SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: I just gonna share as we're singing and just thinking, you know, you look around this room right here, and there's no one here under this roof right now that's been forced to be here.
SPEAKER_00: This is a room full of men and women who at some point during this day or previously has determined that you are going to set aside a portion of your day to gather in God's house with God's people for the purpose of worshiping his name and delighting yourself in him.
SPEAKER_00: And it is, it matters.
SPEAKER_00: It matters that families are brought here, it matters that individuals come, it matters.
SPEAKER_00: This matters and it blesses me.
SPEAKER_00: It blesses all of us, but just to think on that.
SPEAKER_00: We are here for a reason.
SPEAKER_00: Nobody once again came to see me.
SPEAKER_00: We all came here to worship, delight, read the word of God, and study the word of God because contained in the word of God is the revelation of God.
SPEAKER_00: And that's why, or one of the reasons we gather.
SPEAKER_00: So I'm just glad you're here.
SPEAKER_00: Let's do this.
SPEAKER_00: Let's open the Word of God.
SPEAKER_00: And I would encourage you to get out a Bible and get our Bible app.
SPEAKER_00: And I want you to go to the New Testament.
SPEAKER_00: There's a letter in there called Galatians, written by the Apostle Paul to the church in Galatia.
SPEAKER_00: So go to Galatians chapter 6, and we're going to pick up in verse 1.
SPEAKER_00: And so today what we're doing is we're going to be talking about small groups.
SPEAKER_00: We're going to be talking about biblical community.
SPEAKER_00: Now, when I say that, I am aware that some of you may already be thinking in the back of your head, I know exactly where this message is going, because I think Travis has talked to us about small groups every year for the past 15 years, and you're like, I know what he's going to do here.
SPEAKER_00: He's about to tell us about the importance of being in a small group.
SPEAKER_00: And I just want you to know in advance, you are correct.
SPEAKER_00: Alright?
SPEAKER_00: Bullseye, you hit the target.
SPEAKER_00: Alright?
SPEAKER_00: And so we're going to look at God's word, though, because it doesn't matter what I think about it.
SPEAKER_00: What matters is what God says about it.
SPEAKER_00: So I want to start here, and maybe even in the past I've done a poor job of this, so I thought I should, you know, do a better job of this.
SPEAKER_00: What exactly is a small group?
SPEAKER_00: What is biblical community?
SPEAKER_00: Well, I have a definition of it, okay?
SPEAKER_00: At Silverdale, this is what a small group we kind of define it is.
SPEAKER_00: A small group is a small, smaller gathering of believers.
SPEAKER_00: They come together, they meet regularly, it's met around the word of God, and the purpose is to know Christ.
SPEAKER_00: The purpose is to be known by others, to care for one another, and live on mission for his glory and our joy.
SPEAKER_00: That's a lot of words, but that is what a small group is.
SPEAKER_00: That is what biblical community is.
SPEAKER_00: All right?
SPEAKER_00: Now small groups vary.
SPEAKER_00: They can vary in size, they vary in the time they meet.
SPEAKER_00: They vary in the places, their locations, and there's all these different things going on.
SPEAKER_00: But it doesn't matter the place, the time, location, right?
SPEAKER_00: They all have the same goal.
SPEAKER_00: We want to help one another grow together in Christ.
SPEAKER_00: That's the goal.
SPEAKER_00: That is the goal, right?
SPEAKER_00: So I was thinking about this as I was studying this passage.
SPEAKER_00: There's an analogy I want to give you, and I'm going to bring it back up in the message.
SPEAKER_00: But I was thinking about this.
SPEAKER_00: I want you to think about a backpack, all right?
SPEAKER_00: Now I want you to hear me out on this.
SPEAKER_00: I was hiking today and I had a backpack.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know, man, but most of you know I like hiking with friends.
SPEAKER_00: I love hiking with my family.
SPEAKER_00: I love hiking with friends and family.
SPEAKER_00: One of the things that you learn early on if you're hiking is that a backpack is good.
SPEAKER_00: A backpack is helpful.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, I was looking in my backpack even today, man.
SPEAKER_00: You know, I carry, well, I'll know.
SPEAKER_00: I got some water there.
SPEAKER_00: Now in my backpack, you're gonna find, you're gonna find a PBJ, you know, because why hike if you ain't got a PB and J, you know?
SPEAKER_00: So you get a little snacky snack, ma'am.
SPEAKER_00: I always enjoy jumping into water, so I have a towel with me and I have a change of clothes, you know.
SPEAKER_00: You might also find some tepee in there because you might have an emergency, you know.
SPEAKER_00: You just got the essentials, alright?
SPEAKER_00: But it's absolutely helpful, okay?
SPEAKER_00: Backpack is.
SPEAKER_00: But if you put too much in your backpack and it becomes overloaded, that thing that was helpful you will find is no longer helpful, right?
SPEAKER_00: The problem isn't the pack, the problem is that it's got too much stuff in it.
SPEAKER_00: It becomes too heavy.
SPEAKER_00: Now, when I'm hiking and that happens, what I do, I've got pride, okay?
SPEAKER_00: I'm working on it.
SPEAKER_00: But I got pride, but I get a heavy backpack and I'm gonna keep on going because I ain't want nobody to know that I can't carry my load, you know?
SPEAKER_00: But then what happens always is the trail gets steeper, that sun, especially today, gets hotter, and then I start questioning every decision that I made up until that point.
SPEAKER_00: You know what I'm saying?
SPEAKER_00: So I gotta do something.
SPEAKER_00: So what I do at that time is I stop.
SPEAKER_00: You know?
SPEAKER_00: You know, I gotta I gotta set my pride aside, and I gotta open up my backpack, and what I need to do, and what I do is I redistribute the weight with those who are hiking with me.
SPEAKER_00: And suddenly that hike, which I was not enjoying, now becomes enjoyable.
SPEAKER_00: And that's the kind of the picture we're gonna be looking at in Galatians chapter 6, right?
SPEAKER_00: See, look, we're gonna talk about this.
SPEAKER_00: In your life, you have a pack, and in it is contained things that are for you to carry.
SPEAKER_00: There are things in this life that are your responsibility.
SPEAKER_00: You have obedience to walk in, you've got spiritual disciplines to practice.
SPEAKER_00: But sometimes in life, your pack can get overloaded.
SPEAKER_00: You get, I don't know, grief.
SPEAKER_00: You walk through a season of grief.
SPEAKER_00: You got anxieties, you got temptation, you got loneliness, and that pack will get heavy.
SPEAKER_00: And once again, maybe because of pride, you're like, no, I'm gonna carry my pack, man.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not going to let anyone know about the burdens that I'm carrying.
SPEAKER_00: But then what happens?
SPEAKER_00: Always life gets steep.
SPEAKER_00: Always the sun comes out and your soul starts to wear down.
SPEAKER_00: And what do you got to do at that time?
SPEAKER_00: Well, I'll tell you what you need to do.
SPEAKER_00: You need to stop.
SPEAKER_00: You need to redistribute the weight with those who are walking around you.
SPEAKER_00: That is, and this is what I'm getting to.
SPEAKER_00: That is where small groups matter.
SPEAKER_00: That is where biblical community matters.
SPEAKER_00: We need people in our lives that love Jesus and can help us when our pack gets too heavy.
SPEAKER_00: And so today we're gonna look at this letter that Paul wrote to the Galatians, and it gives us some principles.
SPEAKER_00: We see this.
SPEAKER_00: The things that we're gonna look at today are not things that you can do unless you have biblical community around you.
SPEAKER_00: So we're just gonna walk through ten verses.
SPEAKER_00: Here's really five things that I see in this that teaches about small groups.
SPEAKER_00: Galatians 6, verse 1.
SPEAKER_00: First thing he's going to say is this restore the fallen, the fallen gently.
SPEAKER_00: All right, check it out.
SPEAKER_00: Just gonna read the verse.
SPEAKER_00: Here's what he says Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him.
SPEAKER_00: This is key.
SPEAKER_00: Come on, church.
SPEAKER_00: In a spirit of gentleness.
SPEAKER_00: Keep watch on yourself lest you too be tempted.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, so Paul begins in this manner, and this is important for us, okay?
SPEAKER_00: He uses this word brothers.
SPEAKER_00: Now, in the Greek, it's not really gender-specific.
SPEAKER_00: It's more like, and it should be in there.
SPEAKER_00: They just don't do it.
SPEAKER_00: It's it's it's a y'all.
SPEAKER_00: It's all of you, all right?
SPEAKER_00: You guys.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know, whatever.
SPEAKER_00: Us.
SPEAKER_00: He's talking to us.
SPEAKER_00: This is church, okay?
SPEAKER_00: This is family talk.
SPEAKER_00: Y'all here, Silverdale, right?
SPEAKER_00: We're not strangers in this room.
SPEAKER_00: You gotta remind yourself of that.
SPEAKER_00: This is this is family.
SPEAKER_00: We are brothers and sisters in Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Paul says, Y'all, if any of you are caught in any transgression, so we can pause on that.
SPEAKER_00: The ideal here is you got a person, it's the y'all, it's us Christians.
SPEAKER_00: If anyone here is caught up in a transgression, that means you're trapped.
SPEAKER_00: It means you're entangled in, caught up in sin.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's caught you up and entangled you before you have fully realized how far you have gone.
SPEAKER_00: Now, I won't say that, but I want you to understand, no one here needs to pretend like you don't know what the Apostle Paul is talking about, right?
SPEAKER_00: I am not looking at an individual in this room who has not ever at some time been entangled in a sin, a temptation, something in their lives, right?
SPEAKER_00: Because it happens in the church.
SPEAKER_00: It absolutely happens.
SPEAKER_00: It happens to people who know better.
SPEAKER_00: It's happened to me, I know better.
SPEAKER_00: It happens to people who love Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: It absolutely happens, man.
SPEAKER_00: It happens that you all, some of you, someone here gets caught up in a transgression, man.
SPEAKER_00: This is what you're supposed to do.
SPEAKER_00: And you may be thinking to yourself, how is it that we all have struggled and got entangled?
SPEAKER_00: It's easy.
SPEAKER_00: You get tired, you know.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe you've isolated yourself.
SPEAKER_00: Temptation comes, discouragement comes, you're weak, and you get entangled, right?
SPEAKER_00: I've talked about this before, but I think it's important here.
SPEAKER_00: We have three great enemies, church.
SPEAKER_00: We all do.
SPEAKER_00: Once again, don't pretend like this isn't you, right?
SPEAKER_00: We all have the world pressing in on us.
SPEAKER_00: We got the flesh, right, pulling from within us, and we got the enemy all around that accusing us and going against us, all right?
SPEAKER_00: So we need to settle this right now.
SPEAKER_00: We are not a stranger to there's no one that's a stranger to this, right?
SPEAKER_00: I have never met a Christian who does not struggle in some capacity.
SPEAKER_00: So what do we do when that happens?
SPEAKER_00: He says, You who are spiritual, once again, talking to all of us here, that means those of you who are who are not currently at that time tangled up, you should restore the individual who has been tangled up, how?
SPEAKER_00: In a spirit of gentleness.
SPEAKER_00: That's beautiful.
SPEAKER_00: That is a direct need in pointing to the fact we need biblical community.
SPEAKER_00: This is where small groups come in.
SPEAKER_00: Because you want that gentleness, that gentleness, right?
SPEAKER_00: That spirit of gentleness requires proximity.
SPEAKER_00: Like you ever have you ever have someone you don't know, someone from far off who comes and tries to get up in your business, you're offended immediately.
SPEAKER_00: But those who are in close proximity to you can speak to you differently.
SPEAKER_00: Um in my life, I have men in proximity to me.
SPEAKER_00: You know?
SPEAKER_00: They know me, they're close to me.
SPEAKER_00: Um, dude, I can point out people.
SPEAKER_00: I can point out where's John?
SPEAKER_00: John over there.
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: We got proximity, right?
SPEAKER_00: They're life giving to me.
SPEAKER_00: And I'm telling you right now, John does not have to come up to me and give me a 45-minute TED talk to let me know that I have erred.
SPEAKER_00: Because we have proximity, him and these other men, they can say five words to me, and I'm gonna straighten my act up.
SPEAKER_00: Some of these dudes, they can raise an eyebrow, and I realize I've said something I should not say.
SPEAKER_00: But you got to allow yourself to be in proximity to other believers, right?
SPEAKER_00: And I know when that eyebrow is raised, or I know sometimes I'll get a text with an emoji, you know, and I know exactly what they're talking about, man.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because relationships give weight to words, right?
SPEAKER_00: And that is why biblical community matters.
SPEAKER_00: Correction will land on me, it will land on you differently when it comes from someone that you have proximity to, you got a connection to, right?
SPEAKER_00: Someone who has been walking with you for a season.
SPEAKER_00: Small groups create that kind of relationship.
SPEAKER_00: When you can, I don't know, dude.
SPEAKER_00: You've all, you know, man, you know people have done corrected you with an eyebrow.
SPEAKER_00: Like, what you doing, Travis?
SPEAKER_00: You know what I'm saying?
SPEAKER_00: You need them.
SPEAKER_00: I need them.
SPEAKER_00: We all need them.
SPEAKER_00: They come in small groups.
SPEAKER_00: I want to get to verse two.
SPEAKER_00: He says, bear one another's burdens.
SPEAKER_00: Oh, this is a beautiful verse.
SPEAKER_00: Come on.
SPEAKER_00: Bear one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, we're gonna break this one down.
SPEAKER_00: This is good.
SPEAKER_00: You get two words there.
SPEAKER_00: First word, bear.
SPEAKER_00: This is a command upon us, y'all, all of us, bear.
SPEAKER_00: That word has the thought of carrying something, but not just carrying it for a moment, it's carrying it with endurance.
SPEAKER_00: So the whole ideal is I'm helping someone carry something on an ongoing basis as needed.
SPEAKER_00: But you got bear, bear what?
SPEAKER_00: Bear a burden.
SPEAKER_00: The burden, that word refers to a heavy load, a load that someone is unable to carry on their own.
SPEAKER_00: That's what we're talking about.
SPEAKER_00: So we see Christians are to bear one another's burdens.
SPEAKER_00: Beautiful, that's beautiful.
SPEAKER_00: All right?
SPEAKER_00: But here's the crazy thing about this verse.
SPEAKER_00: It is what I call a bogo command.
SPEAKER_00: You know what bogo is?
SPEAKER_00: It's not Greek.
SPEAKER_00: Buy one, get one.
SPEAKER_00: That's right.
SPEAKER_00: This is a bogo command, man, right?
SPEAKER_00: There is.
SPEAKER_00: In other words, you do this command, it means you already get this command free because you already doing it.
SPEAKER_00: So by doing this one thing, you actually doing two things.
SPEAKER_00: The command is bear one another's burdens.
SPEAKER_00: If you're doing that, you also, you also at the same time fulfilling the law of Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Bo, go.
SPEAKER_00: Buy one, get one free.
SPEAKER_00: That's beautiful, man.
SPEAKER_00: So we are told, when Christians, we, y'all, bear one another's burdens, you also simultaneously are obeying and fulfilling the other command.
SPEAKER_00: It says the law of Christ.
SPEAKER_00: You go, okay.
SPEAKER_00: Well, what's the law of Christ?
SPEAKER_00: Well, you can go to the book of the Gospel of John, right?
SPEAKER_00: A new Jesus says this a new command I give to you that you love one another.
SPEAKER_00: How?
SPEAKER_00: Just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another, right?
SPEAKER_00: That's the law of love.
SPEAKER_00: That's the law of Christ.
SPEAKER_00: It's beautiful.
SPEAKER_00: So when you are in a small group, when you have a biblical-based community, you are able to bear one another's burdens.
SPEAKER_00: We talk about bear burden, you do that.
SPEAKER_00: And when you're bearing, and you've got to have that proximity, bear burden, simultaneously, you're also fulfilling the law of Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Beautiful, serious, bogo action.
SPEAKER_00: Alright.
SPEAKER_00: I want to pause here because I want to talk about one more thing in this verse.
SPEAKER_00: All right, because um, this is something I'll know.
SPEAKER_00: I see it happening, and we're tempted to do that.
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
SPEAKER_00: So I want to bear burdens.
SPEAKER_00: Alright.
SPEAKER_00: But in that, it requires two things of you.
SPEAKER_00: I want you to hear me on this, because some of you need to hear this.
SPEAKER_00: Some of you probably a lot of the men need to hear this, all right?
SPEAKER_00: It's for everybody, but it's also for the men.
SPEAKER_00: First, you are to bear others' burdens.
SPEAKER_00: We get that.
SPEAKER_00: Here's the second part.
SPEAKER_00: Hear me out.
SPEAKER_00: Everybody, men specifically.
SPEAKER_00: It also means that you must be willing to let others bear your burden, you know?
SPEAKER_00: Because some people get all caught up.
SPEAKER_00: I'm going, I don't care.
SPEAKER_00: I don't care.
SPEAKER_00: I'm going to, I'll bear your burden happily.
SPEAKER_00: But there's no way that I'm going to let you bear my burden.
SPEAKER_00: That's not the command.
SPEAKER_00: And by the way, if you're sitting here and you're thinking ain't no way I'm going to share my burdens with anybody else, I want you to know something.
SPEAKER_00: There's a name for it.
SPEAKER_00: It's called pride.
SPEAKER_00: Pride's a sin.
SPEAKER_00: Only pride.
SPEAKER_00: I done told you about my example, and my I'm here in my back and my backpack is getting heavy, and I got that pride.
SPEAKER_00: I'm going to do it.
SPEAKER_00: No, man.
SPEAKER_00: Bearing burdens is twofold.
SPEAKER_00: You bear others' burdens, but then you also put yourself in a position and a willingness to let others bear your burden, which means you're going to have to put yourself out there some.
SPEAKER_00: Which means you're going to have to share some.
SPEAKER_00: Hey, you go, listen, it's true for all of us, but man, I am a guy, so I can talk about guys.
SPEAKER_00: Guys go a small group.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
SPEAKER_00: They sit there.
SPEAKER_00: I ain't talking nobody.
SPEAKER_00: You know?
SPEAKER_00: You know, and we do that.
SPEAKER_00: I want anyone to see that I need help because I might be weak.
SPEAKER_00: Man, I can take care of myself.
SPEAKER_00: I met a guy, dude.
SPEAKER_00: I'm at a guy.
SPEAKER_00: I know some of you who make and do this.
SPEAKER_00: Like a guy, his tree can fall in his lawn.
SPEAKER_00: He can take an axe and a week later make a rocking chair.
SPEAKER_00: All right?
SPEAKER_00: That's awesome.
SPEAKER_00: There's a lot of things you can do.
SPEAKER_00: I get that.
SPEAKER_00: You know what I'm saying?
SPEAKER_00: But you can't grow spiritually without others.
SPEAKER_00: You can't.
SPEAKER_00: You got to let people in your life.
SPEAKER_00: You gotta help them and let them help you.
SPEAKER_00: Alright.
SPEAKER_00: Now I want to get to verse 3.
SPEAKER_00: We're gonna see this.
SPEAKER_00: Carry your own load.
SPEAKER_00: Now, let me just work this out because it almost seems like there's a contradiction here, but there's not.
SPEAKER_00: Here's what he says.
SPEAKER_00: For if anyone thinks he is something, this is the guy who's not letting someone bear his burden.
SPEAKER_00: When he is nothing, he deceives himself, alright?
SPEAKER_00: That's that pride.
SPEAKER_00: Pride is one of the greatest enemies of biblical community, alright?
SPEAKER_00: Pride says, I don't need this.
SPEAKER_00: Pride says, I don't need a small group, I'm good.
SPEAKER_00: Once again, Paul says you're deceived.
SPEAKER_00: But get here to verse four.
SPEAKER_00: But instead, so it's instead of deceiving yourself, hear me out.
SPEAKER_00: Instead of thinking you don't need others, instead of deceiving yourself, he says this, verse four, let each one, that's you individually, that's all of us, but individually, test his own works, and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in his neighbor.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, here's what Paul's calling us to.
SPEAKER_00: For those who would say, I don't need nobody's help, I don't need nobody's help.
SPEAKER_00: He said, Well, do this.
SPEAKER_00: Examine yourself.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, if you're gonna seriously examine yourself, you're all gonna come up lacking.
SPEAKER_00: If you're doing it for real, I mean, I don't even I can examine myself, man.
SPEAKER_00: I want to I want to think about myself, man, and I will come away understanding that no, I can't do this by myself.
SPEAKER_00: I don't have the ability to do that.
SPEAKER_00: So instead of deceiving yourself, saying I don't want to bear burdens, or better yet, I don't want others to bear my burden, examine yourself.
SPEAKER_00: Examining yourself is an interesting thing.
SPEAKER_00: Because I've discovered this.
SPEAKER_00: Once again, I am the example here.
SPEAKER_00: I have discovered, okay, I have discovered that when I examine myself, I I kind of grade on a curve.
SPEAKER_00: You know what I'm saying?
SPEAKER_00: Well, we do, though, right?
SPEAKER_00: Like, like, like, like I can, dude, I can examine others' spiritual growth with the magnifying glass, and then I like to examine myself through a foggy bathroom mirror.
SPEAKER_00: You know what I'm saying?
SPEAKER_00: By the way, I look good in the foggy bathroom mirror.
SPEAKER_00: Dude, I'm I'm shredded, I'm booed, you know.
SPEAKER_00: Paul is saying, don't do that.
SPEAKER_00: Don't do that.
SPEAKER_00: Don't borrow your spiritual confidence from someone else's weakness.
SPEAKER_00: Examine your own life.
SPEAKER_00: You because you're gonna come out understanding, man, you're gonna need you need people, right?
SPEAKER_00: Look at well, look, why, why, why, why?
SPEAKER_00: Look at verse 5.
SPEAKER_00: For because each will have to bear his own load.
SPEAKER_00: Now, let me circle that, man.
SPEAKER_00: That because it seems almost contradictory, does it not?
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: Because you won't, whenever I read this, I'm studying this, and I'm thinking this, Paul.
SPEAKER_00: You need to make up your mind.
SPEAKER_00: Am I to bear one another's burden, or am I to bear my own load?
SPEAKER_00: Well, what is it, Paul?
SPEAKER_00: What do you what are you talking about, Paul?
SPEAKER_00: Which do you want me to do?
SPEAKER_00: Well, in this, we see there's two types of loads, and I'm gonna talk about this a little bit more, okay?
SPEAKER_00: Verse two bear one another's burdens.
SPEAKER_00: That that's talking about an overloaded pack.
SPEAKER_00: That's talking about Something too heavy for you to carry.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 5, he says, bear your own load.
SPEAKER_00: He's talking about your individual pack.
SPEAKER_00: These are the responsibilities God has assigned to you.
SPEAKER_00: Alright?
SPEAKER_00: So, that goes back to the example I've already given.
SPEAKER_00: You absolutely have an individual pack.
SPEAKER_00: You absolutely have things that you must do, right?
SPEAKER_00: I gotta read the Bible.
SPEAKER_00: I gotta put myself in church.
SPEAKER_00: I've got to do all.
SPEAKER_00: I have these responsibilities.
SPEAKER_00: I've got to bear those, but when it's overloaded, I need people in proximity that are going to walk with me and share that load with me, right?
SPEAKER_00: So plug that into small groups.
SPEAKER_00: There's a truth here.
SPEAKER_00: There's a truth here, right?
SPEAKER_00: Small groups are not designed to follow Jesus for you.
SPEAKER_00: Does that make sense?
SPEAKER_00: Like, like, like, like, like, like you cannot outsource your spiritual disciplines, you know.
SPEAKER_00: You can't sit there and say, okay, look, guys, here's my small group.
SPEAKER_00: There's five people in it.
SPEAKER_00: Let's do this.
SPEAKER_00: You go to church the first week, I'll go to church the second week, and you go third and fourth, and then the fifth Sunday or whatever, when that happens, you go to church.
SPEAKER_00: That way we're only going once a month, and so, you know, we're good.
SPEAKER_00: You that's not carrying someone else's burdens, right?
SPEAKER_00: Small groups are not to decreate dependency, it's supposed to be maturity.
SPEAKER_00: So, once again, go back to that backpack.
SPEAKER_00: The backpack, that example I gave you.
SPEAKER_00: There are things that are yours to carry, but sometimes it gets heavy.
SPEAKER_00: And that's when you get the group of proximity to help carry each other's burdens.
SPEAKER_00: This is an invitation to see that small groups, small groups, they're the normal rhythm of Christian discipleship.
SPEAKER_00: Just work it in there, and it's part of what we do, man.
SPEAKER_00: Let's keep moving.
SPEAKER_00: We're gonna go to verse six.
SPEAKER_00: We'll see this.
SPEAKER_00: Share the word generously.
SPEAKER_00: All right.
SPEAKER_00: I got a small group, you know.
SPEAKER_00: Well, what are you gonna do in the small group?
SPEAKER_00: What's that about?
SPEAKER_00: How are we gonna base this?
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna carry my responsibilities, but I'm also gonna share the burdens of those who need it.
SPEAKER_00: When we get together, what do we do?
SPEAKER_00: Verse six.
SPEAKER_00: Let the one who is taught the word, the word of God, share all good things with the one who teaches.
SPEAKER_00: All right?
SPEAKER_00: We see a principle here.
SPEAKER_00: There's many things we see, but I want to talk about the principles in regards to small groups, right?
SPEAKER_00: What what small groups are built on, what is it?
SPEAKER_00: The word of God.
SPEAKER_00: That's that's that's so key.
SPEAKER_00: That's so key.
SPEAKER_00: Christian community.
SPEAKER_00: Small groups are not built on a personality, they're not built on hobbies, they're not built, I'm gonna say this very clearly so y'all hear it.
SPEAKER_00: They're not built on politics.
SPEAKER_00: They're not built on shared complaints.
SPEAKER_00: For real.
SPEAKER_00: No, for real.
SPEAKER_00: I've seen some small groups that the only thing they got in common is they all dislike the same thing.
SPEAKER_00: That's not a healthy small group.
SPEAKER_00: Like, you know, it's just a coalition of the people mad at whatever, man, that there's not enough taco places.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know, dude.
SPEAKER_00: I would join that, I would join that group, but they're not gonna learn about Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: You know what I'm saying?
SPEAKER_00: It's gotta be based on the word.
SPEAKER_00: The word.
SPEAKER_00: The word, right?
SPEAKER_00: The word, man.
SPEAKER_00: Small groups are not just a support group with snacks.
SPEAKER_00: That's not a small group.
SPEAKER_00: Now I'm pro-snacks.
SPEAKER_00: I am pro snacks.
SPEAKER_00: And some of you, God has blessed you with the spiritual gift of baking.
SPEAKER_00: Praise God for that.
SPEAKER_00: And and and if you know somebody who has that spiritual gift and they go to another church, please recruit them here.
SPEAKER_00: Okay?
SPEAKER_00: That's biblical, alright?
SPEAKER_00: But brownies, brownies aren't gonna get you there.
SPEAKER_00: You know what I'm saying?
SPEAKER_00: They're not gonna disciple you.
SPEAKER_00: The word of God must be central.
SPEAKER_00: Once again, that's why small groups matter.
SPEAKER_00: You can just think about this as we work it out.
SPEAKER_00: Right now, in this setting, the word of God is proclaimed.
SPEAKER_00: You get into your small group proximity, and that's where it's worked out.
SPEAKER_00: That's where you go into a small group, these men, women, and in close proximity, and you can share with them.
SPEAKER_00: That convicted me.
SPEAKER_00: And you can talk about it.
SPEAKER_00: I'm struggling here.
SPEAKER_00: I have a weakness here, right?
SPEAKER_00: That's not just information.
SPEAKER_00: It's in these small groups with proximity that you get formed.
SPEAKER_00: Dude, I'm telling you, man, if I if I, yeah, man, I can say sometimes you guys ever get into a situation where your mouth moves faster than your brain?
SPEAKER_00: Do that in a small group.
SPEAKER_00: That's the place to do it.
SPEAKER_00: Because sometimes I can come into a big group.
SPEAKER_00: I've been on the, I've been up here before, and I start saying things faster than I'm thinking, and it comes out, and I'm like, ooh, I shouldn't have said that because I don't even believe.
SPEAKER_00: You ever say stuff you don't even believe?
SPEAKER_00: You know?
SPEAKER_00: Who said that, man?
SPEAKER_00: But you get in a safe place with men and women, this proximity, man, and you can work on these things, man.
SPEAKER_00: Like, like, like, like, I need help here.
SPEAKER_00: I don't understand here.
SPEAKER_00: My mouth may be moving faster than my brain.
SPEAKER_00: Help clarify what I'm thinking.
SPEAKER_00: And it's love and it's support, and you work it out in small groups.
SPEAKER_00: Look at verse 7 and 8.
SPEAKER_00: Once again, do not be deceived.
SPEAKER_00: This is good stuff.
SPEAKER_00: God is not marked, mark mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.
SPEAKER_00: Remember the context we're talking about here.
SPEAKER_00: For the one who sows to his flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the spirit will from the spirit reap eternal life.
SPEAKER_00: All right.
SPEAKER_00: There's a lot of things we could do here.
SPEAKER_00: But I want to specifically talk about the flow of small groups, right?
SPEAKER_00: God is not mocked.
SPEAKER_00: What does that mean?
SPEAKER_00: It means in general, you shouldn't just listen to the word casually.
SPEAKER_00: You don't follow in obedience casually, right?
SPEAKER_00: You don't treat community casually, right?
SPEAKER_00: Some you cannot, I don't know, man.
SPEAKER_00: You cannot casually hear that God wants you in biblical community.
SPEAKER_00: You cannot casually hear that we need to do life together and then do nothing about it, right?
SPEAKER_00: You gotta, you got, you can't, you can't sow isolation and then think you're going to reap community.
SPEAKER_00: You you gotta put yourself in it, man.
SPEAKER_00: You gotta open, you've got to open God's word with God's people.
SPEAKER_00: You've got to invest in that time, energy, and effort, prolonged time, and in that you will be sowing to the Spirit.
SPEAKER_00: You gotta pray together, you gotta confess together, you gotta encourage together, right?
SPEAKER_00: Here's the hard part.
SPEAKER_00: To do that, it takes time.
SPEAKER_00: We're talking about sowing.
SPEAKER_00: Sowing.
SPEAKER_00: Seeds take time.
SPEAKER_00: Like, like, like nobody, nobody, nobody plants a tomato seed at 8 a.m.
SPEAKER_00: and then gets upset because at noon they ain't got no salsa.
SPEAKER_00: You know what I'm saying?
SPEAKER_00: It takes time, right?
SPEAKER_00: Small groups take time.
SPEAKER_00: You're gonna invest in it, man.
SPEAKER_00: You because people do this, man.
SPEAKER_00: You know, you go to one night of a small group, it's awkward and you check out.
SPEAKER_00: That's awkward, you know.
SPEAKER_00: They go in, they're like, I go one night, and there's a bunch of awkward people there.
SPEAKER_00: By the way, you're probably the most awkward, but you they're awkward.
SPEAKER_00: I tried it, and I don't like it.
SPEAKER_00: Whatever, man.
SPEAKER_00: Well, that's that's that's that's you didn't try it.
SPEAKER_00: You showed up when the seed was planted and got mad because you didn't get no salsa, man.
SPEAKER_00: You got to give it time to grow, man.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe some of you are thinking, I don't know, I thought this, you know.
SPEAKER_00: I tried a small group, but once again, it was it was awkward.
SPEAKER_00: I know, dude.
SPEAKER_00: I know, man.
SPEAKER_00: Small groups can be awkward at first.
SPEAKER_00: And some of you may be here right now thinking, look, some of you may be thinking this, I like everybody in this church.
SPEAKER_00: If I go to a small group, I may learn that I don't like some people in this church, you know?
SPEAKER_00: So it's for their own protection.
SPEAKER_00: I ain't doing it, man.
SPEAKER_00: We think like that.
SPEAKER_00: But I got to tell you right now, just because something's awkward doesn't mean it's unbiblical.
SPEAKER_00: Does that make sense?
SPEAKER_00: Family's awkward.
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes.
SPEAKER_00: Love's awkward, right?
SPEAKER_00: Church can be awkward, but we cannot avoid what God has designed simply because sometimes we feel uncomfortable.
SPEAKER_00: Small groups will not feel like family on day one.
SPEAKER_00: You gotta keep that sewing, man.
SPEAKER_00: You gotta keep on going.
SPEAKER_00: You gotta let these people be a part of your life.
SPEAKER_00: And as you do that and you pray together, you'll do these things together.
SPEAKER_00: Man, I'm telling you what, it's not a proper small group until everyone in that small group has annoyed you in some way.
SPEAKER_00: That's when you know this is my small group, this is my small group, because all you get on my nerves sometimes.
SPEAKER_00: That's how you know.
SPEAKER_00: Because I tell you what, no one gets on your nerves generally until you spend some time with them.
SPEAKER_00: Like if you spend, I can hang out with anybody and think they're awesome, but if I, you know, spend some time with them, eventually, I'm like, they're kind of odd.
SPEAKER_00: That's a small group.
SPEAKER_00: And it's good, man.
SPEAKER_00: It's good, dude.
SPEAKER_00: It's good, man.
SPEAKER_00: God uses it, man.
SPEAKER_00: Let's get to verse 9.
SPEAKER_00: Do good without quitting.
SPEAKER_00: And let us not grow weary of doing good.
SPEAKER_00: For in due season, look at that.
SPEAKER_00: In due season we will reap if we do not give up.
SPEAKER_00: So once again, this goes back.
SPEAKER_00: Man, Paul knows we get tired.
SPEAKER_00: You get tired.
SPEAKER_00: Loving people gets tiring.
SPEAKER_00: Bearing burdens can get tiring because people are wonderful, but people can be exhausting.
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes I exhaust myself, you know.
SPEAKER_00: Paul says, don't get weary of this.
SPEAKER_00: Don't grow weary.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because in due season, at the right time, you're going to get a harvest.
SPEAKER_00: You're going to get a harvest in so many ways you did not anticipate.
SPEAKER_00: And you get these relationships and you get these men and these women in your life.
SPEAKER_00: I'll know, dude, it can raise an eyebrow and set you straight when you need to be set straight.
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes they're going to be needed to set straight, and you're going to be able to help bear their burdens.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 10.
SPEAKER_00: So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone.
SPEAKER_00: There's a message there.
SPEAKER_00: And especially those who are in the household of faith.
SPEAKER_00: Um, church, I just got to say this.
SPEAKER_00: You all is how he began.
SPEAKER_00: Then he says, let us do good to everyone.
SPEAKER_00: I just want to make sure you understand this.
SPEAKER_00: We're commanded to do good to everyone.
SPEAKER_00: Do you know that?
SPEAKER_00: You know that, church?
SPEAKER_00: There's no people group, there's no political affiliation.
SPEAKER_00: We are to be doing good to everyone, alright?
SPEAKER_00: But especially to those in this room.
SPEAKER_00: I like it.
SPEAKER_00: Love one another.
SPEAKER_00: We're to be in these small groups, biblical community.
SPEAKER_00: It's a household of God.
SPEAKER_00: Work it out.
SPEAKER_00: We're family.
SPEAKER_00: Well, let's do this.
SPEAKER_00: Let me just go back.
SPEAKER_00: Let's just let's wrap this up.
SPEAKER_00: Let's wrap it up.
SPEAKER_00: I don't want to wrap it up, but do whatever.
SPEAKER_00: We're gonna take a bathroom break and come back.
SPEAKER_00: No, look.
SPEAKER_00: What is a small group?
SPEAKER_00: A small group is a smaller gathering of believers who meet regularly around God's word to know Christ, to be known, care for one another, and live on mission.
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
SPEAKER_00: So let me kind of wrap up this way.
SPEAKER_00: Everyone in this room right now falls into one of three categories.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe you're here today and you are in a small group.
SPEAKER_00: You're committed to that small group.
SPEAKER_00: We have several small group leaders here for Silverdale Saturday nights.
SPEAKER_00: And by the way, Silverdale has small groups all over the city, and in these small groups, you can be a part of it, not just attend, like multiple services will be in one.
SPEAKER_00: It doesn't matter.
SPEAKER_00: They're not necessarily campus specific.
SPEAKER_00: We do have some Saturday nights specific, but it doesn't matter.
SPEAKER_00: But if you're in a small group right now, my encouragement to you is to stay at it.
SPEAKER_00: Stay at it.
SPEAKER_00: In due season, you will reap.
SPEAKER_00: Some of you are in that category.
SPEAKER_00: Others of you are here today and you are in a small group, but you're not committed because you're like, I don't know, dude, they some weirdos.
SPEAKER_00: And you being the biggest one, you just don't know it, dude.
SPEAKER_00: I want to encourage you.
SPEAKER_00: Go all in.
SPEAKER_00: Show up.
SPEAKER_00: Be known.
SPEAKER_00: Let people learn your story.
SPEAKER_00: You learn their stories.
SPEAKER_00: Alright?
SPEAKER_00: And then some of you are here today, and you're not in a small group at all.
SPEAKER_00: You're not in any biblical community.
SPEAKER_00: Alright?
SPEAKER_00: Maybe you've tried and maybe for various reasons it didn't work out.
SPEAKER_00: My encouragement to you is to join a small group.
SPEAKER_00: And you say, How do I do that?
SPEAKER_00: Glad you ask.
SPEAKER_00: Because I want to give everyone here today the opportunity to join a small group.
SPEAKER_00: Alright?
SPEAKER_00: How do you do that?
SPEAKER_00: At the bottom of your outline, you're going to see a QR code.
SPEAKER_00: And I think I have it right here.
SPEAKER_00: You go to that QR code, and it's going to bring you to this page right here.
SPEAKER_00: What you're going to do is fill this stuff out, your age, primary campus, it'll say Bonnie Oak Saturday night, days available, maybe what days you're looking for, type of group you're, you know, men, women, stage of life.
SPEAKER_00: Is there any additional information that you want to give?
SPEAKER_00: All right?
SPEAKER_00: When you're done with that, you'll push submit, and that's going to go directly to our small groups team.
SPEAKER_00: We're doing this in all of our campuses, all of our services, and they're going to get this information in this whole week.
SPEAKER_00: They are going to be connecting people in our church with small groups and small group leaders.
SPEAKER_00: And then what you can expect if you do this is to get an email back.
SPEAKER_00: They're going to contact you by next week.
SPEAKER_00: You're also going to get contacted by a small group leader.
SPEAKER_00: And so that's how you do it.
SPEAKER_00: So I don't want my prayer is that when I we're done here today, I'm not going to find a whole lot of um bullet um bulletins worship guides on the floor.
SPEAKER_00: I need you to take them with you.
SPEAKER_00: And I need you to point to them.
SPEAKER_00: You can also go to silverdalebc.com and do it, but if you're not in a small group, give it a go, man.
SPEAKER_00: Give it a go.
SPEAKER_00: Um, in addition, if you want to lead a small group, I would love to have more small group led right off Silverdale Saturday nights.
SPEAKER_00: If you say, I want to start a small group, give me a little ring earring, give me a texty text.
SPEAKER_00: I would love to get that started.
SPEAKER_00: We have several small groups based right out of Silverdale Saturday nights.
SPEAKER_00: Um I know um, yeah.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, they're wearing white lanyards, some of them are.
SPEAKER_00: If you lead a small group, could you stand up real quick?
SPEAKER_00: I know that um you, yeah, exactly.
SPEAKER_00: Chuck, come on, we got over there.
SPEAKER_00: So these guys, you know what?
SPEAKER_00: Oh, let's we'll clap for them.
SPEAKER_00: Why are you guys sitting down?
SPEAKER_00: Here's what I want to do real quick.
SPEAKER_00: If you lead a small group, when we go into the worship set in a minute, could you guys walk out there and be in the lobby?
SPEAKER_00: And you guys, you can go talk to them on your way out, all right?
SPEAKER_00: And so I'll did you get yeah.
SPEAKER_00: Wonderful people.
SPEAKER_00: I think one group meets before this service, but and there's so many small groups all over our city, and so we want to get you connected, all right?
SPEAKER_00: So here's what we're gonna do.
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna pray.
SPEAKER_00: If you're not in a small group, let's do it, church.
SPEAKER_00: Let's do it.
SPEAKER_00: Let's pray.
SPEAKER_00: Father God, thank you for our church.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you for Silverdale Saturday nights and all that you're doing here.
SPEAKER_00: God, we desperately want to get connected to one another.
SPEAKER_00: We want to be in community together in small groups all over the city.
SPEAKER_00: I pray that you would lead each of us to the perfect small group for us.
SPEAKER_00: And if we want to, man, even someone's being led here right now to start a small group.
SPEAKER_00: Father, please bless that, Father.
SPEAKER_00: Please bless that and use that.
SPEAKER_00: And we ask this in Christ's name, our Savior.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.