Community Culture

Community Culture

Hey, let’s go. Let’s do this Church, have a seat. I was worried about you as a second service. Honestly, just before we start, I’ll be honest. The first service was has been amped the last couple of weeks and y’all came in kind of slow rolling and now you’re starting to get more excited. You slept in, you know, you should be fresh, refreshed, ready to go. So thanks for coming. Thanks for coming. My name is Michael with the five pastors here at our church. I think I’m ready to go our uh, I think I’m right, but I’ll just little disclaimer if you hear me sound congested. I had 18 years ago or so in high school wrestling at Battle Creek, michigan and the national wrestling Championship. My armor’s hyper extended, my elbow, my ankle was taped, my, I was like split and my nose got adjusted to the left and the russell about consolation rounds and my coach moved it back for me but the inside of my nose stayed there to anyway, so my, my wife told me to talk to my doctor. My doctor told me to talk to ear, nose throat doctor. And on monday an ear nose throat doctor move my nose back and reconstructed my right. Scientists. Naval thanks was collapsed and 60% my left was was blocked as well. So I should have maybe a different voice in the future is what they said. So maybe we’ll be really high in the future. It would be great, but welcome. Good morning. I’ll if you hear me or something, I’m okay. It’s just so welcome. Good morning. If you’re the livestream. Thank you for checking us out. If you’re here in person, thank you for checking us out or if your name is anne and you’re my wife, Thank you for checking me out. It’s good to be a few all this morning. It’s an honor to be with you today. Shane dan, Derek Ben and I are the five pastors here and we’re pumped and excited. You chose to be with the people of God this morning. We are, you find us in week two of our three weeks series called simply sewer. It’s our core value series. Looking at what makes us tick, what gets us up in the mornings. Um, we’re excited to look at that with you today. Last week dan hit a walk off, Grand Slam on the Gospel. It was amazing. Had a home run. It was amazing. Um, today I just got to get on base today. So our hope is to work through community culture, which is our second culture, first cultures, Gospel culture that was last week. If you missed it, you missed you missed something important. Go to jump on livestream down, watch the sermon on youtube. You can subscribe and see all that stuff but dan took us deep into the gospel and as a church, if we need to go deep into the Gospel as leaders and his followers of God should be able to be transformed by the Gospel. It was excellent. There is clarity, strong words, a huge heart for the gospel. It was excellent. You missed out if you missed it last week but Youtube is there so you can go find it. So thank you for coming today. Today. We’re looking at community culture, it’s our core value. Also communities for us in the church and those outside the church. When I first moved a Lincoln, let’s pray, Let’s pray, I’m ready to go. Let’s pray God, thank you for these men and women. Thank you for what you’re doing their lives. Thank you for the story you’re writing in their lives. I pray that we would just simply look at scripture and look at scripture and respond and is this true? What does it mean? And how do I apply this in my life? I pray that we would digest the word of God. As we look at these passages I pray, we just really may be transformed into the image you have for the people of God through the word of God. That’s what you just used today to glorify your name, make your name famous. We commit this time to you in jesus name amen When I moved to Lincoln nine years ago, I was told by locals that Lincoln is the biggest smallest town you’ve ever lived in And I’ve been here about 1/4 of my life, nine years in Lincoln, nine years in Omaha during my college years and then 18 years out in Colorado prior to that and I’m told that you’re not a local yet mike after nine years living in a city and people here are shaking their heads like he’s not a local others or others are concerned. But anyways welcome, thank you for coming. But community culture is the Lincoln culture. We know community in this city. Solar has compelling communities in this church. We have compelling community groups scattered throughout the city, different nights, different leaders, different people all over the city. Uh monday, Tuesday Wednesday, none on thursday yet some on sunday they meet all over the place, all over the city. But we have a large gathering on sunday morning, we have smaller micro gatherings of communities all out this all throughout the city. So I’m excited to look at that with you. And so we have, we have three passages, we’d like to look at today three passages, three points. And that paints three different pictures for you to understand what compelling, authentic christian community looks like when we get it right. So our first passage is in the book of colossians paul lays out our goal for a church. He lives out the goal for his church that was a part of their in collage. So if you look with me uh to the screen here or pull it up in your bibles. We got colossians, chapter one verse 28 28 it says this, it’s paul talking. He’s got multiple missionary journeys throughout the known world of the time. His his team, his posse his crew of people who are going with him into these new cities of new un enraged, unreached, unengaged people groups. And he took last week’s message of the gospel, how jesus changes everything in jesus changes everything in the believer’s life. And those believers made a profession of faith, they confess they repented, they turn from their life of sin, they trusted in jesus christ and God save those who were lost and made them found God say those who are dead and made them alive and God changes lives when the gospels proclaimed time and time again. So paul went to the city of colossians of his crew and they started a church from the ground up. They didn’t have a visitor flow of christians in the city. They started the church with conversions And they existed based on conversions. And so Colossians one verse 28, it’s Paul talking, he wrote a letter back to that church, he says this, we proclaim him his church planning team proclaims him who’s the him, him as Jesus. We proclaim him Jesus warning and teaching everyone with all wisdom so that we may present everyone maturing in christ. We proclaim him warning and teaching everyone with all wisdom so that we may proclaim, we may present everyone mature in christ mature in christ? That is the destination. That’s the goal of where we’re heading as people. So why does the church exist? If we were to ask you on the way out, we asked you why does this church exist? We would hear a variety of response, think to yourself, why is this church exist? Well, it exists to give me coffee and donuts at 10:30 on Sunday morning, why does this church exist? You have a variety of expectations and attitudes and ideas in your head about why this church exist. Why do these community groups exist? These things like talking about why do those exist? If we were to ask you, you would have a lot of different opinions on why those two entities exist, why those two structures exist. I propose to that community groups and the large church gathering exists for the purpose of making and multiplying mature disciples. That’s why our community groups come together, that’s why we come together on sunday morning, is to be refined into a mature image of christ and why we come together throughout the week. It’s then smaller micro groups be transformed into a mature image of jesus christ. We see in verse 22 23 which we’re not going to look at today, but but paul talks about this beautiful image of the body of christ being being brought to life and how there’s beauty in that and there’s a physical body and there’s holiness and blameless and faultless. It’s an amazing two versus 22 23 you can look at that at your own time. Uh, also later after this verse, there’s, there’s a description of the roles of elders in the church to equip the church and bring the church maturity. But again, if I were to ask you, what is the goal, why does community groups exist and why does this group exist? You would have a variety of answers. But there is one answer the bible finds for us, the goal of christian experience in the context of community is for spiritual maturity. And in light of that goal of a christian experience has been growing more and more mature, more like christ. I like to share a few what I opened up two weeks ago. I like to spend a little bit more time and look at that with you today. I didn’t get it all out of my system yet. So I’m gonna bring it back, we’re gonna run it back and we’re going to learn more about what that means. So here’s this app that has this, this face rendering application that makes you look old. Here’s my new headshot. Thank you Cindy. And that’s what I should look like. As cool old as an older gentleman. This looks like my father on your right. If I shaved everything but the moustache that is rick Whitney, my father, how old are you? I am 36 years old for my driver’s license and for my birth certificate. I’m 36 years old. How old are you? You get older every day And it takes no effort, no dietary restrictions or changes, no exercise, no learning, no doing. It just happens. Doesn’t matter how much water you drink, doesn’t matter what happens. Time ticks by and you grow older as people, you just get older. Your physical age is your physical age and that’s linear day by day, week by week. That just clicking along. It’s a passive thing that happens in your life. You grow older. How old are you? If you’re young, like my kids, they pretend to be older than they really are, they want to dress older, act older. They prefer to be at the next class, the next age, the next grade they want to prefer and pretend that they’re older if you’re old you prefer and you pretend to be younger, You wanna dress younger than you are act younger than you are. There’s just this, this funny thing about humanity, but we seem to not be happy if our current age, I am 36, I’m your age. How old are you physically, paul is not referencing physical age In that verse, we just looked at paul is not referencing physical age. He is referencing spiritual age. So how old are you spiritually christian? How old are you? Spiritually? I have been a made a profession, a confession of faith when I was about nine or 10, almost august 16th of august 26th, It was a nine year old, almost 10 year old. How old am I spiritually? What is much. So my spiritual birthday just happened A week or so ago. I have to look at a different Bible to see what data is, but I am 26 years old. If I count my spiritual age the same way as I count my linear age, I respond to the gospel confessed believed repented and I read through a workbook, a booklet just like this wasn’t as cool as this one, it was just like this. And I read the concepts that were shared here about repenting your sins, rejecting your own righteousness as a means of saving yourself and believing in jesus, declaring him Lord of your life. And I went through this with my father and I made a profession of faith and I became a christian. I was once dead and I became alive, I once was an unbeliever and I became a believer, it was someone else’s faith and then it became my faith. Things changed for me when I understood the Gospel for the first time and I responded to the Gospel. So how old are you spiritually? And it’s not calculated literally like your age, it’s not a natural product process that happens. How old are you spiritually because you do not get older every day spiritually, you do not age everyday spiritually, it does take effort to grow up spiritually, it does take exercise Spiritual exercise, it does take learning, it does take doing action is required to grow up spiritually, it just doesn’t happen. Time doesn’t tick by and you get older spiritually, you don’t get older, you stay where you’re at spiritually, if you don’t have energy, effort and actions. So my next point to myself, my notice says offend everyone, so I’m going to try, do not, but offend everyone slowly. Here’s a pie chart, I’m borrowing this from Jim Portman’s five stages of discipleship. I’ve read four books on this man and I appreciate him and his teachings. He doesn’t have the fanciest bands with the fanciest Brandon church. He doesn’t have a fancy, you know, he’s a big building, he leaves a very large church out in Idaho. But what’s unique about his church in different than other mega churches Is he has more people in community groups, small groups than he does on Sunday morning and I think I got like 5, 6000 people in his church. So that’s, that’s a unique aspect to what makes him different and he’s not like this big fancy teacher, he’s actually very simple, humble teacher, but he’s got something special in my opinion about how he sees understands this concept. And so when he talks, I pay attention. So it’s, there’s four, there’s five levels here, we like to look through and if you can’t read this email Hello at Solar Church dot com, I will gladly send you a better version of this with the expanded questions that I’m going to read to you for each of these different levels, but there’s five levels and so level one is your spiritually dead. Well, like spiritually dead, you’re calling me names. I just walked into church. Did All right, so look, colossians two later in colossians cautions to versus 13 gave me this reference, this is great, it says, And when you were dead in trespasses and in the un circumcision of your flesh, he jesus made you alive with him and forgave all our trespasses, paul says we once were dead and then jesus made us alive. So if you don’t know, Jesus have a personal relationship with jesus christ. You have not responded to the gospel message that was shared last week. You are by biblical definition a nonbeliever spiritually dead person and God wants you to be alive, we want you to be alive in christ. We want to be close to God and growing in your faith, but level one is people who are spiritually dead, you’re like, am I spiritually dead? I don’t know. Let’s look at some of these questions, Here’s some statements and our questions questions Statement one, this is from the book, it says, I don’t believe there’s a God. The bible is just a bunch of myths, religion is a crutch for the weak christians are just intolerant people. There are many ways a person can get to God. I don’t believe in hell, people just make their own health. I’ve been a good person. So when I die, everything will be OK. I’ll take my chances with the big man upstairs. There is no absolute right or wrong. If something is right for you, it’s right for you. That’s right for me. It’s right for me and vice versa. I’m spiritual, but I’m not connected with any religion. Those will be indicators if that’s your thoughts or your words that you are far from God, you don’t have a personal relationship of God with jesus and that you are spiritually dead. That’s the dead section, defined and known by unbelief. And what is, what should we do to people that are spiritually dead? We should share the gospel with them. Section two. You go from death to life Colossians 2 13, That’s the next category. We’re leveling up to level two which is infant. Spiritual infant. How old are you spiritually? Are you dead? How old are you spiritually? Are you an infant in the faith. Here’s some indicators of what you’ve said or thought that makes might be an indicator of where you’re at spiritually. I need to go to church regularly. I didn’t know that. I need to pray regularly and read the bible. I’ve never, never heard that before. How do you do that? I don’t know what the bible. I didn’t know the bible said that tithing. What’s that about? I’ve always been connected with God through nature, through being not with the people of God. Through being outdoors. I don’t need any, I don’t need anyone else. It’s just me and jesus, I need someone to regularly care for me. I didn’t know jesus God, but isn’t karma real to trinity. Huh? Now I’m confused. My wife and I got baptized on the way home from church. We got into a big fight. What’s up of all that? I thought jesus was supposed to take care of all of our lives problems by those thoughts and our words. It makes someone spiritually an infant. It’s an indicator of what might be at, where you might be at spiritually in your walk of God. How old are you? Spiritually? Are you potentially a spiritual infant level three child level three child? So we’re moving on to the next section there from an infant to a child. Level three child says, I didn’t know, I didn’t know if this church is meeting my needs anymore. Maybe I should go to a different church that meets my needs better. Don’t multiply my community group. I mean, don’t make it grow to two. Don’t multiply, it don’t make room for more people. I want all my friends and people uncomfortable to be there the one time a month ago who are all these new people coming to church? The church is too big. It’s too hard for me to park and find a parking spot anymore. This church is too big to get these people out. I want it smaller. Just me and my friends. Why? Why do we have to learn new songs? I like the old hymns better. I don’t like the music today. We should play more contemporary stuff. No one ever says hi to me at church anymore. No one ever calls me to see how I’m doing. No one ever spends time with me, me, me the pastors don’t care about me today in the lobby. A pastor, probably me looked right at me and didn’t say hello. Our small group. I mean this is straight up from the book. I’m reading you, but he wrote to his church. I’m not just, I didn’t write this. If you online, I borrowed this line dot and title. I’m stealing from this guy’s book in his church. Not you guys are perfect. Not you. It’s, it’s his church we’re learning about. So my small group is not taking care of my needs. Like they should, I wasn’t fed at all by the servants today. They don’t have a single administrate this church. This church must not care about singles. We do care about singles. And we are having a meeting with singles immediately following church at noon in the multipurpose room. So if you’re single or no person who’s single, we’d like to come to that meeting and learn about what we’re doing to come. We have a single of industry. Well I joined the worship team. Only if they asked I was helping and sending school nursery stuff. But then they didn’t feel appreciated. So I quit again. His words not mine, but I’m reading them to you and they’re coming out of my mouth. This could be indicator of what a spiritual child looks like. How old are you spiritually? Are you young adult in my devotions? I came across something out of question about, I really want to go to the Dominican republic on a mission trip this summer. I know I’m ready for it. I think God has big plans for my life. I would love being a worship leader. I think it’s something God has gifted me in and I love seeing the entire congregation lifting their hands and worship. I have a heart for my friends. I’ve been witnessing too and my friends I don’t think are comfortable coming to our small group, how big it is. Would it be possible for us to multiply so I can bring my friends to small group. Brandon and Tiffany missed our group. It seems like them. Then their kids are sick. Maybe we should fire up a meal trained to care for them. I’ll be the first one. I’ll set it up. Look at how many cars are in the parking lot today. It’s awesome. So many people at church. I had to park two whole blocks away and walk from the mini mall. It was a long walk, but it was a fine walk. I prayed for the people as I walked here. That’s how young adults respond to life is this, you are you spiritually a young adult. Next one. The last one we’re progressing around this pie chart, a spiritual parent. I wonder if God is leading me to invest in Bill to help Bill become more mature and his faith, I want to help this guy at work. He asked me to explain the bible to him, pray for me as I study and spend time with him looking at the bible. We get to baptize someone at our small group tonight. When is the next membership class we can get them to. I know how important is to get them plugged into church to be healthy in their growth. Our small group is going on a mission trip, pray for me. The pastors asked me to lead and have responsibilities. The most important disciples in my life are my Children. Will you hold me accountable as I lead them in devotions on a daily basis. I get so busy and I’m inconsistent with them. I want to be conscious of the influences of the world and actions on me and others. I’m going to the husker game for Bill and Betty, I could easily get upset at the referees as now Bill and Betty are baby christians help me as I try to set an example for them. I have a spiritual child and my community group who is causing conflicts pray with me that I’ll be patient as I lead them through this difficult stage of a young adults who is, who is ready to be an apprentice in our community group. It won’t be long until we are ready to start and multiply a new community group. So how old are you spiritually ha lays out the goal for this church and colossians, which I would propose to use the same goal for this church. In Lincoln Colossians 128 We proclaim him, Jesus Warning and teaching everyone with all wisdom so that we may present everyone mature in Christ. What is the purpose and vision for why we gather to become more mature like christ. What is the purpose and vision for? Wire community groups gather to grow in the maturity to become spiritually mature like christ. So this passage 1.1 picture one, a mature church, not an old church but a spiritually mature church. That’s the prototypical goal of what is Pal paints in that book of Colossians. We go to the next passage, the next point, the next picture we find that in Thessalonians and so there’s this is how we deal with one other in the context of community, what compelling community looks like and some very practical strategy, strategic applications for your life. There’s what you need to know in the bible, then there’s what you need to do this verse, we’re stopping at on our tour of compelling community is very practical. So if you’re a practical person like me, you perk up last gospel motivations matter. The first passage we looked like cautions definitely matters. And this is some practical how to how to exercise and make this happen. So look, if you’re a Thessalonians christian sitting in a Thessaloniki Thessaloniki in church and you’re on the ancient Youtube, you’re like how to make church people mature, how to make a christian mature up with pop paul, a guru. He’ll be like, hi paul here answering your questions and he would read to you first thessalonians 5 14 and says this and we encourage you. I’m sorry and we exhort you paul talking to you. This is to you christians. It’s not just the pay passers and not just the staff, not just the leaders, not just this is to you as young adult and adult christians. This is your verse. I mean, I’m gonna obey it too. But this is your responsibility. It’s not just someone else’s job. This is your job. If this is your church, this is your compelling community. This word is for you christian and we exhort you brothers and sisters warn those who are idle comfort. The discouraged. Help the weak. Be patient with everyone. Warn exhort you all christians. We exhort, You warn those who are idle comfort. The discouraged. Help the weak, be patient with everyone. There’s tools in your christian toolbox tools in your christian belt. You need to have and this is your responsibility, your biblical mandate, it’s your job, your job to obey that verse. And there’s words in there that you probably use or don’t use. First word is exhort. And a quick google definition means exhort means to strongly encourage, I was talking to a brother right back there earlier this week and he’s passionate and gifted at exhorting men to quote wake up from their slumber of sexual sin in their lives and snap out of a life of complacency and live the Godly life. God has called them to right back there. He was talking about how he feels passionate about warning and waking up guys, he exhorts men to pursue holiness and be the Godly man God has called them to. He’s been doing it for a while. He’s passionate about it. He exhorts men strongly encourages men to be sexually pure. That’s an example of what exhortation looks like. The second word there is warm warren means to inform someone in advance of an impending or possible danger or problem or an unpleasant situation. You’re warning someone, there’s christians in your life that you know and see I have this guess about what’s happening in life and they need a good warning from us, all of us, not just me, not just damn, not just shame. Not just been not just derek all hands on deck team, We need to be warning each other, you could be thinking, you’re saying this to someone in your life. If you’re warning someone, if you don’t get going on leading and instructing your young son or daughter in a way that the bible paints, you have a storm cloud coming of problems parent, you know, we have a gift for you have a gift for you if you want later. You can ask me later. But the bible says a lot about parenting and it sure seems like you don’t know what the bible says. You don’t want to do what the bible says about parenting. So wait, there’s problems coming, that kids getting bigger. They’re probably gonna get bigger. Maybe we should uh, learn what the bible says about how to raise college kids bible says a lot about raising kids. We need to warn each other. That’s an example of warren from my last week next section comfort. This word means the easing or alleviation of a person’s feeling of grief or distress. And I said first service. I’m not very good at this, but many other people are and one guy came to me after the first service and said actually, I think you’re okay at this. Then he told me I was okay. One guy in the whole entire first service thinks I’m good at this. I don’t know, I’m not that good at this, but I do know that many other pastors and and spiritual leaders and leaders. Fathers and mothers in the faith in our church are very compassionate, comforting people in this church. It is amazing how tender and sweet we have a deer group of minimum that really love for people. Well if my life blew up and I was bleeding out spiritually, just I’d want to be here with these people, they would care for me really well, a selfish way. But I know the people we have in the trenches that are loving people well we have a lot of men, women that really have a heart to alleviate and help people personal feelings of grief and distress, moving on. Help serve someone in a practical needs. Many community groups really care for their own well we care for our own and community as well to help people move to help people find jobs to help people with meal trains, diaper trains, they help babysit, they seem to be there to help each other many, many times if you get into a community that they tend to really care for each other. Well, I know I’ve I’ve moved four times in my life bought and renovated houses everyone along the way and my fourth house, it was me and my wife and then Berna and Kristin showed up and helped unload everything I owned, you know, because it was like started eight in the morning, you know, which is when I can get into my house after I signed and closed on it and then burn on kristen and I and he unloaded my entire possessions and put in my house and then guys came and other people came as the day went on. But there’s this big heroic heart to serve each other at these community groups and I love that, that’s precious to us. That’s precious to God. That’s a real practical thing. You do, you help each other as community groups, patients able to accept or tolerate delays problems or suffering without becoming annoyed or anxious, annoyed or anxious. If you’re a parent you’re smiling and you know, you could be annoyed and anxious if your kids at times, but a good parent doesn’t take their three year old can be like johnny, Why aren’t you 14? I mean they just kind of kids are messy, they make mistakes, they fill diapers, they spit up, they throw tantrums at the worst popular time and they’re like, why are you doing? You’ve been fine all day. And then right now just you know, Hiroshima goes off and my toddler is freaking out. I don’t check it out of Walmart. I mean, I know what it’s like to be apparent little babies. Little infants and toddlers, they’re inconvenient at times, God bless them, we love them, but I’m not great, but my wife is so keep focusing so patient. It’s a process. The pastors that leave this church are very patient men, the community leaders in this church are very patient leaders. The spiritual fathers and mothers in this church, the mature people in this church are patient and I’m grateful for that and I think that is that mark of something that’s healthy and mature in a christian, how do you make people mature in christ, you need to be patient? So let’s look at that verse again, this is the practical how to work this out. First, Thessalonians 5 14 and we exhort you brothers and sisters warned those who are idle comfort, the discouraged, help, the weak, be patient with everyone. Third passage, third point 3rd picture of what compelling community looks like. So colossians theme is spiritual maturity. Thessalonians theme is having hard conversations, I didn’t say that. Well, I’m just gonna, that’s what the theme is, that’s all those words aren’t like things you look forward to doing, I want to exhort someone today, I want to warn someone today, I mean it’s having not fun combos in love. The third theme here we find in Matthew, that’s the mission, all community aspects of compelling community. The purpose of our community is to help draw us to jesus and the watching world into this christian community. In a relationship of jesus Look at Matthew 936-38 says this when he Jesus saw the crowds, he felt compassion for them because they were distressed and dejected like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, the harvest is abundant, but the workers are few. Therefore pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest, pray to the Lord of the harvest send out workers into his harvest. The timing of this merger has been a God sent the generosity of God brought about a heroic team of all stars, Derek and dan Alex Chloe and Ryan to join us and then all the RCC faithful people have been a huge blessing to us as a church that is just an amazing godsend. We’ve been praying since I think february uh luke tend to which is the same parallel passage of that Matthew nine verse but it talks about praying the Lord of the harvest more and laborers. Um the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few and God graciously gave us a whole bunch of laborers with this church merged, which is an amazing gift of God and as the attendance has spiked the last three weeks here at this church, it is so grateful to have Derek and dan Alex Chloe and Ryan and all the RCC faithful to help us love and pursue the people. So let’s look back at the passage sheep without a shepherd is what he calls the people. He sees the message, jesus is the heart of compassion and burden for people. Jesus sees people, he doesn’t know he has a heart and compassion and burden for them. When you see people on sunday morning and you look around, you get excited, you get frustrated. Are you mad, are you fearful when I see people, I don’t know a church on sunday morning and I see a lot of people and faces, I don’t know, I have to stand in front of and talk to and I just met them for the first time, I feel a responsibility wait on me, I’m so grateful for many good people that want to help love these people shepherd these people of God. God used the word sheep for a reason, I’m gonna keep going, but there’s a heart of compassion and burden, responsibility and love to care for sheep. We need more laborers in this church, we need more leaders, more learners, we need more spiritual adults in this church and young adults in this church, in this faith community to care for God’s people that he’s bringing. People are not christians, baby christians pre christians, post christians toddlers, teens, all those different spiritual steps in their faith, we need more help And I want to close with this amazing picture of Jesus talking to disciples about compelling community, he says this in John 13, jesus talking, he said, I give you a new command, love one another just as I have loved you, you are also to love one another by this, this is the measure of your love for one another, by this, everyone will know you are my disciples if you love one another, the city of Lincoln will be compelled to think, jesus real and God can be trusted and I’m gonna give my life to that when they see christian community played out well when we fight and divide and each other alive as christians, it is very obvious what everyone else in this world does, but when christians come together under the umbrella of the Gospel, the unifying work of jesus christ and the Gospel and we live in an uncanny way that is so compelling to this world. Our city is desperately looking for friends, looking for community, looking for people who used to belong, people to accept them, people to affirm their life and be in their life. Art world is lonely, more lonely now and anxious now and depressed now than they’ve ever been in the history of surveys our culture, our city is desperately lonely and they’re jealous of what you have, if they knew what you have and we, by the way we love one another, the measure of the standard of how you love one another, the whole world will know you’re my disciples, the whole city of Lincoln will know you’re my disciples by how you love one another. Solar church, John 1334 and 35, I give you a new command, love one another another just as I have loved you, you also you are also to love one another by this, what’s this, this is the standard of love you have for each other by this, everyone will know you are my disciples, if you love one another. So as we close if you need to this church, if you need to the Gospel. If you need to jesus in general, I invite you to pray a private bold prayer here later during our communion time. You can pray a simple prayer like God if you’re real, show yourself real to me. I also invite you to read the biggest boldest baddest book in the world that’s ever been read. It’s the bible might as well start with the main character, the bible Matthew, Mark luke and john those are four different narratives for different eyewitness accounts of who jesus christ is, what he said and what he did read about the most compelling character in the bible, jesus, the God man, we have a free gift for you. A resource library around the corner there behind the kid checking station, come and grab a free bible on us. If you promise to read one of those chapters of books of Matthew Mark luke and john you can have it. I invite you to read the boldest book that’s ever been written, go to the words and actions of the main character, jesus, I dare you to read the bible, read about jesus and go away and change. If you’re new to jesus, the gospel christian community, a K A Church in general, you can scan the QR code, fill out of physical, digital, physical and digital greeting card, it’s up to you however you want to connect and we love to grab a cup of coffee. If you would love to get to know you questions or whatever, we’d love to get to know you if you’re with the RC, if you’re the sewer faithful, the sore faithful, you know who I am. You’ve been here for a while at this building last four or five years, you know what’s going on? You’ve been around. I challenge you don’t be a statistic, compelling community, authentic christian community doesn’t happen by accident. This whole last 18 months of Christian experience of living the Christian life, there’s been a statistical drift that’s been happening in the big C. Church. People came once a month, come once a quarter, people that come twice a month come once a month, people that come four times in a row, five times in a row started to come 2 to 3 times a month. There’s been this slow slip into statistical obscurity that’s been happening, Christianity, compelling christian community needs you to make a compelling because you’re so great. But we need you, the church needs you and you need it. So our faithful don’t let marginal statistical church attendance of the big C church or the little C community group community define your walk of God, make christian community a priority in your schedule, the church needs you loving learning and leading others who are younger in the faith, it’s a spiritual maturity. If the RCC faithful connect with dan Derek or Derek and ask which community might be a good fit for you. They have some suggestions and they may have already worked through all y’all and told you all were that you might try out but we’re so grateful you’re here, you guys are a big blessing. It’s been fun to meet you all learn your names. If you’re new to Solar Church and you’re not new to Christianity and jesus in church, I challenge you to look at church with fresh eyes. I challenge you to think of christian community compelling community again and I know you might have been hurt at life. I get it. I mean if anyone gets being hurt, trust me it’s pastors, they’re more hurt. The most hurt christian in the room probably as a pastor that’s been exposed, the more heartache and pain and suffering, then maybe you’re explaining I could be wrong, but most pastors have been carrying more wounds than you’d expect but the community still compelling because christ is still compelling. The gospel still compelling. There’s no such thing as a perfect church. The second we walk into its imperfect, there’s no such thing as a perfect community group. The second you and I walk into it, it’s now imperfect. I know it’s hard when you’ve been hurt but the gospel is bigger than jesus bigger, only jesus can meet those needs in your life and I ain’t jesus, I’m not perfect dan is not perfect. Derek is not perfect. Ben is not perfect Shane might be perfect. I’m joking. Uh churches are filled with imperfect people and imperfect pastors who meanwhile and don’t normally, you know, maliciously come after you and try to hurt you. But again remember the spiritual, well, you know, we don’t know where we’re all at spiritually. So let’s let’s make decisions as adults here, right? So I challenge you when you’re ready, when you have sought the Lord to jump back into that compelling community. Again to love people like you’ve never been hurt love people like jesus loves people and jesus been hurt. She’s been hurt by people and he loved people and he loves so much for them. He bled out and died for them. So I mean we’ve not been heard to that level christians, we don’t maliciously hurt people. We need you, Jesus needs you, the kingdom of God needs you. The mission needs you and God will lead us church. Will you pray with me? I did not stop my stopwatch at the right time. So I think I’m over. But you’ll give me grace, let’s pray God, I thank you for these christians, thank you for what you’re doing in their life and his amazing thing you are doing in their life. God, we just want to stay out of the way unless you work, create the word of God and the gospel and the people of God would carry out the mission of God Lord, I pray. We would live and have many, many compelling communities all over this city. People who love you and are led by you. We pray in jesus name. Amen.