What The Bible Says About The Church: Rediscovering Community

Overview There are so many images that come to mind when one hears the phrase "The Church." For others, it is an image of worship services and sermons. As one reads the New Testament, a different picture rises to the surface. It is a picture of community that cares, serves, loves, worships, corrects and encourages one another. Community is at the heart of the Bible's image of the Church, and it was demonstrated from the very beginning by Jesus. As Overdorf writes: "One cannot read of Jesus' relationship with His disciples without recognizing the power of community. This ragamuffin twelve talked with Jesus during their long walks from village to village, asking questions and probing the wisdom of the great I AM. They sat at His feet around the evening campfires, drinking in story after story drawn from the annals of God's history. They stood beside Jesus, intrigued, while He taught the crowds. They watched while He stretched His hand to heal the leper, to comfort the grieving, and to br