“A mosaic consists of thousands of little stones. Some are blue, some are green, some are yellow, some are gold. When we bring our faces close to the mosaic, we can admire the beauty of each stone. But as we step back from it, we can see that all these little stones reveal to us a beautiful picture, telling a story none of these stones can tell by itself.

That is what our life in community is about. Each of us is like a little stone, but together we reveal the face of God to the world. Nobody can say: ‘I make God visible.’ But others who see us together can say: ‘They make God visible.’ Community is where humility and glory touch” #henrinouwen

We still need community now as much as we ever did. We need each other. That’s why God instituted the Church as His mode of doing the life of faith. And when I say Church, I don’t mean a building of bricks and mortar but a gathering of God’s people fulfilling God’s purposes in the strength of God’s power.

If you ever watch nature shows, then you know that predators go after the isolated prey. They don’t attack the herds and the groups as much as they attack the ones who fall behind. Satan’s greatest strategy in luring you into temptation isn’t in what he offers or even how he offers it but in getting you to fight him alone.

Community is where two or more are gathered in the name of Jesus, because that’s where Jesus promises to be every single time. Community is what drew people to Jesus in those early days when they saw how much those believers loved each other. Community is where God calls people to the ministry, to missions, and to salvation.

“If you want to go quickly, go alone. If you want to go far, go together” (African Proverb)

“A Christian fellowship lives and exists by the intercession of its members for one another, or it collapses. I can no longer condemn or hate a brother for whom I pray, no matter how much trouble he causes me. His face, that hitherto may have been strange and intolerable to me, is transformed in intercession into the countenance of a brother for whom Christ died, the face of a forgiven sinner” (Dietrich Bonhoeffer).