Alongside our current theme on Sundays – the 4 purposes of Ignite, we’ll have a blog each month reflecting briefly on the topic. First up is Community.  

Walking alongside other people of faith in community is one of the core purposes of Ignite. True community offers a sense of belonging. We believe every person is valued by God and has a role to play in His church. And so, we aim to love, support, encourage and care for one another in all aspects of life.   

Community is one of our strengths at Ignite, or certainly something people value highly when they come. So how can we go deeper, building one another up as followers of Jesus? One of the big questions for me is, how are we different to another social or sports club? What difference does Jesus make? 

Here is a snapshot of some of the things we talked about over the last month: 

Michael shared a jazz song with us to describe unity in Christ –  

“Jazz is a bit different from other music because every instrument plays something unique. The trumpet might play a fast, exciting sound, while the piano adds soft, beautiful notes. And the saxophone? Well, it might play something completely unexpected! 

Every musician plays something unique. Each to their own abilities and through their own creativity. Now this could easily turn into complete chaos. So, what holds it together? The bass line. The bass line is steady, keeping the rhythm, giving the music direction. 

In our community, it’s the same. Each of us brings something different—our talents, ideas, our creativity and energy and ways of helping others are all different from one another. And that is a great and beautiful thing. How awful would it be if we all thought the same, spoke the same, acted the same. 

But the trick is to be all listening to the same bass line. And do you know who holds the bassline? Jesus, He is most definitely a bass player! He holds us together, giving us rhythm and direction. 

Hebrews 12:2 says to keep ‘Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.’ 

Cheryl shared about creating caring connection with each other –  

“Within church the shared set of values and Christian world view fosters connection – deep connection. No one is there for selfish gain but everyone is equal before God and each person is striving to serve the others.  

Because of this, I believe that a Christian community goes a step further than any other community. There is a super natural element to it that takes that sense of belonging and caring connection beyond what humans are normally capable of.” 

“Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.” (1 Peter 4:8) 

Community of course is messy, because we are. It can be risky to come as ourselves into a group of people. We might fear rejection or be unsure how to connect. There is an element of vulnerability. But in some ways, for it to really work, we must all be willing to give of ourselves, according to our faith and our circumstances. In community, I believe God brings healing and transformation that goes beyond what we can imagine. It is something very special.   

What stood out to you this month? 

Theme photo by Carol Highsmith’s America on Unsplash