WEBVTT 00:00:07.919 --> 00:00:11.439 Hey, I'm Steve Holt, the senior pastor of the Road at Chapel Hills. 00:00:11.519 --> 00:00:12.880 This is the Rudd Podcast. 00:00:13.039 --> 00:00:14.320 Thanks for joining us. 00:00:14.560 --> 00:00:17.600 My heart is to empower you to change the world. 00:00:17.760 --> 00:00:20.000 I hope this message impacts you. 00:00:20.160 --> 00:00:22.480 Here now is our guest speaker. 00:00:26.160 --> 00:00:29.679 So I grew up in a religious home. 00:00:30.320 --> 00:00:34.079 I even went to Christian school for many years. 00:00:34.240 --> 00:00:36.960 My family went to church every single week. 00:00:37.280 --> 00:00:51.679 But while I would have called myself a Christian, I can honestly say that I didn't have a personal relationship or friendship with Christ while I was growing up. 00:00:52.240 --> 00:01:12.400 After I graduated from high school, I began to ask questions in my own mind: is there more to life than just getting an education, getting a job, getting married, getting a minivan, getting a house in the suburbs, and retiring. 00:01:13.040 --> 00:01:23.760 In the summer of 1973, after my freshman year of college, I had a job outside doing manual labor, and I absolutely loved it. 00:01:24.079 --> 00:01:29.760 I also worked in the evening as the night manager of a restaurant here in town. 00:01:30.079 --> 00:01:36.799 Add in a girlfriend, lots of buddies to do things with on the weekends, and life was good. 00:01:37.840 --> 00:01:48.239 In the middle of that summer, I got really sick, ended up losing 20 pounds, a lot of my muscle, and I lost both my jobs. 00:01:48.799 --> 00:01:53.599 Then my girlfriend dumped me for no reason. 00:01:54.159 --> 00:01:56.799 And my friend stopped coming around. 00:01:57.120 --> 00:02:07.200 The only thing that would have made this complete, a complete country western song, is if the dog died and I wrecked a pickup. 00:02:10.000 --> 00:02:19.439 It was during that time that two of my sisters, one Patty, was here in the first service, my other Debbie, is looking online right now from Florida. 00:02:20.000 --> 00:02:22.000 They became religious. 00:02:22.319 --> 00:02:26.639 They began talking to me about my life and about heaven. 00:02:26.879 --> 00:02:29.919 And honestly, I thought they were nuts. 00:02:30.639 --> 00:02:33.919 I thought, oh my gosh, they're in some kind of a cult. 00:02:34.080 --> 00:02:35.520 Look, I got God. 00:02:35.840 --> 00:02:42.240 In fact, I even had a Bible on my dorm room desk, my freshman year of college. 00:02:42.400 --> 00:02:48.479 Now, I couldn't have told you Genesis from Revelation, but I knew it was a good book. 00:02:48.800 --> 00:02:58.719 So they just came around and they started nursing me back to health when everyone else abandoned me. 00:02:58.879 --> 00:02:59.199 Okay? 00:02:59.599 --> 00:03:05.840 Toward the end of that summer, I wanted to go to see a movie at the drive-in theater. 00:03:06.000 --> 00:03:08.639 Does anyone remember the Arcadia Drive-In? 00:03:09.039 --> 00:03:11.120 Colorado Springs, Platte Avenue. 00:03:11.199 --> 00:03:13.520 It's been gone for a number of years. 00:03:13.759 --> 00:03:16.879 Well, we went to see Playmisty for me. 00:03:17.439 --> 00:03:24.319 And my two sisters, who were religious, decided they didn't want to watch this amazing movie. 00:03:24.560 --> 00:03:35.520 They went up on the roof of my car and started doing whatever they do with their God, but it involved rocking like this and doing stuff. 00:03:35.840 --> 00:03:50.800 So, right at the point in the movie where Clint is about to get killed with a knife, the car's rocking like this, and in an instant I recognized and everything made sense. 00:03:51.120 --> 00:03:58.479 I reached my hand up through the open car window, grabbed theirs, and I became a Christian at that moment. 00:03:59.360 --> 00:04:03.759 Now, everything changed for me. 00:04:05.120 --> 00:04:13.039 I'm not sure many other people have a testimony that they were saved at a Clint Eastwood movie. 00:04:14.080 --> 00:04:16.319 But that's my testimony. 00:04:17.040 --> 00:04:23.759 I was still pretty messed up, but the trajectory of my life changed radically. 00:04:24.399 --> 00:04:30.720 I literally was going in a completely different direction than I was going to prior to that. 00:04:31.199 --> 00:04:47.680 Since that time, through many intentional relationships and daily devotional habit that's been going on for 49 years now, I am becoming the man that God intends me to be. 00:04:48.000 --> 00:04:53.439 I've entitled my message today, The Power of Community. 00:04:54.480 --> 00:04:58.480 So how many of you right now are involved in a community group? 00:04:58.639 --> 00:05:00.240 Let me see your hands. 00:05:00.560 --> 00:05:01.680 Yeah, good. 00:05:02.240 --> 00:05:11.040 How many of you would say that being in community is a vital part of your success in your life? 00:05:11.360 --> 00:05:12.240 Anyone? 00:05:13.199 --> 00:05:14.160 Thank you. 00:05:14.800 --> 00:05:36.079 A recent HHS study concluded that healthy relationships are a huge factor in people's physical health, their overall emotional and psychological health and well-being, and that healthy relationships actually positively impact outcomes in life. 00:05:36.879 --> 00:05:42.240 But we don't need multiple studies to tell us what we already know. 00:05:42.639 --> 00:05:57.199 Life is better when we're in community, when we belong, when we have bloodstained allies, when we feel connected with others, and when we have a purpose bigger than ourselves. 00:05:57.439 --> 00:06:05.040 Before we explore some of the strengths and the dynamics of community groups, let me set the stage a little bit. 00:06:05.600 --> 00:06:12.560 In the past couple of years, we've all seen storm clouds in our nation and really around the world, right? 00:06:13.519 --> 00:06:22.560 Perhaps we're experiencing a shaking right now, unlike anything we've experienced in our lives. 00:06:23.040 --> 00:06:42.240 We've seen a pandemic, we've seen lockdowns, we've seen masks, we've seen no masks, we've seen double masks, we've seen the silencing of dissent, therapeutics being suppressed, vaccines, vaccine mandates, vaccine injuries, and so much more. 00:06:42.879 --> 00:06:55.199 But perhaps the biggest tragedy that we're experiencing right now is a pandemic of fear that has gripped so many people's hearts and minds. 00:06:56.160 --> 00:07:03.040 The isolation, the separation, the loneliness, the lack of connection. 00:07:03.519 --> 00:07:08.240 We've seen an increase in suicides, especially among young people. 00:07:08.560 --> 00:07:09.920 Drug overdoses. 00:07:11.199 --> 00:07:14.000 We've seen people dying alone. 00:07:15.040 --> 00:07:16.639 That should never be. 00:07:16.959 --> 00:07:21.600 We've seen the erosion of some of our most cherished individual freedoms. 00:07:21.759 --> 00:07:25.519 And it's not just here in the US, it's all around the world. 00:07:25.839 --> 00:07:34.000 Recently, we've seen troops massing on the borders of some countries, and perhaps the drumbeats of war. 00:07:34.639 --> 00:07:41.439 Increasing inflation, economic challenges, supply chain disruptions, empty store shelves. 00:07:41.600 --> 00:07:48.319 We've seen the loss of trust in many of the institutions we thought we could count on. 00:07:48.879 --> 00:07:58.800 Government, media, corporations, big tech, pharma, education, the courts, and even in some areas, law enforcement. 00:07:59.120 --> 00:08:07.759 We've seen the splitting up of families, friends, even churches, over masks and vaccines and so many crazy things. 00:08:07.920 --> 00:08:12.480 You can't come over for Thanksgiving because you're not vaccinated. 00:08:13.120 --> 00:08:19.199 We can't show you our new baby because you were vaccinated and we're afraid you're going to shed on us. 00:08:20.240 --> 00:08:23.439 And we've seen just a general tension, haven't we? 00:08:23.759 --> 00:08:26.800 In the atmosphere almost. 00:08:26.959 --> 00:08:31.040 You go into a store, you feel the palpable tension. 00:08:31.920 --> 00:08:32.639 It's different. 00:08:32.799 --> 00:08:40.080 We're not treating each other the way we treated each other for many, many, many years with dignity and respect. 00:08:40.240 --> 00:08:42.159 A lot of people are on edge. 00:08:42.720 --> 00:08:44.480 It all sounds pretty dire. 00:08:44.559 --> 00:08:47.120 I get back to that country western song. 00:08:47.440 --> 00:08:59.360 But what do you suppose the shakings and the headlines were during the time of Noah when violence covered the face of the earth? 00:08:59.600 --> 00:09:06.399 Or how about the Egyptian slavery when slaughter of infants during Moses' birth? 00:09:06.720 --> 00:09:12.320 How about Nero's horrific torture and crucifixion of Christians? 00:09:12.639 --> 00:09:20.879 What about the black plague in the 1300s that killed over 75 million people across the globe? 00:09:21.279 --> 00:09:26.799 What about during the most bloody battles of the American Civil War? 00:09:27.360 --> 00:09:34.399 During World War II, concentration camps, the Holocaust, Hitler racing across Europe. 00:09:34.879 --> 00:09:44.559 What about King Herod, Pol Pot, Mao Cong, Stalin, and the murder of 10% of all living people under Genghis Khan? 00:09:45.759 --> 00:09:46.960 What's my point? 00:09:47.600 --> 00:09:52.480 Almost every generation has seen challenges and shakings. 00:09:52.799 --> 00:10:03.759 But the only refuge, the only stability, the only fortress has always been Almighty God. 00:10:04.639 --> 00:10:10.240 Whether we realize it or not, his kingdom is always advancing. 00:10:10.559 --> 00:10:13.759 His purposes will not be derailed. 00:10:14.000 --> 00:10:32.080 In fact, when nations conspire, when people plot evil things, when leaders gather together to throw off righteousness, Psalm 2 tells us the one enthroned in heaven laughs. 00:10:33.360 --> 00:10:36.559 That's how seriously he takes this stuff. 00:10:37.200 --> 00:10:39.279 He's got everything under control. 00:10:39.840 --> 00:10:43.519 And it isn't just shaking geopolitically or in society. 00:10:43.840 --> 00:10:45.840 What about personal shaking? 00:10:46.080 --> 00:10:50.720 Some of you are going right now through some very, very difficult things. 00:10:52.159 --> 00:10:59.279 I know in my own life I thought I have had times when I felt like my whole world was crumbling. 00:10:59.840 --> 00:11:12.559 When I lost a job, when I felt betrayed, misunderstood, taken advantage of, when I made huge mistakes, did stupid things, when I felt like I couldn't measure up. 00:11:13.200 --> 00:11:23.039 And I recently went through a period where the three most important men in my life died in about a three and a half year span. 00:11:23.279 --> 00:11:26.480 First, my dad, my first mentor, my hero. 00:11:27.039 --> 00:11:31.360 Then my father-in-law, who mentored me in business. 00:11:31.679 --> 00:11:39.279 And finally, about a year and a little over a year ago now, my year mentor for 20 years, Paul Stanley. 00:11:39.679 --> 00:11:43.360 You know, they say you need three legs on a stool to be stable. 00:11:43.600 --> 00:11:49.120 I got all three legs taken out in a short season of time. 00:11:50.399 --> 00:11:54.240 But you can fill in the your own, you can fill in the blank, right? 00:11:54.399 --> 00:11:56.080 For your own experience. 00:11:56.399 --> 00:12:08.480 Sometimes for me, my only refuge was reading the Psalms until I could find my voice in the heart of the psalmist. 00:12:09.519 --> 00:12:23.519 Other times, I remember just lying on my bed, holding my Bible close to my heart, hoping that somehow it would touch the areas of pain that I was experiencing. 00:12:23.919 --> 00:12:38.559 Healing always came for me through refocusing on eternity and through being in an authentic community where others just love me back to health. 00:12:38.720 --> 00:12:47.600 I remember one time, over 30 years ago now, I've just gotten married and I got a call on a Friday. 00:12:47.679 --> 00:12:49.519 I was sick and I didn't go into work. 00:12:49.679 --> 00:12:51.039 I got a call on a Friday. 00:12:51.200 --> 00:12:54.879 One of the guys that worked for me, I was supervising 12 people. 00:12:55.120 --> 00:13:00.960 He said, Jerry, I don't want you to be blindsided, but you no longer have a department. 00:13:02.720 --> 00:13:03.600 Okay, thank you. 00:13:03.759 --> 00:13:05.679 Thank you for letting me know that. 00:13:06.080 --> 00:13:12.480 Yeah, we had a new leader come in and he was getting rid of everybody that was there, you know, and you know the story. 00:13:13.200 --> 00:13:25.840 But my reaction was just incredibly a feeling of loss, a feeling of discouragement, disappointment, anger, rage, all of the above. 00:13:26.080 --> 00:13:33.200 And something told me that I needed to forgive, no matter what. 00:13:33.600 --> 00:13:41.200 I had a sense from Almighty God that this was absolutely critical somehow to my destiny. 00:13:41.759 --> 00:13:44.320 So I tried to forgive, couldn't do it. 00:13:44.559 --> 00:13:49.679 I got with my new bride, Denise, and I said, Honey, lay hands on my heart. 00:13:50.000 --> 00:13:54.240 The pain is so great right now, I can't even see straight. 00:13:54.480 --> 00:13:57.440 She prayed, God remove the pain. 00:13:57.759 --> 00:13:59.600 I purpose to forgive. 00:14:00.080 --> 00:14:03.039 Five minutes later, the pain was back. 00:14:03.279 --> 00:14:04.720 The anger was back. 00:14:04.960 --> 00:14:08.159 I say, honey, I need you to pray again. 00:14:08.799 --> 00:14:10.240 I can't forgive. 00:14:10.399 --> 00:14:12.240 I can't seem to get through this. 00:14:12.480 --> 00:14:13.440 She prayed again. 00:14:13.600 --> 00:14:14.960 I was able to forgive. 00:14:15.120 --> 00:14:21.360 Well, five minutes became an hour, became six hours, became 24 hours. 00:14:21.600 --> 00:14:26.559 By Monday morning, real forgiveness dropped into my heart. 00:14:26.720 --> 00:14:29.120 I'd never experienced it like that before. 00:14:29.279 --> 00:14:34.000 And I was able to pass what I call the King Supers test. 00:14:34.720 --> 00:14:41.360 And that's when you go into King Supers and you don't have to avoid any of the aisles. 00:14:42.240 --> 00:14:43.919 You know what I mean? 00:14:44.240 --> 00:14:48.240 See, shaking is a tremendous gift. 00:14:48.799 --> 00:14:51.200 It really is a tremendous gift. 00:14:51.519 --> 00:15:01.200 It dims the glamour of this world and it deepens our ability to appreciate Him. 00:15:02.240 --> 00:15:07.919 The first gift of shaking is Christ. 00:15:08.720 --> 00:15:09.200 As St. 00:15:09.440 --> 00:15:20.559 Patrick said, Christ on my right, Christ on my left, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ in my hands, Christ in my eyes. 00:15:21.039 --> 00:15:21.679 Christ. 00:15:23.360 --> 00:15:33.120 See, you can say in the midst of shaking, when everything has been shaking, on Christ, the solid rock, I stand. 00:15:34.159 --> 00:15:35.679 All other ground. 00:15:36.480 --> 00:15:38.240 Oh, what about my 401? 00:15:39.200 --> 00:15:40.799 All other ground. 00:15:41.200 --> 00:15:42.480 About my bank account? 00:15:42.799 --> 00:15:44.320 All other ground. 00:15:44.639 --> 00:15:48.080 How about the freedoms we cherish in this nation? 00:15:48.399 --> 00:15:50.159 All other ground. 00:15:50.399 --> 00:15:54.080 How about being rejected and despised for my faith? 00:15:54.399 --> 00:15:59.360 All other ground is sinking sand. 00:15:59.759 --> 00:16:18.720 The second gift I see in the midst of shaking that's available for each one of us is the gift of the possibility of real intimacy in relationships, real authenticity, real connection, real belonging. 00:16:19.440 --> 00:16:21.360 Isn't that what we all want? 00:16:22.639 --> 00:16:24.960 Isn't that what we're crying out for? 00:16:26.000 --> 00:16:28.960 Isn't that what the real pandemic is all about? 00:16:30.159 --> 00:16:33.840 I mean, we have friends on Facebook, but we don't have friends. 00:16:34.639 --> 00:16:39.200 We text back and forth, but people don't know our hearts. 00:16:39.360 --> 00:16:48.080 Listen, how many times do we come in here on Sunday morning, smile, shake people's hands, and go home alone and cry? 00:16:48.399 --> 00:16:57.440 Go home alone and deal with our sufferings, or turn to destructive habits that are going to do nothing but derail us. 00:16:58.639 --> 00:17:02.000 We're all crying out for community. 00:17:02.159 --> 00:17:04.319 We're all crying out to belong. 00:17:04.480 --> 00:17:07.680 We're all crying out for intimacy. 00:17:08.880 --> 00:17:14.400 God is building unshakable courage and strength into each one of us. 00:17:14.720 --> 00:17:19.920 He is fashioning us for partnership, divine partnership. 00:17:20.240 --> 00:17:26.000 We're being invited to join God for the adventure of a lifetime. 00:17:26.400 --> 00:17:29.359 His purposes will not be thwarted. 00:17:29.920 --> 00:17:38.799 God knows exactly what he's doing right now in your personal situations, in our nation and across the globe. 00:17:39.119 --> 00:17:41.759 He knows exactly what he's doing. 00:17:42.240 --> 00:17:51.599 He, the shaking and the shining of light into darkness, if you think about it, is really an answer to our prayers, isn't it? 00:17:52.559 --> 00:17:56.880 I remember two years ago crying out to God, God, shine your light. 00:17:57.119 --> 00:18:00.480 We got to understand there's all this going on, apparently. 00:18:00.720 --> 00:18:01.920 And guess what happened? 00:18:02.160 --> 00:18:02.720 He did that. 00:18:02.880 --> 00:18:04.240 He answered those prayers. 00:18:04.400 --> 00:18:06.079 And those prayers continue. 00:18:06.160 --> 00:18:10.720 And the revelations and the unfolding and the unpacking continues. 00:18:11.200 --> 00:18:16.000 I also remember praying the prayer in Psalm 139, the last verse. 00:18:16.240 --> 00:18:21.119 Search me, O God, know my heart, try me, know my thoughts. 00:18:21.440 --> 00:18:27.039 See if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in your way everlasting. 00:18:27.519 --> 00:18:32.079 So should we be surprised that we're in the midst of shaking? 00:18:33.359 --> 00:18:37.359 If you read the book of Haggai, chapter 2, it's promised. 00:18:37.519 --> 00:18:42.960 In fact, it says, everything that can be shaken will be shaken. 00:18:43.200 --> 00:18:48.319 The author of Hebrews picks up on that and continues that theme. 00:18:48.960 --> 00:18:54.160 That shaking is something that God gives us as a gift. 00:18:54.480 --> 00:19:01.839 So he can shake out everything that we rely on that's going to fail us anyway, guys. 00:19:02.079 --> 00:19:03.519 Why is he doing that? 00:19:03.759 --> 00:19:10.720 Because he then wants to shake us out as salt to a broken and to a dying world. 00:19:11.039 --> 00:19:13.359 So let shaking have its work. 00:19:13.519 --> 00:19:16.160 Let it have its work in each one of our hearts. 00:19:16.400 --> 00:19:22.480 And I believe that we're only in the middle hour of our shaking. 00:19:23.440 --> 00:19:25.519 I believe there's more, guys. 00:19:26.079 --> 00:19:27.359 I believe there's more. 00:19:28.240 --> 00:19:35.200 I believe the word that says everything that can be shaken will be shaken. 00:19:35.519 --> 00:19:38.799 So that which remains is unshakable. 00:19:39.359 --> 00:19:45.920 But God isn't just calling us to hold on and to survive. 00:19:46.640 --> 00:19:52.079 He is calling us in this hour to actually thrive. 00:19:52.400 --> 00:19:54.480 That's what he's calling us to. 00:19:55.039 --> 00:20:03.680 Turn with me, if you would, to Ecclesiastes chapter 4, and I'm going to be reading verses 9 through 12. 00:20:03.759 --> 00:20:05.519 It's also up on the screen. 00:20:05.839 --> 00:20:07.680 This is out of the NIV. 00:20:08.400 --> 00:20:12.559 Two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor. 00:20:12.880 --> 00:20:17.599 If either one of them falls down, one can help the other up. 00:20:17.920 --> 00:20:23.200 But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up. 00:20:23.440 --> 00:20:26.880 Also, if two lie down together, they'll keep warm. 00:20:27.119 --> 00:20:30.000 But how can one keep warm alone? 00:20:30.400 --> 00:20:34.640 Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. 00:20:34.880 --> 00:20:39.119 A cord of three strands is not easily broken. 00:20:39.599 --> 00:20:41.839 See, we battle together. 00:20:42.640 --> 00:20:45.279 We thrive together. 00:20:45.839 --> 00:20:47.759 We can't do it alone. 00:20:48.319 --> 00:20:51.119 And that's where community groups come in. 00:20:51.680 --> 00:20:55.039 Turn with me now, if you would, to Acts chapter 2. 00:20:55.279 --> 00:20:56.960 We're only going to look at one verse. 00:20:57.039 --> 00:20:59.440 That's Acts 2, verse 42. 00:20:59.759 --> 00:21:06.480 Early New Testament believers used all kinds of venues to preach, to teach, to evangelize. 00:21:06.640 --> 00:21:13.839 They used the temple courts, they used synagogues, marketplaces, government buildings, the countryside. 00:21:14.240 --> 00:21:22.720 Paul even rented a lecture hall for two years in Ephesus so he could teach every single day. 00:21:23.039 --> 00:21:34.319 But the predominant way that early church believers had fellowship was in small groups that met from house to house. 00:21:34.640 --> 00:21:39.680 It was rare that a house church was more than 15 or 20 people. 00:21:39.920 --> 00:21:40.319 Why? 00:21:40.559 --> 00:21:42.000 Homes were small. 00:21:42.319 --> 00:21:45.200 So when they got to that number, they would multiply. 00:21:45.279 --> 00:21:51.039 And there'd be churches in many, many, many, many homes across a city or a region. 00:21:51.920 --> 00:21:59.759 After Constantine legalized Christianity in 313 AD at the Council of Milan, we started. 00:22:00.000 --> 00:22:18.319 We start to see the proliferation of church buildings, but in every generation, the predominant way that Christians met for fellowship was house to house, especially during times of persecution. 00:22:19.039 --> 00:22:25.359 Could house churches be a critical necessity for all of us in the days ahead? 00:22:25.839 --> 00:22:27.680 Let's look at this verse. 00:22:28.400 --> 00:22:36.000 They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 00:22:36.880 --> 00:22:40.160 Community groups are built on four pillars. 00:22:40.400 --> 00:22:43.759 The first, the apostles' teaching. 00:22:44.319 --> 00:22:47.039 That's our plumb line for life. 00:22:48.000 --> 00:22:49.759 This is the word of God. 00:22:50.079 --> 00:22:57.039 This is the filter through which everything I see and experience must be run. 00:22:58.000 --> 00:23:10.640 The Greek word for teaching is the word ditache, and literally means sound doctrine or moral instruction on how to live. 00:23:11.200 --> 00:23:14.400 This might be going deeper with a Sunday sermon. 00:23:14.559 --> 00:23:27.359 It might be a book study or a Bible study, but it's digging into the apostles' teaching in order to know how to live and know how to live in a way that pleases God. 00:23:27.680 --> 00:23:37.519 In Matthew 24 and 25, Jesus warns us three times that as we approach the end of the age, deception will increase. 00:23:38.480 --> 00:23:43.279 Paul goes on to warn us of the same things and other New Testament writers as well. 00:23:43.440 --> 00:23:45.680 We see it everywhere today, don't we? 00:23:45.920 --> 00:23:47.680 People don't know what to believe. 00:23:47.920 --> 00:23:49.359 They don't know who to trust. 00:23:49.519 --> 00:23:54.240 They don't know which information, we don't know which information is accurate, which is not. 00:23:54.960 --> 00:24:00.799 Without the apostles' teaching, there's a good chance we can fall into deception. 00:24:01.440 --> 00:24:12.799 Community groups are a place to discuss, to process what's going on in the world in view of his eternal truth. 00:24:13.359 --> 00:24:16.160 That's how we become sons of Issachar. 00:24:17.279 --> 00:24:22.480 That's how we know the times and know what we need to do about them. 00:24:22.640 --> 00:24:27.279 It's in the context of community that we learn that. 00:24:27.599 --> 00:24:41.200 You could also look at this as a greenhouse, a place for receiving water, nutrients, sunlight, fertilizer, and tending for the purposes of growth to maturity and bearing fruit. 00:24:41.519 --> 00:24:55.279 Maybe you want to look at it as an army, a place to allow the Word of God to equip us for war, to prepare us to slay giants and to subdue kingdoms. 00:24:55.599 --> 00:25:05.039 The second pillar we see in Acts 2.42 in the context of community is fellowship. 00:25:05.440 --> 00:25:14.799 And that's the word koinania, which means partnership, shared vision, community, and belonging. 00:25:15.680 --> 00:25:17.680 That's enjoying each other. 00:25:18.079 --> 00:25:24.559 Just enjoying each other's company, sharing life together, bearing each other's burdens. 00:25:24.880 --> 00:25:28.960 You know, life has a way of chewing every one of us up at times, right? 00:25:29.279 --> 00:25:38.400 So you could also think of this as a hospital, a place for acute care to mend, to be restored. 00:25:38.720 --> 00:25:48.160 I also like to think of it as a furnace, a place for refining, for forging, and for fanning into flame. 00:25:48.799 --> 00:25:54.079 The third pillar of community groups is breaking of bread. 00:25:54.240 --> 00:26:15.519 Now, this word in the Greek is the word artos, which is used interestingly in context in the New Testament for both bread, it means bread, but it's used in the context of sharing a meal, and it's also used in the context of the Lord's Supper. 00:26:16.079 --> 00:26:19.119 So it has both meanings for us. 00:26:19.599 --> 00:26:22.799 And that's part of what goes on in small group. 00:26:23.200 --> 00:26:32.640 I know as I was working, one of the things I tried to do almost every day is have either breakfast and or lunch, sometimes both, with an individual. 00:26:32.799 --> 00:26:33.200 Why? 00:26:33.359 --> 00:26:40.559 Because you could get past the surface stuff if you were dealing, even in complex negotiations, it didn't matter. 00:26:40.720 --> 00:26:46.720 There was something about breaking bread that changed the dynamic and the atmosphere. 00:26:48.079 --> 00:26:51.119 The Bible says iron sharpens iron. 00:26:52.319 --> 00:26:56.079 That we're to spur one another on to love and good works. 00:26:56.640 --> 00:27:02.160 The fourth pillar we see in community is prayer. 00:27:02.720 --> 00:27:07.039 It may be the most important part of our gathering together. 00:27:07.279 --> 00:27:10.559 Listen, all of us are going through stuff. 00:27:10.880 --> 00:27:12.640 Maybe a lot of the time. 00:27:13.440 --> 00:27:16.559 Maybe behind that smile there's a lot of pain. 00:27:17.519 --> 00:27:22.720 This is where we bring those things together to the Father. 00:27:24.000 --> 00:27:32.319 And in the context of his presence, sitting at his feet, we find healing. 00:27:32.559 --> 00:27:33.759 We find rest. 00:27:34.000 --> 00:27:34.400 Why? 00:27:34.640 --> 00:27:35.839 So we can be happy? 00:27:36.079 --> 00:27:36.400 No. 00:27:36.799 --> 00:27:42.319 So we can be equipped to do what God's calling each one of us to do. 00:27:42.720 --> 00:27:47.279 Community groups in this context, I think, can also be a launching pad. 00:27:47.920 --> 00:27:55.599 And that's where we launch each other in a sense of commissioning into destiny. 00:27:56.640 --> 00:28:13.359 So the outcome of being a hospital, a greenhouse, a furnace, an armory, and a launching pad is to build worshipers and warriors that have a wholehearted love for Almighty God and for people. 00:28:14.720 --> 00:28:28.559 And if I can use Isaiah, I'm sorry, Daniel chapter 11, verse 32, to know their God, to be strong, and to do exploits. 00:28:28.720 --> 00:28:30.880 That's taking it to the streets. 00:28:31.119 --> 00:28:40.240 That's discipling families, discipling neighborhoods, discipling cities, discipling nations, fulfilling the Great Commission. 00:28:41.200 --> 00:28:49.440 I want to read an excerpt from a book that I really highly recommend, written by Rod Greer, called Live Not by Lies. 00:28:50.240 --> 00:28:57.599 The title of this book is taken from Alexander Solsenichin's last essay to the Russian people. 00:28:58.079 --> 00:29:10.640 And what he postulated in that writing was it is possible to resist the lies and in fact resist tyranny. 00:29:10.880 --> 00:29:12.880 You don't have to just be quiet. 00:29:13.039 --> 00:29:14.559 You don't have to shut up. 00:29:14.799 --> 00:29:17.200 You don't have to cower in fear. 00:29:17.519 --> 00:29:24.960 But it's not only possible, I would suggest to you that it's necessary that we stand up in this hour. 00:29:25.119 --> 00:29:29.279 What is this rallying call with everything that we're doing right now? 00:29:29.519 --> 00:29:39.200 When the political arena, with Haim and many of you that are supporting that effort, and in every other arena, we're taking it to the streets. 00:29:40.319 --> 00:29:52.160 Rod Dreer interviewed many individuals who suffered in Soviet totalitarianism for many, many decades. 00:29:52.319 --> 00:29:58.240 And it's interesting the themes that he saw that developed as he went through that. 00:29:58.400 --> 00:30:04.480 One of the themes, he talks a lot about totalitarianism, even soft totalitarianism. 00:30:04.720 --> 00:30:09.839 And he talks about how the goals are to set up oppressor and oppressed. 00:30:10.000 --> 00:30:15.359 The goals are to atomize us, separate us, get us alone, get us isolated. 00:30:15.759 --> 00:30:25.200 The goals are to eradicate faith, and to the extent we resist those lies, they can't win. 00:30:25.759 --> 00:30:26.079 Okay? 00:30:26.480 --> 00:30:29.920 Let me read to you just a paragraph from this book. 00:30:30.079 --> 00:30:40.400 I'm reading from page 169, where he's talking about an encounter he had with somebody who was under totalitarianism. 00:30:40.640 --> 00:30:42.799 The guy's name was Frantic Mitsko. 00:30:43.440 --> 00:30:49.599 He was now in his 70s, was the central leader of the second wave of the Slavic Underground Church. 00:30:49.839 --> 00:30:58.960 When we met for lunch in Bratzvelya Restaurant, he is quick to offer advice for the current generation of Christians. 00:30:59.440 --> 00:31:03.839 Right now, he says, it's harder to tell who the enemy is. 00:31:04.079 --> 00:31:17.599 I tell them that what is crucial is to stay true to yourself, true to your conscience, and also be in community with other like-minded people who share the faith. 00:31:17.920 --> 00:31:21.680 We were saved by small communities. 00:31:22.079 --> 00:31:28.000 He told us that they, the communists, could take everything from us. 00:31:28.160 --> 00:31:35.359 They could take our samizdat, and that was where they didn't have printing presses, they didn't have the word of God. 00:31:35.519 --> 00:31:40.720 They would handwrite little pieces on scraps and keep it and cherish it. 00:31:40.799 --> 00:31:43.279 He said, you can take all of that if you want. 00:31:43.519 --> 00:31:54.240 You can even take our opportunity to publicly speak, but we can't let them take our small communities. 00:31:54.480 --> 00:31:56.319 That was the lifeline. 00:31:56.480 --> 00:31:58.799 That's how they survived. 00:31:58.960 --> 00:32:10.000 Now, I'm not suggesting that the only reason to be in a community group is to survive the storm clouds we see in the world today. 00:32:10.319 --> 00:32:16.720 Yes, we need each other to counter the lies and the deception that's all around us. 00:32:17.039 --> 00:32:20.720 We need each other to resist tyranny. 00:32:21.039 --> 00:32:26.799 We need each other to grow and become everything God intends us to be. 00:32:27.200 --> 00:32:42.079 William Wilberforce's Clapham Society, Bonhoeffer's small group community are all examples of the power of standing against tyranny and evil through the strength of community. 00:32:42.640 --> 00:32:55.920 But regardless of what happens in this pivot year of 2022, the real reason for being in community is that community is God's way. 00:32:57.279 --> 00:33:00.160 Relationship is God's way. 00:33:00.720 --> 00:33:09.119 The Bible is replete with examples of the power of community in both good times and tough times. 00:33:09.440 --> 00:33:14.079 God does everything in the context of relationships. 00:33:14.400 --> 00:33:17.920 He never intended us to be Lone Rangers. 00:33:18.240 --> 00:33:23.599 We need each other to be all that God is calling us to be. 00:33:24.559 --> 00:33:33.599 When my son Jonathan went off to college, he had been homeschooled all the way through high school, I shared with him just a couple of things. 00:33:33.839 --> 00:33:44.799 I said, Jonathan, number one, my heart for you is that you learn how to think, not what to think. 00:33:45.680 --> 00:33:58.880 My heart for you is that everything you're going to be exposed to, this was a Christian liberal arts college, everything that you're going to be exposed to runs through this filter. 00:33:59.200 --> 00:34:05.680 And you learn how to think in the midst of everything that is going to be bombarding you. 00:34:05.920 --> 00:34:15.440 The second thing I asked him to consider doing was to get his PhD in relationships. 00:34:16.559 --> 00:34:19.360 Learn how to be in healthy relationships. 00:34:19.599 --> 00:34:20.960 People are going to let you down. 00:34:21.119 --> 00:34:22.559 People are going to disappoint you. 00:34:22.719 --> 00:34:24.559 People are going to backstab you. 00:34:24.800 --> 00:34:28.000 Things are going to not be as you always thought they were. 00:34:28.320 --> 00:34:31.679 Maybe when you're going through a difficult time, you're going to be alone. 00:34:32.079 --> 00:34:34.719 You know, the country western song again. 00:34:35.280 --> 00:34:38.320 Learn how to be in healthy relationships. 00:34:38.639 --> 00:34:46.480 Do you know that most missionaries leave the mission field because they can't get along with other missionaries? 00:34:47.039 --> 00:34:49.280 It's why families break up. 00:34:49.519 --> 00:34:51.599 It's why churches break up. 00:34:52.079 --> 00:34:55.840 It's why wars in many cases start. 00:34:56.320 --> 00:35:01.440 Because we've never learned the art of being in relationship with each other. 00:35:02.159 --> 00:35:11.199 See, community groups are a safe place to get offended and to work through it. 00:35:12.880 --> 00:35:19.280 Community groups are a safe place to become disappointed and rise above it. 00:35:19.599 --> 00:35:21.199 This is great stuff. 00:35:21.519 --> 00:35:31.280 Community groups are a great place, listen to this, to experience betrayal and forgive your way into destiny. 00:35:32.400 --> 00:35:36.480 Just like the story I shared with you a few minutes ago. 00:35:37.360 --> 00:35:49.679 From that moment on, by the way, after I chose to forgive and it dropped into my heart with that boss, the trajectory of my entire career changed. 00:35:50.639 --> 00:35:52.159 Something broke. 00:35:52.639 --> 00:35:54.559 I didn't even know what it was. 00:35:55.039 --> 00:36:05.280 But God in his mercy and my beautiful wife with her prayer made all the difference because everything changed. 00:36:05.440 --> 00:36:09.519 Things were broken because of the power of forgiveness. 00:36:09.760 --> 00:36:12.639 And guys, we're all messed up. 00:36:13.199 --> 00:36:13.760 We are. 00:36:13.920 --> 00:36:16.639 Look, I've been a Christian for 49 years. 00:36:17.519 --> 00:36:21.360 Seems like I still repent every single day of something, right? 00:36:21.920 --> 00:36:24.559 That I did, thought, or whatever, right? 00:36:25.199 --> 00:36:28.639 And you start to put us all together, and guess what? 00:36:29.440 --> 00:36:31.039 We have to learn how to forgive. 00:36:31.199 --> 00:36:38.960 My wife and children and I, every Saturday for many, many, many years, took time to have holy communion together. 00:36:39.199 --> 00:36:49.039 And when we were doing that, it wasn't just some perfunctory exercise we went through because it seemed like a good thing to do, and it was another notch on our Bible. 00:36:49.360 --> 00:36:57.920 We did that because we recognized that during the week we were probably going to be picking up offenses with each other. 00:36:58.960 --> 00:37:09.440 And instead of using offense to allow the enemy to derail our lives, we chose to use offense as an opportunity to grow. 00:37:09.679 --> 00:37:11.280 So what was communion? 00:37:11.519 --> 00:37:14.079 It was, I did this this week. 00:37:14.239 --> 00:37:15.440 I ask you to forgive me. 00:37:15.519 --> 00:37:17.519 I want to restore your heart. 00:37:17.840 --> 00:37:24.400 And then we partook of the body and the blood, where there's great power for each one of us. 00:37:24.639 --> 00:37:29.679 See, it's never what happens to us that's important. 00:37:29.840 --> 00:37:34.159 I don't care how difficult it is, and we've all been through a lot. 00:37:34.559 --> 00:37:46.239 It's always how we navigate what happens to us that determines whether or not we reach the destiny that God intends us to reach. 00:37:46.480 --> 00:37:48.400 That's where we're forged. 00:37:48.639 --> 00:37:54.880 And it's almost always in the context of community that God does it. 00:37:55.599 --> 00:37:58.239 So let me ask you one question. 00:37:58.639 --> 00:38:00.320 What's holding you back? 00:38:01.679 --> 00:38:06.079 What's holding you back from being in community? 00:38:06.639 --> 00:38:10.000 I'm not talking about just meeting Sunday morning at church. 00:38:10.239 --> 00:38:13.199 I'm not talking about just go into a group. 00:38:13.280 --> 00:38:27.360 I'm talking about authentic, real, heartfelt, bear each other burdens, spur each other on to loving good works, forgive each other when it gets messy, helping people get through jams. 00:38:28.159 --> 00:38:30.719 What's holding you back from that? 00:38:31.280 --> 00:38:33.039 Here's my challenge. 00:38:33.840 --> 00:38:38.719 I would love for you to prayerfully consider going to the Rhodes website. 00:38:39.519 --> 00:38:42.239 We still have several groups that are open. 00:38:42.480 --> 00:38:44.320 They're filling fast though. 00:38:45.119 --> 00:38:49.599 Just email the leaders and coordinate with them. 00:38:49.920 --> 00:38:59.280 See, guys, we are on the cusp of perhaps the greatest revival and awakening in world history. 00:38:59.599 --> 00:39:01.119 We're on the cusp of that. 00:39:01.440 --> 00:39:07.519 God wants to enlist each one of us in his army. 00:39:07.920 --> 00:39:10.079 He wants us to be generals. 00:39:10.400 --> 00:39:17.360 I was telling Steve a few weeks ago when we were doing the Arise and Shine event, that baptism on Tuesday night. 00:39:17.599 --> 00:39:25.199 I said, I have a vision in my mind that one day we're going to need to do that every week. 00:39:25.599 --> 00:39:26.960 And maybe more often. 00:39:27.119 --> 00:39:33.760