Steve Gentry
[0:00] Welcome to Village Church. My name is Steve. If this is your first time here, I’m one of the pastors here and I’m glad to see each and every one of you. [0:07] Thank you for coming out the first Sunday of 2013, spending some time with us. [0:13] If you will, just for a moment, continue in a spirit of prayer with me. [0:17] Father, we praise you this morning because you are the eternal God.
[0:26] Lord, you are the creator of all that exists. You’re the sustainer of everything that is.
[0:34] Lord, I praise you for your love. I praise you for the fact that in my sin you loved me. [0:42] I thank you so much. Lord, I thank you for sending your Son.
[0:48] I thank you for bringing us to yourself, drawing us to you in spite of our sin.
[0:56] Unveiling yourself to us, bringing us into your presence and giving us the ability and privilege through faith in your Son Jesus Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit to worship you. [1:08] To know who you are as well as be known by you. [1:13] May the reality that the creator of the universe knows me and wants to be known by me, may that never wear off. [1:25] May I never cease to be amazed by you. In the name of Jesus, I pray. Amen. [1:32] Alright, thank you so much. [1:35] Well, welcome to Village Church again. If you have your Bibles, go ahead and open them up to John chapter 20.
[1:40] We’re going to be starting in verse 20 this morning, going through verse 23. [1:46] Every once in a while throughout the year, we try to cast some vision for who we are as a community, what we desire to be and do as a community. [1:58] And so we wanted to start this year off with just kind of going over our passion for not being a gathering of people who just come together once a week, sing a few songs, talk about God’s word. [2:14] But we want to be a community of people connected in faith in Jesus, growing and discipling one another. [2:20] And so this morning, what I want to do is I want to go through what we as pastors, what we pray that we are an experience in community with one another. [2:32] I want to share with you the six prayers that we have for the community groups here at Village Church.
[2:37] And in doing that, I also want to just talk about in those prayers, kind of what the purpose of our community groups here as a church. [2:45] That when we gather here on Sunday mornings, I love it. [2:48] I mean, I’m passionate about it. My giftings in Jesus lend towards this types of gathering for me to enjoy. [2:56] But this is not the type of gathering where we as followers of Jesus can really connect well to one another. [3:04] It’s easy to kind of come here, blend in, leave, go to lunch and just kind of go about our lives disconnected from one another. [3:11] So we intentionally try to create environments where we can come together as people following Jesus Christ and connect relationally.
[3:21] And as Mike said this morning, where we can know one another as well as be known by one another. [3:27] The reality is that relationships in Scripture are very important. [3:31] I want you to understand that most of the commands throughout Scripture, especially the New Testament, [3:36] where the gifts of the Spirit and the outworking of the fruits of the Spirit in our lives are completely irrelevant outside of relationships.
[3:44] There’s no way as a follower of Jesus that you can experience the power of the Holy Spirit, that you can experience the giftings of the Holy Spirit. [3:50] You can experience the fruits of the Holy Spirit outside of relationships with one another. [3:56] And sometimes in our lives, because of how isolated we tend to be in our culture, relationships are kind of the hardest thing. [4:02] Especially if you’re a man. I’ll be frank with you. [4:07] In my life, I don’t have this deep passion to really connect. [4:13] I have a passion for my lazy boy, to disconnect.
[4:18] It’s kind of just the way sin sometimes works its way out in my life. [4:23] And while it is natural for me, I do not believe it’s healthy. [4:27] I do not believe that is the way in which God has called me to follow Him. [4:31] I believe He has called me to repent of much of that attitude in my life. [4:36] And as hard as it can be sometimes for me to connect, and hard as it can frankly be if you’ve ever been in a relationship with me or if you’re in one now, [4:42] as hard as it can be for you to connect with me, I need it.
[4:48] To follow Jesus, I need you. [4:50] To follow Jesus, you may not need me, but you need someone else, probably.
[4:57] But we need one another. [5:00] See, there’s this attitude that sometimes we can adopt. [5:04] That once we come to faith in Jesus, it’s just me and Jesus. [5:08] That’s all I need. And while the sentiment there is certainly I understand it, and certainly all you need for a relationship with God is Jesus. [5:15] That is not the way that God has spelled out where to live our lives. [5:19] We’re not to just be alone with Jesus. The Scripture clearly points out that we need one another.
[5:25] Because especially in the book of Ephesians where God casts His grand vision for His people, the church. [5:32] Casts a vision of us together building the church. [5:36] I don’t know if you understand this, but in the realm of God and in the realm of humanity, it’s pretty hard to build the church when you’re all by yourself. [5:43] It’s a fairly hard thing to do because, you know, the church tends to be a gathering of people following Jesus. [5:51] And really, relationship is the way in which we show who Jesus is to the world. [6:00] Because by very nature, relationship is the thing that we get in Jesus Christ.
[6:05] You see, I’m a sinner, and you are too. I can talk to you later to prove it to you. [6:10] But I’ll just kind of deal with myself. I’m a sinner. I know I am. [6:13] But in my sin, naturally, the way I was born, I’m disconnected from God. [6:18] My sin is a complete offense from Him. I’ve done everything in my life to rebel against everything that He wants and He desires for me to be. [6:25] And He has every right to make that claim on my life because He created me. [6:29] God knows how I should live. He designed me. He knows what’s good for me even better than I do as His creation.
[6:37] But in my life, since I was a very young guy, and I know that because I’m now watching my son exhibit great rebellion day in and day out.
[6:48] In my life, I’m rebellious against Him, and I run from Him, and I don’t really want a relationship with Him. [6:54] But here’s the amazing thing.
[6:57] When Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came, He came for the purpose of reconciling my relationship with God. [7:04] That was His purpose. That’s why Jesus came. If you’ve ever wondered, why did Jesus come? [7:08] He came to reconcile us because on our own, we don’t want reconciliation with God. [7:12] And we deserve for God to just kind of scrap it, throw us away, condemn us forever to hell, maybe even start over.
[7:22] But God has this amazing thing, this amazing attribute, this amazing part of His nature. [7:27] And it’s this really untamable and unrelenting love for each one of us. [7:35] And in that just remarkable love, God the Son looks to God the Father and says, I’ll go. [7:44] And God the Father looks to God the Son and says, go redeem them. Go pay the penalty for their sin. [7:50] And He did. And on the cross, He took my sin, paid the penalty of death for my sin, which is completely sufficient for the Father. [8:00] And if I trust in that, 2 Corinthians chapter 5 says, I am reconciled to God, which just simply means our relationship is made right.
[8:15] And in that, here’s what we get. We get a no holds barred, barrier free relationship with God. [8:23] We have the privilege of knowing Him. We have the privilege of being known by Him. [8:27] And in knowing us, He doesn’t look to our sin, but rather He looks to His Son’s perfect obedience in following Him. [8:35] It’s a sin is no longer a barrier. But here’s what happens. [8:39] If I walk through my life experiencing reconciliation with God, I begin to look at people a different way as well. [8:50] I begin to look at other people through the lens of forgiveness and reconciliation.
[8:55] Because I know that my sin is great, greater than most. [9:00] And I know that in that sin, there’s no reason I deserve to be loved by God. There’s no reason.
[9:10] And so if I understand that about myself, then when I look at you, and I look at people that aren’t here, I look at the whole world, [9:18] I look at them as people who can be reconciled to God, who can know God. [9:24] So then, the whole mission of my life just changes forever. [9:29] And so now, instead of just living for me, which is part of that selfish rebellion, [9:33] instead of just living unconnected, I can go into other people’s lives. I can connect. [9:38] But I can connect with a purpose of reconciliation. And that is what God calls me to.
[9:44] Especially when He says, when Jesus says when He’s on earth, He says the greatest commandments are number one, love God, [9:49] and the seconds like it, love your neighbor as yourself. [9:53] Jesus is summing up the entire mission of the Gospel in those two statements. [9:58] Number one, God wants you. Number two, He’s not satisfied with only you, but He also wants all those around you as well. [10:07] And the Scripture tells us that He desires to use us as His ambassadors and messengers of that reconciliation to other people.
[10:20] And when we get to John chapter 17, Jesus is praying for the church before He goes to the cross. [10:30] And in John chapter 17, which has often been called the high priestly prayer, it may even say that in your Scriptures, [10:36] He prays for His disciples on earth right then and there. [10:40] But then in verse 20, He begins to shift His focus, and He prays for you and I. [10:47] It says in verse 20, I do not ask for these only, meaning His disciples, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word, [10:57] that they all may be one just as you, Father, are in Me and I in you, that they also may be in us.
[11:06] So right there, we have the Gospel, that they be in us. [11:11] He wants us to come to Him. He wants us to be with Him. [11:15] He wants us to experience what C.S. Lewis would call the dance of the Trinity, that perfect union, that perfect relationship that God experiences in Himself. [11:24] Jesus wants us to come into that.
[11:29] And He continues.
[11:32] He says, so that the world may believe that you have sent Me, the glory that you have given Me, I have given to them, [11:44] that they may be one even as we are one, in them, excuse me, I in them and you in Me, that they may become perfectly one, [11:52] so that the world may know that you sent Me and loved them even as you loved Me. [12:01] There’s this great cycle that He gives us there. [12:03] It’s this perfect unity in Him. [12:05] And then what He’s saying that needs to translate into is that if we’re united in Him, all of us who are following Jesus,
[12:12] then that is just going to naturally cause a unity among us. [12:18] And then that unity among us will then translate into those who are outside of the church, those who haven’t trusted in Jesus Christ, [12:27] those who don’t know Him. They will see that. [12:29] And then He says, so that the world will know, Father, that you have sent Me. [12:33] So through our unity, there is this purpose that the world would know that we belong to God and that they also can know God.
[12:45] And what that creates, number one, the church. [12:51] But in the church, we kind of look at it as this institution that is outside of us. [12:56] But I want you to understand this morning, the church is not an institution outside of you. [13:00] The church is us.
[13:04] United for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. [13:07] This building is not the church. It’s a building. [13:11] You, my friends, are the church of Jesus Christ locally. [13:17] And then we connect with all those worldwide, and we are the body of Christ. [13:23] Created to know God, be known by God, but also take His mission to the world. [13:28] So this week and next week, when our community groups relaunch,
[13:33] I want to share with you six prayers that the pastors here at Village Church have, [13:38] and your community group leaders are praying for you and for your group. [13:43] That we have for the church. [13:44] I want you to understand, as I go through this list, it’s not just a mixture, but rather it is a list that’s in the order that we see in Scripture. [13:53] That defines biblical community.
[13:58] Our prayer for community helps us understand then what biblical community is. [14:04] So the first thing I want you to understand, biblical community is gospel-purposed. [14:09] I pray that our groups find their purpose in the gospel. [14:14] This is the foundation upon what we exist for, even as a church at large. [14:21] Village Church at Midlothian exists because of and for the gospel of Jesus Christ. [14:29] In John 17, he prays that our unity as a church will be reflection of the work of the gospel.
[14:35] In other words, that we would reflect to the world the reconciliation that we experience with God the Father. [14:43] And the only way we can do that is to reconcile with one another. [14:47] That sin wouldn’t keep us disconnected. [14:49] Do you realize that when you do not connect with other people, what you are reflecting is not your relationship that you should have with Jesus Christ, but instead you’re reflecting sin. [14:59] If you notice back in the book of Genesis, sin did not cause Adam and Eve to grow deeper in love with one another. [15:06] Instead, sin caused them to blame one another and run.
[15:11] When God comes down and finds them in their sin, they’re hiding themselves from one another because they know they’re not pure any longer. [15:19] And then he begins to question them. And Adam’s first response is what my response would have been probably, [15:25] God, that woman you made. Look what she did. [15:31] Just immediately throws her under the bus.
[15:35] Gentlemen, that is not what we should do as husbands. [15:39] That’s not a good idea. If you want to have a bad marriage, Genesis 3. [15:44] All right. That’s a bad marriage. [15:47] All right. You take bullets for your wife. You don’t put her in front of you. [15:51] All right. That was free, by the way. [15:54] You’ll have a better marriage for it.
[15:59] But our if we’re going to say one thing, the first thing that our community groups exist for, it’s for the purpose of the gospel. [16:05] Now, you can have community for a plethora of reasons. [16:10] There are so many reasons to hook up with people. [16:12] I mean, you look at like fantasy football, fantasy baseball. [16:15] I mean, that is a type of community. You’re connecting around a purpose and around a cause. [16:21] OK, if you look at sports teams, you’re connecting around a purpose, around a cause.
[16:25] That is a type of community. [16:27] But here’s the key. As followers of Jesus Christ, we cannot have any purpose higher than the gospel. [16:35] It’s what we’re here for. [16:37] So when you connect in your community groups and you may ask yourself, man, why do we even do this? [16:45] I have nothing in common with those people at that group. [16:48] I don’t even think that guy knows what he’s talking about.
[16:53] All right. But if that’s where you’re starting, you’re never going to find a group.
[16:58] Start with the gospel. [17:01] So, you know, while I wouldn’t go bowling with some of these people, while I wouldn’t naturally even connect with some of them.
[17:11] What a great way for me to work the gospel out in my life, to work reconciliation with those people. [17:18] What a great way. [17:20] Gospel purpose. Second prayer this morning. [17:22] We’re going to move fast because usually I have three points. Today I have six. So pray. [17:27] Secondly, this morning, I pray that our groups would be gospel encouraging. [17:32] Gospel purpose is the why we connect.
[17:34] Gospel encouraging is the what of what we’re trying to do. [17:39] First Corinthians, Chapter 10, says this in verse 31 through 33. [17:44] So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. [17:49] Give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God. [17:53] Just as I try to please everyone and everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, that they may be saved. [18:01] You see what Paul’s attitude is here.
[18:04] If our purpose is the gospel, then when we come together, we will enter an environment that encourages us to live our lives for the gospel. [18:14] So when you come together and you come with an attitude, I’m here because of, I’m here for the gospel. [18:25] Then what’s naturally going to happen is that the gospel is going to be the centerpiece of what you are gathering around. [18:32] And when you are just there as a person that is seeking and working towards an awe in the gospel, [18:39] you know that the grace of God is working out in your life. [18:41] You have no barriers between you and God because of Jesus.
[18:44] Then what is naturally going to happen in your life is that you are there to encourage others to live for that same gospel. [18:53] Because you know that the calling of God on your life is not to live for yourself.
[19:01] So sometimes there is this great thing that I hear from some people. [19:05] It’s just like, I just don’t feel like I’m getting fed in my group. [19:11] Quite often my response is, I don’t know that you are hungry in your group.
[19:18] When you go to group, your reason shouldn’t be you as a first reason. [19:27] Now that’s going to come, don’t worry. [19:30] But that’s not reason number one. [19:33] Reason number one is Jesus. [19:36] And right after that is those other people that you are in that group with. [19:43] You go to glorify God, and then Paul lays out in verse 32 and 33 that he is not seeking his own advantage.
[19:53] That’s how he knows he’s bringing glory to God. [19:55] Because it’s not about him. [19:59] It’s about others. [20:01] You are there to encourage other people in the gospel. [20:05] Being redeemed by the saving work of Jesus on the cross reconciles us to him. [20:09] And it puts us on a mission for Jesus to make disciples of all nations.
[20:14] We need community in order to accomplish that mission and be continually discipled. [20:19] A healthy community formed for the right reasons will go out to every culture it can and see people redeemed by Jesus and put on mission, thus continuing the cycle. [20:33] You see in that second prayer, we have our core values as a church. [20:38] We need to memorize those core values. [20:41] Redemption, mission, community, and culture. [20:44] When you’re redeemed through the faith that comes in Jesus Christ, he transforms you to live a life of mission.
[20:51] To love others as he has loved you and to take the good news of the grace of Jesus Christ to all those around you. [20:58] He transforms you to that mission. [20:59] But living that mission is absolutely impossible outside of relationship with other people. [21:04] It’s impossible. [21:05] Because his mission is completely desirous for other people. [21:12] And when you come into community with other people, here’s what you get.
[21:16] Number one, you’re beginning to live the mission of Jesus. [21:17] And number two, you’re learning how to live the mission of Jesus. [21:21] And once you begin to grow in your understanding of what that mission is, guess what? [21:27] You begin to go out into your life. [21:28] You begin to live as a messenger of reconciliation. [21:31] You’re an ambassador for Christ.
[21:33] And so you are living that mission continually and other people become redeemed. [21:38] And then guess what? They begin that cycle as well. [21:41] It’s an ongoing cycle. [21:43] Redemption to mission, to community, to culture, and then back to redemption. [21:47] That’s the calling of God on your life.
[21:52] So when we come into community with one another for our groups, we intentionally prepare for a united focus of mission. [22:02] We must be intentional about that. [22:04] In other words, we don’t just show up kind of nonchalantly. [22:09] I don’t know if you’ve noticed this, but there aren’t any in there this morning. [22:12] But week in and week out when you come to Village, you’re handed a handout, which is called a bulletin. [22:17] And in that bulletin, guess what?
[22:19] There are questions for your community group. [22:23] And those questions are going to be talked to in your group if your leader is doing what they’re supposed to.
[22:28] And we don’t just put them in there because, you know, we’ve got so much time on our hands to come up with really interesting questions. [22:35] No, when you leave here on Sunday mornings, guess what? [22:38] Before you get to group, you need to go through those questions. [22:43] Maybe even write some answers down. [22:45] Prepare to come together to help others in their understanding of God’s Word so that the mission will go out in their lives.
[22:57] When we go for other people, we prepare for other people. [23:03] When you go for yourself, if they show up, they might. [23:08] Who cares? [23:10] Just kind of have an attitude of, you know, whatever.
[23:16] When you prepare for group, you’re preparing to apply things to your life from God’s Word. [23:25] Going to community group is not as much about information. [23:29] That’s why we don’t seek out scholars to lead our group. [23:33] If you come to me and you’re like, I don’t think that my community group leader is a Bible scholar, I’ll say, yeah, I know they’re not.
[23:41] Because my prayer for you is not that you will just go and get smarter. [23:48] My prayer for the church is that you will go and live differently. [23:51] That you will go and live the mission of Jesus as a community. [23:58] Thirdly, this morning, I pray that our groups would be pastorally caring. [24:02] It’s the how. [24:04] We’ve seen the why, the gospel.
[24:08] We’ve seen the what, the courage.
[24:11] But the how is that we would care for one another. [24:15] Every community group leader is appointed by one of the pastors here. [24:20] And so in a sense, they’re not pastors, but you can recognize them as kind of a conduit from the pastoral leadership team of the church. [24:29] And I get story after story from our great groups of ways in which our groups are caring for one another. [24:39] You have no idea how encouraging that is and how helpful that is. [24:44] And the second thing I notice is when I hear that our groups at Village Church care for one another, that you are there for one another.
[24:52] In the highs, when people are experiencing great success, you rejoice together. [24:56] You care about when someone is growing in the faith or when someone leads someone to Christ or when something good is happening in the lives of the families represented in that church. [25:06] But you’re also there for them when they have need. [25:09] But it’s one thing I realize about living in this world is that I will never be need free. [25:14] Oh, people in that church are so needy. Yeah, because they live on earth.
[25:20] They have lives. They leave their house, go around in the world. And guess what? [25:24] When you do that, you tend to pick up a few needs. You tend to pick up some baggage.
[25:28] So when we come together, I want this to be a time where you’re really open with one another. [25:35] Where if you’ve got something that’s just beating you down, you understand that God has not called you to shoulder that under your own strength. [25:44] Number one, he has called you to trust the gospel in that moment. [25:48] So when you’re trusting the gospel, that takes shame away. [25:52] Because if all you live with is the shame that you have in your life, you can’t grow in the gospel because you’re not trusting in the work on the cross. [25:59] Now, I’m not saying it’s going to be an instantaneous relief because I understand the baggage that can happen in this life.
[26:04] And I’ve got plenty that I’ll tell you about if you come to group with me. [26:08] But it’s a process. But that process is not going to happen if you’re just carrying those burdens on your own. [26:15] Your group is there for you. Your group leader is there for you. [26:19] The people that you’re hopefully maybe even meeting with outside of group, they’re there for you to open up to them [26:24] and share the stories of what is actually happening in your life.
[26:31] And also, when you hear about a need that’s going on, your first point of contact needs to be your community group, because those are the people that know you, especially your leader.
[26:43] And sometimes when it’s a little too much for them, they’ll come to us. [26:48] Because guess what? I want to be there for you. Nate wants to be there for you. James wants to be there for you. [26:54] Your community group leader wants to be there for you. [26:57] And their pastoral caring, I have four things that I learned a long time ago that I want to be true of our groups. [27:02] I want every member of a community group at Village Church to be loved. [27:08] I want every member to be prayed for. I want every member to be prayed with at least once a week.
[27:15] And finally, I want every member of a community group at Village Church to have the opportunity to be personally discipled. [27:23] Now whether you take that opportunity up, that’s up to you. But I at least want that opportunity to be there. [27:29] Guys, we are the church of Jesus Christ. Pastors do not exist just to have authority over a building. [27:38] We exist to be involved in each other’s lives. [27:42] And with over 200 people here this morning, guess what? I can’t handle all you guys.
[27:50] I don’t even know some of you. But guess what? When we segment it down into smaller numbers,
[27:58] we start to look like a group of people that actually love one another. [28:04] And I’m hearing stories of that. And I’ve heard some encouraging stories over the last few months that I have needed as we renovated this building. [28:11] And I’ve heard stories about the church being the church. Taking that reconciliation into one another’s lives. [28:20] Caring for each other when you are in need. Guess what? That is one of my prayers for your community groups. [28:25] That care would happen. And if you disconnect yourself from the community groups in this church, [28:30] I fear that you are disconnecting yourself from so much care that you could have.
[28:34] From people that actually love you and care for you and understand that they live for others.
[28:41] The fourth thing that our groups exist for, and I’m going to begin in these next three things to show the [28:46] not just questions that our groups answer, but reasons that our groups go into this world. [28:51] Our groups exist to be mission oriented. Community is not an end in and of itself. [28:59] When Jesus was leaving this earth and going to prepare for his second coming, he looked at his disciples and he said, [29:05] Go make more disciples. So our community groups need to exist with that attitude. [29:11] We are people on mission. We are mission oriented. That is our focus.
[29:18] So I want you to understand, if you come to community groups, this is a non-negotiable. [29:23] This is totally non-negotiable. If you are like, well, I don’t really want to live the mission of Jesus. [29:28] Well, you’re actually saying you don’t want to follow him if you say that. [29:32] Jesus is on mission. So if you want to follow him, you should get on mission. [29:38] So when you come to a community group, a village church, you are going to be encouraged and often challenged to live a life of mission. [29:47] That is the focus of why we gather. We come together as a community to be equipped and gain the tools
[29:55] to go out into the lives that we have every day of the week with a different focus than we would naturally have outside of our faith in Jesus Christ. [30:04] And that focus is to take the good news and give it in to the lives of other people. [30:11] John chapter 20 verse 21, after Jesus prays the high priestly prayer, he looks to his disciples and he says, [30:18] As the Father sent me, so I am sending you. [30:23] And that high priestly prayer, I don’t know if you noticed this, but there’s two different occasions where Jesus says that if they are one, [30:29] they will believe that the Father has sent me, especially in verse 23, the second portion.
[30:38] He says that when we connect, when we come together, we exist as a great apologetic to show the world that Jesus is legit.
[30:48] The reason for that is because it is not natural for us to be in relationship with God. [30:53] It’s a life changing thing. It makes me change. [30:58] And secondly, it’s not always natural to come together with other people, especially someone that I may not have anything in common with. [31:05] Most of you have nothing in common with me and that’s because you’re better than me.
[31:11] Here’s the reality. When you and I come together for the purpose of the gospel, it becomes this great mission between us. [31:21] It becomes this great sign that Jesus is our Lord. He is our God. [31:27] It shows that we believe in reconciliation. [31:31] Romans chapter 12, verse 1, the apostle Paul is finishing, excuse me, starting the section on how we should live sacrificially for the gospel of Jesus Christ. [31:43] He says, I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, [31:49] wholly acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.
[31:52] And I mention that specifically for the purpose that some of you may say, I don’t have time for mission. [31:59] I’m busy. I’ve got so much going on. [32:02] How in the world am I going to fit the mission of Jesus into my life? [32:06] How in the world am I going to fit coming together with a group of people once a week in order to strategize of how best to live for the gospel of Jesus Christ? [32:14] How am I going to do that? Here’s the reality. Sacrifice. Sacrifice. You can’t have it all. [32:23] God has called you into a life in which you choose to live for Him over choosing to live for other things.
[32:33] That is a hard reality, often. [32:38] It’s never been an easy thing for me, because there’s a ton of stuff I’d love to be a part of, I’d love to really pour myself out into. [32:44] I’d really love to do with every waking moment of my life.
[32:50] But when I say yes to some of those things, I’m saying no to the sacrifice that God calls me to have. [32:59] He tells me that that is my spiritual worship. [33:03] That’s how God has called us to worship Him. [33:06] He’s called us to come together as His people and be healthy together. [33:11] And here’s the other thing that that means when we’re mission focused. [33:14] It means that our groups are going to grow.
[33:20] We do not practice a system where you find six people that you really like and that’s your community group forever. [33:26] Just you six. Because if you add number seven, it’s going to be different.
[33:32] He’s going to bring other prayer requests and we’re not going to be able to have the united prayer. [33:36] Because we all kind of jump off each other’s prayers. We’ve been listening to each other pray for about a year and a half now. [33:40] So we can just jump off each other. You put number seven in there and he’s not going to get the ebb and flow of the way we pray as a group.
[33:50] Frankly, maybe you’ve experienced that. [33:52] You’ve gone to a group and you’re like, okay, I’m new here. [33:55] And it’s like, you know, number one, you’re like the unwelcome addition. [33:59] And you know, number two, they’d prefer you weren’t there. [34:03] And guess what? You probably will never go back. [34:06] I know I wouldn’t. I don’t blame you.
[34:08] So we challenge our group leaders to really fight what is a natural tendency for us to do when we are self-focused. [34:19] So we call you to not come together completely self-focused. [34:23] We call you to come together with the attitude that Jesus gives us in John chapter 20. [34:27] And that is a group of people who are sent on the mission that Jesus was sent on. [34:33] And he tells us in the book of Luke that he was sent to seek and to save that which was lost.
[34:40] And so when we are naturally living that way, our groups should grow.
[34:48] And they may get so big that we have to start another group, which we’re going through right now as a church. [34:54] That’s why Mike and Kelly Little are starting another group on Tuesday nights is because, man, our groups are growing to the point where they’re like they’re a little too big for people to actually talk. [35:02] So they’re launching more groups.
[35:08] Our groups will change in dynamics and intimacy if we’re following the gospel of Jesus Christ.
[35:18] The dynamics of your group changing don’t hurt the gospel. [35:22] Guess what? They help the gospel. [35:26] So if you’ve been struggling with that where your group is concerned, you’re like, man, these new people keep showing up. [35:31] Man, take joy in that. You want to know why? [35:35] Because that means the gospel’s doing something. [35:38] That means we’re growing.
[35:40] And that should be your attitude. And that should be your focus. [35:43] Because, man, may the gospel change me so that I love every person that walks in that door. [35:47] I pray that on Sunday mornings and I pray that for your groups as well.
[35:53] And when we do that, our groups become the missional hub of Village Church. [36:00] I pray that our groups are, individually, we’re going into our jobs, living the mission to those whom we work with and live with in our families. [36:08] But secondly, I pray that our groups would be a kind of hub for mission together.
[36:17] So in some situations, you may know someone in your family, you may know someone in your neighborhood that has some real needs. [36:25] Guess where your connection point is to meet those needs of people in the community? [36:31] Your group. Your group. [36:34] I pray that our groups, and I pray we get better at this over time, but I pray that our groups will begin to come together and go and serve out in the community with one another. [36:44] Because when we do it corporately, there’s this attitude of, well, you know, those nine that always show up, they’ll be there. [36:51] They don’t need me.
[36:53] But when you do it as a community group, you understand that this is vital to your life and you have a personal connection to a person that can be served out in the community. [37:02] And when you take it to your group leader and you do it as a group, you’re getting the mission of Jesus. [37:07] So if you know people that have needs, guess what? You don’t have to meet them on your own. [37:13] It may feel like Goliath and you’re David and you’re like, I’ve got no hope of meeting this need that this person has. [37:18] But guess what? When you take it to about 12 other people, the need gets smaller because you’ve got a team of people meeting the needs of the community around you. [37:31] Which leads us into the reality that our groups are gift equipping.
[37:37] This is the goal of our group.
[37:40] You see, God has given each and every one of us. [37:47] Gifts. [37:49] Some of us have one like me. [37:52] Some of us have many. [37:53] And I call you an overachiever.
[37:58] But God has given every one of us gifts. [37:59] And in First Corinthians, Chapter 12, he spells out the reality that your giftings come directly from him for the purpose of building his church with the rest of the church. [38:13] First Corinthians, Chapter 12, verses 14 through 27, spell out and I’ll not go through the whole thing because of time. [38:20] But it spells out that some of us, excuse me, all of us together build the body of Christ. [38:26] But some of us were like a hand. [38:29] Some of us are like a foot.
[38:31] Some of us are the eye and the ear. [38:32] Guess what? If you were to come and cut one of my ears off, I would have a bad day for the rest of the day. [38:39] All right? [38:40] I’d have a really bad day. [38:42] It’s just something wouldn’t be right. [38:45] And see, the second half of that verse says some of you may even think that your gifts are so irrelevant and so small that you really have no impact.
[38:53] But God says that he gives more favor to those who have what seem to be insignificant gifts. [38:59] But if you’re not there, you will be sorely missed.
[39:04] A body can’t exist without a big toe. [39:07] I mean, it can. [39:08] It’s just not going to function right. [39:10] You’re going to walk funny the rest of your life. [39:12] If you’re in here and you don’t have a big toe, you know what I’m talking about.
[39:19] If you go blind in one eye, you may veer the other way for a little while because something’s not quite right. [39:29] Understand that when you come together as a group, we’ve told your community group leaders to specifically watch you and to interact with you in your life [39:36] so that you don’t even have to come to them and tell them what your gifting is, is that they may be able to identify it and help you learn how to use that gifting for the glory of Jesus Christ. [39:47] Do you know not everybody should be a community group leader? [39:51] I really don’t think so. [39:52] Because I don’t think everybody has that gifting.
[39:56] Not everybody should preach. [39:57] Not everybody should be a children’s worker. [40:01] And I say that personally because that would be the worst thing ever for me. [40:05] Your kids, they would be in trouble if I was out there. [40:08] Things would not go well. [40:11] That’s not my gifting.
[40:14] But here’s the reality. [40:14] I praise God that we have various gifts. [40:17] I praise God that some of you are so merciful. [40:21] Because it helps those of us who are completely merciless. [40:25] I praise God that some of you have the ability to work with your hands. [40:29] Because if I had to do some of the stuff in this building, it would have fallen down.
[40:33] I praise God that some of you have a listening ear. [40:37] For those of us who only have a talking mouth.
[40:41] I praise God that He has gathered so many people with so many different gifts. [40:46] But I fear that you may think that your gift is insignificant. [40:51] It’s not. [40:53] There’s no person in here that’s insignificant where God is concerned. [40:56] And where community groups are concerned. [40:58] When you gather every week, and gather more throughout the week.
[41:02] I pray, which is going to be our last point this morning. [41:06] I pray that you begin to learn and exercise the spiritual gifts that God has given you. [41:14] Because you make far more of an impact than you will ever imagine. [41:21] I think of some of you who have made such a huge impact in my life. [41:24] And you may have no idea. [41:26] Because you may think and go through life that you are insignificant.
[41:30] Because you don’t have this gift that is just so showy. [41:35] But I know you’ve helped me. I know you’ve encouraged me. [41:37] I know you’ve prayed for me. [41:39] And I’m so thankful for the community group that God has put around me to help me understand that.
[41:47] Finally this morning, my last prayer is for the life of our groups. [41:52] I pray that our groups would be relationally connected. [41:56] You see, that’s my final prayer. That’s number six. [42:00] That’s the last prayer that I have for community groups. [42:02] Because quite often, while it’s important, which is why I’m praying it. [42:07] It’s not number one.
[42:11] There’s a great temptation for us to go through our lives. [42:15] Thinking that we exist just to have those people around us that we have commonalities with. [42:21] That our personality gels with so well. [42:26] No. That’s not it. [42:28] Now while people of like age, like mind, like life situation are going to naturally come together. [42:36] That is not really what I think we should be seeking out.
[42:40] I think we should be seeking out to connect on a deeper level than that. [42:45] I think that our priority number one is to connect in the gospel. [42:48] Our relational connection with one another should be seen as a spiritual discipline. [42:55] You need relational connection far more than it needs you. [43:01] You need it in your life. [43:03] Quite often I have to preach the gospel to myself to believe that.
[43:07] I have to truly trust in Jesus to believe that I need other people in my life. [43:12] And that other people don’t exist for me. [43:15] But I exist for them. [43:19] You have to believe that. [43:20] If you begin to do that, you understand what will happen. [43:22] That’s a great deep seated repentance that takes place in your life when you begin to understand it.
[43:27] It changes everything. [43:29] Relationships finally have a purpose. [43:32] And it’s bigger than you. [43:36] Galatians chapter 5 verses 22 through 26 says it this way. [43:41] It says, but the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. [43:49] Against such things there is no law.
[43:51] And those who belong to Christ, Jesus, have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. [43:55] But notice this. [43:56] If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep step with the Spirit. [44:00] Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, and envying one another.
[44:07] Don’t you understand that I think all believers want to have the fruits of the Spirit? [44:13] I mean, that’s a great list. [44:14] That sounds like good stuff. [44:16] But I think a lot of us are trying to have it by ourselves. [44:21] Trying to experience just as an individual.
[44:26] The context of this, if you go through verse 26, is the context of relationship. [44:33] You cannot exercise the fruits of the Spirit to yourself.
[44:39] Those are all things that need to be exercised towards other people.
[44:46] Your relationships exist with an agenda.
[44:51] There’s a thought that goes through our lives sometimes that relationships are only godly when they have no agenda. [44:57] No, that’s not true. [44:58] Jesus came with an agenda.
[45:01] That agenda was advancing His glory. [45:07] His glory is found in the Gospel. [45:09] The relationships outside of group, but especially inside of community groups, exist to advance the Gospel of Jesus Christ. [45:16] The only way for community to change your life is when it is less about you and more about others. [45:21] Real community does not exist then outside of a relationship with Jesus Christ. [45:26] Real community will not develop unless it is forgiving others a relationship with Jesus Christ.
[45:34] Either a brand new one for those who don’t believe, or a better one to those who do believe, but you’re gathering with. [45:42] That must be our battle cry as we go into community with each other. [45:49] The only thing that we can do is that we are reflecting a relationship with Jesus Christ to others. [45:57] You may be in here this morning and you don’t have a relationship with Jesus Christ. [46:01] You can experience community on that level. [46:04] I want you to understand that that can begin today.
[46:08] That you can know God today through the finished work of His Son on the cross and through His life-giving resurrection. [46:18] We are about to transition into a time where we reflect on a thing called communion. [46:23] If you are in here and you don’t know Jesus, you don’t have a relationship with Him, [46:28] I want you to know that I will be over here and there will be some in the back and some in the corner over there. [46:33] I would love to talk to you about what a relationship with Jesus Christ is all about. [46:37] I would love to talk to you even about my relationship with Him, but more importantly than that,
[46:42] I would love to show you what He says about having a relationship with Him in His Word.
[46:48] We reflect on this thing called communion every week, but this week I find that it has this great meaning.
[46:57] The Word of God says that as often, excuse me, that we do this as we come together as a community. [47:05] That when we come together, we reflect on communion as a church. [47:09] Communion is not something for you as an individual as much as it is for us as a community. [47:16] See, I am in that and so are you. [47:18] What communion represents is the broken body, which is the bread of Jesus Christ, [47:24] and His shed blood, which is represented in His cup.
[47:28] In Jewish culture, when you had a meal with a sinner, that was seen as an unclean meal. [47:37] See, here is the reality of what communion represents. [47:40] It is the table that God sets for His people. [47:44] When He says, reflect on this, He is saying, come have a meal with Me. [47:50] Do you know what He is declaring? [47:52] He is declaring that you are clean.
[47:55] Your sin does not bar you from sharing a meal with Him. [48:00] When we do it as a community, what we are doing is that we are coming and taking of the bread, [48:06] we are taking of the cup, and we are proclaiming to one another, [48:10] I trust the gospel of Jesus Christ. [48:13] That is why you are to do it in community. [48:16] It is part of what is sort of offensive about the gospel.
[48:19] That God has made the way to a meal with Him and a fellowship with Him completely clear if you trust Him. [48:26] That is why He warns us that if we do not trust Him, we should not partake of this meal. [48:32] Because it does not have any meaning to us. [48:34] Because we have not trusted in who Jesus is. [48:37] We do not believe the promises that God has made through us. [48:40] I want you to understand that I do not do it this morning to belittle you,
[48:43] but rather I do it to help you understand. [48:46] We are going to do it as a community this morning to help you understand that you can know God, [48:51] and you can have this meal too, if you trust Him. [48:55] Even if this is your first time at the Village Church, you have never been here before, [48:59] I invite you to share this meal with us, if you trust in Jesus Christ. [49:05] If you have not trusted in Jesus Christ, I am going to ask you today,
[49:10] to come have a few words with me, [49:12] so that today you can have fellowship with God through a meal for the first time ever in your life. [49:19] The band is going to come forward. [49:21] We know we are crowded in here this morning, which is a really good problem for us to have. [49:26] So it may get congested, because this is the first time we have done it in this building. [49:31] But I think that is a pretty good problem.
[49:35] The bread and the cup are up here, they are on the sides of the stage, [49:38] they are even in the back over here, and the back over here.
[49:43] So I want you to spend a moment, and Joey is going to play softly for just a few moments on his guitar, [49:47] before we start singing. [49:49] But I want you to take a moment, and I want you to reflect on what God has called you into, [49:54] number one, in community with Himself, [49:57] and number two, in community with one another. [50:00] And then when you are ready, come.
[50:04] God has taken the barrier to Himself of your sin down, [50:10] if you will trust in Jesus.