SPEAKER_00: Well, good morning.
SPEAKER_00: And welcome to Silverdale Baptist Church.
SPEAKER_00: It's so nice to see you here worshiping with us this morning.
SPEAKER_00: If we haven't met, my name is Clayton, and I have the privilege of being a part of our team here at Creekside as well as part of our young adult ministry.
SPEAKER_00: And today I have the privilege of sharing with you God's word.
SPEAKER_00: And so, hey, do this for me before we start.
SPEAKER_00: I just want you to look at who you're sitting with or somebody around and just say, I'm glad to be at church with you this morning.
SPEAKER_00: If you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn with me to Ephesians chapter 2.
SPEAKER_00: Ephesians chapter 2 is in the New Testament.
SPEAKER_00: If you're newer to the Bible, it's in the part of the Bible that contains the things that happened during and after the life of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: And then hopefully on your way in, you got a worship guide from our guest services team, and we give those to you for lots of reasons.
SPEAKER_00: They'll be especially helpful today.
SPEAKER_00: But if you've been around and you know that we give them to you because it is no small thing that God is the creator of the universe and he speaks to you and me.
SPEAKER_00: And so when he does, we want to be sure that we pay attention and we write down the things that he says.
SPEAKER_00: Today is maybe one of my favorite, well, it is one of my favorite Sundays of the year in the life of our church.
SPEAKER_00: It is small group emphasis weekend, baby.
SPEAKER_00: And uh this is one of my favorites for lots of reasons, and I get a lot of time to tell you why.
SPEAKER_00: But uh here's what's crazy is we don't have a kids' ministry emphasis Sunday.
SPEAKER_00: We don't have a student ministry emphasis Sunday, we don't have a young adult ministry, a care and counseling, a widow's ministry, a senior adult, a whatever other ministry emphasis Sunday.
SPEAKER_00: And it is because, friends, Acts chapter two tells us that in order to be a growing believer, a Christian who is growing in their faith, and that means that we are part of the corporate gathering and worship of the believers in a place like this, and we meet in homes in small groups.
SPEAKER_00: It's in Acts chapter two, you can go look it up.
SPEAKER_00: But here's the deal: here's what happens.
SPEAKER_00: Every August, we talk about small group Sunday.
SPEAKER_00: Well, we rather we talk about small groups on small group Sunday.
SPEAKER_00: If you're newer to the life of our church, then what we do is every year at the beginning of uh really the school year, we take time to say, hey, what it means to be a Christ follower, to grow in our faith, is to take the step of faith that involves us going into a group of strangers and studying the word together, doing what they did in Acts chapter two.
SPEAKER_00: And then over the next eight weeks, in order to help kind of support you, over the next eight weeks, Pastor Tony, he's gonna come up and he's gonna preach a series called One Another, and we call it our churchwide series.
SPEAKER_00: And over the next eight weeks, every small group in our church will talk about, will discuss pastor's sermons from the One Another series.
SPEAKER_00: And so what that means is, is as you embark on your journey to find your small group, all you have to do in order to be prepared for small group discussion is show up to church, hear Pastor Tony preach, and then you can go try a new small group.
SPEAKER_00: And so, usually on a day like today, we hit the tenets of community, right?
SPEAKER_00: We look at the themes of scripture from Genesis into Revelation, how community and being with believers, believers being with believers, is found all through Scripture.
SPEAKER_00: And we might throw it, might even throw in Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and we say, Jesus picked a small group, and we say, Look at the early church.
SPEAKER_00: And we look at just this design and say, see, here it is.
SPEAKER_00: This is what God is calling you into.
SPEAKER_00: Now, scan the QR code on the worship guide, tap the tag on the back of the chair, talk to a leader outside the lobby, and go be in a group.
SPEAKER_00: And to be clear today, friends, that is the message.
SPEAKER_00: Fill out the QR code.
SPEAKER_00: You should tab the tag on the back of your chair.
SPEAKER_00: There's gonna be some people for you to be able to talk to.
SPEAKER_00: And you should go to the group.
SPEAKER_00: But then we leave, and then we start a new series.
SPEAKER_00: And this week, a small group team member is gonna email you a recommendation, and that leader is gonna call or text you by next Sunday, and then you're gonna show up to an address that you've never been before, and here we just kind of keep on rolling and we hope it goes great, brother.
SPEAKER_00: Good luck.
SPEAKER_00: But I'm gonna make a I'm gonna do something really dangerous today, okay?
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna make an assumption, all right?
SPEAKER_00: And I know what you're all thinking, all right?
SPEAKER_00: But I'm gonna assume something, okay?
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna assume that you are going to do that today.
SPEAKER_00: I don't have to convince you of some philosophical or ecclesiological or theological issue in order to get you to be a part of a small group or fill out the form.
SPEAKER_00: I'm asking you, the Bible is telling you, the Lord is saying to you, friend, the word of the Lord has come to you, be in a small group.
SPEAKER_00: It is a missing component of your faith if you are not in one.
SPEAKER_00: And a small group team member will email you a recommendation, and a leader will call you by next Sunday, and you'll get on the horse, okay?
SPEAKER_00: But here's what I know.
SPEAKER_00: I know that some of you did that last year.
SPEAKER_00: I know that some of you maybe did it two years ago.
SPEAKER_00: And you've been in the group for maybe a year, maybe longer.
SPEAKER_00: And now you're at this point where you the the you know the address, you don't have to put it into your Apple Maps anymore.
SPEAKER_00: You've even learned some names in the group.
SPEAKER_00: But how many of you know joining a small group and experiencing biblical community are not the same thing?
SPEAKER_00: You can sit in somebody's living room every Tuesday night for two years and never experience what the Bible describes when it talks about the community of the early church.
SPEAKER_00: And then, because we're us, we feel discouraged.
SPEAKER_00: And we're like, man, the preacher man just said if I just join a small group, my life would be changed.
SPEAKER_00: If I just take a small leap of faith and show up to somebody's house, then everything in my life is gonna be changed.
SPEAKER_00: And all I feel now is just more chaos in my weekly schedule.
SPEAKER_00: Because I think often, friends, if we're honest, what we can say is how we talk about small groups paints this picture that will really what it does is it makes us walk into it with unrealistic expectations.
SPEAKER_00: We get the recommendation, we put the address in our phone, and we walk in saying, I know what's gonna happen.
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna walk in and I'm gonna feel like ah, these are my people.
SPEAKER_00: They're in the same stage of life.
SPEAKER_00: Our kids get along.
SPEAKER_00: We have the same interests, we like the same teams, we, we, we, we watch the same news channels, we, whatever it is.
SPEAKER_00: Conversation is easy, and you know what?
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes that happens because God is a good gift giver, amen?
SPEAKER_00: But more often than not, when it doesn't, what we're left thinking is maybe this isn't for me.
SPEAKER_00: Community is just one of those abstract church terms that gets thrown out around a lot, you know, like freedom and like walking in victory and all that stuff, but it really doesn't have like a real life bearing or implication in my life.
SPEAKER_00: And what I want you to know this morning is, is that biblical community is not found, it is always formed.
SPEAKER_00: You've heard me say this a million times.
SPEAKER_00: Biblical community is not found, it is always formed.
SPEAKER_00: In other words, my sermon in a sentence for you this morning is the community that you are looking for is waiting on the person you're willing to become.
SPEAKER_00: The community that you are looking for is waiting on the person you're willing to become.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, Clayton, you sound like a therapist.
SPEAKER_00: Cool, my problem's me, it's not the groups, never the groups, not the church's fault.
SPEAKER_00: Of course it's not the church's fault.
SPEAKER_00: It's me, it's my fault.
SPEAKER_00: And you know what?
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it is you.
SPEAKER_00: You are the problem, all right?
SPEAKER_00: Kind of like, I don't know if you've ever read the Bible, but the whole thing is about how the problem is not outside of you and you have the solution inside of you.
SPEAKER_00: The whole story of the gospel is that you are the problem, and the solution is found outside of you, namely in Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: But look at the New Testament church.
SPEAKER_00: Think of it, right?
SPEAKER_00: Nobody walks into the church in Philippi and they're just like vibing off day one.
SPEAKER_00: Acts chapter 16 shows us who walks into the living room on a Tuesday night.
SPEAKER_00: Who do we have?
SPEAKER_00: We have Lydia.
SPEAKER_00: She's a woman, she's rich and successful, she's a businesswoman, she's got the chops, okay?
SPEAKER_00: We have a slave girl, we don't even know her name.
SPEAKER_00: She's exploited, she's powerless.
SPEAKER_00: We have a Philippian jailer, he's Roman, he's working class, he's a man, he's blue collar.
SPEAKER_00: You couldn't assemble three more different people, and eventually Paul writes to the church and calls for his brothers and sisters for whom he longs.
SPEAKER_00: What happened?
SPEAKER_00: The gospel happened.
SPEAKER_00: It took people who had nothing in common and gave them the most important thing in common, Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: The same thing happens all through the New Testament.
SPEAKER_00: The gospel made them family before it made them friends.
SPEAKER_00: And the same thing happens to you and me.
SPEAKER_00: According to Scripture, look at what it says in Ephesians chapter 2, verse 19.
SPEAKER_00: It says, so then, you are no longer strangers and aliens.
SPEAKER_00: That's you here in the room, us, right here.
SPEAKER_00: We are no longer strangers and aliens, but fellow citizens with the saints, and look at it, members of the household of God.
SPEAKER_00: Not attendees, not fellow congregants, not customers, household, family.
SPEAKER_00: But that raises an important question.
SPEAKER_00: And I know we're all critical thinkers here at Creekside, and so we're rightly thinking, okay, Clayton, well, if the gospel really makes us a family, why doesn't church feel like a family?
SPEAKER_00: Why does it always feel like the couple who judges us for our parenting based on their parenting?
SPEAKER_00: Why do I always feel the judgment for when we haven't had kids yet?
SPEAKER_00: Why do I always feel like he's comparing his career to mine and all he wants to talk about is how much money he's made?
SPEAKER_00: Why can I sit in a small group for six months and barely know anybody?
SPEAKER_00: Why can I be surrounded, Clayton, by the people that the Bible says are my family and never feel lonelier?
SPEAKER_00: You ever felt like that?
SPEAKER_00: I know I have.
SPEAKER_00: And other groups never get past the, hey, how was your week?
SPEAKER_00: For three years.
SPEAKER_00: Because the gospel creates the family, but we have to learn how to live like one.
SPEAKER_00: The gospel creates the family.
SPEAKER_00: This is truth about who Jesus says we are.
SPEAKER_00: And now, just like when it comes to peace or joy or victory in our sin, we get to learn how to walk out and experience what God says that we can experience.
SPEAKER_00: The gospel creates the family, but obedience cultivates the experience.
SPEAKER_00: So the question this morning isn't, did I find the right small group?
SPEAKER_00: The question this morning isn't, am I going to find the right small group?
SPEAKER_00: The question isn't any qualifier on what small group tactic or hobby interests exist so that I might find my place.
SPEAKER_00: The question is, am I becoming a great small group member?
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because the community that you're looking for is waiting on the person you're willing to become.
SPEAKER_00: So what do we do?
SPEAKER_00: That sounds like a long intro, Clayton.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know where we're trying to get at this morning.
SPEAKER_00: Well, this morning, the title of today's message is How to Be a Great Small Group Member.
SPEAKER_00: Can I get an amen from the small group leader in the room?
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Appreciate that.
SPEAKER_00: And so, what we're gonna look like, we'll look at are a couple of things that Scripture commands us to do when it comes to one another's, how we can experience this life and community that God tells us we can.
SPEAKER_00: And I'm gonna be honest with you, it's gonna sound like a little high school football locker room slogany, but we're gonna remember it, friends, okay?
SPEAKER_00: And the Bible says so, okay?
SPEAKER_00: So the first thing I want you to write down this morning is this great small group members show up.
SPEAKER_00: We could go on to the next one, all right?
SPEAKER_00: This is it.
SPEAKER_00: This is great small group members show up.
SPEAKER_00: Hall of Fame, small group Sunday verse, Hebrews chapter 10, verses 24 through 25, and let us consider one another in order to provoke love and good works, not neglecting together together.
SPEAKER_00: This is it.
SPEAKER_00: We don't really have to look at any other verses.
SPEAKER_00: Because if family is going to move from something I believe to something I experience, it starts somewhere incredibly ordinary.
SPEAKER_00: I just have to show up.
SPEAKER_00: My favorite show is uh the West Wing.
SPEAKER_00: And um, the infamous president Jedediah Bartlett, he would put it like this: he would say what?
SPEAKER_00: He would say that decisions are made by those who show up, right?
SPEAKER_00: I have to be there.
SPEAKER_00: But notice what Hebrews actually says.
SPEAKER_00: We we use that verse and we say, see, the Bible says that you and I should be at church.
SPEAKER_00: And I'm not just trying to like punch down here to the people who are at church this morning, so yeah, yeah, you get a gold star today, okay?
SPEAKER_00: But why does he say don't neglect to meet together?
SPEAKER_00: For what purpose?
SPEAKER_00: To stir up one another in love and good deeds.
SPEAKER_00: That's the goal.
SPEAKER_00: It's not getting to church, it's that you and I might stir one another up to be who God has created us to be.
SPEAKER_00: In other words, there are things that God intends to do in your life through other believers.
SPEAKER_00: And there are things that He intends to do in their life through you.
SPEAKER_00: And the bottom dollar, the the bottom line is that you just gotta be there if that's the case.
SPEAKER_00: So listen there's a QR code on your worship guide.
SPEAKER_00: There's a tap tag on the back of your chair.
SPEAKER_00: There's gonna be some small group leaders out in the lobby in just a minute for you.
SPEAKER_00: But I you don't get a gold star because you fill out the form and you go try a group next week and then you ghost them.
SPEAKER_00: We're not giving out attendance stars.
SPEAKER_00: What we care about is you being with other believers.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because the Bible says that that's one of the ways that God stirs up one another for love and good deeds.
SPEAKER_00: In other words, to become more like Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus himself models this.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus did it with his own small group when he calls the disciples.
SPEAKER_00: Check it out in Mark chapter 3, verse 14.
SPEAKER_00: It says, Jesus, he appointed 12, whom he also named apostles.
SPEAKER_00: For what reason?
SPEAKER_00: Why did he name twelve apostles?
SPEAKER_00: To be with him.
SPEAKER_00: Notice that that comes before the end of the verse, it says, and to preach.
SPEAKER_00: So before all the casting out of demons, the miracles, the healings, the going and the preaching, they are with him.
SPEAKER_00: They travel together, they eat together, they do life together.
SPEAKER_00: It is impossible to divorce Jesus' model of discipleship with shared life.
SPEAKER_00: Because how many of you know sometimes the most spiritual thing you can do is just walk through somebody's door?
SPEAKER_00: You don't need the perfect words.
SPEAKER_00: But show up.
SPEAKER_00: Somebody in your group is moving, show up.
SPEAKER_00: Baby born, show up.
SPEAKER_00: Ball game, show up.
SPEAKER_00: Graduation, show up.
SPEAKER_00: Hospital, show up.
SPEAKER_00: Hard week, show up.
SPEAKER_00: Galatians chapter 6, verse 2 says, carry one another's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.
SPEAKER_00: You can't carry a burden that you don't know exists, and you can't know it exists if you're never there.
SPEAKER_00: So I know it's scary.
SPEAKER_00: People's houses, sometimes they have dogs or cats and they smell.
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes their kids throw stuff all over the place.
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes they decorate different than you do.
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes they keep it at 64 and you're freezing on the couch.
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes they keep it at 78 and you think you're in Dante's first circle of hell when you're sitting in their living room.
SPEAKER_00: Not to mention that people have opinions and they say them out loud.
SPEAKER_00: So, yes, I get it.
SPEAKER_00: But what I'm asking you, what the Bible is inviting you into is something that you can't experience on your own.
SPEAKER_00: Yes, God Almighty can speak to you on the mountaintop outside in the valley, on the river, in your car, in your closet, wherever.
SPEAKER_00: Of course he can.
SPEAKER_00: He's God.
SPEAKER_00: But he says in his word that he intends to do something through you and in you with other believers that you cannot get otherwise.
SPEAKER_00: So great small group members show up.
SPEAKER_00: You say, but Clayton, we have recitals, and we got practice, and we got pickleball, and we got family dinner, and we got all the things.
SPEAKER_00: And can I just tell you, yeah, so does everybody else.
SPEAKER_00: Everyone is busy.
SPEAKER_00: So I'm not saying that you attend so many things that you destroy margin in your life, but one of the things that we say in our small group is that we do small group in spite of our life circumstances.
SPEAKER_00: Because God's word says that this is an important part of our growing in our faith.
SPEAKER_00: We know that us just showing up, even when we haven't read the book, even when we didn't make it to church, and we have the answer for question three, even when all the things go wrong, we're gonna show up because the Bible says that there are things that happen in small group that I can't experience otherwise.
SPEAKER_00: So we show up.
SPEAKER_00: So, again, there's a QR code on your worship guide.
SPEAKER_00: There's a tab tag on the back of your chair.
SPEAKER_00: There's gonna be some leaders out in the lobby in just a minute.
SPEAKER_00: I want you to do it.
SPEAKER_00: Take the step, fill out the form, connect with somebody, go to the group.
SPEAKER_00: But remember, we're gonna make some assumptions.
SPEAKER_00: So I'm gonna assume that you're doing that, you're gonna do it, you're about to do it, you're gonna just go to the small group.
SPEAKER_00: Now you've shown up, you've walked in the door, you've knocked on, maybe even you brought a little dessert.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe you brought some brownies or something because you're from the south and that's what you do.
SPEAKER_00: And so now you're there.
SPEAKER_00: So now what's next, Clayton?
SPEAKER_00: What is the next thing that a great small group member does?
SPEAKER_00: Great small group members, speak up.
SPEAKER_00: Can I get an amen from the small group leaders in the house?
SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
SPEAKER_00: Great small group members, speak up.
SPEAKER_00: Here's what I want you to know: showing up gets me in the room, speaking up allows people into my life.
SPEAKER_00: Speaking, showing up gets me into the room, speaking up allows people into my life.
SPEAKER_00: And listen, there are 14,000 different ways I can preach this, okay?
SPEAKER_00: Speaking up is about applying God's truth into your life.
SPEAKER_00: So listen, you don't go to small group to listen to another sermon.
SPEAKER_00: You go to small group to talk about whatever it you're studying or the sermon so that you can apply God's truth to your life.
SPEAKER_00: But I know, I know you guys have never experienced this.
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes, sometimes in small groups, though, the small group leader will ask a question and then everyone will sit there for about 37 seconds and nobody says anything, and everyone's head is pointing down at the ground, and we're all just counting and we're waiting, and then, like, you know, Becky or whoever is gonna be the first person to talk, because she's always the first person to talk, and I'm just waiting on Becky.
SPEAKER_00: Becky, come on, girl.
SPEAKER_00: I'm waiting on you.
SPEAKER_00: And then Becky finally talks, and we go, okay, all right, we're in.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, we made it.
SPEAKER_00: Listen, can I just tell you, that's not what we're going for?
SPEAKER_00: That is not experiencing the biblical community that is described to us in God's word.
SPEAKER_00: Speaking up is about participating in the community of God.
SPEAKER_00: It's about a God, it's about allowing God to use your testimony, your life, your experience, what He's teaching you right now, to be the catalyst that sparks faith in somebody sitting across from you on the couch.
SPEAKER_00: Because we can all go around the room and we can all say that in a conversation with a friend, that what God taught them in their quiet time, what they just said, what they've experienced was a thing that ministered to me, that sparked faith in me, that helped me grow, right?
SPEAKER_00: We can all do that.
SPEAKER_00: So when I sit in my small group and I don't open my mouth, I am robbing someone else of what God wants to use in my life to spark something in theirs.
SPEAKER_00: That's why we speak up.
SPEAKER_00: Well, that's one of them, but we're not preaching that one, okay?
SPEAKER_00: It's so much more than that.
SPEAKER_00: But look at what the apostle James says in James chapter 5, verse 16.
SPEAKER_00: He says, Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another for what reason?
SPEAKER_00: So that you may be healed.
SPEAKER_00: Friends, there is a healing that is available to you that you're missing out on because you don't open your mouth in small group.
SPEAKER_00: Yeesh, Clayton, this is your pitch to get people into a group?
SPEAKER_00: The easiest way to kill a community is this.
SPEAKER_00: How you doing?
SPEAKER_00: Hey friend, how's it going?
SPEAKER_00: What's up?
SPEAKER_00: What's new with the family?
SPEAKER_00: Well, you know, we're just busy.
SPEAKER_00: Everything's busy, we got school, we got practice, we got this, we got that, blah, blah, blah, blah.
SPEAKER_00: What about you?
SPEAKER_00: Every week for three years.
SPEAKER_00: Meanwhile, your marriage is struggling.
SPEAKER_00: You just received news of a diagnosis, you're terrified about your kids and their future.
SPEAKER_00: You're lonely, you're losing the battle with lust or alcohol or substances.
SPEAKER_00: But every week, you're doing just fine.
SPEAKER_00: But Clayton, we're supposed to talk about Luke chapter 5 tonight, and remember the leader's gonna ask the question, and we're all gonna count to 37, and we're all waiting on Becky.
SPEAKER_00: And Luke chapter 5 doesn't really say anything about marriage, and if I just open up and just say that this thing that has nothing to do with marriage and talk about this thing that's you know really vulnerable and personal in my life, I'm just hijacking the small group.
SPEAKER_00: And can I just tell you, friend, your small group leader will welcome that hijacking with open arms.
SPEAKER_00: Discussion provides the Framework, yes, but it's in your discussion that the vulnerability and the trust and the honesty that the Holy Spirit ministers to you and you start experiencing the biblical community that God promises us in His Word.
SPEAKER_00: Because here's the problem people cannot carry burdens that you refuse to let them see.
SPEAKER_00: And so, some of you, your challenge this morning is to just be a little vulnerable for the first time in your life in a small group.
SPEAKER_00: To open up the door just a crack to say, everything's not alright, but we're here and we want it to be.
SPEAKER_00: Galatians 6 says to carry one another's burdens.
SPEAKER_00: James 5 says to confess one another.
SPEAKER_00: Hebrews 3 says to encourage one another.
SPEAKER_00: All of these commands, commands in Scripture imply that we are speaking up.
SPEAKER_00: And here's the rub for this one, right?
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes speaking up sounds like I'm struggling.
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes it says I need prayer.
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes it says I need help.
SPEAKER_00: And sometimes speaking up says, hey, that's not like you.
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes speaking up says, um, can I talk to you about something that I see in your life?
SPEAKER_00: And you're like, hold on, Clayton, who gave these strangers the right to speak into my life?
SPEAKER_00: Well, A, uh, God did, so if you got a problem, you can just take it up with him.
SPEAKER_00: And B, Proverbs 27, verse 6 says that the wounds of a friend are trustworthy.
SPEAKER_00: Now we could all go around the room and we could all share, right, in a season of our life where we were in rebellion against God, that sometimes a friend calling us out and saying the hurtful but true thing, and only hurtful because we didn't want to hear it, not because it wasn't true, is one of the things that God used in our life to bring us back to fellowship and communion with Him.
SPEAKER_00: I've shared my story a hundred times.
SPEAKER_00: But in my season that I was running in rebellion from God in my lowest, there were people in my life who were literally calling me on the phone to say, What are you doing with your life?
SPEAKER_00: And it didn't feel good.
SPEAKER_00: But thanks be to God Almighty, friend, that he doesn't leave us to ourselves, but he gives us a community to help protect us and gird us and encourage us to walk with the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: You say, I don't know, Clayton, I don't know.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, I hear you, you're talking loud, I guess that's convincing, but uh the last time I did this, somebody really hurt me.
SPEAKER_00: I was just getting caught out on a bunch of legalistic stuff that was just somebody's opinion.
SPEAKER_00: And it's like, okay, yeah, but that's not the main stuff, right?
SPEAKER_00: Look at Hebrews chapter 3, verse 13, but encourage each other daily, so that none of you is hardened by sin's deception.
SPEAKER_00: Notice the urgency.
SPEAKER_00: Daily.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because the Bible says that I need other Christians speaking truth into my life because sin has the ability to deceive me.
SPEAKER_00: 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, verse 11 says this, therefore encourage one another and build each other up.
SPEAKER_00: So listen, small group is not about you coming in and being like, all right, friend, let's talk about everything wrong in your life this week.
SPEAKER_00: No, almost all a small group is saying, hey, I see you and your diligence in spending time with God's word.
SPEAKER_00: Hey, I want to commend you on how you parented in that really hard moment.
SPEAKER_00: You're a great dad, you're a great mom.
SPEAKER_00: Hey, I know that that situation in your life, a year ago, you would have handled that really differently, but now because you've been walking with the Lord, you did it with patience and grace.
SPEAKER_00: I want to commend you for what you're doing.
SPEAKER_00: God has gifted you in this area.
SPEAKER_00: So, how do you be a great small group member?
SPEAKER_00: I promise you, over the next eight weeks, if you spend time intentionally every week encouraging somebody else with what you see God doing in their life, it will transform your group in eight weeks.
SPEAKER_00: And I'm not talking about, oh my gosh, I love your shoes, okay?
SPEAKER_00: I see this in you.
SPEAKER_00: Hey, what you said last week really ministered to me.
SPEAKER_00: I appreciated the view that you had on that point of that message.
SPEAKER_00: Because if showing up says I'm here, speaking up says you can know me, and I want to know you.
SPEAKER_00: What's the last thing on how to be a great small group member?
SPEAKER_00: The last thing is this is great small group members step up.
SPEAKER_00: I told you it was a little high school football locker roomy slogan-y, but we're gonna remember it, okay?
SPEAKER_00: Eventually, community is going to cost you.
SPEAKER_00: It always does.
SPEAKER_00: Because the Bible tells us that biblical love doesn't stop at, I'll pray for you.
SPEAKER_00: Look at what the apostle John writes in 1 John chapter 3, verse 16.
SPEAKER_00: He says, And this is how we have come to know love.
SPEAKER_00: That he laid down his life for us, and so we should also lay down our lives for our brothers and our sisters.
SPEAKER_00: What about what Paul writes in Philippians chapter 2, verse 3 and 4?
SPEAKER_00: He says, Do nothing out of selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility consider others as more important than yourself.
SPEAKER_00: Everyone should look not to his own interests, but rather to the interests of others.
SPEAKER_00: So, what does stepping up look like?
SPEAKER_00: Well, stepping up is the bigger, older brother to showing up.
SPEAKER_00: Somebody moving, we carry the couch.
SPEAKER_00: Someone has a baby, we take the meal.
SPEAKER_00: Somebody's in the hospital, we're in the waiting room.
SPEAKER_00: Loses a family member, we're at the funeral home.
SPEAKER_00: Single mom, it's overwhelmed, we help take care of the kids.
SPEAKER_00: Someone loses a job, we make some calls.
SPEAKER_00: House is falling apart, we grab some tools.
SPEAKER_00: Somebody's struggling financially, we pay, we we take up something quietly and give it to them.
SPEAKER_00: This is Christianity, friends.
SPEAKER_00: It is not flashy and almost always nobody sees it.
SPEAKER_00: But this is how strangers start becoming a family.
SPEAKER_00: Listen, we don't become a family because we sit in the same circle.
SPEAKER_00: We become a family because we carry the same burdens.
SPEAKER_00: Clayton, you don't know my group.
SPEAKER_00: You should come.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, Clayton, come to my group because if you knew my group, then you would see uh they are needy, Clayton.
SPEAKER_00: They talk too much, they don't talk enough, they only talk about Fox News, they only talk about CNN, they only care about sports more than Jesus, they don't talk kindly, they offended me.
SPEAKER_00: Clayton, you don't know my group.
SPEAKER_00: I showed up for them, but nobody showed up for me.
SPEAKER_00: You know what?
SPEAKER_00: Good.
SPEAKER_00: Because the Bible addresses it.
SPEAKER_00: Colossians chapter 3, verse 12 through 14.
SPEAKER_00: Therefore, as God's chosen ones, that's you and me, holy and dearly loved, put on compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.
SPEAKER_00: Why do I need those things?
SPEAKER_00: Because you and me are gonna bear with one another and forgive one another.
SPEAKER_00: Why would Paul tell Christians to bear with one another?
SPEAKER_00: Do you know why?
SPEAKER_00: Because Christians are the worst.
SPEAKER_00: Somebody say amen.
SPEAKER_00: We are the worst.
SPEAKER_00: We're the worst.
SPEAKER_00: We're hypocritical, we're inconsistent, we don't show up.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, for crying out loud, we openly confess that we're so wicked and evil that God Himself had to die to make atonement for our sins.
SPEAKER_00: And you're gonna walk into a small group and expect that everything's gonna go perfect every time?
SPEAKER_00: The Bible tells us, the existence of these commands tells us that it never requires perfect people.
SPEAKER_00: If you're looking for the perfect small group, you're looking for something that the New Testament never promises.
SPEAKER_00: It promises something better.
SPEAKER_00: It promises a group of imperfect people that's being transformed by Jesus who keep showing up, speaking up, and stepping up for one another.
SPEAKER_00: Let me see if I can illustrate it like this.
SPEAKER_00: Remember in um John chapter 13 and 14, Jesus is about to go get crucified.
SPEAKER_00: And he's given instructions to make preparations for the Passover meal.
SPEAKER_00: And his disciples, they're all up in the upper room.
SPEAKER_00: Everybody gets in, but nobody's there to wash the feet.
SPEAKER_00: And it's a gross job, right?
SPEAKER_00: Sweaty, gross men.
SPEAKER_00: At least 12 of them.
SPEAKER_00: Nobody wants the job.
SPEAKER_00: But what does the Bible say that Jesus did?
SPEAKER_00: It says that he got up, he removed his outer garment, and he grabbed a towel.
SPEAKER_00: And he wrapped it around himself.
SPEAKER_00: Almost as if he put on compassion, gentleness, kindness, humility.
SPEAKER_00: And he gets down in the dirt and he washes these men's feet, including Judas, who was the one who was about to betray him.
SPEAKER_00: And then he gets up and he says, I've given you an example, so now you go do likewise.
SPEAKER_00: Great small group members grab the towel.
SPEAKER_00: So, what towel do you need to grab in your group this week?
SPEAKER_00: This month.
SPEAKER_00: This year.
SPEAKER_00: They don't wait for the church to organize a ministry.
SPEAKER_00: They don't call the pastor to say, hey, Clayton, this is neat, and I think you should do something about it.
SPEAKER_00: No, they grab the towel and they step up.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: We don't show up hoping they'll become family.
SPEAKER_00: We show up because they are family.
SPEAKER_00: We don't carry their burdens hoping that they're gonna deserve it, they're family, so they deserve it.
SPEAKER_00: We don't forgive because they apologize perfectly, they're family.
SPEAKER_00: We don't go to funeral homes because it's convenient, they're family.
SPEAKER_00: We don't bring dinner because we're best friends yet, they're family.
SPEAKER_00: The gospel creates the family, friend.
SPEAKER_00: You and I get to live like one.
SPEAKER_00: Because what does Ephesians chapter 2, verse 19 say?
SPEAKER_00: So then you are no longer aliens and strangers, but fellow citizens with members of the household of God.
SPEAKER_00: So this year, you're gonna fill out the QR code.
SPEAKER_00: You're gonna tap the tag on the vacuum chair, you're gonna talk to somebody out in the lobby.
SPEAKER_00: But you're gonna show up, you're gonna speak up, and you're gonna step up.
SPEAKER_00: Because the question you're asking isn't Am I gonna find the right small group?
SPEAKER_00: The question that you're asking is, Am I becoming the right person for the group waiting on me?
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because the group that you're looking for is waiting on the person you're willing to become.
SPEAKER_00: Amen?
SPEAKER_00: Would you pray with me?
SPEAKER_00: Lord Jesus, we love you.
SPEAKER_00: God, we're so thankful for who you are and for what you've done for us.
SPEAKER_00: God, we're thankful that you are God and that we are not.
SPEAKER_00: God, we're thankful that you don't just save us from our sin, but God, you save us into the family of God.
SPEAKER_00: That you give us a new name, you give us brothers and sisters, you, you, you, you are our Father.
SPEAKER_00: And so, God, you completely reorient the way that we should view and live in our life.
SPEAKER_00: So, Holy Spirit, this morning, what I'm asking is I'm asking for the person who took the step of community a couple years ago and got really hurt.
SPEAKER_00: God, would you remind them that you're not the one that hurt them?
SPEAKER_00: Would you give them the boldness and the confidence and the faith to take another step of faith, to experience what you promised us in the Bible?
SPEAKER_00: For the person who's not yet in the community, never been in a small group, new to small group, God, would you connect them to the right people?
SPEAKER_00: Whether it's on the first try, the second try, the third try, or the fourth try.
SPEAKER_00: God, that you would just give them a kiss on the forehead, just a sign that says, hey, you're here, you're in the right spot, you're following me, you're doing the right thing.
SPEAKER_00: And God, for all of us, would you would you make us the people that you're asking us to be?
SPEAKER_00: God, we don't want to sit around and wait on a group to come to us.
SPEAKER_00: We don't want to sit around and wait on the group of perfect people because it doesn't exist.
SPEAKER_00: But God, I want to become the person that my small group needs.
SPEAKER_00: And Holy Spirit, I'm desperate for you to be able to mold me into that.
SPEAKER_00: God, we love you, we trust you.
SPEAKER_00: Send your holy, holy, holy.
SPEAKER_00: In precious name we pray, and all God's people said, Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Hey, so here's what we're gonna do.
SPEAKER_00: We're gonna sing a song of response.
SPEAKER_00: And you're like, oh, why are we singing a song of response on small group Sunday, Clayton?
SPEAKER_00: Well, because God didn't just save you from your sin, he saved you into the family of God.
SPEAKER_00: And that's reason enough to give Him praise.
SPEAKER_00: But I also want to give you permission.
SPEAKER_00: I wanna give you permission to stay seated and pull out your phone.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, not to go ahead and reserve a table at Chewy's for lunch, but uh to go ahead and fill out that QR code, tap that tag, and fill out the small group help request form.
SPEAKER_00: And uh, what you can expect is someone from our team to reach out to you this week, a small group leader to reach out to you by next Sunday, and uh then we'll help connect you into a group.
SPEAKER_00: But uh, for all of us, we get an opportunity to praise God for what he's done in our life, for the people in the communities that he's used in our life along the way, and Lord willing, by faith, we're believing for the group for the group and the community that he's about to place us in.
SPEAKER_00: So would you stand with us as we respond in worship?