Belong: Introduction
Last year was a big year for Community Church. During 2023, we finalized our start-up team, landed on our name, started public outreach events, celebrated our first baptism, experienced a friend walking with Jesus, and launched public worship gatherings. God did a lot in our community last year, and we are so excited to see his plans unfold in 2024.
That’s why today we’re announcing our new theme for this year, “Belong.”
When we belong to something, that means become part of something. Especially in a big city like Berlin, everyone desires a place to belong.
We belong to friends and family. We belong to jobs and careers. We belong to sports teams and hobbies. We belong to cities and experiences. While all important, these things only temporarily fulfill our deep desire for belonging. Therefore, we invite you to explore how we might belong to God, bringing us full and complete satisfaction in him.
Our theme verse for 2024 comes from Ephesians 3:6, “And this is God’s plan: Both Gentiles and Jews who believe the Good News share equally in the riches inherited by God’s children. Both are part of the same body, and both enjoy the promise of blessings because they belong to Christ Jesus.” (NLT, emphasis added)
God desires that all people (Gentiles and Jews) would belong to Christ Jesus. The verse above teaches that belonging to Christ Jesus means believing in his good news. What is the good news?
The good news is that even though our sin (our hurt, pain, bad behavior, poor choices, etc) separate us from God, Jesus offers us another option. Christ Jesus, the Son of God, came to this earth to remove our sin so we could belong to God.
All of the sin that belong to us, Jesus took upon himself. He became our pain, bad behavior, hurt, and wrong actions on the cross. In doing so, Jesus separated himself from God for our sake. He stood in our place, so that we could stand in his.
That means that when we turn away from sin and turn to Jesus, we belong to God. When we belong to God, we find meaning and purpose far greater than we can create on our own. When we belong to God, he teaches us how to properly relate to others in love. When we belong to God, he shows us how to belong positively to our work and studies. When we belong to God, he grows us to be positive influences in our city.
Belonging to God through Christ Jesus gives is good news for people like you and me. It means that we have a home in Jesus, a faith that sustain us in life, and a community that supports us as we journey together.
Do you belong to God?
Join us this Sunday for our Worship Gathering at GLS Sprachenzentrum. There we will kick off our new series for 2024 as we celebrate together.
