Ghosted 4

Intro

We are finishing up our series called ghosted this week!

The whole point of the series was to show us that God doesn’t ghost us, we ghost God

Now when we are talking about the term ghosting here’s what we mean:

Explain ghosting

Well so far in this series we have talked about the importance of prayer: connecting and talking to God

We also talked about the importance of reading your Bible: it’s how you hear from God

Well tonight I want to talk about an aspect of not ghosting God that may be new to some of you

Not that this is new necessarily, but that it is so much more important than we realize

What I’m talking about is community!

Community — the people you hang around matter way more than we like to imagine

I think we often like to think that it doesn’t matter who we spend time with

That as long as we love Jesus it doesn’t matter if every person we spend significant time with does or not

However, that’s not the case — the people we spend time with impact us way more than we like to think

It challenges us way more than we realize

Well today I want to give you three reasons for why I believe your community matters

Bearing burdens

The first reason you want to have a group of friends that are seeking Jesus is:

Help you bear burdens

Galatians 6:1–2 ESV

1 Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. 2 Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

Paul tells us that that we need people around us that can bear our burdens — that can help us in times of need

We need people that can look at us when we are in trouble, when we are struggling, when we feel like we cannot go on and they can push us to God

We need people that can help us

Life is a roller coaster of ups and downs — we know that we are going to face trials, we are going to face hard times

That is a guarantee — and I know for a fact that a lot of you guys have faced hard things

You have faced things that is unfair that you shouldn’t have to bear

You shouldn’t be responsible for your families trauma and issues, you shouldn’t be responsible for the actions that others caused

But here you are — dealing with it

That’s why its so important to have friends that can come around you and bear your burdens

I think about Job’s friends

Job 2:11–13 ESV

11 Now when Job’s three friends heard of all this evil that had come upon him, they came each from his own place, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. They made an appointment together to come to show him sympathy and comfort him. 12 And when they saw him from a distance, they did not recognize him. And they raised their voices and wept, and they tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads toward heaven. 13 And they sat with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his suffering was very great.

Job’s friends heard about the hardships that Job was facing and they came and sat with him

They didn’t try to make light of the situation, they simply sat with him and mourned

The reality is, everyone of us will feel like Job at some point — when that happens we need people like his friends who show up and bear our burdens

People who help us when we don’t even know what we need

Sharpening

The second reason you need a good group of believers is this:

Help you grow in your faith

They help you grow in your faith

Proverbs 27:17 NET

17 As iron sharpens iron, so a person sharpens his friend.

Proverbs tells us that friends should be sharpening each other

That they should be challenging us and encouraging us to grow deeper in our relationship with Jesus

The people you are hanging around should be pushing you to come to church, pushing you to read your Bible, asking you if you prayed when you are facing something difficult

The people you are around should be more concerned about Jesus than they are themselves or anything else

Your friends shouldn’t be pushing you to do bad, but instead should be encouraging you to do good continuously

We see Paul do this:

Galatians 2:11–14 ESV

11 But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. 12 For before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party. 13 And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. 14 But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, “If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?”

Paul here is challenging Peter — encouraging him to live out the Gospel message no matter who is around Him!

This is the exact thing that we should strive to do with our friends!

We should be pushing them to go and live out the Gospel!

Our friends should be like iron — sharpening us and making us more like Jesus

Mission

The last reason I want to focus on when it comes to community is:

Help you live out your faith

Community helps you live out your faith

Matthew 28:19–20 ESV

19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

We are told to go and make disciples of all nations!

We are called to go and share Jesus!

For most of us, that is a daunting task to do on our own

We feel unqualified or incapable of doing it, yet we are still called and commanded to go and share

That’s why we need good Christian community that will help us go and share!

We are not meant to do this command alone

Look at what Jesus did with the disciples:

Luke 10:1 ESV

1 After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go.

They were sent off together

They went proclaiming the good news of Jesus together with others!

That is such an important thing for us to realize

We don’t have to go and share alone — in fact we don’t have to do any of this alone

Wrap up / Challenge

Listen to what the book of Ecclesiastes says about friendship/community

Ecclesiastes 4:9–12 ESV

9 Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. 10 For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! 11 Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone? 12 And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

The book of Ecclesiastes is wrote by Solomon who is the wisest dude ever

What Solomon here is telling us is that we need to be with each other

We are better together

We need one another to help us in every day life — we are not easily broken when we are trusting in Jesus together

So here is my challenge to all of you — it’s two-fold

First off, are you being a good friend?

Do these things that we just talked about apply to you?

Do you bear your friends burdens? Do you challenge them to grow? Do you you seek to share Jesus with your friends?

Are you being a good friend?

Second, do you have good community?

Are you friends living up to these standards?

There is nothing worse than having a lot of potential and wasting it because of the people you hang around

Don’t waste your life and talents that God has given you