The living archive is loading.
This Is the Life (Week 3)
Continue exploring
Connected by scripture or shared themes.
This Is the Life (Week 3)
Continue exploring
Connected by scripture or shared themes.
We are in a series called This Is the Life. When we hear that phrase, we often picture exotic vacations, career promotions, or that moment when everything feels perfect. But Jesus offers us a very different vision of the abundant life.
In John 10:10, Jesus tells us: "I have come that they may have life and have it to the full." Jesus wants you to live abundantly. But this life isn't found in vacations, promotions, or new possessions. Jesus offers us a life connected to God—a life where relationships flourish in a culture of dysfunction, where generosity marks us in a world of consumption, and where we serve others and leave a legacy that outlasts us.
You might ask: Is this kind of life even possible in 2026? Yes, it is. But it's not automatic. As Todd shared in week one, this life can't be found—it has to be formed. It can't be bought—it has to be built.
I want to ask you something: When was the last time you said to yourself, "It just doesn't get any better than this"?
Maybe it was when all the kids were getting along. Or when that last child graduated from college. Or when you were at the beach with friends, looking around in gratitude.
I remember such a moment with Todd. It was June 2020, right when the world was reopening after lockdown. Our son Jefferson and his fiancée Cassie were getting married, and because of restrictions, we could only invite 85 people instead of the large celebration they'd planned.
There was a picture etched in my mind from that day. We had grandparents who had prayed for our children. We had friends—David and Mara, James and Lisa—people we'd done life with for 25 years. Dave and Bethany had brought a meal the day I came home from the hospital with Jefferson. Danny had mentored Jefferson on guitar when he was 12 and was now standing with him at his wedding.
We were overwhelmed. We looked at each other and said: It just doesn't get any better than this.
We had been separated, and now we were together. Not on Zoom calls. We all recognized the sacredness of that moment. There are some things that can't happen on a Zoom call. There are some things that don't happen online. They happen when we're together.
The Apostle John wrote to his friends in 2 John: "I have so much more that I want to say to you, but I don't want to do it with paper and ink...I hope to visit you soon and talk to you face to face. Then our joy will be complete."
Our joy isn't complete until we're together, face to face. There are things that can't be communicated by text or direct message. Something sacred happens when we're together in person. God designed us for connection.
Here's what I've noticed: When you think back to that last time you said "It just doesn't get any better than this," 99% of the time, you weren't alone. You were probably with someone face to face, having a moment together—not on a Zoom call, not scrolling Instagram.
We were created for connection. We were created for relationship by a relational God.
The very first thing God says isn't good in the Bible isn't sin or evil or the devil. It's isolation.
In Genesis 2:18, God says: "It is not good for man to be alone." It's not good for us to be alone, male or female. So He created a companion so that Adam would have someone to do life with, to walk through life with.
My prayer for all of us is that when you walk out of here today, you will have a deeper revelation that God has called us to a life of community—and that this revelation leads you to action, not just head knowledge, but to transformation.
As I was praying about this message, I kept returning to Psalm 16:11: "You make known to me the path of life. You fill me with joy in your presence. In your presence there is fullness of joy."
There is a path of life that God wants to make known to us. In the original Hebrew, the word "path" means a well-worn road, a traveled way—a course of life. It's not just a direction; it's a way of living that has been walked before. For centuries, people have walked this path and we can learn from them.
David isn't asking God to invent a new path. He's rejoicing that God has already marked out a path. He makes it known personally. It's His way of saying, "This is the path I've marked out for you that will lead you to the abundant, full life I came to give you."
Everybody in this room is on a path. We're all walking some path. The question isn't whether you're on one—the question is: Where is the path you're on leading you?
I've seen people following the path of success, giving their whole lives to career and ambition, only to look back and say, "I got it wrong. There was a better way." I've seen people on the path of pleasure and enjoyment, chasing the next high, the next adventure—and they end up empty.
Sometimes we don't even know how we got where we are. We're following someone else down the path. We're following the crowd. They go to that bar, so we go to that bar. That's what they're doing on Friday night. That's where they're sending their kids to school. And we just follow.
I actually did this once. I followed Todd down a mountain biking path when he was inexperienced. The result? A lot of broken bones. A lot of injury. I didn't see it coming because I wasn't even looking where I was going. I was just following someone inexperienced down a path.
This is what can happen when we follow someone inexperienced in the path of life.
Proverbs says: "There is a path before each person that seems right, but it ends in death. God has a better path for us."
Here's what's so great: God makes this path known. He hasn't hidden it or made it obscure. Sometimes we think, "Where do I find purpose in life?" and imagine it's some hidden secret. It's not. The path of life isn't something we have to hunt for—it's obvious. God makes it obvious.
Think of Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz. The yellow brick road was obvious. It wasn't hard to find—it was yellow, it was made of bricks. All Dorothy had to do was follow it. This path of life is marked out for us. It's not hard to find, but you have to look in the right place.
Dorothy had to turn around. She was looking at the Munchkins, and when she turned around, she saw the yellow brick road. We have to look in the right place: God's word. And His word makes it really clear what the first step is.
Jesus says, "I am the way, the truth, and the life." He is the way. When you follow Him, it leads you to life. When you step into a relationship with Him, that's your first step on the path of life. And He's calling you to follow Him—not as a one-time decision, but as an ongoing pilgrimage.
This life isn't a destination. It's a pilgrimage. And there are people and places on this path where we can actually experience His presence. There is a final destination—heaven—and that's a really big deal because heaven and hell are real. But Jesus didn't come just so we could experience eternal life someday. He came so we could experience His kingdom every day.
The path of life is a pathway into His presence because in His presence there is fullness of joy. So this path has people and places where we encounter and experience His presence. The more we experience His presence, the more we encounter the life He came to give us—a life of unexplainable joy, peace, thriving relationships, a life that draws others to God.
Even though the first step is following Jesus, this path begins personally but is walked out together. It begins as a personal decision, but it's walked out together in community. Dorothy didn't go alone. Neither can we.
We were not created to make this journey alone.
After Jesus left the earth, He sent His Holy Spirit at Pentecost to fill His people. Those people became the church—God's family. The early followers had to figure out: What does the church look like? Now that Jesus is gone, how do we live as His followers?
The path wasn't clear to them. They didn't have the written word of God yet—they were actually writing it. So they had to be intentional about what it meant to follow Jesus in His absence. And as they formed the church, they developed practices.
In Acts 2:46, it says: "Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread together in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all people."
Every day. Not just Sunday. Not just when the weather permitted or there wasn't something better going on. Every day. They gathered in big groups in the temple and in small groups in homes around tables. Every single day, they were doing something together.
Let's look at what they did together:
They realized that their power was in togetherness. The power and strength of God's church, God's family, came when they were together.
They realized that the church wasn't a building you walked into. It was a spiritual family to belong to.
My prayer for us is that when Sunday service is over, we wouldn't forget who we are. We are the church. Every one of us, every day, everywhere we go. The church is God's people. His people engage in practices so they can continually encounter God's presence because the path of life is found in His presence.
Here's something important: The early church desperately needed each other. They were under attack. They were trying to figure things out. For them, togetherness was a matter of survival. They weren't going to survive without each other. That's why they gathered to pray, to strengthen their faith, to learn together.
The church today desperately needs each other too. We need each other because you are under attack. You need someone to pray for your marriage when it's under attack. You need someone to pray for your kids when they're going the wrong way. You need someone to help you heal from the pain of your past.
We desperately need each other just like the early church. But collectively, we've forgotten it.
This isn't a blame game. We've been conditioned by our culture. We live within a culture, and over the last 50 years, our culture has shifted to be less and less interdependent, less and less together, and more and more alone.
Think about it. We've traded long evenings on the front porch having conversations for binging Netflix by ourselves or doom scrolling for hours. We've replaced dinners where we all sat around the table talking to each other with Uber Eats delivered to our door. We don't even have to talk to the person delivering it.
We're becoming more and more autonomous. There's nothing wrong with Uber Eats or Netflix sometimes. But when you prioritize certain values over others over time, it takes a toll.
When you prioritize privacy over intimacy and authenticity, there's a cost. When you prioritize convenience and comfort over community, over time it leads somewhere. It leads down a path—the path of comfort, convenience, and privacy. And that path leads to isolation.
And isolation is a huge problem. Loneliness is a huge problem in our culture.
Look at the person to your right and left. There's three of you. You've just formed a small group. Out of those three, more than one of you—research says 36%—more than one of you would say they don't have a close friend they can call in the middle of the night. More than one of you is suffering from chronic loneliness.
Our young adults are the loneliest generation in history—lonelier than the elderly for the first time ever. We're the most digitally connected but the most relationally disconnected generation of all time.
The Surgeon General has actually issued a warning about this: Loneliness is more dangerous to our health than smoking a pack of cigarettes a day. It's more dangerous than diabetes. This is huge.
Isolation isn't just a social problem. It's a spiritual one and a physical one.
John 10:10 says Jesus came to give us life to the full. But right before that, it says: "The thief comes to rob, kill, and destroy." If he can't steal your eternal life, he'll try to steal your abundant, full life. And he knows isolation is his weapon of choice. If he can get you isolated, by yourself, he can take you out.
The only battle you can't win is the one you try to fight on your own.
But God doesn't leave us powerless. He doesn't leave us powerless. The early church knew their power was together. And so they built their lives around community and interdependence. They built their weekly rhythms around community and interdependence—rhythms that would keep them in the presence of God.
When they were together in big groups, they experienced the manifest presence of God. When they were in small groups, they experienced God's presence through the body of Christ. Both were important—the big and the small.
I love Psalm 84: "Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked."
Sunday is my favorite day of the week. I live for this day. And you know why? Because better is one day in God's house than a thousand elsewhere.
When I was a teenager, I lived thousands of days without purpose. I was lonely. I was looking for identity and attention wherever I could find it. But then one day—one day—I encountered the presence of God. And every day from that day forward was different. It was better because Jesus is better.
Last week at our Boone Beach campus, I was holding the door—literally a doorkeeper in the house of God. I met a dad who said, "A few years back, my daughter was dying of cancer. The church prayed, and now she's in children's ministry. She's healed and whole. It's incredible."
Another man came up and said, "For years I was bound in darkness, addicted to pornography. But one day in the house of God, the teaching and the word of God set me free. I've been delivered. I'm in Celebrate Recovery helping me stay free."
Then I met a man named Beyond. He was in a correctional facility here in our area. One day our team showed up, and even though he was in prison, in darkness, he encountered the presence of God and was set free. That day, he was at the Boone Beach campus leading worship and praying for people.
One day. It's just better.
There is nothing like the manifest presence of God. It's just better. It's better than a day at the beach. It's better than a shopping spree at the mall. I know that's hard to believe, but it's just better.
I went to the five o'clock service that night at Trinity Campus because worship there goes a little longer. It was powerful, and I got to see my son leading in worship. There's just nothing better. It doesn't get any better than this.
Harvard did a study on human flourishing. Their research shows that regular, consistent worship participation leads to greater self-satisfaction, greater purpose in life, greater social integration, lower loneliness, and lower anxiety.
The research goes on to say: Consistency and community matter. Just believing on your own isn't enough. Belonging to the faith community changes everything.
Believing isn't enough. Belonging makes all the difference. Both are important, but belonging is what transforms. It's amazing that when science finally catches up to the truth of God's word.
Sunday reminds us that we're part of something bigger. It reminds us that we're part of God's family. What happens here has no replacement.
But Sundays are great, and—not "but," but "and." Let me ask you: Which do you need—air, water, or food? You'd say, "That's ridiculous. I need all three." It's the same with this life in Jesus. Yes, you need to show up consistently on Sunday. But it's not just about Sunday. There's so much more.
We need to be in places where we're known and needed. We need smaller groups because that's where transformation happens. That's where we learn to live out the word we heard on Sunday or soaked in all week through journaling.
We need both. And I know this is a high bar. But do we want the full life or not? A lot of us want God's promises but aren't willing to walk God's pathways.
There is a pathway that leads to life. It's pretty clear in God's word: It's about practices that build our faith, being in places where God's presence is, and being around people who carry His presence.
We talk a lot about small groups. Here's something you've probably heard: You can't have the right life with the wrong friends. Some of you are on the wrong path. You need different friends. You need a different group. Let me help you find one.
You've also heard: The only battle you can't win is the one you try to fight on your own.
Small groups make a big church small. A big church can feel intimidating. We all need places and spaces where we can share our burdens, where we can lift the load of someone else. We were created for this.
We're not just a church that has a small groups ministry. We do ministry in small groups. This is how transformation happens. We know that people need to be needed and they need to be known. Somebody needs you, and you need somebody. And you need to be known.
In our kids ministry, they have a great service, but then they break into small groups where a leader knows their name and is praying for them every single day. Our students meet together on Wednesday nights, but they're in small groups where leaders are speaking into their potential. Our young adults have a great gathering, but they meet in small groups. We have Freedom Groups where people have been healed from past hang-ups, hurts, and sin. That's where transformation happens. That's where healing happens.
Something happens when we're in proximity with each other face to face that doesn't happen anywhere else.
Hebrews 10 says: "Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together." This used to sound like a guilt verse: Don't neglect the assembling of the saints or else. No. This is saying: "Don't do this because this is the place where you'll get encouragement."
All the more you're going to need this encouragement as you see the day approaching.
There's something that happens when we're together—we spur each other on. Our faith, that fire of our faith, it happens when we're together. Together fans the fire of our faith. God wants us to have fire in us, not weak faith, but faith on fire.
Think about the difference between a bonfire and a single ember. A single coal. If a coal is removed from the fire, the further it gets from the fire, the cooler it gets. But if you put it back in the fire, it starts to heat up again.
It didn't lose its potential to burn, but it lost the way to burn. It lost proximity to other coals to help it burn. All alone, it becomes a cold rock. It can't sustain a flame on its own. Neither can you.
This is what the verse means: Find ways to stir each other up in your faith. We weren't designed to sustain the fire of our faith alone.
I want to talk to some of you who have been walking with the Lord a long time. You read your Bible every day. You have the scriptures down pat. You served in the nursery. You did the small group thing. And let me tell you: We never outgrow community. We never outgrow being in places where we encounter God's presence.
We don't outgrow the path of life. The path of life is a pathway into His presence.
I've been heartbroken over recent years watching marriages—people I thought were mature in faith, married 30, 35 years—just walk away from their families. And they'd tell me, "I pray every day. I read the word every day." But here's the deal: They walked away from the fire, and they had no one to speak into their life. They had no one to tell them they were cold. They stepped out of community thinking they were still on fire, but they weren't.
It's true that engaging with God's word leads us to life. But it's in community where you learn how to live out the word. We're not just learners of the word; we're doers of the word. It's where you learn how to live it out.
It's both air and water. You need both. You can't fulfill your purpose on your own. You can't fulfill your purpose if you're alone.
I want to encourage you: A lot of times we think we outgrow community. Some of you aren't off the path—you just got stuck on it, and your faith has gotten a little cold. I don't want you to be a cold rock. I don't want a bunch of rocks walking around when God has fire He wants to draw out of you. It's in community that happens.
I'm challenging you to take a step of action. At the beginning, I said I want you to get a revelation that leads to action—a revelation about the community God is calling you to.
I was thinking back about those friends in that room that day at the wedding. They were committed relationships that happened over time, but I didn't have to go looking for those friendships. God had them waiting for me on the path. They were in the church, but that didn't mean I didn't have to look for them. Those friendships didn't have to be found, but they did have to be forged. They took going. Every single one started somewhere.
Some started in a mom's group. Some in a married group. Some serving together. They all had a starting point. They started somewhere. And I want to encourage you: Maybe you don't have those friendships yet, but don't miss this.
I've seen the difference in those who have community and those who don't. Your faith is going to grow cold separated from the other coals.
This weekend is Connect Weekend. We've been preparing for you. We've had small group leader training. Some of you need to take a step on the path. Some of you are on the wrong path and need to get on the right one.
My question for you: Where are you on the path?
Some of you need new friends, so you need to join a group. We have group leaders ready and groups opening up. All kinds of groups. Some of you need to take a next step into a Bible study. We have Bible study groups, pickle ball groups, marriage groups starting on site because we want to invest in your marriage.
For many of you, the next step is to join a group. We're ready for you.
Some of you came in today thinking, "Julie, I just came on a Sunday. I wasn't ready to rearrange my whole calendar. I'm kind of busy." I get it. We're all pretty busy. But there are probably people you're already in relationship with, doing life with—maybe at the gym.
We saw a video today of a group at the gym. When we asked them about filming, they said, "Uh, we didn't even know we were a group." I told them, "A group isn't a meeting. A group is a set of relationships that has a meeting."
It's not a meeting Tuesday night at 7 o'clock. It's a group of relationships—your people. You might meet once a month. You might meet every other week. But it's your group with a meeting.
Some of you are already in a group. You might be teachers together or walk together or meet at the park. Whatever you're already doing, we want to help. Don't leave what you're doing. We want to help you do what you're doing better. We want to help you lead your community and take it to another level.
For some of you, the next step is: I'm going to gather some friends and host a group. I heard this morning there's a group starting at a gym where a lot of our girls work out. I know a guy named Mike at Westlake who's really good at plumbing and electricity. He got a group of guys together who are also good at those things. (And there's a reason Todd wasn't invited to that group.) But they all got together, and they're helping others. They're fixing people's things and encouraging single moms.
Whatever you're good at or whatever you're already doing, get some people together. We're going to help you. We're going to put resources in your hand, give you some scriptures.
It's not going to be hard. You don't have to be a Bible teacher. You might be thinking, "What if there are weird people in my group?" Guess what? There might be some weird people. Someone told me, "In 20 years of groups, I've never had a weird person." I said, "That might be you." You're going to run into some weird people. That's what community is all about.
Some of you are going to join a group. Some are going to host a group. Some are already leading a group—it's time to invite someone else in or help someone find a group.
Here's the deal: The number one reason you need to be in a group is because you can't live this full life alone.
We want to make the way known. Today, we want to make the way known. It's yellow. It's a brick road. It's a clear path. God is calling you to take a step into community wherever you are on the path.
For some of you, you haven't stepped into a relationship with Jesus yet. That's your first step. Our prayer team will be down here after service. If you want to start that relationship, to start on this path of life, they're going to pray for you.
For those of you already in a relationship with Jesus, there's a step for you. Everyone is going to take a step today.
I'm going to pray for you, and it's going to be a really quick prayer because I want to give you time to take that step. Go to the connect boards and find out how you can be part of what's happening so you can experience life-giving community.
Somebody needs you, and you need somebody.
God, I thank you for your people. I pray that today you would help them to be obedient to your word. Amen.
We are in a series called This Is the Life. When we hear that phrase, we often picture exotic vacations, career promotions, or that moment when everything feels perfect. But Jesus offers us a very different vision of the abundant life.
In John 10:10, Jesus tells us: "I have come that they may have life and have it to the full." Jesus wants you to live abundantly. But this life isn't found in vacations, promotions, or new possessions. Jesus offers us a life connected to God—a life where relationships flourish in a culture of dysfunction, where generosity marks us in a world of consumption, and where we serve others and leave a legacy that outlasts us.
You might ask: Is this kind of life even possible in 2026? Yes, it is. But it's not automatic. As Todd shared in week one, this life can't be found—it has to be formed. It can't be bought—it has to be built.
I want to ask you something: When was the last time you said to yourself, "It just doesn't get any better than this"?
Maybe it was when all the kids were getting along. Or when that last child graduated from college. Or when you were at the beach with friends, looking around in gratitude.
I remember such a moment with Todd. It was June 2020, right when the world was reopening after lockdown. Our son Jefferson and his fiancée Cassie were getting married, and because of restrictions, we could only invite 85 people instead of the large celebration they'd planned.
There was a picture etched in my mind from that day. We had grandparents who had prayed for our children. We had friends—David and Mara, James and Lisa—people we'd done life with for 25 years. Dave and Bethany had brought a meal the day I came home from the hospital with Jefferson. Danny had mentored Jefferson on guitar when he was 12 and was now standing with him at his wedding.
We were overwhelmed. We looked at each other and said: It just doesn't get any better than this.
We had been separated, and now we were together. Not on Zoom calls. We all recognized the sacredness of that moment. There are some things that can't happen on a Zoom call. There are some things that don't happen online. They happen when we're together.
The Apostle John wrote to his friends in 2 John: "I have so much more that I want to say to you, but I don't want to do it with paper and ink...I hope to visit you soon and talk to you face to face. Then our joy will be complete."
Our joy isn't complete until we're together, face to face. There are things that can't be communicated by text or direct message. Something sacred happens when we're together in person. God designed us for connection.
Here's what I've noticed: When you think back to that last time you said "It just doesn't get any better than this," 99% of the time, you weren't alone. You were probably with someone face to face, having a moment together—not on a Zoom call, not scrolling Instagram.
We were created for connection. We were created for relationship by a relational God.
The very first thing God says isn't good in the Bible isn't sin or evil or the devil. It's isolation.
In Genesis 2:18, God says: "It is not good for man to be alone." It's not good for us to be alone, male or female. So He created a companion so that Adam would have someone to do life with, to walk through life with.
My prayer for all of us is that when you walk out of here today, you will have a deeper revelation that God has called us to a life of community—and that this revelation leads you to action, not just head knowledge, but to transformation.
As I was praying about this message, I kept returning to Psalm 16:11: "You make known to me the path of life. You fill me with joy in your presence. In your presence there is fullness of joy."
There is a path of life that God wants to make known to us. In the original Hebrew, the word "path" means a well-worn road, a traveled way—a course of life. It's not just a direction; it's a way of living that has been walked before. For centuries, people have walked this path and we can learn from them.
David isn't asking God to invent a new path. He's rejoicing that God has already marked out a path. He makes it known personally. It's His way of saying, "This is the path I've marked out for you that will lead you to the abundant, full life I came to give you."
Everybody in this room is on a path. We're all walking some path. The question isn't whether you're on one—the question is: Where is the path you're on leading you?
I've seen people following the path of success, giving their whole lives to career and ambition, only to look back and say, "I got it wrong. There was a better way." I've seen people on the path of pleasure and enjoyment, chasing the next high, the next adventure—and they end up empty.
Sometimes we don't even know how we got where we are. We're following someone else down the path. We're following the crowd. They go to that bar, so we go to that bar. That's what they're doing on Friday night. That's where they're sending their kids to school. And we just follow.
I actually did this once. I followed Todd down a mountain biking path when he was inexperienced. The result? A lot of broken bones. A lot of injury. I didn't see it coming because I wasn't even looking where I was going. I was just following someone inexperienced down a path.
This is what can happen when we follow someone inexperienced in the path of life.
Proverbs says: "There is a path before each person that seems right, but it ends in death. God has a better path for us."
Here's what's so great: God makes this path known. He hasn't hidden it or made it obscure. Sometimes we think, "Where do I find purpose in life?" and imagine it's some hidden secret. It's not. The path of life isn't something we have to hunt for—it's obvious. God makes it obvious.
Think of Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz. The yellow brick road was obvious. It wasn't hard to find—it was yellow, it was made of bricks. All Dorothy had to do was follow it. This path of life is marked out for us. It's not hard to find, but you have to look in the right place.
Dorothy had to turn around. She was looking at the Munchkins, and when she turned around, she saw the yellow brick road. We have to look in the right place: God's word. And His word makes it really clear what the first step is.
Jesus says, "I am the way, the truth, and the life." He is the way. When you follow Him, it leads you to life. When you step into a relationship with Him, that's your first step on the path of life. And He's calling you to follow Him—not as a one-time decision, but as an ongoing pilgrimage.
This life isn't a destination. It's a pilgrimage. And there are people and places on this path where we can actually experience His presence. There is a final destination—heaven—and that's a really big deal because heaven and hell are real. But Jesus didn't come just so we could experience eternal life someday. He came so we could experience His kingdom every day.
The path of life is a pathway into His presence because in His presence there is fullness of joy. So this path has people and places where we encounter and experience His presence. The more we experience His presence, the more we encounter the life He came to give us—a life of unexplainable joy, peace, thriving relationships, a life that draws others to God.
Even though the first step is following Jesus, this path begins personally but is walked out together. It begins as a personal decision, but it's walked out together in community. Dorothy didn't go alone. Neither can we.
We were not created to make this journey alone.
After Jesus left the earth, He sent His Holy Spirit at Pentecost to fill His people. Those people became the church—God's family. The early followers had to figure out: What does the church look like? Now that Jesus is gone, how do we live as His followers?
The path wasn't clear to them. They didn't have the written word of God yet—they were actually writing it. So they had to be intentional about what it meant to follow Jesus in His absence. And as they formed the church, they developed practices.
In Acts 2:46, it says: "Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread together in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all people."
Every day. Not just Sunday. Not just when the weather permitted or there wasn't something better going on. Every day. They gathered in big groups in the temple and in small groups in homes around tables. Every single day, they were doing something together.
Let's look at what they did together:
They realized that their power was in togetherness. The power and strength of God's church, God's family, came when they were together.
They realized that the church wasn't a building you walked into. It was a spiritual family to belong to.
My prayer for us is that when Sunday service is over, we wouldn't forget who we are. We are the church. Every one of us, every day, everywhere we go. The church is God's people. His people engage in practices so they can continually encounter God's presence because the path of life is found in His presence.
Here's something important: The early church desperately needed each other. They were under attack. They were trying to figure things out. For them, togetherness was a matter of survival. They weren't going to survive without each other. That's why they gathered to pray, to strengthen their faith, to learn together.
The church today desperately needs each other too. We need each other because you are under attack. You need someone to pray for your marriage when it's under attack. You need someone to pray for your kids when they're going the wrong way. You need someone to help you heal from the pain of your past.
We desperately need each other just like the early church. But collectively, we've forgotten it.
This isn't a blame game. We've been conditioned by our culture. We live within a culture, and over the last 50 years, our culture has shifted to be less and less interdependent, less and less together, and more and more alone.
Think about it. We've traded long evenings on the front porch having conversations for binging Netflix by ourselves or doom scrolling for hours. We've replaced dinners where we all sat around the table talking to each other with Uber Eats delivered to our door. We don't even have to talk to the person delivering it.
We're becoming more and more autonomous. There's nothing wrong with Uber Eats or Netflix sometimes. But when you prioritize certain values over others over time, it takes a toll.
When you prioritize privacy over intimacy and authenticity, there's a cost. When you prioritize convenience and comfort over community, over time it leads somewhere. It leads down a path—the path of comfort, convenience, and privacy. And that path leads to isolation.
And isolation is a huge problem. Loneliness is a huge problem in our culture.
Look at the person to your right and left. There's three of you. You've just formed a small group. Out of those three, more than one of you—research says 36%—more than one of you would say they don't have a close friend they can call in the middle of the night. More than one of you is suffering from chronic loneliness.
Our young adults are the loneliest generation in history—lonelier than the elderly for the first time ever. We're the most digitally connected but the most relationally disconnected generation of all time.
The Surgeon General has actually issued a warning about this: Loneliness is more dangerous to our health than smoking a pack of cigarettes a day. It's more dangerous than diabetes. This is huge.
Isolation isn't just a social problem. It's a spiritual one and a physical one.
John 10:10 says Jesus came to give us life to the full. But right before that, it says: "The thief comes to rob, kill, and destroy." If he can't steal your eternal life, he'll try to steal your abundant, full life. And he knows isolation is his weapon of choice. If he can get you isolated, by yourself, he can take you out.
The only battle you can't win is the one you try to fight on your own.
But God doesn't leave us powerless. He doesn't leave us powerless. The early church knew their power was together. And so they built their lives around community and interdependence. They built their weekly rhythms around community and interdependence—rhythms that would keep them in the presence of God.
When they were together in big groups, they experienced the manifest presence of God. When they were in small groups, they experienced God's presence through the body of Christ. Both were important—the big and the small.
I love Psalm 84: "Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked."
Sunday is my favorite day of the week. I live for this day. And you know why? Because better is one day in God's house than a thousand elsewhere.
When I was a teenager, I lived thousands of days without purpose. I was lonely. I was looking for identity and attention wherever I could find it. But then one day—one day—I encountered the presence of God. And every day from that day forward was different. It was better because Jesus is better.
Last week at our Boone Beach campus, I was holding the door—literally a doorkeeper in the house of God. I met a dad who said, "A few years back, my daughter was dying of cancer. The church prayed, and now she's in children's ministry. She's healed and whole. It's incredible."
Another man came up and said, "For years I was bound in darkness, addicted to pornography. But one day in the house of God, the teaching and the word of God set me free. I've been delivered. I'm in Celebrate Recovery helping me stay free."
Then I met a man named Beyond. He was in a correctional facility here in our area. One day our team showed up, and even though he was in prison, in darkness, he encountered the presence of God and was set free. That day, he was at the Boone Beach campus leading worship and praying for people.
One day. It's just better.
There is nothing like the manifest presence of God. It's just better. It's better than a day at the beach. It's better than a shopping spree at the mall. I know that's hard to believe, but it's just better.
I went to the five o'clock service that night at Trinity Campus because worship there goes a little longer. It was powerful, and I got to see my son leading in worship. There's just nothing better. It doesn't get any better than this.
Harvard did a study on human flourishing. Their research shows that regular, consistent worship participation leads to greater self-satisfaction, greater purpose in life, greater social integration, lower loneliness, and lower anxiety.
The research goes on to say: Consistency and community matter. Just believing on your own isn't enough. Belonging to the faith community changes everything.
Believing isn't enough. Belonging makes all the difference. Both are important, but belonging is what transforms. It's amazing that when science finally catches up to the truth of God's word.
Sunday reminds us that we're part of something bigger. It reminds us that we're part of God's family. What happens here has no replacement.
But Sundays are great, and—not "but," but "and." Let me ask you: Which do you need—air, water, or food? You'd say, "That's ridiculous. I need all three." It's the same with this life in Jesus. Yes, you need to show up consistently on Sunday. But it's not just about Sunday. There's so much more.
We need to be in places where we're known and needed. We need smaller groups because that's where transformation happens. That's where we learn to live out the word we heard on Sunday or soaked in all week through journaling.
We need both. And I know this is a high bar. But do we want the full life or not? A lot of us want God's promises but aren't willing to walk God's pathways.
There is a pathway that leads to life. It's pretty clear in God's word: It's about practices that build our faith, being in places where God's presence is, and being around people who carry His presence.
We talk a lot about small groups. Here's something you've probably heard: You can't have the right life with the wrong friends. Some of you are on the wrong path. You need different friends. You need a different group. Let me help you find one.
You've also heard: The only battle you can't win is the one you try to fight on your own.
Small groups make a big church small. A big church can feel intimidating. We all need places and spaces where we can share our burdens, where we can lift the load of someone else. We were created for this.
We're not just a church that has a small groups ministry. We do ministry in small groups. This is how transformation happens. We know that people need to be needed and they need to be known. Somebody needs you, and you need somebody. And you need to be known.
In our kids ministry, they have a great service, but then they break into small groups where a leader knows their name and is praying for them every single day. Our students meet together on Wednesday nights, but they're in small groups where leaders are speaking into their potential. Our young adults have a great gathering, but they meet in small groups. We have Freedom Groups where people have been healed from past hang-ups, hurts, and sin. That's where transformation happens. That's where healing happens.
Something happens when we're in proximity with each other face to face that doesn't happen anywhere else.
Hebrews 10 says: "Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together." This used to sound like a guilt verse: Don't neglect the assembling of the saints or else. No. This is saying: "Don't do this because this is the place where you'll get encouragement."
All the more you're going to need this encouragement as you see the day approaching.
There's something that happens when we're together—we spur each other on. Our faith, that fire of our faith, it happens when we're together. Together fans the fire of our faith. God wants us to have fire in us, not weak faith, but faith on fire.
Think about the difference between a bonfire and a single ember. A single coal. If a coal is removed from the fire, the further it gets from the fire, the cooler it gets. But if you put it back in the fire, it starts to heat up again.
It didn't lose its potential to burn, but it lost the way to burn. It lost proximity to other coals to help it burn. All alone, it becomes a cold rock. It can't sustain a flame on its own. Neither can you.
This is what the verse means: Find ways to stir each other up in your faith. We weren't designed to sustain the fire of our faith alone.
I want to talk to some of you who have been walking with the Lord a long time. You read your Bible every day. You have the scriptures down pat. You served in the nursery. You did the small group thing. And let me tell you: We never outgrow community. We never outgrow being in places where we encounter God's presence.
We don't outgrow the path of life. The path of life is a pathway into His presence.
I've been heartbroken over recent years watching marriages—people I thought were mature in faith, married 30, 35 years—just walk away from their families. And they'd tell me, "I pray every day. I read the word every day." But here's the deal: They walked away from the fire, and they had no one to speak into their life. They had no one to tell them they were cold. They stepped out of community thinking they were still on fire, but they weren't.
It's true that engaging with God's word leads us to life. But it's in community where you learn how to live out the word. We're not just learners of the word; we're doers of the word. It's where you learn how to live it out.
It's both air and water. You need both. You can't fulfill your purpose on your own. You can't fulfill your purpose if you're alone.
I want to encourage you: A lot of times we think we outgrow community. Some of you aren't off the path—you just got stuck on it, and your faith has gotten a little cold. I don't want you to be a cold rock. I don't want a bunch of rocks walking around when God has fire He wants to draw out of you. It's in community that happens.
I'm challenging you to take a step of action. At the beginning, I said I want you to get a revelation that leads to action—a revelation about the community God is calling you to.
I was thinking back about those friends in that room that day at the wedding. They were committed relationships that happened over time, but I didn't have to go looking for those friendships. God had them waiting for me on the path. They were in the church, but that didn't mean I didn't have to look for them. Those friendships didn't have to be found, but they did have to be forged. They took going. Every single one started somewhere.
Some started in a mom's group. Some in a married group. Some serving together. They all had a starting point. They started somewhere. And I want to encourage you: Maybe you don't have those friendships yet, but don't miss this.
I've seen the difference in those who have community and those who don't. Your faith is going to grow cold separated from the other coals.
This weekend is Connect Weekend. We've been preparing for you. We've had small group leader training. Some of you need to take a step on the path. Some of you are on the wrong path and need to get on the right one.
My question for you: Where are you on the path?
Some of you need new friends, so you need to join a group. We have group leaders ready and groups opening up. All kinds of groups. Some of you need to take a next step into a Bible study. We have Bible study groups, pickle ball groups, marriage groups starting on site because we want to invest in your marriage.
For many of you, the next step is to join a group. We're ready for you.
Some of you came in today thinking, "Julie, I just came on a Sunday. I wasn't ready to rearrange my whole calendar. I'm kind of busy." I get it. We're all pretty busy. But there are probably people you're already in relationship with, doing life with—maybe at the gym.
We saw a video today of a group at the gym. When we asked them about filming, they said, "Uh, we didn't even know we were a group." I told them, "A group isn't a meeting. A group is a set of relationships that has a meeting."
It's not a meeting Tuesday night at 7 o'clock. It's a group of relationships—your people. You might meet once a month. You might meet every other week. But it's your group with a meeting.
Some of you are already in a group. You might be teachers together or walk together or meet at the park. Whatever you're already doing, we want to help. Don't leave what you're doing. We want to help you do what you're doing better. We want to help you lead your community and take it to another level.
For some of you, the next step is: I'm going to gather some friends and host a group. I heard this morning there's a group starting at a gym where a lot of our girls work out. I know a guy named Mike at Westlake who's really good at plumbing and electricity. He got a group of guys together who are also good at those things. (And there's a reason Todd wasn't invited to that group.) But they all got together, and they're helping others. They're fixing people's things and encouraging single moms.
Whatever you're good at or whatever you're already doing, get some people together. We're going to help you. We're going to put resources in your hand, give you some scriptures.
It's not going to be hard. You don't have to be a Bible teacher. You might be thinking, "What if there are weird people in my group?" Guess what? There might be some weird people. Someone told me, "In 20 years of groups, I've never had a weird person." I said, "That might be you." You're going to run into some weird people. That's what community is all about.
Some of you are going to join a group. Some are going to host a group. Some are already leading a group—it's time to invite someone else in or help someone find a group.
Here's the deal: The number one reason you need to be in a group is because you can't live this full life alone.
We want to make the way known. Today, we want to make the way known. It's yellow. It's a brick road. It's a clear path. God is calling you to take a step into community wherever you are on the path.
For some of you, you haven't stepped into a relationship with Jesus yet. That's your first step. Our prayer team will be down here after service. If you want to start that relationship, to start on this path of life, they're going to pray for you.
For those of you already in a relationship with Jesus, there's a step for you. Everyone is going to take a step today.
I'm going to pray for you, and it's going to be a really quick prayer because I want to give you time to take that step. Go to the connect boards and find out how you can be part of what's happening so you can experience life-giving community.
Somebody needs you, and you need somebody.
God, I thank you for your people. I pray that today you would help them to be obedient to your word. Amen.
