We Need Each Other

Hang out at the end and make sure that we have time to pray for each other in person and all those good things. It is so good to see you all and to be together a couple of other little housekeeping things. So we didn't have those volunteers to help pass the baskets and count today. So we're going to count later on this week and if you did bring something that's in physical form to give to the church at, there's an offering box back there by the, by the sound booth. And so if you want to just drop a whatever you were planning to give in that, then we'll take care of that later on this week. But we would normally pass baskets and then make sure that at least two people are telling that I'll just write him ability and transparency in the finances. And all those good things you want to talk about giving, if you aren't giving regularly and you want to start giving, there's a little form, we can have you fill out. So if you just let us know in the digital connection card. We will have some paper connection cards next week. That is another thing that fell through the cracks and so appreciate you guys being patient with me and with, with each other and all of us as we experience the turbulence of of making sure that we get back into the rhythm of in-person church. But if you thought that form that you can set up regular online giving that is the most secure, streamline way to give and it really cuts down on the work for volunteers and it also cuts down on any security risk. It's just the most secure best way to do it. So if you want to get that set up, we can get that going for you and make sure that dribbles Sports Church financially. If that's something that you want to do. Of course if there were anybody here who is here for the first time and usually, you know that, we know anybody feel compulsion to give, right? That's that's definitely not what we're about. We want people to give out of joy and given out of

So there's no pressure for people to give, but if you share contact information with us, that's a gift to us because it lets us know that you want to be in a real relationship. Lets us know that you want to be in real contact, our people to church. And so encourage people to share those things. Today's sermon is called, we need each other, and I think we kind of just care and I kind of just start titling. Titles of sermons with we need and then following that up and this morning as I was praying and preparing really felt like God, just wanted to trace this idea of community and his vision of what the purpose of community is throughout the scriptures. And so I asked me to look at the scriptures, I would ask that you just pray with me so that we can hear God's word to bother. You are the word. You are the word incarnate, the word made flesh and you speak with authority through your scriptures. That as we see when we trace the story of what's been recorded down in the Bible. So so many times we are quite capable of missing it. And Satan can twist your words and we can twist your words. And we can we can come to the Bible and hear nothing. See nothing.

But that's not what we want. We want to see you. We want to hear you and we want to know you and we just come to your recognizing that we need you to make us able to hear your word this morning.

Forgot to ask that. I would be able to hear what you have to say to me that we would all be able to hear what you have to say to us. And that we would leave this place change this morning because of the word that you've spoken to us. Your words, never pass away. And they are life and we need to hear them and we need to be fed by them. And we need to be sustained by you this morning. So we asked for the Saints in Jesus name. Amen. Well, you know a thing about people is not good for people to be alone and I think that many of us would probably not fight against that if we look in Genesis, chapter 2 and verse 18. It says this Does Lord said, is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him, and that word helper. That is a, the Hebrew word helper that that occurs some time throughout the Bible that that word, that refers to help her is spelled i n. Zion rash. That's a little three letter. A most most Hebrew words have kind of like a three-letter. Rude. And that word is often often transliterated as either or ezer maybe ozer, it can be a verb or a noun, Hebrews kind of weird that way. But it appears over and over again in the Bible and most often it refers to God. That word that word easier. That word helper, it actually refers to God Almighty himself like in Psalm 54 verse for it says Surely God is my help and that where that gets translated help that is the same word that God uses to describe Eve in in that previous version in Genesis, the Lord is the one who sustains me. Surely God is my help. If you've ever heard the Roar song, the hymn Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing. There's a really weird verse where it says here, I raise my Ebenezer hither by the help. I come that word Ebenezer. Is it, the Biblical word? Again, Ebenezer means Stone of health. And so that either that root user that same where to get translated help to describe the Lord being Israel's help and Eve being Adams. Help is, isn't that weird Ebenezer and that that word doesn't mean slave? It doesn't mean subject. It doesn't mean a second-class citizen. That word means that, that that word is often referred to God. It kind of almost carries a sense of Salvation about it, right? Like I was in trouble and you helped me. I was I was hurting and you helped me. And so when we see God saying it's not good for man to be alone and I want to create a helpers to the be alongside him. You know, when, when we read the story, God takes the rib out of out of Adam. He doesn't take, doesn't take his head off, doesn't it easier to take a hair off? The top of his head doesn't take a toenail but you take the ribs out of the side of the man and he puts the woman beside the man. And we see this Crescendo and creation where we have things getting more, and more complex, more and more beautiful. You know, we can have this binary on night day thing, that's weird, like the first thing. And then it kind of gets more more Exquisite, more Grand, more complex, and then, and then finally, God makes makes a man. And then at the very end to finish it off to the Capstone, the the jewel in the crown of creation is God makes a woman. And so, when we look at that scripture, if not staying the women, just exist to serve men. That is not what scripture is saying that is not the, that is not the vision of Genesis, that's not the vision of Christian Community. That's not Division of Community that God intended for Humanity but making Evie made it possible for there to be more than one kind of person that there could be a diversity of people that there could be distinction that there could be difference. That is essential and good. And it is not good for man to be alone, it's not good for Humanity to be isolated to be to be in a little bubble to be all by itself. Humanity is created in God's image male and female in in the image of God for community. And that's what that's what's happening in that verse in Genesis to let me move on to Genesis 12 and we see the God chooses. This guy Abram who he will need it later changed his name to Abraham lord. Said Abraham go from your country your people and your father's house will to the land. I will show you I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you. And I will make your name great. And you will be a blessing. And I will bless those who bless you and whoever curses you out. Wilkerson All Peoples on Earth will be blessed through you. And so God, chooses, this kind of random guy who's terribly flawed, he's terribly Sexes. To does Terrible Things, whose is whose is really a human being, right? He's not some, not some, you known, if like an actual person with flesh and blood and guts, good desires, and sinful desires. And he calls this guy, a remount and his family and he says I'm going to make you into this nation. I'm going to make you into a people. I'm going to make you into a people that's going to bless all the other kind of people's is going to bless the whole earth and through you I'm going to bless and redeem creation. I'm going to fix that broken relationship. I'm going to fix that. That happened between Adam and Eve in between all human relationships, when Humanity broke, trust with God. Because we see that as Adam and Eve, both give into their Temptations, they both give in to the desire for power. This desire for 4 wisdom, in this desire, to do things, their own way to define, good and evil, in their own terms, that that break their relationship with each other. It breaks their ability to see each other and not feel ashamed to be open, and vulnerable and honest with each other. And Jesus is the solution of that. God has a plan from the beginning. As soon as that cursed happens, he says, I'm going to fix it and then make it, right? And he starts just a few chapters later in Genesis, by calling Abraham out and Abraham becomes a people, he becomes a group of people, right? And we hear that group of people, sometimes referred to as Are sometimes referred to, as Israel. Using these singular names to describe entire nations to describe entire groups. I don't know if we can underestimate the, the impact of the way that the ancient world viewed people as products of their community and is so connected to the people around them that they didn't have the individualistic thing that we have. And so when you read Psalm 133 in verse 1, we have a celebration of this idea of unity of togetherness of of connectedness and says how good and pleasant it is when God people live together in unity. This was always the design that God had in mind that people and their plurality in their, in their diversity and in their unit would represent him and Rule creation together as a people as a group. As a family, as a community. And of course, we know that Israel. Really, really messed that up sometimes. Write me know the story. If we've read the Bible, we know that Israel had all kinds of terrible Kings, you know, even King David, who wrote the song. Maybe I was with a liar and a cheat and a philanderer and a murderer. All kinds of awful stuff, abused his power. All of it. Same thing with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and the rest. I mean Judah crying out loud. You read read read Genesis music man. What a sleaze ball. These guys are just so gross, they're not good people.

But there's a message of Hope in there in that God can still work through and and bless people who aren't good. You can make bad people good. He can make sleazeballs righteous, not through their own activity, cuz that would be hopeless. Let's see what he does. And so God sends prophets to talk to the people. He sends prophets to deliver messages of judgment to, to call people. To be better to challenge the systems. And the, the all the ways that people get things twisted and building societies, that hurt people that elevates almond and take some down and not use people for their time and use people for the resources. Even though. I designed and hoped that, this family would be different. I don't know why ways, they're just like everybody else. They completely lose their distinctiveness. They are just like all the other nations around them who worship false gods and you go after sex and who go after money and who go after power. God gives a message of Hope for Isaiah to the people in a dark. When they're about to when they're about to get taken over by one of these other Pagan Nations. By one of these other nations, that doesn't know the Lord. He says, that's because of shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse, and from his roots, a branch bear fruit. I think I know somebody named after this verse, the spirit of the Lord will rest on his Spirit of wisdom and understanding the spirit of counsel and a Mite, the spirit of the knowledge, in the fear of the Lord, and He will delight and fear the lord. He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes or decide by what he hears with his years. But with righteousness, he will judge the needy with Justice. He will give decisions for the poor. The Earth, he will strike the Earth with a rod of his mouth and the breadth of his, with the breadth of his lips. He will slay, the wicked righteousness, will be his belt and faithfulness, the sash around his waist, the Wolf Lodge. I live with the lamb and the leopard lie down with the goat and a calf in The Lion, and the yearling together and a little child will lead them. How the bear, their young will lie down together in the lion will eat straw, like the ox, and the infant will play in your the cobras Den. Young child will put his hand into the Viper's Nest. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my Holy Mountain. For the Earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord of waters. Cover the sea. And in that day, the root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples and Nations will rally to him, and his resting place will be glorious in that day. The Lord will reach out his hand, a second time to reclaim the surviving. Remnant of his people from Assyria, from Lower Egypt, from Upper, Egypt and Kush from a land, been a little babilonia from Hamas. And from the islands of the Mediterranean, he will raise a banner for the Nations and gather the Exiles of Israel. He will assemble the scattered people of Judah from the four quarters of the earth. And so we see there's all kinds of Rich double meanings and all kinds of things going on in this passage. But we see this idea that God created of people who are essentially refugees in this in this earth. And in this world, he created a people who are essentially aliens in any Nation, they exist in He called and creative people who are so different from the power structures of this present, evil age that wherever they are, they find themselves a little bit on the outside a little bit. Marginalized, a little bit, not cool. A little bit suspicious a little bit different than the way the world works. And yet we see this character, we see this person who's prophesied who is going to bring peace on Earth. He's going to change the way everything works. And of course, we know who that is, you know, that Isaiah is talking about Jesus. And even as we read this passage, we can see how Jesus did some of this. And we're still waiting for some of it to happen like me, I would not let my kids go and play and the snake file at our house. We, we actually have like a little old stump at our house. That is just like full of little garden snakes and garter snakes are poisonous, you know. I mostly kind of, like, on their good. They can help keep the soil are rated and they don't take care of bugs and stuff. Garden snakes are great, but but I don't want my kids going to rolling around in there like I don't want to come out with lots of little snake bites all over their skin and it like that would be uncomfortable and creepy and weird and no like that clearly, we're not there yet right to the place where everything that has been prophesied by Isaiah has completely taken place. But we can see how Jesus brings peace among these different nations long among these different families, and feuds and, and tribes, and all these different groups of people who have all kinds of History, who have all kinds of baggage, you have all kinds of reasons for wanting Vengeance against the each other. Jesus brings those people together and his life and Ministry and he makes it possible for people to come together into. A new community into a community that is not defined by our race or ethnicity or a language.

Not really defined by our gender or our likes or dislikes or personality number or our personality letters.

But by love of him and being united in him. And Jesus found this diverse Community diverse within the little Jewish group that he's got, and then it goes worldwide. And this is what he says about that community. And John Chapter 13, said somebody stepped out of the room. And when he was gone, Jesus said, now the son of man is glorified and God is glorified in him now that that person he stepped out of the room. That's the person who's going to betray him. He knows what's about to happen. Jesus is kind of talking about he's about to die, right? He's about to get betrayed by his close friend, by this person who is supposed to be his Protege, and, and who had done Healing Hands with him. Who had who had enjoyed a high level of trust with Jesus who, who sat at the table and drink and like, they were. But right and then that person goes off to betray him. And Jesus says this and says, I'm about to be glorified of God is glorified in him. Then God will of God is glorified in him. God will glorify the sun in himself and will glorify him at once. My children, I will be with you only a little longer. You will look for me and just as I told you. So I tell you now where I'm going. You cannot come a new command. I give you love one another as I have loved you so you must love one another by this everyone will know that you are my disciples if you love one another. and that's a pretty big, if

It's not, it's not. Are we going to have a real slick livestream? It's not do. We have the coolest looking building? It's not, it's not the, am I Super Wise and persuasive and mr. Bible answer guy and it's not is the song amazingly written and really beautifully, played and beautifully sung and are the people good looking, you know, is their resources. It's not any of that. It's do, we love each other. Do we love each other? That's that's the way that the world will know that we're his disciples and that we are really representing him to the world as if you love each other and I know anything about community. And if I felt anything as I long for these days when we can read gather together to comments that, you know, you can't, you can't love each other by yourself. That is not a soul activity. That requires another. It requires another person you have to have to look outside of yourself. You have to be with people in order to love you. Can't, you can't love somebody if they're not there, they don't exist. You can't love an imaginary person that imaginary person is a figment of your imagination or not. Really have to love somebody else who's actually there, who actually has problems that actually gets on your nerves? Sometimes, you might betray you. Who is going to lie? Step on your toes and you're going to do the same to them. You're going to do the same to them. That is what it is to live in community. That is what it is to live in relationship. You're going to let people down and you going to hurt them.

But love commands that we stick with it. Name of the game is friendship is longevity. That's the only way it works. That's the only way I communicate can last. And, you know, the thing about the thing about churches, I thought about Sunday preaching in it, a sermon about how to leave a church. I had to leave a church. Well, maybe leaving a church. Well, is actually, it's actually kind of tricky. But, but to leave a church, it's the easiest thing in the world. All you do is just stopped showing up. That's all it takes, that's all it takes is just just don't be there, don't be present. Just don't don't ask for prayer, just don't don't be in the room. Don't Don't be there. That's all it. Takes to break a relationship and I know that for me, I know that I'm often tempted by this amazing. Tool that helps me connect with so many people who are actually in the room that sometimes I'm in the room with my own family, or my own friends. And I'm, I'm in the room, but I'm not there. Because I'm not showing up for them because I'm showing up for this sometimes. This is helpful. But sometimes it's really not like learning how to be there, how to show up for each other how to be actually present and in community when we're gathered together that is that is a big deal and that's really really important. Everything that we've got understand, is that those other people, they have something that we need, right? And it might just be the thing that drives is crazy about. It might be the thing. That bugs me the most. I don't know if we got 1st Corinthians. 12 did it fail to load? Okay, good. It's coming up. So just as a body that one has many parts but all its many parts for my body. So it is with Christ for we are all baptized by one spirit so as to form one body what are Jews or Gentiles Whether slave or free in Galatians, it was a male or female right behind. We are all given one Spirit to drink. Even sells body is not made up of one part, but of many, and I'm about to flash something super disturbing up on the screen, you know, I don't know if you've ever really thought about this mess of the tooth fairy. Don't don't do it just yet. But like, that's a creepy idea, right? That there's some kind of mystical creature that sneaks into your bedroom when you're a little child and takes your teeth. Like, what do they, what is that person doing with those things, right? What is that person doing with those things? But if we had, if we had a body that was just one part. Imagine if that body was just teasin, okay, just give me nightmares, but, I mean, like, that's a creepy idea, right? Can you imagine if your body was all one thing? You like, please, never show that supposed to be a safe place. Don't Don't traumatize me, I have a friend. Who's please get that away? I can't even look at any more, that's good going to the next one. I have some friends that like they're really into creepy stuff and like, all they share online is just like pictures of creepy stuff and that one popped up. I guess there's some cereal show that's kind of like a horror TV show that episode on the tooth fairy and that was their gross, right? It's not just it's not just like lame it's like in the community where everybody is like exactly the same like this, just something off about it right there. Something off-putting actually it's like not attractive. When a community doesn't have diversity when it doesn't have people with different people with with, with, with different gifts, with different ideas, with different desires, with different strengths or weaknesses, like God designed a body that has diversity within it. If we're all just a tooth, that would be that be not just not just laying, but kind of disturbing. And so we got to remember, go ahead and hit that next first. I can't say to the hand, I don't need you. And head can't say to feed. I don't need you. On the contrary, this part of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable and the parts that we think or less. Honorable we treat with special honor in the parts that are unpresentable or treated with special modesty while are presentable Parts. Need no special treatment but God has put the body together giving greater honor, the parts that lacked it. So that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it, if one part is honored and every part rejoices with and now you are the body of Christ, and each of you is a part of it and it's just important as we continue to go into this. When does its next season? I know they're going to be some bumps and we're having it. We're having a little turbulence today, right? Like we just we didn't quite get the volunteers and sign all throughout, right? Like I can't say what, you know, just like, in terms of like the Dynamics of art are small of church. Like I can't, I can't do this without you. I can't do this without y'all. You know, I think, I think you all actually. I think I think you guys need me to leave to write. I think that's part of it and I can't do this. Tara. Like it's going to be hard for you to do anything without her around. It's going to be difficult. We are a team and we've got to, we've got to work together. We got to make things happen and it's going to be, it's going to be tough and difficult to to do things without each other. We need each other as a community. We need to show up for each other and we need to be there and I know I know that I bug you all sometimes. I know that but sometimes I can be a bit much and I kind of be a little bit annoying. I can be a bit heavy-handed a little too strong and a bit bit of a blunt-force instrument. I know that I lack tact. I'm sorry. I know that. I know that I bug you all, sometimes. I know that's true. I'm honest, sometimes you don't bug me a little bit to write.

But we got a good thing going here. And God is in our midst. And this is a beautiful community that I believe God wants to grow. And I believe that God wants to include others in. And the Lord has work on my soul, through my experience of being part of this community has changed me through you. All to the ways that you pray for the ways that you serve the challenges that we work through when we step on each others toes. Me apologize and work through that stuff. That's what it is to live in a family. That's what it is to live in a community. That's what it is to do church. And as we go into this next season saying, I'm trying to give us the the preparation or it's going to be a bumpy ride. And we're experiencing some bumps, even the day and some of those bumps are my fault. I'll be honest. Like, I know that some of those gaps in the volunteer schedule. Some of that is I have made it convoluted and difficult to understand how to sign up and where to sign up and I said, well then I didn't anticipate that this is going to be a little more complicated than I thought it wasn't. So I'm asking people to shift schedules around and And so there's ambiguity and there's a dad execution and bad leadership on my part. And I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I didn't do that well, but then some of that's on all of us, right? Needing to make commitments to each other and keep those commitments. And being willing to go out there and make those commitments. And before I just want to say, please, I'll keep forgetting you all and can y'all keep forgetting me and Camino? Keep forgetting each other. Can we just in this next season as things come up? Can we just say look we're going to. We're going to keep loving each other. We're going to work through this. And we're not going to break relationship over something silly. We're not going to, we're not going to freak out and we're not going to we're not going to say that's it, I'm done. Can we meet in this together and love each other through the tumbles and discern as a community together? What God is calling us into in this next season? Can we do that? I hope we can. I believe we can, I believe you will. If I, if I seen anything in this community, over the years that I've been a part of it, I've seen that over and over and over. And it's really good and it's really rare. It's really healthy and it's really wonderful at the blessing that's fabulous. And I don't take it lightly at all. And I just want you to know that I do love you. I love the opportunity to be a leader in the church and see and to do this along with you all and y'all bless me so much hope that you feel that appreciation. I want to kind of just in a positive vision of where we're headed and future and just kind of call this out and some Revelation chapter 7 it says this and after this I looking for when he was a great multitude that no one could count from every nation, Let me try very people and language standing Before the Throne and before the lamb and they were wearing white robes and they're holding palm branches in their hands. And I cried out in a loud voice. Salvation, Belongs To Our God, who sits on the throne, and to the lamb. And all the Angels were standing around the Throne, all around the others. In the four, living creatures next fell down in the faces before the throne and worshipped God saying power and strength be to our god forever and ever. Amen. Then one of the elders asked me these troops, who are they? And where did they come from? I answered Siri, you know, and he said these are they who come out of the Great Tribulation and wash their robes and made them white in the blood of the lamb and therefore they are Before the Throne of God and serve him day and night in this Temple. And he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence. Never again, will they hunger never again, will they thirst? The sun will not beat down on them nor any scorching heat for the lamb at the center of the throne will be there Shepherd and he will lead them to Springs of Living Water and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. When the the purpose of God's creation is community. Yes, communities centered around him and this is a beautiful representation of that. Coming reality, that has been planted strategically by the Lord here for purposes. The he knows, For this city is bigger than us. We are part of this movement called Christianity. That is eternal. We are part of the work of God in human history for this time and for this place. And I just think it's important that we meditate on the importance of having each other and being a community, especially this time as we Round the Corner into this next season. I'm so, for the first time and I think something like 63 weeks or whatever, it's been, I'm going to say, would you stand