We are designed to be a part of a true community where we are devoted to one another. The message was given on June 30, 2013 at New City Church in Calgary by Pastor John Ferguson. For more info, go to www.NewCityChurch.ca.

1. Today’s Scripture: Acts 2:42, 47
Page 911 in our guest Bibles.

2. FACEBOOK
in a
CROWD
by Hal Niedzvviecki
The New York Times( )

3. crowded
l o n e l i n e s s

4. 7
SEVEN
Obstacles
to TRUE
COMMUNITY
in Calgary

5. Impersonal Dynamics1
Image: Stock in Customs

6. Dictates of the Weather2
image:Andy van der Raadt: image: Heather Ferguson

7. We Prize Privacy3
image: Jon Wiley

8. Sacred
Reverence for
4
< / INDIVIDUALITY >
< / CONSUMERISM >
+
image: mvdavid7

9. Prefer Polite Distance5
image:DanielKulinski

10. People are Messy6
image: Micah Taylor

11. Wrong
Strategies
7
image: Scott Ableman
Adopt

12. If you want to make
sure of keeping [your
heart] intact you must
GIVE IT TO NO ONE,
not even an animal.
Wrap it carefully round
with hobbies and little
luxuries; avoid all
entanglements.
~ CS Lewis
Oxford Scholar & Author

13. ...But in that casket,
safe, dark, motion-
less, airless, it will
change. It will not be
broken; it will become
UNBREAKABLE,
IMPENETRABLE, &
IRREDEEMABLE.
~ CS Lewis
Oxford Scholar & Author

14. BEING
DEVOTED
to
ONE
ANOTHER
Acts 2:42

15. And they DEVOTED themselves to
ACTS 2:42
the apostle’s teaching and [the]
FELLOWSHIP, to the breaking of
bread, and to the prayers.
ESV

16. fellowship
(koinonia)
=
“shared life”
“life together”

17. They met CONSTANTLY to hear the
ACTS 2:42
apostles teach, and to SHARE the
COMMON LIFE....
NEB

18. Moving toward one another
in intentional relationship
1
fellowship / “shared life”

19. “...that which we have
seen and heard we
proclaimed to you, that
you too may have
FELLOWSHIP with us;
and indeed our
FELLOWSHIP is with the
Father and with his son
Jesus Christ.”
The Apostle John
1 John 1:3

20. 1
Moving for one another
in willing sacrifice
2
Moving toward one another
in intentional relationship
fellowship / “shared life”

21. “And all who believed
were TOGETHER
and had all things in
common. And they were
selling their possessions
and belongings and
distributing the proceeds
to all, as any had need.”
Acts 2:44-45

22. We are designed to flourish
as a part of a true community
where we are devoted
to one another.

23. our default mode
should be...
“we” instead “me”

24. What would
it look like
if we were
DEVOTED
to shared life
?

25. Believe that
true community
is part of God’s
design for you.
1
image: Jacob Wackderhausen

27. “Sometimes you want to go
where everybody knows your name
and they’re always glad you came....”

28. REBEL
VS.
THE
STATUS QUO
2
image: Brian

29. Beware of utopian dreams of
“The Perfect Community”
3
image:Tiger Pixel:

30. “He who LOVES his
DREAM of a com-
munity more than
the Christian
COMMUNITY
ITSELF becomes a
destroyer of the
latter....”
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Life Together

31. Take the next step
in the pursuit of
true community.
4
image: csedward:

32. ( like next Sunday )
5
image: Tom Magliery

33. COMING UP...
• July 07: LOVING One Another

34. • July 14: WELCOMING One Another
COMING UP...
• July 07: LOVING One Another

35. • July 21: SERVING One Another
COMING UP...
• July 14: WELCOMING One Another
• July 07: LOVING One Another

36. • July 28: PRAYING for One Another
COMING UP...
• July 21: SERVING One Another
• July 14: WELCOMING One Another
• July 07: LOVING One Another

37. • Aug 4: LOOKING OUT
COMING UP...
• July 28: PRAYING for One Another
• July 21: SERVING One Another
• July 14: WELCOMING One Another
• July 07: LOVING One Another

38. • Aug 11: ENCOURAGING One Another
COMING UP...
• Aug 4: LOOKING OUT
• July 28: PRAYING for One Another
• July 21: SERVING One Another
• July 14: WELCOMING One Another
• July 07: LOVING One Another

39. • Aug 18: SHOWING HOSPITALITY
COMING UP...
• Aug 11: ENCOURAGING One Another
• Aug 4: LOOKING OUT
• July 28: PRAYING for One Another
• July 21: SERVING One Another
• July 14: WELCOMING One Another
• July 07: LOVING One Another

40. • Aug 25: FORGIVING One Another
COMING UP...
• Aug 18: SHOWING HOSPITALITY
• Aug 11: ENCOURAGING One Another
• Aug 4: LOOKING OUT
• July 28: PRAYING for One Another
• July 21: SERVING One Another
• July 14: WELCOMING One Another
• July 07: LOVING One Another

41. Is this an OPTIONAL thing?

42. “God’s purpose, we say, is not
merely to save isolated individuals,
and so perpetuate their loneliness,
but to build a church, to create a
new society, even a new humanity,
in which racial, national, social and
sexual barriers have been
abolished....

43. “...People searching for community
ought to be pouring into our
churches…. For there are Christian
communities all over the world where
true, sacrificial, serving, supportive
love is to be found. Where such
Christian love flourishes, its
magnetism is almost IRRESISTIBLE.”
John Stott
The Contemporary Christian

44. “And the Lord ADDED to their
number DAY by DAY
those who were being SAVED.”
~ Acts 2:47

45. Is this an OPTIONAL thing?
Our very MISSION as the
church in CALGARY is at stake.

46. Image: Stock in Customs http://www.flickr.com/photos/95572727@N00/6412850341/
Andy van der Raadt: http://www.flickr.com/photos/87419656@N00/8409244244/
Jon Wiley: http://www.flickr.com/photos/61436699@N00/495488203/
mvdavid7: http://www.flickr.com/photos/29162086@N03/2876294648/
Daniel Kulinski: http://www.flickr.com/photos/7729940@N06/6441399323/
Micah Taylor: http://www.flickr.com/photos/63474264@N00/4665476904/
flickr images courtesy of:
other:
csedward: http://www.flickr.com/photos/29422041@N04/4391015676/
Heather Ferguson
Brian: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lincolnian/582001739/
Scott Ableman: http://www.flickr.com/photos/7729940@N06/6441399323/
Tom Magliery: http://www.flickr.com/photos/50318388@N00/2589564054/
Tiger Pixel: http://www.flickr.com/photos/31471648@N06/3307790990/
Photos.com: Jacob Wackderhausen / 133613204