Church is a community.

"As for Christian America and Christian Switzerland, one thing struck me most of all, and that was that in American Christendom the congregation is still a real thing. People do not just attend divine service and then go home again, as they do with us; they do not go just to listen to the minister, but also to be with one another. They ‘gather together’ for worship. Even in the big cities I visited, such as Chicago, Washington and Richmond, they knew, greeted, talked to one another. Going to church is not a mere private matter; it is a ‘social gathering’, as the Americans call it. This may have its dangers, but basically it is a good and gratifying thing; the Gospel binds people together."

Barth's definition describes how the church was created to live.  In the beginning, God created creation to be in community.  Community becomes the basis for which we live in community with God and also with one another.  Our lives are meant to be in community that we share our weekly struggles and pains.

The church is a community that is not individualistic in any way.  Church is where we gather together to lift up the name of God.  God is not someone that we hold on to and take Him away from church to carry with us.  Instead, it is exactly the opposite!  God lives with us when we also live in community with others.  When each of us share our lives with each other, we become closer in relation to one another as well as to God.

To explain this a bit further, I will use the example of Jesus' words that says "For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them" (Matt. 18:20).  Jesus invites the world to be in communion with him and also with each other in this gathering.  If Jesus is present with us when joining together for church, worship becomes even more of the focal point in church because we praise God for being in our midst.

All of this is to set up what we are created for.  Yet, how are each of us to live in a way that is communal?  If church is created for community, then how should the church act?  Here are several ways to practice:

1. Worship.  Worship is a part of singing and preaching that invites everyone into a relationship with God.  This worship is directed to the God who created all things and asks us to participate in that worship to Him.  Yet, this is not done alone.  We all have a part in worship that we sing with each other, we take communion with each other, and we listen to God's Word together.  Worship is about togetherness that makes the church a community.

2. Sunday School.  Teachers for Sunday school's usually descide whether they will have a Bible Study or a book study that is used as a devotional.  Sunday school is more of a pre-discussion or after discussion of the morning worship service.  This is helpful in getting others to think with one another about what it means to worship with each other.  Our thinking and discussion helps in understanding the God of the Bible as well as others thoughts on the passage.

3. Small Groups.  Small groups are important for sharing parts of each others lives.  This can even become a support group by praying for one another.  Moreover, small groups can then discuss biblical passages and how they can be practiced.  Small group should not focus on just either or, but both are important that makes each person open to the others, as well as inviting the Word of God into how to encourage and to send each other out to live how God calls us to live.