Three Beautiful Words (Part 2)

4 Jonathan, the son of Saul, had a son who was crippled in his feet. He was five years old when the news about Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel, and his nurse took him up and fled, and as she fled in her haste, he fell and became lame. And his name was Mephibosheth.

5 Then King David sent and brought him from the house of Machir the son of Ammiel, at Lo-debar. 6 And Mephibosheth the son of Jonathan, son of Saul, came to David and fell on his face and paid homage. And David said, “Mephibosheth!” And he answered, “Behold, I am your servant.” 7 And David said to him, “Do not fear, for I will show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan, and I will restore to you all the land of Saul your father, and you shall eat at my table always.” 8 And he paid homage and said, “What is your servant, that you should show regard for a dead dog such as I?”

Pray

Help us see other as you do

Story

Story of my eternal bleeding after MMA fight

Application

I’m sure you’ve felt that feeling before in church too. Do I even belong here? Do I have a place? Am I missed when I don’t come, or does the show just go on? Let me just address that right here: yes, you belong here. In fact, everyone that walks into our youth area belongs here, and my hope is that when you walk through our doors, you feel like family. For those of you who do feel like you belong, the issue is this: do you make others feel like they belong?

Romans 12:10 tells us this: Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Paul is literally telling us that we should turn love into a competition. As soon as we recognize a guest, we should be trying show that they are valued so much by us that it makes them feel like they truly belong.

Paul is telling us that a true leader, is someone that makes others feel at home. That’s what being hospitable means. A person that is hospitable has the ability to transform anything into a home. Hospitality is the ability to make others feel that they belong.

But just like last week’s story was met with excuses, this story is met with its own. Some of you say stuff like: “I’m an introvert, I can’t just go up and talk to people,” “I’m just so busy and my time at youth is my time; I use it to recharge,” or, “I just came to relax, I don’t want to have to worry about other people, I’m dealing with my own stuff.”

So, with all these excuses, why should any of us have to reach out? I can explain that with just two words: internal bleeding. Not striking a chord? Let me explain.

David had made a promise to Jonathan, and he kept that promise. He knew that Mephibosheth had been suffering from internal bleeding his entire life, and he wanted him to know that he belonged at a king’s table, not in a wasteland.

Remember how I said that David is a shadow of what Jesus was to be? If you are here today, you’ve been brought forward into the presence of King Jesus, and even though we all deserve death and rejection, He instead has made room for us at His table. We are Mephibosheth. In the Hebrew, Mephibosheth’s name means “shattering shame.” We all carry around this shame in our lives that we could never belong in the presence of God, but instead He takes our shame and He breaks it into pieces. He brings us to the table of a king rather than throwing us back into exile, and in all of this He tells us, “You belong here.” When people belong, their shame is shattered.

Story 2

Feel uncomfortable at Corey’s house because family was rude and fought

Supporting Scripture

Romans 12:10

10 Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.

Application 2

Have you ever walked into a church and felt totally lost? I don’t mean like you didn’t know where to go, I mean lost as in you had no clue what was going on. The beautiful thing about all the different churches in this world is that all of them are telling a story, but sometimes we miss it. For instance, a more traditional church has its own architecture that tells the story of the gospel. The steeple is a symbol of Jesus being the light of the world, it’s vaulted ceilings tell the story of God’s infinite power, and the stained-glass windows tell stories of parables and miracles. Or, maybe you go to a more contemporary service, where every element is still telling the story of Jesus. The flashing lights inspire movement and get people dancing in freedom. Then the lights might turn all blue, letting the crowd know that the song is more contemplative, bringing a somber attitude of worship. Maybe your church has a before and after playlist that is designed to create a fun atmosphere where people are at ease and interacting, and the story being told is one of community.

Whether we realize it or not, the buildings we worship God in are telling the world a story. Unfortunately, we, as the attenders, are also telling a story. The story we tell sometimes does harm. But in fact, God has designed the church to tell a story. It’s one of the most important stories we could ever tell, and just like last week, it's only three beautiful words long... you belong here.

Five Minutes or Less

Every Sunday there are thousands of people visiting churches for the first time ever, and some of these visitors might just stay at these churches. Unfortunately, the bulk of these people will never return, and do you know when they made that decision? It’s not when they’ve gone home and thought about it, and it wasn’t during the pastor’s message. It wasn’t even during the worship team’s music set. These people have decided to never visit again within the first five-minutes of parking their car on the church’s parking lot.

That’s right. A first-time visitor of any church event will decide to never come back in five-minutes or less. Here’s what happens in the first five-minutes: The visitor might be searching everywhere for a parking spot. Then when they got out of their car, they had no idea where to go. Since they had trouble finding the church they might be stressed out and anxious because they don’t know a single person and they already feel judged. Every person is rushing around church doing their “own” thing, so every regular attender completely ignores this new guest making them feel even more left out. Finally, they make it to where they need to be, but they are so overwhelmed and frustrated that they can’t even enjoy what’s going on.

I’m not saying this happens to every guest, and maybe your church does a great job at serving them. But every Sunday there are people that leave churches feeling like they got overlooked. Every soul that comes to church, is a walking story, and they all have something going on in their lives. Every person is a story that is crying to be changed. But the problem is they feel like they don’t belong. Which brings us back to this week’s story that is only three beautiful words long: you belong here...

You Belong Here

Belonging to Jesus is one of the greatest gifts we could ever receive as the church, but the gift is not for us to keep to ourselves. The gift is designed to bring others to the table. Tonight, you have the power to shatter shame and change the trajectory of someone’s entire life, and you can do it with just three beautiful words: you belong here.

Ending question: Do you help others feel they belong here?

Pray

Help us to be your hands and feet

Help us to reach out to others

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