The Life-Giving Benefits of Christian Community

There are so many Life-Giving Benefits that come from participating in a Christian Community.  We are living in a time of unprecedented focus on the individual.  The wants, dreams, desires of a person are perceived to be of more importance than any given community they are a part of. Christian Community is unique for it is not specific to one age group, ethnic group, or economic group, but consists of all true believers who compose the family of God. 

Did you know that participating in a Christian Community is considered a Spiritual Discipline? 

Biblically, however, Christian Community can be viewed from two perspectives. The Greek word for church (ekklesia) referred to an assembly or gathering of people. The first-century church was known for gathering together in homes for friendship, prayer, learning, and worship.

Secondly, the Bible expresses Christian Community through the word koinonia, a term usually translated as “fellowship.” Acts 2 also reveals the early church’s example. They devoted themselves to fellowship and all who believed were together and had all things in common, day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people.”

Regrettably, Christian Community is a dying worshipful art form in America. Never fear though, God is the God of redemption!

 

 

The Life-Giving Benefits of Christian Community

 

1. Community challenges you to be more like Jesus. (Hebrews 10:24-25)

2. Community meets practical needs. (Acts 2:42-47)

3. Community encourages emotionally healthy spirituality. (Galatians 6:2)

4. Community reveals your gifts and talents. (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12)

5. Community models how to open your heart to the needs of others. (1 Thessalonians 5:14)

6. Community empowers your relationship with God. (Proverbs 27:17)

7. Community helps us meet our need for love. (Proverbs 17:17)

8. Community offers opportunities for confession which leads to healing. (James 5:1)

9. Community teaches you how to work through conflicts biblically. (1 Corinthians 1:10)

10. Community gives you the chance to forgive.  (1 PETER 4:8)

• adapted from Debra Fileta

 

 

 

The Life-Giving Benefits of Christian Community

 

A new study, “Church Attendance, Allostatic Load and Mortality in Middle-Aged Adults,” was just published in PLoS One, 2017. Bruce Marino of Vanderbilt University led a team of 11 researchers analyzing the relationship between religiosity, stress, and death in middle age.

They drew on a sample of 5,449 middle-aged Americans (aged 40-65) from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). This survey included questions on church attendance (a surrogate for religiosity) and 10 stress factors that can be measured in a clinical setting, such as blood pressure and levels of stress-related hormones. Together these factors are known as allostatic load (AL). Previous studies have found a higher AL associated with higher levels of disease and early death.

The authors control for socioeconomic factors, health insurance status, and behaviors related to health, such as alcohol consumption and eating preferences — all data collected by the NHANES. They investigate whether the frequency of church attendance may impact the subjects’ health and track subjects for 14 years.

Besides examining the interaction between stress, longevity and church attendance, the authors also reveal some demographic features of the churchgoer.

• The authors found no statistically significant difference in mortality when measuring how frequently churchgoers attend.
• Non-churchgoers had significantly higher rates of three AL factors: blood pressure, HDL cholesterol (the “good” cholesterol) and the ratio of total cholesterol to HDL cholesterol. Non-churchgoers also had a higher overall AL than churchgoers.
• The frequency of attendance did not impact AL. That is, people who attend church once a year and those who attend weekly do not have statistically significant differences in AL.
• Lower stress levels are not the only possible explanation for churchgoers’ longer lifespans: Non-churchgoers had a higher mortality rate even after controlling for AL, which suggests religiosity alone may play a factor in longevity. “The positive relationship of church attendance with both reduced AL and longevity suggest religiosity can affect two well-described objective health parameters.”
• 64 percent of subjects attend church at least once per year and 36 percent said they never do.
• Churchgoers are healthier, better educated, and economically better off than the American population at large. “Specifically, they were more likely to have higher levels of educational attainment, lower levels of poverty, increased physical activity, reduced rates of smoking and drinking, and a healthier eating index.”

* David Trilling

I love when science finally catches up to the Bible, don’t you?

 

 

YOUR TURN…

Join a Bible study, MOPS, or small group at your church or join the growing house church movement in the United States.

 

Blessings,