And those who think otherwise will soon see the error in that thought.
What happens to a church if you have only a person whose gift is teaching? Who would listen?
What happens to a church if you have only a person whose gift is hospitality? Who would teach?
Christ has designated leaders among us, but who would they lead if they didn't have community?
We all come together to form the body of Christ. The beautiful body of Christ.
This is the first reason we have community; to further the ministry, to make the body function the way it should.

Later in Ephesians 4, Paul talks about what we can do for each other.

He says; to mature manhood,to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ,
14so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. 15Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

This says that we help each other grow. We can challenge each other, be accountable to one another. We can actually assist in the life change of our friends. Through community we are given the blessing of being a tool used by Christ with our gift to reach one another.

We can protect each other in Community by truth telling and prayer. A friend is not someone who just has your back and will support you no matter what. A true friend is one that will tell you when you are walking into a brick wall.

Finally, we can love each other. In a Community of believers we should love, honor, encourage, and respect each other.

The second reason for Community is to have healthy and worthwhile relationships that are not of this world.