Over the last couple of weeks, we've been really walking through what it looks like just to live a missional life and make an impact outside of the walls of this church and to begin with my family to move into this community and the world. Last week, we looked at what it looked like to be a part of the vulnerable children of the world, as well as those children that God has given us today, we're going to swap modes just a little bit. And we're going to look at this idea of the church, of the church. And I'm going to ask you today just for a few minutes, to reconsider what your relationship with the church is. Now, here's what I know, anytime somebody like me gets up to talk in a place like this, whether it be here, other churches or across the globe, I realized there are lots of different people in the room, there's lots of different commitment levels in the room, there's lots of different on ramps to Christianity, and what it looks like and history of where the church is. And here's what I also know that when I even just mention the word church, a lot of us have an initial thought that is different. That is different. So, for some of you, when I say the word church, it brings up an incredibly long history of your life, right? It brings up this idea that for your life, you can't even remember a time that the church wasn't part of who you are, you can't remember a time that your family wasn't planted in a church that you weren't serving as part of a church. And that was your community and your tribe. And the people around you that meant the most in life was a lot of the people that was inside a local group called a church, that's where a lot of you are, you're like me, that's kind of where you came from. But I also know that there's many, many people that are new to this thing. The church is a new deal for your family, and you're trying to figure it out, right?  You're trying, it's like a foreign language, it's like a different culture or a club that you didn't know what it was. And there's language that goes with it. And there's all kinds of customs that go with it, you don't know when to stand up, or when to sit down or clap, and I don't know what to do my hands during music anymore, or any of that, right? You're kind of new to this game. And you're trying to figure out what church is in your life, and what it's going to mean for your family. And that's where some of you kind of live right now.  There's another group that the reality is, you're just dipping your toe back into it. Because there was a time in your life where you got burned. Or something happened as part of a church or part of a group of people that may have called themselves church, right?   

And, there's some wounds and there's some scars that are in your life and it's really hard for you to trust the church.  There are others of you that have been taught, just outright to, keep the church at arm's length, to maybe just be a part of it a little bit.  But at the end of the day, just kind of keep it as a peripheral matter. And the reality is, there's many that, really, you're just a little bit indifferent to it. It's something that you do, maybe just to keep her happy, right? It's something that you do so that she'll give you Saturday, you give her Sunday morning, right? It's something that you do so you get to watch the ballgame this afternoon you're in, it's not that you don't like it, it's just kind of where life is you're just kind of a little bit indifferent to it. And, there's been also this idea of just consumerism, that is snuck into the church where there's many of us that really the church to us, it's just about being entertained, or maybe having our needs met, or maybe taking care of my kids or give my kids enough Jesus, so they don't end up in jail, right?  I mean, that's where some of us kind of feel when we think of church, it's just this consumeristic idea, which really leads to a super low commitment.  Which leads to this idea that the church just kind of gets put on the other plane of everything else that is in our lives and it just kind of joins the other clubs, right?  It joins the golf membership, or maybe it joins our kids sporting life or kids band or music or activities. And it just gets put on the rest of the level of playing ground which leads really and truly to a lack of commitment and sacrifice and involvement in the local church. And I just want to say as lovingly as possible this morning. That's not God's desire for our lives. It's really not. And it's not God's desire for the church. It's really not.  In fact, let me just give you my kind of main thesis for the morning. If you don't know what a thesis is ask a fifth grader, right? This is what it is. All right, here it is. My main point for this whole morning is this right here. Here's the main principle. It's God's desire for you. It's God's desire for you to not just attend church. It's for you to belong to the church.  It's for you to belong to the church. Now, what does that mean? That means this church; is not a spectator sport. It's not a spectator sport. What does that mean? It is unlike anything else that you do on this planet.  It's something that God has called us to belong to put roots down in and be an active part in it.  That is different than just attending an event. Why? Because every time we show up as the church, God shows up, in fact, Matthew 18:20 tells us this, right?  "For where two or three are gathered in My name."   What does He promise us?  He promises us that He's there.  And what does that mean? That means as the church globally as the church locally, as we get together week after week after week, just like we're doing right now, just like your groups do all through the week or even on this morning, God is present. He is with us. He is walking with us. He's in our conversation, and He's pressing us to become faithful followers of Jesus. Now, let me get really kind of scholarly just for a minute. Because I want to show you even by the word, church, I think some of our definitions of church are a little bit messed up.  The word church in the New Testament. Now, obviously, I know this is no secret to many of us, but the Bible wasn't written in English, okay?  It was written most of the New Testament was written in Greek. All right? It was written in the Greek language. And so, as it was written, what we have done is we've taken the Greek and we translated it into English.  The word church in English, okay? The word church comes from this Greek word ekklesia. Or if you're from Southern Greece, it was an ekklesia, all right?  It just depends on where you're from, right? 

This word ekklesia, that we get our word church, it's a compound word. Now, what's a compound word for those of us that are non-English majors, and we don't have a third grader sitting beside us to tell us it's basically two words smashed together to become one word. It's the word ek and the word kaleo. That's the two words in ekklesia. Now, I want you to see this. I know you're like, Matt, we didn't come for this this morning. I think you did. Because you need to understand this. All right? The word church ekklesia is these two words "out of" and "to call."   Ek in Greek is "out of" and kaleo is "to call." Now remember, Spanish 101. Remember all other languages, they messed up their order, except for English. I don't know what we did. You got to swap the order when you translate it. And here's the definition of church, the definition of church literally is the "called out body." That's church. Now, for some of you, if you're like me, that's what you think church is. You think church is a place and it's a location, it's an event and to some extent, it may be. But church is really the called-out Body of Christ coming together under one purpose.  Under one purpose. So, I just want you to feel this morning the reality is that church it is less about a place and is more about a group of people that are called out with a common purpose. Now, this changes things on Saturday night for us, does it not? This change is the idea of you know what, it's been a rough week. It's been a long week, lots been going on, I think I'm just dipping and diving this week. Why? Because you can't say you're called out when it's not a part of your life. You can't say that. And we see this all over the New Testament, right? We see this idea of church all over the New Testament, but we're not taught a lot about it. So that's what I want to do this morning. 1 Corinthians 1:1 and 2, the Apostle Paul describes church to us.  He gives us church and I'm just gonna roll through a whole bunch of these this morning. And we're gonna see where we can land with an action step on the end of it. Listen to this 1 Corinthians 1:1-2 says this, "Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, by the will of God and our brother Sosthenes.  To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, and called to be His holy people, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours;"  What does He say?   "Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ?"  What does Paul do here? I want you to leave this verse up there because I think this is important for us to see that Paul sneaks this into the introduction of the letter.  Most of the time, let's just be honest with each other, we skip the introductions to get to the good stuff. But I want you to see that what Paul does here, is he describes what the church is. He says, first of all, he says to the church of Corinth.  What is a church?  It's a group of local people that are gathered together that are called out that are the ekklesia, the called-out body in Corith.  That's who he's writing this whole letter to.  He's writing it to the church. Why?  Because the assumption is if you're a believer, you're going to get the message of God from the church and then what does he say?  He says to the Church of Corinth, to those who sanctified in Jesus.  

The word sanctified is a fancy word that just literally means cleansed and given a new start.  That you're cleansed from your sin that Jesus's blood has washed you, it has made you new, and it has set you on a path and look at this, together. Look what it says you're called to be his holy people. There it is, again, right? Not only are we set free from our sins, but we're called to be separated. That's what holiness is.  It's this idea that God has separated us, He has set us apart, He has made us new, He has made us His and now we gather under the name of a local body of believers as His set apart holy and sanctified body locally, but catch this.  What's the last words right here, together everywhere, with those who are called in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. What does that mean? That means that not only are we part of a local Body of Christ, we're part of a global Body of Christ. You see, the local Body of Christ that we are a part of is Burnt Hickory, that is us. It's not a location as much as it is a body. The global Body of Christ is the hope of the world.  It's what God is called to reach every nation and every tribe and every tongue. And here's what Paul is saying. He's saying that all people that have been called by Jesus, now we have this common confession that Jesus is Lord and as a result of that we gathered together and locally to worship Him to praise Him to be taught in His name, so that we can reach the nation's.  That's church. That's what church is about. It's a common confession. In fact, Paul says this to the people in Thessalonica, in 1 Thessalonians 1:1 says, "Paul and Silas, and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ," what does he say? "Grace and peace to you.  We always thank God for all of you and continually mention you in our prayers."  Look what he says.  "We remember before our God and Father your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by the hope in our Lord Jesus Christ."  He's describing the church, right? He's not saying, hey, y'all had a great meeting. Y'all had a great worship moment. Y'all had a great thing going, there was a lot of people out there No, he describes churches, people who are working together, who are faithful together, who are moving together, who were called out in the Lord, and who were what,  loving enduring and hopeful. That's church. That's the definition of church. In fact, we see this all through the book of Acts, we don't have time to look at them all, it'd be about a nine-hour deal. But here's the thing. Here's what God is telling us. We have to grasp the fact that church is not an event, church is a group of called out people, it's a body of people who know that they are sanctified and holy, who've been called out under the banner of Jesus, and are now moving in a direction. 

Now, here's what I think most of us we would agree with that statement in concept, right? We would agree with that in concepts and yeah, that's church, I kind of get that, that is church, we function as the church kind of on Sundays and in groups. But here's where the rubber kind of meets the road. Here's where it gets a little bit awkward. It is assumed in Scripture. It is assumed in Scripture that all believers catch this, all believers belong to and assemble together with a local Body of Christ. It's assumed, it's assumed that all believers belong to and put roots down in a local body. In fact, here's the principle that goes behind it, I just want you to have it so you can look at it for the rest of the week. Here it is, it's kind of long, but putting your notes. There's no such thing in the New Testament as a believer that exists in some sort of random, independent and free-floating lifestyle and that is not active in a local church.  I just want you to let that soak in just for a minute. I want you to let that soak in. What does that mean? That means this, if you were a New Testament believer, you were part of a local Body of Christ. And you weren't just part of a local Body of Christ, you belonged to a local Body of Christ.  You didn't just belong to, you put roots down and that was the tribe that you are covenanting with as a called-out believer to reach the nation's. That's what it's saying. Have you ever realized there is no command in the New Testament that says doubt shall be a member of a local Body of Christ? That's not there. Why?  They didn't have to say it. It was assumed, it was assumed. It was assumed that when you were added to Christ, you would automatically add to the church, when you add it to the church, you are automatically added to Christ and that was your functioning body. You didn't function without the church. In fact, if you think about the Bible, just for a minute with me, right, we always go back to the Bible. Revelation chapter 2, and 3, John the Apostle has given us the last letter that he wrote to us and who does he write these first chapters to in chapters 2 and 3?  Who does he write it to?  The local churches, right? Why? Because it was assumed if you wanted the believers to know something, if you wanted the believers to get a message, you would write it to the church, and the church would assimilate the message of God. It was the assumption of the whole New Testament. Think about all the letters of the New Testament, from the Gospel of John on who they were written to? Who were they written to?  They were either written to churches specifically, right, when you go to start reading them, they're by location most of the time, or they were written to church leaders. Why? Because it was assumed that is how God disseminated his message to his people. Why? Because the believers were at church and church mattered. It mattered. It mattered so much in Acts 20:28, listen to what it says. It says, "Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock" there was some pretty nasty stuff going on we don't often time talk about it. He's talking to the church leaders. "Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers," he says, talking to the Macedonians. He says, "Be shepherds of the Church of God, which he" speaking of Jesus catch this, "which He bought with his own blood."  Do you realize that church can't be an event if Jesus bought it with His blood? Church is a group of called out believers.  It's a group of people that have been called out to a common goal. And now he's called out shepherds and Jesus purchased it. And what does this mean? If Jesus purchased something, what is it going to do? It's going to last forever and ever and ever. We see this in the book of Revelation. Why? Because the church exists forever. Do you know that every other organization that you are part of right now will not last an eternity? It won't.  You say Matt, I never thought about that.  That's why we're here. Right?

Why? Because Jesus didn't die for it. No other activity. I know, this is kind of pressing in to just the heart of the matter. But I told you, we're just gonna be real. There's no other activity on this earth, that should hold the weight as something that Jesus died for. And that's the church.  It's the church. So, in fact, if we look at the last 2000 years.  If we just look at this last 2000 years of history, we see a couple things, right?  The first one, we've already been talking about it and that's, that God speaks to the church. He speaks to the church. That's the New Testament. He's done it over and over again; he speaks to the church.  Why, because it's His bride, and He loves it. But secondly, He speaks through the church. God speaks through the church. Now, what does that mean? That means there are guys like me, all across this nation, and all across this world on days, just like this. They're standing up, they're taking the Word of God, and they're teaching over people what God's message is to them. Now, some of them are incredible teachers, you kind of get a halfway hack. All right? And I get that in the fact that we're doing our best here. That's all I can say. But here's what that means. That means that God has called out leaders and pastors and shepherds to take the Word of God and challenge people with the Word of God. He's taken out your group leaders, your life group leaders, your small group leaders, other people inside this church that are leading your Bible studies and your devotions. And he's giving them messages to sit around circles with, to teach over you so that you can know what it is to live out the called-out life. He's given us worship of this like we just had as the body of Christ with the power of God and the assembling of the believers together to give us a message and give us a hope. And here's what I know. You don't get that by yourself. You just don't. And I get it. Somebody's going to do it. I guarantee you, somebody this week, they just kind of checked out or in this moment, they will send me an email says this, Matt. You know, I listen to a bunch of podcasts. Matt, I read a lot of books.  Matt, I got the Spotify Hillsong channel as my number one in the truck.

I get that. That's fabulous. I love podcasts. I'm about 10 podcasts a week guy. I'm about a 50 books a year guy. I'm right there with you. Let's do that. But let me tell you something. Here's what I know. And I know this is kind of sticky. That is an incredible supplement to the body of Christ. It can't be primary. And here's why?  You say Matt, why not? I'm glad you asked, here it is. How many times do we skip things in our playlist when it's the issue that we know we're struggling with? How many times do we look at things like that feels a little heavy? I think I'm going over here to that guy. That feels like it's gonna get up in my crawl a little bit. My family's kind of going down that right now. I'm not gonna do that.  Here's what this means.  I get we live in a digital world right now. I get that there are people trying to make an argument that the church is antiquated and that we don't need this place, then we can get what we want through podcasts and internet and, and through all of the channels out there. I get that, that is an incredible substitute. But listen, you will never have a grasp on the whole counsel of God. And you will never have a consistent theology without somebody over you that is teaching you the hard things. It's never gonna happen. Never. And that's not me saying that, because I'm puffed up because I'm not, I'm just doing my best. Here's what I'm saying. You will never have a constant theology if you do that great supplement. But that's not the body of Christ, it will never lead you to that. Why? Because number three, the church is not just about hearing the Word of God, the church, it's the hope of the world. It's the hope.  It is all this world has. Why? Because when believers like you, and believers, like me, have this book taught over us and the Holy Spirit gets a hold of our lives. We cannot hold that in. We just can't do it. Why? Because we're looking around and other people excited. We're looking around and other people on our team, we know we got an army that we're marching with, we know we're part of the ekklesia of God the called out and now we're walking in an active format, acting out what the body of Christ has been called out to do. And listen, here's what I want to tell you, you got a belong to do that. This place has to be more than someone that you just casually date to do that. Why? Because if we're just popping in and out whenever the tide flows, or whenever our weekend happens to free up. I'm not sure how we're meeting in the definition of the called out at that point.

What does that mean? That means sometimes going to church is a sacrifice to God. It truly is I'm telling my family sometimes it's a sacrifice. Sometimes I don't want to come. Can I say that?  I probably shouldn't say that. But there are some Sunday mornings that I'm just not feeling it. We have a deacon’s meeting right after this, and I'm like, really? I mean, yeah. I'm just being honest, sometimes my deal, it's a sacrifice to the Lord. It isn't obedience to the Lord. It is a point to where I am spent from chasing kids around all week long. And now I just know that I'm offering up my sacrifice to be active, to be planted and to be known. Why? Because Jesus says that we're not just dating this place, we're belonging to it. We're active in it. We're being known in it, which by the way, spins me off in a whole other conversation. Here it is, just as there are no believers in the New Testament that don't belong to the church. Also check this out. There's a sense that they're not anonymous and unknown believers, they just kind of casually go to church. It's not in the Bible. You don't find it somewhere. Well, the book of Acts right, let me give you a couple.  Peter preaches at Pentecost and in Acts 2, all these people get saved and check this out those who accepted his message were baptized, and about 3000 of them. They were added to their number that day. What does that tell you? Those of you that are accountants, you're all over this. You're like somebody was counting. Somebody was counting on that day. You're right. Why? Because they wanted to know who was there and they wanted to know who they were responsible for and they wanted to know who they were with in that moment. You say Matt, that must have been a mistake, okay.  Acts 5, the disciples, they were healing people, they were ministering to people, people were coming to know the Lord, check this out, Acts 5:14, "Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the Lord," there it is, they believe in the Lord. But what was the second step?  "And were added to their number." They were added. What does that mean? I mean, somebody had a list and a scroll but a mile long at this point, right? I mean, they didn't have a Shelby database, right? They didn't have ministry platform. They didn't have an online role for my life group. What are they doing? They're checking it off. They're like, hey, Sarah. Yeah, she's here, Mark. Oh, yeah, come on. Welcome to the team. Yeah, you just got baptized John, you're in! You're now part of us. Why? Because they wanted to know who they were with. Wanted to know who they were walking with. They wanted to know who they could look over their shoulder and trust when their family was falling apart. Look, it goes on.  Look at Acts 11.  After Stephen dies, the first martyr, right?  Acts 11:24. It says this, he was a good man. He was full of the Holy Spirit and faith and a great number of people. Check this out. What does it say, added to the Lord, a great number of people? This is a little bit different language right; we've been talking about added to the number now we're looking to add it to the Lord but it's a synonym want to be added to the church was to be added to the Lord.  To be added to the Lord, there was a necessary conversation, that you were added to the church, you were added to the church. Why? Because you were part of the called out at that point. Part of the call to church is not an event. Swap gears a little bit. Hebrews 13, one of the most scary verses in the whole Bible for pastors. Hebrews 13:17, look what it says, "Have confidence in your leaders," talking about church leaders little dicey, "and submit to their authority, because they keep watch over you as those who must give an account. Can I tell you this verse scares me to death? Why? Because there'll be a day that I stand before the king and I have to give an account for this flock. I have to give an account. And let me just be brass tax honest as if I haven't already. Here it is. 

If you're just dating us, if you're just popping in and out, you're just trying to remain anonymous, that's really hard for me to do. That's really hard for me to stand before the king and go God, I think they were there. I think they were walking with us; I think they were living the called-out lifestyle.  It's just not there, we can't do it.  All this is just to say that we can't have this anonymous, casual, superficial, so called independent Christian relationship and claim the power of Jesus over our life. It doesn't work that way. I don't see it in Scripture. We cannot. We cannot halfway date the church and want to date other people. That's what I mean. A question came to me this week, and this is another one that will probably get me in trouble. But it's all right, we're on a roll. Here we go. I thought about this question this week. Here's one for some of us.  This will make us really happy and some of us, you'll never come back. Would you want to be a part of a church, that if it was made up mostly of people that had your level of belonging, or would that church be in trouble? Because they are not living the called-out lifestyle?  For some of us, you're like, well, you know what? This is home. For some of us, you're like, yeah, I'm not perfect, but I'm planted here, I'm being discipled here, I'm being nurtured here, my kids are being taken care of here. I'm walking in this place. I'm worshiping in this place. I'm accountable here. I'm active here. And I'm honoring God here so Matt, maybe, yeah, I would want to be a part of that church. But for some of you, this is way different than just slipping in and out hoping somebody else is gonna take care of you. And I know, I know, we just lost about half of you. That's cool. I get it. That's rough. But I just want you to see what the church is. It's not an event. It's not a dip in and dip out. It's not a convenience when it's necessary. It's the bride of Christ. It's the bride, and it matters, and it's eternal and it's all about serving the King, serving the King.  So, here's what I'm gonna to do with my time left, and I'm way over just to let you know.  Here's what I want you to do.  I want to give you five things this morning real fast. That when doubt starts to settle in, when your kid comes home from college and starts to challenge you on why the church is irrelevant.

When you begin to hit the fan, either morally or emotionally and you begin to kind of pull back a little bit. I want to give you five things this morning on why the church matters that we find in Scripture.  Five foundational truths that you can just put in a flap of your Bible. You can have it in a note on your phone, wherever it needs to go. Because this can change your life. Number one, I want you to think about this; Jesus started the church. Jesus started the church. It wasn't some dude sitting in a back room in Jerusalem at some point going hey, how can we take up everybody Sunday mornings? I mean, how can we do that? Anybody got any ideas? This whole synagogue thing? We're out, right? What else can we do? Right? No, Jesus did it. Even just a halfway reading of the New Testament shows us this one verse, Matthew 16:18, super clear. What did Jesus say?  Jesus said, " And I tell you that you Peter, and on this rock, I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it." What does that mean? It's Jesus that started the church. And it's really hard to call myself a Jesus follower and not be planted and not be rooted and I'll be belonging to his church. But number two, He didn't just start the church. Jesus loves the church. He loves the church, unlike every other organization on this planet, church, check this out is not a manmade activity. It's not. So, when your soul begins to tell you, I'm just going to take a step back. I'm just gonna kind of move back from it. It's not man made. Its God made and He loves it. It is the only organization that Jesus started when He was on this earth and He loves it.  You say Matt, how do you know He loves it?  Ephesians 5:25. What does this say?  "Husbands, love your wives," some of you are like heck yeah, that's my verse, right?   "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her."  What does that mean? That means that He loved it so much He died for it. He died for it, it's clear.  Church is not this parenthetical organization that somebody is begging you to get here. We don't beg you to be here and be a part of this place just because we want bigger numbers. That's not part of the game.  It's because we know it's what's gonna fulfill you, feed you and send you on mission from this place. Think about it. He loved the church so much, He died for it.  Do you know what He didn't do? He didn't die for your sports team. He didn't die for your vocation. He didn't die for your organization. He didn't die surely for your PTA or your homeowner’s society, right? He didn't die for any of those things. Now, yes, he died for the people inside of them, I get that. But the organization of the church, the ekklesia, He died for it. He started it, he loved it. He loves it so much. He wanted to give His life for it. And let me just say this, I know it's here we go. I know. It's really cool, right now to say, I'm just spiritual. You know, and I know it's really cool to say, you know, I love God. I just don't love the church. Don't find that in the Bible. I don't. If you're gonna call yourself a follower of Jesus, you got to love the church. Is it flawed? Oh, yeah, it's flawed, why?   Because it's meant for people like me and you, right?  It's gonna be flawed. I promise you, why? It's a family. 

I've never met a family that's not dysfunctional. Hey, Thanksgivings coming, right? We're about to find that out. But it's what we got. It's where we are. We cannot claim the love of God that we can't see and be flippant about, the members of His family.  We just can't. Here we go, number three. It's getting heavy, not actively belonging to a church is proof that something is wrong with you spiritually. It's proof. Now, I know we just went one more step right there. But it is, why?  Because you can't separate Jesus and His Church. You can't. It's not in the New Testament. So much of the New Testament is God showing us how He ordained it. He died for it. He gave it to us. He started it and he's working in it. And the church is going to continue to work. What am I saying? I'm saying that every able-bodied person on this planet, if you're calling yourself a believer in Jesus, you should be planted inside of a church. What I'm not saying is, alright don't catch me here. I'm not saying that if you're not publicly at church right now, you're not a believer. That's not what I'm saying. I get we're in a weird time right now. We're in a really weird pandemic right now. But there's so many digital ways to be a part of this place. There are so many groups that are meeting their distance outside. And being a part of this place. I'm saying this every able-bodied person cannot live a sole individual spiritual life that it has no attachment to the church. That's what I'm saying. It's proof that you're not spiritually walking with Jesus, you see it in Scripture. And by the way, let me just say this visitors, hey, welcome today. Let me talk to the home folk just for a minute. If you're coming here, if you've been coming here, this needs to be your church. This needs to be your home. I'm just going to say it. If not, go find one that you can plant in. You say Matt, are you telling us to leave? No, no, no, that's not what I'm telling you to do. I'm telling you to plant here. I'm telling you to flourish here. I'm telling you to belong here, be part of the called out here. But what I'm not saying is we can't treat ourselves as if we're some kind of church connoisseurs and we're dipping ourselves into five different locations during the week, because I like the Bible study there and the kids ministry over there, and the worship over there is jamming and then that guy over there can bring the word and my family likes this one. And so what I do is I go first week over there, and second week over there, and third week over there. fourth week, we're at grandmas and then if there's ever a fifth Sunday, we're just tired, and we ain't going anywhere. I mean, that's just what people do. Why? Because they don't want to be known. They don't want to be known. They want to slip in and out of places and not belong. Like I talk to all the other pastors in the area. We're all friends, we all agree, we can't do this. Can't reach the world, if people don't want to belong and be a part of a local body, which leads us to number four; church is not just a place to attend, it's a place to participate and belong. Participate, belong. What does that mean? It means, it's a place that you become part of a family of called out people that find accountability that develop and use your gifts inside the context of church.  It's a place where you get a consistent theology and doctrine and you're not merely a spectator. Why? Because church is not a spectator sport. It's the gathering of the sold out, the called-out believers. 

Which leads us to number five, here it is; not only the church important for you, it has the potential to impact the world in generations to come.  And generations to come.  This is the crux of the whole matter, right? You can't casually date us and want to date other people and belong here and make a difference. It just doesn't work. We can't have one foot in one foot out and want to make a difference. The church needs to be foundational in who you are. So, in all this, what am I saying today, because I know this is heavy and we need something, right? I'm saying this. Here's my response. So, I just plant myself in a local church and will not belong. Can I just tell you; I'm doing everything I can but beg you to go with us? To walk with us. To love Jesus with us, to love his word, to fall in love with the Word of God, to worship with us, to minister with us, to take care of the poor with us, to adopt children with us, to foster with us to get in a group with us, to walk in the name of Jesus with us. But how is that gonna happen? It's gonna happen. when we throw some roots down.  You say Matt, what are you talking about?  Psalms 92:12 look at this last verse. Look at what it says Psalms 92:12 says this, "The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon." Now we don't use language like that, right. It's like, okay, that's great. Here's what that means. We don't use that word flourish, but it literally means it will have a vitality of life and check this out, like a palm. What is the palm? It's a symbol of victory in Scripture, right? 

Remember Palm Sunday, they laid the palms down before King Jesus. So, catch this we will flourish, we will have victory and then what is it say? Like a cedar of Lebanon? What is the cedar? It smells good and it's really strong? What is it saying?  Says you want to flourish in your life. You want your family to flourish?  Plant yourself like a victorious strong cedar. Who's going to do that?  Look at what it says in verse 13, planted in the house of the Lord, that will flourish in the courts of God.  Where does all of this lead us to?  It leads us to this. You want to be planted and flourishing in God's house? Matt, this just sounds really legalistic that I need to be at church every week.  I never said that. I said you need to put down roots here where this is your called-out body of believers that you're going to make a difference with and be known by and be known with. That's what I said. So, here's how we're leaving in this one. I don't know where you're at. For some of you. For some of you, you need to meet Jesus today. Why? Because you don't become part of the church until you become part of the family. You need to meet Jesus.  Is that saying you can't come here. No, I'm not saying that. But I'm saying, if you're going to put roots down here, you need to meet Jesus, what does that look like? It means that you're asking Him to forgive you ever since to come into your life, and to save you from yourself and become your Lord.  For some of you, that's your next step. Everybody has a step. For some of you. You've been dating us. We've been getting to know each other for a while. Right? It's time to DTR, right?  Determine the relationship. It's time to figure out is this home. Is this the called out local set apart sanctified group of people that I am going to do life with and put roots down? If it is?  Come on, let's do it.  Let's do it. Quick, dating us and commit, right?  There comes a time in every relationship that needs to happen, right?  Girls, yeah. For some of you, you're here, you're a member. You need to jump into a group. You need to jump into a life group. You need to step into a group of people that you can do life with outside of this place that can encourage you, that can teach with you, that can take care of you. Because here's the deal, there are no anonymous members of the New Testament Church. That's how you're cared for in this place, it's through those groups, you need to jump into one. For some of you, you're already in a life group. Here's your next step. You need to serve. Need to show the flourishing part of your spiritual walk by loving on other people. I don't know where you're at. Every week we talk about our next step slide. It's the invitation to the pandemic, right?

Here's what I know, all of us we have a next step today. If you need to meet Jesus today, if you'll just text that number, there'll be a menu you walk through and here's my promise to you. Somebody's going to follow up in 24 hours with you a real person and talk to you about what that looks like. For some of you, you need to join this church and you need to say hey, I'm planting this is home, that's how you do it. Let's do this together.  For some of you, you want to join a group that's how you do it.  You'll get more information then you've ever wanted.  For some of you, you need to go hey, I want to serve, I don't even know what that looks like hey, we got people in this church that's their whole job is to figure out what your gifts and talents are and help you serve the body of Christ. Here's what I'm saying today the church is the hope of the world, but the church is not a meeting the churches you with Jesus during this invitation moment today.

Lord, I just pray that this is not a get to the parking lot quicker song.  But God this is a moment that we can ask ourselves, where are we, in the body of Christ. God, I pray during this worship moment that you just do a little spiritual checkup in our hearts.  Show us that you're a King and you are Lord and you are Savior and you're worth it.  Lord, I know this morning sounded like a really big rebuke. But God, it's not. It's purely just a symbol of showing that your church, the bride of Christ is worth it and is eternal, and that we believe in this place God, there's a lot of churches in this area that we pray for that we believe in. God, there's something special happening here and I pray many become a part of it. It's in your name, Lord Jesus, that we pray this.

Let's stand and sing together.