“The most basic human desire is to feel like you belong.” – Simon Sinek
At Riv, we invite everyone to know and enjoy Jesus as we stumble together in our pursuit to love like Him.
In and In The Community
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness covered the surface of the watery depths, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.
Genesis 1:1-2
They came to the other side of the sea, to the region of the Gerasenes. As soon as he got out of the boat, a man with an unclean spirit came out of the tombs and met him.
Mark 5:1
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this darkness, against evil, spiritual forces in the heavens.
Ephesians 6:12
He lived in the tombs, and no one was able to restrain him anymore — not even with a chain — because he often had been bound with shackles and chains, but had torn the chains apart and smashed the shackles. No one was strong enough to subdue him. Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains, he was always crying out and cutting himself with stones.
Mark 5:3-5
When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and knelt down before him. And he cried out with a loud voice, “What do you have to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you before God, don’t torment me!” For he had told him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” “What is your name?” he asked him. “My name is Legion,” he answered him, “because we are many.” And he begged him earnestly not to send them out of the region. A large herd of pigs was there, feeding on the hillside. The demons begged him, “Send us to the pigs, so that we may enter them.” So he gave them permission, and the unclean spirits came out and entered the pigs. The herd of about two thousand rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned there.
Mark 5:6-13
The men who tended them ran off and reported it in the town and the countryside, and people went to see what had happened. They came to Jesus and saw the man who had been demon-possessed, sitting there, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. Those who had seen it described to them what had happened to the demon-possessed man and told about the pigs. Then they began to beg him to leave their region. As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged him earnestly that he might remain with him. Jesus did not let him but told him, “Go home to your own people, and report to them how much the Lord has done for you and how he has had mercy on you.” So he went out and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and they were all amazed.
Mark 5:14-20
Again, leaving the region of Tyre, he went by way of Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, through the region of the Decapolis. They brought to him a deaf man who had difficulty speaking and begged Jesus to lay his hand on him.
Mark 7:31-32, 36
Give an example of a community you’ve been part of that impacted your faith and/or the faith of others? What were some of the specific characteristics of that community that made it so influential?
What are some things Jesus did to strengthen the bonds of community among His disciples? What did His disciples develop in terms of character and belief that they carried with them as they brought the Gospel to the world after Jesus was gone?
Read the end of Mark 4 and Mark 5:1-20. What impact do you think this visit to the “other side of the sea” (including the storm on the sea and the interaction with the demon possessed man) had on Jesus’ community of disciples?
What are your unique opportunities to be “in the community”? In what ways are you already present in the lives of people who don’t know Jesus? What new opportunities would you like to pursue?
What would be most likely to prevent you from being “in and in the community?” Fear? Time? Apathy? Insecurity? How can you help each other push through these issues?
![Image for Inside [and] Out](https://rivchurch.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/20220424_noelheikkinen_churchplantingsunday_videopreview.jpg )
