1. "We believe in healing. We believe in breakthroughs. We believe in God that's able to do those. So, if you're here today and you say, you know, I need a healing too, or I need a breakthrough in my life, would you raise your hand and just keep it up? Don't be ashamed. Just keep it up. And if you see somebody with their hand lifted up, would you go and lay your hand gently on their shoulder or on their arm, or just point your hand in that direction? Let's pray for them right now." [22:21] (24 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




2. "That's why. In the scripture, it says we pray for one another. We encourage one another. We lift one another up. And so today, just release your faith to those that are around you. And let's just worship a little bit more of that song. good morning again. Well, good morning again. It's great to see you. Boy, wasn't that great worship this morning?" [24:10] (60 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




3. "A piece by itself can't really do much. I mean, if I have this one purpose, you say, hey, look at this puzzle. This is a nice puzzle. A little red, a little yellow, a little brown. Yeah, that's a pretty puzzle. But this puzzle piece was never meant. To be by itself. It was meant to fit together and connect with all the other pieces. So that you could have then, you have this beautiful beach picture." [35:07] (28 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




4. "You see, if you're a Lone Ranger, you're unknown. You're unsupported. And you're underutilized. That's not God's intention. Time magazine actually ran an interesting article called The Benefits of Faith in the Church. Here are some of their observations. Heart surgery patients who draw comfort from their faith have a significantly higher survival rate than those who don't. Well, that's good. Secondly, blood pressure of people who attend church is lower than those who don't. Wow." [38:29] (36 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




5. "We are designed to connect. Number two, we discover our fit. We discover our fit. This puzzle has interlocking pieces. Every one hooks into the next one. And each puzzle connection put together completes the puzzle that's on this side. And so it is with the body of Christ. Romans says each part gets its meaning from the body as a whole. Not the other way around. The body we're talking about is Christ's body of chosen people. Each of us finds our meaning and function as a part of his body." [42:09] (37 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




6. "Listen, you can do life by yourself. You can go from place to place. But I'll tell you, you may be good, but you'll never be great by yourself. There was never a great leader that was a great leader by themself. You'll find that they surrounded themself with other people. And so here we are. We see in this that the whole body fit together. We often see geese flying. And they fly in what they call a V formation. They do that because it takes 40% less energy." [50:04] (37 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




7. "Jesus purchased a church with his own blood. That's the hope of this world, the hope of the local church. When we come together as a body of believers, there's something you can't get on your own. We draw strength from each other. Has that ever happened? I mean, when your praise begins getting mixed with other praise, it's just power gets released. And what the world took out of you all week long, suddenly you feel refreshed, restored, reenergized, recharged." [51:35] (35 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




8. "David said, I was home. I was thinking about how bad life is, all that I've got to deal with. But he said, something within me said I needed to get to the sanctuary. And he said, when I got to the sanctuary, when I got to church, he said, I heard people worshiping. I saw people lifting their hands. I heard the music. And he said, in the midst of all of that, he said, but suddenly I understood. God was leading me and guiding me. Listen, there's some things that we can't get on our own. We need to get it when we're together." [01:01:10] (33 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




9. "I know it takes effort for you to get up early. I know it takes effort for you to get up early. The one day you can sleep in. I mean, some of you work six days a week. Some of you work seven days a week. I know some of you got kids, so you never sleep in, right? But the one day, and so I know it takes effort to get up, to drive to church when it would be much easier, as somebody said the other day, to be honest with you. I like waking up in bed, turn the TV off, and watching you there. That's good, but you might miss your suddenly." [57:41] (26 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




10. "You were never created to withstand the winds and the cold alone. Psalm 73. You can look at it when you get home. David said, I was so troubled, I came to the end, and I was ready to just give up because I couldn't understand why the people that do evil are getting ahead, and it just seems like I'm struggling. And so he said, I was talking to God, telling him I couldn't understand. It didn't make sense. It didn't know what was happening. And then in verse 17, he says, But then I went to the sanctuary, and I understood." [01:01:10] (41 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)

I speak Jesus.

How many of you have been asking about Maggie, my administrative assistant? She's going through some tough times right now. She has a tumor. They've done a biopsy. They're getting ready to do something else. And so, it's really been a tough time in the last several weeks for she and Lonnie. But we want to pray today for God's direction. God has already guided the hands of doctors in so many ways. It's been miracle after miracle. But we want to pray for her complete healing.

And also today, for anyone else that's here, that needs healing. I just felt in that song—I mean, we didn't do it in the first service—but I just really felt like there's just a release of the gift of faith for healing here today. And I don't know, maybe you've been carrying the same thing for a long time, but I really feel like today that this is the time to speak that name of Jesus.

We believe in healing. We believe in breakthroughs. We believe in a God that's able to do those. So, if you're here today and you say, you know, I need a healing too, or I need a breakthrough in my life, would you raise your hand and just keep it up? Don't be ashamed. Just keep it up. And if you see somebody with their hand lifted up, would you go and lay your hand gently on their shoulder or on their arm, or just point your hand in that direction? Let's pray for them right now.

And those of you that are watching online, we want to do that for you right now. We speak the name of Jesus. In the name of Jesus, by his stripes, we are made whole. He said, lay hands on the sick. So, we do that today and we're praying the prayer of faith. And we're believing today in his name. For whatever need you have right now, we just surround you right now. That hand that's on you right now, that's the representative hand of Jesus.

So, today's the day to lay that down. I know you've been prayed for many times, but now's the time to just lay that down. And we continue to pray healing over Maggie and the others that are watching online. We believe today that God is able. He is able. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Sweet Jesus. We thank you, Jesus. We thank you, Lord. We thank you. We thank you. We thank you. We thank you.

Do you just sense that? I just sense a release of just faith. Just really faith in the house. And we need to sing a little more of that event. All right? Just speak the name of Jesus. And listen, as we're saying this, you're speaking the name of Jesus in this song for people around you that need a healing, that need breakthrough. Nobody should have to suffer alone. That's why, in the scripture, it says we pray for one another. We encourage one another. We lift one another up.

And so today, just release your faith to those that are around you. And let's just worship a little bit more of that song.

Good morning again. Well, good morning again. It's great to see you. Boy, wasn't that great worship this morning? I'll tell you what, I love our team. They do a great job. Give the Lord a hand clap for our team and for you being here today.

We're starting a new series called Connect, and today we're talking about connect on purpose. And our theme verse is Romans 12 and 5. Would you read that with me out loud? It's there in your notes and on the Sky Bible.

In the same way, even though we are many individuals, Christ makes us one body and individuals who are connected to each other. Say connected. Connected to each other.

Father, we come before you today. We thank you for your presence. Lord, we just—there's just no way to express our gratitude for your faithfulness. And we thank you today as we look into your word. Holy Spirit, I pray you would anoint me. Help me to say what I should say. Don't let me say anything I shouldn't say. At the end of today, we pray, Father, that you would be glorified. The saints would be edified. And the enemy would be terrified in the name of Jesus.

Hey, I brought a puzzle along with me. It's a really nice beach puzzle. And you know, as you're putting puzzles together, you turn them upside down. And you know, you start turning the pieces over so that you can look at those and put all that together.

And so, let me ask you this question. Do you know why or what puzzle pieces and human beings have in common? Connection. They're made to connect. No one piece—see, this piece tried to get away. Because Tim's going to come up in a minute and put this puzzle all together. And without that one piece, you wouldn't get that real good picture.

And a lot of people feel like they're just a sort of a useless piece. But if I read that scripture, it says that each of us are connected. This is a place where you should feel connected. You shouldn't feel disconnected.

So, why is it important to connect? Well, number one, here it is. We are designed to connect. Say, we're designed to connect. A piece by itself can't really do much. I mean, if I have this one piece, you say, hey, look at this puzzle. This is a nice puzzle. A little red, a little yellow, a little brown. Yeah, that's a pretty puzzle. But this puzzle piece was never meant to be by itself. It was meant to fit together and connect with all the other pieces so that you could have then this beautiful beach picture.

The scripture says, in Romans 12, our bodies have many parts. But these parts don't all do the same thing, right? I mean, I got an arm over here. I got a leg here. You know, I got a head here. I got eyes here. They all do different things. I mean, it'd be hard for me to take my foot and scratch my head. Just kind of a little difficult. I'm not that limber.

But I can take my hand. I could scratch that. Or you can pick a booger. Whatever you need to do. Just want to wake up a few of you. But we are created to be part of his body. And in his body, we all have different parts to play.

I mean, I really wish—I wish I could grab that guitar like Matt and Smitty do. Man, I mean, they just—I'm just ready to go to heaven. I mean, they start picking those things. And I think, man, why not me and Tim? You know. And then when Jennifer starts singing, I just think, oh, yeah, that's how it is. And I just think—but then again, there are things that I can do that they can't do. And there are things that you can do that nobody else can do.

Our bodies have many parts. They don't all do the same thing. In the same way, even though we are individuals, Christ makes us one body. And read it with me. And individuals who are connected to each other. Connected to each other.

Now, you may not be sitting close enough, but we just reach out and touch a person beside you. Grab their hand. Connect with them. I want them to feel that connection. We are created to connect.

The divine architect—whoever put this puzzle together, no name on here, beats day—he had a vision of what it should look like. And he created that. And so the same is with God.

When I was a kid growing up, they had the old black and white western I loved—the Lone Ranger. Now, some of you are very young, and you'll have to look up on the internet to see what it was. But he was a master writer. He went about doing good. But he was independent. He didn't work with other law, legal firms or marshals or sheriffs. He'd just show up and do good. Wear a mask. And at the end of the episode, they'd say, who was that masked man? And he would rear up on his horse and he'd ride off. It's the Lone Ranger.

But sadly, God never created us to be a Lone Ranger. Many Christians have that lifestyle. I mean, they'll visit this church. And then they'll go to church. And they'll visit that church. And they'll visit another church. And they'll go to this conference. And they'll go to that conference. And they'll hop around. But they never find a place where they sink their roots down deep into a local body so they can connect with somebody else and fill a place that nobody else can fill.

You see, if you're a Lone Ranger, you're unknown. You're unsupported. And you're underutilized. That's not God's intention. Time magazine actually ran an interesting article called The Benefits of Faith in the Church. Here are some of their observations.

Heart surgery patients who draw comfort from their faith have a significantly higher survival rate than those who don't. Well, that's good. Secondly, blood pressure of people who attend church is lower than those who don't. Wow. Thirdly, people who have faith and attend church on a regular basis experience less depression than people who don't attend church. And finally, suicide is four times higher among non-churchgoers than churchgoers.

So attending church is not only good for you spiritually, but it's also good for you physically. We are created to connect.

In God's original model of what the church should look like, it's found in the book of Acts, chapter 2. Remember, Jesus said, go and wait until the Holy Spirit comes. The Holy Spirit comes at the birth of the church.

So Acts, chapter 2, verses 41 through 47. You can read along with me in your Bible or on the notes ahead.

Those who believed what Peter said were baptized and added to the church that day about 3,000 in all. All believers devoted themselves to the apostle's teaching and to fellowship, the sharing in meals, including the Lord's Supper, which we just did, and to prayer.

Verse 43. A deep sense of awe came over them all, and the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders. And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had. They sold their property and possessions, shared the money with those in need. They worshiped together in the temple each day, and met in homes.

We do that in our life groups. We're today meeting in the temple. We're meeting here together. And then we meet in small groups. And we'll be signing up for small groups in the next couple, three weeks. If you'd like to lead a life group, we would love to teach you and help you and give you some materials. So you can take that connection card out today and fill it out and say, I’d like to lead a life group. And some of our team will be up with you this week. I promise you.

So, and they shared in generosity. And all the while praising God, enjoying the goodwill of all people. And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved.

The NIV says every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. Plural. Why temple courts? Plural. Because at that particular time in Jerusalem, the church had over 100,000 members. And that's hard to get into one temple. So they had temple courts all around the temple. And that's when they come together corporately. And then they met in house to house.

We are designed to connect.

Number two, we discover our fit. We discover our fit. This puzzle has interlocking pieces. Every one hooks into the next one. And each puzzle connection put together completes the puzzle that's on this side. And so it is with the body of Christ.

Romans says each part gets its meaning from the body as a whole, not the other way around. The body we're talking about is Christ's body of chosen people. Each of us finds our meaning and function as a part of his body. But a chopped-off finger and a cut-off toe, we wouldn't amount to much, would we? Right?

So, I mean, if you're a cut-off toe, which simply means that you're not connected to a local fellowship, to a local body. It really always amazes me that people say, well, I just go from this church to that church and this church and that church because, you know, I just get a little bit here and get a little bit there. And that may be true. You may get something at one church that you don't get something else. But you're robbing yourself of finding the fit that you really have.

Because you can't do that by just being a lone ranger and going from place to place. You have to find where you fit. The Bible says that we're put together. We're joined together. We're built together. We're members together. We're heirs together. We're fitted together. We're held together. And we'll be caught up to meet him in the air together.

Each one of us has unique strengths. You can discover that strength in our growth track. We have growth track every first, second, third, fourth Sunday in the growth track room at 10:30. And today they met. They talked about our vision, who we are, how we came to this place. The second week you talk about discovering your fit. We help you find a place. And then we talk about the power of the Holy Spirit in you, in your life.

In Acts 2, verses 40 through 41, again, it said Peter was preaching. And he preached a long time. And then people believed. So you see, the step is, first of all, I have to believe. I have to step out from not believing and believe in Jesus.

How many of you know without a shadow of a doubt that you have believed in Jesus and your sins are forgiven, you're on your way to heaven, and you have a hope for living? Isn't that a great thing? So they believed. The second thing is they were baptized.

I meet people all the time say, yeah, you know, I'm a believer, but I just, I've never really been baptized. Well, the scripture says repent and be baptized. People say, well, I was baptized as a kid. Yes, but you didn't have a decision in that. They sprinkled you. They baptized you. Whatever they did, you had no decision.

But when you become a believer and you say, I'm going to follow Jesus, he said, repent and be baptized. Now there's a pattern to that. First of all, I want to make the connection with him and then I'll be baptized so that I can't explain it. But there's something spiritually powerful that happens when you're baptized in water.

How many remember the time, you know, back in the old days, we, especially in the north where I was raised, we often chopped the ice to baptize people in the river. And it was cold. But it's amazing. I mean, I've been in this thing for 50 something years. It's amazing to watch people go under the water and then come up a totally different expression on their face. Tears, joy, laughter. I don't know what happens.

It's symbolic of when I go into the water, it's symbolic of how that the old self has died. And when I come up the new—and a lot of times addictions are broken with water baptism. So they believed, they were baptized, and then they were added to the church. They chose to be part of that Jerusalem church. They made a decision. I'm not going to be isolated, but I am going to connect.

In other words, this is going to be my spiritual home. I'm going to stick it out here. This is where I'm going to share and be shared. This is where I'm going to give and receive. This is where I'm going to serve and be served. It's my spiritual home. It's my family. And I'm not going to hop around like a bunny rabbit from place to place.

Listen, if the stylistics of this church are not for you, then I'll help you. We'll help you find another local church. There are great local churches here in our area. But what I'm saying is you need to find a place that you say, this feels like home. This feels like I could connect here, that I could belong here.

Now, you know, if our music is too loud for you, well, we can help you go find a place where they don't have it. If our music is too exciting, we'll find a place we can sing somber because it's the body of Christ. We don't all appeal to the same thing, but we appeal to him. And we need to find a place that we connect together with one another.

So when you go to the growth track, we don't try to talk you into the Father's house. Actually, we try to talk you out of it. We say this is who we are. And you bring with you thoughts from other churches that you've been to. But we say, well, we're not that church. People say, well, the church I was at before, they did this, they did that. Then why did you leave?

Do you know what I'm saying? And you don't go from the Father's house to another house in town. You don't go over to my friend Cliff over at First Baptist and say, well, it's the Father's house. They did it this way. No, they have a distinct personality and a distinct place.

So listen, do you hear what I'm saying? Find a place to belong. Find a place to put your roots down deep. You say, well, how do you do that at the Father's house? Well, you become a covenant partner. We don't have membership because you can be a member. I'm a member of the Kentucky Colonels, but I've never been to the racetrack. Somebody gave me that as a gift. I got it framed. I got it there and say, I'm a member of the Kentucky Colonels. What's that mean? I don't know. I just got a certificate.

So here at the Father's house, we say we don't have membership. We have covenant partners. Let's say I'm going to covenant with you as I am covenant with him. And to see that this house becomes a house where people's lives are changed, where hope is brought to them. And I'm happy to connect and be part of that.

In other words, I'm not just going to be an attender. I'm not just going to come and sit, sip and soak and slip out. But I'm going to say, you know what? I want to connect. I want to see what my life is like if I connect.

You see, here's number three. We are stronger together. Say stronger together. One puzzle piece all by itself is so-so. But if you put it with others, it just becomes strong. And you put them all together and you can actually pick it up in one piece. We are stronger together. Stronger together.

Ephesians 4 and 16 says he makes the whole body fit together perfectly. I just love that. It says he makes that. So you say, well, I don't feel like I fit. Well, maybe this is not the right church for you to fit. He said he makes them fit. Fit together. Fit together.

I mean, when I walk in here on Sundays and I see how all of you serve in different ways and do different things, I'm thinking, I have no idea what's going on. Because you're doing it. Because you found your place. And you've got people coming alongside of you. And I'm seeing people I don't even know. And they're stepping up and doing so many wonderful things. Because he makes people fit together in the right way.

Fit together. The whole body fit together perfectly. Each part does its own special work. It helps the other parts grow. See, so it's not that you're just connected alone. But no, you grow. And because you're connected, you cause others to grow. So the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.

Listen, you can do life by yourself. You can go from place to place. But I'll tell you, you may be good, but you'll never be great by yourself. There was never a great leader that was a great leader by themselves. You'll find that they surrounded themselves with other people.

And so here we are. We see in this that the whole body fit together. We often see geese flying. And they fly in what they call a V formation. They do that because it takes 40% less energy. So you have a lead out front. And you've heard them. You're making it easier for me to fly. And so the lead then, he'll drop out when it's time or she. And they'll go to the back. And another one will step up there.

Isn't that what the body of Christ is all alike? I mean, we're flowing together in formation. And it's not all one person doing it by themselves. But after a while, you get tired of that. And somebody else has to come alongside and encourage you. You can do this. You can make it. You're going to have it. This is going to work in your life.

But if one goose says, hey, I ain't going to fly in this formation. I'm going to do my own thing. Good luck, buddy. You're going to have to expend more energy. And you won't get as far as anybody else.

I'm just saying this. Listen to me, church. You'll never get as far as God wants you to get if you're disjointed from a local fellowship. Jesus purchased a church with his own blood. That's the hope of this world, the hope of the local church.

When we come together as a body of believers, there's something you can't get on your own. We draw strength from each other. Has that ever happened? I mean, when your praise begins getting mixed with other praise, it's just power gets released. And what the world took out of you all week long, suddenly you feel refreshed, restored, reenergized, recharged.

Listen, it's good to worship and pray on your own. But something happens when you do that with other believers. I'll be honest with you. There's a lot of times I come to church on Sunday mornings and I've got a lot on my mind. It's been stuff that's happened all week long. Maybe something's gone wrong, something else. And I'll come in and I'll be weighed down and I'll be processing, thinking about how we're going to handle that situation. How are we going to do that?

And then I'll step out of the office and I'll start walking down the hallway and people smile. And how are you doing today? It's good to see you. Hey, here's a new guest that's come today. And we're glad that they're here. And as I walk in and then the team starts their worship, all of a sudden my whole focus changes.

Because you see, I couldn't get that by myself. But I needed to be in a place where I could feel the strength of other people and I felt them encourage me. And in the middle of that, I said, you know what? I can make it.

See, when you come to church and your praise is mixed with my praise and your faith is mixed with my faith, it takes us to another level. You've seen that happen. You've seen that happen. Andrea sings a song, How Great Is Our God. Did you sense that?

Yeah. When your voice—you see, you say, what? But you know, I'm just a little piece. Nobody knows my name. Nobody knows who I am. But listen, the row in which that you're sitting with your presence, somebody watched you today, whether you're going to worship, whether you're doing that. And you see it says, when two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am in the midst.

It doesn't say—listen, at 4 a.m. this morning when I was praying for you and for this day, the Lord spoke to me and said, I never said when two or three are gathered together, and they all have the same focus, and they all have the same maturity level. I said simply because their presence is one place, and they've come together, I'm there.

So you may say, you may say, well, I'm not good at this worship singing thing. But yet just your presence of standing and lifting your hands or just looking brings energy to everybody else, and there's something released in the house, something that's released in the house.

Wow, you may be seated, or we'll have revival, I really believe. Don't miss your suddenly. Don't miss your suddenly. Last week was kind of a really neat suddenly, wasn't it? In the first service and second service both. I mean, I just, after the first service, I told the team, I just want to go home. Just run the video. That was just a God thing. I can't, you know, but here's what I know.

On the day of Pentecost, there's 120 in the upper room, and it said, and suddenly the Holy Spirit came. But now rewind. Jesus is resurrected from the grave. Scholars say he spoke to as many as 500 people in the church at that time, and he said, go to Jerusalem and tarry till the Holy Spirit comes. But on the day of Pentecost, there was only 120. There wasn't 500. 380 weren't there when a suddenly happened.

I wonder how many times, simply because our butts are not in the seat, that we miss a suddenly when God shows up. There's just something that happens. There are suddenlies that happen, and I believe that sometimes God is waiting for us to see if we're ready for that.

Hebrews 10 says, let us not neglect our meeting together as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of His return is drawing near. I'm glad you watch at home, but listen, it's no substitute for being here in community.

I know, listen, I know it takes effort for you to get up early. I know it takes effort for you to get up early. I know it takes effort for you to get up early. The one day you can sleep in. I mean, some of you work six days a week. Some of you work seven days a week. I know some of you got kids, so you never sleep in, right? But the one day, and so I know it takes effort to get up, to drive to church when it would be much easier, as somebody said the other day, to be honest with you. I like waking up in bed, turning the TV off, and watching you there.

That's good, but you might miss your suddenly. We need to give God the first part of our week. They met on the first part of the week. They met on Sunday. They brought their first fruits, their tithe and the offering. I know it takes a few hours away from your life, but listen, I hope you can catch this. By your presence being in his house and showing a priority, he can give you favor. He can put you six months down the road from where you would be at any other time, but it's at making a priority in our life.

It's easy to get distracted. I hear people say, well, you know, I had some errands to run, or I had family and guests from out of town, and they came in, and we couldn't come to church. That's the screwiest thing I've ever heard in my life. This is your home. This is where you're connected, and you have family or friends that come into town, and you don't bring them to meet the best part of your family that's here today. That just doesn't make sense.

I learned an interesting thing this week about penguins. I'm ever learning. Penguins live in a climate that can get 40 below zero. With winds of 120 miles an hour, and it's cold. What they will do is they will huddle together in a big group, and scientists say that in the middle of that group, it's actually 70 degrees because of all their feathers to feathers.

So in the midst of that, in the middle of the group, one of the penguins will move, and when he moves, everybody moves to keep the group moving. You never stay in the same place. Watch this video. It'll explain it better than me.

Wow. That's just—I mean, it's just amazing. You were never created to withstand the winds and the cold alone. Psalm 73. You can look at it when you get home. David said, I was so troubled, I came to the end, and I was ready to just give up because I couldn't understand why the people that do evil are getting ahead, and it just seems like I'm struggling.

And so he said, I was talking to God, telling him I couldn't understand. It didn't make sense. I didn't know what was happening. And then in verse 17, he says, But then I went to the sanctuary, and I understood. David said, I was home. I was thinking about how bad life is, all that I've got to deal with. But he said, something within me said I needed to get to the sanctuary.

And he said, when I got to the sanctuary, when I got to church, he said, I heard people worshiping. I saw people lifting their hands. I heard the music. And he said, in the midst of all of that, he said, but suddenly I understood. God was leading me and guiding me.

Listen, there's some things that we can't get on our own. We need to get it when we're together. I know you've seen pictures of redwood trees. They're the tallest of all trees. They grow 300 feet high. They live for 2,000 years. They're resilient to wind and storms and pests. But the interesting thing about them, their root system only goes down 6 to 12 feet.

And the biggest root they have is about one inch in diameter. But here's what they do. Their roots go down, but instead of keeping going down, they start going sideways. And the root of this redwood tree hooks onto the root of the next redwood tree, and then to the next redwood tree, and to the next redwood tree, so that when you see a forest of redwood trees, you don't see one that's all by himself.

But you see, when the wind begins to blow, and it begins to feel like you're just going to go all the way over, then the other roots of the other redwood trees pull you back and say, no, we're not going to let you go under. We're not going to let you. That's the power of being connected in a local church. Somebody's going to be there to wrap their arms around you and say, we're not going to leave you alone.

In the foyer, we got a great connection wall that we're starting. And we got these little puzzle pieces. And I'd like to ask you, if you want to connect with us and what we're doing here, that doesn't mean you can't. But if you want to connect with us, then you can. And if you want to connect with us, you become a partner by doing that.

But it just simply says, you know, this feels like home. I want to connect with what you're doing here. And this month, all along, we're going to keep making that connection bigger and bigger. So at the end of the service, I'd like for you to go out and get one of these. And the girls will help you take the tape off. You can stick it on the wall, hook it with another puzzle piece, and then write your name on there.

By writing your name, you say, you know what? I'm going to do my best to connect with this local church and see what God can do in my life. I would never want to be alone. I'd never want to be alone.

Vance, come up here. Sam, come up here. AJ, come up here. Sean, come on up here. Robinson, come on up here. Come on up here. See, the power of—there's some good-looking boys there, aren't there? You guys interlock your arms, okay? Brenda, come here, please. Get right in here beside AJ and Sean.

Brenda's not quite as strong as they are. Yeah, she's not quite as tall. But you imagine Brenda being you, and you feel like sometimes you face storms, trials, difficulties, and the wind blows really hard on you. But the amazing thing about being connected in the body of Christ, these boys are not going to let you totter. They're going to hold you strong.

I can push all I want. It's not even going to get to you. Push. Look, nothing. I mean, just—it's just unbelievable. I mean, come over here with Robinson. I just—you just start to get beyond him, and look, they don't even move.

Please see that picture. You belong here. You belong to Connect, because that's how God created you. No lone rangers, no lone strangers connected together. You guys did a great job. Thank you. You may be seated.

All month long, we're going to talk about Connect. Next week, we'll talk about Connect by serving. Then we'll talk about connecting in small groups. Then we're just going to have a fun Sunday, a Connection Sunday. And then Pastor Kevin will be in here at the end of the month and bringing that connection on in to connecting with the vision. I think it's what he's going to deal with.

But I want to pray for all of us today. Pray that our connection will go—and I know maybe you tried to connect with the church before. It was a bad situation. That happens. That happens. We don't need to hear any people say, well, that church, you know, they did this. No, look, I'm sorry. You may have got hurt, but we're moving on.

But I want you to connect. Can I pray for you? Does this make sense today? Do you get anything out of this? Give the Lord a hand clap if you got anything out of this today.

Let's pray. Let's bow our heads and pray.

Father, we come to you today and we thank you. What a picture. What a picture of those guys protecting Brenda. Brenda, that's a picture of what it's like to be in your house, in the body. We're not going to let you go alone. We're not going to let the enemy. We're going to draw a line in the sand and say, that's it. No more, Satan. No more. Enough of this sickness. Enough of this in Jesus' name.

God, I thank you that you draw us closer together today. And if there's someone here today that's never been connected with the local church, or they've just gone from place to place, Lord, I pray you'll help them find the place that says, those that are planted in the house of the Lord will flourish.

It doesn't say those that are in a potted plant, but it says those that are planted will flourish. As you continue to pray today about what the Lord would say to you, maybe you're here today, and when I said a few minutes ago about Peter preached and they believed, and then the Holy Spirit spoke to you and said, you know what? You've never really done that.

You've gone to church. You've actually sung some of the songs, carried your Bible, but you don't believe. You haven't believed. You don't believe that Jesus is the only answer for your life. There's only one way to get to heaven, and that's through Jesus. Jesus loves you. Sean said a few minutes ago, John 3:16. He so loved us that he came and he gave his life for us to be set free.

And today, if you've never believed on Jesus, he wants to forgive you of your sins. He wants to give you a hope for eternity, and he wants to give you a purpose, a meaning in your life. So as this church is praying, heads are bowed. If you're here today and you say, you know, Terry, I need to make that decision to believe on Jesus. Because I don't ever know that I've really done that. I want to be sure that I'm ready to meet him if I were to die today.

If you're not sure, let me pray with you today. Would you raise your hand and make eye contact with me and say, please pray for me today. I want to make that decision today. Thank you. Thank you. Others today, thank you. That's me. That's me, Terry. I want to make that decision today. In Jesus' name.

Those of you watching online, let me lead us in a prayer today. Nobody should pray this prayer by themselves. Pray it with me.

Father God, thank you for sending your son, Jesus, to die for my sins. And I choose today to believe in him. He is Lord. He is Savior. Forgive me of my sins. Come into my life. Fill me with your spirit. As best as I know how, I want to serve you all the days of my life.

Church, would you celebrate? Celebrate with me today with those who prayed that prayer. Listen, we're going to—our prayer team is coming down front if you need prayer. And if you prayed that prayer today or you don't have a Bible, if you go to First Step here, First Step there or outside, we want to give you resources that will help you.

Come on, let's stand. Let's sing a little bit more of this song. And if you need prayer, our prayer team will be down here to pray with you.