| All Things in Common - article by Joel Hempel Since we all love and care about each other, let’s live together! Many years ago, at our inner-city church in Cincinnati, a group of five couples and two single people met for two years, studying the Bible, praying, eating, and discerning if God was calling us to live together in a commune near the church (after all, it was the 70s). We had progressed to identifying a building and hiring an architect with plans drawn so we would have our private space and what we would share in common. The twelve of us were very different. That difference included some feeling strongly that God was leading us toward living together. Others had serious reservations. Of course, in a group of twelve people, some were outspoken, and others more reserved. As we gathered for prayer and discernment, tension grew in the group one evening. In the middle of prayer followed by silence, Cheryl – who was quiet and seldom offered her thoughts – said she had a dream the night before and that she had a word from God: “We can be in community without being a commune.” Initially, I did not want to receive our sister’s word from God since I was one of the people wanting to move in together. But, through personal prayer and conversation with Marcia, I made peace with the decision. Not living together but still being community – especially as guided by the description of Christian community in Acts is a HUGE challenge for any seasoned group of Christians seeking to be faithful to the Word of God. From a twenty-first-century perspective, Acts 2:42-47 and 4:32-37 are some of the most radical words in the Bible. On the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit came upon the Christians gathered in Jerusalem, the way believers responded is recorded in Acts 2 and 4. What that body of believers did in response to the Holy Spirit coming among them is a clear message about what it means to be a Christian community. What about us at GLC? How are we living in response to the Spirit of God who formed us? What would it look like for us to “have all things in common” and for there “not to be a needy person among us”? The Spirit of God did not descend upon us with all the drama of the first Pentecost. But He did descend upon us NONE THE LESS at our baptism. And then, by many and diverse means, the Spirit brought us together at this location and created a community of Jesus followers. As we look forward to where God is leading us, I encourage us to reflect on these passages from Acts and what it means to be a community of believers. What does that look like for Glendale Lutheran Church? I don’t know. But if this is part of what God is calling us to, he will make it clear. | 
