Honduras - Belonging

1. Am I worried about what people think of my message or what God thinks? (Teach with fear)

2. Do I genuinely love these people? (Teach with love)

3. Am I accurately presenting this passage? (Teach with accuracy)

4. Am I depending on the Holy Spirit’s power or my own cleverness? (Teach with power)

5. Have I applied this message to my own life? (Teach with integrity)

6. Will this message draw attention to me or to God? (Teach with humility)

7. Do the people really need this message? (Teach with urgency)

WELCOME - INTRO TEAM 

Belong -  

Have you ever belonged to a club or organization.  Ever belonged to a team? 

We all want to belong.  We want a sense of belonging.  We search for it.  And we want acceptance that comes with belonging to someone or something.  

Pump shoes in 5th grade.  Was really all about belonging.  Even willing to make someone else “the outsider” and keep them from belonging so that we could belong.  We formed a club, for insiders only.  We did so because we felt alienated and like we didn’t belong.  And so, we fabricated a sense of belonging.  Others joined in because they wanted to belong too.  They didn’t want to be left out in the cold, alone, lost.   What’s strange is, they wouldn’t really have been alone, lost, or shunned.  They just wouldn’t have shoes that had a gimmicky part in them.  But somehow, that need to belong and the fear of NOT belonging drives us.  

Fanatical sports teams.  I think that’s what drives many of us to become a fan of certain teams.  We are rallying around a common thing with others.  A team.  And we belong.  We have something to talk about, and to root for, and to be happy together or disgusted together.  We will talk to total strangers as if we know each other well just because we are sitting on the same side of the field.

We all want to belong.  We want a sense of belonging.  We search for it.  And we want acceptance that comes with belonging to someone or something.  

I have been in ministry for almost 20 years. And I have counseled people with relationship issues, marriage issues, stress/anxiety issues, drug and alcohol addictions, people from all walks of life and people from numerous countries. And do you know what every single person I have met with or talked to has struggled with? Every single one of them has wanted to feel a sense of fitting in, being a part of something, connecting, a sense of belonging.

Now don’t get me wrong. Most of them couldn’t put that into words, and most of them didn’t realize what they were truly searching for. But at the root of many of their issues, and at the root of many of my issues, and your issues is a search for belonging.

(What does “belong” even mean??)

We work harder to get approval and a to be accepted to get a sense of belonging. 

We try to please people to get a sense of belonging. 

We try to look a certain way to get a sense of belonging. 

We try and learn things and become better often to get a sense of belonging.  

We buy things to get a sense of belonging.  

AND YET IT SEEMS PEOPLE JUST CAN’T FIND THAT SENSE OF BELONGING.

ADAM IN THE GARDEN

This is nothing new.

This is nothing new. This issue started all the way back in the beginning with Adam in the garden. God created Adam, and Adam was made to belong to God and to be with God. It was good for man to be with God, but God saw that it wasn’t good for Adam to be alone without someone like him, and so He created Eve. And in that moment, he united the two of them as “one flesh”. And so they belonged to one another, much in the same way that they belonged to God. It was part of the way God created us. With a need for connection. To belong with Him and to belong with others. To live a life of community. This is a deep rooted need that when it’s absent we feel lost, and we search.

Because of sin, there was separation created. Our relationship with God became broken, and our relationship with other people became broken. And according to ,

The New International Version Chapter 8

44 You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

When we are in that broken state,  “You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires.” And so we couldn’t find rest, or fulfillment. Because our sense of true, healthy, positive belonging was broken. I want to encourage you today. If you are a Christian, don’t forget where you were when Christ called you. Don’t forget where you came from, and were saved from.

We work harder to get approval and a to be accepted to get a sense of belonging. 

when we are in that broken state,  “You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires.” And so we couldn’t find rest, or fulfillment. Because our sense of true, healthy, positive belonging was broken.

For those of us who are believers, something changed. We learned of Christ, and what he did for us. We repented and we accepted Him, and our relationship with God was restored. At that very moment, you found a part of that sense of belonging that had been missing.

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18 “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. 19 If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.

The New International Version Chapter 15

18 “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. 19 If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.

The New International Version. (2011). (Jn 15:18–19). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

The New International Version. (2011). (). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

You stop belonging to Satan, and you belong to Christ. And as you spend time in God’s word, and seeking Christ, you begin to see life differently.

We try to please people to get a sense of belonging. 

The New International Version Chapter 14

8 If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.

This says that for those of us who are Christians, that we belong to the Lord.

And that’s where many Christians leave it. They find Christ and they find a sense of peace that comes from Him. And they probably even really love Him. But they neglect to realize they were made for more. They were made for belonging TOGETHER.

The New International Version. (2011). (). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

The New International Version. (2011). (). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

The New International Version. (2011). (). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

We try to look a certain way to get a sense of belonging. 

We try and learn things and become better often to get a sense of belonging.  

The New International Version Chapter 12

3 For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. 4 For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5 so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.

We buy things to get a sense of belonging.  

Fanatical sports teams.  I think that’s what drives many of us to become a fan of certain teams.  We are rallying around a common thing with others.  A team.  And we belong.  We have something to talk about, and to root for, and to be happy together or disgusted together.  We will talk to total strangers as if we know each other well just because we are sitting on the same side of the field.  

We belong to one another. We belong together. 

We used to belong to Satan.

Look around this room. Every single believer in this room, you belong to them, and they belong to you. You are meant to be in a mutually beneficial, encouraging, helpful, honest, and loving relationship. You are made to belong together. And that belonging extends all across the world, to every believer, no matter what they look like, what language they speak, where they live, or how different they are from you.

We were created to belong together, to worship God together, and to encourage and help one another.

Now. First we belong to Christ.  . . Second we belong to one another. . Key verse

We travel across the world to spend time with fellow believers because we belong to one another.  We belong together.  Not because I am special, and not because you are special.  But because our belonging is special.  God has created a unique bond with himself.  But also within the bonds of belonging that are the Church.  The Church has no discrimination, no borders or boundaries.  

There is something really special that happens when we join together with other likeminded believers . When we put aside our differences for the sake of Christ and focus on the fact that we truly are brothers and sisters. And one day we will spend eternity together, people from every tribe, and every tongue. What a beautiful and amazing image that will be.

. You do not belong to the world. 

But until that day, you have each other, and we have each other. And this right here, these relationships, when we do them God’s way, and we see the Church, and the body of Christ the way God intended, this is a glimpse forward to heaven.

The Church is the bride of Christ.  (Study/explain). 

And until then, as says, talking about the world....  They will know us by our love.  Let’s commit this week, to intentionally love one another well.

Pray