DEVELOPING HEALTHY COMMUNITIES

“They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer,” Acts 2:42 . So much of the expression of faith is happening in homes right now. 

Breaking of bread and fellowship were mentioned in the midst of teaching and prayer. The word fellowship is “ Koinonia .” God is pleased with the sacrifice of fellowship! The power of connection is where they saw signs, wonders, and miracles. It wasn’t just a fun fellowship, but it was a sacrificial fellowship.

You remember some of what people tell you, more of what people show you, but you always remember how people made you feel. We are wired for connection!

Belonging and being known was the safety net for Bethel’s R&D culture . It was rooted in covenant connection, where people can fail and still be connected. We fought together, struggled together, prayed together, and out of all of that came a strong bond.

When I first came to Bethel the Lord told me, “I want to show the world what I can grow when fathers and mothers will make a covenant and stay together the rest of their lives.” Oftentimes, people try to duplicate the manifestation of what they see from the outside, without understanding the deep connection. It’s not that we haven’t had our struggles, that’s part of family, but through it all we’ve stayed connected. Love is the glue that holds us together.

I felt the Lord said, “You’ve been praying for patience, but if you pray for love you’ll have patience. Because love is patient.” Isn’t it amazing how we’re so much more patient with our children than strangers? There’s something about love that transcends every other emotion. There is something about connection that is supposed to transcend. 

The benefits of covenant are often missed and clouded by the Judas spirit. You are wired for connection! When I get out of the will of God I have more rules than when I’m following God. When we’re in community and connected we get courageous. Courage is birthed out of being connected. 

2 Peter 2:1 , “But false prophets also appeared among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves.”

A false teacher isn’t someone who got the context of a verse wrong, but someone trying to deceive people. When Apollos was missing some teaching, he was pulled aside and taught so he could continue teaching more accurately. In the early church, people didn’t always have it right, but they belonged. 

“Do not quench the Spirit, do not utterly reject prophecies, but examine everything; hold firmly to that which is good,” 1 Thessalonians 5:19-21 . It’s in connection that we learn and grow. I believe that this is a year of connection! God wants to reestablish covenant, the foundation that grew this movement. Fellowship is a sacrifice that goes beyond convenience. We can’t have the risk factor without the connection!

I believe 2021 is going to bring Spirit-led strategies that rock the world and begin the process of making crooked places straight, that sound wisdom and brilliance will be the story of the day, and that the church would emerge like Joseph out of prison, Daniel from the POW camp, and like Esther we’ll build covenant relationships with royalty. But I believe all of this is only going to happen if we’ll rebuild covenant. 

Shame is the fear of being disconnected . The enemy is trying to shame us into silence. I believe that there is a war over who will shape culture. It looks like a people war, but it has very little to do with people. We’re going to emerge like a caterpillar into a butterfly. We have emerged to a cultural war that is manifest in the visible world, but is raging in the spirit realm and is out to destroy humanity. What was meant to destroy us has actually awakened us with weapons of warfare. 

Scripture:

Acts 2:42-45, 1 Corinthians 13, Luke 6:27-33, Luke 7:24-25, Matthew 7:6, 2 Peter 2:1, Acts 18:24-26, Matthew 7:15-27, 1 Corinthians 14:29, 1 Thessalonians 5:19-21