6/23/2025

There’s a bar in Boston whose official name is The Bull & Finch Pub.  It was an inspiration for the hit TV series Cheers that’s popular on Netflix.  The actor and comedian George Wendt who played Norm Peterson on Cheers recently passed away.  Whenever his character would enter the bar, the folks there would yell “Norm!”  It was a place where he was known and cared about.

This popular TV series had memorable characters, funny stories, and great one-liners, but what connected many people to the show was the sense of community that was experienced there.  At Cheers, everybody seemed to support each other and accept one another’s weaknesses.  It was the kind of place people could go to, be themselves, and hang out.  The theme song, which was almost as popular as the show itself, would hook you with the refrain:  “You want to be where everybody knows your name.”

There’s something about community—the relationships, the sense of belonging, the support, the encouragement and understanding—that enriches our lives and strengthens our souls.  That’s why community is an essential purpose of God’s church.

The new community that Christ came to establish is to be life-transforming.  It’s where love, intimacy, compassion, service and honor are to be found.  In God’s church you can love and be loved, know and be known, serve and be served, celebrate and be celebrated.  These aspects of community are all indispensable to a life in Christ.

When you love and are loved, you are never to assume the worst about or give in to suspicion toward others.  The novelist Dostoevsky wrote:  “To love a person means to see him as God intended him to be.”

When you know and are known, you can acknowledge that we all have weaknesses.  Genuine community allows people to say:  “My name is John, and I’m struggling with porn; my name is Betty, and I have breast cancer; my name is Steve, and my marriage is falling apart; my name is Carol, and I lost my job; my name is Alice, and I’m lonely.”  Knowledge of one another in the true community is not to be the basis for wounding, but rather for healing through the giving and receiving of grace, love and support.

When you serve and are served, you commit to care for the needs of others as you are cared for.  A spirit of giving is evident and is necessary for genuine spiritual growth and development.

When you celebrate and are celebrated, you enjoy being together.  You talk, laugh, and share the goodness of life together.

Anne Lamott wrote:  “No matter how bad I am feeling, how lost or lonely or frightened, when I see faces of the people at my church, and hear their tawny voices, I can always find my way home.”

Will you do your part for Journey Church to be that kind of spiritual home?

-Michael