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Covenant, Communion & Community




Sunday we shared about Covenant, Communion and Community. And how all 3 are intimately related. And how all of them require a culture of Honor.
 
In this blog I want to focus on the aspect of Community or Family. I read a blog today talking about community and it defined what community is NOT.


Community - family - houses are NOT a bunch of people who agree with everything you say.

Real houses, real familes, real communites of God are people who may disagree on things -
But agree that they all want to love God and love people and do both well.

They learn to treat each other and their differences of opinion with kindness and empathy and curiosity.

This is rare and refreshing in our world today.

We believe in this hour God is raising up Restoration HOUSE as just that... a house of God, a house of family, a community of believers who honor God and honor each other.

Houses need Fathers and Mothers and Sons and Daughters... 
not who agree on everything 
but agree on the ONE thing - JESUS.

1 Peter 2:17 says 
Honor all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king.

The AMP version says
Show respect for all people [treat them honorably], love the brotherhood [of believers], 
fear God, honor the king.

Honor doesn’t mean agreement. 

Just a few verses prior in 1 Peter 2:15 Peter says
15 It is God’s will that your honorable lives should silence those ignorant people who make foolish accusations against you.

Obviously this "everyone" includes people Peter deems ignorant and foolish.

Honor can’t mean—and doesn’t mean—agreement. 

Peter is saying two things: Some people are wrong. Honor everyone regardless.

Within the context of community - a Christ-honoring community displays loyalty, dependability, mutual support, respect, and grace to one another. 

1 Thessalonians 5:14 Brothers and sisters, we urge you to warn those who are lazy. Encourage those who are timid. Take tender care of those who are weak. Be patient with everyone.

They are not just unified. They have a strong sense of the priority of unity. They make unity work because They know it takes effort. 

Ephesians 4:1-4 Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God. Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowances for each others faults because of your love. Make EVERY EFFORT to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace. For there is one body and one Spirit, just as you have been called to one glorious hope for the future.

Striving to live in community means letting go of petty differences and self-centered agendas. Honoring each generation and each person as worthy of honor. Knowing that Unity is not Sameness.

“A culture of honor celebrates who a person is without stumbling over who they are not.“ 

At Restoration House, we believe in this hour God is raising us up as a house of  honor, covenant and communion.

Only when we honor each other can we truly enjoy the fellowship of His body and His blood offered to us in communion.

Sunday I challenged the younger generation to honor the generation before them because they are reaping harvest where they did not sow seeds.
They are harvesting anointing and blessing that they didn't work for. Why? Because God is a generational God. May we honor those who have sown tears, prayers and fasting.
Those who have sacrificed and lived lives worthy of the gospel so that their ceilings could become our floors. May we honor those who made a way for us sons and daughters to run the race with hunger and fire and fervency.

I also challenged the older generation. I heard a word from Lisa Bevere that said the older generation must not see the younger as their replacements but as reinforcements.
When you see someone as a replacement you won't pour into them, you won't mother and father them. You will be jealous of and fear them. You won't invest in something if you see it as your replacement.
But when you know the youth are our REINFORCEMENT, not our REPLACEMENT, when you understand that the future generations are reinforcement, you will begin to train them and unpack everything you wish you would have learned. You will invest your time and your resources to see them become all that God has called them to be. 

May the Mothers and Fathers of our house set ourselves as pillars, built on the firm foundation of Jesus Christ, providing stability and strength to the next generations.

My prayer today is that we choose today to Honor all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God & Honor the king, in everything that we do.

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