What is The Overflow?: Part 4

COMMUNITY: Living life alone is too hard
Genesis 2:18; John 13:34-35; Acts 2:42-47; Romans 12:4-8; Romans 12:10; Romans 12:16; Romans 14:13; Romans 15:7; 1 Corinthians 12; Galatians 5:13; Galatians 6:1-5; Ephesians 4; Ephesians 5:19; Ephesians 5:21; Colossians 3:13; Colossians 3:16; 1 Thessalonians 5:11; Hebrews 3:13; Hebrews 10:24-25; 1 Peter 1:22; 1 Peter 3:8; 1 Peter 4:9

Most of us don't enjoy admitting that we can't do things on our own. Kaden is going through a stage right now where he prefers to feed himself most of the time. As a result, he ends up making a mess. Food is in the floor and all over his face, but I guess he still manages to get some food in his mouth. Watching him make his attempts to figure this out brought me to this conclusion... Sometimes we need to grow up and do things on our own, but there will always be situations where the help of someone else is essential to us moving forward in life!

The Overflow wants to see each person reach their maximum potential in Christ. Just like Jennifer and I want to see Kaden grow up and feed himself, somethings such as our personal walk with God take time, patience, and persistence. There are occasions in our walk with God where we need to take initiative. We need to learn how to do certain things on our own, and as a church, we want to help people discover how to live in a relationship with God and be content. After all, He is the ONLY one who will always be 100% dependable.

Then, on the other hand, we fully believe God intends for us to grow in our relationship with Him alongside other people who are seeking to do the same. Life is too hard to live alone. These are God's words, not mine! We need to learn how to depend on each other and share life together. We need to realize that none of us are perfect, but when we learn to support each other, God can do some amazing things through the church.

In order for community to take actually take place, each of us have to let our guard down. First, we let our personal guard down. We have to realize that no matter how "good" we may think we are, the Bible says we are all sinners. The holier than thou attitudes of many Christians have distorted the true calling of the church. Second, we have to be willing to share life with others. This can be scary because we automatically assume people will think less of us when we share our faults and struggles, and honestly, in some churches, I wouldn't be comfortable sharing my shortcomings and struggles. However, our hope as The Overflow Church is that we can be a movement of people who are authentic, loving, and willing to give honor towards each other as we live in community!

This core value will be most commonly expressed through our Overflow Groups, which will launch in early April. Follow this link to read about our groups: http://theoverflowknox.com/groups.html