Most people who are either new to faith or are in the early stages of exploring Christianity believe that all they need is a personal connection with God to experience everything God desires for His human creation. While it’s impossible to experience the fullness of Christianity without a personal relationship with God through Jesus, there’s much more available to followers of God. The best way to discover God’s best for your life is by consistently connecting with other Christians through a local church.

This isn’t just my idea – you’ll find the same recommendation from Jesus and the various books in the New Testament. A church is a group of believers in Jesus who choose to gather together to worship God, care for each other, and live out their individual faith in relationship with others. The church was never designed to be a social gathering spot but is a place where Christians can grow deeper in their faith while accomplishing God's common purpose for that local fellowship.

While the formal idea of the church began with Jesus, the concept of shared faith finds its roots in the very first book of the Bible. God created Adam and Eve – and by extension, all of humanity – for relationship. The Bible emphasizes this in passages like Hebrews 10:24-25, which encourages believers to “consider one another in order to provoke love and good works, not neglecting to gather together”. That means we need to prioritize gathering together with other God-worshippers and encouraging each other to do what God values most.

So what happens when you and I join other Christians through a church? Here are seven core functions that must be present for a church to be considered in alignment with the teachings of the Bible.

1.  Shared faith. The core of Christian community is a common belief in Jesus Christ as both Savior (the only one who can rescue people from eternal separation from God) and Lord (the only one who can provide leadership for my life and for His church).
2. Worship. We join together to express our gratitude to God, we study His Word, we remember the sacrifice of Jesus through the ordinance of communion, and celebrate the salvation we have in Jesus through baptism.
3. Fellowship. In addition to gathering for worship experiences, Christians share their lives with each other. We share meals, volunteer together, and find activities that we can enjoy as friends. In a world where isolation and loneliness are the norm, Christian community offers a sense of belonging and purpose.
4. Support. Members of a church bear one another's burdens, offering emotional, spiritual, and sometimes material support in times of need.
5. Accountability. The church provides the best context for spiritual growth, where believers can challenge and encourage one another to live according to the teachings of the Bible.
6. Service. A group of committed and gifted people can accomplish much more than any individual. Biblical church members join together to perform acts of service as a way of putting their faith into action for the benefit of others.
7. Unity. Churches are often made up of people from diverse backgrounds with varied perspectives, but their common bond through Jesus allows them to strive for unity in both faith and practice.

On this side of the resurrection of Jesus, we find the ideal example of Christian community among the very first Christians, as described in Acts 2:42-47. Those followers of Jesus were devoted to the apostles' teaching, fellowship, breaking of bread, and prayer. They shared their possessions, met together consistently, and lived as witnesses of real life change among their unbelieving neighbors.

That’s the best outreach plan for any church, by the way. If your life has truly been changed by Jesus, people will notice. How much more will it capture people’s attention if a bunch of Christians whose lives have been transformed start living life together? That’s the result of people living in Christian community. Jesus promised this to be true in John 13:35, “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

So how can you and I live in Christian community when both the world and churches seem so different today than they were even a couple of decades ago? When you think about life together with other people through the church, don’t just picture potlucks and small group Bible studies, although those things are great. Instead, it’s something that's woven into the DNA of what it means to be in a relationship with Jesus.

The church is made up of people from all walks of life, coming together because they've been changed forever because of the grace of God. They're worshiping together, sharing their lives, carrying each other's burdens, and speaking truth into each other's lives, even when life doesn’t turn out the way any of us wants it to.

God didn't design you to live with Him all on your own. When the world looks at the church and sees people truly loving each other, serving each other, and striving to make the world a better place through the grace of God, that's when they see Jesus.

Is it complicated? Absolutely. Is it worth it? Every single time. Because that’s how God designed it to be, and His design is always better than your isolation.

Do you need to find a church home? Why not stop by Generations Church this Sunday morning at 10:30? Not sure what to expect? That's ok - here's everything you need to know!