Walk Together: Flourishing in Community

“We are members of a body, not only when we choose to be, but in our whole existence. Every member serves the whole body, either to its health or to its detriment.” –Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together

Reading: John 13:1-35 NLT

Matthew 12:25 NLT
But Jesus knew their thoughts, and said to them: “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand.

Jesus’ Community

• Those he with.
• Those he with when.
• Those He with.
• His closest .
• His .

1. Community isn’t meant to be unity of but of .

Proverbs 27:17 NLT
As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend.

2. We are meant to share with our community

Galatians 6:1-2 NLT
Dear brothers and sisters, if another believer is overcome by some sin, you who are godly should gently and humbly help that person back onto the right path. And be careful not to fall into the same temptation yourself. 2 Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ.

3. The fabric of community is meant to be .

John 13:1b NLT
He had loved his disciples during his ministry on earth, and now he loved them to the very end.

John 13:7 NLT
Jesus replied, “You don’t understand now what I am doing, but someday you will.”

John 13:14-15 NLT
And since I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other’s feet. ¹⁵ I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you.

John 13:34 NLT
So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. 35 Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”

“The more genuine and the deeper our community becomes, the more will everything else between us recede, and the more clearly and purely will Jesus Christ and his work become the one and only thing that is vital between us.” –Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together

Hebrews 10:23-25 NLT
Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise. ²⁴ Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. ²⁵ And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.

Answer Key: gathered; stayed; traveled; three; one; thought, heart; life, love