Spot Me

If we say and believe that community is an essential part of the Christian life, why do so many believers try to follow Jesus alone? We have this whole even brand of Christianity that's like, Man, I like Jesus. I just don't like the church. I'm going do it alone. I'm going to follow him alone. So we pray alone. We struggle alone. We doubt alone. And guess what? That leads to us sinning alone. That's where that road usually tends to go. [00:03:27] (28 seconds)  #FaithInCommunity

John has influence, he's got a platform, he's got disciples, and then Jesus shows up and he says, Behold. He doesn't make it all about himself. Oh, know, I've been there. Let me tell you all about my problems and how I've actually experienced that and what I did. He didn't even make it about his disciples. You know, let's really dive in a little bit more today. He pointed people to follow Jesus. That's what true spiritual strength does. It doesn't collect attention, it redirects it. [00:28:00] (26 seconds)  #RedirectToJesus

Strong people get through all by themselves. Why? Well, we live in a culture of independence, self improvement, personal brand. There's not even like companies and corporations anymore. Now it's all about the individual. What you can build on your own. We admire that. Yes, the self made man. They did it all on their own. We say things like, I've got this. I've got this, right? Come on, if you're with me, who else says, I'll figure it out. Or maybe this one, okay? I don't want to be a burden on anyone else. [00:02:11] (35 seconds)  #NotASoloJourney

Anyone who's ever actually lifted real weights, alright, and I know because I've asked them. I've asked them. It's not the lifting of heavy things that is a burden. It's not the lifting that's dangerous. It's dangerous when you do it alone. And spiritually, many of us have been lifting more than we were ever meant to alone. That's the danger in this. Being alone, doing it alone, going it alone is not strength. You all, I just want to challenge that. Here's the strong challenge: It's actually weakness. It's actually weakness. [00:02:47] (40 seconds)  #AloneIsWeakness

He's thanking this Jesus community, imperfect as they are. But who does Paul thank? He doesn't say, Thank you, my friends. I just want to thank my church family. You know, you can do that. He doesn't though. Who does he thank? I thank God. I thank God for calling me into this. God is the one that does the work. Paul thanks God not for Man, this church. This church, they've got it. They always have me. They never fail me. They're so faithful. God, you're faithful and you've called me into this. [00:15:43] (35 seconds)  #ThankGodForCommunity

He's thanking this Jesus community, imperfect as they are. But who does Paul thank? He doesn't say, Thank you, my friends. I just want to thank my church family. You know, you can do that. He doesn't though. Who does he thank? I thank God. I thank God for calling me into this. God is the one that does the work. Paul thanks God not for Man, this church. This church, they've got it. They always have me. They never fail me. They're so faithful. God, you're faithful and you've called me into this. [00:15:43] (35 seconds)  #GratefulForGodsCall

You are not responsible to carry everyone else's stuff. You're not responsible for it. You are responsible to each other to I mean, I'm just getting into the next point. We point other people to Jesus together. He's gonna carry it. I can't carry everybody's. You can't carry everybody's. We have a responsibility to carry ours and walk alongside each other to help us get there to him. We're carried to Jesus. Healthy prayer recognizes that the burden is yours. You must carry it. I can carry it with you to him. [00:25:09] (37 seconds)  #CarryYoursWithOthers

John has two disciples and they're standing there, and he goes, There he is. Go there. And they actually You could receive this as rejection, abandonment. If John was super insecure, he'd be like, Oh gosh, I guess I wasn't a good enough teacher. I wasn't able to fix all their problems. He says, There's Jesus. And they went, Alright. And they went and followed him. That's what strong people do. That's coming from a place of strength. [00:27:30] (30 seconds)  #LeadersPointToJesus