Series: Followers of Jesus
Message: In the Community
Preacher: Jessyka Dooley
Reflection: Jessyka Dooley
Live Wonder: Zan Long
Live Adventure: Zan Long
Live Purpose: Kyle Smith
Editor: Becky De Oliveira

Refresh: Begin with prayer. Ask for the Holy Spirit to open your heart to new understanding and for God’s character to be revealed.

Read: Romans 16:1-16 in the New International Version (NIV). Note 1–3 insights or questions. 

Reflect: “Teamwork makes the dream work.” “It takes a village.” “The more the merrier.” “We are the body of Christ.”

Those sweet clichés all sound really great. They sound great. They don’t always play out great. Whenever you get a group of people together for enough time, there is bound to be drama. The entertainment world has caught on to this and reality TV show after reality TV show debuts, showcasing the worst of human nature. There is always a risk when you bring people together, but there can also be a great reward.

Community is not always cliché. Community is not always clean. Community means compromise. Community means chaos. Community means care. Paul has highlighted many different groups coming together as followers of Jesus. Male and female. Jew and Gentile. Free and slave. The older generation and the younger generation. Even those with differences in opinions on food and worship. All to make one big community of Christians. Is that even possible?

I believe the letter to the Romans suggests it is possible. It is possible to bring people, no matter how different they might be, together in the name of Jesus.

Let’s make this a bit more practical. Say your family had the opportunity to build a house from the ground up, to make all the decisions about what it looks like and how it is built. Everyone agrees on the style of the house, how many bedrooms there will be, what the kitchen layout will be like, etc. But there are some things that cause disagreement: the paint color in the bathrooms, the style of door knobs, and whether or not you need a screen door.

Now, would you throw up your hands and just decide not to build the house at all? Of course not! What a wasted opportunity that would be. There are some things that are foundational to having a house everyone enjoys, and some things that could go one of several ways. Being a healthy church means focusing on the most important things: the foundation, the structure, the layout of the house. We become unhealthy when we focus on (and fight over) frivolous things: paint colors, light fixtures, and carpet. What good would the house be if it had a weak foundation because all anyone cared about was furnishing the house in the style they liked best?

When it comes to following Jesus together, we need to set our eyes on the important things, on the foundation. We say, sing, and savor the words that Christ is the cornerstone, but do we practice this belief when it comes to living in a community of followers of Jesus?

Recalibrate: What sets church teamwork apart from any other kind of teamwork?

Respond: Pray that you will be focused on Jesus and Jesus alone today. Any request, praise, or struggle that you face, bring it back to Him.

Research: Watch this video of Hurricane Harvey relief in Texas.

Remember: “Let me introduce to you our sister Phoebe. She is a deacon in the church at Cenchreae. I want you to welcome her in the Lord, as is proper for one of God’s people” (Romans 16:1-2, KNT).

Jessyka Dooley has served Boulder Adventist Church since 2015 when she first arrived as a pastoral intern. After returning to Union College in Lincoln, Nebraska, where she finished her degree, Jessyka returned as a full-time associate pastor in May of 2016. She grew up in Washington State and is a graduate of Auburn Adventist Academy. Jessyka is a dual citizen of the United States and Switzerland. She married Kiefer Dooley in October of 2018.

With your little one, draw around their hands on a piece of paper the size of a postcard. Help them color the page in. Think about someone who has helped you out recently or you have seen helping others. Write them a message on the back of the card thanking them for being so helpful. With your child, post or hand deliver your message. You can also take a photo and email or text your thank you message.

On Tuesday, we made a list of all the people we see helping each other. Today, make a card or send a message to someone you know is great helper. Let them know you have seen what they do and how they do it and tell them you are thanking them for being awesome!

Are you an encourager? It is so easy to be critical of people and things in life, especially in church! I lead a team of about 40 people for our Friday night worship service at my church. I have come to realize this: the more I encourage my team, the harder and more efficiently they work. I want you to try for the next 24 hours to encourage as many people as you can. You will notice people will begin to open up and work harder and go out of their way for you in ways unimaginable. But here is the thing—this isn’t just a gimmick to make people do more things for you. As you encourage others, you will see their hearts and you will start to want to serve them more! That is healthy leadership, a constant flow of giving and receiving—and giving again.