What are you willing to rearrange to follow Jesus? /// Built: Part 2

We're so glad you've chosen to listen to our online experience! Here at Plum Creek, we’re all about changed lives, changing lives; and what that simply means is that what Christ has done in us is not just for us, but it’s for us to share with others in our community and around the world.

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If you're using this teaching for a Home Groups setting, we've included discussion prompts to help guide your conversation:

1. Pastor Eric said it can be easier to build something than to truly belong to it. Where are you tempted to stay involved from a distance instead of letting yourself be known and counted on?

2. Think about Nehemiah rebuilding Jerusalem’s wall only to find the city mostly empty. What does that story reveal about the difference between creating a place for people and actually building a community?

3. Read Ephesians 2:21–22 and discuss what changes when we see God’s people themselves as the “building” rather than thinking of church primarily as a physical place.

4. Pastor Doug and Pastor Eric emphasized that Next is Now is ultimately about making room for more people to encounter Jesus, not simply making the building bigger. What would it look like for that same priority to shape your time, relationships, generosity, and priorities?

5. Who is one person God may be putting on your heart to invite or encourage this week, and what could taking that step look like?

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Wondering what Plum Creek Church is all about? Watch this video.

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Links

Home: https://www.plumcreek.church/

Next Steps: https://www.plumcreek.church/next

Ministries: https://www.plumcreek.church/ministries

Give: https://www.plumcreek.church/give

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:04

Welcome to the Plum Creek Church Podcast. We're so thankful that you're listening along with us in this way. Now, if you're a returning listener, welcome back. But if you're new or newish, we'd love to become part of your listening rotation. So be sure to subscribe and follow to be notified when new episodes are available. Now, before we get into the message, we want to remind you of one thing. At Plum Creek Church, we are all about change lives, changing lives. We really believe that if Jesus is right about God, about life, about the soul, then it only makes sense to rearrange our lives around what he says is true. Because when you choose to follow Jesus like that, it really does change everything, including the lives around you. Okay, let's posture our hearts for what God has in store, this message.

Message Start

SPEAKER_01 0:57

Good morning, Plum Creek. How are you? Awesome. 20 years. Can you believe it? 20 years old. That's like that's a big deal for a church to make that sort of impact for 20 years. And it made me think about another church that I visited. Um, this was a few summers ago. Chrissy and I had taken uh an anniversary trip, and we were in Europe. And um, as part of our European trip, we decided to do what lots of you know tourists do. You go visit some of these churches or cathedrals. And so we walked into this particular cathedral, and I gotta tell you, absolutely gorgeous. And it was older than 20 years old. I mean, this thing was hundreds of years old. Stone and columns and the whole nine yards, and and my first reaction was, wow, this is unreal. This was this church that was built so many hundreds of uh years ago to worship in. But then I had a follow-up thought. I looked around and there were no worshipers. Like there were people. Uh the lights were on, and there were people there, but they all had backpacks and fanny packs and um, you know, like tour guides. There was a place where you could buy magnets and all of the things, the trinkets. But but nobody in there was there for church. And and as I was standing there, I had this thought. It is really easy to make something about something it isn't. Do you know what I mean? It is really easy to set out to be one thing and then over time become something completely different. That's what I was looking at. Like, no one stood around or gathered a board together and said, you know what we're gonna do? We're gonna stop being a house of worship. What we're gonna actually be is a place where tourists come. Nobody made that decision. There wasn't a bunch of leaders that just decided. It just in time happened. And so, with that in mind, on a weekend when we look back, both this one and next one, over the last 20 years, at a room, a room like this, where many of you have sacrificed, set up chairs, tore down chairs, given of your time and of your treasure and of your talent. I think it's really important that we ask a question, and that is this. What is this for? What is this for? Now that to get some perspective, there's actually a building story in the Bible, too. A story about a building and a builder. Last week, Michelle kicked us off at the book of Nehemiah, and she told you that Ezra and Nehemiah used to be one book, they're now separate. But let me give you a little backstory on this story. The story is about 2,500 years ago, that's when it takes place, and it's about a man named Nehemiah, and he's about a thousand miles from home. Now he lives in Persia and he's done quite well, even though his people have been brought into captivity. He has succeeded. And um, one day he hears that his home country, uh, that the wall has been broken down, that the gates have been burned down, that the people are in trouble, and the Bible tells us that he sits down and he weeps. Now, I think you you really need to understand what he's weeping about. Because I think on the surface, in our day and age, we hear a wall and we just think, well, it was some broken down wall. It's like a maintenance issue, right? Like it's just a fixed wall. But see, there's there's something else going on here. In that world, in the ancient world, a city that didn't have a wall wasn't actually a city. I mean, truly, it wasn't. It was a place that was waiting to be robbed. That's it. Anyone could walk in, take your grain, take your animals, take your children. That was the reality. And in this particular situation, the temple had been built. It would, it was built a few decades previous, but it was sitting uh in the midst of all of this rubble and ruin. It had been standing there. There were working priests and morning sacrifices, but it was just a mess all around it. And so Nehemiah hears this and it breaks his heart. And so then he prays, asks God what he should do. He decides to go to his boss, the king, and ask if he'd go back, rebuild this wall, rebuild this city. And he does. He goes back, he gathers some volunteers, and this is where uh Michelle taught us last week. He gets a bunch of just normal people, like some goldsmith and perfume makers, and they rebuild this wall. They're ordinary people. This was the primary message of Michelle's message last week that God still does that. His kingdom is still being built by ordinary people who are just willing to serve. And these ordinary people, they find their section of the wall, and in 52 days, they build that thing, that structure. Now, I don't know if you've been much around buildings and new things, but normally what happens after an accomplishment like this is a pretty standard thing. In fact, I I saw this just recently. Had a friend who uh works for the YMCA and uh raised millions of dollars for a uh a community that was uh disadvantaged and built this unbelievable center. And so when that center was done, I mean the day it was done, they did what all these buildings do. They had a whole party, right, where they wrapped it with a red ribbon, gigantic red ribbon, and then somebody came out, like there was like state senators and governors and mayors, and they had big scissors. Have you seen that where they do the ribbon cutting? Have you ever wondered whoever gets in the line of making big scissors as a job? But I don't even know where you find them. But he comes out with those scissors, he cuts that ribbon, and it's a celebration. Now, Nehemiah, he gets builds this wall in 52 days. There's no ribbon cutting. Don't you find that strange? I did. I read and went, wait, why is there no ribbon cutting? Why isn't they they're done? They did the thing, the thing that he said he was gonna come back and do. And in Nehemiah chapter 7, verse 4, we get a reason why there was no ribbon cutting. Says it this way the city was wide and large, but the people within it were few, and no houses had been built. It's like Nehemiah gets done with this project. He looks around and he's like me standing in that gigantic cathedral. He goes, Where are all the people? Because there's there's nobody here. It's like he he knows the wall wasn't the point. The wall wasn't the point. And and you know this because if you go back to Nehemiah verse 4, uh in in chapter 4, verse 14, as they're building the wall, they come up against some opposition. And listen to what he says to all of the people who are volunteer, voluntarily building this wall. He says, Do not be afraid of them. He says, Don't be afraid of these people that are coming against you. He said, Remember, the Lord who is great and awesome, and fight. Listen what he says. He doesn't say fight for the wall, fight for the bricks, fight for the mortar. Listen to what he says. He says, fight for your brothers and your sons and your daughters and your wives and your homes, your household. The people. He says, fight for the people. That's what this wall is. I mean, if you think about it, walls and fences are kind of interesting structures in and of themselves because they don't really mean a whole lot by themselves. Like if you build a house, you live in it. If you build a wall, a wall, a well, you pull water from it. But if if you build a wall, it's just a shape around something, like a circle or a square or a rectangle. And the truth is you can build the strongest wall in that ancient world, and if there is nobody inside of it, it's just a bunch of well-organized bricks standing in the middle of nowhere. So Nehemiah knew, he goes, the wall was never the point. We got to get people in here. And so he has an idea. And the idea reminded me, uh, and I think it comes at an appropriate time. Um, some of you may be familiar with this time of year. Um, well, we all, many of us know it's football season, right? Like it's it's happening. Like I'm listening to training camp notes every single day, hoping that no one gets hurt. Um, but there's another thing that's happening, and my thing will happen in about seven days. It's called a fantasy football draft. Anyone know fantasy football? Yeah, it's the biggest waste of time, but I cannot stop playing it. And here's the thing, you gotta know this. Last year was a really big deal for me because I've been in the same leg for almost a decade. And guys, I literally, it's 12 guys. I'm always like place 10, 11, 12. I try so hard. Last year I got second place. It's a really big deal. So I'm really excited about this draft. Well, Nehemiah has a similar idea. He's like, listen, how are we gonna get people in here? We're gonna we're gonna do a draft. We're gonna draft people into this city. And so in Nehemiah, verse, in in verse one of chapter 11, he says, now the leaders of the people they lived in Jerusalem. And the rest of the people cast lots. That's the draft. To bring one out of ten to live in Jerusalem, the holy city, uh, while nine of the ten remained in their own towns. One out of every ten families, they pulled up everything that they owned, all that they had built, and they rebuilt. They left their land, they left their town, they came and they lived in that city. The wall was done. Now, that place went from what was probably one of the more dangerous places in that region, not having a wall around it, to one of the safest. And yet it struck me, it struck me that they had to do a draft to get people to live inside of that city. Isn't that interesting? The ask was never build a wall. That was never really the ask. The ask was come and live inside this city. And it's interesting, it's interesting because if you notice in chapter three of Nehemiah, they don't have to actually do a draft to get anybody to help build it. A bunch of people contributed. They're like, oh, I'll help build that thing. But when it was time for people to live inside, everybody's like, I'm no, I'm uh I'm cool. I'm gonna go back to my old house. I'm gonna go live in the place I built. And I thought, you know, sometimes it is a little easier to build a thing than to belong to a thing. You know? Like sometimes it is easier just to hang around the town than to move into it. Sometimes it is easier to come around a church than to become part of God's family. Sometimes it's easier to attend something than to be counted on by somebody. And God didn't want a wall with nobody behind it. He wanted a people and a place, close enough to be a city. I don't know if you realize, but you actually witnessed some of that just a few minutes ago. You know what happened right over there? That was this. See, nobody was drafted. We didn't, for those of you that are new, we didn't have a draft where we said, okay, it's your turn to get into the water, okay? That didn't happen. There was a bunch of people who've heard about this man named Jesus, that this way of life, this community of believers that are doing life together. And when they stepped into that water, they were publicly sort of signaling, I want to be a part of that people. That's what happened there. And here's what's interesting sometimes, sometimes it really does feel easier to stay in the old town. The life you've already built, the the schedule, your friends, your weekends, the way you've already spent a Sunday. Look, nobody stays out of God's family because they don't want to be around God. They stay out because moving costs something and staying costs nothing. You can come here for years and you can still live in your old city. You can be in this room every single weekend. Know the songs like the church, give to the church, tell people at work that this is where you go, and then drive home every single Sunday without a single person in this building knowing what your Monday looks like. It's possible, and that happens all the time. And listen, as your pastor, it's not a criticism, I'm not criticizing that. I'm just saying that in this culture, it's actually the most available option to just be by yourself, to stay away, to seclude yourself in the old town when a new place is beckoning for you to move in. So the question, the question this morning is not whether you like it here. The question is whether you live here. Make this your community, this new community. Because see, once Nehemiah did that, once he got people to live inside this city, then then he said it's time to throw a party. And he does. It says in Nehemiah chapter 12, verse 43, and they offered great sacrifices that day, and they rejoiced, for God had made them rejoice with great joy. The women and the children also rejoiced, and the joy of Jerusalem was heard far away. That wall, that wall had been standing for months. Nothing about it had changed. Not one stone had moved between chapter 6 and chapter 12. What changed was that there were now people inside of it. And the joy of Jerusalem, it says it was heard. Heard, not seen. You can't hear a wall. You can see a wall, you can't hear it. You hear people, and people celebrated. See, this is what God has always been up to. Not a wall, but a people. And that's where all of this has always been going, Paul Creek. Like, if you look a few hundred years later, God does the thing every wall and every temple had been pointing to. And he doesn't do it with building anything, he does it with his son Jesus. And then Apostle Paul in Ephesians chapter 2, he writes about it. Now I encourage you, I can't read all of Ephesians 2, but when you read Ephesians 2, you see a bunch of construction language, builder language, people language. But listen to what the Apostle Paul writes in Ephesians 2, verse 21, when he says, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built what? Together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. Listen, he's saying you're the building. So why does this matter? It's because back in February, we launched something as a church. We called it Next Is Now. And for those of you that are brand new, let me just be honest about it. We we are building a building. It's about a building in some ways, but we're not building a building. Yes, for sure, we're building an auditorium that's gonna have more seats in this space. That's because people keep coming to the church and wanting to join the family. And Castle Rock keeps growing, and we are refreshing the kids' wing, and that's because a four-year-old decides what she thinks about Jesus in those hallways. And we're adding a lobby and classrooms because almost nobody meets God alone in a row. They most often meet him in a circle or in a classroom with people who know their name. And we are building an office wing so that people who care for this church have somewhere to sit down with you. See, we aren't just building a building. We're wanting to do what Nehemiah did. Build a people. People who learn the teachings of this rabbi named Jesus, about what he said about God and about life and the soul. And then by learning those things, we together as a community begin to rearrange our lives around all the things that he said was true together. And the truth is that's the only reason to pour concrete. Or put up steel, or put up parking lots. It's the only reason. And so from the spring till now, there has been a lot going on. And we wanted for all of us as a people to hear where we're at.

Next is Now Update

SPEAKER_00 19:37

What's up, Plum Creek family? As I told you we would, listen, I'm excited to share another monthly update on the progress and impact of Next Is Now. As we continue through this season together, we're seeing incredible evidence of God's faithfulness in the generosity of our church. A little over $5 million has now come in towards Next Is Now. And that is incredible. And I'm so thankful. And we have a long way to go, but working together, we will make our goal of $25.5 million over the next two years. And I'm excited to share that because of your generosity so far this year, we are currently 76% above last year's giving for the same point in the year. Now that kind of momentum, friends, that's worth celebrating. We're so encouraged by the growing participation that we're seeing across Plum Creek. So far this year, 291 people have visited the next table on the weekend, taking steps to learn more, ask questions, and engage with our vision. We've also seen 157 new givers begin practicing generosity this year. Through the month of June, we've seen an overall 9% increase in attendance, which is another reminder of why this vision matters so much. God is continuing to bring people to Plum Creek, and we want to be ready to welcome them. On the building side, we're continuing to move forward with our architect, our contractor, and the town. Our team has been working through an updated exterior design direction and the necessary processes and logistics that come with a project of this scale. While some of these steps may not feel highly visible at this point, they are critically important pieces of preparing well and stewarding this project with wisdom. But as always, you know our hearts. Next is now is ultimately about people. This month we're celebrating the life change happening through our global missions teams, serving in Honduras with one child at the Hope Center. As they come alongside children and families and these communities, we're reminded that the generosity that Pump Creek has is never limited to one building or one location. It creates opportunities for people here and literally all around the world to experience the hope of Jesus. And friends, that's why we give. That's why we pray. And that's why we keep taking these faithful steps together. So, church, thank you for continuing to believe in the vision of changed lives, changing lives, because your generosity is helping make room for more people to encounter Jesus, to take their next step, and experience the love of God in very tangible ways. So, will you please continue to pray with us for God's provision, for his wisdom, his guidance in each of our lives, and also for our church as we move forward into this season of Next Is Now. We're grateful to be on this journey together.

SPEAKER_01 22:42

If you're brand new, when you walk out into the lobby, you'll see a couple of tables. And on those tables, you'll see what we call the Next Is Now Vision Guide. I'd encourage you, grab a hold of that. Take it with you. It's a chance for you to see what all of us have stacked hands on in this season. But let me also give you just a few updates about families, about what's been happening in our growth of giving. You heard Pastor Doug talk about so many of these elements. Here's the reality. So many of us have been faithful. Because of your faithfulness, here we sit. Last year, check this out. In 2025, we had 151 people get baptized. Is that not amazing? 151. Now, in 2026, to this point, now we're only we're at the halfway point. 216 people have been baptized. It's unreal. Like God continues to grow and to seed. And I actually wanted to have Pastor Doug come and um talk to you a little bit about some of these things. Can you help me? Welcome, Pastor Doug. So I already gave him the baptism.

SPEAKER_00 23:57

Clearly, God is on the move, is he not? It's so fun to be part of what God is doing. And I've shared this with you before. Nice bear's hat, by the way. I've shared this with you before. Uh building buildings is not really my strong suit, but isn't it great that I and we together have a guy? And uh Eric and Bria are doing such an incredible job keeping us on track, keeping everything going, and uh helping us to know uh what all needs to be done as we're moving forward. So it's such a blessing to see that God is doing all the things that He is doing. And Eric's message today is super appropriate because it just reminds us that we're we're not building buildings for building's sake. That's not what this is about. Um, we never have been about a building. Back in the early days, we started in a movie theater, it wasn't even ours. We just need a home, a place to meet, right? And that's what we have here. And as Plum Creek continues to grow um and our community continues to grow, we just need to make room for people that need to know Jesus. Amen. So that's what this is about. It's really exciting to see all of the things that God is doing. We have 566 families and individuals that have made commitments to the next is now uh campaign. Isn't that amazing? Thank God for that. And uh as you heard in the video, we're making progress towards meeting our goal, but we have a long way to go together. And so, what I want to do is to encourage you to pray with me for everyone that's made a commitment to the campaign, that God will supernaturally move in very real ways, that we will sit back, our faith will grow as we watch and see what God is doing, uh both individually but also corporately. And there will be a day soon when we celebrate that this is done, and uh we'll have a great space to meet together and and uh know God will do his thing to continue to use this place we call home to help others uh to know about Jesus. And what I'm also really excited about is that this, friends, we're not just growing numerically, which this summer we've experienced historical growth, even in the summer, which is amazing for us. Um, but what also is happening is each of us are growing in our expression of following Jesus too. I'm so proud of what Pastor Eric and the team is doing to help us have these paths to walk on in what we've been calling our spiritual formation journeys. And what does it look like for you and me to be very focused on learning to follow the Jesus way and living that way? So I'm really excited for all the things that are happening at Plum Creek because it's not just numerical growth, it's also spiritual growth that's taking place in all of us. So stay super focused with that, and let's continue on this journey together to see what God would have in store for us in the future.

SPEAKER_01 26:38

Okay, I want you to pray in just a minute. But here's the question. Remember at the beginning, here's what I said I said, it is really easy to make something about something it isn't. And so, this has always been about people. This is the question we have to pray through as a faith community. The question is this God, how much more room do you want us to make for the people in this community who don't know you yet? That's it. That's the question. Because 20 years ago, there was just a few people that rented a room, filled it up, and people kept coming. And this is what you have to understand. We are not trying to build a bigger building, but we are trying to build a bigger family. Yeah. So will you pray?

SPEAKER_00 27:23

I will. I will. On your way out, if you haven't grabbed one of these, if you're new to Plum Creek, this will help you to know more about uh this next is now journey that we're on. And next week, listen, make sure you bring a lawn chair, get there early. And I was thinking this morning as I was praying, what a great opportunity you would have this week to just say to somebody that the Lord has put on your heart, maybe someone you've been praying for, could be a family member, a neighbor, or someone that you work with, uh someone from your school students to just say, Hey, listen, our church has a big celebration this weekend. We're 20 years old, and my pastor asked me to invite somebody. Would you come with? And what a great opportunity! Food trucks and a bunch of fun, and it'll be a great uh day together. Just drop that in your mind and heart, and maybe the Lord will help you cross paths with someone that you can invite with you next week. Will you stand to your feet? Father, we thank you so much for what you're doing in our church. What a joy to be part of a church that's thriving and where God is on the move and where we can sense and know your favor in such real ways. And so today, Father, we just pause to thank you for where we are. It's amazing to me that this has been happening now for 20 years, we've been gathering together. And the stories of what you've done so that we could see and experience and know life change are amazing. Lord, where folks have stepped across the line of faith, where just like today, folks got baptized and you've been working in marriages and you've been helping people to understand what it means to live the Jesus way. And we're so grateful. But Lord, we know we are not done. You have so many plans for us, and that means you have plans for each and every one of those that is here right now, worshiping in this room, and those that are worshiping at home too. And Lord, we pray that you will help us to be the catalyst of a true move of God in this valley and all over the world. So, Lord, for my friends that are on this journey with us, that have made commitments to this next is now campaign. I'm just asking for supernatural provision. I'm praying that for Beth and I too. Lord, I'm praying that that will even be part of our experience of growing in our faith, of how when we say yes to you, we can experience and see and know your favor on our life to help us to fulfill those commitments that we've made. And I'm trusting you, Lord, and Beth and I need that work in our lives too. And so, Lord, we're excited for what the future holds. But will you be honored as we continue to keep our eyes on you that this would never be about a building to us because it won't be, but it'll be about a space where people, just like Eric said today, can be invited into the family of God together. Lord, will you use us this week perhaps to invite somebody to come with us? And Lord, next week as we celebrate our anniversary together, Lord, we want your presence to fill that park in the name of Jesus. We love you so much. And all God's people said.

SPEAKER_01 30:19

Thanks again for listening. Our prayer is that this message encouraged and challenged you in your journey to follow Jesus. If you'd like to learn more about our church, please check us out online at plumcreek.church or if you find yourself within driving distance of Castle Rock, Colorado, we would be honored to see you in person on a weekend. So until next time, grace and peace in the name of Jesus.