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Now let's dive into this week's message. Amen.
Well, we've been in our series true and better.
And today we're going to talk about communal.
not isolated. How many of you guys know that
we live in the most connected generation in all
of history? And I'm gonna actually put quotes
around that, connected generation. We're connected
in some way. You may not know this, but 20 to
27 billion internet connected devices exist in
the world. That's a couple for every single human
being on the planet, right? I mean, I don't know
about you guys, but I have a light bulb that
is connected to the internet. Like if I wanted
to pull out my phone, I could turn it on and
off my light bulb right now. It's somehow connected
to the interwebs, right? Me and my wife had the
opportunity to travel to Ireland many years back,
about almost a decade ago. And while we were
there, we were able to call in to our staff who
were back in Bakersfield, California, and video
chat with them. We were able to connect and communicate.
My son lives in Montana right now. I could pull
out my phone and whatever he's doing right now,
I could connect with him through my phone or
through video. We can talk to anyone. We can
talk to any place on the earth and we can do
it nearly instantly. We can curate an online
version of ourselves. I don't know if you guys
remember back when Instagram first launched,
but I was doing some youth ministry at the time,
and the youth girls particularly would have Instagram,
and what they would do is they'd post a picture
of themselves, and they'd say something like,
hey, I might take this down later. And so you'd
go onto their Instagram account, and there'd
be like one photo. out of their whole timeline,
one photo of them, and then later they put up
a photo and they take down the old photo, and
they have like one curated version of themselves
that they wanted to put down there with, you
know, the provision that maybe later I don't
like that one anymore, and I'm gonna show you
something else that I want. Well, we do that
now just instinctively on the internet. You choose
which photos you're going to put up on your social
media. Some of you probably take 10 versions
of it and select the best. Some of your phones
can mold photos together to make the perfect
image of you or others around you. You guys know
what I'm talking about, right? Some of you are
like, no, I don't do that. I never participate.
They're like, no thanks. And that sounds horrible.
Good for you, right? But there are people all
across the world curating versions of themselves
online. Anyone can pull out their phone. One
of you could pull your phone right now and go
live on YouTube and broadcast out your thoughts
and opinions on anything right now, and you could
gain a worldwide following. The most connected
generation in human history, and yet, loneliness
is epidemic. About one in three US adults report
regularly experiencing loneliness. It's a phenomenon
that is linked to significant mental and physical
health risks. Surveys consistently show that
a majority of adults report lacking a sense of
belonging in at least one area, key area of their
life, whether it's the workplace or community
or broader society. And what is our culture's
consistent solution to this sense of loneliness?
Well, it's leaning in even more to rugged, radical
individualism. But scripture, on the other hand,
invites us into a very different story. Not isolated
self -creation, not identity by group coercion
or control, but identity that is formed through
gospel -shaped community. And this morning, that's
what we're talking about. We're saying your identity
is formed in the people of God, not privately
constructed and not socially engineered, but
shaped through shared life, through mutual encouragement,
through loving correction and through faithful
presence. See, if identity is formed alone, all
by yourself, then no one can challenge you. And
if identity is imposed by the group, you must
act this way. You must behave this way, otherwise
you're out. Then no one can truly know you. But
if identity is formed in Christ among his people,
then transformation is possible without losing
yourself. See, in Christ, you are known fully
and secured eternally. And among his people,
you are shaped gradually without being swallowed
up by the group. So the New Testament says God
is forming a people, and he uses these metaphors,
a people, a body, a household, a family, to try
to communicate something to us. And so here's
a question. Can we claim a gospel -shaped identity
while resisting biblical community? Can we claim
a gospel -shaped identity while resisting biblical
community? This sermon is not so much about getting
more church attendance here or promoting disciple
groups, which are both great, but this sermon
is about, really at the root of it, the very
nature of God himself. God himself is not solitary.
God has eternally existed as Father, Son, and
Spirit, three distinct persons, one essence,
perfectly united in love. I'm gonna say that
again, because if I say it again, maybe a few
of your heads will just blow up right here, right?
And we'll start the cleanup, right? Because this
is a crazy, crazy reality of who God is. God
exists as Father, Son, and Spirit, three persons,
okay? I can go one, two, three, the three persons,
but one essence, oh, that's different, an eternally
existing and perfect unified love. In other words,
or some of the implications is that God did not
create us or anything out of loneliness. God
did not create us or anything out of loneliness
because God was eternally in communion, Father,
Son, and Spirit. God did not create anything
out of loneliness. He is relationship. Which
means community is not a social construct, but
a reflection of the very being of God. And isolation
then on the other hand is an inconsequential.
Isolation is creationally incomplete. and we
move to redemption in Christ. Well, redemption
doesn't move us away from relationship, but restores
relationship in Christ. We are not only forgiven,
but we are adopted and brought into a family
and joined to a body. Friends, salvation is deeply
personal, but salvation is never private. How
many of you guys know that people are messy?
Right? You have to clean up after people a whole
lot. People are messy. Community. When you get
a bunch of people together, we all have different
preferences. We all have different ways of seeing
the world. And it can get very, very messy. It
can get very, very intense. Why does community
feel so intense? Well, community feels intense
because it presses us into a form of life that
mirrors God himself. self -giving, mutual, faithful
love. And God invites us into it to heal our
broken identities. The church then is not a random
collection of individuals, autonomous, self -creating
beings who just came here and decided to be in
the same room together. Now the church is a living
signpost of God's very being and life. Can I
get an amen? We're not merely doing church. We
are displaying the eternal nature of God and
practicing eternity right now. We're being formed
for the shared life that we were made to have
with one another and with God. So creation flows
from relationship, redemption restores relationship,
and salvation brings us and makes us into a people.
If you're taking notes, I have four points today,
and I'm gonna kind of pick it up a little quicker
now, so buckle up, buttercup, let's go. Number
one, identity was never meant to be formed alone.
See, if we want to understand how a Christian
identity is formed, we start with a sort of creation
story. We've always had a creation story each
of the five weeks. We've always gone all the
way back to Genesis. We have a sort of a creation
story. This creation story is the birth of the
church. Oh, the church was born? Yeah, the church
was born in Acts chapter two. And in Acts chapter
two, the Holy Spirit comes in power at Pentecost.
And then Peter, the apostle who denied Jesus
and ran away, who was restored by Christ, now
stands up and preaches the good news of Jesus
Christ to anyone who will hear. And the Bible
says that it cuts to the heart of the people,
and they say, what should we do in response to
who Jesus is? And he says, repent and believe.
And Acts two says, about 3 ,000 people joined
the church that day. About 3 ,000 people believed
and began to follow. Someone counted. Someone
counted and said, there's about 3 ,000 people
who just joins. See, that's why it always strikes
me. Anyone who says, man, numbers, numbers don't
matter, has totally missed God's fierce love
for one more prodigal. You know who says, man,
numbers don't matter. Someone who has a comfortable
seat. Someone who has a comfortable seat that
they want to protect. You know who says one more
matters? Someone who has a son or daughter who's
lost. Someone who has a mother or father who
is lost and hell bound. They go, no, I got room
for one more. I'll make room. I'll sit at the
back. Bring a man. Imagine all the people out
there that God wants to reach with the good news
of Jesus Christ. And that's why we're a one more
church. Unapologetically, we are about the one
more. You all have someone you can think of who's
far from God. Well, look around. There's a seat
for them. We're saving it for them. Bring them,
invite them, they will have a seat and they will
hear the good news of Jesus here. Numbers matter
to God because souls matter to God. Someone counted
when the church was born and right at that moment
the church comes alive and then we grab Acts
2, 42 through 47 and it says that they devoted
themselves. So this is what those new believers
and the apostles and the disciples, what did
they do when they first formed up the church?
They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching,
to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread,
and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe and
many wonders and signs were being performed through
the apostles. Now all the believers were together
and held all things in common. They sold their
possessions and property and distributed the
proceeds to all as any had need. Every day, they
devoted themselves to meeting together in the
temple and broke bread from house to house. They
ate their food with joyful and sincere hearts,
praising God and enjoying the favor of all people.
Every day, the Lord added to their number those
who were being saved. Can I get an amen on that
one? They devoted themselves. That's where it
starts. And devotion implies commitment. It implies
a rhythm, a persistence, shared a life over time.
And you notice there's no mention of isolated
spirituality. No assumption of a sort of solo
discipleship, I'm going my own way. No vision
of faith as a private personal project. Their
identity wasn't something they worked out in
solitude, it was something formed through participation
in the community. They learned together, they
ate together, they prayed together, worshiped
together, they shared their resources together,
they shared their burdens, and they shared their
joys, and Acts goes on to say all of them were
together, and every day they devoted themselves
to meeting in the temple courts, and they broke
bread from house to house. See, a Christian identity
emerged from shared life. It's not like they
had it and then they came into shared life. It
began to form in them through shared life. C
.S. Lewis. one of my favorite thinkers, Christian
thinkers of the 20th century and authors. He
was good friends with J .R. Tolkien, the Lord
of the Rings, you guys know Lord of the Rings,
right? The Chronicles of Narnia, he wrote that
whole series, C .S. Lewis did. Well, he was good
friends and he had a circle of friends and he
always kind of thought this special group, what
makes this special group? So he looked at this
group of men that would gather together regularly.
What makes it tick? What are the inner workings
of how we grow together and we shape and sharpen
one another? And he wrote this in the four loves.
And maybe some of you will resonate with this.
C .S. Lewis said, in each of my friends, there
is something that only some other friend can
fully bring out. By myself, I am not large enough
to call the whole man into activity. I want other
lights. than my own to show all his facets. What
Lewis was saying is you cannot fully know a person
by yourself. It takes a community to reveal a
person. And that means something deeper, too,
that you cannot even really fully know yourself
in isolation. Salvation always moves toward belonging.
Isolation isn't just a personality trait. It's
not, well, I'm an introvert, or I'm too busy,
or it's a stage of life. You know, I'll do that
when I'm in a different stage of life. Persistent
isolation actually cuts against the very environment
God uses to shape his people. You cannot become
who God is forming you to be by yourself. You
guys ever tried to chop wood with a dull axe?
Anyone ever tried that? Success? Failure? Yeah,
we live up in Georgetown. We had some firewood
that needed chopping. We have these oak rounds,
right? And so I had this dull axe, you know,
and I thought, man, you know, these muscles can
overpower, right? I'll just use my hand, right?
Hi -yah! No, I had this dull axe and I decided
well, you know, it's got to get done. So here
we go You know, I swung that axe at that that
log that that that oak round BAM and hit the
top and that head the hell the whole axe bounced
right back at my face Just boom right back. It
was really dull and the wood was kind of wet
too. So it was really bouncy and spongy But man
you ever you ever chopped wood with a sharp axe
like a really sharp axe nice weighted It just
goes through like butter, doesn't it? Right through
it. But how do you sharpen an axe? How do you
go from dull to sharp? Or, in my case, useless
to useful, right? You sharpen it, and how do
you sharpen it? Well, sharpening requires a lot
of friction, doesn't it? And friction generates
a lot of heat. Right? There are things about
the faith that you will never see alone. There
are blind spots in your life that remain hidden
without the friction of community. There are
habits in your life that will go unchecked on
and on and on without the benefit of having a
community of people around you who love you and
will speak the truth. There are fears that will
grow in your heart left unchallenged will just
keep growing and growing until they consume.
But see, community is where faith is sorted out,
where love takes shape, takes on flesh, and is
embodied. A community is where repentance and
forgiveness, where grace and encouragement can
be practiced. I don't know if you ever thought
about this, but in Galatians, there's a list
of the fruit of the Spirit. You guys know the
fruit of the Spirit, Galatians? Galatians lays
out the fruit of the Spirit. The fruit of the
Spirit's life in the believer. What is the fruit
of the Spirit? Will you ever notice that they're
all relational qualities? All of the fruit of
the Spirit are relational qualities. Love can't
exist in isolation. Love always has an object.
Biblical joy isn't some sort of personal euphoria,
it's overflow in shared life. In fact, C .S.
Lewis, I think in Mere Christianity, maybe somewhere
else, he talks about how joy is only half joy
until it's shared. Joy shared is joy complete.
Peace, well, peace in scripture is not an emotional,
therapeutic inner calm. Peace in scripture is
reconciled relationships. In other words, when
relationships aren't reconciled, when they're
in disarray, when there's chaos in relationships,
you're not at peace, amen? Peace, biblical peace,
the activity of the Spirit giving peace is reconciliation
with God and reconciliation with your brother
and sister. Well patience, when does patience
show up? Patience only shows up when someone's
being a pebble in your shoe, right? Patience
shows up when someone nails on a chalkboard.
And I could go on, kindness is personal, relational
action for the benefit of others. Goodness is
moral integrity expressed in how you treat other
people. Faithfulness is reliability in your covenants
and your commitments. Gentleness is strength
restrained for the sake of another. And self
-control, well, without relationships, self -control
has no proving ground. Without relationships,
you're all about the self. Why would the proof
of the spirit's life in us be relational qualities?
Maybe the spirit is trying to make us for community.
Maybe he's trying to make us for one another.
And Acts 2 isn't describing some idolized perfect
church, it's describing the normal spirit -enabled
Christian life of togetherness. They ate their
food with joyful and sincere hearts, praising
God and enjoying the favor of all people. Every
day the Lord added to their number those who
were being saved. Their life together made the
gospel visible. You go, no, we gotta get out
on the street. We gotta go door to door. We gotta
set up tents and tell people to repent because
they're heading to hell. No, their life together,
the way that they live together in love, joy,
peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness,
faithfulness, and self -control, the way they
live together made the gospel visible. It's the
greatest evangelism technique. Life together.
Scripture never treats community as an optional
add -on to our faith journey. Because community
is the context in which maturity happens. You
don't grow out of needing the church, you grow
through the church. And Acts 2 doesn't just describe
what they did, it gives us a glimpse of how God
forms identity. Not in isolation, but in devoted
togetherness. If you're taking notes, number
two, identity is formed through gospel -shaped
dialogue. So Acts two kind of shows us the environment
where identity is formed. We're gonna turn over
to Ephesians four, and it'll show us a little
bit more about the process how identity is formed.
And I want you to remember as we look at Ephesians,
Paul, the apostle, is writing to churches or
to a church. He's not writing to an isolated
believer. And he starts this call with therefore,
in chapter four, verse one, therefore I, the
prisoner and the Lord, urge you to walk worthy
of the calling. And a lot of Paul's letters,
if you're reading Paul's letters, unless they're
directed to one person, a lot of Paul's letters,
anytime you say you, you should read it with
what? Y 'all, right? Get used to getting that,
your Texas drawl on and saying y 'all, right?
Because they're all plural. I urge you all to
walk worthy of the calling you all have received,
with all humility, with gentleness, with patience,
bearing with one another in love, making every
effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through
the bond of peace. The unity, Paul says, is not
automatic among the believers. We all know that,
eh? Unity is not automatic. It takes intentional
effort. It takes humility. It takes gentleness.
It takes patience, which proves that community
is not just for our individual comfort. It proves
that community is actually for our formation
because he wants to form in us humility, gentleness,
patience. And then Paul goes on to emphasize
unity and he talks about one body, one spirit,
one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism. But
then in verse seven, he almost kind of switches
and begins to emphasize differences. Now grace
was given to each one of us, that's each of us,
according to the measure of Christ's gift. So
what do we have? We have the same body, but different
parts. We have the same Christ, but among his
people, distinct callings. And sometimes we try
to collapse that in. Well, our culture says identity
is formed inside ourselves, and other cultures
in the past have said identity is formed outside
by the pressures of the group. The group makes
you become something. But scripture actually
gives us a third way. It says that identity is
formed between us through relationship. through
truth spoken in love, through dialogue. Me and
my wife that we were talking about last night,
we've known each other for 29 years. This year
in May will be our 25th wedding anniversary.
That's a long time. Amen. But do you know that
in the 25 years I've been married, I have been
married to many different women. All named Adrienne.
And do you know, in the 25 years that she was
married to me, she's been married to me, she's
been married to many different Johns who have
my likeness. Maybe a little thinner earlier on.
Then I kinda had a marshmallow stage. Now I'm
heading back. She was married to me, but I don't
know about you, there's lots of yous and lots
of me's. How did we negotiate that? I mean, when
you got married, you thought you were marrying
someone, but that someone changed pretty quickly.
And then later on, they changed again, and just
when you figured them out, they changed again.
How do you stay married in that situation? Well,
you know how you would stay married? You stay
married in dialogue. As long as dialogue is open
and we're talking and we're sharing, as long
as we're talking about the issues as the kids
are running around and things are going crazy,
as everything seems like it's clapping in, we
keep leaning in and talking. We keep dialoguing
around the kids, around books, around podcasts
that we watch, around some stupid reel that she
always wants to show me from Instagram. Sorry,
they're good. It's not so much the individual
reels, it's the quantity of reels. But we're
dialoguing it, we're joking, even that has become
a joke. You know, it's like, how many reels do
you have stored up in your account that you haven't
looked at yet, right? And then we just laugh
it off, right? Whether it's yard work, whether
we're fixing something together, whether we're
living life, we're out on a date night, we're
celebrating an event, or we're walking through
a tragedy. in dialogue, we shaped and have been
shaped by one another. And I will tell you today,
25 years later, we fit together better than ever.
Yeah, yeah. Amen. I'll give it. We do. Do you
know what marriage counselors will say? is the
near fatal death nail in a marriage. They call
it contempt. If someone has crossed the line
into contempt, and contempt is usually marked
by shutting down dialogue. Instead of talking,
you roll eyes and you walk away. It's nearly
the death nail in all marriages. It's the death
nail in relationship because dialogue no longer
can happen. Friction is no longer allowed to
shape. You go your separate ways. Paul goes on
in verse 15 of Ephesians to say, speaking the
truth in love, let us grow in every way into
him who is the head, Christ. From him the whole
body fitted and knit together by every supporting
ligament promotes the growth of the body for
the building itself up in love by the proper
working of each. individual part. Every time
I read that, I feel like I do need a whiteboard,
and I need to draw out all the things he's talking
about and connect them all, because I get a little
confused in there. But I think we can track here.
It begins with speaking the truth in love. That's
where it starts. The foundation is not silence,
it's not harshness, it's not flattery, it's not
withdraw, it's truth in love. It's love in truth.
And what that means is that the Christian community,
cannot affirm everything so that no one feels
bad in their choices. But that also means that
the Christian community cannot go around correcting
everything so that no one ever gets anything
wrong. Or maybe you've heard this from the personal
interactions in relationship. If you loved me,
I'd feel loved. Anyone ever heard that? You're
like, is that in the Bible? It sounds. Well,
it's got a lot of love in it, right? If you loved
me, I'd feel love. But do you know how crazy
that statement is? Well, first off, we've collapsed
love into an emotion. Is that what love is? Is
love an emotion? Or does the Bible describe love
as something else? The second thing is, I don't
know, when American Idol first came out, I don't
know if you guys remember American Idol, the
show about singers? And you'd watch it, and I'm
a musician at heart, and I love to see talent
come, and there were some really, really talented
folks who came across. But then ever so often,
you would get that one, right? And they'd come
on, and they'd squawk like a seagull, right?
Trapped underneath something, right? And they'd
just go off and off, and they'd be singing their
heart out, but they'd be like, what? What's going
on? And they'd show the judges, and they're looking
at each other, like, confused and befuddled,
right? What's happening? And all I could ever
think is, did no one love this poor boy enough
to tell him that he can't sing? And you go, well,
no, because I didn't want to hurt his... Oh,
we're not talking about love. if we're talking
about hurting his feelings. Because I have had
to love my children a lot, and their feelings
have been hurt by it. I have had to love my children
a lot in ways that they didn't want at the moment,
but they needed. And they may not have felt it
in the moment, but it was still loving. Because
it was self -giving, sacrificial for their benefit.
Christian community is a shared commitment to
help one another become who we already are in
Christ, even if that means speaking the truth
in love. If no one can question you, your identity
is not being formed or shaped, it's being protected
by you. If no one can challenge you, encourage
you, correct you, or call you back to truth,
then your faith is slowly becoming self referential.
But truth grows. I mean, true growth happens
when someone actually can name your blind spots
that you don't see. Or someone can say, hey,
I see this gifting in you. You're not walking
in it. The church could really benefit from you
walking in that gifting. True growth happens
when someone tells you what you need to hear,
maybe not what you want to hear, but what you
need to hear for your growth. When someone loves
you enough not to let you drift without fighting
tooth and nail to pull you back. See, isolation
may feel safer, but it costs far more. Isolation
protects you from discomfort, but it also protects
you from transformation. And Paul says the goal
of all of this is maturity, that we would be
mature believers. In verse 14, he says, then
we will no longer be children or little children
tossed by the waves and blown around by every
wind of teaching, by human cunning with cleverness
in the techniques of deceit. You notice what
Paul doesn't say. He doesn't say it's persecution
or suffering that is causing the instability.
He's saying that when we become untethered, when
we drift away, these things happen. Friends,
disconnected Christians are easily discouraged
Christians and easily deceived Christians. Disconnected
Christians are easily discouraged Christians
and easily deceived Christians. We'll believe
all kinds of stuff out there if it's just us.
me, myself, and I, right? The body grows, Paul
says, as each part works properly. Paul says,
not spectators, not consumers, but participants
in the life and formation of the body. That's
the way we grow to maturity. You know, the Great
Commission, we read it earlier out of Matthew
28, says, to go, therefore, and make disciples
of the whole nations. And I think some people
mistaken and think that the church exists for
care. The church does not exist for care. The
church exists to go on the mission that Jesus
gave the church, which is to go make disciples
who make disciples who make disciples. Do you
know what disciples do? Well, that too, yes.
But well -made disciples care. But it's not the
purpose of the church. The purpose of the church
is to make disciples. The purpose of the church,
when we gather together, is not simply to consume.
Consume, give me, what do you got for me, preacher
man? Give me more, give me more, I didn't like
that this week. I want a different one next time.
I didn't like that song, I want a different song
next time. It's not about consumption, it's about
disciple making. It's about pouring ourselves
out for the benefit and the growth of the body.
Not spectators, not consumers. participants,
you don't just receive identity in the church,
you contribute to it. An identity is not forged
in isolation, certainly not a good identity,
not a gospel identity. A gospel identity is formed
in gospel -shaped dialogue with one another,
not shutting the conversation off, not walking
away in contempt, but allowing the shaping to
happen. And sometimes that takes time, and that
certainly makes it uncomfortable. But truth,
love, together. Truth and love, together. Number
three, the church doesn't replace identity, it
reveals it. As we look over in Hebrews, the book
of Hebrews, the author of Hebrews has spent time
telling believers what they have in Jesus Christ.
They have full access to God. If you are in Christ,
you have full access to God. If you are in Christ,
you have a clear conscience before God. If you
are in Christ, you have confidence to draw near
to the throne of grace because of the blood of
Jesus Christ. It's our precious promises for
everyone in Christ. And then Paul says, now let's
talk about the togetherness. And he says in Hebrews
chapter 10 verse 23, let us hold on to the confession
of our hope without wavering since he who promised
is faithful and let us consider one another in
order to provoke love and good works. And that
phrase, let us consider, means focus intentional
thoughts, deliberate concern for one another.
Because Christian community is not accidental
proximity, it is purposeful. presence. And notice
what he does not say, he does not say, let us
consider our own personal private spiritual growth.
He says, let us consider one another. See, identity
in Christ does not turn us inward. That's how
we lived before Christ. Identity in Christ turns
us outward. And then comes the line that a lot
of people know in Hebrews, Hebrews chapter 10,
25, not neglecting to gather together. as some
are in the habit of doing, but encourage each
other, and all the more as you see the day approaching.
And now we're neglecting, it can sound harsh,
but you know, it's really like, oh, but I'm just
busy, but I'm just tired, but I'm just overwhelmed,
but I just needed, you know, a self day. See,
neglect isn't always this, you know, this explosive
rebellion. Neglect happens slowly, without a
whole lot of fanfare. Do not neglect gathering
together as some are in the habit of doing. Well,
the author of Hebrews treats it as spiritually
dangerous to neglect the gathering of the fellowship.
Why? Because gathering isn't about attendance,
it's about formation. And so, Paul says encouraging
each other and all the more as you see the day
approaching. See encouragement isn't optional
to the Christian or in the Christian life. Encouragement
is oxygen to the Christian life. We all need
it and without it, faith doesn't usually collapse
in a dramatic kind of explosion, but it does
slowly erode. But when we live in community,
faith is tested. When we live in community, we
get to practice love. I always thought it was
funny when doctors say they practice medicine.
Like, you gonna practice on me? I feel like you
should practice on them before you come to me,
right? I know what they're saying, but yeah.
See, doctors practice medicine on our bodies.
Christians practice love on each other in gospel
-shaped community. We're here to practice love.
That's what we're here for, to practice loving
one another. where patience is required, where
forgiveness is necessary, where pride is exposed.
You don't actually know who you are in Christ
until life together begins to press on you. See,
isolation allows you to imagine a version of
yourself that is not real. Community lovingly
tells you the truth. And this is where modern
resistance will kick in. We say things like,
man, my faith is private or personal, or I connect
with God best on my own. And sometimes those
words come from pain. Sometimes they come from
burnout or real wounds in the past. But sometimes,
if we're honest, they come from a desire to avoid
being known. Why? Because being known means being
shaped. Hebrews doesn't say gathering is helpful
if it works for your schedule. Hebrews says don't
neglect it. And the assumption that is underneath
this passage is this. You hear nothing else,
hear this. The gathered Christian community cannot
be substituted with any other community. The
gathered Christian community, the church, I'm
breaking down the idea of the church. The gathered
Christian community cannot be substituted with
any other community. What am I saying? Well,
I experience the presence of God when I gather
with my family. I experience the presence of
God when I'm all by myself in the woods, hanging
out by myself, thinking about myself, looking
at myself, right? Great. Cool. Not a substitute
for the gathered Christian community. Oh, but
I really, really like the community that I'm
a part of down at the Rotary Club, if that's
still a thing, I don't even know this thing.
The Rotary Club, or this other club that I'm
a part of, or this other group that I hang out
with. Great, awesome. It is no substitute for
the gathered Christian community. The gathered
Christian community, the church, is God's way
of forming his disciples. Plan A, plan B, plan
C, plan D, plan on and on. And your presence
matters to others. Someone's perseverance in
the faith is strengthened by your faithfulness.
Someone's hope is restored by your presence.
Someone's obedience is stirred and provoked because
you share your life with them. Withdrawing doesn't
just affect you, it affects the body. Imagine
for a moment if one of your internal organs today
just said, yo, I'm withdrawing. Peace out. I'm
gonna take a break for a couple days. I need
some me time. What would happen to your body?
Let's just go with the lung, one of the lungs,
right? Collapse lung, you know. Peace out, I'm
sleeping for a little while. Like it would hurt,
it would not be good, right? We had a medical
professional in the first service, he shook his
head, yeah, that wouldn't be good. Like, not
good. Well, what happens when a part of the body
of Christ withdraws? Any difference? Is it any
different when we choose isolation instead of
community? And hear this, friends, we're not
talking about obligation, we're talking about
the goal is love. Who is helping you hold fast
to your confession? Who are you helping to do
the same? Because identity in Christ is not maintained
alone. It is revealed and strengthened and sustained
together. My final point is number four in this
brief. Isolation deforms the soul. Isolation
deforms the soul. When we talk about community,
many people only hear pain. Some of us didn't
drift into isolation. We ran there for safety.
Community hurts. Leaders fail. Trust is broken.
And believe me, I get it. I do. I've experienced
all of that. And isolation is understandable.
But it's not healing. See, it may feel safer,
it may feel more comfortable, but over time it
begins to deform the soul. Isolation slowly teaches
us lies. It tells us that I don't need anyone
else, or no one really understands me anymore,
or I can manage my faith on my own. Isolation
doesn't often lead to this explosive rebellion,
but slow erosion. and sand becomes more private,
grace no longer embodied in the people of God
becomes more abstract in our faith. And the book
of Hebrews consistently ties spiritual danger
to drifting away. Drift happens when there is
no one close enough to notice that you're moving.
And in isolation, no one reminds you of who you
are in Christ when you forget and we are prone
to forget. Eventually, identity collapses inward.
We turn inward. The self becomes both the question
and the answer. The wounds become the guide,
and our feelings become authority in our life.
That's not what God wants. That's the identity
He's trying to rescue many of you from. But in
community, in real, gospel -shaped community,
It interrupts that collapse. It is not perfect.
Gospel -shaped community is not perfectly or
painlessly done, but we are called to faithfully
do it. Healing requires presence. Scripture never
treats encouragement. as optional and gospel
-shaped community heals, not because people are
perfect, but because God uses imperfect people
as instruments for his care. The church will
disappoint you. Shocker, right? People will misunderstand
you. Someone will say the wrong thing at the
wrong time. But you know what? Isolation will
never love you. Isolation will never tell the
truth to you, and isolation will never carry
you when you're weak. So in conclusion, what
are you going to do? Not just theoretical, but
right here among us at Village, what are we going
to do if God is shaping a community and calling
us out of isolation? Well, here it looks like
disciple groups. where the word of God is open
and where life is shared together, where we grow
in our knowledge of the word and we grow in our
knowledge of one another. Again, not perfectly.
Kind of stumbling. Where we sort out our faith
together. We had our disciple group last night,
that's what we did, right? We did some sorting.
Like, we gotta wrestle with this, I don't know,
like, we gotta wrestle. Disciple groups are a
good place. Serve teams, we have teams where
people use their gifting and their calling in
service of the fellowship. If I was to pull everyone
up here who is serving you, and some of you are
on that serve team, but if I was to pull everyone
up here onto stage who is serving you in the
fellowship and your kids and making sure the
place is ready for you and making sure the one
more is welcome, there would be about 40 people
or 50 people up here on the stage. Who every
week, on their serve team makes the place ready
and welcome for you and for your one more to
come and encounter Jesus Christ. That's community.
You know what happens on the serve teams a lot,
too? You'd be shocked. Friction. Why do we do
it that way? Why don't I get to the, there's
all kinds of friction, right? Praise God. Every
time I hear it, I'm like, yes, it's working.
Throw them in the pit and let them cage match,
right? What does it look like? It looks like
life on life conversations. If you haven't taken
someone out to coffee that you see in this room,
take them out to coffee. Or grab a tea, if that's
your thing. Or a lunch. Go take someone out and
ask them, how are you doing? Not the Sunday quick.
you know, only this deep. But how are you doing?
How's your soul? How can I pray for you? How
can I carry you this week? That's some simple
discipleship. That's all it takes sometimes.
It looks like opening your house and your table
and letting a shared meal become the place of
formation. I heard this joke this week. on social
media, a theologian once said, I can summarize
both testaments or each testament in the Bible
in three sentences. Here was his summary. It
was intended to be funny so you can laugh after
you figure it out. Here's his summary. Each testament
in three sentences. The Old Testament. They tried
to kill us. We survived. Let's eat. And here's
the New Testament. I love you. I forgive you.
Let's eat. Right? Obviously, it's a joke, and
there's a lot more in the Bible than those three
things. But he was summarizing the idea that
so much of the story of the Bible happens around
tables and at feasts. And I don't know. I've
always grown up hearing. We are a food -eating
people. That's what Christians love to gather
around and have a conversation. If you've ever
done it with anyone on a smaller scale, not forced,
you know that conversations go all over the place.
And it's good. And you kind of weave around,
and you have that dialogue. That's what it looks
like. It looks like showing up Sundays with great
expectation. to unite your voice with brothers
and sisters, to be shaped by the word with the
people of God, and to publicly testify as a witness
to Christ's kingdom. We do that every time we
get together. People in this neighborhood know
that we come together here. They watch us out
of their window and they look down the road and
they see us arriving and showing up and how we
greet one another. They hear our songs blasting
out through the walls. They know we're in here
declaring something. Every time we do that, we're
witnessing to the kingdom of God here on this
earth. Even better when we do it in love. Gospel
shaped community is built through faithful presence.
So my encouragement is open your life. Grab a
seat at the table. Stay in the hard conversation.
That is where identity is formed and where identity
is healed. And that is the truer and better identity
we are offered in Christ. Will you pray with
me?