Give Him A Second Day

we finished our series on harvest season last week and we capped that with the worship night, which was super, super fun. I wish we had did it a year ago, had done it a year ago, that would have been cool, but we did it for the first time last week and if you weren't here, I want to encourage you: next time we do one, do it with us. It was super fun, beneficial. There's something about getting unhinged, in an evening when you're already tired.

It's like who cares what anybody else thinks, and it was just, it was a good time.

The worship was, or the musical worship was, amazing. The worship through the word was very enjoyable as well. At least I enjoyed it. I hope everybody else enjoyed it, .

But today we are going to be in the Book of John again and you'll learn this about: our church is: sometimes we will go through series- we'll call them topical series, where we take a subject that's really relevant to where you are.

Last year we did it like marriage or just wanting to connect in general, to God and to others. We might do a question and answer series at some point. We will do topical series because we want to meet people where they are. At the same time, I believe walking straight through the Scriptures, in various books of the Bible is extremely helpful and will prevent me from just doing what I want.

It'll actually help us hear specifically what God has for us, and I think he's got something for us today in John, chapter 4.

If you have your Bibles, you can turn there. If you have your phone, I'm going to be in the NIV version. I'm going to go and read you the passage. This will be a familiar passage to those- those of you who attended and joined us in January.

But I'm going to.

I'm going to take a different component of the text today and I hope to communicate something valuable to you, starting in verse 39, and it says this: in verse 39, many of the Samaritans from that town that sukar believed in Jesus because of the woman's testimony. He told me everything I ever did. So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed 2 days and because of his words, many more became Believers. Verse 42: they said to the woman: we no longer believe just because of what you said.

Now we have heard for ourselves and we know that this man really is the savior of the world.

I remember I was in between 8th and 9th grade and my mom had forced me to go to church. Let me give you that brief timeline really quickly. It was Christmas season in my eighth grade year and my mom said, when I was visiting her because I live with my dad about two hours away at the time, she said: we're going to church today. Now, I don't know if you've ever been in a household- well, your parents don't really go to church that much.

And one day they wake up and they're like: we're going to church.

Well, when you're 13, 14 years old, you're like: where'd that come from? And so she said: we're going to church today and I'm like I don't know about these church people. So we showed up and they did a little Christmas party while we were there and I thought they'd be weird. But they really weren't weird.

They were actually really nice and, we played a little Christmas game and then I left and I was like that wasn't as bad as I thought and then I went back to live with my dad, where we didn't attend church at the time, and then I ended up moving, or I was about to move to live with my mom and I visited for that summer and that summer we were attending frequently at that church on Sundays, but in June I remember they had like this whole again.

I was a youth in youth at that point, right, so I'd never been to a youth ministry event or anything, but they had this whole summer youth calendar. Because you know, parents are trying to find something for their kids to do so they don't get into mischief and bad things. I've been working trying to find my seven-year-old something to do this summer. I know that feeling, but that's kind of what my mom wanted to do.

She was working during the day we were 14, we'd gotten into trouble.

I was already getting into trouble, even when I didn't have time on my hands, and so she said: we're getting them involved in something and she forced me to start doing some of this youth calendar stuff. Now I'm not mad at my mom about this. Look at where I'm at now. We're in a good situation, but at the time I was not thrilled about it and the first thing that we did was this dumb branded thing called Lunch Bunch.

Yeah, 14 years old, I ain't going to Lunch Bunch- you kidding me with these weirdo Christian kids on Tuesday, which means all the cool kids are going and at the- you know, Country Club pool and all that other stuff, and we poor kids are going to go hang out for lunch Bunch, ?

So, anyways, my mom forced me to go to it. She dropped us off at the church. There's this big white van there. It's creepy and weird.

And so we got in this white van and we drove to mallister Deli.

Anyone ever been to mallister? They don't have very many of them out here. They've raised their prices, but their spuds are still good if you're not good at making them at home. Anyways, McAllister's Deli is where we went and we were sitting there.

It was about five of us, right?

So all the losers in the church- and I'm just kidding, I was one of them, I could say this- right. So we were sitting there at McAllister's and I got to show you this because I still play this game sometimes. This, this is a group of Christian kids, weird Christian kids who don't have any friends, and so I'm there for the first time doing something outside of a Sunday and I just gotten my Spud at the table and I was excited about my bacon and cheese Spud that I don't think they make anymore, but I liked it. So we're sitting there.

I was about to eat and I grabbed my fork and then all the weirdos at the table went like this: anyone know what that is?

Anyone super Christian want to tell me? This is the game that some superch Christians play to decide who's going to pray, and they don't do this because they don't want to pray. That's what someone said to me one time when I played that guy. They do this because they want to give someone else an opportunity to pray out loud over the meal.

And so they did this.

And obviously I didn't know and I had a fork in my hand ready to eat my bacon Spud. And they all looked at me in unison- my first time outside of Sunday. I'd only gone to church a couple of times. They said: you're up?

I said For What?

And they said, you, you got to pray over the food. And I'm like no, I don't. And they just stared at me for a second awkwardly and they said: you can do it. I'm like this is going to be bad.

And then I just I just talked to God.

It was weird it. It was, easier than I thought it was going to be. I talked to God and then afterwards they were super encouraging. It was probably like terrible.

But how could it be terrible if I'm talking to God and communing with the creator of the universe, even if it's not articulate and voiced eloquently, .

And so I did that. They were encouraging. And afterwards there was something that clicked to me. This is easy, not just prayer, but this Faith thing is a little bit easier than I thought it would be, and it was about a month and a half later.

Some other thing: my mom forced me to go to a camp that I trusted in Jesus and gave him my life.

I tell you that because many of us don't get to that next step, because we're giving him one day, and my sermon title for today is kind of the main point that I want to give to you guys. Rooted in the text right here. It says is that the Samaritans came to him and they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed with them two days, and so I want to encourage everyone in here: move beyond Sunday morning and give them a second day. Give him a second day.

That's my sermon title today.

I think there's something really helpful: that, if you can move Beyond, simply sitting in service- which is valuable, which can give you what you need in order to trust in Jesus- which can give you, if you try, some relationships, Sunday is amazing. That's why we put all most of our energy into Sunday mornings. It is probably one of the most valuable and potent things that we do during the week. However, if you limit your time with God and interaction with God's people to one day, then this pursuit of like putting Jesus at the center of your life is actually quite far from you, and I want to encourage you just with the next step: give him a second day.

Give him a second day.

And so I'm going to break it down really simply for you today. I'm not going to go crazy long. I think, I think and I'm going to give you. It's going to sound intimidating, but it's not a problem, I'm GNA.

Give you seven points.

I'm going give you seven quick points that a second day of interaction with God, of time allocated to connecting with him and maybe others, would give you in your life, and I'm going to break them down quickly, but I'm I'm going to go through them all right. So if you have your notepad, feel free to write it. If you have your phone, feel free to write this. If you have chat gbt listening to this conversation, feel free to tell it to take notes and memorize them to give you when you need them later.

Here are your seven points.

Number one: a second day can move you from the crowd into the crew. A second day can move you from the crowd in into the crew. Now, many of you who' have been here a little bit longer know that I utilize this term crowd versus crew. Because a lot of times you'll see that Jesus is doing his ministry and a lot of people show up, but then there's a smaller group of people that he disclosed more Revelation and understanding of who he is too.

That would be his disciples, .

But I want to talk to you specifically, about the difference in Acts, chapter 2, on the day of Pentecost. If you don't know what Pentecost is, this is when the Holy Spirit comes down into the upper room and then it moves in the hearts and minds and bodies even of the people in that room and then, pretty quickly afterwards, a guy named Peter, one of Jesus's disciples, preaches a sermon under the power of the Holy Spirit and 3,000 people were saved that day. And I've thought often about which crew I would be I would rather be a part of, because both of them are amazing, right: 3,000 people at Pentecost get to see the spirit of God do something powerful. It would have been amazing to be at that moment.

I'd have paid to be at that moment more than I paid for these Wicked tickets over there at ASU in the spring, right?

But we got it earlier than when the wicked movie came out and so now I could sell them them. So if anyone wants, can I sell them? Okay, I can't sell them, but I would have paid a whole lot of money to be at Pentecost. If you told me Pentecost was happening next week, I'd be there.

I'd pay a thou, I'd pay more than a th.

I'd pay a bunch of money to be there. I'd pay more than I would pay to be at the Super Bowl, where the Chiefs are going to win, I mean, or not, or the refs are going to be cheat, I don't know. But I would pay a lot of money to be at Pentecost. I just got a.

Are any Chiefs fans in this room.

Okay, okay, it's okay. I mean you know game, knows game, and so you've got to know where there. Good game, but also the ref thing. I don't want to offend anybody in this room.

I want to talk about Jesus here today.

Y'all stop getting me off topic. And as cool as Pentecost would have been, I would have preferred to be in that Upper Room. Amen, somebody, amen. I mean, Pentecost is cool.

I'm not saying don't go there.

If that's all I can get you at, go to Pentecost, but if I can get you in the upper room, like that would be so much cooler. You get to see the Inception of all of this stuff that's going to happen. You get to see the confusion of all of the disciples who are like: what does this mean? What do we do with this stuff?

You get to see Peter like Waring within himself about the fact that he rejected Jesus, then Jesus restored him and now he's got to preach the first sermon to a group of 3,000 people and he's like I'm not good enough.

Scriptures don't say this, but I imagine he's like I'm not good enough, I'm not worthy to do this. Why am I the one who has has to handle this sermon right now, the spirit of God gives him power and he preaches a message that a Galilean couldn't have preached. I would rather be in the crew than in the crowd, and I think if you put more time into your interaction with God and give him a second day, you might move from the crowd to the crew. And by the crew I don't just mean volunteers here at Orbit Church, I mean people who who spent time with God, anyone ever been overseas before, in a, in a, in a country that doesn't speak English as a primary language.

All right, cool.

When you go over to that country, there's a little bit of unsettling, but- and many of you might know this, as soon as you interact with someone who's from the United States or speaks English, there's this feeling that isn't necessarily spoken like, you just understand each other in a different way. And then there's this like overwhelming sense of comfort with that person. Person, whether you know them or not, they could be like a serial killer, but because they speak English, you're like, oh gosh, thank you, Lord, for providing me with somebody. I mean, I'm, I'm for real.

That is how you feel when you're overseas, like I remember that three hours walking through Italy and I couldn't find anyone who spoke English.

But as soon as I ran into someone who spoke English, I would have- like I was dating her at the time. I wouldn't have married him, but we'd been best buds. They'd have been my best man at the wedding. That's how it feels, and when you spend time with Jesus- even if it's not spoken to another person, others who have spent time with Jesus- you just automatically and viscerally connect with one another.

Yes, there's a level I'd love to get you involved in serving or in a small group.

But there's something that happens when you give Jesus not just one day, but two days or more right. You move from the crowd to the crew Point. Number two: a second day moves you from doubt to Greater levels of assurance. From doubt to Greater levels of assurance.

I don't know if many of you might not know this, I did Real Estate any.

Did any of y'all in here know that I did Real Estate? No, a couple people. I did it for three months. It was, it was real good, but I was a realtor.

Technically I was a realtor for like a year, as long as the license last, but I only did it for three months, sold one home and then went back into Ministry one, I thing, but I was doing real estate.

There was something that there's a lot that I remember, but there was something specific that I remembered, and it was this idea of fixtures in your home and the way someone told me to memorize or understand fixtures in the home, because it can be complicated sometimes. Right, some things you've got to write into the contract, some things are assumed aren't in the contract, and it's based on whether they're fixtures or accessories to the home. And what someone told me one time. They said it's a fixture if, when you turn the house upside down, it stays.

Now, that's not perfectly true in real estate, but it's a good image to keep in mind, right, so when you turn your house upside down, the refrigerator is going to fall, right, so that's something you typically write into the contract.

But you know the ceiling fan stays, so you don't have to write the ceiling fan. And technically- I'm gonna help a bunch of people in this place- if your TV is on the wall when someone writes a contract could be considered a fixture. I got mad when someone took that projector out of my loft. I didn't sue him though, but it's technically a fixture, and I tell you that not to tell you about all my real estate experience over 3 months, but I tell you that because what's going to happen in your life and your walk with God, if you're spending time only at church sitting and consuming, is that Satan's going to try to turn your life upside down and you want a more Firm Foundation.

You, you want to have something stable in your life.

You actually want Jesus as a fixture, a center point in your life that helps you in the midst of difficult trials and tribulations in your life, and a second day will help you move from doubt to Greater levels of assurance. When I don't spend time with God, I question my relationship with God. When I do spend time with God, I question it less. It's interesting.

I run into a lot of people that I would call Seekers or Lookers.

Those are people who are, like, interested in anything that can help them understand more about the universe in general. They'll look at Christianity, they'll look at Buddhism, they'll look at any number of isms out there in order to understand the truth about the Universe. I love that perspective, but what I found sometimes is in talking to them is they'll be excited about their relationship with God when they're reading Christian material. But then they'll hop over to something like- I don't know an atheist writer, I've seen this happen- and then, all of a sudden, their belief in the resurrection wains.

Why?

Because Jesus has not been a fixture in their life. He's not been someone who's at the center of how they operate. He's someone that they've added as an accessory. And so when Satan turns them upside down, their Assurance Fades and their doubt increases.

But if you give them more time, it'll move you from doubt to Greater levels of assurance.

Point number three: a second day turns your feelings into a posture or operating stance of faithfulness. It move you from feelings to faithfulness. I think a lot of times we treat Jesus like a tender date where, when you're done with the thing, which for us might be Sunday mornings, then we're like: I'm good, I'm going to eat and I'm doing my own thing the rest of the week. But I'll just tell you this, using tender terminology: Jesus wants breakfast with you.

You know what I'm saying.

He wants to stick around a little bit. He wants to get to know you a little bit more. I'm using that so you remember it. I've never used tnder, by the way, I downloaded it one time just to see what all the hype was about and then I deleted it because all them captions are jacked up.

But that second day, that time with Jesus, will help you move from this like feelings based- visceral, you know, romantic, like just ah, all those feels. It'll move you into greater levels of faithfulness. And here's what's interesting: , it's easy to think that the good feelings are the only thing that'll turn into greater levels of faithfulness. I feel good during worship.

Well, faithfulness is feeling good regardless of how worship goes that Sunday morning.

Like faithfulness is not being concerned about whether something bad happens. That makes you feel frustrated. So many times people are like: well, God did this and so I'm frustrated at him, and then they pull back and they walk with him. Well, if you spend more time with Jesus, you won't understand everything.

He won't disclose every bit of information to you.

You're still going to have questions and concerns periodically and when you take it to God, he might give you more clarity. But there's some things. They're just going to be a thorn in your side. But when you give him more time, it turns from I feel bad to regardless of how I feel, I'm still faithful to God.

He'll turn good feelings and bad feelings into something deeper.

Some of you have a bad feeling about God in this church. If you spend more time with him, he'll give you a better perspective of God in this church. Some of you have good feelings about it and then you're going to look behind the curtain and you be like I don't know how I feel about it. But as you continue to interact with God, he will give you more clarity and make you more faithful.

Point number four: a second day moves you from sitting in to fitting in.

Now I want to be careful with this point because I've spent years trying- not trying to not fit in, but I've spent years trying to get away from this mentality of keeping up with the Joneses and fitting in. God's called me to be who I am and if someone else is different, I don't need to necessarily change in order to fit their preferences right. I want to be careful with this point to not put you in the place where you're now comparing and insecure again, like you were in, Maybe, Junior High or high school. At the same time, many of us are so content in our own personal connection with God or lack thereof, that we will give him a Sunday morning to sit in.

But when we look at God's people or when we look at the greater calling he has on our lives, we're like I don't know.

I like doing my own thing, but the church is not you doing your own thing. God's calling on your life is not you doing your own thing. God's calling on your life is for you to align your thoughts and your plans to his plans. And so when I say fitting in, I'm not saying all right, increase your insecurity so that you can change the way that you act, to fit in with that small group or that specific group of people that you've been trying to get to like you more and invite you to parties and stuff.

Right, that's not what I'm saying.

I'm saying God has a plan for your life. Your plan for your life is very likely different than God's plan for your life, and if you can give him a second day, you'll move from just sitting in hearing some inspiration ation speeches or enjoying worship a little bit, getting in the fields, to the place where you listen to his plan and say, even though I don't quite get it yet, I'm going to align my thoughts to his thoughts and my actions to what he would want for my life. I'm gonna fit into his plan now, going beyond that, we live in kind of a individualistic or even isolationist culture where I do what I want to do and if someone else is different than me, then I am choosing. I've chosen to be unwilling to accommodate.

I'm not saying change for them.

I'm saying change when God calls you to change and accommodate when God calls you to accommodate. Some of you guys will save your marriage if you would listen to that statement right there, because sometimes God calls you to make some adjustments to your preferences in order to help the other person come to the place where they need to be, whether that's connecting with you or connecting with God at a deeper level. Point number five: a second day makes the autonomous accountable. I was scared to put this.

I wasn't scared.

I was hesitant to put this one in. I was scared to talk about this stuff. I was hesitant to put it in because a lot of these are like: this will be better for you, and this one's no different, except for the fact that it probably doesn't feel as good when you give Jesus a second day, whether it's through, reading your Bible more often, spending more time with him, saying you know what we as a family are going to donate this time to interaction with one another and God. Maybe you do sign up to serve, maybe you do join a small group.

Whatever it is, if you give Jesus a second day, it will move you from the place of complete autonomy into a place of Greater accountability- and we don't like the word accountability here in the United States of America because we are free, we do what we want.

But as I get older, there's something that I've learned. I've learned that while autonomy is something I value, right, even Paul values autonomy. He says it is for Freedom that he has set us free. But he follows it very quickly with an understanding that I think all wise secular and Christian people would claim that accountability is actually good for you.

Complete autonomy is not helpful.

He says it's for Freedom that he has set us free, but do not use your freedom as an opportunity to indulge the desires of the Flesh. And then he gives you a couple different ways to allow God's spirit to move you, hold you accountable, convict you and get you into a better place. Accountability is helpful, but I don't just trust me for it. Like, let's look at the world for a second, the secular world.

If there's one thing that I've learned about CEOs, CFOs, Coos or all the people that you would see in the sea Suite, there's one thing I've learned about all of the people who are like the best actors and actresses out there- the people who are the best at anything in their field- is that while they, of all people, could live in complete autonomy and nobody would judge them for it, they choose to put themselves under accountability because they have goals that they want to get to.

This is the example of an actor who's already rich decides to get himself a personal trainer so that they can get fit for the next movie that they're trying to get ready for, right? You see people in the sea Suites. They say: you know what I've done all right up to this point, but I need to get myself a coach. Or, as a business who's already successful, I need to get myself a consultant.

I got to a place in my life where I said: you know, I've done okay up to this point, but I could use a little bit of accountability.

This is the frustrating thing, and if you can Embrace this, it'll actually be really helpful for you. This is both spiritual but also very practical, So Hear Me out here. I can do a lot of the things that a consultant would tell me to do, and then I would still have to do those things. Let me rephrase that for you: I can work out on my own.

I know how to work out on my own.

I did football and then I did some stuff in college and then I did some triathlons, like I know how to do that stuff. In fact, all I got to do is Hop on to Google or chat gbt and I can find out really quickly how to adjust my diet in order to get the nutrition that I need in my life. I can do that. Yet, at the same time, without the accountability, my discipline in enacting that will wne, and so I've chosen to invite people around me into my life to hold me accountable when it comes to things like Fitness.

I've invited people to hold me accountable when it comes to things like my own emotional- - development and intelligence.

I've invited people to hold me accountable in various areas of my life. Why? Not because I can't figure out how to do it on my own, but because God did not design me to do it all by myself. And so, when it comes to the spiritual components of your life, I want to encourage you, move away from autonomy into greater levels of accountability.

And I know it feels icky.

Someone calling you up and saying, hey, miss you this week. That feels icky. I don't like that feeling. At the same time, no one calls you up in the middle of the week when you miss church, or when you missed a group, or, when they haven't seen you in a while.

Because they just want to gripe at you like no one does that.

They call you because they care and they want to help you get to the place where you said that you wanted to be like. Many of people will raise their hands up and say: I commit to follow Jesus, whatever that means in my life, and then three weeks later, Satan attacks, turn their life upside down. The fixtures stick, but since Jesus wasn't quite locked in yet, that he falls by the wayside. And then someone calls you up and you're going to be frustrated.

But how helpful is it to have that person in your life who cares enough to not let you fall the way you have before.

The Bible says- I always preach this when it comes to weddings-, there's one verse- I think it's Proverbs, it's a proverb, because isn't the other one's, Ecclesiastes- that I do on wedding. I've done a few weddings and so I always use similar verses, but the proverb says: , essentially, it's sad for someone who falls in a pit and has no one to help them, and then it contrasts it with the beauty of someone who has a partner, and so we always use that in marriage, obviously, but it's true in any area of your life and in any friendships, not just your spouse. It's helpful to have someone who can, move us from autonomy to a little bit of accountability. Point number six: a second day will actually transform your household.

A second day will transform your household.

This is a very important Point that you could just glaze over and say, well, du second, when Jesus is going to transform my household? Let me give you an example. My wife and I joined a gym recently. I had had a gym membership, but she hadn't had one, and I was kind of skimping out on the gym because I would watch the kids in the evenings and then, any other excuse that I had to do that.

And then my wife would use body weight workouts at home and she was like I don't enjoy this.

And then we wanted to get the kids out of the house a little bit more, so we joined a JY anyways, and so it radically actually shifted our schedule schedu to where we pick up the kids. K going to respond to moving to Phoenix from the south H. How are they going to respond to this? Right, when we moved, when we made this shift and adjustment, it was scary.

But then what we saw afterwards is that our kids assimilated, that my mind shifted and what you're going to find is, if you give Jesus the second day, at first it's going to be like, yeah, but this is the day that I do this.

Yeah, but this is the day we have, you know, elected to not do anything. Or this is the day we do this. This is the day. This is the day.

This is the day.

That's what your mind's going to say when I invite you to do something in a moment, which is join a small group. I'm going to invite you to join a small group. That's what your initial thought is going to be. It's like, yeah, but I already do this and I'm not saying to just wholesale get rid of the things you're already doing.

What I am saying is that fear is actually not going to be as bad as you think it will be, because when you decide to give Jesus the second day, it will transform your entire household.

This is what we find in the Scriptures constantly: one person in a household, usually the male in Acts, they convert, they trust in Jesus, then they go to their family and that family could be pushing back. But what we instead find is that when that person listens to Jesus's will on their life, he actually transforms their household and they receive Jesus and were baptized as well. All that to say, there is a fear that I think Satan places in there that if we change something, it's going to hurt us. But I need you to know this: if you add a day- not for sports, necessarily not for all these other items- if you add a day for God, it's going to bless you, it's not going to hurt you because Jesus Will form your household.

Point number seven: we're excited about Point number seven.

A second day will move you from Simply downloading content to embracing your calling. Yes, I know there are levels to contribute on a Sunday morning, you can serve, you can engage in worship. You can say yeah when I ask you to say yeah, you can say no. When I ask you to say no, you can say Amen.

You can contribute and participate on a Sunday, .

But if you add a second day and consider joining a small group, you're going to find that all of a sudden- just like me at this little like corny Lunch Bunch thing, that you're around a small group of people and it moves from the expectation where you're downloading to an expectation that you're participating. And that might be scary, I'm not telling you. As soon as you get there, they're going to ask you to pray. That was my story, in fact.

If you're a small group leader, I'd encourage you.

If they're brand new to this thing, probably don't ask them to pray day one. Let them get a little bit comfortable. We don't want to freak them out so they never come back. That just worked out for me and God used it.

But there is going to be a level where now you're in a small group, a tighter community, and you're focused on Jesus, and in that smaller group there is expectation.

Seems like a strong word, but that's the one I'm using today because I can't think of a better one. But there is this expectation, when you join this group, that you're going to be a part of the group. I didn't forget what I was going to say. Next I'm I'm sitting here and holding for a second because in my life in Ministry, at least what I've seen, is when people either they try to take the step from sitting on a Sunday to joining a small group, they think it's just going to be more consumption and yeah, you're G to get some good stuff, but you're, you're joining a, a group of people with shared interest in following in Jesus at a deeper level, and so there's just going to be this underg guring assumption, or even expectation, that you're part of the group.

Now you can be someone who's in the group but not really of the group, if that makes sense.

You can be someone who joins a small group and stays on the text thread but never participates, and anything you can do. That that's me and my family thread on her side of the family. I've got it on, do not disturb and, they, they just text each other all the time and once in a while I'll throw in a funny joke that I think's funny that probably they don't. I'm that guy, right.

But in your walk with God, there's a real opportunity here to move from downloading content and sitting on the outer portion of the group to really diving in and seeing what God can do in you and through you as you pursue biblical community.

We can move from being consumers to being contributors, participators in what God's doing. That's ultimately what you signed up for when you said: I'm going to see what God has for me, what he has for you, as a plan for your life. That includes you participating in the good news of Jesus by sharing it with others, but by also in continually surrounding yourself with the things that will enhance it in your life. That's what you signed up for, and I think we sold a bad bill of goods by making Christianity and church something that is Holy consumption.

You can download it here.

You can watch it online. Totally true. I want you to. If you're out of town, feel free to watch it online.

Also, feel free to go to a different church and write notes so that you can bring them back here and tell us how bad we are and stuff like: do what you.

I want you to do that stuff, but I want you to go further. I want you, I want you to be in this place where your life revolves around Jesus, and that all starts with you giving him a second day. And so right at the end of this I don't know if we have a small group slide. I put it here in my notes, but that doesn't mean they have it.

There's Hallelujah.

There's a small group slide. What I want to encourage you to do is consider giving Jesus the second day, specifically through joining biblical Community. Right out here we've got tables and, you can just go to those tables. We're going to have some of our small group leaders there in your seat.

You have a list of the small groups we currently have available.

It's not a lot. We started our church last year and so we're trying to build and build and build, but I would encourage you, look at those. Go, chat with somebody, sign up for a group that fits your schedule and consider, if none of them fit your schedule, what your schedule looks like, and consider what it would be to add Jesus for one of those days. Consider him, or having him a second day during your week.

But please, please, please, stop by.

We got donuts and we got balloons just for you. I know, I know that's not super important, but whatever will get you to stop to chat with us. Did they put the tables in a place where it blocks them from leaving? Did?

Did they do that?

I all that to say. I genuinely want you to get connected into biblical community. In fact, how many of you were in a small group in the fall? Yeah, did you enjoy it?

Just that some of them.

You talk to the group leaders of the other ones. Just kidding, I'm just kidding. I heard great things. We saw people, continuing to grow in their faith and finding new connections, and you're going to get to the place when you build these connections.

You're like: I've got friends that I like hanging out with.

Many of us have friends we don't like hanging out with. I've got people. I got people in my life who care about me, and it's not just me serving them, it's going to be crazy that you meet people in the next couple of weeks that two years from now, you're going to look back and be like, golly, I had no clue. So what I want to do right now is: I want to give you that OPP opportunity, to go out there right at the end of service, but without further Ado.

I definitely want to give everyone in here an opportunity to give Jesus that first day right.

I want them to trust in him. The Bible says: if we confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in our heart that God raised him from the dead, then you will be saved. And, I think you can grow in that in a Biblical Community. But you have that opportunity right now.

So if everybody would bow their heads and close their eyes, we're going to pray a quick prayer for those who have never trusted in Jesus and are ready to do so right now.

So we pray that out loud here at the church. So if you guys would just repeat after me: say God, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, I believe he died on the cross and Rose from the grave. Forgive me of my sin, make me new and I will follow you for the rest of my life. It's in Jesus's name that we pray and God's people said amen.

Can we celebrate those who just made?