Team Sunday!

Join Relate on superbowl sunday, and chose which of the 5 ads best descibes where you are at this week!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNxvsxU2rJE (Alexa)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4TMQVYiIKk (Nike)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yv8NRl-C3WA (KFC)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7KENDxBFaU (Uber)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oY9Mlz99z0A (Big Brother Big Sister)

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Transcript

Team Sunday Setup & Community

SPEAKER_03 0:29

Alright everybody who's excited to be at church today. Most everybody was excited. I think there was a few in there that aren't too excited, but I'm glad you're here. Um I also love to look around and see all the teams represented, even though some of the teams I don't know why you're representing them or why you even care. Somebody asked me about my team. This happens to be my team, and I'm fully proud of it. Also, I want to give a shout out to Leo. He's on the kickboxing team. He had an awesome fight. Awesome fight Friday night. Um whatever your team is, it's it is good to be on a team. It's not it's not good to be alone. So I I love that you guys are picking up small groups if you're not on a team, if you're not on a serve team, find your people, find your team. It is so important that you're standing shoulder to shoulder with somebody and uh doing life together with people. Uh, that's why we do Team Sunday. It's an awesome thing. So let's give it up for the worship team. Uh, thank you guys so much. Thank you guys very much. Today's a little bit different. As you might remember, Team Sunday is always a little bit different, and uh it's gonna it's gonna be awesome today. And um, I'm uh I'm excited and I'm challenged. I want to challenge you today a little bit. So hopefully you have your notes ready, hopefully you have your hearts ready and your thoughts ready so that you can we're gonna go somewhere together. But before we go somewhere, I just want to stop and say to everybody who's watching online, I'm gonna look at the camera and say, I'm glad that you're joining us today. Uh, I think God has a great word for you today. It we're we're gonna open up God's word, and I'm excited we get to celebrate God together and dig into his word together, even though it might look differently. Um, so thank you for joining us. And if if you're in the room today, can y'all just give it up for everybody watching online? It is easy to it's easy to get um feeling like you're disconnected, feeling like you are alone, feeling like you're isolated. And the key is to just make a little effort and push in. Get yourself back into the mix and back into where the warmth is, back into where uh the last thing you want to do is push people away, even though that seems like our first instinct. That a lot of times we get bitten or you get hurt or you get your your feelings hurt, and then the first instinct is just I gotta get away from all of these uh all of these people. But the the solution is also with the people, and so uh it's it's tricky sometimes. But all right, today, in Team Sunday, um this is uh it's gonna be a different message. Next week we're starting a series that is um I I I believe it's exactly where God wants it to be. And I don't want to talk about it too much, or else I will end up preaching uh the message that we'll be in. But you'll want to be here uh next week. And so today I want to kind of introduce the theme, and it's um it is a big Sunday, it is a uh a big game, which most of you'll be watching, even if you don't love watching football, and if if the Super Bowl means nothing to you, everyone loves the food, everyone likes uh some of you guys are more excited about the commercials that will be happening during the Super Bowl than you are about the actual Super Bowl or the snacks that you'll have or the people that you'll be hanging out with. Those are all good things, and um they're all things that um inspire us and make us laugh. And so we're gonna kind of take that theme today. Uh, and just because I know we're all on a team, what I would like to do is um I'd like to take this message and I'm gonna give you. We tried this last week, I thought it was uh last year, I thought it was amazing. So we're gonna try it again, and I'm gonna give you five different plays. Like if we're all a big team and there there's a play that you need to run, it might not be the same play that the person next to you needs to run. So I'm gonna give you a choice of five. I'm gonna show you five different things, and we're gonna take uh Super Bowl commercials, and I'm gonna show you five different commercials and kind of uh I know that seems weird. Why would we do that in church? Let me tell you why. It's because uh I love the idea of when Jesus preached and you look at the gospels and watch how Jesus uh presents ideas, he often does it through parables. He takes a question that someone asks, or he takes uh a story or an idea or a parable, and then he turns it into a spiritual truth and shows you how uh how an idea from your normal life can really unpack a spiritual truth that will change your life. And so I think that's what we can do today. We're gonna be looking a little bit deeper, maybe past what the um the people who uh made these commercials probably never intended, but uh I think there's some things we can really learn and some parallel ideas and concepts that we can dig into God's word with. So I'm gonna show you five different plays that one of these is your one. So I've that's your assignment today is to f to to be looking. Let your eyes be open and your ears be open, your heart be open to see. Holy Spirit, what's the one thing you're trying to say to me today? And I think it'll be one of these five things. So uh at the end, I'll present all five of them, and then you're gonna choose. This is the step I need to take. This is the play I need to run today. So if you're ready, say I'm ready. Okay, awesome. Our first commercial. It it really uh it makes you wonder which voice am I listening to? Watch this.

SPEAKER_04 6:01

In Austin, it's 60 degrees with its Alexa?

SPEAKER_05 6:06

Amazon's Alexa lost her voice this morning, causing Alexa.

SPEAKER_03 6:09

Alexa lost her voice. How's that even possible?

SPEAKER_02 6:12

We have the replacements ready, just say the word.

SPEAKER_03 6:14

You're sure this is gonna work.

SPEAKER_00 6:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 6:20

Alexa, show me a recipe for a grilled cheese sandwich.

SPEAKER_00 6:28

Its name is the recipe, you Lexa, how far is Mars?

SPEAKER_05 6:34

How far is Mars? Well, how am I supposed to know? I'd have a bit there. This guy wants to go to Mars. There's not even Oscar did there.

SPEAKER_06 6:42

Call Brandon. I'm afraid Brandon is looking kind up. But do let me know if there's anything I can help you with. Jessica.

SPEAKER_00 6:55

Let's uh call Ashley.

SPEAKER_02 6:58

Yeah, it's about time you call that girl. No, no, no, he just told you that girl two hours ago. You gotta let love marinate. Put love in that bag to marinate. Mmm, love gonna be in that bag like I can't wait to talk to him tomorrow. And then after it marinates, we're gonna pull it out. Jamie, who's Alexa? Say it! Say it, Jamie! You Alexa, that's right. I'm Alexa.

SPEAKER_01 7:19

Thanks, guys, but I'll take it from here.

Take Every Thought Captive With Scripture

SPEAKER_03 7:24

That's kind of funny, but it's also very real on the voices that we listen to. How often is it that we just start listening to whoever will tell us anything? Whoever's willing to listen, whoever's willing to talk to us, often becomes the biggest voice in our life, and it's crazy how we listen to the wrong voices. Maybe today this is the play that you need to run. Maybe today this is the one thing that you need to hear, and that is that you don't need to listen to the wrong voice, and that you've been listening to the wrong voice, and it's time to cut that voice off and say, I'm not listening to you anymore. Chef Ramsey is definitely not the one to listen to if you're trying to get advice. Any of those voices, right? But here's the problem: once we start listening to negative voices, once we start listening to the wrong voices, it's really hard to stop. It's really hard to cut someone off once you've opened that channel, once you've created uh a conversation, it's really different. In fact, if you're having a conversation with someone or a relationship with someone and they know they can speak to you and they expect you to listen, it's really awkward and it's really troublesome to try and turn that off and tell like to how awkward is it to tell someone, hey, I don't need your advice anymore. Your advice has been really bad for me. That's tough. Here's the deal: not only do we have people speaking into our lives, but we have an enemy who loves to tell lies. In fact, the Bible says it's the message paraphrase paraphrase says that it's his native language to speak lies. Like that's the language he speaks. All he can do is speak lies. And we take those lies as truth. It's like Adam and Eve, or Eve standing at the tree listening to the serpent, tell her, Did God really say, and for some reason it's in us, it's in you, it's in me? Oh, that sounds pretty good. Yeah, that that sounds right. It's an absolute lie. It's gonna destroy me, it's gonna curse me, and yet, oh, that sounds good. I think I'll listen. Why do we do that? Why do we listen to the lies that the enemy tells? So here's the key. Whenever we whenever we have that wrong voice speaking to us, here's the key. Listen. The key is we have to identify the lie and replace it with truth. And the reason we grab onto the lie, the reason that we listen to the lie is because we're not very good and we're not conditioned, and we might not have the uh the determination to know that's a lie, I reject it. And I'm gonna replace it with the truth. There has to, there's some, there's a work ethic that comes along. That's painful sometimes to have to take the lie, identify the lie, and replace the lie. That feels like work. The easy thing is to just go with it. Watch what the Bible says in 2 Corinthians chapter 10, verse 4. You know this verse. But this has to be, this has to be our our marching orders. Watch this. The weapons we fight with are not weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. What happens when I start listening to a lie, living according to the lie? I've made decisions based on a lie. Now I have a stronghold in my life because I it's established. But the weapons that we fight with are about demolishing those strongholds that are built on lies. We demolish arguments. Everybody say, we demolish arguments. That's your job. As believers, as Jesus followers, we demolish arguments, and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, in other words, a lie, a falsehood, and we take captive. Everybody say we take captive. Every thought to make it obedient to Christ. Your thoughts have a tendency to become disobedient to Christ. It starts right here. What we believe, what we think. If we have latched onto a lie, grabbed onto a lie, or let it just weasel its way in, like the devil says, did God really say? And he just wants you to, he just doesn't want you to be like him. And that's what he told Eve. So Eve, in an effort to become godly, she did exactly what God told her not to do. That's how he sneaks his way in. That's why we have to demolish arguments, that's why we have to take captive every thought. That's not easy. That that means you need to put a badge on, and you're the new sheriff in town. I'm taking captive all the thoughts. You're going to jail, you're done. So, how do we recognize that's not my voice, that's not God's voice, that's not my future, that's not what I'm gonna live. I I refuse, I reject that idea. How do we do that and replace it with the truth? Here's the thing when the when that voice starts to speak to you and you start thinking, man, I'm just not free. I I I'm just bound up. I don't know, I don't know if I can live like this. When we start thinking that, we need to take God's word, find the scripture. You know, we often tell each other, don't use Google to uh to to find your prescription. Don't use Google to figure out what's wrong. You start looking up problems. Here's the thing: you can use your Bible, you can use find somebody who's full of faith and ask them, I need a scripture for this. Because you can medicate yourself with God's word and find the scripture that fits the situation you're struggling with. And I feel, if I feel like I just don't feel free, I feel like I'm trapped, I feel like that might I don't have purpose in the in a future. You need to find the scripture. I found you in John 8 36. So if the sun sets you free, what that does not sound like you're taking thoughts captive. That sounded like you didn't want to go to school this morning, and so you're just reluctantly telling the teacher what they want to hear. No, I don't want you to tell me what I want to hear. I want you to tell yourself I am free indeed. I will be who God made me to be. And take captive those thoughts and have some have some unction and some fortitude and some you're not gonna tell me what I am and what I'm not. God's gonna tell me what I am and who I am and what my future looks like. And when the when the when that voice in your head says, nothing's ever gonna change, your whole life's always gonna be this way, then you can you can remind yourself of Philippians chapter 1, verse 6, he who began a good work in you will carry it on to complete it. He will complete it. And instead of just saying, He who began a good work in you and quoting back the verses to you in third person, you can make it personally and say, He who began a good work in me, he's gonna complete it. Thank you, God, for completing the good work you started in me. I thank you, God, that I'm not stuck here, I'm not trapped here. I am free, and I am free indeed. I think some of y'all should have come to the second service because the first service was a little too early for you. I hope y'all are getting this. This might be the play you need to run today before the end of the day. Because when you're listening to the wrong voices, you're not getting free. You're not where you're not where God wants you to be. So maybe that's you need to look at your life and look. Have I been listening to the lies of the enemy? Have I been listening to the lies of other people? Here's our second play, and it's um it's a Nike commercial, but it's actually much deeper than shoes. Here we go.

SPEAKER_01 15:38

Now let me tell y'all something about dreams. Listen up, because this is something I found out a long time ago. It goes against everything you see in a movie on TV or what your great grandma may have told you when you were a kid. See dreams don't happen overnight. They come to you in the daylight. You got your chase, it chased it, chase it. That's what we learn the most about ourselves. You don't never know how long it's gonna take. Exactly what it'll look like when you get there. The only thing you know is you can never stop. So question. What's your dream? What's your dream? Are you willing to do what it takes to make that dream a reality? No, no, no, no, no, no, no. See, not while you're sleeping, but every turn day you wake up. Because if it does, if it does, good morning. Now give me my darn theme, muse.

Play Two: Dreams Require Daily Work

Keep Swinging The Axe

SPEAKER_03 17:03

I think I need Deion Sanders to come coach me every day and get me. Dreams don't come overnight. I think there's some people sitting in the room. I think there's there it's for all of us at some point to realize that it takes work. It takes work ethic, it takes a day, a daily uh press, a push that just because I'm frustrated right now, because I'm not where I want to be, or I wish I was, or things haven't happened the way I thought they should have happened by now, that's a tough, that's a tough pill to swallow. Most of us want the instant gratification of quick change and results today of things we haven't worked for or we've only just begun to work for. The problem is that results don't come that way. That's not how success works. The problem is that even in uh our faith, even in our walk with God, we want to see results right now. We want to see that my life has changed and that uh even when it comes to the last thing we talked about and how there we take every thought captive. It should be easy, it should just be I'll say the scripture and then it'll be done. That's not how it works. You gotta fight for it, and you gotta get up every day and you gotta fight again, and you gotta keep going. And just because your dreams have not been accomplished yet doesn't mean that he's not completing the work in you if you'll just stick to it. Because God doesn't work overnight. I I remember hearing someone challenge us, even when we're starting this church. I thought, man, we've done all the things, we're one year in. How come it's not where where's all the people? Where's all the money? How are we gonna build a building? How are we gonna get ahead and change the world? Uh uh Angela and I were challenged. We were with uh one of our mentors, and they talked about this that um you gotta wake up every day and imagine it's like a tree in the yard that you want to cut this tree down. You have a a goal, uh an a vision that I see this tree chopped down, but you go out there with your axe every day until you're tired, and then you're you're crying because the tree's not chopped down yet. Here, here was the thought. If you just decide, okay, every day I'm gonna go out with my axe and I'm gonna swing five times as hard as I can. Five chops and then the next day, five more. It's funny how things begin to stack up over time. And then even if it takes me a thousand days, now I've swung the axe five thousand times. At some point the tree will fall down if I don't give up. I don't have to swing the axe five thousand times in one day, I'll kill myself. But if every day I can get up with a strategy and a plan, and go, and it might be it might be this, it might not be one thing that I'm chopping five, it might be five things that I'm just swinging one time a day. Every day I'm gonna hit these five things. I'm gonna do I'm gonna make sure my kids know God. I'm gonna make sure my bills are paid. I'm gonna make sure I'm in a small group. I'm gonna make sure my marriage is strong. I'm gonna I every day I'm gonna take these five swings. And when I and when it doesn't, the tri tree doesn't fall down today, I'm not gonna get frustrated because I know I'm just taking five swings a day. It's not gonna kill me, it's gonna make me stronger. But I'm gonna keep swinging. And just because I don't see, here's the problem. When we look at other people who are successful, it might be a person sitting next to you, it might be the person on TV or social media who says, Oh, you gotta do is what I did, and then you too can be successful. And we've got all these influencers that just flaunting success. Let me tell you that social media is a highlight reel, and it's not just a highlight reel, half of it's fake. The people who will love to tell you that they are successful and that you should listen to them, most of them are pretending. It's a big secret. Most of them don't own the house and the sports car that they're standing next to. They just rented it so they can look like they did, so that you'll pay attention to them. But you you look at successful people. Well, I know they're successful, and they they they just make it make it look so easy. The problem is you don't see the fight that they went through every day when they went out and chopped on the tree. You don't see the fight and the struggle and the blood and the sweat and the tears. We just see the outcome and we want the same outcome. We don't see the early mornings that that person who seems to have all the faith in the world and nothing ever gets them down. You don't see the early morning and the tears and them digging into their Bible and planting God's word in their heart. You just see all it seems like they have their act together. They just trust God with everything. I wish I could trust God with everything. You don't see the fight that they've had to go through. You don't see the ones whose kids are raised, and why can't my kids be like that? You don't see the fights that they fought because all we see is each other's highlight reel. You and I have to be willing to say, okay, I'm gonna keep going. I'm not gonna give up, I'm gonna keep fighting a good fight, and I'm not going to quit. I'm gonna keep fighting for it every day. Galatians chapter 6, 9. Here is God's word. I think some of you need this is the scripture that you need to walk away with today. Watch this. It says, let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time. Everybody say, at the proper time, we will reap a harvest if I get lucky. If it's not too uh hard, if it's pretty easy, then we'll reap a harvest. If we do not give up, then we reap a harvest. That's a promise that we can hang on to. The harvest will come, the tree will fall down, success will happen, we'll reach the tipping point, and we will achieve if we don't give up. Not overnight, not immediately, but the harvest that's in good time, in God's time. And so somebody in the room needs to hear today the harvest will come if you don't give up. You may have been on the edge of giving. You might be today, you've already been strategizing on how can I give up? What is my exit strategy from this situation, this marriage, this relationship? How do I initiate this bankruptcy? How do I get out of this job? How do I all the things because we want to save face, and so we have to come up with the best. What story am I gonna tell about how this didn't work and that I didn't, you know, I just had to go this way. How how do I position myself for failure? Maybe you've been maybe thinking about that. Can I tell you that if you don't give up and you keep swinging the axe and you keep fighting for it, the harvest will come in due season. Maybe it's your faith. Maybe it's your I God, I just don't think, I don't think this is working, God. This is I don't maybe you've been thinking of breaking up with God. I don't know. That sounds funny, but we break up with our church and our small group and our marriage and the people of faith that are around us. We do that all the time. Maybe you've been thinking of just putting it down and this is not worth it. Or maybe God forbid, you've been thinking about why am I even trying with this life? Why do I even wake up in the morning? Can I tell you that God has purpose and a plan for you? And there's a harvest coming in due season, in the right season, in God's timing, if you don't give up. Don't quit. Tell your neighbor, don't quit. Tell them I'm watching you, I'm with you. Let's fight together. I'm not here to fight with you, I'm here to fight for you. But it's not gonna come in an instant. We gotta inch by inch. You can still get a mile. I remember when uh Grace was trying out for the volleyball team in high school. She didn't want to do the remedial team. She decided, I think, in uh way too late. I don't know why, at some point she just decided, I'm gonna go play volleyball. And everybody else in this city started when they were two years old. She decided to start when she was, I don't know, 12, 13. So I said, All right, we're gonna do this, we're gonna fight for it. We had to run the bear crow, the bear cat crawl. And it was way too complicated for me because upside down and run forwards and backwards, and I don't remember what all the things were, but and it had to be done in a certain amount of time. And the first time we attempted it, I said, I'll train with you, I'll run beside you. I that was a much bigger commitment than I realized it was at the time, as a grown adult man who hadn't run a mile in, I don't know, five years. So we both had to get in shape. But I I remember the fur the goal was that we had to do it in nine minutes. If you hadn't run a mile in nine minutes, it's a big, it's a big deal for a uh a 35-year-old guy. And so the first time we did it, I think we were like 16 minutes. I don't know. It was a long time. And I thought, I didn't say it, but I thought, I don't think we can get this done. This is but every day we went out and we ran and we fought and we cried and we uh we had cramps and pains and couldn't breathe, and but we made it because we didn't give up. And she made the team. That was the big deal. I didn't, I could never have made the team, but she made the team. I don't know that we could do it again, but hey, we did it. And when we were supposed to do it, I think you need to tell that person next to you, don't despise my grind. I gotta fight for it. I'm gonna grind here for a little while. It's not gonna be pretty, but I'm gonna keep going. Don't underestimate, don't underestimate my daily discipline. Don't quit. Tell them don't quit. I think some of those things that feel slow and feel tedious, if it feels like it's never ending. That's actually a very sacred thing. There's some things that are just slowly trickling right there. And you got that is the fight. And you gotta stick with it. Don't get weary, don't give up. All right. Play number three, here we go. These are this is gonna give some of you some permission to be obsessed. Watch this.

SPEAKER_04 28:40

Story goes that after searching for years, it was a fevered dream and a chicken that finally led Colonel Sanders to the electric head spice. He knew his chicken would be famous if he kept perfect, frying it in hot oil under its head. It's as dangerous as it sounds. But the man was stubborn. I really thought it would explode. If anyone tried to copy his recipe, he served them his bit. And if the gravy wasn't made to hit standard, he thought that too. Sure, this may all seem a little obsessive, but the colonel lived, so we could chicken.

Don’t Quit: Harvest In Due Season

SPEAKER_03 29:48

Thank God he did, right? That's playful, but it's also powerful. Harlan Sanders, otherwise known as Colonel Sanders, at 65 years old, started traveling the nation pitching his chicken recipe. Can you imagine waiting that long in life to finally begin to chase after your obsession? And now we all see the results. It's a great example of as of a success story of the last plan that we talked about, the last play that you might need to run is to keep fighting for it. But there goes there, some of us, some of you in the room need to just decide to embrace the obsession. Maybe there's something that you need to begin to obsess over, or someone's talked you out of your obsession, but it's okay to be obsessed with some things. He drove from town to town sleeping in his car. Over a thousand restaurants rejected his recipe and his plan to make chicken before anyone said yeah. They all said no until they said yes. But he kept going. Not because it made sense, but because he was obsessed. He was obsessed with chicken. It's amazing uh and interesting that people will uh cheer on your passion if they see your passion, see you're excited, see you are, but when it comes to obsession, man, you're just obsessed with this. You need to give up on that, man. You need to you need to quit being so obsessed. That you're you're doing too much. And they'll push us out of the thing that we that's so deeply ingrained in us that we love and we are impassioned about. They'll tell you to be realistic, be reasonable, be normal, quit being so extreme. Can I tell you that normal and reasonable and realistic never changed the world? Being normal and reasonable and realistic never changed anyone's life. It never transformed marriage, it never transformed and grew godly children. It takes obsession, it takes a passion, it takes sticking with something to the point of I will never stop doing this. I will never stop driving when my kids said, Dad, come on, we've already heard this story. Dad, come on, we've already, we don't need to hear uh a lecture, dad. I would say, yes, you do. Obviously, you clearly do need this lecture. When I would tell them, All right, guys, it's time to go to dad school, they would say, Dad, I was obsessed. And still, we might still go to dad school today. At this point, they don't have a problem walking away, but I still am obsessed. And here's the thing about God: God calls us to be obsessed with what matters to Him. I'm not over-exaggerating God's word or the call that God has. Watch in Colossians chapter 3. This might be your play to run today. Whatever you do, work at it with what? All your heart. That sounds like obsession. That sounds like I'm all in on this thing. You're not gonna deter me. I'm not gonna listen to you tell me to sit down. I was uh amazed on on Wednesday night. Of course, what first Wednesday night is always the people who are all in. I feel like we're preaching to the choir on first Wednesday, but first Wednesday, this whole front of the church was full of people with their hands up, worshiping God, praying, and seeking God with all their heart. I love see people seeing people who are passionately chasing after God with everything that they have, because that's what God wants from us. We'll keep reading. With all of your heart, as working for the Lord, whatever you do. That's God giving us permission to be obsessed, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. The vision of our church is to lead people to become fully engaged followers of Jesus. Yeah, I'm not here so that you can just become like a part-time follower of Jesus, part-time, halfway engaged with Jesus. I'm here, I want to figure out every week. I'm obsessed with not just building the church and getting this building and all the things that have come along over the last seven years of this church. I am obsessed with strategizing and thinking and praying and dreaming and believing and hoping that I can lead you to a place where you are 100% engaged and chasing after Jesus. I stay up at night and think about it. How can we do how can we do a small group better? How can we make our leaders better? How can we make this building better? How can the worship be better? How can our team be better? How can my message on Sunday morning be better? To lead people to become fully engaged and putting your whole heart and following after him, not just part of it. Jesus was unapologetically obsessed. He said, I didn't come for you to serve me. I came to seek and save the lost. He was passionately obsessed with serving people, loving people, caring for people, having compassion on people. He said, if you want to find your life, you have to lose it. That is that is all in. I'm giving my life away for this cause. I'm obsessed with loving my wife and taking care of my marriage because I don't want to lose it. I don't want to turn around one day and say, well, I should have I should have just given a little bit more. I should have given my kids a little bit more. I wish I had done better. So I'm gonna be obsessed with it. We gotta move. That might be your play. Write it down. Here comes the next one. And this one is I like this one. This might be your play. And uh Uber tells us that we need to be there. Watch this.

SPEAKER_05 36:19

When it's not always raining, there'll be days rain. Everything falls into place like the flick of a switch. I must remember there'll be days like this. Good morning, good morning.

SPEAKER_01 37:04

This one is way faster.

SPEAKER_05 37:09

My mama told me there'll be days like this.

Play Three: Holy Obsession And Full Engagement

SPEAKER_03 37:21

How important it is to just be there. And the and the things we miss when we're not there. And it's very in fact, I think it's trending in culture to not be there. But we know some some part of us knows, and long before Uber existed and and told us to be there, God impressed the importance of being there and how powerful it is, and how life's most important moments happen when you show up. That's true for church, that's true for small groups, that's true for family, that's true for relationships, it's true for everything that's most important in life really requires that we are there. And you'll miss it if you're not there. A lot happens. But you can't experience what you don't show up for. And if you miss it, you can't go back and re-experience it again. And life is happening all around us, and yet, what does the world tell us? The world uh tells us to hey, just sit back, relax, get your get your phone out, and you'll be more connected than ever when that's not true. We're actually more disconnected than ever. It's easier to avoid people and just nah, I don't want to deal with all of that. I don't want to I'll be better off without all that. I'll just sit back and I'll just stay home and scroll instead of going to church on Sundays. I'll just experience church online, which is hey, sometimes you have to. But sometimes we take the the um we take the extra things and social medias and the relationship, the connections that are like false connections, and we pretend like those are our primary connections. The problem is, and I'll say this slowly, is that comfort is costing us a connection. Our comfort of just being nah, I don't want to put up with all those people today. I'll just stay home, even though the family's doing all this, I'll just sit this one out. Our comfort is costing us connection, and we're disconnected and we're isolated and we're suffering. God designed us for presence. Maybe this is your one thing. Hebrews 10 24 says, and let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together. Think about that for a second. Let us consider how we may, like, let's be strategic about how we're gonna love each other. Let's be strategic about how we're going to serve each other with good deeds, how we're gonna love each other, how we're gonna serve each other, and how we're going to be together, how we're not gonna give up on connecting, on meeting one another. Think about this a hundred years ago, how the world has changed, how different things are, even from 20 years ago. But to think even 2,000 years ago, people were tr tending trending towards and tending towards disconnecting. It's in us to I think I'll just sit this out. I don't know. That that's human nature. When something exists for thousands of years and people tend to go in the wrong direction, and yet God's word is telling us we need to push and fight and get strategic and consider it needs to be part of my obsession. How do I stay connected? That's why we dream up, that's why there's a board in the foyer that has all these ways to connect. Well, that's just a small groups program. I don't like programs. That's just a consideration of how we can stay connected. We're just trying to make it easier so that you can go. This week, I um yesterday I went to the the the uh golf small group with Jason. Jason's uh golf small group, and I got to meet a couple people that I rarely ever get to see, but the guy that I got to ride with was Will, which uh I'd never met him before. So Will and I got to ride for four hours together and connect and learn about each other, and I learned all these things about him. And I'm trying to play it cool, like, hey, just relax. It's a new person. I never met him. I'm trying to ask, and I'm trying not to ask a million questions, and it's kind of awkward because we don't know each other. But that awkward, weird connection is so powerful for me and for him and for us because we need each other. And so we have to consider how do I get past that weird awkwardness to where I can connect with people and build relationships that will help me in my faith and help us walk together and help us get where God wants us to be. What do you remember about the holidays? What do you remember about church? You I mean, I would love to believe that you walk out of here and next week you just remember how amazing this message is. But more likely a month from now, you're not gonna remember this message. More likely a month from now, you're gonna remember the person you talked with in the foyer and discussed and had a weird, awkward silence, and I don't know you, but then all of a sudden you started sharing your story and started building a relationship. And hey, that's when I met so-and-so. That's when I get connected to my small group and it changed my life. It matters that we're intentional because life's most important moments happen when you show up. All right, here's the last one. Maybe that was your one. You need to write it down. Here's the last one. This is a message we all need to hear. All right, ready, guys? You guys gotta be loud though, okay?

unknown 43:14

Let's go!

SPEAKER_03 43:15

Let's go! Okay, repeat after me.

SPEAKER_01 43:17

Yes, sir. I am somebody.

SPEAKER_02 43:21

Somebody. I may be young. I may be young. But I am somebody. Somebody. I may be small. I may be small. But I am somebody.

SPEAKER_01 43:32

My clothes are different. My face is different.

SPEAKER_02 43:35

My face is different.

SPEAKER_01 43:36

My hair is different. But I am somebody.

SPEAKER_03 43:41

Somebody I must be respected.

SPEAKER_02 43:43

I must be respected.

SPEAKER_03 43:45

Protected.

SPEAKER_04 43:46

Never rejected.

SPEAKER_02 43:48

Never rejected. Somebody.

SPEAKER_00 44:00

Somebody.

Play Four: Show Up And Stay Connected

SPEAKER_03 44:10

That's the one that made me want to cry. That's the one that I was like, man, so many of us, we need we need to get that in our hearts that I am somebody, and I am I'm going somewhere, and I'm here on purpose. There's so many people around us, people that we love. Live with people that we love, that are walking around feeling like they don't belong here, feeling insignificant, insecure, purposeless, aimless. And yeah, that's not how God made us. God made us on purpose for a purpose. And yet we walk around and we tell ourselves everyone else is happier than I am. All those people are more popular than I am. Everyone I see is happier and uh more blessed. And comparison begins to whisper to us, and we think I know you've all heard that comparison is the thief of joy, but it's robbing us. Because all we can see is how different that I am than you are than the next person, and that person makes more money than I do, and that person has all the things I wish, that person has the marriage I'd love, that person's kids, that person's car, that person's clothes, that person's attitude and outlook, and people love them, and it's just this it again it really goes back to the beginning. We've believed somewhere along the road, we've we've listened to a lie that we don't belong here. We have maybe maybe you struggle with imposter syndrome and you feel like I'm not worth anything, I have no value. The truth is that you're not what other people say about you. And wait, maybe someone told you. That's not the truth about you. The truth is that you are who God says you are. And before the NFL ever paid for a commercial for us to hear with the boys and girls club and whoever else, that I am somebody, God said it first. So who does God say you are? He says you're not an accident, that you're not a mistake, you're not forgotten, you're not no one, but you are someone. His word says that if you are in Christ, then you are a child of God, and that he loves you more than anything. First John 3 1 says, See what great love the Father has lavished on us that we should be called children of God. And that's what we are. Ephesians 1 says that we are forgiven and we are redeemed. In him, we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins in accordance with the riches of God's grace. So we have to embrace maybe this is your one that you need to embrace that God made you on purpose and that you are who he says you are. Would you stand up on your feet? We're gonna get ready to close. But I want you to confess out of your mouth. Just let it let it become a part of your belief that I'll believe who he says I'm supposed to be. And would you we're gonna just say I'm gonna give you a confession, we're gonna say it together. I want to put it right up on the screen. Here's our confession confession. I want you to say this out loud. I am a child of God. My sins are forgiven. I've been made new. I'm loved, I'm sent, I'm secure, I'm not who others say I am. I am who God says I am. I am somebody. I am somebody. Come on. One more time. I am somebody. There you go. I think we have to have that in our hearts that we believe it, not just because we've said it or someone told us to say it or because we read it in a scripture somewhere, but because we know that we know that we know that He He's my Father, the Lord is my shepherd, He's leading me, He's guiding me, He loves me, He paid for my sins, He's forgiven me, He's redeemed me. And if you have to remind yourself of that, and if you feel like I am not someone and I need I need a Heavenly Father, I want us to take a minute before we close. The band's just gonna stay right here. If that's you today and you've never given your life to Jesus and never surrendered your life to Jesus, it just takes a simple confession of faith and prayer. We're gonna come back to our five plays to run, but this right here. If you've never said that prayer, I want to give an opportunity for you to just repeat after me with every head bowed and every eye closed. If you struggle with identity and you struggle with what your life is about, then I just want you to uh let's say this prayer together and surrender our lives to Him. Would you say that this out loud? God, today I give you my life. I choose to follow you. Thank you for being my shepherd and my father, sending your son to die. Forgive me of my sin and make me brand new in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Amen. Let's put our hands together. So here's where we'll close. I love that. If you said that prayer, I'd love to talk to you after service. Here's here's our close, our five things, and they're gonna throw them up on the screen. And I want you to remember which of these five, maybe it's being challenged on what voices you're listening to and knowing that I need to replace the lie with truth. Maybe it's the second one where you've been struggling with a dream or uh uh you're looking for success that doesn't seem to be happening, but you just gotta stick with it and not give up. Maybe it's the third one that you need to be all in with God, be all in with your obsession, chase after your dream. Maybe it's number four you've been disconnecting and isolating, and you need to start showing up. You need to press in and consider the ways of how we can love each other and care for each other and serve each other and not stop meeting together. Maybe it's number five that you just need to embrace that I am somebody and I'm not gonna believe the lie anymore. So, whichever of those five is your play that needs to run today, I want you to pray about it, commit yourself, dedicate yourself to it this week, today, then I'm gonna start taking action and walk towards that play. Would you close your eyes for just one second? Let's pray together. Father, we love you, we honor you today, and we believe your word. And so, whatever that one play is, whatever that one step we need to take, Lord, help us. Let your Holy Spirit guide us, Lord. Let your Holy Spirit be the comfort that gives us confidence to step out to chase after your plan and your purpose and your design for our lives. In Jesus' name, amen. I love you guys. You're dismissed in Jesus' name.