Quotes About Community

Eriti olulist rolli mängisid vanemad inimesed. Lapsi kasvatasid tavaliselt vanavanemad, kuna arvati, et vanematel oli igapäevaelus niigi palju tegemist ning neil polnud piisavalt elutarkust, mida lastele edasi anda. Vanemad inimesed olid ja on hoolitsuse ja moraalse toe pakkujad ning jutuvestjatena on nad hõimu mütoloogilise ja vaimse pärandi edasikandjad. Kogukonna pühade traditsioonide edasikandmise eest vastutavad eelkõige nemad.

No religion wants us. We're going to have to invent our own.

We have created our own aesthetic!" "You mean our own Ghetto.

There is no such thing as the State And no one exists alone; Hunger allows no choice To the citizen or the police; We must love one another or die.

Who are these people, I don't want to be like these people, I don't want to be like anybody in Mt. Rainier, Maryland, ever, ever, ever. Imagine complaining about the price of food and getting up at 6:30 every morning to go to work.

It is a very peculiar feeling having to go out and seek support from the straight world for something gay.

NED: Nobody ever listens. We're not exactly a bunch that knows how to play follow the leader. EMMA: Maybe they're just waiting for somebody to lead them. NED: We are. What group isn't?

The litmus test used to discern if a house church is healthy is simple: The believers in a healthy house church focus on loving Jesus, loving each other, reaching those who don't know Jesus and respecting the rest of the Body of Christ.

The strong women told the faggots that the more you share, the less you need.

The ultimate goal of a sermon-based small group is simply to velcro people to the two things they will need most when faced with a need-to-know or need-to-grow situation: the Bible and other Christians.

Unfortunately, for most of us, when we think of having overzealous faith and being a jerk for Jesus, we picture someone with bad breath, bad theology, and no people skills. So it never dawns on us that we could be included.

The first question I ask is, "Who are you trying to reach?" By that I mean, "Specifically who do you imagine being in your small groups? Who is likely to opt out? Who are you willing to leave out?

That explains why those who join a group in which half or more of the members come from a previously existing group so often complain that the group is a bit cliquish and hard to break into. In most cases the problem isn't cliquishness. It's a differing set of relational needs, expectations, and capacities.

The final question to ask before launching a new or revamped small group ministry is, "Who already does what we want to do well—and does it in a church we would go to if we lived in the area?

This can be very confusing and frustrating for people who are new to a community or church. The acts of friendship send one message, but the lack of connection sends another. It's why so many people complain about churches being cliquish.

We ask everyone to use sentence prayers (one person praying for just one item at a time). This shuts down the long-winded dominator and enables those who are new or more introverted to pray out loud much more easily. Of course, if someone doesn't want to pray, they don't have to.

High-powered front-door programs can have the unintended consequence of sending a message that some weekends and programs are for bringing guests—and the rest aren't.

Since longtime members who switch services don't like to be asked if they're visiting (try it; you'll enjoy the dirty looks), most of us learn to treat anyone we don't recognize as a regular we haven't met or someone whose face we can't remember.

The primary reason to be in a small group setting is not to learn more biblical information.

That's where those of us who choose to treat Christianity as a team sport have a special advantage. Even when we don't have a clue what, if anything, the Bible says about a particular situation, we invariably know someone who does—or someone who at least knows someone who does.

But in the midst of my research, I came across a series of studies that indicated that the amount of time a group spends together correlates directly to the level of personal appreciation for one another and overall sense of group cohesiveness. In other words, it's not what people do in a group that matters as much as simply staying together for the long haul.

In no particular order (since vital signs are all equally vital), the five areas we monitor are: •Word • Worship • Witness • Warmth • Works

The only exception I've found to this principle is in the recovery movement, where small groups seem to be an effective evangelistic side door into the church all across the nation. I think it's because, having hit bottom, these folks have an openness to try anything, including a small group. The concerns that give pause to the average American are overcome by their desperation and desire for sobriety. And once they find sobriety, they often end up finding the Lord as well.

We're supposed to weep with those who weep. We're not supposed to smother them with banal truisms, out-of-context Bible verses, shallow advice, and links to our favorite podcasts.3 The