Embracing Community: The Power of Collective Worship

1. "We're excited you're here, and this is why, because what we just watch is what happens for many of us every time we come to church. Maybe that's an extreme, maybe it's over the top, but I've learned this. If we come to church like that, this is how we leave church. You get in the car, you look at your significant other, your spouse, and you say, was it dusty in there today? They say, what do you mean? Well, that sermon was kind of dry. JT was a little dry today." [00:50:15] (28 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


2. "By the way, this place is supposed to be a hospital for sinners, not a memorial to saints. And we come in here and we listen to the singer singing. We notice the drummer's speeding up or the words in the music aren't in sync and we notice everything that's wrong. Somebody took our seat or you notice that they put more chairs in again and they've got these chairs facing forward now so you people all have to sit like this to be able to see." [00:51:06] (27 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


3. "There's something special about when God's people get together. You see, every Sunday morning, right now, today, in this room, there is a marriage of statistics hold true, which they do. There's a marriage that's in trouble right now. Down in this room. There's a husband that if he doesn't get what he needs today, he may walk out tomorrow. There's a wife that's on her last nerve and she doesn't know why she's sticking it out." [00:52:01] (41 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


4. "Now the way we can help as believers is understand God has commanded. He has commanded us to worship corporately. That means all of us together. I love what J .T. says that we have the community, we grow in circles and also in rows. And that's church when we come here. This isn't just something that man came up with. This is ordained of God. There's something about when God's people get together. God does things. He moves in our midst." [00:54:01] (27 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


5. "You're not here just for you as a believer. Did you know that? Look at you. Look at your neighbor real quick and say, it ain't all about you. Just tell them. They need to hear that today. It ain't all about you, baby. No, it's about others. And this is the thing we need to understand. As we come to church, we need to realize that we come together to encourage each other, to challenge each other. We don't need to just be, listen carefully, consumers, we need to be contributors." [00:54:58] (29 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


6. "I was so glad when COVID was over. I was ready to get back in church. I was ready to hear the preacher preach and sing and worship and all those things. Because God chooses to, to use this time to make a difference in our lives. His presence is here. You and I as believers in Jesus Christ need to be aware of the presence of God. We know God is everywhere. We believe in his omnipresence, that he's everywhere. But the Holy Spirit of God abides within us as believers." [00:56:13] (35 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


7. "Whenever the worship team gets up here and they're praying, we need to say, Holy Spirit of God, please fill us. Use us today. Speak to me today. Holy Spirit of God, I give you permission to speak to my heart. We need to be aware of the very presence of God in this place. The creator of the heavens and earth is in this place with us today. You're not gonna get that anywhere else, my friend. Not like that." [01:17:26] (25 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


8. "We came to get in church, not to get out of church. We came to feel the power of the Holy Spirit. We came to feel the power of the Holy Spirit work in our hearts and work in our lives. And so when we come, we need to participate. We don't need to be consumers and just sit back there and say, bless me if you can, J .T. We need to be, come on, J .T., just like you cheer. And by the way, some of you say, well, that's just not me. Look, you'll go to a football game and act an idiot." [01:14:31] (23 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


9. "Every Sunday, there's somebody here who's hurting. And that might be you today. Every Sunday, there's somebody who's thinking, God, it wasn't supposed to turn out like this. Every Sunday, there's somebody here who's never put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. And if they don't trust Christ, today they may die and go to an eternal hell. Every Sunday, there's some teenager that the devil in the world is trying to lure and pull away." [01:15:43] (39 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


10. "A few years ago, I went through the hardest thing I've ever gone through in my life. Our son took his life. I came to church next Sunday because I needed you. My heart still breaks every day. But I came because I needed your fellowship. I needed your love. I needed to hear J .T.'s corny jokes. Thank God he didn't sing that Sunday. There's been times I've come here and people in this church church have had faith for me when I didn't have the faith." [01:18:39] (65 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)