Quotes About Community

When he arrived he thought their flaws were normal; their disagreements ordinary. They were pleased by the accomplishments of their neighbors and their mockery of the lazy and the loose was full of laughter. Or used to be. Now, it seemed, the glacial wariness they once confined to strangers more and more was directed toward each other.

She needed what most colored girls needed: a chorus of mamas, grandmamas, aunts, cousins, sisters, neighbors, Sunday school teachers, best girl friends, and what all to give her strength life demanded of her- and the humor with which to live it.

Church is not for spectators.

Too many of us are too comfortable in our "Jesus lifeboat." Instead of the church preparing its members to reach out to other people who are still in the water and pulling them into the boat, we have settled in for the ride to heaven and are busy coming up with ways to make the trip more comfortable. We go to church each week and worship God because we are saved and safe, forgetting that the lifeboat is not yet full.

God is a God of unity, and where there is disunity and division, His Spirit is not free to dwell.

But the true test of a church—and of a man—is not how good it looks, but the kind of impact it makes in the community.

Many men have come to view the church for its convenience—help me, bless me, serve me, preach to me, sing to me, pray for me, but don't expect me to be a vehicle to minister to anyone else or join with you to impact the world.

Churches must extend their influence beyond the lives of church members to impact the broader community that they serve.

El hombre que no está bajo el liderazgo y la guía de la iglesia local no está viviendo bajo el liderazgo de Cristo, porque la iglesia es el cuerpo y la plenitud de Cristo.

One of the things that we, as men, have often missed in the church in multiple ways is both experiencing and displaying God's power and blessings collectively. With

Fuimos creados para vivir juntos e incluso para orar juntos. Dios escucha nuestras oraciones colectivas.

The definition of unity is oneness of purpose, not sameness of being. Like a quilt with various colors and patterns that have been blended together into a harmonious whole, a church in unity celebrates each person's unique place in the divine design.

We've not been instructed to pray, "My Father which art in heaven." It is, "Our Father which art in heaven" (Matthew 6:9 KJV). You will experience more of God by connecting with His purposes through His people than you could ever experience on your own.

In God's kingdom, we receive life by giving it away.

many men have come to view the church as a task to be done rather than a community to be in.

Honor everyone. Lovea the brothers and sisters.b Fear God.c Honor the emperor.

God wants the church to be a community where real people in real relationships are meeting real needs in real ways. God did not create the church simply as a classroom where you get instruction or as a theater where you come to watch a performance.

Even though a man's involvement with the church is so critical, it seems that in most churches, men are not taking an active role in any men's ministry or in transferring a kingdom worldview. What

People buy pathetic substitutes for community—sound waves in a speaker, particles bombarding a screen—all pretending to be friends or the folks next door. The vacuum they leave when the screen goes dark, when the recording ends, is filled with a loneliness worse than ever before." "What's the answer?" "Flesh and blood touching flesh and blood. Life touching life. Yours, mine, everybody's.

Blessed are the generous, for they know their riches belong to others. Blessed

Anything you got to do with your own kind in secret, something's wrong with it. You feel bad about it inside.

Van Laar wasn't a climate change denier, nor did he talk defensively of the United States' appetite for oil. Rather, he confessed, "I don't give much of a fuck, and nobody I know does, either, because this industry is giving me a future, even if it's a short one and we're all about to toast together.

We've always lived in the past in Selma, and we still do. But the past has changed on us. It included a lot of stories it didn't used to.

The absence of trust is clearly inimical to a well-run society. The great Jane Jacobs noted as much with respect to the very practical business of urban life and the maintenance of cleanliness and civility on city streets. If we don't trust each other, our towns will look horrible and be nasty places to live. Moreover, she observed, you cannot institutionalize trust. Once corroded, it is virtually impossible to restore.