Invited Into Community: Devotion, Vulnerability, and Accountability

If we are going to reach the community that we have been called to reach, we can't do it just one of us at a time. It takes a body. Can you imagine tonight when the field is all prepped, the crowds all come, The networks all tune in. Can you imagine what would happen if only five of the players showed up Or two of the players? Can you imagine if only the coach showed up? Similarly, as the body of Christ, we are a team. We need to be together. [01:24:20] (60 seconds)  #WeAreOneBody

Friends, I want you to hear this once again. When you disconnect, when you disconnect from the body, the body doesn't just miss you, it limps. Here's a sobering truth. Someone else's, someone else's being able to be set free is directly tied to your obedience. [01:23:03] (50 seconds)  #YourObedienceMatters

Biblical community is devotion, not attendance. Acts chapter two verse 42 begins, they, referring to the followers of Jesus, were devoting themselves. Devotion always costs something. You can attend church faithfully, you can attend our gatherings faithfully, and still live spiritually alone. Let's be honest this morning. Crowds watch, but disciples commit. Attendance is easy. Devotion costs. [01:11:07] (46 seconds)  #DevotionOverAttendance

Community without accountability is dangerous. Community without accountability is dangerous. When there is no recognized spiritual leadership, when there's no doctrinal accountability, when there's no submission to the wider body of Christ, when there's no correct correction when things drift, what begins as freedom often turns into isolation with a spiritual label. [01:13:44] (38 seconds)  #CommunityNeedsAccountability

Here's the danger today. The church doesn't break when people are honest. It breaks when people pretend. You don't heal what you hide, and God cannot heal the version of you that isn't real. [01:19:36] (25 seconds)  #HonestyHeals

Just be honest before God and say, God, I I don't have enough faith today. Be honest before God and say, God, I've got so many needs. God, I can't face this week. I can't face that decision. I can't face what's coming. And just be honest with him And trust him. Because something happens. Something happens when we trust God. Faith begins to rise. [01:21:34] (42 seconds)  #TrustAndFaithRises

Community is where faith is sustained. Hebrews reminds us in Hebrews 10 verses twenty four and twenty five, not abandoning our own meetings, but encouraging one another. Why? Because faith leaks in isolation. You were never meant to carry the burdens that you carry alone. The doubts alone, the grief alone, the temptation alone. [01:25:38] (38 seconds)  #FaithSustainedTogether

And some of you perhaps actually need to let people actually know you Because God has placed you with a support network, and he's placed you there on purpose. It's not by accident that you're here. It's not by accident that you're connected here. You're invited to Christ, but you're also invited to his people. And rejecting one always weakens the other. We are not a crowd, we are a body. [01:30:32] (41 seconds)  #PlacedWithPurpose