Connection Issues | Followers. Not Fans. | Chet Pete

Come on, let's raise the light. Come on, hold across and put your hands on this. (upbeat music) Come on, let's take a minute, let's see. (singing in foreign language) ♪ You get all the praise we say ♪ ♪ I lay, I lay, I lay, I lay, I lay ♪ ♪ You get all the praise, oh, wait ♪ ♪ I lay, I lay, I lay, I lay ♪ ♪ You get all the praise we say ♪ ♪ I lay, I lay, I lay, I lay ♪ ♪ You get all the praise, oh, wait ♪ ♪ And I've got a God who is born ♪ ♪ And he's no one making a way ♪ ♪ He gave up the battle so I wouldn't have to ♪ ♪ Don't worry, but I won't do his day ♪ ♪ And I've got a God who is born ♪ ♪ Can you clear that? ♪ ♪ If I'm more than I can explain ♪ ♪ And through every season ♪ ♪ He's the spot of my weakness ♪ ♪ He gave me a song that could sing ♪ ♪ So I can't just pray ♪ ♪ Come on, come on ♪ ♪ I can't just pray ♪ ♪ That's why I woke up to death ♪ ♪ That's why I woke up to death ♪ ♪ Those who are the praise, oh, wait ♪ ♪ I can't just pray ♪ ♪ We say, I lay, I lay, I lay ♪

♪ You get all the praise, we say ♪ ♪ I lay, I lay, I lay ♪ ♪ You get all the praise, oh, wait ♪ ♪ And I've got a King who is born ♪ ♪ And he took my faith in the grave ♪ ♪ And to hell and back him now I'll ever ♪ ♪ And he did it in all the three days ♪ ♪ So I can't just pray ♪ ♪ And he will come ready to pray ♪ ♪ I can't just pray ♪ ♪ That's why I woke up to death ♪ ♪ That's why I woke up to death ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, wait ♪ ♪ I can't just pray ♪ ♪ I can't just pray ♪ ♪ We say, I lay, I lay, I lay ♪ ♪ Oh, I lay, I lay, I lay ♪ ♪ You get all the praise, we say ♪ ♪ I lay, I lay, I lay ♪ ♪ You get all the praise, oh, wait ♪ ♪ I'm singing the morning, I'm singing the night ♪ ♪ I'm singing the battle, that's how I find it ♪ ♪ I'm singing the morning, I'm singing the drive ♪ ♪ I'm singing the song in the rest of my life ♪ ♪ Oh, I lay, I lay, I lay, I lay, I lay ♪ ♪ I'm singing the battle, that's how I find it ♪ ♪ I'm singing the song in the rest of my life ♪ ♪ I'm singing the song in the rest of my life ♪ ♪ I'm singing the song in the rest of my life ♪ ♪ I lay, I lay, I lay, I lay ♪

♪ You get all the praise, we say ♪ ♪ I lay, I lay, I lay ♪ ♪ I'm singing the morning, you get all the praise, oh, wait ♪ ♪ I lay, I lay, I lay, I lay ♪ ♪ You get all the praise, we say ♪ ♪ I lay, I lay, I lay ♪ ♪ You get all the praise, oh, wait ♪ ♪ I'm singing the morning, I'm singing the night ♪ ♪ I'm singing the battle, that's how I find it ♪ ♪ I'm singing the song in the rest of my life ♪ ♪ I'm singing the song in the rest of my life, oh, wait ♪ ♪ I lay, I lay, I lay, I lay ♪ ♪ You get all the praise, oh, wait ♪ ♪ You get all the praise, oh, wait ♪ ♪ I'm singing the song in the rest of my life ♪ ♪ I came to play the blues, me out in my words ♪ ♪ I'm singing out in my way, hey ♪ ♪ I came to play, come on to the grave ♪ - Thank you, Jesus. (soft piano music) Come on, just begin to fix your thoughts on Jesus right there. (soft piano music) Thank you, Lord. (soft piano music) We love you, Jesus. We thank you, Lord. (soft piano music) Thank you, Lord. (soft piano music) Come on, there's something about being in the presence

of Lord as one body together. And today, I'm reminded of when the body of Christ comes together, powerful things happen. (soft piano music) Reminding things happen in the first service. And we're not hitting a restart in this gathering. We're continuing with the Lord's already been doing all morning. So right there as a sign of reverence for the Spirit of God, would you just begin to lift up your hands? Come on, he's your friend, but he's also your savior. Come on, he's a comforter, but he's also the king of kings and Lord of lords. Lord, we love you, we thank you. We thank you for the way your spirit's moving. I pray for every single heart that is in this room that feels far from you distant. Lord, would you meet us right now? God, we honor you. We were a very Lord. We thank you, holy spirit, and God bless you. And holy spirit teach me how to feel the love that you would have brought you to. The Lord and just a friend you are the new, new, I can't dethrone the king of kings. God, oh, holy, this is my repentance. I will bow in reverence for some one love caught up in your presence. Here in new reverence for us, when I feel the Lord, I start to understand. This one comes from you, though. I will look to love if I will walk fast, increasing the love of the Lord. In God, oh, holy, this is my me, baby. I will bow in reverence for some one love caught up in your presence. Here in new reverence for us, when I feel the love of the Lord, this is my repentance. I will bow in reverence for some one love caught up in your presence. Here in new reverence for some one caught up in your presence for some one love caught up in your presence. Here in God, I will give my love to feel the Lord walk in the step with your spirit.

Everything that tries to come against can I stand in your presence. I will give my love to feel the Lord walk in step with your spirit. Everything that tries to come against can I stand in your presence. We will be the church be glorious, ghosting on the end, Jesus. Nations raging kingdoms by the part of doors is only increasing. We will be the church be glorious, ghosting on the end, Jesus. Nations raging kingdoms by the part of doors is only increasing. We will be the church be glorious, ghosting on the end, Jesus. ♪ I will bow in red ♪ ♪ Oh, I'll draw the wonder ♪ ♪ I'm taught to be your place ♪ ♪ For hearing you of my God ♪ ♪ Oh, I'll draw the light ♪ ♪ I need this is my limit ♪ ♪ I'm taught to be my limit ♪ ♪ Oh, I'll draw the wonder ♪ ♪ Oh, I'll draw the wonder ♪ ♪ I'm taught to be your place ♪ ♪ Oh, I'll draw the wonder ♪ ♪ And I will give my life to be the goal ♪ ♪ Oh, I'll be still with your speed ♪ ♪ Everything that tries to come again ♪ ♪ Oh, I'll draw the light ♪ ♪ We will be the last victory ♪ ♪ Oh, I'll be the last victory ♪ ♪ They should arrange us ♪ ♪ We know it's all about yours ♪ ♪ Oh, I'll be still with your speed ♪ ♪ I will give my life to be the goal ♪ ♪ Oh, I'll be still with your speed ♪

♪ Everything that tries to come again ♪ ♪ And I'll stay with your friends ♪ ♪ We will be the church victorious ♪ ♪ Oh, yeah ♪ ♪ We're not great to keep us ♪ ♪ For the part of yours is only concrete ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ Love you ♪ ♪ This is my repentance ♪ ♪ I will bow and breath ♪ ♪ I swear ♪ ♪ I'll bow ♪ ♪ I'll cuddle with your friends ♪ ♪ Hearing you and your friends ♪ (audience applauds) ♪ Oh, I think the Lord ♪ ♪ I'm only here for you, Jesus ♪ ♪ I'm only here to give you glory ♪ ♪ To bless your name, Lord ♪ ♪ I'm after your heart, Jesus ♪ ♪ We're after your heart, Lord ♪ ♪ We're here right after your head ♪ ♪ We're after your heart, Jesus ♪ ♪ You don't gotta do another thing for me, Lord ♪ ♪ And I'll still bless you, Lord ♪ ♪ I'll still bless you, Lord ♪ ♪ And I'll still bless you, Lord ♪ ♪ I'll still bless you, Lord ♪ ♪ 'Cause I just wanna hear ♪ ♪ Nothing else ♪

♪ Nothing else with you ♪ ♪ And I just wanna hear ♪ ♪ Nothing else ♪ ♪ That's all I have to always ♪ ♪ Nothing else ♪ ♪ And I'll still hear ♪ ♪ You don't need to watch this day ♪ ♪ I just wanna hear ♪ ♪ Nothing else ♪ ♪ Nothing else ♪ ♪ Nothing else with you ♪ ♪ And I just wanna hear ♪ ♪ Nothing else ♪ ♪ Nothing else ♪ ♪ Nothing else with you ♪ ♪ I just wanna hear ♪ ♪ Nothing else ♪ ♪ No, nothing else ♪ ♪ Nothing else with you ♪ ♪ 'Cause I just wanna hear ♪ ♪ Nothing else ♪ ♪ Nothing else ♪ ♪ Nothing else with you ♪ ♪ 'Cause I'm part of real business ♪ ♪ And I just wanna hear ♪ ♪ I could be ♪ ♪ A part of business ♪ ♪ Slowly more ♪ ♪ Oh baby, oh baby, oh I'm like you for blessing ♪ ♪ Oh Jesus, you know, hold me in everything ♪

♪ Oh let everything that you do ♪ ♪ I just want you ♪ ♪ 'Cause you're me ♪ ♪ 'Cause Jesus, you know, hold me in everything ♪ ♪ I just want you ♪ ♪ 'Cause oh Jesus, you know, hold me in anything ♪ ♪ Oh Lord ♪ ♪ I owe you everything, Jesus ♪ ♪ I just want you ♪ ♪ You don't know where anything would ♪ ♪ I owe you my whole life ♪ ♪ My whole heart ♪ ♪ Oh Jesus ♪ ♪ 'Cause then I gave you the moment ♪ ♪ I saved the promise ♪ ♪ You look very high ♪ ♪ This is why we owe you everything, Jesus ♪ ♪ This is why we owe you Lord ♪ ♪ I love the silence ♪ ♪ Look, Lord, what I want today is say ♪ ♪ Declare the great as no way for me ♪ ♪ 'Cause we gave ♪ ♪ Then came the morning ♪ ♪ Let's hear the promise ♪ ♪ You're very high ♪ ♪ We get to pray ♪ ♪ And out of the silence ♪ ♪ Look, Lord, what I hear ♪ ♪ Declare the great as no way for me ♪ ♪ Lord, Jesus, you know ♪

♪ Let's hear the glory of faith ♪ ♪ Glory ♪ ♪ Glory ♪ ♪ In our lives ♪ ♪ In our lives ♪ ♪ There's no one in the same way ♪ ♪ Our lives ♪ ♪ In our lives ♪ ♪ There's no one in the same way for me ♪ ♪ In our lives ♪ ♪ In our lives ♪ ♪ In our lives ♪ ♪ In our lives ♪ ♪ In our lives ♪ ♪ In our lives ♪ ♪ In our lives ♪ ♪ In our lives ♪ ♪ Raise the Father's sanity ♪ ♪ Bring ♪ ♪ Our lives ♪ ♪ Death has lost its faith ♪ ♪ Only you let go ♪ ♪ We'll be in the day ♪ ♪ Death has lost its faith ♪ ♪ In Jesus Christ ♪ ♪ Our lives ♪ ♪ In our lives ♪ ♪ In our lives ♪ ♪ In our lives ♪ ♪ Raise the Father's sanity ♪

♪ Death has lost its faith ♪ ♪ Death has lost its faith ♪ ♪ Death has lost its faith ♪ ♪ You have broken every chain ♪ ♪ This our nation ♪ ♪ Those in His blood ♪ ♪ In His blood ♪ ♪ Our lives ♪ ♪ In His blood ♪ ♪ Oh Jesus Christ ♪ ♪ My land is full ♪ ♪ Oh Jesus Christ ♪ ♪ My land is full ♪ ♪ In our lives ♪ ♪ Thank You Lord ♪ ♪ Thank You Jesus ♪ ♪ I have the victory in You Lord ♪ ♪ Help me remind my heart ♪ ♪ My victory's in what You did already ♪ ♪ Jesus ♪ ♪ Thank You Lord ♪ ♪ Thank You Lord ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ I've got the victory in You Jesus ♪ ♪ ♪ I want you to see us together ♪ ♪ And put on the armor of God ♪ ♪ We're going to a war ♪ ♪ ♪ Oh, we got you holding the sea, these fighting for a life

So put on the armor of God, we're going to war, just to play We're holding to the Lamb of God, seated on love throne The victory belongs in the chosen one I just gotta remind myself that you already wanted our life Let's sing it 'til we believe it, say So put on the armor of God, we're going to war, we're going against the unseen So now flesh and blood Oh, we got you holding the sea, these fighting for a life So put on the armor of God, we're going to war, we're going to war, we're going to war We're going to war, we're going to war, yes we are, we're going to war So glory to the Lamb of God, seated on love throne The victory belongs to you, he scores and yours alone So glory to the Lamb of God, seated on love So glory belongs to you, he scores and yours alone This is why we pray, this is why we shout Jesus That we have a victory to you, no one before the kids Just whatever process, we declare today Lord, hey No weapon holding answers, shout props No weapon holding answers, shout props No weapon holding answers, shout No weapon holding answers, shout props We're going to war, we're going to war, we're going to war So glory to the Lamb of God, we're going to war, we're going to war So glory to the Lamb of God, we're going to war, we're going to war So glory to the Lamb of God, we're going to war, we're going to war So glory to the Lamb of God, we're going to war, we're going to war So glory to the Lamb of God, we're going to war, we're going to war So glory to the Lamb of God, we're going to war, we're going to war So glory to the Lamb of God, we're going to war, we're going to war So glory to the Lamb of God, we're going to war, we're going to war

So glory to the Lamb of God, we're going to war, we're going to war Oh, I wonder if anybody in the room tonight knows Your victory is in Jesus I wonder if you can look at whatever enemy or obstacle you are facing And no matter how great that obstacle and how powerful that enemy How many know the resurrection of Jesus Christ is bigger church? That's the hope we stand on, that's the confidence we have That's the strength that God has given us because our Savior is not dead But how many of you know He is alive, He is alive grab a seat where you are that's how we start church here in Getty so I'm so glad you're here hey my name is Brian if we haven't met I'm so glad that you're in church today I think that God has got to meet you in a unique and special way just for happen join with the people of God for worship amen church I want to welcome some very special groups of people today and so I'd love to say good morning to everybody at our Grand Rapids campus we love your Grand Rapids it was so good to be with you last week I love that seeing what God is doing in GR want to welcome everybody at Ingeti Español and then for all of those who are joining us in jails and prisons around the country we want you to know you are part of the family today all right we are honored to lock arms with you brothers and sisters listening for a word of God and following Jesus together now I'd first needed to say thank you to our elders our elders are the board like the elders are my boss so they oversee the the governance of Ingeti Church and they're in every campus today right now just affirming and encouraging our pastoral staff and I just need to say as our elders give so much time behind the scenes and most of us will have no idea all the ways they serve but can I tell you we are so blessed as a church to have elders who are led by the Spirit of God and passionate for the glory of God can we make a noise of appreciation for our elder board who gives so much that this body would be healthy and flourishing I got a couple other cool things to share with you this morning so these last couple of weeks we've been part of our black box campaign

we're raising money for the persecuted church around the world to our partners in black box and can I just say that to the glory of God here friends your generosity has resulted in $43,000 being raised up for black box give God praise for that those funds are gonna make a difference in people's lives and I want to say thank you to everyone who participated in that campaign and then the last thing I want to share that I'm so encouraged by I don't know if you realize this but Ingeti music just dropped a brand new album this week called Fear the Lord make some noise for Ingeti music let's go and if you haven't had a chance to listen to Fear the Lord I don't know man the moment you get out of church today first service I said right now you need to start and I realize not good timing all right but the moment you get out of church today man get up turn your stereo on in your car and man I don't know where you stream from but men be encouraged by those songs and but the only the only problem I have with the album is that it's making it too difficult they're making it too difficult for me to pick my favorite song right now right every time I'm now it's track number one now it's trying number five no it's track number two and so I just promise you man you engage with worship and the reason why we do this want to be a blessing to the church right and so engage with worship throughout the week and spread the word about Fear the Lord it's gonna encourage your friends it's gonna encourage people you work with this encourage people you go to school where fear the Lord is out right now well I'm really excited today because we get to we get to welcome back who I would call us like a new but now get become an old friend and that is Pastor Chet Pete Pastor Chet is from Elevation Church in in Charlotte North Carolina and he leads the University City location there in Charlotte and Pastor Chet was with us in the summertime when I was on sabbatical then he was in Awaken Knight he brought a powerful word to one of our Awaken Knights and God met people through that word y'all and he's here with his wife Whitney I love that I get to be Whitney for the first time and our friends we are just blessed and privileged to have Pastor Chet with us so now Pastor Chet none of that all right

Pastor Chet I want you to stand your feet right now and can we all show honor to Pastor Chet as he would bring the word of God to us today we're so grateful for you Pastor all right that's okay for me but can we give the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords the praise that he deserves let me give him glory honor and praise hallelujah thank you Jesus so I am allowed him to be back first time I come visit a church you know we're just kind of checking this thing out you know we like each other you know you invite me to come back we're friends you know to me like we're cool now this is number three so now we're family and you know when your family I can you know if I come over to you I can just go in the refrigerator myself I'll go in the pantry and say do you want to snack you know that you know that sort of that sort of energy but hey I'm honored to be back with you guys this is such a beautiful Who are who's grateful for your pastors? Pastor Brian and Christina Honored to be here on the first Sunday of October as we step in a pastor appreciation Month, and I want to echo what the elders said earlier. I'm about praying for your pastors who praise for your pastors who praise for them Um, keep doing that keep doing that. Why don't I give you a couple other things you should do during pastor appreciation? My first thing yes, you should be praying for them Second thing is is the greatest way you can out of them is to serve the mission Envision of this church to not just come and sit but serve and see what God can do through You and being a part of this body. Can we thank God for those that serve? now Last last thing I'll say about honoring your pastors this month is gift cards Give cards. Yeah gift cards to their favorite restaurant Hallelujah, thank you Jesus, and we do it if we do it in reverse. It's the you know gee gift cards Peace pray and then s is served. I came to be your god your GPS For honoring your pastors this pastor appreciation month. Okay. All right now listen Can we just thank God for our pastors one more time one more time one more time? Now

Who's enjoyed this series so far? followers not fans I knew I was coming to Michigan, and so I was rooting for Michigan yesterday um, I Pray for you guys that were you know sorrowful this morning after that loss But God be with you and Encourage you, but I'm excited to stay in the flow today We're gonna be in Ephesians chapter 4 verses 11 through 16 My wife is with me today. Can we give God praise for Whitney Whitney Pete? Just remain standing for the reading of God's word just remain standing. I'm not gonna have you stand the whole time I promise but I think that standing when the word the scriptures being read kind of sets a posture of expectation It's like we're not just reading any book like we're interacting with God And so it just sets this posture set it sets an attention for what God wants to speak to you today But we'll be in Ephesians chapter 4 verses 11 through 16 You'll see the scriptures on the screen. Here's what it says. It says so Christ himself Gave the apostles those that oversee the church the prophets those that speak For God the evangelist those that go until others out Jesus in the gospel the pastors those that shepherd the sheep and the teachers those that break this down and then it says it's to equip everybody say equip Now that word equip but as I was studying it It speaks to furnishing like and it used the example like furnishing the home Like when you give your life to Jesus imagine, it's like you just stepped into a brand new home But it still needs to be furnished Like you can't experience all that God has for you in this home without now having the furniture Like you have no place to sit no place to lay your head There's so much more in store for your life as you go on this journey And so he gives all of these resources to equip or furnish Your Christian faith who wants to experience all that God has for you in this life? To equip his people for the works of service

So that the body of Christ made be built up Until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the son of God and become mature Attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ Verse 14 says then we will no longer be infants tossed Back and forth just wait like this with me just toss back and forth By the waves blown here there aren't you tired? And this get dizzy If I want their strength back Anybody want to to be strong in the Lord so the enemy just can't have his way with you tossed it In turn blown here and there by every wind of teaching by the cunning and craftiness of the people in their deceitful scheming Verse 15 says instead speaking the truth in love we will grow to become Verse 16, key verse for today, from Him the whole body joined and held together by every supporting ligament grows and builds itself up as each part does its work. The title of my message today is connection issues. Bow your head, close your eyes. Let me pray for you. Jesus, we love you. We thank you. You're good God. You're faithful God. God, we ask that today you do what only you can do. Encourage those who needs to be encouraged. Refresh who needs to be refreshed. God, I pray that as I preach, as words come out of my mouth, as I teach the words that I speak. God, I pray that you would snatch them. You would add your power. You'd add your grace. You'd add your love. By the time it hits the ears of your sons and daughters, it'd be able to transform their lives. Have your way today. We love you. We thank you. And it's in the mighty name of Jesus I pray. Amen. Amen. Amen. You can be seated. You can be seated. Connection issues. Thank God for the band, worship team. Anybody been listening to fear of the Lord? What an amazing album. Every move of God is marked by a sound and don't take for granted that God has placed writers and musicians and such a great talent in this house to be able to not just encourage and strengthen this body. But as your pastor said, really blessed the world.

As I was preparing for this message, I was reminded of a Netflix documentary that I watched a few years ago. It's called Blue Zones. Blue Zones. And Blue Zones is a documentary where some researchers went out and they interviewed 200. And let me get this number right. 263 centreons or people that have lived to 100 or beyond. And they go and they interview them. And it was interesting. They came up with these power nine essentials that they called them. The power nine essentials showing them nine lifestyle habits that would lead to a long and healthy life. I want to live a long and healthy, blessed, joy-filled life, right? Well, they interviewed 263 of people that are living 100 years, so somewhere, like 100 and 203. One was like 108. Like, and they got to interview these people. And this was what was interesting. You know, you have this power nine. And of the nine things you could imagine, like some is like eating healthy, right? Some is like being active, moving your body. They have some of those. But three of the nine habits were focused on the idea of belonging and connection. And this really stood out to me as these researchers kind of put this together. It says this. It says all but five of the 263 centreons, they were interviewed. They all belonged to some faith-based community. Only five of these people that were still living 100 or more years, only five of them did not belong to a faith-based community. Watch this. Researchers showed that attending faith-based services four times per month would add four to 14 years of life expectancy. This is on Netflix. This is on Netflix, you know, right next to some of the other shows that you like to watch. But four to 14 years increased life expectancy by belonging to a body of Christ. I'm trying to take some time to be able to get you to understand that connection matters. I talk to the introverts in the room. Connection matters. This is important. This is a big part of this journey. Many of you maybe have recently given your life to Christ. I just saw so many of the people that were baptized, all of the pictures of people baptized over the last couple of months. Can we give God praise for the lives that are being saved in this place? But there's more that God wants to do in and in through your life. He wants to equip you. He wants your life to be furnished, to be full with his blessing, his love, his joy. And a lot of you, what he wants to do has to do in the And so Paul is writing this letter to the Church of Ephesus. And in this letter, I looked in research that he had actually spent about two years with them

before leaving, at this point he's in prison, and he's reflecting on his time with them, and now he's sending them this letter to encourage them. And as I'm thinking about this, I'm thinking about what did he notice in those two years that he was with the Church at Ephesus? What did he notice about them? What did he see? What made him write this letter where he says, when someone's connected to the body, so that you can be equipped for the works of ministry? I wonder if he noticed a culture driven by individualism and self-expression. I wonder if he noticed people that were self-centered and focused on me, myself, and I. What I want my way or the highway types of people. I wonder, I wonder, I wonder if he noticed that these new converts were just focused on their salvation but forgot about the rest of the people around them. I wonder, I wonder, and I believe that it's relevant today, because we are living in probably one of the most just individualistic cultures ever. I mean, how many followers you have on Instagram that you can curate a picture of a life that looks exactly how you wanted, that your opinion is the opinion that matters most in, and that you can carve out a space and life where anything that causes you discomfort, anything that causes you to move differently

or challenge different, you rebuke it, you know? It's about me, it's about me. I wanna take some time to be able to challenge you today to understand that the next step for many of you is to figure out how you can get connected in the way that Paul starts this because he knows, just like y'all are getting quiet now looking at me. You know, to be honest, you're like, "This is my seat." Like, you sit in the same seat every Sunday, every Sunday, and if you came in, somebody was sitting here, sitting here, your face all round up, like, "How did you get here? "This is my seat, yeah, I'm just saying, "I do it too, I do it too, I do it too." But I love how Paul starts this. He wants them to understand. He says this, look at verse 11, "So Christ Himself gave the apostles." Christ Himself gave the prophets. Christ Himself gave the evangelists and the pastors and teachers to equip his people for the works of service. What he's trying to say is, connection is God's idea. What he's trying to say is, "I didn't make this up." Connection is God's idea. From the beginning, when we go back to Genesis, the first thing that we see God say is not good is for man to be alone. But I love the fact that we have a heavenly father, a God, the creator of the universe, that doesn't speak truth without walking it out himself.

Let's look at this. Let's look at Genesis chapter one, verses 26 and 27. This is part of our creation story. Look at this. Then God said, "Let us make mankind in our image, "in our likeness so that they may rule over the fish "in the sea and the birds of the sky, "and over the livestock and all the wild animals." Did you catch that? Then God said, "Let us make mankind in our image, "in our likeness so that they may rule over "the fish of the sea." Who is God talking about? Let us in our image. He's talking about God being one, but the triune nature of his existence, the father, the son, and the Holy Spirit. You see, I don't have time to break all of that down. I just wanted to let you know that God is demonstrating that there is a unit operating here. I want you to understand this. I want you to understand. So this is God's idea from the beginning of time to say that connection matters. Connection is important. Do I have any plant moms in the room? Plant moms, just wave at me. Plant moms are anonymous. Okay, okay, I see a lot of hands. A lot of hands, a lot of hands.

I'm in my wife for looking at some plants the other day because we keep having this, these kind of planters in front of our house, and we haven't figured out which plants will work well because the sun just scorches them, right? They just scorches them. Every time we went out and got new plants and they're just dead, they're just dead, just dying. I mean, just throwing money out the window, pray for us, pray for us. We go to the plant store and I noticed that as I was walking through, there were some signs over the plant sections and it says direct sunlight. Like this section, these plants, they need direct sunlight. And then you go to this section and it says indirect sunlight. So what is indirect? Like how does that work, is that mean it needs to be in a window and light comes through? I'm confused, I don't understand how this works. But what they're trying to say is based on these types of plants that they figured out what these plants need. So, okay, what I'm trying to get you to understand is that your creator in heaven, he said, he said, hey, you need connection. That it won't work if you're by yourself. You need direct relationship with someone else. This is your credit, this is God's idea. And so keep isolating yourself

and just like these plants start looking drooply. Not experiencing the fullness of what your life could be like because this is the creator. This is God's idea, says it's best that you do life in the context of community and connection. I wanna challenge you today if you've been coming for a while and you've never taken a step to engage, that you've only been sitting. I wanna challenge you to start serving today. I wanna challenge you, I heard 100 and something people last week join community groups, small group community. Can we thank God for that? I'm proud of you. This is a step forward in your faith. But I'm trying to get this is God's idea. I don't want you to leave here be mad at me. Don't send me an email talking about some a list. No, no, no, I didn't make this up. I like my quiet time being away from people just the best as you, but this is something that God has called us to do. And now that we understand that this isn't Paul's idea, that this isn't my idea, now I'm gonna be empathetic with you. All right, I'm gonna let you know, there are some issues to get in connected. There's some issues, there's some issues. Here's the first one, here's the first one. Connection is complicated. Write this down, connection is complicated. If we go back to our key verse, let's go back to if these are chapter four, I wanna read verse 16.

Look at what verse 16 says, it says from him, the whole body joined and held together. For him, everybody say whole, whole body joined and held together by each supporting, look at the whole body. So the whole body, so the hands be like, hey, I don't be dealing with feet, right? You know, ears be like, hey, I don't be dealing with eyes. You know, and then the nose be like, nobody knows me. You don't hear, it's like, it gets complicated. Like, we're so different. How the whole body is supposed to come together? All right, let's get out of theory. They grew up different than me. They look different than me. They grew up on the other side of the tracks. Connection gets complicated, it gets complicated. Can I get a little closer? They vote different than me. Connection gets complicated, it gets complicated. Jesus understood this better than any. It's got 12 disciples, I got a tax collector. I got a tax collector, I got a physician. I got a thief all walking together. It's complicated, it's complicated. And if we can be honest, that's one of the reasons why we don't get connected is because of its complications. We stand on the sidelines, stand back and not engage because we understand that we're gonna have to deal with some people that may think different than me. But here's the thing, they're all a part of the body.

And it didn't say part of the body, it said the whole body. It said the whole body, even the parts I don't understand. Even the parts I don't get. Even the parts that has me scratching my head, it gets complicated and I get this, I get this, I get this, God created us to complement each other. I'm going to say it one more time. If we allow the complications of connections to rob us of relationship, we will forfeit the way that God has created us to complement each other. Like, okay, let's make it plain. The nose, nobody knows me until the nose can't scratch itself, I got an itch. My nose is itch, this itch, I need somebody to scratch it right now, hand. I know I say you didn't know me but I need your help right now. I need you, can you scratch my, can you help me out? You see, it was built up to complement each other. Or eyes, eyes, eyes, eyes, eyes, there's something, anybody need me to just start wearing glasses. Your eyes just started to fill you. Just started to fill you and you're like, I can't see that far away. Feet, can you take me a little bit closer? Can you guide me a little bit closer? They're meant to complement each other. Can we praise God that He created a diverse people so that the hands and the feet can work together so that the eyes and the ears can work together? So if you came on this side of the track or this side of the track, we could have each other's back. We could have a better perspective of what God wants to do in the world. Our getting connection is complicated but God created that way so we could complement each other. I thank God for a diverse church, a church that creates space for connection even though it's complicated.

It's complicated. I want to challenge you, I want to challenge you just like Jesus. What a table with people that don't look like you, that don't think like you. And one of the best places to experience is that is in the body of Christ to equip you for the works of service. You see, Jesus, He's walking and He's being an example of this. There's a story of a woman at the well, the Samaritan woman, it says that Jesus had to go through Samaria and when he gets there, he sees the Samaritan woman sitting by this well. We can make this plain, this is a woman. Now Jewish men weren't seen around women like this in public and she was from Samaria meaning that there was a group of people that the Jews really didn't like, they didn't like each other. And so Jesus finds Himself sitting at the well with the Samaritan woman. Can you imagine what the disciples thought when they came back? They said, "What are you doing with her?" This makes no sense. And Jesus looked at it, He said, "It's complicated." He's got a complicated past and there's some things going on in her life. But here's the thing, here's the thing, Jesus saves her. He tells her about her. So she goes back and becomes an evangelist to her community and so many people get saved. What it leads me to believe is that when it's complicated, Christ is the common denominator. That Christ is the thing that brings us together. Christ is the thing that builds us stronger. Christ is the thing. Hey, listen, don't sit there and act like you've been in church your whole life. It was Christ that saved you. It was Christ that delivered you. It was Christ that healed you.

It was Christ that set you apart. We can't look down on other people when we know we came from the bottom. We got to have an opportunity today to just say, "Hey, it's complicated." But if Christ, if Christ, if Christ exemplified what it looked like to bridge the gap, who am I to stand on the sidelines because it's complicated? So I get it. I understand. Connection's complicated. It's difficult, but not only is it complicated. Connection is challenging. Write this down. Connection is challenging. What do you mean? Let's go back to Ephesians chapter 4. I love that Paul is breaking this down. It says, "So Christ himself," in verse 11, "gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors, and the teachers to equip his people for what works of service, works of service so that the body of Christ may be built up." Jump down to verse 16, from him, the whole body joined together and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up. What is that in love? As each part does, it's work. I'm trying to say it's work. It's challenging for the works of service, not for my convenience, my comfort. It's work, tell your neighbors say it's work, it's challenging. I've got to pick some things up, I've got to set some things down, I've got to start thinking different. I've got to do the work of learning, I've got to do the work of engaging. And the body is suffering because you're The body is suffering because the nose is still itching.

Because you keeping your hand behind your back, saying, they'll figure it out. They'll figure it out. I need some hands to say, "Hey, hey, hey, I'll be willing to help." I need some hands to say, "I'll be willing to do what God called me to do." I don't believe that Christ died on the cross so we can just sit in seats on Sunday morning. I believe that God, He sent this Son to die for us so that we can do exactly what Paul said so we can build each other up so that we can reach those that are lost. This is a church. Listen, listen, listen, listen. This isn't a church that I just want you to attend. This is a church I want you to be a part of, a part of. For you to see what God wants to do, but I get it, I get it, I get it, it takes work. It takes work. Now I'm following Jesus and I'm seeing Him exemplify this and then let's look at Luke's version of the feeding of the 5,000, like this is Him telling the story from His vantage point. If you don't know the story, remember this, there's 5,000 men plus women and children. This crowd is around Jesus and the disciple and they're hungry and it says that Jesus had compassion on them and He saw them but the disciples, they felt a little different. Look at verse 12, Luke chapter 9 verse 12, it says late in the afternoon, the 12 came to Him and said, send the crowd away so they can go to the surrounding villages and countryside and find food and lodging because we're in this remote place. He's like, hey, listen, they're like, this is too much work. This is too challenging, send them away. Look at Jesus' response, he replied, you give them something to eat. Don't send them away, serve them. Don't send them away, serve them. I'm going to say it again, don't send them away, serve them. You give them something to eat. I believe a lot of us are sending people away because it's going to take some effort, it's

going to take some planning, it's going to take God doing a work in your heart so that you would have compassion on them. It takes work, it takes work, it takes work, it takes work and then it goes on to say, you give them something, listen, they answer, listen, they answer, they answer. We only have five loaves of bread and two fish unless we go and buy food for all the crowd. We only have this food we stole from this little boy over here, we only have, this all we got, this all we got, how we're supposed to feed all of these people, we only have, I think one of the things, one of the challenges we have to overcome is that only spirit that comes over you. And what it's saying is it's like, I'm only a youth, like I don't have a lot to offer. They don't really need what I have, you know, don't you see how amazing they sing? I can't sing like that, I only, I only, I mean, just smile at your neighbor real quick, just smile at them, smile at them, smile at them, smile at them, you just bless them, you just, you just bless them, you just brighten up their day and you're like, I only, I only have a smile, but you don't know what they weak, their weak's been like. You don't know the struggles that they've gone through. You don't know that they've been walking through pain in your smile, the positive joy. I'm just trying to illustrate that the only spirit can rob you of the challenge of seeing what God wants to do in and in through you. I get it, it's complicated, I get it, it's challenging, but this last one, this last one is I think the one that gets us all, this last one's the one that gets us all. Matter of fact, can't give God praise for the production team, they're going to bring out a little illustration from me, give God praise for him as he comes. But as he's bringing this out, I want y'all to pay attention to this verse, let's look back at our verse again, if he's in chapter four, starting at verse 11, watch this, it says, so Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets and the evangelists and the pastors and teachers to equip this people for works of service. Watch this, so that the body of Christ may be, say built up until we all reach unity in the faith in the knowledge of the Son of God and become, and I say mature, attaining to

the, and I say whole, whole measure of the fullness of Christ, you want to see, equip you? This right here, this right here, this right here is, um. Got it from Amazon. You can go to the link in my bio and You know I'll get a little commission or something for I'm joking. I'm joking. I'm joking. I'm joking but this is this is my charging station and You know anybody ever you know came home from a long day You're just running around doing a thing and you know you just kind of set your phone down set your phone down and and fell asleep And you woke up in the morning and you picked up your phone and your phone died Your phone has so much potential It can call it could text it can FaceTime this phone is meant For connection It's vote But you still say it's sitting right here and because you didn't put it on the charger. It died It died it died it died It's it's close It's close, but it's it's not connected It's near it's near near it, but it's not connected You see there's a there's a difference between being in proximity and being planted When I'm trying to get you to understand some of us are settling for being close in the enemies robbing us of connection You're like hey, I'm coming to church. I'm I'm here You're close, but you're not connected and you're not being built up to maturity You're not experiencing God's best you're you're close You're you're you're by it. Um, let me help Mary couples one of the best questions that you could ask your spouse Do it today before you go to bed. How connected do you feel to me? How connected do you feel? How connected even because you notice that a lot of times we spend our days on this phone same phone Sitting next to each other in the bed But we both just scrolling We're close

There's no connection You took your family your whole family all went out to eat you don't go out to eat today right after church You sit at the table and everybody's on this phone y'all are close Nobody's Connecting The power comes in in connection The power comes when you get plugged in the power comes when you stop just being around the enemy wants you close to the fire Enough so you feel a little warmth But he don't want you to get so so close that a fire starts to consume inside of you That you start to turn some things around in your life. He wants you to settle for being close He wants you to settle for being close and and there's a every stand. I'm about to close everybody stand everybody stand Everybody stand on your feet there the best example of this that As I was studying God led me to was this woman that had an issue of blood She'd been struggling 12 years Went to all of these doctors and she heard that Jesus was coming And I wanted you to set the tone Jesus He's in the middle of a crowd There's a lot of people pushing and pulling and moving. It's a lot of commotion This woman gets on her knees. She says if I thought if I touch the hem of his garment if I just if I get connected to him Maybe something would happen She touches the hem of his garment and and it says the virtue of God had left his body and healed this woman In a crowd there were a lot of people that were close to him but there was only one That connected to him Today's a message around Getting connected Because this is the space This is the space where it starts getting charged This is the but the enemies like now just get close. It'll be fine You'll be good. Just get close that woman said no no no no. I gotta touch the hem of his garment

I gotta I gotta touch them so I can experience his power I gotta touch him so that I can start to get charged up. I gotta I gotta get connected See the thing about this Apple watch that gets on my nerves It's kids on my nerves. It's like it don't take a lot for it to fall off Like this I got a really cool, but my Apple watch like I could barely touch it in it just falls off I wondered if there were anybody in the room that you used to be connected to the bottle [MUSIC PLAYING] You got hit you got bumped and he started to take a step back it and you settled for being close I wanted to let you know that you can get back in that day Like the door isn't closed on you. There's grace for you You can get you can get back connected. There's still grace. There's still love. There's still mercy But he wants you to draw near to him. I Wanted to you to have a picture because everyone of you just got everyone of you has a phone And tonight before you go to bed You go have your money. Oh, I gotta I gotta connect it. Maybe you don't have one this fancy. You got wires But you gotta you gotta you gotta make sure it's it's connected Just like the phone There's so much potential There's so much that God wants to do in and through your life There's so much. There's so there's so much that he wants to do and you standing on the sidelines You're missing out on being built up to maturity being swaying Back and floor This he God says they get connected so you can experience the sugar in that house Historical community see Jesus is one that we really How do we connect with and I love that

Jesus lives on the inside of us One of the best ways to connect with Jesus is to connect with your brother to connect with your sister But maybe you're here today and you don't have a relationship with Jesus You're like I'd love to be a part of this family Like I've heard about the love that God has for me, but you know, I I can be honest. I just I've never taken that leap. I'm never taking that jump up. I've never got connected in some of you You're like I've been far from God I've been I've been far from him Today's the day where I want to get you to understand that when we couldn't get to Jesus He came to us When we couldn't get them he came he came to us. You see Jesus came from heaven He came from heaven as a baby grew up in a family connected to a family lived a perfect sinless life and Then went to the cross To die laid down his life To atone for our sin and shame Let me make this clear God is holy There can be no sin no darkness in his presence So there was a veil That was between us and God And man for all of each other they were trying to figure out how we could get to God and It's so God says since they can't figure this out. I got to come to them Now now what happens is is something amazing when you go and you read what Jesus does He goes to the cross he takes on this brutal death and and it Matthew chapter 27 verse 51 He takes his last breath and then it says this at that moment the curtain of the temple was torn Into from the top to the bottom the earth's shucking and rocks split

I'm slowing down for you to be able to get a picture that we had some some issues connecting with God and Jesus came to deal with those issues Jesus came in his blood was shed in that veil was torn so that we could have a relationship with the heavenly Father This cross that he died on it goes both ways We got to get over those issues connecting with God Jesus to care that We got to get over those issues connecting with each other. That's our job Jesus took care of the connection with the father but we got to deal with this connection with each other Understand that it's complicated I Understand that it's challenging But I want you to be built up Bow your head close your eyes If you're here today and you don't have a relationship with Jesus, you've never given your life to him Or maybe you used to walk with God used to talk with God, but you walked away from the faith We're gonna say a prayer together This is a prayer salvation Prayer surrender Some for the first time and some coming back to Him. Now your head close your eyes and everyone repeat after me. Say, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and that He died on a cross, rose from the grave, to forgive me of my sins. So I'll give you my sins. I'll give you my shame. And from this day forward, I'll follow you. This is my new beginning. I am a child of God. With all heads bowed and all eyes closed, if you just set that prayer, you meant it. Said it for the first time, or you said it,

making a decision to come back to Him. I'm going to count to three. And when I get to three, I want you to do something bold. I want you to just shoot your hand up. I want to celebrate this moment with you. Here we go. If you just set that prayer, you meant it. Making a decision to put your faith in Jesus, or you're coming back to Him on a count of three, shoot your hand up. One, two, three, shoot your hand up if that's you. Come on, shoot your hand up if that's you. I'll see you. Church family, put your hands together. Open up your mouth and give God glory. If someone near you raised their hand, hug them for me. Put your arms around them. Hug them for me, hug them for me. Tell them welcome to the family. Best decision you could ever make to put your faith in Jesus. I'm so proud of you. I'm so proud of you. I'm so proud of you. God bless you. Now listen, we're going to a song. Here in a moment, someone from the team, they're gonna come up and they're gonna tell you next step. Okay, hey, hey, hey, if you just gave your life

to Christ, here's a step that you can take. But maybe you're like, hey, I want to start serving, or maybe I want to join a group, whatever. He can tell you what to do so you can move and you can get connected in the season. But I wanted to say this before I leave you. Because I didn't want any of you type A believers in the room. To walk out of here and see this has a workspace sermon. Like that you have to kind of prove yourself to God. Let me explain, this to you as an illustration. My twin boys, we have twin boys, they're 15 years old now. And they've always loved basketball. And when they were five years old, we got to have them on a rec league basketball team. And I was so excited because I love basketball. And so they're getting ready to go to the first practice and all of that. So I go to the store and I buy up everything. I mean, I get the new basketball shoes. I get the tight headbands, wristbands. I get them a new water bottle. And I go, I gotta get them a new bag to put it all in. You know, I just go crazy, I go crazy. I come home and I give my boys all the stuff. And they're so excited, they're trying it all on, looking in the mirror, you know, 'cause if you don't look good, you don't play good. You don't say it, like I gotta, I gotta get them set. Remember, they're five, they're five.

They've never played a game. They've never scored a point. They've never gotten a rebound. They've never gotten a sis. Everything that they received, they didn't earn. They didn't have to prove. What I'm trying to get you to understand is everything that they received wasn't based on them. Earning it, it was based on our relationship. Because they're my sons, they get good gifts from me. When you get connected to your heavenly father, we serve, because he loves us. Not for his love, we serve, because he's been gracious towards us. So how about we lift up our hands, lift up our hands, let's connect with heaven. Lift up your hands, let's connect with heaven. And let's give God glory, tell him, thank you, for every way that he's blessed you, for every way that he's encouraged you, for every gift that he's given you. Let's let gratitude be our driver for service. Let's let gratitude be our driver for connection. We don't have to earn it. It was given to us. And so heavenly father, I thank you for your sons and daughters. I pray right now that you would encourage them in ways that only you can. God, I thank you that as you, came down to connect with us.

We're committed to not only connecting with you, but connecting with each other. As we worship, deposit something into their lives, let them leave the encourage because they had a moment with you. We love you, we thank you. It is in the mighty name of Jesus, I pray, amen. Amen, lift up a shout of praise. Let's worship church, come on, let's worship. Feel the Lord walking, step across me. Everything that tries to come against cannot send your praise. I will give my life to you. Feel the Lord walking, step across me. Everything that tries to come against cannot send your praise. We will be the Church, make sure you're closing on the end, Jesus. We should be the Church, make sure you're closing on the end, Jesus. We will be the Church, make sure you're closing on the end, Jesus. We should be the Church, make sure you're closing on the end, Jesus. We will be the Church, make sure you're closing on the end, Jesus. We will be the Church, make sure you're closing on the end, Jesus. We will be the Church, make sure you're closing on the end, Jesus. We will be the Church, make sure you're closing on the end, Jesus. We will be the Church, make sure you're closing on the end, Jesus, make sure you're closing on the end, Jesus. We will be the Church, make sure you're closing on the end, Jesus. I will bow in Christ, my Son, your Son, your Father. Come in your presence, hear me, hear me, read me. (upbeat music) You