Loving Community
Romans 12:9-18
Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited. Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.
Authentic community.
The Salt Lake Fellows strive to live out a Romans 12 community through intentional relationships with one another. Loving honestly, generously, and humbly without bitterness or bias. A strong community learns from one another, laughs together, sacrifices for each other, and serves one another.
Oikos evangelism.
Our community doesn't just involve our Christian circles but each sphere of relationships in our day to day lives. Oikos is a Greek word for community that means a web of relationships held in common. This includes our relatives, neighbors, coworkers, colleagues and friends. In Salt Lake City you may go through most of your day and never meet another Christian outside of the Salt Lake Fellows, yet you are still called to be in community with those around you. Your life is under observation by those who don't believe in Christ whether you want it or not. By living authentically, your life is evidence for the truth of the faith and the grace of the Gospel. Salt Lake Fellows is committed to oikos evangelism: loving community in every sphere of life through our actions, relationships, hospitality and words.
1 John 4:7-12
Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.