As we look back on these past four weeks of our Community Practice, I wonder—has this been easy for you, challenging, or maybe a little of both? For me, two practices have been especially challenging and impactful so far: Solitude and Community.

The secular culture of ancient Corinth, the prosperous, ethnically diverse, and worldly city in which the early church grew, sounded not too dissimilar from our Western culture today. In a way, it’s a bit sad that humanity hasn’t changed. Humanity has a way of repeating itself as the depravity of our species was sown into our DNA.

As my wife Tammi and son Joshua have heard me say many times — and some of you too — my college years were among the best four years of my life. If I could’ve been a professional student forever, I would’ve done it in a heartbeat.

Jesus was both fully God and fully human. So when He said, “In this world you will have trouble” (John 16:33), He wasn’t speaking abstractly—He truly understood the trials of everyday life. But Jesus didn’t stop there. He continued: “But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

I love Dallas Willard’s famous quote: “The main thing that God gets out of your life is the person you become.” But I’d like to add a corollary to that thought: “… in His family.” Spiritual formation doesn’t happen in isolation—it happens in community. Church is family, and family is church.