This week, I finished reading one of the best books on church growth and discipleship that I’ve found. It’s called The Connecting Church 2.0, by Randy Frazee.

I really didn’t know what to think about the book when a friend sent it to me to review. My only knowledge of the author is from The Story, a comprehensive look at the Bible as a whole, which our church is journeying through right now. Really, all I knew about Frazee is that he is on staff with Max Lucado at Oak Hills Church, in San Antonio.

But as I read more and more of The Connecting Church 2.0, I grew more and more excited. His premise, originally written ten years ago and recently updated and revised in 2.0, is that the church has to move beyond small groups, or any of the other standard attempts we’ve made in the past few decades to grow. Frazee makes a solid case for biblical community.

This excites me for two reasons. First, I’ve seen the positive effects of community personally. I know it works. I’ve seen it. And if an entire church body catches the vision for biblical community, the possibilities are enormous!

The second reason this excites me is because it’s biblical. For too long, I think we’ve permitted culture to dictate how we do church in America. It’s time we accept that the early church did things they way they did them for a reason. They didn’t just get lucky and find a method that helped them grow. No, they had the help of the Holy Spirit. Biblical community was God’s idea, making it the best idea. Perhaps we should stretch ourselves out of our comfort zones and give it a try.

Frazee takes a look at three individual areas that people and churches need to connect to in order to establish biblical community: a common purpose, a common place, and common possessions. Sounds sort of Acts 2 ish, doesn’t it?

As Americans, we celebrate our individualism. But if we want to develop biblical community, we will need to set ourselves aside and consider a common purpose instead. Frazee’s chapter on rediscovering this biblical purpose (chapter 5) is perhaps the best chapter in the book. In these pages, Frazee explains that community isn’t just something God thinks is a good idea. Rather, community is inherent in his very nature. In the trinity, our one God is three. And three, by definition, is a community.

Frazee next tackles the topic of connecting to a common place. And the place he identifies as the most natural place to do this connecting is in our very own neighborhoods. This is the place we do most of our living, and the people around us can be the easiest people to connect with, especially in a fluid culture where we may travel an extended time just to get to work or church or other places we may need to go. Start building community where it naturally occurs: in your neighborhood.

Third, Frazee discusses the need to connect to common possessions. When we do life together with the people around us, we share what we have if it will help meet their needs. Pitching in and helping those in our own neighborhoods may be the closest we can come to the community modeled in the book of Acts until our culture shifts to be more conducive to community over individualism.

The final section of The Connecting Church 2.0 is given to implementation of this structure. Frazee gives examples of churches who do this well, as well as some of his own mistakes along the way.

I found The Connecting Church 2.0 to be an incredible resource. I know I will be referring to this a lot in the future. I suggest you grab a copy and spend some time reading it carefully. It just might change the way you look at ministry and the church.

Have you ever experienced instances of biblical community, like we find in the book of Acts? How did it impact you? You can leave your thoughts in the comments section below.

If highly recommend that you pick up a copy of The Connecting Church 2.0, by Randy Frazee. You can purchase it at Amazon.com in print or for Kindle.

Disclosure of Material Connection:
I received this book free from Cross Focused Media as part of their Cross Focused Reviews blogger review program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. Also, some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links”. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.“