And that is so true. And we're so glad you're here today. If you're joining us online or you're in the room. Maybe this is the first time you've been here. My name is Jamie.

I'm the lead pastor here at Ebenezer. Humbled to be the lead pastor here. And just thankful to see you today. And you know what? I gotta remind you of something.

Our marriage conference. We just got Breakaway behind us. Our marriage conference is coming up October 25th. And I re-verified. There is no Georgia football that weekend.

Somebody said amen. You better be careful, you might get lynched. Um, but, but I just want to— I want to bring it back up again because it's been a few months since we talked about it and it's around the corner. And there's 3 big reasons why you need to be here. Number one, because there's food and food is good.

But you know what's good about the food is we'll get to sit down, couples around tables, and get to talk. Like, there'll be some of you that are in your 20s sitting with people that are 70s. And you're getting to talk about marriage and what we learned about during the conference. It's gonna be great. So you're gonna get that.

With the conference, you get this assessment. Now you're going like, what do you mean? Well, the Drs. Les and Leslie Parrott, who's gonna be leading the conference for us, just released this book. I mean, if you need a book to buy, this is a good one to buy.

It's called The Love Language That Matters Most. It's based on Gary Chapman's The 5 Love Languages book. And I've been reading through it. And this really paints the picture to why you need to be at the Better Love Conference next month. In the first chapter, they talk about how that we may be speaking the same language.

But are we speaking the same dialect to where we can understand? They wrote, when famed chef When Julia Child first moved to France, she didn't speak a word of French. Determined to immerse herself in the culture she loved, she enrolled in cooking school and began learning the language. At first, her accent was comical. It's kind of like that episode of Tom and Jerry where Tom's trying to speak Spanish.

Some of you might remember that. Some of you don't. You need to watch that. It's crazy because it makes the point. She frequently mixed up words.

For example, she asked for poison instead of asking for poisson. Which is fish. And it's just very easy. But Julia's enthusiasm and persistence won people over. And she learned to speak.

And that's what happens in our marriages. We need to— I need to speak the same dialect that my spouse speaks. So that she can understand. Just doing good stuff doesn't always get it accomplished. So you're gonna get that assessment.

You're gonna sit in this room. The Drs. Les and Leslie Parrott will join us live through a screen. But they're live. They'll be talking to us and listening to us.

And we'll be listening to them as we break out that assessment. How you fight. How do you and your spouse fight? You know you fight. But do you fight right?

Are you communicating well? And so again, I don't care if you've been married 1 year or 50 years. I know my mom and dad have been married over 50 years. When they married, my dad had just gotten through boot camp. He stayed another 2 months.

And then he was sent to Germany for over a year. When he came home, my sister was there. And so they didn't really. I mean, and that was kind of typical years and years ago. You know, you got married young in your upper teens and lower 20s.

Well, now most people wait till they're almost 30. Now you're accustomed to living life by yourself. I mean, you think about it. If you wait till you're 30 years old to get married, that's almost half your life. Well, you need this.

And so go right now. Go to the church app. Sign up. Tell your friends. I mean, you get a good meal.

You get an assessment. And you get it broken down. Why do we want to do that? Why do we want to do that? Because we want you to succeed in marriage.

We want you to. Now, I know you're like, well, what about us singles and widows and widowers? Listen. We all are in this together. And I mean, if you sign up because you're like, hey, I just want to learn how to love somebody better.

Come on. No respecter of person. We would love to have you come and join us. So take your Bible. Turn to Hebrews 10:19.

Hebrews 10:19. We have gone over a lot of imperatives and commands. Clear. Straightforward. Leaving no question that Jesus called us to do.

And this morning we're gonna continue that. We've talked about repentance. The call to repent. To turn away from our sin. We've talked about faith.

To believe. We've talked about the command to be baptized. We've talked about the command to walk in Christ. That actually was my favorite message. I loved that message.

Not that I preached it. I'm saying I just loved the content of that message. We talked about— remember we said you can't make somebody love? But the object of the command to love. Love one another.

Love our enemies. Like it should be an outflow of a changed character. And then last week, as we wrapped up our breakaway weekend, we talked about the command To make disciples. To go. And today this command that we're going to talk about really goes right along with last week.

Like faith and repentance went together. Making disciples can't be possible if we're not gathered together. I can't make a disciple out of you if we don't gather together. This is not the command to go to church. I'm telling you.

Go through the Bible. You will not find Those shall attend church on Sunday morning at 10:30. You won't find it. That's my best Monty Python voice ever. You won't find it.

It's not there. Because there's a qualitative command, not an event. Folks, you didn't come today to attend an event. You came today because the Spirit of God gathered us together. This wasn't some accident that you're in this room or joining us online.

You are here because our Lord, by the Spirit of God, has gathered His people together.

That's why we're here. And I want to answer the question today, why? Why should I be concerned about gathering with other believers? And I hope that when you leave today, church will never be an event to you again. It'll never be something to check off a list.

But it'll be something that you crave. Because you know that God's people are together. So stand with me as we read. Starting in verse #19. You're gonna see 3 commands.

Each one is led by the phrase, let us. Starting in verse #19. Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil. That is. His flesh.

He's making a contrast to the physical temple where the presence of God hovered in the Holy of Holies over the Ark of the Covenant. That veil was rent in half when Jesus died on the cross. Because now the veil we enter through is Jesus Himself. No high priest is going into a temple for us. We are the temple of the Lord.

Through the Holy Spirit, he inhabits and indwells us. And he is our only high priest according to verse 21. I don't need a professional pastor. I don't need a priest to usher me to God's presence. I go because Jesus is there.

Y'all want me to stop preaching there? Because I think a lot of us need to know that. You don't need a professional Christian. All you need is the Holy Spirit of God. Let us draw near then with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith.

Say, faith. Having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. That's how we can go into His presence. Let us hold fast. Say, hold fast.

That confession of our hope without wavering. For He who promised is faithful. Don't you love that phrase? I do. This is the promise that we have in Him.

Eternal life. His promise. And then verse 24. Our focus. And let us consider how to stimulate or spur one another on to love and good deeds.

Not forsaking our own assembling together as is the habit of some. But encouraging one another and all the more as you see the day. A specific day. The day that He's coming back. Father, speak to us this morning.

Cleanse our hearts. Open our minds. Teach us today. In Jesus' name. Amen.

Can I just ask you a straightforward question? Did you come today to attend an event? Or did you come to be?

What do I mean by that? Well, if you've been saved by the grace of God and the Spirit lives inside of you, He's changing who you are. That's the work of God in each and every believer's life. If you're here today and you've never accepted Jesus Christ. There's no evidence of transformation in your life.

Can I encourage you today to repent of your sins and believe in Jesus Christ and be saved from your sins? And let him give you the gift of eternal life. And I know that that happens because he promised. Like, if that's you today, that changes your being. And so.

The difference in attending a service and being gathered is that I'm here for a qualitative purpose. Hebrews 10:24-25 defines that purpose. The first 2 commands. To draw near and to hold fast. Define the vertical connection that I have with the Lord.

Back up to verse #16 for a moment. This is a quotation from Jeremiah 31: 34. In fact, all 3 of the major prophets— Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel— all point forward to this thing called the New Covenant. Jesus told his believers when— on the night before he was crucified, this is the blood of my New Covenant which is poured out for the remission, the forgiveness of sins. We know from Ezekiel's account that By the New Covenant that we would be given a new heart and the Spirit would fill us.

Causing us to obey Him. We see the same thing referenced in Isaiah 59. Where He talks of this New Covenant. This new way. And then in Jeremiah, He says this.

According to this quotation in verse 16. This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord. I will put my law upon their heart and on their mind I will write them. And then he says, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more. This is the foundation.

In the Old Covenant, the law practices that they would go in and make sacrifice. A high priest would take the Passover lamb and he would go into the Holy of Holies where the presence of God dwelt. And he would sprinkle the blood of the Passover lamb on the Ark of the Covenant. The commitment that God had made to them and that they had made to God. And the truth was, God knew before they made the promise that they wouldn't keep it.

And so lamb after lamb after lamb after lamb after lamb was sacrificed for sin. But there wasn't one lamb for hundreds of years that was ever sacrificed that could actually take away the sin in my life. Until Jesus. And so the Hebrew writer here is talking about how that Jesus was once for all the greater high priest. Who didn't just come in and sacrifice a lamb and sprinkle some blood on a box.

But by His own blood paved a way to where He could then enter into the presence of God the Father in heaven.

And then when we accept Him as our Lord and Savior, His Spirit comes to dwell inside of us. The very presence of God in us. He is our High Priest. And check this out. He didn't sacrifice an animal.

He sacrificed Himself. And rather than us looking at a dead carcass of a lamb, we look at a risen Lord. The Lamb that was sacrificed didn't stay dead. But He came back to life. As John saw in the book of Revelation.

As he looked into heaven. He saw a Lamb as if having been slain from the foundation of the world. This Jesus came. And because He came, we can draw near by faith. There's nothing that would hold me back from drawing close to my God except me.

Choosing not to. That there's nothing. Nothing that will cause me to not want to hold fast. You don't want to know why? Because He holds fast to me.

We laid a rope out on this aisle during breakaway. And we talked about how we were inviting our students to come take the rope. That the Lord had thrown out this gift of being saved. Come grab the rope. Well, when I grab the rope, I know that there's other people holding the rope.

Look. The rope's long enough for everybody to grab onto. If they choose. And that this is our hope. Look again at verse number 23.

That we hold fast the confession of our hope. Like, folks, did you come in here with hope today? If you didn't, can I tell you the hope that you can have in Jesus Christ? No matter what this world will throw against you, our God reigns. Our God is sovereign.

Our God still saves. Our God loves you. And He wants to have a relationship with you. And in that, He wants your life to prosper from that hope. So we don't waver.

In other words, we can stand in this. Not because of my faithfulness. But because of His. 'Cause He says, He who promised is what? Faithful.

John wrote in 1 John 1:9 that when we confess our sins, He is faithful. Aren't you glad that he started describing our Savior as being faithful? You will mess up. You will fall short. But our God is faithful.

And he's extending his arms out. And on those things, I can draw near and I can hold fast. Faith. Hope. Those things connect me.

Vertically to my God. And then he gets to verse 24.

And love extends out. My connection to God depends on faith and hope.

My connection to others depends on how I love. You see, the reason we need to gather together. If you don't hear anything else I say. It's because this is a place of grace and love.

I love the opportunity that I get to hopefully encourage you in your faith. And you encourage mine. Paul wrote to the Romans and said, you've got fruit. I want to come see some fruit bore too. I want to— I want a piece of that pie.

I want to come encourage you too. And see people saved. And see people transformed. John MacArthur wrote this about the church. See, we're not an event.

You are the church. You and I are the church. If you're saved, you are the church. There's no switch at the back door. In fact, John MacArthur describes it this way.

The church is a fellowship. It's not a human institution. It's not a human organization. It is shared life in Christ. Those who are connected to Jesus Christ.

Following His leadership. He is the head and we are the body in mutual ministry. We serve one another. And together we serve the will of our honored Lord and the head of our body, Jesus Christ. And listen to this.

He said, the true church is an organism. Not an organization. I love that. We are flesh and blood. And the Spirit of God knits us together as one.

Paul will write in 1 Corinthians 12 that there's one Spirit. And by that Spirit, He's knit us together. Made us one. Jesus prayed in John 17 in the upper room, make them one as, Father, You and I are one. If you need the standard of how oneness should look in the body of Christ.

Look to the Father and the Son. That's a pretty high standard, isn't it? But He didn't demand it. He prayed it. Did you catch that?

You know why He prayed it? Because He knew you and I'd fall short. Man, how beautiful it is when the body of Christ comes together in oneness. In love. In unity.

You see, coming to church. That's easy. Coming and connecting is different. You have been invited to join in a journey.

Some of you have been asking a lot about membership. Can I be honest? Can I be real this morning? I hate that word. You know why I hate that word?

Because you relate it to things in the world. Not Scripture.

You see, in the world we join A club.

And then I've got this list of things I get because I join a club. The word member actually goes to 1 Corinthians 12. You are a finger. You are a hand. You are an ear.

That is a member of a body. It's not about what I'm gonna get out of it. I'm gonna sign up and get this club membership and get 10% off chicken at Walmart. That's not what it is.

Being a member of the body of Christ. You signed up for it. Even if you didn't know you signed up for it. The moment you accepted Jesus Christ and were baptized. You have been joined.

The process is you are becoming a disciple. In fact, church membership is a part of your discipleship journey. So if you come in here and sign a membership card. And then go, well, I'll just go when I get ready. You're not being a member of the body of Christ.

Let's be real. You're not a member. There is no causality in being a member of a church. You either is or isn't. And when you neglect your part in the body of Christ, you hurt yourself first.

But then you hurt the ministry of the body.

I can guarantee you, I watched all kinds of errors on football games yesterday. And I only watched one game yesterday. But one of the biggest errors that I see that's made so easy is when they're calling a play and they go out there and they're getting ready. Y'all are amazed I can still get down in a— And they go, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. Oh no, no, no.

There's only 10. There's only 10. And they start scrambling. Because they're missing a player. I'm afraid that's what the church does every week.

You know what? That's not a shaming thing. I'm telling you, I don't want to be incomplete. Like, I don't want to go around like this. My great-grandfather, before Helen, Georgia was a carbon copy of Germany, it was a logging town.

Did y'all know that? Like, they floated logs down the river. Well, my great-grandfather lived in Salty Valley. And he died in 1985. He lost his arm in a sawmill in Helen.

So his arm was cut off right here. It's all I ever knew. It was his right hand. So he wasn't very good left-handed. He was incomplete.

When God— listen, you're not here by accident. God has called you to be a part of this local fellowship.

And if I'm struggling, I need other believers to help pick me up. If I'm failing, I need other people to pick up the slack. If I'm offended, I need other believers to call me back out of love. It's not moral policing. It's because when the body of Christ is working in completion, It's most efficient.

Why? Because He who promised is faithful. So let me give you 4 whys that you need to be gathered. I'm not gonna talk about coming to church. I'm not gonna use that phrase.

I want you to hear me say, you. Because you came. You were invited to connect in this body. To be gathered together. Why?

Because the purpose is that you might grow. As a disciple. I'm not going to stop growing as a disciple. You know that, right? Until I leave this world, I don't stop.

I need other people in my life so that I can then go and do whatever it is that God's called me to do. Every one of you that's been born again, you've been called to something. What is it? What's God called you to do? Have you ever asked him?

Have you ever said, God, what are you calling me to do? God may say, well, I need you to be a best friend to your mailman because he doesn't know me. Some of you in this room, God may say, you know what? I need you to move to Edinburgh, Scotland to help with this church plant. I don't know what it is.

I'm not gonna be the arbitrator of the Holy Spirit. I'm just telling you, don't cut God short and say, okay God, this is what I'll do. This is the box you can fit in. When I do that, then church does become an event I attend and a checkbox to check rather than a people gathered together. Let's dig in.

Point number 1. We need the connection that comes from the common confession we have as God's covenant people. I know that's a long sentence. I worked on that sentence more than any sentence in this outline. Let me translate.

We family.

We family. Because God has made a covenant with us. And we've made a covenant with Him. Right? Vertical.

Drawing near. Holding fast. You're doing that. I'm doing that. Dude, we're on the same page.

Right? We're in the same ballpark. We're playing on the same team. Because we're blood brothers and sisters. Like the same vein.

The same blood that pumps through my spiritual veins is the same blood that's pumping through yours. The same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead is the same Spirit that Paul did say, there is one body and one Spirit. Not many bodies and many spirits. One and one. Just as you were called in one hope of your calling.

Folks, you've been called.

You're not a nominal low-rung Christian. You are a priest. Of the church of God in Christ. You're a son and a daughter of God. You're princes and princesses.

If you want to say it that way.

He's our King. We're his ambassadors. And we need the gathered body together to remind us of why we exist.

When we neglect the gathering of ourselves together. You know what happens? We fall away. We fall into sin. Our spiritual life becomes hard.

We need the gathered body. And all of that goes back to our confession.

If I'm not holding fast to my confession, I'm not secure in my salvation. Who secures your salvation? Do you do it? You don't just start doing a bunch of good stuff so I can say, well, I'm a better Christian than I was yesterday. You either are or you are not a Christian.

And what secures you is the Holy Spirit of God. Has he marked you? Is there fruit of the Spirit living out in your life? Now, does that mean you're going to be sinless? And everybody said, no.

Some of you already sinned 10 times this morning. If you have little kids, you probably did. And you might have yelled at a few of them too.

We need each other. Why? Because God's the one who fits us together. We're family.

You know, blood is thicker than water, right? Y'all heard that phrase? What would it look like in your life if you saw the people sitting next to you just like you would your blood family? How different would it be? That common Confession in the covenant of God binds us together.

Number 2. We need challenge. Say, challenge. To practice and express the love of Christ. Well, I'm telling you what.

You get into yourself and you get in your flesh. You start living in your flesh. You forget to love other people.

We need the assurance that I can come into a place where the grace of God is practiced. I need the assurance that I can come into a place and if I mess up, fail, and offend somebody. Grace is going to be extended. I need to be able to come into a place where I'm not having to walk on eggshells because I'm going to offend and hurt somebody's feelings. That I know that there's going to be grace and forgiveness for anything.

But I'm also— flip that around— we're not walking in looking to offend other people. Then I'm not walking around with my backside on my shoulders. That if somebody doesn't look at me right, I'm like, well, they just don't like me.

We need a place of grace, folks. We need a refuge from this world. We need a people that won't turn their backs on us. And that's what the church gathered should do. You see, what I see in verse number 24 is this.

I see a command. A challenge. And a conduct. You liked that, didn't you, Kevin? That's double C's, brother.

Double C's. A command. A challenge. And conduct. What's the command?

The command is, Let us consider. In fact, you could translate it this way. May we together think about this. For me to consider how I can do the rest of this verse, I need to spend time with you. And you need to spend time with me.

Guess what that means? Don't just come and sit in an auditorium. Slip in late. Slip out early. So nobody talks to you.

You can't be considered. And you can't consider others unless you spend time with people.

You're getting your money's worth today, aren't you? Then you see, you get this challenge. The spurring or the stimulating. In fact, in the text it's a noun. It's not a verb.

They use a verb to describe what's happening. Let us consider.

Can I put it in Americanized English? Let's think about how to make each other mad. That's what the word means.

And if any of you ever went and made a bull mad in a cow pasture, I may or may not have thrown things at a bull to see how mad I could get it.

You ever watched a matador pull out a red cape and begin to flash the bull? Why is he doing it? He's making him mad. You know what that word means? It means to spur one another on.

I mean, I thought about going and buying some spurs and cowboy boots for today, but I didn't. I bought my son a polo at the Georgia Tech game yesterday.

Nobody cheered for Georgia Tech. I heard one yay. That's sad. Do you know spurs isn't just a cowboy thing? That it actually goes back to the 2nd century BC.

And what was a spur used by a cowboy? I need my horse to go faster. I need him to run harder. I need him to run stronger. And it's the same thing.

You and I need challenge to practice and express the love of Christ. So we need that in our life. And number 3, the conduct. 'Cause it says, if I'm being spurred, what does it look like? It's of love and of good deeds.

I need to be spurred to practice the agape love. Wait a minute. We talked about that a few weeks ago. What is the object of love? One another.

And Jesus said, love one another as I've loved you. So also you love one another. There's the standard. But he also said to love our enemies.

You need consistent and constant challenge to be reminded that the person sitting next to you is not your enemy. That they're not out to get you. You know what? Sometimes people say stupid things. And they gossip.

We slander. And can I tell you something? Stop. Stop it. We're the people of God.

We're the redeemed of God. I'm not going to talk bad. I don't want to talk bad and ugly about my sister and my brother who's been redeemed by the blood of Jesus. And if I have, then what's my hope? Well, God will forgive me.

And I would hope that we're culturing a place where we'll forgive one another. We need that. We need it. That's the conduct that we're after. Galatians 5:13b-14 says, but through love serve one another.

And then Paul qualifies it. He says, for the whole law is fulfilled in one statement, love your neighbor as yourself. Why? It's the means of God to reinforce the gospel. It's the means of God to reinforce the gospel.

How can you motivate me to love? And then how can I motivate you to go and love? And love big. Love grandioso. I mean, just love.

Love loud. Love Toccoa. Love Stephens County. Love Georgia. Love the world.

Folks, there's people who are starving for true love. But yet we're like, well, I just can't go around that person. I might catch their sin. Well, if we really are reaching the lost, it's going to get a little bit messy.

Love and good deeds. Romans 2:4 says, or do you not know it was the kindness of the Lord that led you to repentance? Love and good deeds. Number 3. We need the community of other believers to encourage consistent growth and accountability.

God's plan for you is to work good deeds through you. Is that not a mark of discipleship? And one of the disciplines is that we gather together. He gathers us together. I mean, Jesus at one point in the Gospels, in Matthew and Luke, both times he looked and said, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how I've longed to gather you.

Same word. Together as a mother hen would her chicks.

Chicks don't just sit in the nest and go, well, what's next? I may have an afternoon tea time. Why do they go to the nest? Because they're cold.

They need protection. Folks, here it is. It's here. And you know, some of you after COVID, you decided, you know, I'm just gonna sit and watch online. That gets my church.

I'm telling you. There's a lot of people who have cut themselves off from the life flow of what God wants to do. Because you can't exercise your spiritual gifts through a screen.

You need to be. I love that you join us online. If you're close enough, we want you to be in the room with us.

Don't— look at the next verse. The contrast to spurring one another on to love and good deeds is this: not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some. That word there is the same word we get Same word we get ethic. Moral. Standard.

As is the standard of something. There's people who have decided, no, I am not going to go gather with other people. I'm going to forsake it. I'm going to spurn it. And when I do, I'm hurting myself.

You see, we need courage. Say courage. We need courage to remain steadfast in faith and practice as we are awaiting the return of Jesus Christ. When you and I get into the habit of not being in church. Of not being gathered together.

It comes with a price. See, there's 3 participles here. The first one is not forsaking. That's the thrust. If I'm going to remain steadfast, I need— Did any of you ever have that coach that just seemed like they always picked on you?

But they're always going like, get out there. Get out there. Come on. Come on. Come on.

Come on. We need that. You and I will atrophy in our faith if we just sit around and wait for something to happen. Robert Saucy boldly put it this way, the follower of Jesus cannot profess allegiance to him and deny his church.

What is your habit? How do you break a bad habit? How do you break a bad habit? Develop a new habit. A good habit.

What habit do you need to develop today? Like today you're being challenged. Like we are being encouraged. The second participle. Encouraged.

I want to encourage you and I want you to encourage me. Guess what that word is? It's one of my favorite. Parakaleo. One of our churches down the street had that on their sign today.

Just that one word. Parakaleo. And people are going by going like, what is that? It's the same word Jesus used of the Holy Spirit. One who would come alongside.

Called alongside to be an encourager. Folks, the Spirit has come to encourage me. But we have been pulled together to encourage one another. And that's why I'm saying, if you today are practicing gossip, slander, and unforgiveness, stop it. Because you're hurting the unity of the fellowship.

Repent. I'm not saying go and air out your laundry on Facebook. I'm saying repent. Turn away from that. Because it's hurting the effectiveness of ministry.

Because you and I, by the Holy Spirit, are being prepared for the return of Christ. So you know what that means? Every time you come into this room. Or maybe some of y'all. I know there's a lot of college students in the room.

The volleyball team here. Guys, I'm so glad y'all are here today. Like wherever you are, we're being encouraged. Because there's coming a day. Jesus is coming back to take us home.

I want to be clothed for heaven. And if I profess Christ and then I just go on about my business in life without embracing this idea of coming together. Being gathered together. I risk not being steadfast in my faith. Some of you came in today and you spiritually stumbled through those doors.

Let someone come alongside of you and hold you up. Some of you today came in here and you feel like the biggest failure that's ever existed. I'm telling you, you're not. Paul even Multiple times talked about, hey, he was the chief of sinners. You in good company today.

'Cause there ain't nobody in here by their perfection. We're in here by the blood of Jesus. And some of you came in here today and you have broken relationships. Can I tell you? Jesus can give you the direction for those things to be restored.

James 5:7 says, therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious produce of the soil, being patient about it until it gets the early and the late rains. You too be patient. Strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near. You know, I think about it and I think about the idea about membership.

And some of you in here today, you've been hurt. But you've not been hurt by church. You've been hurt by people.

Because when I start labeling everybody in the church as the source of my hurt, then I will turn away from the church. Can I invite you today to let the Lord heal you of that hurt and pain? How to set— if somebody in this room set a boundary. Nope. This is as far as you're coming.

And then come tell Kevin and we'll sit Kevin on them. I'm just kidding. Pastors aren't bulldogs. Y'all know that, right? I'm gonna go tell the pastor on you.

No, no, no, no, no. Jesus said, you go and confront them first yourself. If they won't listen, you take somebody with them. But why? So you can restore them to the faith.

Not to put them down and punish them beyond measure. Did y'all hear that? I'm gonna do— I'm planning next year, hopefully, to do a series on just the church. And we can unpack the nuances of why the church and the church this and that. What you need to know today is, why do I need to be here today?

For connection. For challenge. For community. And for courage. All of us need that.

My question to you today. The command is clear. Gather.

I hope that you can see a place that elevates the grace of God where it can be an encouragement to you. The true church. Is an organism, not an organization. It was a gathering, not church, that brought me to the place where I met Jesus. I wasn't invited to a church service.

It wasn't anything fancy. It was a group of students getting together on a Thursday night. It wasn't even on the church calendar. That's where I met Jesus.

Gathering doesn't just matter. It needs to be prioritized. So I want you to write 4 letters on your study guide. JUMP. J-U-M-P. No, this is not Journey.

This is Van Halen.

4 things. Here's 4 things I'm going to challenge you to do today. Number 1, join us in the journey. Join us in the journey.

When you are saved and I'm saved, we're in this journey together. To deepen our faith and grow as a disciple. You have come today. Or you've come online. You are connecting.

You're connecting with me right now. But our goal is to see you grow and go. Join the journey. Many of you been asking about joining the church. Joining— we're gonna call it, Join the Journey.

If you're ready for that step, there's 2 things you need to be able to do. Tell us how you were saved. And have you been baptized by immersion? You'll meet with a pastor. That's the process.

If you want to do that today, we've got it on the app. You can call the church office. But we would love for you to join the journey. Not the country club. That's the J. Number— letter U.

This is a terrible word. I'm just gonna go ahead and say it's a terrible word. Un-isolate yourself. You understand what I'm saying? Stop putting yourself in a little barricade with walls around you that you're not gonna let— I shall not be moved kind of attitude.

Unisolate yourself. Get out a little bit more. Come on Wednesday nights if you're not coming. Like, come out and put— make yourself available so that you can number— or the third one, make connections. Make connections.

I can't force you to talk to me. But what if you decided, you know what? Over the next 4 weeks, I'm going to meet one new person. And if you're an introvert, that scares you to death. But I can tell you it can happen.

You might be out there pumping the coffee and just say, hey, you like decaf? You like regular? I mean, like, come up with something. That's a connection. And finally, P, prioritize Gathering.

All of us in this room have a next step of where we could— we can reconnect or connect with somebody. It might be a service project. It might be in a group. It might be to sign up to serve.

Prioritize gathering. Not coming to church. Prioritize gathering. This altar is going to be open in just a minute for whatever you want to come and pray about. Let me invite and remind you again.

Don't ever let anybody come to this altar by themselves. You don't know if they're down here praying for a need or they're down here praising God. Whatever it is, come pray with them. If you're here today, you don't know Jesus Christ, I'll be down at the front. Kevin will be down at the front.

We'd love to talk to you more about what it means to put your faith in Christ. If you're here today and you've not been baptized. We've talked about this a lot lately. If you have not been baptized by immersion. No, that's not just why it sets us apart as Baptists.

But we believe that you make a profession of faith and then you are immersed in water. Sprinkling and christening is not baptism by immersion. It's post-salvation. And we want to encourage you to take that step and make that declaration to the world. And if you're here today and you just have a need, come and pray.

Come and pray. Don't forget, if you're interested in joining our journey, sign up on the app. We'd love to partner with you. And you becoming what God intends for you. To find your calling.

Father, we love You. I could keep going on and on. But I know, Lord, You now need the time to speak to our hearts. So we sit in silence. And we listen for what You may call us to do.

We love You. We give You our lives. In Jesus' name, amen.