Made Together: God in Community

By Sydney Gautier

“Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.’ So God created man in his image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” (Genesis 1:26-27) 

When we gather in community, we declare who God is.

Most of the time when I think about gathering together in community, I think about getting to spend time with people I enjoy being around. I look forward to seeing my friends at church on Sunday and community group during the week. I love grabbing coffee with people I don’t get to see often and catching up with family during the holidays. This isn’t a bad thing, but it’s not the main reason for community either. God exists in community. He exists as the Father, Son and Holy Spirit—three in one, all individual but always together in community with one another. That means that, when we gather together in community with one another, we are declaring who God is.

We are wired to be part of community.

As God was creating the universe, we see him saying over and over in Genesis, “it is good.” But then, Jonathan pointed out in chapter 2 verse 18 of Genesis it says, “The Lord God said, ‘it is not good for man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.’ Up until this point, “it was good,” but since we are created in God’s image, and God exists together as the trinity, we are wired to exist in community. God gave Adam a helper, Eve, so that he would not be alone. 

Community is our aspiration.

At New Circle, we say that community is our aspiration. Jonathan reminded us that this isn’t just because we like hanging out with each other. By being in community, we are declaring who God is and embracing who He has wired us to be. However, when we try to isolate ourselves, we push against who God made us to be. Jonathan said, “Coming together as a family is critical for our spiritual growth and an opportunity to declare God to a world that needs him.” He gave us three ways to do this: to think about gathering differently, to embrace family as our identity, and to rejoice in the Gospel that brings us together. 

“God exists in an eternal relationship with the Godhead of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. As a relational being, He creates us as relational beings to represent Him to all of Creation.” (Brad House)