Finding and getting into a community is so important, but can be really difficult sometimes. It may take more than one try to find the right one for you. It usually requires stepping outside of your comfort zone again and again. It may be tempting to just give up if it doesn’t work out the first time, but we have to remember that God has not called us into a life of comfort. He has called us into community with Him and with others, and finding community is worth stepping outside our comfort zones for over and over again.

We started a new series this week about the importance of being in community with others. The idea of community can be scary for some people. New people. Will they accept you? Will they like you? Will they be nice to you? It can be very stressful, and you may wonder if it is even worth the effort.

Pastor Doug talked about seven things that are important to Jesus on Sunday. Some of these things may have been harder to hear for you than others. We know these are not the only things that are important to Jesus, but these are definitely good things to consider when looking at your own life.

Why do we insist on making everything about us? Why are we so afraid of change? Why are we so afraid of failure? Most importantly, why do we let these things stand in the way of being obedient to Jesus and strengthening our relationship with Him?

It is easy to get sucked into the worldly values we are immersed in all day every day. The values that tell us to look out for number one. The values that tell us that everything is about us. The values that tell us that we are entitled to things because we worked hard for them and if other people want what we have, they should work hard too. Hard work is not a bad thing, but the problem comes in when we are working hard with the wrong goal in mind.