Galatians | Week 5 | Clayton York | Full Service

of high school. Years and years and years ago, the school that I was at, seniors would always go on a senior trip. And the year that I graduated, we decided to go to Jamaica.

It was the most incredible thing that I'd ever been a part of and seen. And so we get to the place that we're staying. We only had about 50 people in my graduating class. And so we get to this house, and this house is located on the on on a shoreline on the beach in Jamaica. But this isn't the kind of beach that you're thinking about. This beach was lined with lava rocks. So it was very sharp and very pointy and

took a while to get down there. But we were crazy crazy kids. It didn't bother us from doing anything. And so every day, we would have about three to four hours of downtime to go do whatever we wanted to do. And so one day, me and my buddy decided to,

just go down the shoreline as far as we could possibly go. So we go down an hour and a half down the shoreline and we get to this spot that looks, a lot like this. There's a cliff right here and then there's another cliff that we have to jump up onto in order to keep going. And so, we were like nothing stopping us. We jumped up onto this cliff

and we just kept looking around. Y'all the place that we got to was unbelievable. Right on the other side of this cliff. Picture like an inverted mansion, if that makes any sense whatsoever.

There were hammocks all over the place. There were different passageways that led down to the ocean. There were caves. It was like the coolest thing in the entire world. And so we were looking around there for a little bit and then all of a sudden, heard dogs from every direction and we just booked it. We got back to the house. And so we got back and I proceeded to tell a bunch of my friends, guys, you'll never believe what we just saw. We got to this place and it was like there were hammocks everywhere in different caves and passageways and none of them none of them believed us. And so I was like, bet, we'll take you there tomorrow. So the next day comes and and I take about six to seven of my closest friends. These were my boys. These were the guys that I did life with. This was my community.

And so, we go an hour and a half down down the shoreline and we get to the spot that we were at previously. Right? And so, as we're about to jump up on this cliff, kid you not, four pit bulls, big old pit bulls come and they're they're standing right here barking down at us. And I was like, not today, Satan. We're out of here. I'm not doing that. Right? But my friends, crazy. We're crazy. We're crazy.

One of my buddies proceeds to reach into his backpack and pull out an unopened box of goldfish. Okay? Takes the goldfish, starts throwing them at the dogs, and the dogs love it. They're like, goldfish, cool. I'm down. It gets to the point to where my friend is feeding them out of his hand.

And that leads to all of us jumping up on this cliff and walking around this area. These dogs are following him around like he's their owner, and we all go separate ways.

And then I remember it as if it was yesterday. I heard the loudest scream that I'd ever heard in my entire life. We're all like, what the heck was that? So we all come together and and and we walk over to where my friend is. And mind you, the dogs did not like the fact that he ran out of goldfish.

Okay? The box was on the ground. We walk over and I see one of the pit bulls with his jaws sunk into one calf,

and the other pit bull with his jaws sunk into the other calf. And at this point, I'm like, I have no idea what to do. I'm freaking out. My friends are freaking out. And then one of my friends, Mike Solari, this dude looked like he could play a linebacker for any NFL team out there in high school. He runs over as if like he was just gonna wreck these dogs and starts barking at the dogs. Dogs

take off. All of us take our shirts off, tie them around his legs to stop the bleeding, and we get back to this house that

that we were staying at, and the owner of this of this this house looks at us and says, where were you guys? And I was like, you'll never believe it. We were an hour and a half down the shoreline and we came to this really cool spot. My friend's bleeding. Can you help him out? And he says, where were you? I said, we were at this one place. He looks at us and he says,

okay. That place, you were trespassing on Jamaica's most known drug lord.

He said, that's his property and those were his guard dogs. And they proceeded to say, that guy leaves the country one week out of the entire year and he happened to leave that week that we were there or else we would have been shot on-site. So I was like, thank the Lord that didn't happen. Right? I would not be here.

Crazy ending the story, it says nothing nothing to do with it. But my friend that got attacked went on to be a Navy Seal and and, you know, fights for his country. So it's really cool. I wanna I wanna I wanna wanna ask you a question. Think of that moment up there. What would the outcome have been if none of us

were around when that happened to him? What if none of us were there when he was going through the worst pain and struggle of his life? What if none of us were there to fight for him and fight with him when it hurt the most? What if none of us were there in the moment that mattered the most?

The outcome would have been far different, I think that's how a lot of us feel when it comes to community and connecting with each other. Feel isolated, feel alone, there's pain and there's struggle in the midst of chaos, and a lot of times we do that to ourselves because community is hard.

And this morning, what we're going to do is we're going to dive into a passage of scripture as we end this Galatians series. We'll be in Galatians six as we see Paul talking about the importance of biblical solid community.

And so, I want you to follow along with us. If you have your bibles, please open your bibles. We'll be in Galatians six. If you have your iPhones, open up the bible app. We'll be in Galatians six, the NLT version on your iPhone. If you have your Androids, do me a favor. Hold those till the end of service. There will be trash cans as you leave under the exit signs. Okay?

I'm just kidding. Not really. Hey. I love to joke around and I love to have fun. I just want you to know that I'm a normal human being like you guys are. So as we dive into God's word this morning, I'm excited to spend this time with you. Let's pray. God, we trust you.

Would you do what only you can do in this place? God, I pray that there is clarity that comes from scripture. I pray that we leave here changed this morning. I pray that somebody sees you in a new light as we understand the value

of true community. Lord, we love you. We praise you. It's in Jesus name we pray. Amen? Amen. Hey, if I want if if I could have you leave with one thing this morning to remember one thing out of anything else that I talk about, it would simply be this and it's our big idea. Community matters. Community matters.

And so, as we dive into Galatians six, if you're ready to get the scripture, let me hear you say, let's go. Let's Let's do it. Galatians six one through five says this, dear brothers and sisters, if another believer is overcome by some sin,

you who are godly should gently and humbly help that person back onto the right path. This isn't like the judging each other type of community or relationship he's talking about. He's not talking about the like, well, you're such a sinner, Anita, to get your life straight. No. This is a, I'm gonna help you. I wanna bring you back to the realization of who we are because I'm here for you. It's that type of community, fighting for each other and with each other because community matters. He goes on to say, be careful not to fall into the same temptation yourself.

Share each other's burdens and in this way obey the law of Christ. If you think you are too important to help someone, you're only fooling yourself. You're not that important. Paul like literally coined the throat punch. He did it all the time. He goes on to say, pay careful attention

to your own work for then you will get the satisfaction of a job well done and you won't need to compare yourself to anyone else For we are each responsible for our own conduct. Now, as incredible as it is to hear what Paul says about community.

I also want you to hear what it says in Psalm one thirty three and it's beautiful. I love how scripture paints such a clear picture. Listen to this. How wonderful and pleasant it is when brothers live together in harmony.

For harmony is as precious as the anointing oil that was poured over Aaron's head that ran down his beard and onto the border of his robe. Harmony is refreshing as the dew from Mount Hermon that falls on the Mountains Of Zion. And there the Lord has pronounced his blessing, even life everlasting. Community friends

is something that we all long for. It was literally put in our DNA from the very beginning. We were never meant to live life alone. We were meant to live life together in unity and in harmony. Community is something that we all long for, but also one of the hardest things to achieve.

Yet, even when we do achieve it, it's one of the hardest things to hold on to and keep. Why do you think that is? Here's why. It's because community is done with people, and people are messy. Y'all are messy. You got messy lives. Community gets messy because people are messy. I

want to share with you my definition of community. You will not find this in the dictionary. You will not find this online. As I was thinking about real authentic community, here's what I thought about. Community takes imperfect

messy people connected with each other who will never agree on everything but try hard to build each other up without knocking each other out. Right? That's what real community is because it involves struggle. And the biggest reason community is so hard is because the enemy is at war with community.

He don't want you to have it. He's so against community that he will do whatever it takes to keep you away from each other. The first thing he did on earth was to separate that which God brought together in Adam and Eve. He wanted to separate what God joined together. Adam and Eve were created to build community.

They were created to do life together in perfect harmony. It was perfect and pleasing

and it was good in the Garden of Eden. And and and Satan saw that and immediately wanted to rip it apart. I mean, Adam loved Eve so much. Oh, he he loved her. He loved Eve so much. He wrote a poem for her. He was like, you know what, you're my community.

I'm I'm here for you. You're here for me. He he writes a love letter to Eve. Check this out. I wanna read it to you. Genesis two twenty three, Adam Adam says this. He goes, bone of my bone, scandalous, and flesh of my flesh. He said, you were made for me. I wanna do life with you. Satan saw that relationship

and he wanted nothing more than to rip it apart. And the best way that he does that is he takes a little bit of God's truth, twists it just enough to make you believe that it's a lie. He's so good

at doing that. He's done that from the beginning. The things we believe, the things you and I believe we run after. And if Satan can make you believe

a lie, it will keep you from the truth. And all he has to do is twist a little bit of it. I wanna I wanna I wanna demonstrate this for you guys. So here's what I'm gonna ask you to do. On the count of three, I want you to close your eyes. Okay? You can trust me. I promise you, you can trust me. If if you don't close your eyes on the count of three and you're peeking, I will call you out and have you come up here on stage. Okay? So no peeking. No peeking. No peeking. You guys ready? One,

two, three. Close your eyes. Close your eyes. Close your eyes. No cheaters. Here's what I want you to do. When I say something, I want you to picture what you see. Dog. Mean dog.

Big dog. Dog. Okay. Now open your eyes. How many of you in this room saw the same dog four times? Anybody? K. How many of you saw your own dog? Y'all got some mean dogs. That's a lot of people. How many of you saw a different dog four times? K. How many of you all saw Snoop Dogg? Anybody? I'm kidding. What I just did

was I said something and put a picture in your head that you didn't even know was going to be there. Why do you think Satan tries so hard to camp out in our minds? Because he will take a word, twist its intention, and make you believe that a good thing is actually a bad thing. Like this, community. Community.

Communities done with people. And people? The people are messy, which means community's messy. I don't wanna get involved in messy community. I'm just gonna stay away from it. Yeah. I'm not gonna get involved with people. I'm gonna isolate myself and stay away from community. It's that simple.

It's that simple. Community is meant to be a good thing. The enemy twists it just enough to make you believe that it's not. One of the ways that he makes you fall into this trap is he gets you to give up on community. Why? Because community

matters. And I know without a doubt, there are people in this room that hear me say that and think, but you don't understand, Clayton. I'm like, I'm the most awkward person there is. I can't hold the conversation with people. I don't know what to say. I freeze when people ask what my name is. I don't know how to say things that come out of my mouth to sound smart.

I get that. I understand that. And that's how the enemy works. He wants you to believe that you're not good at it. He wants you to believe that you can't hold the conversation, that you're awkward, that you can't build relationships because it's that easy for him.

So why would the enemy not want to tear us away from the very thing God gave us to hold us together, which is each other? That's us, fam. It's each other. The enemy is at war with community. The enemy is at war with community. And the way he goes to war is exactly what he did with Adam and Eve.

Takes a little bit of truth and twists it so you believe a lie. And to him, the best way to make that happen is to get you to give up on community. The enemy will always present a false enemy to keep you from distracting or to keep you from fighting himself.

He will always present a false enemy to distract you from fighting himself. A lot of times, that's each other. And so, as we dive into this a little bit more this morning, I wanna share two lies with you that I think we fall

into the trap of. I think we we we cling on to these and we believe the lies of the enemy. So if you're a note taker, I want you to write these down. Oh, I want you to write these down. If you're not a note taker, why not start today? If you want the person next to you to understand this and they're not note takers, man, write it on their forehead so they see it in the morning when they wake up. Right? K. Line number one is this,

I'm fine on my own. I'm fine on my own. I don't need people. I'm fine on my own. No, you're not. You're not fine on your own. None of us are fine on our own. I wanna I wanna share something with you. I wanna tell I wanna tell you this. You and I, we will always follow something. We were created to follow something.

But so many of us follow the things of this world that gets us down pathways that we were never intended to be on. Because we follow what the world says rather than what God says. World culture

and kingdom culture are two different things. You We have been discipled and disciplined by the culture of this world. The world says this, don't invest in the biblical community. It's fake. It's dishonest. It's messy. People will hurt you.

It's not good for you. Stay away from community altogether. That's what the world says. Kingdom says this, how wonderful and pleasant it is when people live together in unity. The world says you're fine on your own. You don't need people in your life.

And so the lie is is that you don't need people, but the bible tells us something completely different than that. We see story after story of community and family and friendships all throughout the bible.

Jesus even said that there is no greater love than this that one would lay down his life for his friends. That's real community. That's what community looks like. If you just read the things Paul wrote, oh my gosh. He starts literally everything

that he writes. He's he says, I long to be with you again. I can't wait for the day that we are in community.

Once again, I love you. You guys are my family. We all have that one friend. You you can probably think of him right now. We all have that one friend that is literally literally the happiest person in the world. Everything is fine. It's fine. Great day today, brother. Oh my gosh. I'm going through the hardest time, but praise the Lord. Right? I'll get through it. And we're all like, would you just cry once in your life? You know, Paul is that guy.

Paul is the guy that is always positive and he knew. Paul knew that his mission was to build community by pointing people to Jesus. He he wanted to be invested with the people that he did life with. He knew the importance of community stopping at nothing to share the gospel. And so look at what he says in Galatians

six four through six. He says, pay careful attention to your own work for then you will get the satisfaction of a job well done. And you won't need to compare yourself to anyone else. Oh, compare is such a word. For we are each responsible for our own conduct.

Too many of us don't get in community because we end up comparing ourselves to what other people have. They got way better community. They've got deeper rooted relationships. They're way better at it than I am. I'm not good enough to get involved in community.

It's either that or it's the opposite. I'm too good for community. I can stay away from it entirely. I don't need people in my life. I'm fine on my own. Verse six, those who are taught the word of god should provide for their teachers, sharing all good things with them.

You cannot read scripture and come to the conclusion that you're fine on your own and don't need people. In fact, if you find that anywhere in the bible, please come show me. In John 17, Jesus prayed that we would be one. We would be one in unity. The bible is full of this.

The culture will tell you that you're fine, that you don't need people, and that lie that lie is coming from two different places. Number one is just flat out pride. Pride keeps us in this spot of saying, I'm fine on my own. I don't need people. I don't need you guys around me. Listen to what he says, what Paul says

in verse three. If you think you're too important to help someone, you're only fooling yourself. You're not that important. And he goes on to say in verse seven and eight, don't be misled. You cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant, and that is so true.

Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. Pride tells you that you don't need community. Pride says, you do you, I'll do me, and we'll do that separately. I'm fine on my own.

So pride is the first thing. But if it's not pride, it's something different and I think this one happens way too much. Way more than we'd like to admit. It's not pride, it's protection.

You're protecting yourself from something that happened in the past. You're protecting yourself so that you don't get hurt again. The most common reason we go into protection mode is because we're protecting ourselves from something previously. Something that has hurt us previously. A failed relationship,

the loss of a loved one, church hurt, small group hurt, community hurt. So we go into protection mode. And so when you show up here on the on the weekends and you hear us saying, get get plugged in to biblical solid community. It's the best thing in the world. Your immediate response is, no it isn't.

It's not good because I've been hurt before. I've been hurt before. That's not coming from a place of pride or rebellion family. That comes from a place of protection. And protection in and of itself is not a bad thing whatsoever. But too much of it is.

I was I was sharing this message with my wife a couple days ago. Y'all she's the cutest thing in the entire world. And as I as I got to this part, I was telling her about about protection and she goes, she says, it kinda reminds me of my cud.

I was like, babe, you sound cute. Keep talking. She she she was training our horse last week and the rope ripped through her fingers as he took off and just opened this gnarly wound on her finger right here. It was gross. It was disgusting. And so she goes, it kinda reminds me of my cut.

And I go, how how is that? And she said, well, when I when I covered it with a band aid Let me tell you this first and foremost. We got this box of band aids. Okay? It literally says on the box, keep this band aid on for three days and after three days your wound will be healed.

Right? Freaking lie of a box. No. So she kept it on for three days. When she took the band aid off, that wound was bigger. It was moist and wet and it was gross. Right? So she goes, this kinda reminds me of my cut. When I had the band aid on, it protected

anything from getting inside and infecting it, but it slowed down the healing process. She said, when I took the band aid off, it was exposed and vulnerable to everything around it. I was like, dang it babe, why don't you get on stage and preach? You're smarter than me anyways. And as I thought about that, it it it hit me.

The longer you protect something, it keeps you away from the things that you need the most.

We all do this. Whenever we light it, light light a match or a lighter, we all like light it and then put our hand like this to keep the the wind or whatever from blowing it out. But if you were to if you were to put your hand over it, too much protection would burn it out. Right? You would burn out the flame entirely.

Too much protection, if you protect yourself from something for too long, you will burn out your desire for community. And that is a hard place to operate from.

The enemy wants so badly for you and I to believe that you're fine on your own and that you don't need people in your life. The Christian walk, it was created for you and I to flourish in community. Don't get lost by yourself. Listen to this. Do not get lost by yourself In a place you think you know simply because

you won't listen to the voices around you. I was driving home from work couple months ago. I I remember this. Driving I home from work a couple months ago and I I live in Eastmark, so I go straight down Ellsworth to get home. Okay?

Let me tell you something about Ellsworth. If you haven't been down Ellsworth lately, in between the hours of 4PM and 8PM, the holy spirit looks at Ellsworth and says, nope, I'm out of here. Right?

It is the craziest thing in the world. Traffic is ridiculous. And so I get to I get to Ellsworth and Germain. And at this point, I'm only twelve minutes away from my house, but I see the traffic and I'm like, that is not gonna take me twelve minutes. It'll be way longer. So I shut Google down and I said, I know where I'm going. I'm good. I know exactly where I am. So I take a right down Germain and I start driving. Y'all, I'm driving for fifteen,

twenty minutes just jamming to my music, loving life. And then I take a left down whatever road I think I know that I'm at, and and I'm driving for a while. Y'all, kid you not, forty minutes later, my wife calls me and says, where are you? I said, I don't know.

She says, well I do. You're in Apache Junction. That's not even close to where we live. It's like how in the heck did I end up in Apache Junction? I found myself on back roads and down pathways that I never intended to go because I shut out the one voice, Google, that could tell me where I was supposed to go.

How is that any different with you and I when it comes to community? We we we end up in in places that we were never intended to be down back roads and we get frustrated because we're isolated, but we have shut out the very people that can speak life into us. We shut out the voices that matter the most. And so, again,

lie number one, I'm fine on my own. And lie number two is this, community shouldn't be a struggle. We believe that community shouldn't be a struggle. Galatians six nine, Paul says this,

let's not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time, we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don't give up. Therefore, whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone, especially to those in the family of faith. Paul says, don't grow weary of doing good.

Yet even when you're doing good, we can encounter seasons of weariness. We can encounter hardship and struggle. Listen, friends. Even when you're worn down and it's the hardest that it's ever been,

don't give up on weird. Don't give up on doing good. Don't grow weary of doing what is good. But the problem the problem with that is the fact that you and I get confused because we believe that community shouldn't involve struggle. Because we equate ease with good and comfortable with right. So when it's not easy,

it's not right. Easy. Right?

Listen. So the lie we believe with community is that it shouldn't be a struggle and that it should just always be easy. I think TV and media and movies is just a lie to us. I think it has.

Take your take your favorite TV show for instance. Right? It's it's all the same thing. We we we start with an episode and we've got a group of friends or a couple and they just love each other and everything's great and Gucci and then all of a sudden somewhere in the middle of the episode, something bad happens and you're They're pitted against each other and the whole time you're like, come on, just make it through. And at the end of every episode, what happens? Yes.

They're back together. I knew that they would be back together. They love each other and it's the best thing in the world. Looks easy. That kind of community looks easy. Even though there's a little bit of struggle, it's resolved quickly. You and I get so confused when we think about community because we're wondering

why the struggle doesn't resolve itself within a single episode. And so we stay away from it entirely. If there's struggle then it can't be good. That's a lie. Paul says, don't grow weary or tired of doing what is good. You could be doing the right thing, the good thing, and still encounter struggle.

You really can. But but Clayton, you don't understand, man. Like, I've gotten involved in solid biblical community. I've been in small groups. I've I've I've I've gone to,

different things at the church. I've sat at coffee shops and shared my story with people to get connected, and it's a struggle. People don't listen to me. I don't I don't need community. It's too hard. I can't get involved. It's a struggle, and so we give up on people. We give up on each other.

And for some of us, the struggle is around the fact that we've been hurt in community before. We actually we actually have to face the facts that we might have to trust people again. Is it hard for you to trust people? But the struggle, friends, the struggle is what leads to maturity.

The hardship, the pain is what leads to maturity. Just because they're a struggle doesn't mean it's wrong. Just because they're a struggle doesn't mean that God isn't trying to do something in the middle of it. My my wife did a half marathon a couple months ago. And and and mind you, this was right after we miscarried

baby number five. And so she she saw where she was at at this point in life and she says, you know what, I'm wanna get my life back in shape. I wanna I wanna be motivated again. I feel so lost and deprived. I I wanna challenge myself. And so she starts training for this half marathon and she goes months

training for this. Okay? And I remember walking into the living room. It's one week before she used to do this half marathon and I remember walking into the house after she had just gotten done running seven or eight miles in preparation.

She's laying on the floor on her back and she looks at me and she says, I can't do this. I can't do this half marathon. And I said, babe, yes you can. You're the most disciplined person

I know. You can do it. It's hard but you can do it. And so the week after, we head to Sedona. Y'all the half marathon was in Sedona. It it's different, vastly different than a half marathon here because Sedona literally goes like this. Right? And so, she gears up and gets ready for this half marathon, and

I remember seeing her get to the finish line. I I I see her come up over this hill, and I know the struggle that she just went through. I know how hard it's been for her to get to this point. And I remember her watching. I remember watching her run across this finish line and I break through the gates and I'm I'm like, I'm crying because I know what she'd been through. I ran up to and I'm like, you

did it. And she's like, babe, why are you crying? I'm crying. And I was like, we're both crying together. Right? I knew that I knew the pain and the struggle and what it took for her to get there. You gotta understand something.

For my wife, there is no plan b. The the the half marathon was plan a and she was always going to do it. Just had to push through the hardship and the struggle of getting there. There is no plan b for her. I think a lot of us give up on community because we would rather live by our own plan b.

God's plan a has always been each other. It's always been to get us connected with people, but you will never experience God's plan a until you burn your plan b. Too many of us hold on to it because it's hard, because there's struggle.

We want community, but we only wanna offer shallow commitment. That doesn't get you anywhere. Which makes us follow the enemy's lies over God's plan. You need people that are there for you when it's the hardest. You need people that are there for you when marriage is difficult.

You need people that are there that even though you might lead them to a cliff full of ravaging pit bulls, that carry you away, that have your back, that fight for you when the struggle is real.

Stop believing the lie that community shouldn't involve struggle. Perhaps, the struggle you're having in community isn't because god is just trying to connect you with people. Maybe he's trying to connect you deeply with people. And when it's deep, that's the hardest to trust.

So many people have given up on community because we believe it should be simple and easy. Well, that's just not the case, friends. That's not the case. Because people in general are messy.

And hard to deal with. Jesus knew this better than anyone. Jesus knew what it was like to go through life with people and still encounter struggle yet he was never out of community. He was never out of community. We see this in Matthew 26. Jesus is doing life with his boys, with his disciples.

And and Jesus had been mocked, ridiculed, beaten, doubted. People hated him. And he still did life with those same people. In Matthew 26, we see him he he he's telling Judas. He says, dude, you're you're gonna you're gonna sell me out. You're gonna sell me out.

He tells Peter, you're gonna deny me, man. Peter's like, no, I'm not. We're boys, man. We we do life with each other. I would never sell you out. And so, when the struggle was real, Jesus was still with the people. The night before he was to be crucified.

The night before Jesus was to be crucified, we see this in Matthew 26 verse 36.

Then Jesus went with them. Who is them? Oh, that's his community. Those are his people. Those are his disciples. Jesus went with them to the olive grove called Gethsemane and he said, sit here while I go over there to pray. He took Peter, the one who would soon deny him.

And Zebedee's two sons, James and John, became anguished and distressed. He told them, my soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me. Struggle's real. It's hard in this moment right now. And here we see Jesus sharing his feelings, emotions, and thoughts

even with the ones who life got messy with. He went on a little farther and bowed with his face to the ground praying, my father, if it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me. Yet, I want your will to be done, not mine. Jesus wanted to be in community with you and us with each other so much

that he knew it would cost him something. And to him, it cost his life.

Community is not easy, and it will cost you. And I'm not talking costly from a financial standpoint, friends. That's not the kind of kind of cost that I'm talking about. If you look at your life right now, and I want you to do this. I want you to I want you to process. If you look at your life right now,

the things that cost the most are the things that are of of most value to you. I think of I think of my own life. Marriage and ministry are easily the most rewarding, fulfilling, best things that I've ever been a part of yet simultaneously, the hardest things I've ever done. Ministry.

I I would be lying to you if I was on this stage and told you that I have not wanted to toss the towel in and call it quits. Over the past couple months, over the past couple years, why? Because ministry is so hard. It's messy. There's pain, there's struggle, and it hurts.

But it's the most rewarding thing that I've ever done. Marriage, oh my gosh. Marriage does not minimize my problems, but only magnifies my dysfunctions as a leader as I try every day harder and harder to pursue my wife.

It's hard. There's struggle, but it's the most fulfilling thing that I've ever been a part of.

I'm not meant to do either of those on my own, marriage or ministry.

If it costs you, it's worth it. If it costs you, it's worth it. God has always wanted to get you and keep you in community. Community with him and community with each other. And it's hard and it's crazy and there's struggle and there's pain, but the value of solid community with people

is worth whatever it might cost. I

have shared a little bit from this stage before. Some of you guys know a little bit about my story, but for the past two years, it has been the hardest season of my life. My wife and I both. We've we've we've had five miscarriages

and three of them within the past two years. First one, we miscarried twins and that was really difficult for us to stomach. And then the last one, the previous one, just a couple months ago, we we lost we lost Ember. She she was 16 and and lost her within within minutes. And and in the moment, I I went into protection mode

because I didn't wanna be hurt again. It was the hardest thing that I've ever had to walk through as a husband is I see my wife desiring children and myself desiring children. But what I did was I went into protection mode because I was gonna protect her and I was gonna protect myself at all costs. And so

our staff, a lot of us went on a retreat shortly after that actually, month month or two after that. And we're all up at this cabin connecting with each other and building deep rooted relationships.

And and I remember the middle school, high school, young adult team, we all sat around this table as we're talking and conversing with one another, building deep rooted relationships

because that's why we were there. And it got to the point where I was to talk. And I remember looking at everybody around that table, and I was processing and thinking about what I had previously just been through, and I looked at them and I said, none of you were there.

None of you reached out to me when it was the hardest. None of you were there for me when it was painful. None of you cared about me. None of you cared about what my wife and I were going through, and it hurts.

It was quiet for a moment.

One of my one of my good friends, Caleb, our middle school pastor,

He looked at me and he said this. He said, we're there. Bro, we were there. But you don't feel community because you shut yourself out from the very people that can speak into it.

I shut myself out. I isolated myself. I'm fine on my own. Community shouldn't involve struggling. I'm struggling.

So I stayed away from the very people that could build me up. Don't do that. Don't do that. What you're going through might be the hardest season of life, but that season is meant to be done with people. And people are messy, community's messy, struggle's real and it's painful and it's hard,

but but community will build you up in a way that you will never know unless you seek it out. That's why Paul says in verse two, share each other's burdens. If it doesn't cost you, it isn't worth it, and community will cost you. But what you receive on the opposite end is worth the cost.

Could it be that when you and I get connected with each other and build solid deep rooted relationships, that's actually when the rest of the world sees Christ magnified through us because it's what he intended from day one.

Man, I'm a regular human, y'all. Everybody that preaches from here, Bill, Daniel, Caleb, the band, we're all regular people. We just wanna do life together because none of us have it all together. So to the enemy's desires to get us away from community. But let's do life with each other because community matters.

Because community matters, people matter. So let's do life. God, we we trust you. Oh, God, I I I I pray I pray for the person in this room whose heart is pounding and beating right now because they've been so lost and isolated in their own walk. They've been so distant from community

because it's hard. God, I pray that you would draw them near to you. God, I pray I pray that relationships are formed from from this weekend

simply because we understand the value of community and what you have designed it to look like and be. God, you're so good and you're so good to your people. Lord, I thank you for and just using broken people like us

that don't have it all together, that are still seeking who you are, God. There is so much intimacy behind the character of who God is, and we want to know that. So God, I pray that we don't do it alone, but we do it together. Oh, we love you. We praise you. It's in Jesus name we pray. Amen? Amen.

Amen, church. As we go through this week, may Christ be magnified in us and through us. May we be connected into community and just be in the fullness of what God has for us.

Thanks for joining us online this weekend. Let us know if we can help you in any way. Make sure to follow us on social media and connect with us on rockpointe.io for prayer and everything happening here at Rock Point.