All In Week 2 Connect

Introduction

Well, hello and welcome again to the All in Journey. We're in week number 2 today and I am so excited that you are here. I believe that the All in Journey is one of the greatest tools that our church has for getting. People connected and building relationships and getting started on God's design for you inside of the church now if you're here during week 1 you may know that there are four weeks to the all in journey the first one is GROW. And in that week, we're talking about building a lifestyle of growing in Jesus.

Connect Intro

And then we talk about connect. What does it mean to get relationally involved in living Faith Church. Week three is like a lab week. That's where we dive into the DNA of each and every person. We do some spiritual gifts tests, some disc tests, some some passion assessments. We will dive into who God has made you to be. And then lastly is our serve week. And there we talk about how can you get involved? And being a part of the, the, the service here at Living Faith Church. And I believe that this is one of the greatest things that we have done. We have heard so many testimonies of coming out of all land. Some people have said, man, I've been a part of churches for years and I've never seen such a clear path. From the first day that I come in to getting involved in a life group and getting involved in a serve team to getting involved in leadership, All In gave me a path. And that's really what this is all about. It's about giving you a path. It's about saying. Hey, you know what? I know you're new here, but here's your next step.

The Early Church

And today we're going to be talking about connecting relationally. And when we're talking about connecting relationally, it all begins with knowing what God's design for the church really is. And so I want to read this passage of Scripture to you.

Acts 2:42–47 NASB95

42 They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone kept feeling a sense of awe; and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles. 44 And all those who had believed were together and had all things in common; 45 and they began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need. 46 Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved.

You know so many things that I see here that define the first church. I mean, first of all, they were honoring the God. They were honoring God with their worship. They were coming together. They didn't, they didn't say, hey, I'm just going to, you know, join church online and I'm not going to talk to anybody. No, they, they got together. They did this thing together. It was relational. How many know there were miraculous signs. There was power in that. Early church. The sick were healed. The lamb walked. The blind eyes were opened. They were generous. They shared what they had with each other. They shared finances with each other. When somebody was in need, they helped somebody out. And it was growing. The church was. Continually, daily adding new people. It sounds a lot like Living Faith. We have groups going seven days a week, people are healed in our services, every week we see people saved. We have given thousands of dollars to the needy and underprivileged.

But the big thing is is that it was relational. And I think the church designed by God was intended to be relational. John Maxwell, a great leadership coach, says you gotta inspect what you expect. So if we have an expectation of relationship, then it means that we need to inspect our values and our systems to make sure that we actually build that into our church, and I think that we at Living Faith Church do that quite well.

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What Is Church About

So what is the church all about? Let's talk about God's design and how God defines the church. So if you're on page 13, let's start just like this, all blue. OK. Point number one:

1. The Church Is Gods Will…

The church is God's will. OK The church is God's will and it's His plan. Look at this passage of scripture. It outlines it clearly.

Ephesians 3:9–11 NASB95

9 and to bring to light what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God who created all things; 10 so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places. 11 This was in accordance with the eternal purpose which He carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord,

God's purpose was the church. Now, some people believe that this form of church, the organized church, was not God's original plan. The church is People, and therefore it doesn't need to be organized. And I would disagree with you. I believe that that can be proven through many passages of scripture, including the early design of the Church. Acts chapter 2 God's plan was for the church to be called out of the homes into the city square in a local place, to worship him and to glorify his name.

2. The Universal Church…

Number Two: The universal church is comprised of all local churches. And Christians, what that means is that all across the globe there are churches. I like to use the term Capital C church. OK, the Capital C church is every church that believes Jesus Christ, the risen Son of God, died for our sins, born of a Virgin Mary, sitting at the right hand of God. We are the capital C Church, or the Universal Church.

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3. The Local Church

Now listen. Inside of every community there are what we call local churches. Here on page 14, number three, write in the word local. There are local churches. So there's the capital C church, there's a universal church all across the globe. And then in each community there is the local church. Living Faith Church, 1611 diagonal. Blvd. in Hermiston, OR 97838. We are a local church. But guess what? So is Zeal Church and Hermiston Christian Center, New Hope, Oasis of Hope, and so many other churches. They are so valuable. They are life giving. They are wonderful Churches. I would encourage anybody to be a part of any of those churches. We are the local church. The local church of this city are unified as the Capital C Church. We don't compete against each other. We don't value ourself over each other. We're all a part of God's body. Look what Acts chapter 2, verse 44 says.

Acts 2:44 NASB95

44 And all those who had believed were together and had all things in common;

4. The Church is Made up of People, not Buildings

Now, the Bible uses this term living stones, which means the church is made up of People, not buildings.

1 Peter 2:5 NASB95

5 you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

This local church, we have a vision, and this vision can't be accomplished without the people of the church, each one of us, doing our job and doing our own personal responsibility.

We Are Committed…

And number five: We are committed to build our church according to God's plan.

What Is Living Faith Church About?

So a little bit about Living Faith Church. Living Faith Church was started in 1944. Our first location was actually near 10th and Main street in very simple home. You can see this early photo from our founding days. We later moved to a mall garage on the land that now belongs to Zeal Church. Not long after that we moved to Beech Street where Landmark Baptist now meets. In 1982 Pastor Wescott completed the construction on this building. In 2008 Pastor Ron Lewis resigned as the Lead Pastor. That is when my father, Dean Hackett moved to Hermiston to assume the role as the Lead Pastor. At that time, the name of this church was Faith Church of God. In 2008 my father legally changed the name to Living Faith Church. Over a period of 15 years this church grew from a humble 80 people to over 300 members. On March the 3rd of 2023 my father retired as LFC’s lead pastor. We hosted a blow out transition service and honored him for his 15 years of service. My father remains on the Apostolic Advisory Committee for LFC, but Stella and I were honored to be appointed as the Lead Pastors of Living Faith. Our church has a long heritage in this community. We are a part of a Spirit Filled denomination called the Church of God out of Cleveland, TN. There are over 1000,000 churches all around the world.

1. Our Vision

Number one on page 14: Why we exist. Our vision is to see “The Gospel In Every Home”. Our reach is from as far north as Tri-Cities, as South as Hepner, From Arlington to Pendleton.

2. Our Mission

And so how we do this, our mission, “We create irresistible environments for people to meet with God”. Our life groups, all our outreaches, Our weekly gatherings. We make spaces and places for people to encounter Jesus. No matter if you are in a coffee shop, and home or in this building. We are creating irresistible environments for people to meet with God.

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Our Values

Now in order to fulfill that, we have to have a set of guidelines, a set of values that define how we operate day in and day out, and those values you will find on page 15. If our vision defines why we exist, and our mission defines what we do, then our values define how we behave.

We put people first. Because that is what Jesus did. - “He came to seek and to save the lost…” LK 19:10

2. We are open to change. When we are open to change, we make ourself available to be used by God. Isa 43:19- Behold I do something new

3. We build together. We don’t do anything alone. Jesus first executive action was to appoint 12 disciples. He built a team! The wisest man in the world, Solomon wrote “Two are better than one”.

4. We have fun! And honestly, how could we not have fun. We are the people who’s sins have been forgiven and we have the hope of a risen Savior. Together, we are building something eternal called the Church. If that is not fun, I don’t know what is.

So, when you come weekly, come expecting the music to be rockin’, the atmosphere to be electric, people to be happy and friendly and most of all, the Holy Spirit to alive and working among us.

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Supporting Our Church

Now, we as a church wouldn't be anything without the support of the people who live within it. So how can you support Living Faith Church?

1. Protect The Unity

Supporting our church means number one. We protect the unity of our church. We protect the unity of our church. In other words, we don't gossip about. Each other. We act towards love with each other. We follow our leaders because they are following Christ

2. Share The Responsibility

Number Two: We share in the responsibility. We do that by prayer. We do that by serving. We do that by inviting unchurched people. To be a part of our family. We encourage every single person here to be a part of a serve team. And I'll talk more about that in the fourth week. But I love Ephesians 4:16

Ephesians 4:16 NASB95

16 from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.

Serve The Ministry

And so we believe that every person should be serving within the local church somewhere, somehow.

Support The Vision

Number four: We support the vision and the mission of the Church. By attending our weekly and weekend gatherings, by being a part of Connect groups and life groups, being a part of the events that we do throughout the year.

Give Your Resources

And then lastly, give of your resources. Be a giver, Be a generous person. If you want to know more about that every year we do a generosity series that will help you understand what the Bible says about this.

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Connecting To Groups

So how do we connect with other people? How do we connect relationally? W’e’ve talked about how to connect to the church as an organization, but how do you connect relationally to the church? We have small groups that meet every day of the week all around our city. In homes, in coffee shops, in this building. And these groups do everything from video Bible studies, reading books together, to talking about the weekend messages. And you can join a group at anytime. If you would like to lead a group, we have a path for you to follow, steps for you to take to become a group leader, and we would love to talk with you more about that.

Connecting To Others

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How To Share Jesus With Others

On page 19, number one: How to share Jesus with others. OK, that's a huge part of connecting to this church. When we're sharing Jesus with other we become contagious people. But. Also, as we share our faith, we become more like Jesus because Jesus was a man who shared his faith. So we need to understand that that sharing our faith is, is our responsibility. It is our responsibility to do this. People should not only get saved on Sunday. That does happen a lot, but the reason that person came on a Sunday and gave their life to Jesus is more likely is because somebody had already been talking to them and inviting them.

We Share Jesus in our City, Nation, World

Every person who's a part of this church has the responsibility to share Jesus. So, build relationships with people, build relationships with your neighbors, your coworkers, classmate. There are people here in this local church who don't know Jesus as well, and we love the fact that they’re here. But we also want them to know Jesus, and it just might be that Christ would call you to be the person that would unlock that destiny. Don't be afraid to share your personal story. I know you have one. I have one. We all have a story that's connected to a past before we came to know Jesus. We have connect cards all throughout the church. Grab a connect card. Through mission we are sharing Jesus all around the nation an the World. We currently have missionaries in Croatia, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Brazil and Israel.

Partner With Us…

Now you might say I, I don't, I don't know if I could ever go on a missions trip. I don't know if I would ever have the time to do that. I, I don't know if I have the ability to, to take time out of my schedule. And I would say to you, I would say to you this, I would say, I would love to challenge you on that. But I would also say to you that there are three ways that you can partner with us at living faith Church. You can do three things. You can Pray, you can give and you can go. Pray, give, go.

Next Step

Now what's your next step And I want you to think about this. I want you to think about what is God asking me to do next What is my next step and. Honestly, I hope that you never ever stop asking yourself that question because I believe that this is a keystone question that could change so many areas of your life. Lord, what is my next step? Maybe your next step is you need to be water baptized. Maybe your next step is salvation. Maybe your next step is I want to get a part of a serve team. Or maybe your next step is, you know what? I need to start giving! I need to start being a generous person and bring my tithe and give my offering, I need to get in a life group. What is your next step? I want you to prayerfully consider what God would have you do next. You know, each week we give you the opportunity to fill out a membership application to be a part of this local church, and I want to encourage you that being a part of a local church will radically change your life. There's something that happens inside your soul, inside your spirit that changes you. And so I want to encourage you prayerfully consider being a part in a membership way of a local church.

I am so thankful that you have chosen to be a part of this all in journey and I really believe that it has the power through the Holy Spirit to do wonderful a wonderful work in your life and this strengthen us as a church family. Before we wrap up today, I want to pray for you and I want to ask the Holy Spirit to fill you. Completely. Let's all close your eyes and bow our heads.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, I thank you so much for this time that we have had together here today. And I pray for every person in this room. I pray right now, God, that you would fill them in a special way. God, I pray even as I'm praying, I pray that you just begin to sense the presence of the Holy Spirit. Coming into their life, changing their life, opening their eyes to things that they haven't seen open, opening their understanding the things that they haven't understood. Lord, today we've talked about the church, the local church. You said upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail over it. Lord, this is not our thing, it's not our design. It's not our idea. We don't even own this thing, Lord. You own it. It was your idea. It's your thing. And Lord, it is our desire just to be a part of this and in some way, in some capacity, to be a part of this thing that you put here to change the planet, to bring the world into a relationship with you. God, if you could use me somehow, if you could use my friends in this room somehow to be a part of that Lord, we'd be humbled and we'd be honored and we be eternally thankful. Lord, we desire to be carriers of your presence everywhere we go, from our home to our work. Our grocery stores, coffee shops, to our neighborhoods. Thank you, Jesus, Amen.

Thank you so much for being apart today. It has been such an honor to be able to share this with you and I look forward to being with you again next week as we talk about Discover. God bless