RESTORE: A New Community

June of 1999, my wife, sister-in-law and I were traveling through Southern Colorado on our way back from a family reunion. We stopped at a gas station to fill-up and go to the restroom. I went to the restroom, came out, paid for the gasoline and went back out to the car to find my wife and sister-in-law laughing. Long story short, my sister-in-law had misread the bathroom sign and used the men's restroom. On top of that, she was in there when I was using the restroom. This continues to be a story that we laugh about.

The journey that was taken was filled with good memories. I could continue to write about moments I've had with people - some resulting in a lot of laughs, some resulting in laughs afterwards.

One continual journey is parenting. I enjoy seeing my kids learn life. I enjoy having those teachable moments come about and then seeing things "sink in." I have had my moments of learning, as well. The journey brings about a newness of knowledge and application.

As the Christian goes from conversion to heaven, there is a journey. This journey is to get as many people join in with this new life as possible. All those people who join in to create a new community. A community that presents a bigger, new life. With all that said, here are some applications to choose from to use this week...

• Need for Togetherness ~ God, when setting up mankind, said "it was not good for man to be alone." We are created to be together with others. Sometimes that pertains to marriage and other times it means that we work better in life being with others. Being all by yourself presents several negative things, but we need to think about being with people as we go through life. The church that Jesus set up creates a great environment for togetherness. Let's get some more to come along with us in this eternal life journey.
• Exciting Times ~ Excitement is attractive. When you're excited others will be excited. Though the church community is not as new as the church in Acts 2, you can choose to get excited and promote the excitement to others. Then they will get excited, then others will get excited and the snowball continues. Get excited! Be excited!
• Being Sent Out ~ As Jesus sent out a group of individuals ahead of Him, we, too, are sent out. We are being sent and He, in a sense, follows up as we plant-and-water, plant-and-water. This is very exciting for me to think that God is following behind when I am planting-and-watering. As a Christian, you are being sent out - enjoy the privilege.

To go from rundown to restored is a journey. The journey is part of the joy. This all brings about a new community of those who are restored. I enjoy joining in with God in the effort to bring others along in this journey, adding to the new community.

Now it's your turn...how have you been impacted positively in the new community?