And as he sat at dinner in the house, many tax collectors and sinners came and were sitting with Jesus and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” —Matthew 9:10-11

We will all find ourselves in the wilderness

.

Week 1: Fasting helps us realize what is really

us.

When we get rid of the inessential, we can focus on the

.

Week 2: Many of us are trying to live super-human lives to go beyond our human

.

Our daily need for food, water, and air remind us of our

on God and the earth for life.

Week 3: Throughout Jesus’ ministry, he had a rhythm of being with people and

for solitude.

“Without solitude it is virtually impossible to live a spiritual life.… We do not take the spiritual life seriously if we do not set aside some time to be with God and listen to him.” —Henri Nouwen

Solitude gives us

to stand upon so that we can lift up our neighbors in love.

“Let him who cannot be alone beware of community.… Let him who is not in community beware of being alone.” —Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Seeking Community in a Lonely Culture

Our individualistic culture is leading us out of community and into

.

The driving force for families struggling in poverty is

. (Ruby Payne et al., Bridges Out of Poverty)

The driving force for middle class families is

.

Putting achievement above all else makes us

.

Jesus invites us into community simply by virtue of our being

. (Matthew 28:19-20)

Table Fellowship

Many of life’s most important moments take place around a

.

Paul’s letters frequently dealt with issues related to

.

Much of Jesus’ life was spent

with people. (Matthew 9:10-11)

There is a difference between entertaining and

.

Inviting

to our tables for a meal can be transformative.

Bursting Our Bubbles

Many of our communities are organized around

.

One of the challenges Christians face today is negotiating a world in which everything is

.

Our relationships must matter more than our social

and

Reveal Answer

.

Jesus brought together a community beyond

of race, gender, status, or wealth. (Galatians 3:28, Romans 16:22-23)

Navigating Life Together

We need friends who can help us to

and

Reveal Answer

.

Deep relationships enable us to hear and speak

. (Ephesians 4:15)

“When God begins to work with us at the deep levels of our incompleteness and brokenness, our bondage and sin, we need the body of Christ to support, encourage, challenge and nurture us toward wholeness.” —Robert Mulholland

Being in relationship means accepting that people will let you

.

“He who loves his dream of a community more than the Christian community itself becomes a destroyer of the latter, even though his personal intentions may be ever so honest and earnest and sacrificial.” – Dietrich Bonhoeffer

For deep, healing to take place in relationships, we have to be willing to

.

Spiritual friends

us who we are and whose we are when we forget. (Exodus 32:1)

We must continually leave

to find

Reveal Answer

in Christ.

Action Steps

Identify the people who are or could be a

friend. Schedule a time to ask them, “How is it with your soul?”

Plan to participate in

August 11, 18, and 25.

Invite someone to

who has never been to a meal in your home.

My additional notes:

.