WEBVTT 00:00:00.400 --> 00:00:02.879 Welcome to the Lookout Weekly Podcast. 00:00:03.040 --> 00:00:14.880 The Church of the Lookout is in the hold of Colorado, and our vision is Jesus abiding in his presence, growing in his family, and living on his mission to transform the world with all inspiring love. 00:00:15.119 --> 00:00:18.320 Visit us online at the lookout.church. 00:00:20.719 --> 00:00:24.079 Alright, if you have your Bibles with you, open up to Mark chapter 3. 00:00:24.160 --> 00:00:25.760 That's where we're going to start today. 00:00:27.280 --> 00:00:36.640 If you are new to the lookout, or if you've just been a little sporadic, okay, we've been in a series called Formed. 00:00:37.439 --> 00:00:45.920 And uh and and the big idea in this series has to do with this statement here. 00:00:46.079 --> 00:00:48.640 You're always being formed by something. 00:00:49.439 --> 00:00:52.719 The question is not if, but by what and into whom. 00:00:52.880 --> 00:00:56.079 And we're living in a world where nothing is neutral. 00:00:56.560 --> 00:00:59.359 You are flowing one way or another way. 00:00:59.759 --> 00:01:05.680 And all of us in this room are byproducts, so to speak, of we've been formed into certain kinds of people. 00:01:05.760 --> 00:01:09.200 Now, certainly when we put our faith in Jesus, he empowers us with his spirit. 00:01:09.280 --> 00:01:12.719 We've been given the divine nature, as Peter would say. 00:01:13.040 --> 00:01:18.560 But part of our responsibility is to cooperate and participate with the work of God in our lives. 00:01:18.719 --> 00:01:27.519 And that's why Paul in Romans chapter 12 he says, do not be conformed to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by what? 00:01:27.760 --> 00:01:29.359 The renewing of your mind. 00:01:29.680 --> 00:01:32.959 And it was all in the context of worship and offering your body's worship. 00:01:33.040 --> 00:01:39.280 So it's this whole life thing that we're participating in and being formed into the image of Christ. 00:01:39.920 --> 00:01:46.799 And every generation has to learn how to faithfully follow Jesus amidst the pressures, the forces, and the temptations of our day. 00:01:46.879 --> 00:01:56.079 And so last week we talked about this in the context of one of our values here and our intentions is to be the kind of people who abide in the presence of God. 00:01:56.159 --> 00:01:58.879 It's part of our vision statement, abiding in his presence. 00:01:59.280 --> 00:02:03.120 It's part of being living an attentive life to the fact that God is with us. 00:02:03.200 --> 00:02:12.240 And so to live an attentive life where we're present with God and we're aware of his presence, we actually have to give ourselves to a way of life that makes room for that. 00:02:12.400 --> 00:02:14.960 And so we talked a little bit about three things last week. 00:02:15.120 --> 00:02:22.080 One was pres or one was scripture and a daily diet of nourishing ourselves in the Word of God. 00:02:22.159 --> 00:02:30.240 We talked about a prayerful lifestyle, not just on our way to work, but just like a way of returning to God in prayer throughout the day. 00:02:30.479 --> 00:02:36.000 And then we talked about Sabbath keeping, a way of actually having sacred time in the course of our week. 00:02:36.080 --> 00:02:38.800 That it's we're actually pulling back from our work. 00:02:38.879 --> 00:02:41.039 We're learning how to rest and delight in Him. 00:02:41.120 --> 00:02:41.599 All right. 00:02:41.759 --> 00:02:44.240 Um, Katie Hammond, are you in the room? 00:02:44.479 --> 00:02:45.439 Okay, come on up. 00:02:45.520 --> 00:02:46.400 Everybody, welcome Katie. 00:02:46.639 --> 00:02:57.680 She, I was talking with Katie this last week about like, okay, we're talking about actually giving ourselves to practices that subject us to the love of God. 00:02:57.759 --> 00:03:00.240 And what does it look like for a mom of toddlers? 00:03:00.319 --> 00:03:02.159 And here's what Katie has to say. 00:03:03.520 --> 00:03:18.800 Um, yeah, I mean, so we've been going through this series, and really I would say over the past two years, I've been in a season where the Lord has been like stripping things back, and we're homeschooling this year, which I never thought that I would do. 00:03:18.960 --> 00:03:27.680 But the whole heart behind it has been the Lord said that we need to like reestablish the relationship in our home. 00:03:27.919 --> 00:03:38.400 And even I've been challenged in this in this series with okay, what is forming me and how really how am I forming my kids? 00:03:38.560 --> 00:03:42.400 Which as parents we all deal with that on a regular basis, right? 00:03:42.879 --> 00:03:56.400 So um, yeah, I mean, really, it's I was reading Romans last night and just thinking about the freedom and the the ease that comes with when we are being formed by Jesus. 00:03:56.639 --> 00:04:05.280 Like our day, I start my day, just this has been something I'm it's still a work in progress, so bear with me. 00:04:05.680 --> 00:04:06.800 Who knows where it'll go? 00:04:06.960 --> 00:04:18.800 But I've been starting my day with the Lektio 365, like I just put it on before I even get out of bed, and just like kind of start my day in that zone. 00:04:19.040 --> 00:04:28.720 Um so everybody knows in case you don't know what that means, Lactio 365 is a it's an app you can get on your phone, but basically it's guided prayers like through morning, noon, and night. 00:04:28.879 --> 00:04:34.800 So it's a really awesome resource if you just want to be led in a time of prayer and scripture reflection. 00:04:36.319 --> 00:04:41.040 Yeah, so I I start my day and then I also end my day with that. 00:04:41.199 --> 00:04:46.879 Like even when the house is asleep, I put on some headphones and I lay there in my bed and I just listen to it. 00:04:47.120 --> 00:04:54.240 So starting and ending my day with with the Lord, with scripture, with just this time of presence, really. 00:04:54.560 --> 00:05:10.879 Um, but even as I've been going through my day with my kids, I think I used to be in this mindset of we gotta go, we gotta do this, I gotta cook food, I gotta, and I'm I don't know, I think I'm just learning how to delight in in my kids. 00:05:11.040 --> 00:05:33.759 I I was praying recently and I feel like the Lord, he's like, I like he was reminding me how he likes to delight in us, but we also get to delight in him, and that comes with for me through just enjoying my kids and you know, putting on worship music and spontaneous dance, or we're singing in the car, or for me, worship is dance. 00:05:33.920 --> 00:05:57.360 Like when I am dancing, that is my art, that is my canvas, like being able to move, so um, incorporating those things into my day, and then even long term, I the series has uh challenged me with I've always loved to travel, but I it's always been like a someday, one day, whenever. 00:05:57.759 --> 00:06:06.800 And the series just in and of itself has been like, all right, like Lord, I believe you have things for us to experience that are not just here in Colorado. 00:06:07.040 --> 00:06:13.360 So my mom and I started planning a trip so that we can, you know, go and experience the world together. 00:06:13.519 --> 00:06:27.759 So yeah, like I say, it's a work in progress, but but learning how to yeah, learning how to to to actually live into things that bring you into the delight of God and the love of God and and doing that as a mom, which is not easy, right? 00:06:28.000 --> 00:06:41.680 Well, yeah, but but I think it's true what you've been preaching on, like when you're coming with that heart of choosing what is right, like Mary was choosing instead of doing the Martha, like do do do do do. 00:06:42.160 --> 00:06:57.600 I think the even the logistics of cooking food, everything, like there's an ease when you're doing it from being formed by God and being in the presence of this is something I get to delight in and enjoy. 00:06:58.079 --> 00:07:02.079 There is an ease in that, and I think that's that's the freedom of the gospel, right? 00:07:02.160 --> 00:07:03.839 So amen. 00:07:03.920 --> 00:07:04.480 Thank you, Katie. 00:07:04.720 --> 00:07:05.279 Thank you, guys. 00:07:05.360 --> 00:07:06.480 Give it up for Katie. 00:07:08.879 --> 00:07:13.519 So we're all we're all learning how to live into this and actually organize our lives around the love of God. 00:07:13.600 --> 00:07:18.000 And so we're gonna talk a little bit about today the second part, which is the family of God. 00:07:18.079 --> 00:07:31.439 So abiding in the presence of God, living in the family of God, growing in the family of God is one of our things here at the lookout that um that we believe both shapes us into Christ's likeness and actually pleases his heart, right? 00:07:31.519 --> 00:07:34.160 So Mark Mark 3, 31. 00:07:35.120 --> 00:07:42.240 Let's read this together, and then um, and then we'll go from here. 00:07:44.480 --> 00:07:56.240 And his mother and his brothers came, and standing outside, they sent to him and called him, and a crowd was sitting around him, and they said to him, Your mother and your brothers are outside seeking you. 00:07:56.480 --> 00:08:00.000 And he answered them, Who are my mother and my brothers? 00:08:00.240 --> 00:08:06.240 And looking about at those who sat around him, he said, Here are my mother and my brothers. 00:08:06.560 --> 00:08:13.839 For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother. 00:08:14.000 --> 00:08:15.839 This is the word of the Lord. 00:08:16.079 --> 00:08:17.279 Thanks, be to God. 00:08:17.439 --> 00:08:21.920 So when we talk about the family of God, it's important that we know what we're talking about. 00:08:22.079 --> 00:08:31.199 Um, some of some of us, our church experience has been nothing more than, you know, fragmented, kind of interspersed community, but just maybe shallow relationships. 00:08:31.279 --> 00:08:35.919 Maybe you hear the word family and you don't have a great reference point if you look at your own family. 00:08:36.000 --> 00:08:42.080 Like, I don't know if I want what my family is to actually be true of my church experience as well, because that wasn't good or healthy. 00:08:42.240 --> 00:08:46.159 So we have to kind of reframe what Jesus uh what we're talking about. 00:08:46.320 --> 00:09:04.399 And and in this particular passage, Jesus and Jesus is sitting with his disciples, and his mother and brothers are literally outside looking for him, and uh and they're they're asking for him, and and so he uses as an opportunity for those listening to say, well, what what are we actually talking about? 00:09:04.559 --> 00:09:09.759 Because those who do the will of God, that's actually my mother and my brother and my sisters, right? 00:09:10.399 --> 00:09:13.679 Those are the ones who are part of this new family that I'm creating. 00:09:13.759 --> 00:09:15.440 And here's here's really the important point. 00:09:15.519 --> 00:09:19.600 He wasn't saying that our families are not important anymore. 00:09:19.759 --> 00:09:23.120 Jesus did not abolish our definition of family. 00:09:23.200 --> 00:09:24.240 He actually widens it. 00:09:24.480 --> 00:09:26.559 What he does is he widens our definition of family. 00:09:26.720 --> 00:09:36.559 So when we come into uh when we come into the faith, he's saying, like, listen, your your mindset is no longer just you and your little your little tribe, whatever that looks like. 00:09:36.720 --> 00:09:46.720 You are now given to this spiritual, eternal, universal, historical, global family that we call the church. 00:09:46.879 --> 00:09:52.000 Um and uh and and and and we have different experiences of that over time. 00:09:52.559 --> 00:09:57.919 And what Jesus is saying is whoever does the will of God is part of this new spiritual community. 00:09:58.000 --> 00:09:58.799 So what does that mean? 00:09:58.879 --> 00:10:12.080 That means the church is not an event you attend, the church is not a building you go to, the church is a spiritual family adopted by the Father through the work of Jesus and in the power of the Holy Spirit. 00:10:12.159 --> 00:10:13.679 That is his ideal, right? 00:10:13.840 --> 00:10:15.679 Now, we we get bits and tastes of this. 00:10:15.759 --> 00:10:18.159 I remember this, I experienced this in a different way. 00:10:18.320 --> 00:10:26.399 About 20 years ago when I was in Africa, um, I uh we spent some time in Rwanda, my wife and I, and a whole team of people. 00:10:26.559 --> 00:10:35.679 And at the end of the trip, there was one young man that we uh come to really enjoy, and we just felt like the need, the desire to be generous towards him and just to leave him a gift. 00:10:35.759 --> 00:10:42.960 And so my wife had this digital camera, cutting edge canon power shot, five megapixels, right? 00:10:43.200 --> 00:10:48.879 Um, and at the end of the trip, she said, you know, to this young man Martin, she said, we want you to have this camera. 00:10:49.200 --> 00:10:52.639 And we thought, we're like, nah, that's a that's a great gift, that's a great parting gift. 00:10:52.799 --> 00:11:02.720 But for him, it was like life-changing, so much so that he decided to change his middle name to Humbrecht. 00:11:03.200 --> 00:11:09.039 So on your Facebook to this day, 20 years later, Martin Humbrecht, Bigigiza, all right? 00:11:09.600 --> 00:11:17.039 And uh, and it was so moving to him, and it was it was one of those things we we found out like, oh my gosh, like he he feels a part of us now. 00:11:17.120 --> 00:11:22.000 It's like we gave him a canon power shot, and he says, I will pledge my life to you, you know. 00:11:22.879 --> 00:11:24.960 Every anything at your service. 00:11:25.120 --> 00:11:29.200 Um, and I'm like, dude, it's it's just a digital camera. 00:11:29.440 --> 00:11:31.440 It's okay, you don't need to change your name. 00:11:31.600 --> 00:11:37.679 But something moved in him, like I'm like we're a part of each other now, like we're part of a family, like we share something. 00:11:37.759 --> 00:11:47.039 I remember just feeling like, oh my gosh, how crazy! And now I just tell people that we adopted a 40-year-old man in Africa, and he's my adopted brother in Africa. 00:11:47.200 --> 00:11:48.399 We always have a home to go to. 00:11:48.559 --> 00:11:54.080 So, but there's something that happens when you come into family, it's almost like you're taking on the same last name. 00:11:54.240 --> 00:12:06.080 And this is what Paul talks about in Ephesians 2, and he says, So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God. 00:12:07.120 --> 00:12:15.120 So you're no longer strangers, this something supernatural has taken place. 00:12:17.200 --> 00:12:20.080 And now you are actually members of a household. 00:12:20.320 --> 00:12:29.919 There's there's a new family, just like we were saying, we were born into a family because his blood flows through our veins. 00:12:30.080 --> 00:12:32.480 And so, what did this look like for the early church? 00:12:33.759 --> 00:12:38.240 They responded emphatically to this new community. 00:12:38.480 --> 00:12:48.399 As what happened was as Jesus resurrected from the dead, spent time with his disciples, and then he ascended into heaven. 00:12:48.799 --> 00:12:52.960 And before he ascended, he said, Hey, go wait for the promise of the Holy Spirit. 00:12:53.840 --> 00:12:57.200 Go back to Jerusalem, bunker down, hunker down. 00:12:58.080 --> 00:12:59.120 And and they did so. 00:12:59.279 --> 00:13:03.039 They waited, and the Holy Spirit came upon all of the believers. 00:13:03.679 --> 00:13:08.639 This beautiful uh outpouring in Acts chapter 2. 00:13:08.879 --> 00:13:11.279 And it's what we would know as the birth of the church. 00:13:11.360 --> 00:13:13.919 That's where the church was birthed, right? 00:13:14.720 --> 00:13:27.279 And and immediately we start to get into the in the same chapter, we start to get to what, like as soon as the church was birthed in the power of the Holy Spirit for the first time, and something shifted fundamentally. 00:13:27.440 --> 00:13:29.679 What were their first inclinations? 00:13:30.080 --> 00:13:31.360 What were their first habits? 00:13:31.440 --> 00:13:32.879 What was their way of life that we see? 00:13:33.120 --> 00:13:36.559 What were the natural things that came up as they were responding to this new life? 00:13:36.639 --> 00:13:39.279 This is what we read in Acts 2, 42 through 47. 00:13:39.440 --> 00:13:41.519 Some of you know exactly what I'm talking about. 00:13:42.559 --> 00:13:44.480 Acts 2.42, it says this. 00:13:45.039 --> 00:14:06.960 And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers, and awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles, and all who believed were together and had all things in common. 00:14:07.519 --> 00:14:12.879 And they were selling their possessions and belonging and distributing the proceeds to all as any had need. 00:14:13.519 --> 00:14:29.919 And day by day attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people, and the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved. 00:14:30.159 --> 00:14:32.000 Come on, somebody say amen. 00:14:33.919 --> 00:14:36.399 See, this is like kind of the high water mark. 00:14:37.039 --> 00:14:47.360 Like when you talk about the vision of what a community can be, these believers were just living in nobody, we don't we don't get a sense that they were instructed to do any of these things. 00:14:47.440 --> 00:14:48.399 There was a natural thing. 00:14:48.480 --> 00:14:56.639 Some of them carried the practices over from their um their Jewish tradition into their new life with their new Messiah. 00:14:56.879 --> 00:14:58.240 So these are just natural things. 00:14:58.320 --> 00:14:59.279 They were already doing it. 00:14:59.360 --> 00:15:01.600 Now they're doing it in the presence of Christ. 00:15:02.159 --> 00:15:05.360 But here, what are the things that we read in this passage that they were doing? 00:15:05.519 --> 00:15:06.320 Here's a short list. 00:15:06.480 --> 00:15:09.039 They were gathering around scriptures and teaching. 00:15:09.120 --> 00:15:13.360 It was the apostles' teaching as they were rehearsing the story of God together. 00:15:13.679 --> 00:15:16.320 They were in prayer, and it said actually says the prayer. 00:15:16.399 --> 00:15:26.799 They gave themselves to the prayers, meeting together multiple times a day to pray, fellowship, shared meals, receiving the Lord's Supper together. 00:15:27.279 --> 00:15:30.559 And it says signs and wonders were done among them in this environment. 00:15:30.639 --> 00:15:32.720 And it was, and there was radical generosity. 00:15:32.799 --> 00:15:35.840 They were taking care of the poor, making sure that nobody had need. 00:15:37.440 --> 00:15:41.360 They were meeting daily, they were filled with thanksgiving, right? 00:15:41.519 --> 00:15:42.240 Gratitude. 00:15:42.399 --> 00:15:45.200 There was worship and they were praising the Lord. 00:15:45.440 --> 00:15:47.360 They were welcoming new believers. 00:15:47.440 --> 00:15:51.759 And because it was this, it says, all came upon every soul. 00:15:51.919 --> 00:16:02.399 And it was really, it's really interesting that right away in the New Testament, we see that the believers kind of gave themselves to a way of life or what we've been referring to as a rule of life. 00:16:02.480 --> 00:16:03.279 It's baked right. 00:16:03.360 --> 00:16:06.720 These are the things that this is just what believers do when they come together. 00:16:06.879 --> 00:16:19.840 And in some ways, it was so distinctive that people just started coming in because they were living into this something that was so counter-cultural that everyone's like, how do we become a part of this new community, this new fellowship? 00:16:20.000 --> 00:16:21.679 And that's what's really interesting. 00:16:21.840 --> 00:16:29.600 And when you even read a lot of first century like historical texts about what was so different about the church, what led to the expansive rapid growth. 00:16:29.759 --> 00:16:37.200 Certainly, you know the power of the Holy Spirit was at the center of that, but a lot of it was that they were giving themselves into something the world hadn't seen. 00:16:37.679 --> 00:16:44.879 So in their community, they were able to meet and have dinners together in a pure, familial kind of way. 00:16:44.960 --> 00:16:47.519 It didn't become lustful or sensual. 00:16:47.679 --> 00:16:52.879 It was like they were actually respecting and honoring each other and the gifts of God and each other. 00:16:52.960 --> 00:16:55.679 They were self-giving and caring for each other's needs. 00:16:55.759 --> 00:17:03.679 They were inclusive, but inclusive, I meant they brought together different ethnicities and nationalities under the banner of Christ, which nobody was doing at that time. 00:17:04.319 --> 00:17:14.960 Men and women, slave and free, there was kind of this equality, like slaves and masters could be in a same gathering, and there was some kind of equality. 00:17:15.519 --> 00:17:21.440 That they were both, they were both gathered, as Billy Graham would say, we're all leveled at the foot of the cross. 00:17:21.680 --> 00:17:26.319 There's nobody, there's no hierarchy when you're gathering at the foot of the cross. 00:17:26.799 --> 00:17:28.799 And there was this thing of looking at each other. 00:17:28.880 --> 00:17:36.799 There's no the socioeconomical class, the power dynamics, it was all collapsed in the presence of God. 00:17:37.119 --> 00:17:40.079 Nobody had seen, nobody even saw, like, how do you even do that? 00:17:40.720 --> 00:17:42.799 They took care of the poor and the sick. 00:17:43.119 --> 00:17:45.839 They adopted babies that were discarded in fields. 00:17:46.319 --> 00:17:48.480 A high view of life. 00:17:50.319 --> 00:17:54.720 And the key word, though, in this passage is they devoted themselves. 00:17:56.079 --> 00:18:04.000 And what's really important about that word in this passage is just it's not a description of individuals with good habits. 00:18:05.119 --> 00:18:09.440 It's a description of a body with shared practices. 00:18:10.480 --> 00:18:20.640 And what it says was in verse 47, praising God and having favor with all the people the Lord had added to their number day by day. 00:18:20.799 --> 00:18:29.440 So just just remember here in this particular thing, the key to their growth wasn't that they had a killer kids program. 00:18:30.559 --> 00:18:38.960 It wasn't that they had these like, it wasn't all of like the slip and slides and bouncy castles that they had in their parking lot after church. 00:18:41.920 --> 00:18:51.759 It was there was something so otherworldly about the way that they were living that it became its own witness, its own kind of witness. 00:18:53.119 --> 00:19:16.720 And it's it's it is one of those passages that we ought to read and actually like square our lives up against that, not as a thing of shame of how far we've come, but as a thing of what is distinctive about the lives that we live and the family, the kind of relationships that we're living into that message something about what is true in Christ and what Christ has done. 00:19:16.960 --> 00:19:25.599 So here's a question: what relationships or activities in your life would others call devoted? 00:19:26.160 --> 00:19:30.319 What are the devotions of your life, of our lives, or maybe our lives together? 00:19:30.559 --> 00:19:31.680 What would they say? 00:19:32.799 --> 00:19:35.759 I see a lot of Broncos jerseys in the room today. 00:19:36.319 --> 00:19:39.759 I would have worn my own now, but I'm watching that game this afternoon too. 00:19:39.839 --> 00:19:41.440 So I'm not putting that down. 00:19:41.519 --> 00:19:43.519 There's a lot of things we're devoted to. 00:19:47.039 --> 00:19:53.279 But we ought to ask the question can that be said of the fellowship of the saints? 00:19:54.400 --> 00:19:58.400 Okay, now let's shift gears here for a second. 00:19:58.720 --> 00:20:04.160 Because part of the series is how God is forming us as a pottery forms of clay. 00:20:04.240 --> 00:20:12.799 We're all jars of clay, and we're being formed by God, and it's a beautiful thing because he's so committed to our Christ-likeness. 00:20:13.680 --> 00:20:21.039 But he's forming us amidst a culture that is also trying to form us and conform us. 00:20:21.680 --> 00:20:25.200 So a lot of what we're talking about is living counterformational. 00:20:25.359 --> 00:20:32.160 Like the word the we're we're being formed in certain ways, and so we're talking about counterforming into the image of Christ, transforming into his image. 00:20:32.240 --> 00:20:34.079 So, how are we being formed in our time? 00:20:34.240 --> 00:20:39.680 Now, you don't have to look a whole lot further than looking at the types of daily activities we give ourselves to. 00:20:39.839 --> 00:20:41.759 I want to show you a video. 00:20:41.839 --> 00:20:42.960 This is a time-lapse video. 00:20:43.039 --> 00:20:46.240 You can go ahead and get started, and I'll I'll I'll explain this as it goes. 00:20:46.319 --> 00:20:53.039 So, this is how Americans allocate time into 24-hour period from 1920s all the way through 2026. 00:20:53.359 --> 00:20:57.839 So you may not be able to read this from your chair, so I'll just explain a couple things. 00:20:58.559 --> 00:21:09.119 Um it starts out in 1920, where the top activities of the day are going to be housework, cooking, eating meals, meeting friends, and doing nothing. 00:21:09.359 --> 00:21:13.200 Yes, doing nothing was actually a significant part of the day. 00:21:13.440 --> 00:21:13.759 Okay. 00:21:14.480 --> 00:21:22.079 Now, uh you what you're gonna find is listening to the radio is only three minutes a day to start, and then it starts to climb over time. 00:21:22.240 --> 00:21:26.720 By the time you get to 1937, listening to the radio becomes the highest use of time. 00:21:27.680 --> 00:21:36.799 Now, in the 1940s, that's when you saw watching TV entering the list, and it starts to skyrocket all the way to the top. 00:21:37.039 --> 00:21:41.279 Meanwhile, the simple act of doing nothing starts to shrink. 00:21:42.000 --> 00:21:48.880 And over time, because of technology, wealth, modern conveniences, things like housework and cooking meals start to come down. 00:21:49.119 --> 00:21:54.079 Daily commuting in a given day starts to rise as everyone is now driving to work and school. 00:21:54.240 --> 00:22:02.319 And then you'll see in the 1990s, right now, browsing the internet, watch it climb, and enter the picture and It steadily increases. 00:22:03.279 --> 00:22:06.160 Good news is things like exercise are also increasing. 00:22:06.240 --> 00:22:07.680 That's a good thing. 00:22:08.559 --> 00:22:12.480 But meanwhile, religion and prayer have dropped off the list completely. 00:22:12.640 --> 00:22:21.759 Now in 2026, what you're about to see is the top activities, and this is about to change right about now on the thing. 00:22:22.000 --> 00:22:35.200 Top activities will become streaming Netflix and YouTube, scrolling social media, watching TV, listening to music, playing video games, text message, text messaging, and browsing the internet. 00:22:35.680 --> 00:22:36.000 Okay. 00:22:37.680 --> 00:22:40.160 Welcome to 2026. 00:22:40.720 --> 00:22:41.359 Right here. 00:22:41.599 --> 00:22:43.680 Okay, so this is where we are. 00:22:44.079 --> 00:22:44.400 Okay. 00:22:44.640 --> 00:22:49.279 Now I just want to, I'm there's no, I'm not even gonna offer any judgment against this. 00:22:49.440 --> 00:22:52.000 This isn't a thing of condemning any of this, okay? 00:22:52.319 --> 00:22:54.880 We were watching Netflix last night, all right? 00:22:56.160 --> 00:23:00.640 Listen, I just want to point out a couple things. 00:23:00.799 --> 00:23:07.440 In a hundred years, the most of our activities were embodied activities and communal activities. 00:23:07.680 --> 00:23:15.759 So housework, cleaning, cooking, you know, meeting friends. 00:23:15.920 --> 00:23:20.079 There were things that you just would do a lot of times with your bodies and in community. 00:23:20.240 --> 00:23:29.759 Now, in a hundred years, most of what where we spend our time is disembodied, meaning most of those top six things are gonna involve a screen. 00:23:31.200 --> 00:23:35.680 Um, and largely because it's disembodied, it's non-communal. 00:23:36.720 --> 00:23:44.880 So, what that means is we're the most connected generation in human history, but still the most isolated in human history. 00:23:45.839 --> 00:23:54.000 Okay, now the reason I show you all of this is that the point is not, you know, shame on you. 00:23:54.079 --> 00:23:55.359 That's not what we're saying. 00:23:55.599 --> 00:24:04.640 My point is to highlight that if you don't think that these things are forming you into a certain kind of person, you are mistaken. 00:24:05.440 --> 00:24:23.759 You are naive to think that we are outpacing where we give our time on a given day, and that looking at a screen only doesn't actually shape us out of connection and deep, meaningful relationships and into largely an isolated society, which is what everybody is kind of feeling. 00:24:23.839 --> 00:24:26.720 And we even feel it a lot of times in the church. 00:24:26.880 --> 00:24:27.680 Are you guys with me? 00:24:27.920 --> 00:24:29.839 All right, we can take that down, it's depressing. 00:24:30.000 --> 00:24:30.319 Okay. 00:24:31.039 --> 00:24:33.680 Let me show you a photo of an empty porch. 00:24:34.720 --> 00:24:40.559 So this is here, this is another interesting illustration that I I've noticed. 00:24:40.720 --> 00:24:46.960 So out in near my neighborhood, there's a neighborhood in Erie called Porch Front Homes. 00:24:47.680 --> 00:24:56.799 And uh this builder decided, and this is no, by the way, if anybody knows anybody who works for porch front homes, this is no indictment on them. 00:24:56.880 --> 00:25:02.720 They're saying that philosophically, this builder decided, hey, we need to get back to neighborhoods that are designed with front porches. 00:25:02.799 --> 00:25:04.480 Everybody's living in their backyards. 00:25:04.640 --> 00:25:08.480 We need to we need a re-catalyze community. 00:25:08.640 --> 00:25:13.440 So we're gonna what we're gonna do, we're gonna add front porches back to everybody's houses. 00:25:13.519 --> 00:25:17.039 So they built this entire neighborhood with front porches. 00:25:17.680 --> 00:25:24.319 So we can get back to the good old days when people would say hi to each other on the streets and walk the sidewalks and riding bikes and say hi. 00:25:24.480 --> 00:25:33.519 Now, the problem is when you go walk this neighborhood, if you were to go over to today today, what you're gonna notice is beautiful front porches that are all empty. 00:25:34.880 --> 00:25:35.519 Why? 00:25:36.720 --> 00:25:42.799 Because they assumed that if you built the structure, people would start using them. 00:25:42.960 --> 00:25:48.319 And it turns out everybody bought homes with front porches and they're still hanging out in their backyards. 00:25:48.559 --> 00:25:49.759 And they're still hanging out. 00:25:50.480 --> 00:25:52.240 So it didn't solve the problem. 00:25:52.319 --> 00:25:57.440 Like they thought, oh, if we just built the structure, people are gonna want to build community. 00:25:57.519 --> 00:26:07.039 That's actually not what's happened because we've been so deformed in even our desire to be where people are, that even when you have the options, you don't even want them. 00:26:07.279 --> 00:26:11.759 I have the option of sitting on my front porch so that when people are coming by, I can say hi. 00:26:12.079 --> 00:26:13.759 We don't even want that anymore. 00:26:14.000 --> 00:26:18.720 I'd rather either be in the living room or be in the backyard with some peace and quiet. 00:26:18.880 --> 00:26:20.480 Do you guys you guys hear what I'm saying? 00:26:20.720 --> 00:26:23.119 So, and we've how and how do we arrive here? 00:26:23.279 --> 00:26:30.640 No, some of it was the daily activities, but some of this was built on a life that is increasingly convenient, okay? 00:26:30.799 --> 00:26:40.880 So when cars entered the picture and transportation entered the picture, people could, for the first time, again, in history, start to like live outside of a city. 00:26:41.039 --> 00:26:43.759 That was never even possible, it just wasn't efficient enough. 00:26:43.920 --> 00:26:51.519 So once you get cards, you you could say, oh, I can leave this the hustling, bustling, noisy city, and I can commute into group. 00:26:51.680 --> 00:26:53.440 This was the commute into work. 00:26:53.920 --> 00:26:55.359 That was the growth of the suburbs. 00:26:55.440 --> 00:26:57.599 That's how suburbs were formed because of cars. 00:26:57.759 --> 00:27:09.119 Okay, and the suburbs had a promise that you can move out of the city and you can have big properties, fences, and get away into private seclusion, get away from the hustle, bustle, and the noise of the city. 00:27:09.279 --> 00:27:15.119 But now you have it to where even even in this room, everybody lives 20 minutes in different directions. 00:27:15.839 --> 00:27:16.480 Right? 00:27:17.599 --> 00:27:20.319 So then you have other conveniences, not bad. 00:27:20.400 --> 00:27:22.880 It's actually added so much goodness to our life. 00:27:23.039 --> 00:27:23.519 The internet. 00:27:24.720 --> 00:27:31.440 Internet added so much goodness, it also formed us in a certain way because no longer do I need to ask the wise elder in the neighborhood for wisdom. 00:27:31.599 --> 00:27:33.200 I just go to a Google. 00:27:33.759 --> 00:27:34.240 Right? 00:27:34.400 --> 00:27:35.839 Phones intensified this. 00:27:35.920 --> 00:27:37.440 I no longer need to see you face to face. 00:27:37.599 --> 00:27:42.319 I can know what happened in your day without having to talk to you through social media. 00:27:42.480 --> 00:27:49.920 And then because of affluence, because you know, by and large, especially in a Colorado environment, everybody kind of has what they need for the most part. 00:27:50.079 --> 00:27:54.400 So everybody has small lawns and yet we all still own a lawnmower of our own. 00:27:55.200 --> 00:27:57.039 Because I don't want to have to borrow anything. 00:27:57.200 --> 00:28:00.160 I want one of one of everything for me. 00:28:00.480 --> 00:28:07.039 Because I don't want to have to need anything from anybody, and even if I need a cup of sugar, I'm gonna I'm gonna Amazon prime that thing. 00:28:07.839 --> 00:28:10.160 Because I don't want to have to go across the street. 00:28:10.319 --> 00:28:15.279 So affluence gives way to less dependence or need. 00:28:17.519 --> 00:28:20.720 So here's here's the big idea. 00:28:21.039 --> 00:28:24.079 I here this is just this is me talking, okay? 00:28:24.160 --> 00:28:26.799 I'm not a sociologist or any of those things. 00:28:27.039 --> 00:28:28.720 But I think you guys hear what I'm talking about. 00:28:28.799 --> 00:28:31.680 But I I don't think anybody actually chooses isolation. 00:28:32.160 --> 00:28:38.799 We choose convenience over and over, and isolation is the byproduct of a life built on convenience. 00:28:40.880 --> 00:28:41.200 Okay. 00:28:41.599 --> 00:28:43.599 I'm gonna leave that one right there. 00:28:46.160 --> 00:28:54.799 So, because of that, in 2026, community is often seen as an option in a growing list of options in our busy lives, right? 00:28:55.119 --> 00:29:01.759 I might come, but I'm not gonna pre-commit to coming because there might be something else that shows up. 00:29:01.839 --> 00:29:04.160 I might volunteer, but I really don't want to be put on a schedule. 00:29:04.240 --> 00:29:11.680 I just like to let you know that morning if I'm available, because I might decide to do something else with my time, right? 00:29:11.839 --> 00:29:20.720 And so what has happened is it's created this thing where we like to not have to commit because it's seen as being tied down in my options. 00:29:21.279 --> 00:29:33.359 And so, because of all of these things, as a church in 2026 in the United States, we actually have to work exponentially harder to have the resemblance of healthy, consistent spiritual family in our lives. 00:29:33.440 --> 00:29:35.839 And here's where even in the church, you may have seen this. 00:29:35.920 --> 00:29:41.519 And if you're if you haven't been a part of church world for very long, let me just tell you what's happened over the years. 00:29:41.759 --> 00:29:45.519 Oftentimes we have tried to do the same thing that Porch Front Homes was has done. 00:29:45.599 --> 00:29:48.559 We we try to build a structure to solve a problem. 00:29:48.960 --> 00:29:54.319 And so what happens is we'll every couple years we'll roll out a new like small group campaign, everything is a campaign. 00:29:54.720 --> 00:30:03.680 And and what it is, it's it's a dude with a clipboard in the back of the room, and as you're leaving, he's staring you down like a time, like a timeshare salesman. 00:30:04.799 --> 00:30:06.000 And he's giving you a list. 00:30:06.079 --> 00:30:07.440 Here's our groups. 00:30:07.680 --> 00:30:09.359 Sign up for a group. 00:30:10.160 --> 00:30:11.519 And we built the structure. 00:30:11.680 --> 00:30:14.799 The problem is the structure wasn't the problem, it's desire. 00:30:16.000 --> 00:30:17.680 Where is the desire? 00:30:18.799 --> 00:30:20.480 Where is the longing? 00:30:21.680 --> 00:30:24.240 You can build, we can give you all kinds of options. 00:30:24.319 --> 00:30:25.759 We've seen it and I know it. 00:30:26.000 --> 00:30:29.440 It's it's not the our problem, isn't options of how to get connected. 00:30:29.599 --> 00:30:32.640 Our problem is we've been deformed in our desire. 00:30:33.279 --> 00:30:42.960 And I believe what the Holy Spirit wants to restore to the church is not just a desire for Him, but a longing for each other that pulls it back into a place of priority. 00:30:43.119 --> 00:30:45.200 That I don't see you as another option in my life. 00:30:45.279 --> 00:30:52.799 I see you as the family that God has united and knit me together in the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace, and it's a supernatural work. 00:31:00.720 --> 00:31:08.640 And the only way to get at this, guys, to be counterformed into a family, is to hold the question before God. 00:31:08.720 --> 00:31:10.960 It's not about even me convincing you. 00:31:11.839 --> 00:31:13.519 Because I can't do that. 00:31:14.480 --> 00:31:16.079 I can do it short term. 00:31:16.480 --> 00:31:19.599 It's actually about all of us. 00:31:20.640 --> 00:31:27.519 The only way to get at us is for each of us to hold this question before God and say, God, what would please you? 00:31:28.640 --> 00:31:42.880 And whatever the answer to that question is, you reorganized your life to do what would please him, to change our hearts and show us what that looks like to actually devote ourselves. 00:31:43.119 --> 00:32:01.039 I cannot convince you to devote yourself, but I believe when we hold this question before God, of God, what is it that you want to reveal to each of us about what we're devoted to and the way that we treat the family of God? 00:32:02.000 --> 00:32:04.319 And what do you have to say to us? 00:32:05.279 --> 00:32:09.759 And then whatever the answer to that is, you reorganize your life around that answer. 00:32:10.640 --> 00:32:21.839 You reorganize your priorities and your schedule around being with the people of God and serving the people of God and being generous toward and availing your very life to others in your life. 00:32:22.000 --> 00:32:28.640 Well, you know, Tuesday nights are, you know, we got sports, we got this, we got that, and you know, and I'm just really tired at the end of the day. 00:32:28.880 --> 00:32:40.480 Listen, guys, we are kind of like we're we're moving into a season where it's like that kind of stuff is not gonna work any longer if we want to be a strong, resilient, unified church and people of God. 00:32:41.279 --> 00:32:43.200 It's just, it's just it's not interesting. 00:32:43.359 --> 00:32:44.480 You know why it's not interesting? 00:32:44.559 --> 00:32:46.319 It's because it's what the world does. 00:32:46.480 --> 00:32:48.000 That's exactly what the world does. 00:32:48.079 --> 00:32:52.000 So there's nothing countercultural about keeping our options open. 00:32:52.400 --> 00:32:59.759 What I love about marriage is marriage is you say yes once and you're saying no to millions of people at the same time. 00:33:00.240 --> 00:33:05.119 I'm eliminating all of my options for all of time to give myself to one. 00:33:05.200 --> 00:33:06.880 And what a beautiful thing. 00:33:07.119 --> 00:33:10.480 And I've never regretted saying yes to Megan. 00:33:10.880 --> 00:33:11.519 Never. 00:33:11.920 --> 00:33:13.839 And we do the same thing in community. 00:33:13.920 --> 00:33:22.799 We find the people that God is calling us to be with, and we're asking him to create a longing, and you're thinking, well, I don't know if I would want to be in community with that person down the road. 00:33:22.880 --> 00:33:27.599 Well, listen, I don't know that I don't know that any of the disciples wanted to be in community with each other either. 00:33:28.240 --> 00:33:35.279 I I don't think that Matthew, the tax collector, wanted to be in a small group with Judas, the zealot. 00:33:36.960 --> 00:33:41.519 He's like, I don't think there's peace between this relationship, but this isn't, this feels awkward. 00:33:41.599 --> 00:33:42.480 This feels forced. 00:33:42.640 --> 00:33:44.960 Yes, that was forced. 00:33:45.119 --> 00:33:46.720 That was Jesus' design. 00:33:46.960 --> 00:33:53.200 Because Jesus was about to work a miracle in their hearts that they never saw coming. 00:33:53.440 --> 00:33:59.200 And then out of the 12, an explosion when you add this gasoline of the Holy Spirit on top of each other. 00:33:59.359 --> 00:34:06.240 So, all of that being said, this word devoted is an important word in Acts 2.42. 00:34:06.319 --> 00:34:09.360 It's this word proscritorio. 00:34:11.280 --> 00:34:14.880 To be strong, to endure, to hold out. 00:34:16.800 --> 00:34:24.239 In the actual etymology, the English version, it's to vow or to promise. 00:34:27.679 --> 00:34:32.239 In the Greek version, you could just sum that up as to be strong towards something. 00:34:32.400 --> 00:34:34.480 To be strong towards something. 00:34:36.480 --> 00:34:42.079 We could also use, we could interchange some other words, covenant and commitment and given to, right? 00:34:42.239 --> 00:34:44.960 And here's here's my here's my take on this. 00:34:45.119 --> 00:34:55.360 We are so far from devotion that if you were to tell somebody that you are committed or covenant to a church community, they would think that you're in a cult. 00:34:56.079 --> 00:34:57.280 Am I wrong? 00:34:58.079 --> 00:34:59.840 Like, this is my covenant community. 00:34:59.920 --> 00:35:02.480 This is like the community that God has called me to organize my life around. 00:35:02.719 --> 00:35:03.920 Like, that sounds like a cult. 00:35:04.079 --> 00:35:06.159 No, that sounds like devotion. 00:35:06.480 --> 00:35:09.760 It sounds like I'm choosing a group of people to be with. 00:35:11.119 --> 00:35:13.599 It's the unity of the spirit and the bond of peace. 00:35:13.679 --> 00:35:18.800 It's united because God has done something in heaven and on earth. 00:35:19.119 --> 00:35:22.400 He has come to us and given, he's modeled all of these things for us. 00:35:22.480 --> 00:35:25.039 And so we respond in devotion. 00:35:25.199 --> 00:35:34.159 Devotion is the genetic, the natural genetic response of those whose spiritual DNA has been resurrected in Christ Jesus. 00:35:34.480 --> 00:35:35.840 You've been given a new DNA. 00:35:35.920 --> 00:35:42.159 You actually have a divine nature, and so longing to be with the people of God is part of your divine nature. 00:35:42.480 --> 00:35:52.239 Everything else is warring against that, but the truest thing of you, if you are in Christ, is you drawing towards your brothers and your sisters in the faith. 00:35:53.039 --> 00:35:54.719 Now, let me just point something out. 00:35:54.880 --> 00:35:57.280 Some of you, I mean, I'll just say this. 00:35:57.519 --> 00:36:01.360 This church community, there is so much devotion in this church community. 00:36:01.519 --> 00:36:05.679 So me bringing this message is not even saying that, hey, none of us are devoted. 00:36:06.079 --> 00:36:08.719 I I love this church. 00:36:09.039 --> 00:36:10.000 I love you. 00:36:10.400 --> 00:36:12.159 And I say that sincerely. 00:36:12.320 --> 00:36:13.280 There's so much devotion. 00:36:13.440 --> 00:36:18.480 Here's one of the things that I see though, is people who live their lives devoted. 00:36:18.559 --> 00:36:22.000 You're even listening to me, and your heart's getting fired up because you want this as well. 00:36:22.239 --> 00:36:32.639 But here's what I've here's what I've found is people who are devoted, but they're the only ones who are devoted, over time you start to see their heart grow weak. 00:36:33.280 --> 00:36:35.760 And I've seen this time and time again. 00:36:36.480 --> 00:36:47.039 When you try to be a part of a group or a prayer meeting or something where like you have one or two devoted people, and then everybody else is showing up when it works for them. 00:36:47.920 --> 00:36:51.280 What happens is the devoted people get demoralized. 00:36:53.119 --> 00:36:56.000