Worthy of Worship
Transcript
All right, how are we doing this morning? Cool. My name's Chet. I'm one of the pastors. We'll be in Matthew chapter 10 to get started this morning. Matthew chapter 10, if your Bible looks like this, it'll be page 476 where we'll start picking up.
We are starting a new series today, and we spent the last six weeks or so talking about the need for, the call for Christians to use their normal everyday lives to see other people come to know Christ. That we would leverage what we have, our time, our energy, our money, our homes to see people come to know Jesus. And so today we're starting a new series. We've just called it Glory. Basically, we're just looking at how big and beautiful and wonderful and glorious Christ is. And in some ways, I feel like it makes sense because we just spent so much time talking about how we should use the normal daily lives that we've been given to see people come to know Jesus.
And now we're just looking at why, why we'd want to do that. And we're just looking at how big he is and massive and how much joy there is to be found in him. And so we're going to do this for four weeks, and then we'll spend the rest of the summer studying through the Psalms and learning how to personally worship God from them. Today, as we get started, we're going to talk about the fact that Jesus is worthy of worship. That Jesus Christ is worthy of worship. The word used for worship in the Old Testament really just means to bow down.
And that's what we're looking at, why you should bow your life down to Jesus. Why you should consider him in all things. You should submit yourself to him. Why you should go to Jesus and allow him to be in charge of you, of your time and your money and your effort and your energy. We're looking at how glorious he is. I've got a definition for the word glorious.
It's striking beauty or splendor that evokes feelings of delighted admiration. It's so beautiful that it makes you feel something. That's what Jesus is. He's so glorious, so good that we should be in awe of him. We should be enraptured by him. He's so beautiful that it does something to us.
You see, Jesus says that he is worthy of worship. And that's what we're looking at in Matthew chapter 10 as we begin our time today. I want us to see this. I want us to kind of take seriously Jesus' words here and think about them for a minute. We're going to pick up in verse 37. Verse 37.
Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Just look at those words for a second. I want that to stare you in the face. That's why we don't usually put verses up on the screen. We usually just look at them in the Bible.
But I want this to seep in a little bit. Jesus actually said these words. And they're hard to get around. Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38.
And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. So at this time, Jesus had not gone to the cross. He was headed to it. But he's using this as a cross as a Roman instrument of torture. It was a... He said if you're not willing to be executed.
If you're not willing to lay down all your hopes and your dreams. If you're not willing to lay down your plans. If you're not willing to pick up a cross. If you're not willing to bear the burden of nothing goes well for you. And you head into destruction and persecution and death. You don't deserve me.
You're not worthy of me. 39. Whoever finds his life will lose it. And whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. That's a little cryptic. What he's saying is if you spend your life focusing on your life.
Trying to make it good. Trying to live the good life. If you go out of your way to try to find your life and to find yourself. And to have the good experiences and the joy. He says you lose it. It's a waste.
But if you are willing to give up everything for Jesus. Then you'll actually find it. Then you'll actually get the good life. Okay. Maybe. Maybe you've been around the church long enough.
That it's easy for you to hear that. Maybe you've heard it enough that you're like right. Hmm. Jesus. He says things like that. So I just want to take these sentences.
And we're just going to put them on other people. So that we can think about them a little better. Alright. Whoever loves father and mother more than me is not worthy of me. Who's allowed to say that to you? I'll argue your father and mother can't even say that.
Like if your dad came to you and said let me explain something to you. If you love your mom more than me. You do not deserve me. I am the greatest father. Let me just. I need you to tell me right now.
You love me more. Like if I. If my wife started doing that with my son. She's like if you love your dad more than me. Then I don't even need to.
Like you do not deserve me for a mother. I'd have to have a talk with her. Be like this is. This is a bit intense. Plus he's two. Let's tone it down.
Who gets to say that? If you're dating someone. You're in high school. And you say yeah. I gotta go do this with my parents or whatever. I'm going on vacation with my parents.
And they say let me explain something to you. If you love your mother and father more than me. You don't deserve me. Okay. I'm still going on vacation. But we're probably not going to keep dating when I get back.
You gotta tone the crazy down like a hundred notches. Okay. Maybe. Maybe a spouse. Maybe you can have this conversation with a spouse. Maybe by the time you get married.
You're like look. Your parents can't get in the middle of all of our arguments. You've got to at some point. Like leave and cleave. There's some. There's some room for that.
In the Bible. Like at some point your mom can't just be here all the time. Maybe a spouse can say that. Go to the next one. It's if you love. Anyone who loves son or daughter more than me.
Is not worthy of me. Americans. We having a hard time with that. Parents. Have a hard time with that. Son or daughter more than me.
There's a widow. She's got a couple of kids. She starts dating somebody. You're her friend. She sits down with you and says. Yeah.
The other day he. He said if I loved my children more than him. I didn't deserve him. You know what you say. Sounds like a catch. That guy must be so valuable.
Oh my goodness. He must be so radiant and glorious. Do you know what you say. This cat's a psycho. Back up. Get away.
This is crazy. This is headed in the bad place. No one should say that to you. He says if you're not willing to lay down your life. If you're not willing to pick up your cross. If you're not willing to die.
If you're not willing to say no. To all of your hopes and dreams. All of your goals. If you're not willing to pick up. An instrument for execution. And follow me.
You do not deserve me. People come by your house. You got a friend. And they start saying. Yeah. There's this guy.
Carl. And he's a prophet. And he performs miracles. And he says we have to hate our families. And follow him. You're like bro.
That's a cult. This is. No bueno. Get away from Carl. This is not going to work out well for you. You're going to be like locked in a cellar somewhere.
Where Jesus without batting an eye. Without tripping over his words. Without hesitating for a second. Will look you in the face. And say exactly what he just said. If you love your family more than me.
You've missed it. If you're not willing to lay down everything for me. You don't deserve me. If you aren't willing to die. And if you are going to spend your life. Trying to have a good life.
You won't have a life at all. But if you'll get rid of everything. For me. You'll find the good life. Who can sit across the table from you. And say hey.
I'm the good life. And your joy. And your fullness. And your completion. And your happiness. Will only ever be filled.
And found. In me. It's like okay. Check please. Jesus means it. So.
He has to be. A narcissist. He. He. He. Supremely.
Values. Himself. And on. On anybody else. We put this on. We've gotten used to this on Jesus.
But on anybody else. We put this on. It's not a good look. But see. Jesus goes. Beyond this.
And begins to make the claim. That he is. God. God. I'm going to. I'm going to cite a few.
They're not going to be on the screen. In John chapter 5. It says this. This is why the Jews were seeking. All the more to kill him. Because not only was he breaking the Sabbath.
Which is one of their regulations. But he was even calling God. His own father. Making himself equal. With God. John chapter 8.
It says. The Jews said to him. He's having this kind of discussion with him. About Abraham. And he. He's.
Talking about Abraham. They said. You're not even 50 years old. And you've seen Abraham. And Jesus says to them. Truly.
Truly. I say to you. Before Abraham was. I am. Now. That may be a little cryptic to us.
It was not to the Jewish people. That were listening to him. He's quoting. God. At the burning bush. That tells Moses.
That he. I am. That I am. He's. I am. Is a.
A reference to. Eternal being. And being God. And so Jesus says. Let me tell you. Before Abraham existed.
I am. And you're like. Well. That's kind of cryptic. Wasn't to them. The next verse says.
So they picked up. Stones. To throw at him. They knew what he had just said. He had just claimed to be God. So they were going to.
Kill him. Because that's blasphemy. And then. In 1033. Of John. It says.
It's not for good work. That we're going to stone you. They were going to try to kill him again. Jesus almost dies a lot. In the book of John. But because you.
Being a man. Make yourself God. The climax. Of the book of John. Is after Jesus dies on the cross. Rises from the grave.
He gets back around Thomas. Who said. Unless I get to see the nails. And the nail scars. Unless I see him with my eyes. Get to touch him.
I'm not going to believe. That he rose from the grave. And Thomas gets to. And then he falls down. And says. My Lord.
And my God. And worships Jesus. Now. If you've been reading the Bible. Up to the point. And John.
You immediately know. Don't do that. You don't worship anybody. But God. Every time in the Old Testament. Someone falls down.
At the feet of an angel. These big. Powerful. Angelic beings. Go. Get up.
Get up. Get up. Get up. Get up. You saw. Right.
Like. I did not appreciate that. You are not allowed to worship me. This is a terrible thing. There's one angel. Who thinks that's a good idea.
It did not go well for him. I. You know what Jesus says. Thomas says. You're my Lord. And my God.
And Jesus says. Well done Thomas. You're blessed. And more blessed is everybody. Who's able to say the same thing. Without having to see the scars.
Who's able to have the same faith. In me. As God. So Jesus claims to be God. Throughout his life. He claims that.
Singular allegiance. Is owed him. And he's. Murdered for it. But because we do believe.
He is God. He did not stay dead. He rose from the grave. Proving his claims. And ascended into heaven. So.
Jesus says. I'm God. The God. And the God of the Bible. The God of the Old Testament. Has said the same thing.
Throughout the Old Testament. They would worship. No one but him. That's the first thing he says. When he takes him out of Egypt. He says.
You'll have no gods. Other than me. I'm the only God. In Deuteronomy. Throughout. He just keeps saying.
You're not going to bow down. And worship anything else. You're not going to serve them. I'm the only God. Deuteronomy 6. 13.
It's the Lord your God. You shall fear. And him you shall serve. And by his name you shall swear. Deuteronomy 13. 4.
You shall walk after the Lord your God. And fear him. And keep his commandments. And obey his voice. And you shall serve him. And hold fast to him.
Throughout the Old Testament. The prophets. The Psalms are going to say. Repeatedly. God is the only God. And he is worthy.
Deserving of. Your singular. Allegiance. And worship. That if every breath you have. Is spent in obedience to him.
It's worth it. Jesus shows up. Says I'm the same God. And I deserve the same allegiance. Okay. So this.
This gets. This argument gets thrown at God. It gets thrown at Jesus some. God more. I've got a quote from a. Humanistic and atheistic blog.
That I just thought the guy said it well. I don't know if this guy's famous. Or really smart. I didn't read a whole lot of his other stuff. He just said this well. He says if your God.
Demands. To be worshipped. Your God. Is narcissistic. Meaning he's. He cares only about himself.
He's focused in on himself. Narcissism is a character flaw. Which means. A narcissistic being. Isn't perfect. Ergo.
Oh you know it's good. If they use ergo. Ergo. It's a fancy word for therefore. Or. Or.
So then. Your perfect God. Does not. Exist. If your God. Is in fact.
Perfect. It would have no need. Or desire. For worship. Praise. Or any form of adulation.
Making your piety. Pointless. I think the logic holds. What he says is. If you have a God. That's needy.
If you have a God. That's narcissistic. If you have a God. That comes to you. And says. I need you to sing about me.
I need y'all to get together. Every Sunday. I need you to wake up early. I need you to put on slacks. I need people to practice songs. And I need you to sing.
That I'm pretty. If you have a God. That does that. It's not perfect. It's not complete. It's not whole.
Therefore. Isn't. Worthy. Or. If you have a perfect. Complete.
Whole. Worthy. God. Has no need. For your praise. No need.
For your adoration. Wouldn't ask for it. Wouldn't talk about it. Wouldn't care. Would be fine. Without you.
Either way. Worshiping. Is stupid. I'm taking some liberties there. But I think that's how he's.
He's ending it there. It's pointless. I. I kind of agree. I agree. If I think about the way.
He's thinking about this. I understand what he is saying. And I think he said it well. I think he's missed something. I think he's missed something. That the storyline of the Bible.
Makes clear. I want to kind of break this out. Into four. Basic. Truths. That he's.
That he's missed here. But this is. This is a thing that people say. I remember my. My. Grandmother's a missionary to Nigeria.
I remember being at the beach. One. One year. And my cousin was talking with her. And he was just saying the same thing. He was saying.
What kind of a God. Makes people. And then says. Sing to me. Or I'm going to hurt you. Worship me.
Or it's going to be bad. What kind of God does that? And he was just saying. It seems so small. And it seems so. Petty.
But here's what I think they're missing. One is. We were created by God. That's what the Bible tells us. And that we were designed to worship. You are going to worship.
Something. It's the first kind of thing I think that's missed here. You're going to worship something. You're going to bow down to something. You're going to spend your time. Your energy.
Your money. Your effort on something. Worship for you is not an option. What you worship is. The object of your worship is an option. But whether or not you will have some object to worship.
Is not an option for you. You will have something that you hold as chief and supreme. And most valuable. True worship is joyful. That's the second idea that I think is missed here. True worship is joyful.
It's self-forgetfulness. That when we really, truly sing about something. And truly, truly get engulfed in something. And enraptured in something. And point something else to it. It's joyful.
It gets us outside of ourselves. Thirdly. The best and highest worship. Will be of the best and highest object. Or the greatest worship. Will have the greatest object.
So if I told you that I was going to worship myself. I saw myself as supreme. I'm kind of limited there. I'm trapped. I'm trapped in myself. I can only get so big.
It can only be so great. I kind of have just really imprisoned myself. I could travel the world. My world would never get any bigger. Because I'm supreme. But if you said trees were supreme.
You could go in your backyard. And get more outside of yourself than I can. You could be more free. And more set free. See. The greater the object.
The greater the worship. The greater the joy found. I used to work at Sears. If I told you I was going to devote my life to Sears. You'd be like. Bro.
It's not even that great of a retail store. Like aren't they going out of business? I'd be like. Kinda. But that's why they need me.
But maybe if I said I'm going to devote myself to hard work. The scope is bigger. And then I'm a little more free. I can move around a little more. I have a little. I'm called out of myself a little more.
Maybe if I said I'm going to devote myself to helping others. I'm going to devote myself to family. You see we all pick something. And say this is most worth. Most worth my time and energy and effort. This is where I'll find the most life.
Gain the most joy. Be the biggest version of myself. Fourth point. You become like what you worship. Jesus says that you know. A student's not above his teacher.
You're going to whatever you hold up as supreme. You're going to become more like. So if you worship money. You'll become cold. Calculating. You worship love.
You're going to slowly become more like. You can see this when. Like someone gets super into. Like listening to Dr. Dre. Or Eminem.
Or. Any musician. They get really into skateboarding. Or fidget spinners. Become more like. The Bible says this in Jeremiah.
That they went after worthlessness. And became worthless. So I agree with the point this guy's making. And it's true. Unless. God is actually.
The greatest. Most supreme. Most glorious. Thing. That exists. Being.
That exists. Jesus is a narcissist. Unless. Unless. He is bigger. And more beautiful.
And more glorious. And more holy. And more worthy. Than any other. Thing in existence. That you could devote your time to.
Then. If that's true. If Jesus is supreme. When he tells you. You should love me above everything else. And you should worship me.
With all of your allegiance. And all of your time. And all of your life. Then. He's actually pursuing. Your joy.
And your greatest. Good. But only. If he's bigger. And more beautiful. And more glorious.
Than anything else. So. This is about to feel like a science class. And a poorly done one. Because I'm not great at science. But I want us to see some things.
Because. You only have. Limited options. On what you're going to worship. You got some limited options. You can only go out.
Into. Creation. You can only go out. And find something. That already exists. For you to worship.
Genesis. The first book in the Bible. Begins with. In the beginning. God. And then tells us.
That he created. Everything. So we're just going to take a minute. With the understanding. That God created all of this. And just look at.
The things that exist. We're going to look at. What. What's out there. For you to be. Mesmerized with.
For you to devote yourself to. We're going to do this in two ways. We're going to go small. Then we're going to go big. And then that. Hopefully that'll cover everything in between.
All right. Your body. Is made up of. Cells. One hundred. Trillion of them.
I don't even know. What that number really means. It's just very big. One hundred. Trillion cells. This is a.
This is a cell. It looks like something. From the magic school bus. That's a cell. Inside your cell. I'm going to move this out of the way.
I'm going to back up a little bit. So people can see a little better. Forgive me if I get in your way. I pace. That's a cell. Inside the middle there.
Is a nucleus. There's a bunch of little different parts in there. There's. Inside the nucleus is DNA. DNA. DNA.
Is the best information storage system. That exists. They are currently. Scientists are currently trying to figure out. How to save our own data into DNA. And retrieve it.
Okay. So the new Macs that came out. Like the expensive ones. They have like a terabyte of data. Remember when you had like a floppy disk. And it had like.
A megabyte. Terabytes way bigger. Did that help? Have a terabyte of data. DNA. DNA.
If you could put a drop of pure DNA. On the tip of your finger. It would have 700 terabytes. Of data storage capability. Because there's DNA. In every single one of your microscopic.
Invisible cells. That it holds. Dawkins says. About the equivalent of 8,000 books. But if you could.
So they said. They're trying to figure out. How to use DNA. Because they could save. All the things. We would ever need to save.
In a couple of teaspoons. Tablespoons. Worth of DNA. If we can figure out. How to do it. But.
But that was put inside. That little yellow thing. In the middle there. And then. Inside of there. Inside the cell.
Which you have a hundred trillion of them. That are constantly doing things. They all read. This. There's the entire DNA. For your whole body.
But the cell reads. This tiny little spot. They just go break. This one little part apart. And then that's what tells your cell. To be a liver cell.
Or an eye cell. Or a fingernail. Cell. Just that little bit of DNA. But all the DNA is in there.
And inside of your. Of your cell. There are organelles. Ribosomes. Mitochondria. Storage vacuoles.
Lysosomes. Lystra. Derby. Those last two are just places. Mentioned in the Bible. But the other stuff's in there.
Endoplasmic reticula. And a bunch of other things. That are constantly working. Doing jobs. Making more cells. This is a picture of actual cells.
We can see these with microscopes. They're creating things. All the time. Making more cells. They're made up of smaller things. The little particles inside of them.
Are made up of smaller things. There are. Each one of those. Has to be designed in such a way. As to be the correct thing. The correct lysosome.
Storage vacuole. To make the correct component. That's going to go inside the cell. Inside. The smaller. Things that make those up.
Are made up of. Molecules. That are made up of atoms. Atoms are the things that are on periodic table. On the periodic table of the elements. This is a picture of an atom.
It's been. It's been. Kind of enhanced. Digitally. Trying to make it look 3D. That's the nucleus of an atom.
There are protons and neutrons in there. And then electrons. Swirl around it. And scientists will say. We can't see those. You just kind of have to pretend.
We proved. We humans. Proved. That those existed. In like the end of the 1800s. We actually saw the first one in 1983.
We were able to look at it. They just used math. To figure out that these were real. And when I hear stuff like that. I think. There's a lot about math.
I don't know. Because I'm doing good. To make sure I got the right amount of change back. And they're using it. To figure out things. That we can't see.
Exist. They've now found out. That atoms are made up of. So that. We knew they were made up of. Protons.
Neutrons. Electrons. They can't be directly observed. But we're able to use math. To figure out what they do. They now have come out.
And said. We thought for a long time. That those were the smallest things. There were. So. Each cell.
Has about. You have 100 trillion cells. Each cell. Has about 100 trillion atoms. If you use a calculator. To multiply those Numbers together.
Your calculator. Doesn't even really give you an answer. It gives you a number. And then an E. And then it says plus. And it gives you this other stuff.
And it's like. Dude. I'm not putting all those zeros. You do it. It's an insane amount. So.
Inside those atoms. They now have decided. That they thought. That was the smallest thing. They now decided. No.
They've used more math. And figured out. There are smaller things. Than protons. Neutrons. Electrons.
And they've called these. Quarks. And leptons. And all of those. Are in a category. Called fermions.
And it sounds like. L. Ron Hubbard. Came up with this. Eventually. A logical.
A logical assumption. Is that they're going to figure out. That quarks. Have smaller parts. And maybe they'll call those. Bloggatrons.
Or nuptics. Here's the thing. Your body. Is exceedingly. Complex. It's made up of atoms.
And atoms. Have insane amounts. Of power in them. Energy in them. That we don't fully understand. We were able to figure out.
Early on. That they existed. By using math. And then they figured out. That if you took. Two hydrogen atoms.
This is a picture. Of a hydrogen atom. The internet. Nope. The internet was geeked out. The internet.
The internet was. Was really excited. That we were able to get. A picture of a hydrogen atom. Hydrogen is really small. They worked really hard.
And science. A whole lot. And they came up with that. See that. That's hydrogen. You guys.
Are you just blown away. It's. It's microscopic. We were excited. Because we could see it. Because they used to only figure out.
That it existed by math. But then they figured out. That if they took. Two hydrogen atoms. Smushed them together. They would turn into helium.
But helium. Weighs less. Than those two hydrogen atoms. Combined. So it would be like.
If you and I. If I weighed 100 pounds. You weigh 100 pounds. And we get on a scale. And the scale says. One fifty.
There's fifty pounds. That aren't. Accounted for. What they figured out. Was if they smush. Hydrogen together.
It'll push this other stuff out. And you know what that does. It just blows up. That's it. It creates energy. From smushing together.
Things we can't even see. Does the. The hydrogen bomb. That's just taking atoms. That they mathed. And then.
Coming up with a system. To smush them. And it does that. That. That's two miles wide. You can feel the heat.
Thirty miles away. Okay. Can you go to like. A black one. Just a regular. Let's talk for just a second.
Everything's made up of atoms. And. And what we're told is. That the God of the universe. Designed this. And he made atoms.
That fit together into molecules. That make up like lipids. And proteins. And stuff. And then. Make biscuits.
And taste amazing. Like. It's science. That makes bacon delicious. And I just got myself really hungry. Because if you put bacon on that biscuit.
I haven't even thought about this. Let's get some cheese. All right. You used to. Be a lot smaller than you are. You used to be like this big.
At one point. You were about this big. You ate atoms. Your body broke that stuff down. Stuck it in different places. And then your body.
Made more of your body. Created more cells. Replicated your DNA. Genesis 1. 27. Says that God made man.
In his own image. In the image of God. He created him male and female. Job 10. 11. Says you clothed me with skin.
And flesh. And you knit me together. With bones. And sinews. Psalm 139. 13.
Says you formed. My inward parts. You knitted me together. In my mother's womb. That God. Pieced all of that together.
To the smallest. Thing that we've been able to work. Really hard to find out existed. God made it. Designed it. With a purpose.
Okay. Let's go big for a second. This is the earth. It is a globe. YouTube might tell you that it's not. That's a picture.
It's either a picture of our earth. It is a globe. Or it is a vast conspiracy. That NASA is trying to trick us. By putting this on their website. But that's a picture of the earth.
This is the sun. It's a giant ball of fire. It actually is a bunch of nuclear reactions going on. On the earth. We are currently rotating. 6,000.
No. 100. Sorry. 1,000 miles per hour. We're spinning 1,000 miles per hour right now. Can you feel it?
1,000 Miles per hour. We are then traveling in orbit. 18.5 miles per second. Or 66,600 miles per hour. While spinning. And the reason we're doing that.
Is because the sun is bigger than us. And it tells us to. It's a gravity. It tells mass how to move. And we just. We're slingshotting.
Out around this thing. That's bigger than us. This is a picture of the earth. And the other planets. That's Venus. Mars.
Mercury. Pluto. We're bigger than those. I don't know if Pluto is still a planet. But look.
He's there. Alright. Next one. This is all the planets in our solar system. Uranus. Neptune.
Saturn. Jupiter. They're a lot bigger than us. Earth's down here. He's cute. Alright.
This is if you add in the sun. That's why the sun gets to tell us what to do. It works much like a playground. Okay. This is our galaxy. There it is.
That's the Milky Way. That's a guess. Because we can't get outside of it to see what it looks like. But it probably looks like that. This one shows us where our solar system is. So there's a lot of other solar systems going on.
Do you have the one that shows the other stars in our. Okay. So the sun's over here. That's Sirius. That's Pollux. That's Arcturus.
You can go bigger. And the sun will disappear. Those are in our galaxy. Other suns. Floating out there. Doing their thing.
This is a galaxy that we can see. From our galaxy. It's bigger than ours. Alright. This is one of the coolest stories I found when I was looking into some of this stuff. A guy named Bob Williams.
Did the Hubble Deep Field Experiment in 1990. He was listening to Hootie and the Blowfish at the time. He had some control over where the telescope pointed. He pointed it at a black spot on the sky. It looked like this. He said I want to point the telescope here.
And they were like. That's dumb. We're losing money. Hubble telescope's not been doing great. And you want to point it at nothing. For a hundred hours.
Yes. He just said I want to point it there. I want to just receive light. And we'll see what happens. That's about one thirtieth the size of a full moon. It's the size.
They just picked a spot that was completely black. And said let's point it there. They did it for a hundred hours. And just took in as much light as they could. Took pictures. It took 45 seconds to get in all the light.
And then. This is what came out of it. Once they developed the film. They colored it in a little bit. So they decided.
Oh okay. They thought they might have. About 2 billion. Other galaxies. Until they did that. And then they said.
Oh no. 50 billion. And most recently. They started saying. That there might be about 2 trillion. Other galaxies.
So you remember the big galaxy. And it said. We are here. That was our solar system. We're not even the biggest planet. In our solar system.
We don't even have the biggest sun. In our galaxy. 2 trillion galaxies. Filled with innumerable suns. Innumerable solar systems. Innumerable planets.
Habakkuk 3.6 says. He stood. And measured. The earth. He looked. And shook the nations.
Then the eternal mountains were scattered. The everlasting hills sank low. His word. The everlasting ways. Isaiah 40. Verse 12 says.
Who has measured. The waters. In the hollow of his hand. Or marked off the heavens. With a span. Enclosed the dust of the earth.
In a measure. And weighed the mountains. And scales. And hills. In a balance. In Job 38.
God shows up. To talk to Job. He says. Where were you? When I laid the foundation of the earth. Tell me.
If you have understanding. Who determined its measurements. Surely you know. Or who stretched the line upon it. On what were its bases sunk. Or who laid its cornerstone.
When the morning stars sang together. And all the sons of God shouted for joy. Psalm 147. 4 says. He determines the number of the stars. And he gives to them.
All their names. Anything you're going to devote your life to. Is going to fit somewhere in between. Those two trillion galaxies. And those hundred trillion atoms. In the hundred trillion cells.
Every bit of beauty. Every bit of. Things that are worthy. And valuable. It's going to fit somewhere inside of that. It says that God marked that off.
With the span of his hand. And so here's the question I have. How hateful. Would God be. How wicked. And despicable.
Would he be. To create all of that. And let us piddle around. With things that are so small. In comparison to him. It says he measured out.
The sea in his hands. If he said. Spend your life. Digging to the depths of the ocean. Which we hadn't even gotten to yet. How small is that.
And how. How horrible would it be. For him to not tell us about the hand. That measured it. For him to look at us. And say.
Spend your life. Chasing after love. Or beauty. When all love and beauty. Emits from him. Comes from him.
That is. It was thought up by him. If he said. Spend your life. Chasing after relationships. When the ultimate.
Truest. Most fulfilling. Joy filled. Glorious relationship. We could ever have. Is with him.
You see. He is a complete narcissist. Unless he is the greatest. Then what else. Would you have him point us to. What else would you have this God.
Say. Worship. Adore. Enjoy. Appreciate. You see.
What he does. Is he takes us to things. And he says. Look at the ocean. Look at the stars. Look at the sky.
And enjoy them. And be enraptured by them. And then realize. They point to me. They're just a hint. Of my glory.
And my bigness. And my goodness. And my grace. Spending all of our time. Chasing after reason. Or intelligent.
And never. Getting to enjoy. The depth of the mind. That created it. In the first place. You see.
Then. Colossians. Tells us. In 115. Talking of Jesus. He.
Is the image. Of the invisible God. The firstborn. Of all creations. Colossians 2. 9.
Says. For in him. The whole fullness. Of deity. Dwells. Bodily.
And Hebrews 1. 3. Says this. And this is what was on the. The little bumper videos. We came in.
He. That's Jesus. Is the radiance. Of the glory. Of God. So glory.
Is. Is beauty. That makes you feel something. It's. It's. It's what emanates from God.
And it says that. Radiance. Is the light and heat. That shines off of something. So what.
What Hebrews. The author of Hebrews. Tells us. Is that Jesus. Is the beauty. Of the beauty of God.
He's the radiance. Of the glory. He's the light and heat. That shines off of all of God's. Massive. Infathomable.
Unapproachable. Eternal. Goodness. He's the exact. Imprint. Of his nature.
That's God's nature. Is. Perfectly. Shown to us. In Christ. Who is God.
He upholds the universe. By the word. Of his power. That Jesus Christ. Rules over. All that exists.
And after making. Purifications for sins. That's. The cross. He sat down. At the right hand.
Of the majesty. On high. In Psalm 8. The psalmist says. When I look at your heavens. The work of your fingers.
The moon. And the stars. Which you have set in place. What is man. That you're mindful of him. Or the son of man.
That you care for him. Psalm says. I see all of this. And why do you care about us. We're in a small galaxy. Stuck off to the corner.
In a small solar system. On a small planet. Given a very limited amount of time. In history. And in God's created order. But God loved us enough.
Was mindful of us enough. That he joined us. In humanity. And went to the cross. That he exactly imprinted. His nature on Jesus.
Who became a human. The most baffling event. Most beautiful miracle. In history. Is that God. The eternal holy God.
Became a human. And humbled himself. To die on a cross. To redeem some people. So that.
He could pursue. Their greatest. And highest. Joy. Which is himself. Jesus Christ died.
So that we could have. Him. Because you will not find. A greater. Or higher. Or more worthy.
Or more valuable. Joy. In the world. In creation. In existence. That Jesus Christ.
The God of the universe. Humbled himself. A friend of mine. Got to go to a. Some sort of a tailgate thing. And it was catered by Chick-fil-A.
And he got to eat at this meal. With a bunch of fancy people. He's not fancy. But he got to go. I don't remember. Somebody knows.
Is fancy. And invited him. He said afterwards. Somebody came along. This was an older guy. Came along.
And started cleaning up everything. And throwing everything away. And he looked over. And realized. That the person who was. Picking up his trash.
And throwing it away. Was S. True at Kathy. Which is. The CEO of Chick-fil-A. He said.
He immediately thought. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. Like. Why would the CEO. Clean up after me. Like.
This isn't okay. I'm just here as a guest. I can't have this guy. Clean up. Like. He was like.
He was. It just felt so bad. It bothered him so much. And. And what we met with. That's the exact imprint.
Of God's nature. The humility. And mercy. And love of God. Is that the God of the universe. Who created all things.
From the most. Minuscule. To the most. Miraculously. Immeasurable. Will become a.
Person. In order to suffer. And die. On a cross. That we could be forgiven. Of sins.
And brought back. Into a relationship. With him. And have. A chance. To pursue.
What will most. Give us joy. And satisfaction. Pastor John Piper. Says this. God's love for us.
Is not mainly. His making. Much of us. But his giving us. The ability. To enjoy.
Making much of him. Forever. God's love for us. Keeps God. At the center. God's love for us.
Exalts his value. And our satisfaction. In it. If God's love. Made us central. And focus on our value.
It would distract us. From what is most. Precious. Namely himself. Love. Labors.
And suffers. To enthrall us. With what is infinitely. And eternally. Satisfying. God.
That God. Went to the cross. So that. He could labor. To enthrall us. With what is most.
Satisfying. Most. Joy-filled. God. And that's why Jesus. With complete certainty.
Honesty. Love. And helpfulness. Can look at us. And say. Whoever loves father or mother.
More than me. Is not worthy of me. And whoever loves son. Or daughter. More than me. Is not worthy of me.
And whoever. Ever does not take his cross. And follow me. Is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life. Will lose it.
Whoever loses his life. For my sake. Will find it. The band's going to come back up. If we love. Anything.
More than Jesus. We're missing out. If our lives are devoted. To anything. More than Christ. We've sold ourselves short.
If you live your entire life. Giving every penny. Every drop of sweat. Every waking moment. To Christ. And his kingdom.
And his glory. It'll all be worth it. Because everything else. Pales in comparison. To his beauty. His magnificence.
His holiness. His worthiness. Band's going to sing. We're going to take communion. Communion is for. Those who have placed their faith in Christ.
So we would ask you. That if you are not. A Christian. Just to remain seated. During this time. Or stand and sing.
With the band as they lead. But for those of us. Who have placed our faith in Christ. I want us to take a minute. To as best we can. Hold in our minds.
What makes. God. So supremely glorious. That he would suffer. And die on a cross. To redeem us.
That he would breathe his last breath. Be wrapped. And shrouded. Laid in a tomb. That he would conquer death. On our behalf.
That when we take communion. We're reminding ourselves. Of the body. And the blood. Of Christ. That was broken.
And that was. Blood that was shed. So that we could have life. So that we could be redeemed. So that we could be forgiven.
That this. Radiant. Glorious God. Would suffer. So that he could.
Enthrall us. With what is most supremely. Joy filled. Life giving. And valuable. Himself.
Let's pray. And then you'll be free. To take communion. And we'll stand and sing. God we thank you for your grace. Your love.
God. I pray Lord. That we would be. Overwhelmed. By how matchless. You are.
That you are. Supremely. Glorious. And worthy. Of all of our devotion. We praise you.
In Jesus name. Amen.
Few to Many
Transcript
Good morning. My name is Spencer Carey. I am a church planting resident here at Mill City. It has almost been a year. This June will be a year since we've been down here starting the work of planting Antioch Church on the other side of Lexington. It's been a good year.
It's been a year that has been a joy to be serving alongside you guys, to be learning from you guys. We've felt a lot of love, and it's been great. We're excited for where God has ahead for us. And this morning, we are continuing our Extraordinary Series, and we're going to be talking about community groups and how they can be used for mission. Conventional wisdom says that if you want to accomplish a goal or win a game or whatever, you choose the best and the brightest to field your team. And that's practically true in sports.
In sports, in professional sports, the most important position that you hire for as an owner is a general manager, the GM. The GM chooses the head coach, which is hugely important. He also chooses the players. He's the head of scouting. So I'm a huge Indianapolis Colts fan, which means the last five years has been somewhat painful because we have one of the best quarterback prospects since Peyton Manning, and it's been terrible to watch because we had a bad GM who chose really bad players and a not-so-great coach.
I think of other sports. I think of Major League Baseball. Probably the best GM in sports is Theo Epstein. He helped build the Red Sox and ended that curse, and then he went to the Chicago Cubs where he just ended that curse. So he's really good at what he does.
If you want to win ballgames, you feel the best team. The same is also true in advertising. If you want your product to sell, you choose the best and the brightest. In our culture, that seems to be celebrities. Celebrity endorsements is where it's at. One of my favorite celebrities who endorses products is Shaq.
Shaquille O'Neal, he's just hilarious. He was one of the most dominant power forwards in the history of the NBA, and then he comes out, and he's just been selling products ever since. One of my favorite products he sells are Buicks. He is seven. You don't know who Shaq is. He's seven foot one.
He's massive, and they show him inside of a Buick, and you're like, there's no way Shaq fits in a Buick. He has business selling tanks, but not Buicks. That's not how that works. One of the worst celebrity endorsements that I've seen is the Sarah McLachlan abused animal commercials. You know what I'm talking about. If you've watched TV past 11 o'clock, you have seen these.
The first time you watch it, her song, In the Arms of an Angel, comes on, which is an extremely sad song. And then they show a picture of an abused puppy, and you're immediately like, this is really sad. And then they show a hurt cat. And you may not be a cat person. That doesn't do anything for you. But then they show you more pictures of dogs.
And you're like, oh my goodness, this is terrible. The first time you watch it, I mean, it moves you a little bit. The hundredth time you've seen it, it infuriates you. You want it off the TV. You change the channel as fast as you can. But that's what companies, that's what nonprofits, that's what teams.
If you want the best way to sell your product, the best way to win ballgames, you choose the best and the brightest. That's conventional wisdom. Jesus defies that. He defies conventional wisdom by choosing a bunch of scrubs and equipping them to do ministry. If you don't know what a scrub is, a scrub is one definition. It's a guy who thinks he's fine who's also known as a buster.
That is one definition of a scrub. An alternate definition of a scrub is just someone who generally lacks talent. Not very special, not an all-star at all. And this is who Jesus chose. So we're going to look today, we're going to walk through this.
We're going to walk through who Jesus chose and why he chose them to change the world, the 12 apostles. Then we're going to look at how he equipped them to do ministry. And we're going to see how God still wants to use us today. So before we dive into that, let's pray. Father, thank you for your word. God, I pray that you would use it this morning to show us what mission looks like and how our community groups can be used to reach this city.
We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. All right, so we'll start at who he chose. Matthew 10, 2 and following. The names of the 12 apostles are these. First, Simon, who was called Peter, and Andrew, his brother.
James, the son of Zebedee, and John, his brother. Philip and Bartholomew. Thomas and Matthew, the tax collector. James, the son of Alphaeus. And Thaddeus. Simon, the zealot.
And Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him. All right, so Jesus chooses 12 ordinary men that represent kind of a common cross-section of that culture at that time. You look at Peter, James, John, Andrew. We know they were fishermen. All right, so blue-collar, probably uneducated, fishermen.
Then you get Bartholomew, James, Philip, and Jude Thaddeus. Thaddeus being a name that exhibits both testosterone and biblical value, which is why our son who is coming this summer will have the middle name Thaddeus. These four, we don't really know who they were. They could have been farmers. They could have been shepherds. They could have been fishermen.
They don't have name recognition. We don't really know who they were. They were just common people. Then you get to Thomas. Thomas is probably a common trade, too, but we do know something about Thomas. He's a bit of a skeptic.
So he kind of represents the skeptic part of their society. Then we get to Matthew and Simon. Matthew, we'll start with him. Matthew is a tax collector. He's a Jewish tax collector. Which means he's one of the most hated people in his culture.
He was a Jew who worked for the Roman government who was oppressing the Jews, collecting taxes on behalf of them, and taking more than his fair share. Like, we hate the IRS. This is the IRS and steroids. This is like China oppressing our country and having to pay taxes to an American who takes more than his fair share. So he's hated.
And then on the other extreme, we have Simon the Zealot. He is a part of a group of revolutionaries called the Zealots. They actively sought to overthrow the Roman government, rebellion after rebellion, until finally about 70 AD, the Romans were done with it, and they went and destroyed all of Jerusalem. They destroyed the temple, which is why there's only one part of the temple called the Western Wall that is still in existence. The Zealots hated the Romans. They hated tax collectors who were sellout Jews who worked for the Romans.
So Jesus chooses two people on opposite ends of the spectrum. And then we get to Judas. We know Judas was the one who betrayed Jesus. He could have been an accountant. We don't really know. He handled the money.
But he's just a common person that ends up betraying Jesus. And that's the team. That's the all-star team that he chose to change the world. Defying conventional wisdom, Jesus chose ordinary people to do something extraordinary. And even worse, he chose people who were more likely to tear each other apart than actually unify under a common cause. So why did Jesus choose this group of people to change the world?
For a few reasons. Because God looks glorious when he chooses the broken, when he chooses common, uneducated people to accomplish his purposes. Like the sovereignty of God, which is his rule and his reign, looks more glorious when he uses jacked-up people to advance his kingdom. We see that from Old Testament to New Testament. God gets to flex when he takes a zealot and a tax collector and unifies them under a common cause to see the world changed. It is clear who's in control of the mission when he chooses a common group of people to advance his kingdom.
And they're all so different. And I see that on a practical level now. Even being at this church the last year, thinking of two pastors that came to plant this church, Chet and Matt. They are so different. Like we knew each other in college. But I've gotten to know them more since I've been down here.
And they're so different. You take Chet, for instance. Chet kind of has a stoic, kind of hard face that doesn't look as friendly. He's not very touchy-feely. He's more likely to punch you if you hug him unannounced. That's just Chet.
He's not very touchy-friendly. But you get to know him. He's actually very friendly. He cares a lot. And then as you get to know him more, you see he has a soft spot for musicals and broadways and a little bit of folk music. Then you get to Matt Freeman, who looks happy all the time.
He has got a very kind of light-hearted, very happy spirit about him. He's more likely to hug you unannounced. Hug you and pick you up unannounced. And behind all that, when he gets into competition, he gets gritty. He gets nasty. It's fun.
Especially when you beat him in ping-pong and you get to see it. But God uses both. They're so different. You can go on down the line and show their differences. God uses their differences to bless this church and to make the mission here better. And the same is true if you're honest in your community group.
I mean, be real. Think of the people in your community group right now. Would you have ever connected if it wasn't for Christ? If it wasn't for the reason why you're here is because of Jesus. Would you have ever connected as a community group? Would you still connect?
For some of you, maybe. But for many of you, probably not. Every one of your community group is very different. I think of the community group that we started when we launched community groups off the ground for Antioch in the fall. I've got a little bit of intense personality. I love the Gamecocks.
I love going out to restaurants and eating good foods. I love good coffee. I like weirder music and weirder movies. And then you get to Jeremy Powell, who moved down here last summer. And Jeremy is way different. He's a personal trainer and he loves working out.
I hate working out. I hate it. He likes five different types of food. Unseasoned chicken. Rice. Oatmeal.
Broccoli. And if it's crazy, sweet potatoes. And that's it. Like, that's all he eats. And we're so different. I think of the Pruitts who moved down here.
We're different. They're Clemson fans. We're way different on that. I think of the Garcias who moved down here. They're New Yorkers. We're all so...
When I think about the people who helped launch our community group, we're just... We're all so very different. But what comes out of those differences is a diverse group of people united by the gospel. What comes out of that is a beautiful display of empathy with others. It is a patience with personalities that might clash with you. And it grows you.
And it shapes you in ways that would never happen if you got to choose the people that you want to journey through life with in a community group. And in being different, we all bring something different to the table. We bring different spiritual giftings to the table. Romans 12 is a passage that is one of a few passages in the New Testament that talks about spiritual giftings. Spiritual giftings are just giftings and talents that the Holy Spirit has given us to serve one another in the church and serve those outside the church. Romans 12 gives a few of them.
In verses 5 and 4, we'll read them. It says, So we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another, having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them. All right, hear this. We are one body with individual members with individual different spiritual giftings. I mean, some of you are unreal gifted at serving in hospitality. I serve on host team week in, week out, and I get to see it firsthand.
You make this church better by being such great hosts that bring people in here to hear the gospel. Some of you are just very good at exhorting and encouraging other people. Like, it's just good to be in your presence, to hear your words of encouragement. You're good at that. Some of you are able to teach. That doesn't always look like what happens up here.
Sometimes that's in community group leading a discussion. Sometimes that's walking somebody at a coffee shop through a Bible study. Some of you can teach. Some of you are good at making money, and you have generous hearts. And we can meet here on a Sunday. We can gather together because of that.
It costs money to use this place, and we get to see more ministry happen because of it. We all bring something different to the table in how God uses us to impact one another and others. And what we see from how Jesus chose his apostles is that our diversity is a means of grace that God uses to impact many. Our diversity is a means of grace that God uses to change the world, which is why Jesus chooses the people he did. And it makes God look good. So that's who he chose.
That's why he chose. I want to take a look at how he prepared them for ministry. The primary focus of the four Gospels is Jesus spending time with his apostles, preparing them for ministry. That's it. He had a large-scale ministry, absolutely, but the primary focus is him pouring into the twelve over and over again. You read how Jesus was doing ministry with his disciples, and he was modeling how to do this.
Because the plan wasn't that he was going to stay here forever. So he spent three years modeling this. He spent three years praying with them, teaching them how to pray. He spent three years showing them the importance of the word. There are over 66 different references to the Old Testament in Jesus' dialogues with the disciples. He showed the word is central to what you are going to do.
He modeled solitude and the importance of that. He did large-scale ministry. He did get away with the twelve. Sometimes he did get away with the three. And then he would also get away by himself to spend time with his heavenly father, showing that all of us need time alone with God. Even if you're an extrovert like me, even if you're even more of an extrovert, you need time alone with your father.
He modeled mercy ministry by having compassion on the crowds. He modeled how to have a good time. One of his first miracles is changing water to wine at a wedding party. And I mean, it's so much so that the Pharisees accused Jesus of being a drunkard and a glutton. Now we know that's not true because getting drunk is sin and Jesus is sinless.
We know that never happened. We know that he wasn't a glutton. But he must have been having such a good time with his disciples on a regular basis that they can make those accusations. So he did all this and more. He spent three years showing them how to do this so that they would know how to do it when he left. And just being around him, they soaked up a ton of stuff.
And that makes sense on a practical level. I think on a practical level with my relationship with my daughter, she is almost two years old. And she absorbs a lot. She absorbs some of the good stuff that we do. So we teach her how to pray, what that looks like.
Every night we try to read the storybook Bible so that she can get a rhythm of hearing the gospel, hearing the stories of the Bible come to life. We try some good patterns and then some bad patterns she eventually picks up from us. One of the bad patterns that she picked up a couple months ago, she looked at our dog. We have two dogs. We have one dog who is a sweet puppy who we know she's going to be awesome. Like we can see the long run.
This is going to be a great dog. And we have another dog who's objectively terrible. And she looks at that dog and she goes, shut up, Rolo. And my wife looks at me and I look at her and I look at Ellie. I'm like, no, you shut up. That's not how that went down.
Immediately, I'm like, I'm a little mortified because I know it's me. I know it's my fault because this dog, he's just bad. He's bitten us. He's disobedient. And one of the things that he does that drives us crazy is when she's napping and you have a toddler that's trying to nap and you don't want that interrupted. He barks at everything.
He barks at noises outside and he wakes her up. And I want to take him and put him in front of the TV and watch Sarah McLachlan commercials and say, this could be your life. And my go-to response is, shut up. And she heard it. And so we had to correct that. We had to slowly teach her that, no, say shush, don't say shut up.
But she picks up a lot. You pick up a lot from people around, especially people that you might be influenced by. And for three years, the apostles got to spend three years with the God of the universe. And they picked up a ton. They got to see the heart of God on display for three years. And it impacted 11 of them in profound ways that changed and shaped the future of their ministries until each of them died.
So after spending three years modeling this, Jesus goes to the cross. He goes to the cross where he pays. His blood is spilt. It pays for their sins so that they can have a right standing before God. He goes to the tomb where he conquers death at the resurrection, loosening the grip of death and its power over his followers, giving them a chance to have a new life in Christ through belief in him. And then he sends them out.
He commissions them in the Great Commission. He says, go make disciples. You have one Job. Go make disciples. Do what I have done with you the past three years and change the world. And then the event of Pentecost happens.
They go to Jerusalem. The Holy Spirit descends upon the church at Pentecost. Peter stands up, gives a sermon. Three thousand plus people are changed in a moment. Changed by his grace. They are baptized.
And as you're reading Acts, you might be thinking, this must be the pattern of ministry that's going forward. They're going to travel around and they're going to preach. And there's going to be thousands of people that come to Christ. That is why the church exists today, right? No. This is a special, specific, just beautiful event.
That is not what happens going forward. What happens going forward is directly what follows that in Acts 2, verses 42 through 47. It says, And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And all came upon every soul. And many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common.
And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And hear this. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved. That's the pattern that follows for the rest of the book of Acts and the early church. After spending three years with Jesus, the disciples simply modeled his ministry.
They prayed together. They studied the word together. They ministered to those who had need together. They broke bread and ate in their homes together. They kept it simple, making everyday disciples an everyday life. And that's the vision of why Chet and Matt moved down here to plant Mill City.
That is why we moved down here to plant Antioch Church. That simple vision of ministry that we would gather together on Sundays where we'd worship, we'd hear the word preach, and we'd be sent out and we'd scatter into our homes and community groups throughout the week. That's why we preach community groups so much. That's why you hear about it every Sunday. Because we see that God wants to use community groups to change the world, to change this city. And part of us talking about it a lot is a little bit of a reaction to the fact that for most people in this culture, down south, church is a building.
Church is an event that happens on Sunday. It's a social function of sorts. And that's not the biblical definition. The church is the people of God. We gather together for worship and we scatter into community groups. That's the model.
So that's why we have preached this so much. We believe God wants to use you and me to make disciples who will make disciples. God wants to use us to plant groups across this city. We believe that he wants to use us, the few, to impact the many. That's why he chooses everyday scrubs like us to change the world. So in order for us to do that, there's got to be a little bit of a mindset change.
We've got to change our mind on how we look at this a little bit. So we have to see community groups as a missional vehicle, as a place for mission, as a people for mission. We have to see it as that. For many of us, community groups has become a place of refuge, a place of safety. And some of that's for good reasons. Some of that is because community group is a place and it's a people we can gather together and we can be honest with one another.
We can love one another. We can be around our community group members and just be real. And inviting new people into that kind of breaks that up sometimes. It kind of makes it difficult at times. So we have to have a mindset change that says, yeah, community group is a place where we can be fully loved and fully known and fully loved.
But it's also a place where we can see lives changed by the gospel. And in doing that, we're going to grow. And that's going to have to cause us to plant new groups. We have nine community groups represented in this room. And we'd love to see in a year's time that double. We'd love to see 18 community groups happen.
Which means we've got to plant and launch more groups. And when we do that, the cycle of starting new groups is painful and beautiful and good all at the same time. It's a little bit painful because the people that you've journeyed with over the last year or so, you're going to launch some of them out into a new group. Now you're going to see them on Sundays and you're going to hang out from time to time. That's going to happen. But the weekly rhythm of gathering together as a community group, that's going to shift a little bit.
That's going to change completely. They're going to be in a new group. But what happens, what comes out of that is it allows more space for new people to come and experience the gospel. So we're going to have to plant more groups. And the other mindset change that has to happen is we have to see that everything counts. Every aspect of our life counts for the mission of the gospel going forward.
The church that sent us out down here, the language they used was location, vocation, recreation. You'd be missional in your location where you live, your vocation where you work, your recreation where you play, where you live life. So for many of us, we have to do some mindset changes and seeing that we have to be missional in all of those areas. So where we live, your neighborhood, your location. Get to know your neighbors. The neighbor across the street whose yard is a wreck, maybe the yard is a wreck because they have poor health and they can't take care of their yard.
And we get to go and serve them and cut their grass and get to know them and invite them into our community groups. For some of you, many of you work, you work eight to ten hours a day at a job where you're around people, some of whom don't believe the gospel. You get the opportunity to get to engage them, to get to know them, to go out and get lunch with them, to spend time with them, building a relationship so that you can talk about the gospel. You can invite them into groups. Many of you have hobbies. Some of you have like ten hobbies.
You probably should reduce that a little bit. Some of you have just a few hobbies, which is good for your soul. You should use those hobbies as a means for mission. If you love going to workout groups, there are people in that workout group who do not know Jesus. Get to know them, engage them. Whether it's hunting or fishing or bowling leagues or whatever, see where you enjoy life as a place for mission.
So if we make those adjustments in our mind, if we see a community group as a primary vehicle for mission in the church, if we see the call to plant more groups and how that is advancing the kingdom here in Columbia, if we can make the adjustments to see that everything counts in every aspect of our life, we can start to get practical about how to make our community groups more missional. So I'm going to run through a list real quick of ways we can make our community groups more missional, and then we'll close out. The first one is to really love one another. Now I know when I say that, you're like, yeah, we get that.
I mean really love one another in a way that looks way different than the outside world. I mean our culture, our culture is so fake. It's so fake. People put their best faces on Facebook. There's not real relationships. They're not honest about their brokenness.
The world is fake, and everyone is so tired spending plates in that world trying to get by. And in our community groups, when we gather together for our meeting times, when we gather together outside of it, we get to be honest. We get to be real. We understand we're not all stars. We're scrubbed saved by grace. Like we get it, that Jesus is good.
So we can confess our sin. We can be honest about our brokenness. And when people from the outside world come and see that kind of love, they see something way different and way better. And we have to love one another. Even the people in our groups, and they clash with our personalities, we have to love one another in spite of our differences and model the gospel. If we don't have love, our community groups will not be missional.
Secondly, you are a community group. Therefore, you can do things outside of your normal community group meeting time. The difference there is sometimes we see community group as an event that happens on a Tuesday night or Wednesday night. The community groups are not the event. It's the people. You are a community group.
So you can do things outside of your normal meeting time. So go bowling. Go to the zoo. Go do things. Hang out. Live life together.
Some of you, you can go to lunch with your coworkers and invite somebody from your community group who can join you. And you go get lunch together. And they get to see your dynamics of how you love one another and how you care for one another. And they get to see the gospel lived out in a piece of your community group. So you are a group.
Do stuff outside of your normal group meeting time. Thirdly, use your strengths. Use the strengths that are in your group. Some of your groups are kid-friendly. And by kid-friendly, I mean there's like eight kids in it. We're about to have seven kids in our community group.
And it's messy. And in community group meeting time, you might be thinking, who wants to be a part of this? We've got one kid that is now naked. We don't know how he got naked, but he's naked now. Then we've got another kid that has blown out their diaper.
And then two kids collide. And there's crying. And there's screaming. And you're thinking, who wants to be a part of this chaos? People with kids. People with kids want to be a part of that.
People who have not had an adult conversation in three months with anyone other than their spouse want to be a part of that. They want to bring their kids to be a part of that. You have kids. Use your kids as a missional opportunity to invite people in to experience the gospel. Go to the splash park and invite other families from your neighborhood. Your kids can be a great missional tool.
That's a biblical good thing. They're awesome. And they can be used for mission. All right? So use, if you're kid, if y'all are kid friendly, use it.
If you have someone in your group that is like a relational Jedi, and they maintain 30 friendships with unbelievers on a regular basis, And you might be an introvert, and you might be thinking, how is that possible? I have two close friends, and that's all I have time for. That's okay. Be stretched a little bit. That's okay. But what you could do is you could see your relational friend.
You could see someone like Jordan Surratt as a person to come alongside, to spend time with some of their friends, get to know them, and invite them in to life together with us. Some of you are admin gifted. You are gifted in administration. And we need you badly. If we don't, this is what taco night looks like. Seven people bring lettuce.
One person brings cheese. And one person brings tortillas. That's not a taco. There's no such thing as a vegetarian taco. It does not exist. So we need you to be the admin person that makes group run smoother, that makes our time together run smoother, so that everyone's bringing stuff that's good, and that we can be hospitable to those who might visit.
Some of you are coffee snobs. Who else loves coffee? I'm a coffee snob. I embrace it. People will throw that label at you, and you can shut it down. Okay?
Because it's good to love coffee. I love roasting an Ethiopian Yerga Chop bean in my garage and bringing it to community group. You may think that's weird. I say that's good service. All right?
Some of you love serving good food. Right? Some of you might love throwing steaks on the grill and have the money to bring steaks to the grill. Do it. Invite your neighbors. Some of you, like Rask said, only got money for hot dogs.
You make a hot dog, you make a friend. Use your Memorial Day to grill out to get to know people and to invite them in. Some of you are awkward and small talk. You should grow in that. All right?
But while community group is kind of, our meeting time is kind of winding down and dishes need getting done and people are still talking, go wash the dishes. Some of you are great at small talk. And when somebody new comes, you actually go and talk to them and invite them and make them feel welcomed. I could go on and on about the different giftings that we have, the different strengths we have. We all have different strengths, but the reality is we're all a group of scrubs. When we gather together, we see our strengths come together and we see that we are better together.
Fourthly, be persistent and play the long game. Be persistent and play the long game. What I mean by that is, is that this takes time. In our culture, it just takes time. What we do in community groups, I don't know if you know this, is not normal. It's not normal for us to gather on a regular basis, to be honest about our brokenness, to talk about the gospel, to read the Bible.
That's not normal in our culture. Even in a southern churchy culture, that's not normal. So when you invite somebody and they say no, don't be shocked. Like this takes time. It takes time to get to know people. You may invite them and they may say no.
And you may invite them three months later and they may say no again. But eventually, if you're persistent, not annoying, don't be the person that invites every single moment you can. Be persistent, not annoying. But the more time you spend with them, the more time, more lunches you get with them, they might actually come. And then if they come, they might not come back for another six months. But if you're persistent, hopefully by God's grace, one day they're going to see their brokenness and their need.
And they're going to see the world that they're in is fake. And they're going to remember the time when I came around a group of people who actually loved one another. And they'll say, I need that. And they'll come back and they'll experience the gospel and they'll be changed by his grace. So be persistent and play the long game.
All right, here's the final two. Know that this is hard. This is difficult. You will get hurt in doing this. Jesus spent three years pouring in a 12 and one of them betrayed him and had him handed over to die one of the most gruesome deaths imaginable. If you do this, you will get hurt.
My wife went out in a community group in Louisville. We spent a year and a half pouring into a woman who we helped pay for rent. We helped keep the lights on. We babysat her kids. We got her jobs that she eventually got fired from. We helped with legal fees and a custody dispute.
We spent a year and a half pouring into her. And we received lie after lie. And we got used. And then she moved on. And that's painful. Like you invest a year and a half into something like that.
That hurts. And you might be tempted to think, is this really worth it? Is it worth it to open myself up to that kind of pain? And I'll close with this. It's absolutely worth it. Because this is where joy is found.
This is joyful. When I get to see stories like what's happened in our community group with the Garcias moving down here. I think of Jen Garcia got baptized here about a month ago. And I get to see her story of her searching for God. Doesn't really have handles for what that looks like. Has never really heard the gospel.
Comes down as a part of our community group. She gets to hear the gospel. She understands that she believes. And she's growing in the grace of our Lord. When I get to see that, when we get to baptize her and see that change, it's worth it. I've gotten to know the Pabones, and especially Josh, the past year.
When we first, one of the first meetings Josh Pabone and I ever had, we're talking with Chet and Matt. And all of a sudden Josh goes, listen, we're not friends yet. And then he's kind of moved on. I was like, oh, okay. We're not friends yet. We've grown to be friends.
And as I've gotten to hear his story, and he gave me permission to share this. When I got to hear his story of how him and Aideen are on the brink of divorce. And their life is in shambles. And someone invites them to a community group. And they come, and they experience the gospel, and they see a place where they can belong. A place where they can be loved.
And their marriage is changed. And now they're community group leaders. And they're opening their home up, being hospitable, seeing other lives be changed. When I hear stories like that, when I think of this church that sent us, and the stories that happened there of lives being changed, of marriages being restored. When I think of the stories that are happening here, and I see them, I'm like, this is absolutely worth it. I'm sold.
I want to be a ragtag group of scrubs being used by Jesus to see this city be changed. Our hope is that each of us would see our community groups as a place to see lives be changed by the gospel. That we would plant more groups across this city where we see lives be changed, marriages be restored. That is the hope for community groups. That's the hope for us going forward as a church.