WEBVTT 00:00:00.340 --> 00:00:02.459 All righty. Well, like I said, my name's Greg. 00:00:02.680 --> 00:00:04.740 I am one of the pastors here along with Pastor 00:00:04.740 --> 00:00:07.839 Marissa and Pastor Jen. They just got back from 00:00:07.839 --> 00:00:11.300 Greece on Friday for the missions work that Jen 00:00:11.300 --> 00:00:14.259 specifically does with one collective with the 00:00:14.259 --> 00:00:17.960 children of missionaries. And so I'm sure she'll 00:00:17.960 --> 00:00:19.559 be happy to fill in. We're going to have a house 00:00:19.559 --> 00:00:21.859 party potluck after church today, so plenty of 00:00:21.859 --> 00:00:25.379 time to ask questions about Greece. And look 00:00:25.379 --> 00:00:29.219 at pictures if you... We are in the third week 00:00:29.219 --> 00:00:32.259 of a series that is called The Blueprint. This 00:00:32.259 --> 00:00:34.259 is a reoccurring series that we do every four 00:00:34.259 --> 00:00:37.060 years because it's a series about discipleship. 00:00:37.259 --> 00:00:41.200 And if we call ourselves a Christian, any of 00:00:41.200 --> 00:00:43.939 us, if we call ourselves a Christian, then Jesus 00:00:43.939 --> 00:00:46.579 would look at us and say, you are my disciple. 00:00:46.780 --> 00:00:50.060 And so there is kind of a need to ask, well, 00:00:50.100 --> 00:00:53.920 how am I discipled? How do I follow Jesus? Last 00:00:53.920 --> 00:00:56.500 week we started with the concept. that the first 00:00:56.500 --> 00:01:00.630 thing that Jesus is calling you to is rest. Come 00:01:00.630 --> 00:01:03.070 to me, all who are weak and weary. I will give 00:01:03.070 --> 00:01:05.109 you rest. I love the idea that even if you go 00:01:05.109 --> 00:01:08.069 back to the creation story, that it says that 00:01:08.069 --> 00:01:10.650 God created for six days and then on the seventh 00:01:10.650 --> 00:01:16.879 day rested. Rest has been important from the 00:01:17.079 --> 00:01:20.420 beginning. You're not called to immediately enact 00:01:20.420 --> 00:01:25.299 some grand plan or purpose. God isn't. beckoning 00:01:25.299 --> 00:01:27.900 you to immediately start working the first day 00:01:27.900 --> 00:01:31.719 you follow Jesus but we are also not meant to 00:01:31.719 --> 00:01:39.040 only rest we're meant to live we're meant to 00:01:39.040 --> 00:01:43.519 work actually the name of our church when we 00:01:43.519 --> 00:01:49.180 decided to plant this church 13 years ago I Jen 00:01:49.180 --> 00:01:52.180 and I had been in ministry a long time ago together. 00:01:52.459 --> 00:01:55.019 And she had always had this idea of having something 00:01:55.019 --> 00:01:56.500 called the art house. It would just be a little 00:01:56.500 --> 00:01:59.719 house that would be converted into like a cafe 00:01:59.719 --> 00:02:01.799 with rooms that you could rent to do art or have 00:02:01.799 --> 00:02:03.939 a studio. And there would be like spoken word 00:02:03.939 --> 00:02:05.920 or music and all this stuff, cool stuff in it. 00:02:05.980 --> 00:02:08.039 And she wanted to call it the art house and spell 00:02:08.039 --> 00:02:10.919 it the German way, H -A -U -S. And by the way, 00:02:10.979 --> 00:02:14.819 none of this is in my notes. And I remembered 00:02:14.819 --> 00:02:17.039 that when it came time that God put it in my 00:02:17.039 --> 00:02:19.789 heart to... Plants Church. And I just felt like, 00:02:19.830 --> 00:02:21.409 oh, I just feel like it's supposed to be called 00:02:21.409 --> 00:02:25.509 the house. And so I looked up in German like 00:02:25.509 --> 00:02:31.710 the, is that the, what's the word for the origin 00:02:31.710 --> 00:02:35.449 of a word? The etymology, yeah. I was going to 00:02:35.449 --> 00:02:37.830 say the epistemology, but that's about the books 00:02:37.830 --> 00:02:40.629 of the Bible. The etymology of the word house 00:02:40.629 --> 00:02:44.389 in German. And it was to have been a part of, 00:02:44.710 --> 00:02:47.669 it was to have lived and worked in a great house. 00:02:50.460 --> 00:02:53.620 And we have said from the beginning, we rest, 00:02:53.819 --> 00:02:58.099 live, and work in a great house. And so we're 00:02:58.099 --> 00:03:00.460 not only meant to rest, we are meant to live, 00:03:00.639 --> 00:03:04.210 we are meant to work. Part of the reason we can't 00:03:04.210 --> 00:03:07.050 only rest is because if we only rest, our bodies 00:03:07.050 --> 00:03:13.750 atrophy. If we don't ever put our hands to any 00:03:13.750 --> 00:03:17.650 work, our muscles atrophy, and the same thing 00:03:17.650 --> 00:03:20.629 can happen. Inside the body of a church, the 00:03:20.629 --> 00:03:25.870 church can begin to atrophy. And the trouble 00:03:25.870 --> 00:03:29.229 with that is that if we atrophy, things that 00:03:29.229 --> 00:03:35.020 are light can feel heavy. If we atrophy, things 00:03:35.020 --> 00:03:39.340 that start to feel heavy, things that are easy 00:03:39.340 --> 00:03:48.090 start feeling difficult. I think anything that 00:03:48.090 --> 00:03:50.849 we talk about in the context of this series could 00:03:50.849 --> 00:03:56.620 feel difficult. We don't have any of those muscles 00:03:56.620 --> 00:04:00.900 developed yet. Or if we had them and we allowed 00:04:00.900 --> 00:04:05.789 them to begin to atrophy. But discipleship is 00:04:05.789 --> 00:04:10.250 meant to strengthen our spiritual lives. In a 00:04:10.250 --> 00:04:12.810 minute, when I read the scriptures, I'll pray 00:04:12.810 --> 00:04:15.590 a prayer very similar to what I pray every time 00:04:15.590 --> 00:04:18.829 I read the scriptures. In it, it will say, whatever 00:04:18.829 --> 00:04:21.430 you have to teach us today, Lord, let it stick. 00:04:21.550 --> 00:04:23.430 May it become a part of the framework of our 00:04:23.430 --> 00:04:26.939 faith that we might become, our faith might become 00:04:26.939 --> 00:04:30.939 stronger as we become more like your son Jesus. 00:04:31.699 --> 00:04:34.019 Discipleship is about strengthening those spiritual 00:04:34.019 --> 00:04:40.730 muscles as we become more like Jesus. So let 00:04:40.730 --> 00:04:43.720 me just say right up front today, the topic is 00:04:43.720 --> 00:04:46.220 living at the table, and living at the table 00:04:46.220 --> 00:04:51.490 can feel difficult, but I promise that there 00:04:51.490 --> 00:04:53.550 is life at the table, and that is why it's called 00:04:53.550 --> 00:04:58.420 Live At. The table. So let's open up our Bibles. 00:04:58.920 --> 00:05:02.319 If you don't have a Bible, there are blue Bibles 00:05:02.319 --> 00:05:05.339 on the tables, or you can download one from any 00:05:05.339 --> 00:05:07.860 of the digital app stores. You can take one of 00:05:07.860 --> 00:05:10.379 these Bibles home if you need one. I'm going 00:05:10.379 --> 00:05:12.279 to read from two different places. The longer 00:05:12.279 --> 00:05:14.459 one is going to be in Acts 2, starting in verse 00:05:14.459 --> 00:05:19.670 42. The other one is just going to be one verse 00:05:19.670 --> 00:05:22.889 in Luke chapter 4, verse 16. You can open to 00:05:22.889 --> 00:05:26.389 either of those, Acts 2 or Luke 6. Either one. 00:05:27.230 --> 00:05:31.569 We have a tradition here at the house that in 00:05:31.569 --> 00:05:34.149 the context of the sermon, when the scripture 00:05:34.149 --> 00:05:36.949 is read, we give it our full attention. You can 00:05:36.949 --> 00:05:39.629 do that in any way that you know it will give 00:05:39.629 --> 00:05:41.490 the most attention to the scriptures. But if 00:05:41.490 --> 00:05:44.129 you'd like to join me in standing, you are also 00:05:44.129 --> 00:05:46.509 welcome to do that. I'm going to read from Acts 00:05:46.509 --> 00:05:51.949 2, starting in verse 42 first. It says this, 00:05:52.110 --> 00:05:56.230 All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles' 00:05:56.490 --> 00:05:59.889 teaching and to fellowship, and to sharing in 00:05:59.889 --> 00:06:03.089 meals including the Lord's Supper, and to prayer. 00:06:03.589 --> 00:06:07.029 A deep sense of awe came over them all, and the 00:06:07.029 --> 00:06:09.370 apostles performed many miraculous signs and 00:06:09.370 --> 00:06:12.899 wonders. And all the believers met together in 00:06:12.899 --> 00:06:15.980 one place and shared everything they had. They 00:06:15.980 --> 00:06:18.839 sold their property and possessions and shared 00:06:18.839 --> 00:06:21.680 the money with those in need. They worshipped 00:06:21.680 --> 00:06:25.959 together at the temple each day. met in homes 00:06:25.959 --> 00:06:28.220 for the Lord's Supper and shared their meals 00:06:28.220 --> 00:06:31.639 with great joy and generosity, all the while 00:06:31.639 --> 00:06:35.819 praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all 00:06:35.819 --> 00:06:38.740 the people. And each day the Lord added to their 00:06:38.740 --> 00:06:42.860 fellowship those who were being saved. And Luke 00:06:42.860 --> 00:06:47.019 4 verse 16 just says this, When Jesus came to 00:06:47.019 --> 00:06:50.319 Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went 00:06:50.319 --> 00:06:53.660 to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, as was his 00:06:53.660 --> 00:06:59.009 custom. Let us pray. God of every tribe, every 00:06:59.009 --> 00:07:02.110 tongue, every color, every nation, we thank you 00:07:02.110 --> 00:07:04.730 for the scriptures that they have persisted throughout 00:07:04.730 --> 00:07:08.050 the millennia that we still have them to listen 00:07:08.050 --> 00:07:10.509 to, to read, to learn from. And whatever you 00:07:10.509 --> 00:07:13.360 have for us today, I pray that it would stick, 00:07:13.480 --> 00:07:15.959 that it would become a part of the framework 00:07:15.959 --> 00:07:21.050 of our faith as our faith becomes stronger and 00:07:21.339 --> 00:07:25.379 as we become more like your son, Jesus. Amen. 00:07:25.980 --> 00:07:33.519 Amen. You can all have a seat. Thanks. All right, 00:07:33.519 --> 00:07:35.790 everyone. This one's easy. Two -minute sermon. 00:07:38.160 --> 00:07:40.579 This one will let you prove it. I shouldn't have 00:07:40.579 --> 00:07:43.860 said that. This one only has one step. Live at 00:07:43.860 --> 00:07:47.879 the table literally only has one step. Anyone 00:07:47.879 --> 00:07:53.509 want to guess what it is? Go to church. Living 00:07:53.509 --> 00:07:57.370 at the table starts with one step. Going to church 00:07:57.370 --> 00:08:04.279 every week and more if possible. One step. Go 00:08:04.279 --> 00:08:07.029 to church. Worship God with each other every 00:08:07.029 --> 00:08:14.230 week and more often if at all possible. So if 00:08:14.230 --> 00:08:15.709 you're here, just give yourselves a round of 00:08:15.709 --> 00:08:18.649 applause. You did it. Look at this. You guys, 00:08:18.670 --> 00:08:22.180 you did it. Like I said, there you go. That's 00:08:22.180 --> 00:08:28.209 your sermon. That's pretty much it. Go to church 00:08:28.209 --> 00:08:32.570 every week, if not more. Maybe it sounds like 00:08:32.570 --> 00:08:35.509 I'm kidding or like I'm exaggerating, but I really 00:08:35.509 --> 00:08:40.149 am not. step, or really the whole of living at 00:08:40.149 --> 00:08:44.529 the table, is being here, is being with each 00:08:44.529 --> 00:08:47.350 other, of making that a priority. Because if 00:08:47.350 --> 00:08:50.789 we are Christians, then we are what? We are disciples, 00:08:50.889 --> 00:08:58.600 and we're meant to be like Jesus. And if I know 00:08:59.049 --> 00:09:02.620 Jesus, I'm pretty sure that Jesus goes to church 00:09:02.620 --> 00:09:08.500 every week. Luke 4, 16 says this about our Lord, 00:09:08.600 --> 00:09:12.039 about our Savior. about the one that we are meant 00:09:12.039 --> 00:09:16.360 to live to be like. It says, when he came to 00:09:16.360 --> 00:09:19.139 Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went 00:09:19.139 --> 00:09:23.059 to the synagogue on Sabbath day as was his custom. 00:09:23.220 --> 00:09:26.240 And I even looked this up just to make sure that 00:09:26.240 --> 00:09:28.299 what this verse meant wasn't that just when he 00:09:28.299 --> 00:09:32.480 went to Nazareth that he went to synagogue. You 00:09:32.480 --> 00:09:34.620 know, like, oh, I went to visit grandma or my 00:09:34.620 --> 00:09:38.340 friend in Tampa, and so I went to their church. 00:09:38.519 --> 00:09:41.730 No. It's not saying that whenever he went to 00:09:41.730 --> 00:09:44.450 Nazareth that he would go to synagogue or what 00:09:44.450 --> 00:09:47.830 we would think of as church on the Sabbath. It 00:09:47.830 --> 00:09:52.129 means that it was his custom on Saturdays to 00:09:52.129 --> 00:09:55.990 go to synagogue and be with his Jewish brothers 00:09:55.990 --> 00:09:59.669 and sisters and hear the word, maybe even sing 00:09:59.669 --> 00:10:04.600 a psalm together. The implication is that this 00:10:04.600 --> 00:10:08.899 was a pattern and a religious habit and custom. 00:10:09.389 --> 00:10:14.519 of Jesus's life. And then for the Jewish person, 00:10:14.639 --> 00:10:18.659 we have to remember that synagogue on Saturday 00:10:18.659 --> 00:10:21.299 was the equivalent of what we modern Christians 00:10:21.299 --> 00:10:26.460 would think of as church on Sunday. So Jesus 00:10:26.460 --> 00:10:30.289 was going to church every week. Think about it. 00:10:30.370 --> 00:10:32.789 He was already with his disciples every day. 00:10:34.299 --> 00:10:38.059 He was already going around performing miracles, 00:10:38.200 --> 00:10:41.960 preaching sermons, the Sermon on the Mount, confronting. 00:10:43.409 --> 00:10:45.970 religious authorities that had started to lead 00:10:45.970 --> 00:10:48.649 people astray. He was doing all of those things, 00:10:48.730 --> 00:10:52.690 and yet he still found himself in synagogue on 00:10:53.299 --> 00:10:59.809 Saturday. And this is an important point. It 00:10:59.809 --> 00:11:05.139 wasn't work. For Jesus to go to church was not 00:11:05.139 --> 00:11:08.759 work. What do I mean? What day was it happening 00:11:08.759 --> 00:11:11.840 on? Just say it. It was happening on the Sabbath, 00:11:11.980 --> 00:11:17.049 right? Judaism prohibits work on the Sabbath. 00:11:17.840 --> 00:11:21.659 Matter of fact, there is a long, long list of 00:11:21.659 --> 00:11:25.620 things that Pharisees and religious leaders had 00:11:25.620 --> 00:11:28.039 written out and developed just to make sure that 00:11:28.039 --> 00:11:31.179 nobody worked on the Sabbath. You can't do this. 00:11:31.179 --> 00:11:32.840 You can't do this. You can't do this. You can't 00:11:32.840 --> 00:11:37.169 do this. What wasn't on that list? Going to synagogue. 00:11:38.299 --> 00:11:41.399 Because going to be with each other that you 00:11:41.399 --> 00:11:44.879 might hear the word and worship God together 00:11:44.879 --> 00:11:50.779 is not work. Sometimes it feels like it. Sometimes 00:11:50.779 --> 00:11:54.169 it feels like it. It's not meant to be work. 00:11:57.000 --> 00:12:02.070 It is meant to be life. So then we have the example 00:12:02.070 --> 00:12:07.120 of the first church in Acts chapter 2. What happened 00:12:07.120 --> 00:12:10.519 was Jesus said, resurrected. He spent time talking 00:12:10.519 --> 00:12:13.899 to his disciples, appearing to others. He ascends. 00:12:13.899 --> 00:12:16.500 The angel says, for surely he will come back 00:12:16.500 --> 00:12:19.730 in the same way that he has left. Shortly thereafter, 00:12:19.970 --> 00:12:23.110 on Pentecost Sunday, it says that the Holy Spirit 00:12:23.110 --> 00:12:26.309 falls upon the disciples as though tongues of 00:12:26.309 --> 00:12:30.429 fire and gave them the ability to preach in such 00:12:30.429 --> 00:12:32.409 a way that people from all the different places 00:12:32.409 --> 00:12:35.210 understood their own dialect and language. And 00:12:35.210 --> 00:12:38.350 thousands of people came to believe in Jesus 00:12:38.350 --> 00:12:41.769 on that day. And Acts 2 is describing the people 00:12:41.769 --> 00:12:45.139 that stayed. It said, we're going to follow this 00:12:45.139 --> 00:12:47.340 guy, even though we never saw him in person. 00:12:48.659 --> 00:12:51.879 We're going to follow this person. And it says 00:12:51.879 --> 00:12:53.600 that they met together in the temple courts. 00:12:53.700 --> 00:12:59.879 How often? Well, it says daily. It says they 00:12:59.879 --> 00:13:02.220 met together and broke bread in their homes. 00:13:03.320 --> 00:13:05.580 It says that they devoted themselves to the apostles' 00:13:05.779 --> 00:13:09.340 teaching, to fellowship, sharing in meals, selling 00:13:09.470 --> 00:13:11.629 the things that they had that no one was in need, 00:13:11.850 --> 00:13:25.840 and to prayer. I'm not going to say it. I'm not 00:13:25.840 --> 00:13:30.440 making this up. A primary priority of Christianity 00:13:30.440 --> 00:13:35.240 was? and is meant to be the regular gathering 00:13:35.240 --> 00:13:40.690 of Christians together. So listen to my heart 00:13:40.690 --> 00:13:45.940 when I say this. The way that modern Christianity, 00:13:46.809 --> 00:13:51.070 the way that, in general, modern Christians connect 00:13:51.070 --> 00:13:56.509 with their church community would be wholly foreign 00:13:56.509 --> 00:14:01.659 and deeply confusing to the first followers of 00:14:01.659 --> 00:14:08.840 Jesus. If a cohort of 5, 10, 12, 20... first 00:14:08.840 --> 00:14:13.960 century christians had somehow been teleported 00:14:13.960 --> 00:14:18.080 here and they walked into any church they would 00:14:18.080 --> 00:14:21.200 go they would go oh this must be the only christians 00:14:21.200 --> 00:14:27.519 that are in this city because it they wouldn't 00:14:27.519 --> 00:14:30.039 understand the idea that all the christians hadn't 00:14:30.039 --> 00:14:38.299 gotten together in part because they were together 00:14:38.299 --> 00:14:43.179 all the time not just now you also have to remember 00:14:43.179 --> 00:14:46.059 that in acts 2 The Christians that we're talking 00:14:46.059 --> 00:14:48.840 about here were actually all Jewish Christians. 00:14:49.720 --> 00:14:54.179 And there is historical reason to believe that 00:14:54.179 --> 00:14:57.340 not only did they worship together in their sense 00:14:57.340 --> 00:14:59.480 of following Jesus, but they also still went 00:14:59.480 --> 00:15:03.549 to synagogue on Saturdays. They had this deep 00:15:03.549 --> 00:15:06.750 desire to continually be around each other because 00:15:06.750 --> 00:15:09.570 of who Jesus is, because of the desire to be 00:15:09.570 --> 00:15:13.070 like Jesus, and the desire for the world to see 00:15:13.070 --> 00:15:18.840 who Jesus is. And listen, I am not a church growth 00:15:18.840 --> 00:15:22.110 guy. I have no interest in, oh, I ought to grow 00:15:22.110 --> 00:15:24.330 this church as big as I can. That is not at all 00:15:24.330 --> 00:15:27.289 what this is about. But there is something about 00:15:27.289 --> 00:15:30.470 a bunch of people getting together that causes 00:15:30.470 --> 00:15:32.269 other people to go, what are they getting together 00:15:32.269 --> 00:15:39.029 for? There's been sociological research that 00:15:39.029 --> 00:15:41.769 if you have people form a line somewhere and 00:15:41.769 --> 00:15:44.429 it's for nothing, that people will go, what's 00:15:44.429 --> 00:15:48.090 that for, and want to get in the line. There 00:15:48.090 --> 00:15:50.429 is something about getting together that makes 00:15:50.429 --> 00:15:55.659 people go, should I be there? What's at the end 00:15:55.659 --> 00:16:02.120 of that line? This thing about the early Christians 00:16:02.120 --> 00:16:11.100 was that it wasn't easy for them. See, this is 00:16:11.100 --> 00:16:14.639 what a scholar, Valerie Alikin, wrote. This is 00:16:14.639 --> 00:16:16.639 about the early church, and this is about the 00:16:16.639 --> 00:16:19.519 church in the year 112 A .D., so about 80 years 00:16:19.519 --> 00:16:22.460 after the ascension of Christ. She says, quote, 00:16:22.860 --> 00:16:25.139 Christians began to hold services of prayer and 00:16:25.139 --> 00:16:31.370 singing on Sunday morning before work. Another 00:16:31.370 --> 00:16:34.750 scholar wrote, because Sunday was an ordinary 00:16:34.750 --> 00:16:38.549 work day, Christians were compelled to meet in 00:16:38.549 --> 00:16:44.309 the pre -dawn darkness. Sunday wasn't always 00:16:44.309 --> 00:16:48.529 the weekend, y 'all. Sunday used to be work day. 00:16:50.009 --> 00:16:52.710 It wasn't until Constantine in the year 312, 00:16:52.970 --> 00:16:56.090 the emperor that converted to Christianity. 200 00:16:56.090 --> 00:16:59.879 years. after the first church started, it wasn't 00:16:59.879 --> 00:17:04.059 until then that the empire made Sunday a day 00:17:04.059 --> 00:17:06.799 of rest. And do you know why they made it a day 00:17:06.799 --> 00:17:09.440 of rest? Because Constantine the emperor became 00:17:09.440 --> 00:17:12.740 a Christian and wanted to honor the day of the 00:17:12.740 --> 00:17:16.880 Lord, the Lord's day, to commemorate weekly that 00:17:16.880 --> 00:17:21.990 this is the day our Lord was resurrected. And 00:17:21.990 --> 00:17:25.829 so why would any of us work when we could all 00:17:25.829 --> 00:17:32.589 worship together? Getting together. Worshiping 00:17:32.589 --> 00:17:35.730 together was so important to the church that 00:17:35.730 --> 00:17:40.220 they were meeting before the dawn on Sundays 00:17:40.220 --> 00:17:43.539 to worship. That would be like me announcing 00:17:43.539 --> 00:17:45.880 or the elders of the church announcing, hey, 00:17:45.900 --> 00:17:50.119 y 'all, we're going to try something. No more 00:17:50.119 --> 00:17:53.980 Sunday services. We're all going to be here 6 00:17:53.980 --> 00:17:59.609 a .m. on Mondays. And don't answer. I'm telling 00:17:59.609 --> 00:18:01.369 you, don't raise your hand. Don't say anything 00:18:01.369 --> 00:18:04.369 out loud. Don't even like. wince when I say this. 00:18:04.410 --> 00:18:05.849 I don't want anyone to feel judged by anyone 00:18:05.849 --> 00:18:07.809 around them. But how many of us would show up 00:18:07.809 --> 00:18:13.920 at 6 a .m. on Mondays? We would have a hard time 00:18:13.920 --> 00:18:17.839 wrapping our modern -day American minds around 00:18:17.839 --> 00:18:20.859 the idea that, wait, wait, it's not on Sunday? 00:18:21.200 --> 00:18:29.039 But I have to go to work. Can we move it? The 00:18:29.039 --> 00:18:32.400 reality is that, maybe sadly, is that no matter 00:18:32.400 --> 00:18:34.519 what day or time it happens, church attendance 00:18:34.519 --> 00:18:39.990 has taken a nosedive since 1990. In part because... 00:18:40.569 --> 00:18:42.869 Of the number of Christians that are in America 00:18:42.869 --> 00:18:51.140 now. So in 1990, 90 % of Americans self -identified 00:18:51.140 --> 00:18:54.119 as Christian. Some of that is cultural, like 00:18:54.119 --> 00:18:56.279 just the culture of Christianity. Oh, yeah, of 00:18:56.279 --> 00:19:00.000 course I'm a Christian. But 90 % of Americans 00:19:00.000 --> 00:19:06.339 self -identified as Christians. And about half, 00:19:06.480 --> 00:19:08.740 statistically speaking, half of those people. 00:19:10.529 --> 00:19:15.740 reported being at church every single week. So 00:19:15.740 --> 00:19:19.019 you got 90 % of whatever the population of America 00:19:19.019 --> 00:19:22.220 was in 1990, and then 50 % of that was at church 00:19:22.220 --> 00:19:30.700 every single week. So today, in 2026, anyone 00:19:30.700 --> 00:19:33.759 want to guess how many define or identify themselves 00:19:33.759 --> 00:19:39.269 as Christians? Just throw out a percentage. Well, 00:19:39.410 --> 00:19:45.490 I've got some good news for you. 63%. 63%. It's 00:19:45.490 --> 00:19:49.809 gone down from 90 to 63 in the last 36 years. 00:19:52.589 --> 00:19:55.190 The number of people that are Christians that 00:19:55.190 --> 00:19:58.309 self -identify as Christians and say they attend 00:19:58.309 --> 00:20:05.640 church weekly, that's 37. Yeah, 37%. So not only 00:20:05.640 --> 00:20:07.660 is the number of Christians in America smaller, 00:20:07.900 --> 00:20:12.460 but the segment of those Christians that attend 00:20:12.460 --> 00:20:15.849 worship with each other every week is smaller. 00:20:20.009 --> 00:20:22.789 Another 11 % of Christians attend once or twice 00:20:22.789 --> 00:20:27.500 a month. So that's between 12 and 24 times a 00:20:27.500 --> 00:20:30.500 year. And the other 51 % of Christians in America 00:20:30.500 --> 00:20:33.480 report that they go a few times or none at all. 00:20:34.609 --> 00:20:38.990 And so I say again, the first followers of Jesus 00:20:38.990 --> 00:20:43.380 would be deeply confused by how modern Christians 00:20:43.380 --> 00:20:51.210 connect with their local church. Of course, there's 00:20:51.210 --> 00:20:53.910 grace, right? Got a little heavy there for a 00:20:53.910 --> 00:20:57.069 second, didn't it? There's grace. There's seasons. 00:20:57.210 --> 00:20:59.789 There's reasons. You like that? A little pastoral 00:20:59.789 --> 00:21:04.099 rhyme that I did there? That felt like 1990 right 00:21:04.099 --> 00:21:09.549 there. There's seasons and reasons. Vacation, 00:21:09.650 --> 00:21:13.809 right? Sickness. I'll even throw in travel sports 00:21:13.809 --> 00:21:17.150 in there. Travel sports are a big part of our 00:21:17.150 --> 00:21:19.829 culture right now. My son, where is he? Right 00:21:19.829 --> 00:21:22.410 back there. He played travel ball for three years. 00:21:22.470 --> 00:21:26.079 We missed some. Sundays, but here's the thing. 00:21:26.160 --> 00:21:30.650 We agreed as a family that when we missed a Sunday 00:21:30.650 --> 00:21:32.630 that we would treat the baseball field like it 00:21:32.630 --> 00:21:37.579 was a mission field, to look for God in the game, 00:21:37.720 --> 00:21:42.019 to look for God in the dugout, to be an example 00:21:42.019 --> 00:21:46.259 of God to the other parents and kids that were 00:21:46.259 --> 00:21:50.380 there. But then we also didn't ask the coach. 00:21:50.460 --> 00:21:53.160 We told the coach that there would be Sundays 00:21:53.160 --> 00:21:58.759 where we would miss baseball for church. Because 00:21:58.759 --> 00:22:03.970 if we can miss church for baseball, we can miss 00:22:03.970 --> 00:22:12.829 baseball for church. And so, you know, if you're 00:22:12.829 --> 00:22:15.130 here for the first time, I don't normally sound 00:22:15.130 --> 00:22:23.279 this judgy. But maybe a part of how modern American 00:22:23.279 --> 00:22:25.559 Christians in particular have learned to follow 00:22:25.559 --> 00:22:30.400 Jesus has a lot to do with atrophy. That somehow 00:22:30.400 --> 00:22:33.880 the idea of being together, something that is 00:22:33.880 --> 00:22:36.859 light, has started to feel heavy and difficult. 00:22:40.779 --> 00:22:44.160 When I, uh... When I go to the doctor, every 00:22:45.849 --> 00:22:48.049 time I go to the doctor, we talk about my weight. 00:22:50.900 --> 00:22:54.950 Because I am overweight. And not by a little. 00:22:55.740 --> 00:23:01.700 When I lose weight, I'm still overweight. And 00:23:01.700 --> 00:23:07.630 you know what? I'm not mad at him. I'm not mad 00:23:07.630 --> 00:23:09.950 at him for pointing out to me like, hey man, 00:23:10.190 --> 00:23:16.190 still eating pizza three times a week? Have you 00:23:16.190 --> 00:23:19.000 been out walking? How's your water intake? Are 00:23:19.000 --> 00:23:23.990 you drinking water? How's your sleep? He asks 00:23:23.990 --> 00:23:26.569 me all the things that I know. are healthy for 00:23:26.569 --> 00:23:29.130 me, all the things that I know would actually 00:23:29.130 --> 00:23:32.490 be good for my belt loops to go the other direction, 00:23:32.690 --> 00:23:42.849 I never blame him. So I hope that you'll hear 00:23:42.849 --> 00:23:49.410 my heart for all of us, for the friends that 00:23:49.410 --> 00:23:50.950 you can look around and go, they're not here 00:23:50.950 --> 00:23:54.680 today, to love them here, not to judge them here, 00:23:54.940 --> 00:24:00.920 not to guilt them here, but to love them here. 00:24:01.059 --> 00:24:04.910 Because if Jesus is the great physician, His 00:24:04.910 --> 00:24:08.849 first prescription was rest. This page of the 00:24:08.849 --> 00:24:12.329 blueprint is the next prescription to go to church 00:24:12.329 --> 00:24:18.630 every week, if not more. Be here. Be with each 00:24:18.630 --> 00:24:23.089 other. Because it might help more than you think 00:24:23.089 --> 00:24:27.079 it will. And I mean literally. I've talked about 00:24:27.079 --> 00:24:28.519 all these other things that there's research 00:24:28.519 --> 00:24:32.940 about. Check this out. There is actual medical 00:24:32.940 --> 00:24:36.140 research from Harvard and Vanderwilley that has 00:24:36.140 --> 00:24:39.720 said... that regular church attendance is good 00:24:39.720 --> 00:24:43.450 for your health. Now, they will be up front and 00:24:43.450 --> 00:24:45.509 say, we don't know what is causation, what is 00:24:45.509 --> 00:24:49.670 correlation. But let me just share a couple things 00:24:49.670 --> 00:24:52.650 from actual research related to church attendance, 00:24:52.890 --> 00:24:55.609 okay? Are you ready? Okay. Didn't hear anyone 00:24:55.609 --> 00:24:58.250 say yes, but I'm going to do it anyway. Okay. 00:24:58.910 --> 00:25:03.710 Quote. This is from a conclusion. Quote. There 00:25:03.710 --> 00:25:06.369 is evidence that religious service attendance 00:25:06.369 --> 00:25:11.009 is longitudinally, you can ask Barb what longitudinally 00:25:11.009 --> 00:25:14.349 means later, she's a doctor, is longitudinally 00:25:14.349 --> 00:25:18.349 associated with happiness and life satisfaction, 00:25:18.670 --> 00:25:22.029 physical and mental health, meaning and purpose, 00:25:22.190 --> 00:25:26.089 character and virtue, and close social relationships. 00:25:26.650 --> 00:25:29.329 The Harvard research said this, that compared 00:25:29.329 --> 00:25:33.759 to people that never attend church, People with 00:25:33.759 --> 00:25:38.559 regular service attendance experience 26 % lower 00:25:38.559 --> 00:25:42.359 risk of death, 16 % lower risk of depression. 00:25:43.059 --> 00:25:47.019 34 % lower likelihood of heavy drinking, a 68 00:25:47.019 --> 00:25:50.059 % lower risk of death from despair among women, 00:25:50.180 --> 00:25:54.119 a 33 % lower risk of death of despair among men, 00:25:54.259 --> 00:25:58.240 27 % lower cardiovascular mortality among women, 00:25:58.339 --> 00:26:01.420 21 % lower cancer mortality among women, greater 00:26:01.420 --> 00:26:04.039 life satisfaction, a greater sense of purpose, 00:26:04.220 --> 00:26:06.759 greater social integration, more positive emotional 00:26:06.759 --> 00:26:10.220 experiences, less anxiety, less loneliness, less... 00:26:11.000 --> 00:26:13.619 hopelessness. It may sound like an exaggeration, 00:26:13.700 --> 00:26:16.099 but going to church regularly could literally 00:26:16.099 --> 00:26:20.990 save your life. Alright? So we got the Bible. 00:26:22.329 --> 00:26:27.519 We have modern day medical research. All that's 00:26:27.519 --> 00:26:33.829 left is you. Being kind to yourself. Saying, 00:26:33.910 --> 00:26:35.869 you know what, I'm going to aim for every. So 00:26:35.869 --> 00:26:38.309 that if I miss a few, I still made it to some. 00:26:39.559 --> 00:26:43.160 Or most. Because I think what happens for a lot 00:26:43.160 --> 00:26:45.720 of modern day Christians is they aim for some 00:26:45.720 --> 00:26:49.059 and then they miss a few. And then you only go 00:26:49.059 --> 00:26:54.450 to a couple. But we can aim for every. So when 00:26:54.450 --> 00:26:56.609 things come up, we still end up being at most. 00:26:58.380 --> 00:27:01.519 So I want to encourage you. Friends, family. 00:27:02.799 --> 00:27:06.759 Listen, I can show you the database of people 00:27:06.759 --> 00:27:09.420 for our church. We have hundreds of people in 00:27:09.420 --> 00:27:14.900 the database. If only 37 % of Christians in America 00:27:14.900 --> 00:27:17.299 go to church every single Sunday, you can easily 00:27:17.299 --> 00:27:19.460 double the number of people at any church and 00:27:19.460 --> 00:27:22.970 go, that's who really goes to that church. Easily 00:27:26.289 --> 00:27:31.819 is my bottom line. Even if all that stuff is 00:27:31.819 --> 00:27:36.509 true. Medical stuff and the statistics stuff. 00:27:37.130 --> 00:27:40.319 Here's the bottom line. We don't come here only 00:27:40.319 --> 00:27:46.109 for us, do we? And sometimes this is where I 00:27:46.109 --> 00:27:47.710 make the point that sometimes you're here for 00:27:47.710 --> 00:27:50.450 someone else. But we don't even come here just 00:27:50.450 --> 00:27:56.369 for someone else, do we? We come here for Jesus. 00:27:59.089 --> 00:28:02.660 Because we are Christians. And because we are 00:28:02.660 --> 00:28:10.339 followers of Jesus. Because I would hope that 00:28:10.339 --> 00:28:13.539 Jesus would look at me and say, you look like 00:28:13.539 --> 00:28:21.099 me. And my job as a pastor is to do my very best 00:28:21.099 --> 00:28:24.359 to shepherd that Jesus looks at you. And he already 00:28:24.359 --> 00:28:27.380 sees himself in you. He absolutely already does. 00:28:27.819 --> 00:28:32.829 And so discipleship is the process of us looking 00:28:32.829 --> 00:28:38.910 even more like Jesus. Amen? The last thing I 00:28:38.910 --> 00:28:43.460 want to say is something about guests. Anyone 00:28:43.460 --> 00:28:46.759 that's here that has been here. More than two 00:28:46.759 --> 00:28:50.579 or three times, I want to remind you how much 00:28:50.579 --> 00:28:53.960 guts it takes for someone to try a new church, 00:28:54.140 --> 00:29:00.769 how much bravery it takes for someone to be willing 00:29:00.769 --> 00:29:03.670 to walk through the doors of a place where they 00:29:03.670 --> 00:29:07.359 might not know anybody. There's this book that 00:29:07.359 --> 00:29:10.019 I've read called Unreasonable Hospitality, and 00:29:10.019 --> 00:29:13.960 it's by this guy that had the number one restaurant 00:29:13.960 --> 00:29:16.059 in the world. It's called 11 Madison Place in 00:29:16.059 --> 00:29:20.880 New York, and he tells this story in it. where 00:29:20.880 --> 00:29:23.460 one night he was out helping serve, and he's 00:29:23.460 --> 00:29:25.460 the owner of the restaurant. He's out helping 00:29:25.460 --> 00:29:28.920 serve, and he overheard, like this is a three 00:29:28.920 --> 00:29:33.369 Michelin star restaurant, y 'all. It's like ridiculous 00:29:33.369 --> 00:29:35.970 how good this restaurant is. And he's out helping 00:29:35.970 --> 00:29:38.170 serve, and he overhears these four people from 00:29:38.170 --> 00:29:41.509 out of town that were traveling to New York so 00:29:41.509 --> 00:29:43.549 that they could be foodies. So they could go 00:29:43.549 --> 00:29:45.750 around all the different favorite, and he overhears 00:29:45.750 --> 00:29:47.390 them saying, oh, this has been a great trip. 00:29:47.430 --> 00:29:49.970 We went to this place and this place and this 00:29:49.970 --> 00:29:52.380 place. And then one of those four says, yeah, 00:29:52.420 --> 00:29:54.319 but the only thing we didn't get to have was 00:29:54.319 --> 00:29:59.160 a New York City hot dog. And so Will, what he 00:29:59.160 --> 00:30:01.880 does is he goes back to the kitchen, he puts 00:30:01.880 --> 00:30:04.680 down the stuff that he had, and he runs down 00:30:04.680 --> 00:30:08.740 the street to the corner where it was what he 00:30:08.740 --> 00:30:14.049 called a dirty water dog. And he buys a New York 00:30:14.049 --> 00:30:15.910 City hot dog from a vendor on the corner of the 00:30:15.910 --> 00:30:19.349 street. He brings it back. He convinces the chef. 00:30:19.789 --> 00:30:22.690 to cut it up and to plate it differently to create 00:30:22.690 --> 00:30:25.589 this special experience for these people. And 00:30:25.589 --> 00:30:28.329 he takes it out before their last course, and 00:30:28.329 --> 00:30:32.559 he says, I just couldn't let you guys leave New 00:30:32.559 --> 00:30:36.339 York without a real New York cultural cuisine 00:30:36.339 --> 00:30:41.430 experience. And he presents to them a New York 00:30:41.430 --> 00:30:45.869 City hot dog at the best restaurant in the world. 00:30:47.640 --> 00:30:50.980 And he said, up to that point, he had served... 00:30:51.230 --> 00:30:53.930 thousands of meals to thousands of people, and 00:30:53.930 --> 00:30:57.049 he said he had never in his entire career received 00:30:57.049 --> 00:31:02.529 as positive of a response from someone receiving 00:31:02.529 --> 00:31:09.890 a dish that he served. It was just a hot dog 00:31:09.890 --> 00:31:14.170 from the corner. And he said, something I learned 00:31:14.170 --> 00:31:16.390 that day was that restaurants are not only about 00:31:16.390 --> 00:31:19.390 feeding people, it is about helping people feel 00:31:19.390 --> 00:31:25.160 seen. You know what I think? I think that it 00:31:25.160 --> 00:31:27.900 would be an embarrassment. That someone feels 00:31:27.900 --> 00:31:30.099 more seen at a restaurant than they do at the 00:31:30.099 --> 00:31:39.569 church. That my heart jumps with joy at the idea 00:31:39.569 --> 00:31:42.049 that someone might come in and feel like they 00:31:42.049 --> 00:31:48.210 have been seen. Not pointed at. Seen. It's why 00:31:48.210 --> 00:31:50.789 we've been changing. It's why we have these maps 00:31:50.789 --> 00:31:52.490 for people that are here for the first time. 00:31:52.509 --> 00:31:54.329 Because they don't know where everything is. 00:31:54.730 --> 00:31:59.279 Do they? Right? It's why we have this welcome 00:31:59.279 --> 00:32:01.920 spot here with the journals that hopefully those 00:32:01.920 --> 00:32:04.099 journals now are like menus. How many were with 00:32:04.099 --> 00:32:06.690 you today? Are you waiting for anyone? Are you 00:32:06.690 --> 00:32:08.930 meeting someone here today? Oh, it's the two 00:32:08.930 --> 00:32:10.430 of you? Awesome. What's your favorite color? 00:32:11.240 --> 00:32:13.099 Look at the tables, guys. What's your favorite 00:32:13.099 --> 00:32:15.140 color? Oh, very cool. Can I walk with you to 00:32:15.140 --> 00:32:19.529 your table? How'd you hear about the house? Oh, 00:32:19.529 --> 00:32:21.470 that's amazing. Awesome. Thanks so much for being 00:32:21.470 --> 00:32:23.210 here today. Hey, these journals are just for 00:32:23.210 --> 00:32:25.130 drawing in. You can color in them. You'll probably 00:32:25.130 --> 00:32:26.970 already notice that other people have drawn in 00:32:26.970 --> 00:32:29.349 them. It's just cool. We think it's a cool little 00:32:29.349 --> 00:32:31.089 thing for us to be able to see the art that other 00:32:31.089 --> 00:32:32.710 people have done. At the end of the day, you 00:32:32.710 --> 00:32:34.089 can just leave it on the table if you want. We'll 00:32:34.089 --> 00:32:36.650 take care of it. If you have any questions, just 00:32:36.650 --> 00:32:38.930 grab anybody that has one of these lanyards on 00:32:38.930 --> 00:32:40.990 or just come find me at the front door. I would 00:32:40.990 --> 00:32:45.910 love to help you. Can I get you a coffee? Why 00:32:45.910 --> 00:32:51.039 should someone come to the place? that exists 00:32:51.039 --> 00:32:55.359 because of the God that sees and not feel seen. 00:32:57.759 --> 00:33:00.759 My hope is that maybe someone in this room feels 00:33:00.759 --> 00:33:06.509 like electric at that idea. I want you to tell 00:33:06.509 --> 00:33:10.289 me that because we need you standing there. We 00:33:10.289 --> 00:33:13.609 need hosts. We need people that know how to make 00:33:13.609 --> 00:33:15.829 people feel more welcome than they have ever 00:33:15.829 --> 00:33:18.829 felt welcome at a church or at a restaurant. 00:33:25.269 --> 00:33:29.029 Because I just have this curious idea that if 00:33:29.029 --> 00:33:33.970 they feel seen, that they might... Discover that 00:33:33.970 --> 00:33:38.599 they could come here every week too. And then 00:33:38.599 --> 00:33:45.210 they can become more like Jesus. And then we 00:33:45.210 --> 00:33:55.289 can be family together. Amen? Let's pray. Good, 00:33:55.289 --> 00:34:04.460 good Father. Thank you for the way that you speak 00:34:04.460 --> 00:34:08.239 to us with kindness. Even in conviction there's 00:34:08.239 --> 00:34:18.139 kindness wrapped around your words. I pray that 00:34:18.139 --> 00:34:23.980 that tenderness that I hoped for earlier in the 00:34:23.980 --> 00:34:30.289 day has persisted throughout the minutes. And 00:34:30.289 --> 00:34:33.690 that our hearts are tender to hear how you are 00:34:33.690 --> 00:34:36.869 inviting us to be a part of your family consistently. 00:34:45.750 --> 00:34:49.269 Because whether it changes our blood pressure 00:34:49.269 --> 00:35:01.219 or not, we're here for you. To worship you, the 00:35:02.820 --> 00:35:07.369 risen and resurrected Son of God. The one who 00:35:07.369 --> 00:35:11.940 was, the one who is, and the one who is still 00:35:11.940 --> 00:35:18.599 to come. Amen.