This For That: The Community of Christ

Community was by God from the very beginning.

Genesis 2:18 “The Lord God said: It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suited to
him.” (NABRE)

Another translation…
“It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.”
– Enduring Word Commentary

The Community of Christ requires to one another…

In the Community of Christ, you cannot what you do not have…

Matthew 25:14-30
The Parable of the Talents

14 “It will be as when a man who was going on a journey called in his
servants and entrusted his possessions to them. 15 To one he gave five talents; to another, two; to a
third, one—to each according to his ability. Then he went away. Immediately 16 the one who received
five talents went and traded with them, and made another five. 17 Likewise, the one who received
two made another two. 18 But the man who received one went off and dug a hole in the ground and
buried his master’s money. 19 After a long time the master of those servants came back and settled
accounts with them. 20 The one who had received five talents came forward bringing the additional
five. He said, ‘Master, you gave me five talents. See, I have made five more.’ 21 His master said to
him, ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. Since you were faithful in small matters, I will give you
great responsibilities. Come, share your master’s joy.’ 22 [Then] the one who had received two talents
also came forward and said, ‘Master, you gave me two talents. See, I have made two more.’ 23 His
master said to him, ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. Since you were faithful in small matters,
I will give you great responsibilities. Come, share your master’s joy.’ 24 Then the one who had
received the one talent came forward and said, ‘Master, I knew you were a demanding person,
harvesting where you did not plant and gathering where you did not scatter; 25 so out of fear I went
off and buried your talent in the ground. Here it is back.’ 26 His master said to him in reply, ‘You
wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I did not plant and gather where I did not
scatter? 27 Should you not then have put my money in the bank so that I could have got it back with
interest on my return? 28 Now then! Take the talent from him and give it to the one with ten. 29 For
to everyone who has, more will be given and he will grow rich; but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. 30 And throw this useless servant into the darkness outside, where
there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.

God’s are for us to give our best.

The Community of Christ takes of one another…

1 Corinthians 12:12-27
One Body but Many Parts

12 There is one body, but it has many parts. But all its many parts make up one body. It is the same
with Christ. 13 We were all baptized by one Holy Spirit. And so we are formed into one body. It didn’t
matter whether we were Jews or Gentiles, slaves or free people. We were all given the same Spirit to
drink. 14 So the body is not made up of just one part. It has many parts.
15 Suppose the foot says, “I am not a hand. So I don’t belong to the body.” By saying this, it cannot
stop being part of the body. 16 And suppose the ear says, “I am not an eye. So I don’t belong to the
body.” By saying this, it cannot stop being part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, how
could it hear? If the whole body were an ear, how could it smell? 18 God has placed each part in the body just as he wanted it to be. 19 If all the parts were the same, how could there be a body? 20 As it
is, there are many parts. But there is only one body.
21 The eye can’t say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” The head can’t say to the feet, “I don’t need
you!” 22 In fact, it is just the opposite. The parts of the body that seem to be weaker are the ones we
can’t do without. 23 The parts that we think are less important we treat with special honor. The
private parts aren’t shown. But they are treated with special care. 24 The parts that can be shown
don’t need special care. But God has put together all the parts of the body. And he has given more
honor to the parts that didn’t have any. 25 In that way, the parts of the body will not take sides. All of
them will take care of one another. 26 If one part suffers, every part suffers with it. If one part is
honored, every part shares in its joy.

27 You are the body of Christ. Each one of you is a part of it.

“The community of Christ is a place where the inexhaustible love of God is given to us to practice on
one another until it spills out into the world.” – Eugene Peterson, The Jesus Way