Christian Community Quotes

“There is a kind of listening with half an ear that presumes already to know what the other person has to say. It is an impatient, inattentive listening, that despises the brother and is only waiting for a chance to speak and thus get rid of the other person. This is no fulfillment of our obligation, and it is certain that here too our attitude toward our brother only reflects our relationship to God. It is little wonder that we are no longer capable of the greatest service of listening that God has committed to us, that of hearing our brother's confession, if we refuse to give ear to our brother on lesser subjects. Secular education today is aware that often a person can be helped merely by having someone who will listen to him seriously, and upon this insight it has constructed its own soul therapy, which has attracted great numbers of people, including Christians. But Christians have forgotten that the ministry of listening has been committed to them by Him who is Himself the great listener and whose work they should share. We should listen with the ears of God that we may speak the Word of God.”
― Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together: The Classic Exploration of Christian Community

“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, Life Together: The Classic Exploration of Christian Community

“When we claim and constantly reclaim the truth of being the chosen ones, we soon discover within ourselves a deep desire to reveal to others their own chosenness. Instead of making us feel that we are better, more precious or valuable than others, our awareness of being chosen opens our eyes to the chosenness of others. That is the great joy of being chosen: the discovery that others are chosen as well. In the house of God there are many mansions. There is a place for everyone - a unique, special place. Once we deeply trust that we ourselves are precious in God's eyes, we are able to recognize the preciousness of others and their unique places in God's heart.”
― Henri J.M. Nouwen, Life of the Beloved: Spiritual Living in a Secular World

“The Christian, however, must bear the burden of a brother. He must suffer and endure the brother. It is only when he is a burden that another person is really a brother and not merely an object to be manipulated. The burden of men was so heavy for God Himself that He had to endure the Cross. God verily bore the burden of men in the body of Jesus Christ. But He bore them as a mother carries her child, as a shepherd enfolds the lost lamb that has been found. God took men upon Himself and they weighted Him to the ground, but God remained with them and they with God. In bearing with men God maintained fellowship with them. It was the law of Christ that was fulfilled in the Cross. And Christians must share in this law.”
― Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together: The Classic Exploration of Christian Community

“God made you the way He wanted you to be and He does not make mistakes. He has a plan for your life that is much bigger than you can imagine.”
― Michele Woolley, God's Favor - Breath Of Heaven

“Just as Christians should not be constantly feeling the pulse of their spiritual life, so too the Christian community has not been given to us by God for us to be continually taking its temperature. The more thankfully we daily receive what is given to us, the more assuredly and consistently will community increase and grow from day to day as God pleases”
― Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together and Prayerbook of the Bible

“But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked” (Luke 6:35).”
― Michele Woolley, God's Favor - Breath Of Heaven

“with man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26").”
― Michele Woolley, God's Favor - Breath Of Heaven

“Will not the very moment of great disillusionment with my brother or sister be incomparably wholesome for me becuase it so thoroughly teaches me that both of us can never live by our own words and deeds, but only by that one Word and deed that really binds us together, the forgiveness of sins in Jesus Christ? The bright day of Christian community dawns wherever the early morning mists of dreamy visions are lifting”
― Dietrich Bonhoeffer

“The brother is a burden to the Christian, precisely because he is a Christian. For the pagan the other person never becomes a burden at all. He simply sidesteps every burden that others may impose upon him.”
― Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together: The Classic Exploration of Christian Community

“Comparing yourself to others does nothing for you. Society has conditioned us to value people who fit a secular mold of perfection".”
― Michele Woolley, God's Favor - Breath Of Heaven

“What if our loneliness is the result not simply of needing a partner but of needing people? We are made in the image of a relational God; it makes sense that we possess the desire to be together.”
― Debra Fileta, True Love Dates: Your Indispensable Guide to Finding the Love of your Life

“As the church, we are in community together trying to fulfill this Great Commission that Jesus left us with. As we gently press into each other, we form one united thing, His church. As we work together, sharing the space God gives us to do His work, we all become shaped a little different. We all become a little more like Him.”
― Jennifer L. Lane, Faith Adventures: Stories of Learning with an Unseen God

“We are word-shaped beings who live word-shaped lives within word-shaped communities.”
― Jonathan Merritt, Learning to Speak God from Scratch: Why Sacred Words Are Vanishing-and How We Can Revive Them

“I thought that righteous people were the types that liked rules for the sake of rules. But really, righteous people love things like people, relationship, happiness, connection, holistic prosperity, and community.”
― Jessica Nicholas, God Loves Justice: A User-Friendly Guide to Biblical Justice and Righteousness

“Think of righteousness as living inside of, instead of up to, God’s standard for the right life. The welfare of you, your community, and your relationship with God are central to living righteousness.”
― Jessica Nicholas, God Loves Justice: A User-Friendly Guide to Biblical Justice and Righteousness

“There's no doubt in my mind that what's shaped me and my work more than any particular talent on my part has been living out a calling in the midst of a Christ-centered community.”
― Andrew Peterson, Adorning the Dark: Thoughts on Community, Calling, and the Mystery of Making

“So, to leave that community for another one was terrifying, especially when the transition was being made into a community that seemed to be everything but safe. But the group of Christians I began to know and enjoy were ones that did more for me than the gay community could’ve ever done. They showed me God. The community I called home for a season of my life were all full of laughter and what I’d labeled “life.” But the reality was that my gay community was indeed lifeless. They were what I had been, dead. They were still image-bearers, still friends, they still mattered. I still loved them, but I loved God more. They could not help me love who they did not know themselves. The difference between the gay community and the Christian community was not skill, intellect, comfort, humor, or beauty; it was that in one and not the other, God dwelled.”
― Jackie Hill Perry, Gay Girl, Good God: The Story of Who I Was and Who God Has Always Been

“Rooting ourselves in the Christian community is essential. Endurance in prayer, fostering positive mindsets, and taking tangible actions serve as our training ground. Success in life requires us to bend our knees in prayer.”
― Norbertus Krisnu Prabowo