Identifying marks: community church

We are relational beings made in the image of God who is also relational by very nature. He is more than a Unity. He is also a Trinity of persons in which Father, Son and Holy Spirit share in eternal community of love, joy and fellowship. And we are invited to share in that community.
Community is a deeply-rooted part of our nature physically, socially, emotionally and spiritually. God designed us that way and we all have a longing to belong. If we do not find community even at the simplest social levels we continue in our state of intense loneliness. We need each other for our total well-being. When we do find real community our lives are enriched and our need for fellowship is fulfilled.
The church is called into being by God to accomplish his primary purposes on the earth. Providing community is one of the most important purposes of the church. Only those who are rightly-related to God and in close-relationship with each other can experience the true community God created us for. This is because there is no higher purpose on earth than to bring God glory through genuine love for God and for one another.
This experience of authentic community is one of the most basic qualities of a healthily functioning church. The earliest Christians understood that to follow Christ also meant to make the church, the Christian community, the centre of their lives socially as well as the source of their spiritual health.
This is often forgotten today with the current trend towards mere Sunday Christianity. Only as we live together, work together, share faith together and serve together can we express who we truly are in Christ. The watching world is waiting to see true community. We claim the Fatherhood of God and they instinctively know that this must lead to the Brotherhood of Man. The quality of our corporate and community life must be visible to the world 24/7. That is the only way we can truly represent him to the world.