Family Guide: Community
A community of love and depth in a culture of individualism and superficiality through the practice of Community
At Bridgetown, our goal is that every person—adult and child—would be with Jesus, become like Jesus, and do what Jesus did. But these things don’t just happen overnight; they take time, intention, and repetition. So, with this in mind, we will be releasing a Family Guide during each teaching series to help you engage a particular Practice from the life and teaching of Jesus together. Since these Guides are aimed at kids of multiple ages, please skip or adapt anything that does not feel age appropriate. These Guides are written conversationally, so feel free to read through them. Italicized words are notes to parents and bolded words are questions to take some time with.
For a moment, let’s close our eyes together and use our memories and imaginations. Can you remember a time when you had the feeling that you BELONGED? Perhaps within a group of people where you know anything you might need would be found, and you felt a certain way? Do you have that time in your mind?
Okay, open your eyes. What or who did you think of?
Give space for answers.
What did it feel like to know you belonged? Maybe safe, or happy, or not worried?
Give space for answers.
For lots of us, when we think of belonging, we might think of a group of people like our family. Or, we might think of our Bridgetown Community, your small group at Bridgetown Kids, or some of our closest friends in your school or neighborhood. In a group where you feel belonging, you can trust that you will be safe, that you won’t go without important things that you need—like food, or a hug or band-aid if you fall down and get hurt, or someone to sit next to.
One of the ways God talks about the church is as a family. Sometimes, the Scriptures even call believers or the church the “new family of God.” And when we participate in this new family, we call that practicing Community.
Let’s open the Bible together and learn a little more about how some of the first Jesus-following churches practiced Community together.
Find Acts 2v42–47 and read out loud together.
They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
Talk through these questions together:
What are a few of the things the believers did together?
How did these church members practice helping one another?
How do you think it felt to be part of the community we just read about?
What do you think is good about followers of Jesus being together? What might be better about being together than being alone?
Wow. This sounds like the kind of family or community everyone wants to be a part of. These people took care of each other’s needs! When someone needed food or money, everyone came up with it. They prayed together, ate together, spent time together, and loved each other really well.
Do we do any of these things in our lives right now, like share meals and pray with others?
Who do we do them with?
Give space for answers.
It sounds like you and I both have some people in our lives that we are practicing Community with in small or big ways. That’s so cool. In another place in the scriptures, Jesus says that the world we know we are his followers because of the way we love one another.
How do you treat someone you love?
Give space for answers.
Just like we read in the Bible earlier, communities treat each other with kindness, look out for each other, and take care of each other in all kinds of ways big and small. Some small actions that have a big impact are listening carefully to one another, and helping one another when we need help.
There are all kinds of different Communities. Sometimes, your Community might be made up of people who are a lot like you—boys or girls around your age who also know Jesus, like in your small group at Bridgetown Kids. Sometimes, Communities are made up of all kinds of different folks—like in your parents’ Bridgetown Community, there are kids and adults of all ages and from different places! We can also create Community and practice wherever we go: with friends at school, on your sports team, and with people we invite into our home.
There are all sorts of different people in the family of God. That’s a good thing! There are some things we can only learn and experience with people who are different than us. Being with different kinds of people also helps us understand different things about God. Wouldn’t life be a little bit boring if everyone was exactly the same? God made us all different, but we have being loved by God in common.
Following Jesus isn’t something we do alone. It’s something we do alongside others! Community is fun, and Community takes practice. Just like we aren’t perfect and make mistakes and need forgiveness, other people we are in community with won’t be perfect, will make mistakes, and need us to forgive them.
There are so many ways we can practice Community, but here are a few we can try out right away!
Participate in your small group at Bridgetown Kids
At Bridgetown, in your classes, we have the opportunity to gather with a bunch of other kids your same age to talk about our Bible story of the week, talk about what’s going on in our lives, pray together, and have a ton of fun together. You can go to Bridgetown Kids every week, and see your small group every week too! You can participate by asking and answering questions, praying for your friends, and including new people as they come. If you haven’t started kindergarten yet and aren’t in a small group, you can do these same things in your Bridgetown Kids classroom!
Go with your grown ups to Bridgetown Community.
If your family is part of a Bridgetown Community, then guess what? You are part of that community too! You are encouraged to eat dinner with the whole group and be part of the dinner conversation and fun, play games together, ask questions, participate in serving the city, and more! Note to adults: if your Bridgetown Community doesn’t have a clear entry point for kids, consider asking your leader how your family might more fully participate. If you’re not in a Community, we encourage you to join in Bridgetown’s next round of Basics! You can learn more about Community and Basics here.
Make Community: Invite a friend’s family or a neighbor over to your house for dinner or a playdate.
One thing that’s super helpful to remember is that in order to be in a Community, we need other people and they need us! At some point, all of us were invited in. We have an exciting opportunity to be that welcoming and inviting person to someone else. Does anyone come to mind that you think God would have you welcome with kindness? This week, once you have someone in mind, invite them and their family to your house for a meal or play time. While they are there, ask good questions, listen carefully, and show kindness and love!
How do you want to practice Community in this upcoming month? Let’s pick one to try, and pick a day we’ll follow through.