See what C.S. Lewis, Bonhoeffer, and others say about building community in this excerpt from a Redemption Seminary course. Every Redemption lesson is divided into short sensible steps. Your first step is watching a short lecture (typically less than 10 minutes).
Step 1: Watch the Lecture
Step 2: Reading
“To be “in the Spirit” is also to be “in Christ.” And this is another way of saying that Christians who are baptized into Christ and given the gift of the Spirit are dynamically related to the Father through the incarnate Son in and by the Spirit of the Father and the Son. On the basis of this relation there is fellowship for Christians both with God and with each other. In the second place, it is probably best not to use the word “community” as a synonym for “fellowship.” The reason for this is that in modern English “community” presupposes “individualism” and thus carries a meaning that is necessarily foreign to biblical presuppositions since individualism (i.e., the thinking of a human being as an “individual” and as the basic unity of society) is, technically speaking, a modern phenomenon. So “community” seemingly inevitably today usually refers to a group, body, or society that is formed by the coming together of “individuals” in a contractual way. The emphasis is on the initiative of the “individuals” and on the voluntary nature of the group thus formed. In contrast, koinōnia has its origin in a movement out of the internal, eternal relation, relatedness, and communion of the Godhead of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Koinōnia for baptized believers is thus a participation within human experience of the communion of the living God himself. ”
Step 3: Application Activity
Dr. Irving suggests this: “Rather than aiming for simple balance, at times it may be that we need to pursue strategic imbalance, focusing on different disciplines in different seasons of our lives. In order to nurture an area of our walk with Christ, we need to focus and attention at that particular time in our life.” Can you think of some area of life and ministry that could use some concentrated development, perhaps even meriting some “strategic imbalance” for the sake of your community?