Community That Carries | Pastor Noah Ray | Sunday Service

Good morning, everyone.

Are you doing well today?

Oh, let me say.

Are you doing well?

Amen.

Amen.

I'm excited to be able to bring the word to you this morning.

I want to take just a moment.

I want to piggyback off of what Pastor Caleb said.

We are ending uh yesterday, 21 days of prayer and fasting.

How many of y'all saw God do something in your life over those 21 days?

As I was praying for you this week, I felt so impressed that there are people that you've been praying for things.

You laid some things before the Lord over these 21 days, and you have not seen God do what you wanted Him to do.

And I just want to, right here, as 21 days is over, I want to encourage you to keep believing for what you've been believing for.

Can I say that again?

Keep believing for what you've been believing for.

Sometimes 21 days of prayer doesn't need to stop at day 21.

Sometimes it needs to keep going.

And Habakkuk, I want to read you this.

The Lord dropped this on my heart this week.

Habakkuk chapter 3, verse 17.

Habakkuk 3:17

It says, Though the fig tree does not bud, and there are no grapes on the vine, though the olive crop fails, and the fields produce no fruit.

Though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, I want you to hear verse 14.

This is what the Lord says.

Whether you saw God do what you were praying for or not, he's still a yet kind of God.

Yet he's still faithful, yet he'll still do it, yet we can still believe that he will come through on his promise.

Amen, church.

So I want to encourage you to keep believing, keep trusting, and know that God's gonna do it.

This morning we're gonna get into the word.

I want you to turn with me to Mark chapter, Mark chapter two.

Mark chapter two this morning.

And uh, how many of y'all enjoyed Reggie Dabbs last week?

Come on.

Pastor Jeremy told me about a month ago.

He said, uh, you're gonna be preaching on the 30th.

I said, okay, great.

He's and then I asked him, I said, Well, what are you gonna be preaching the week before?

He said, I'm not preaching this, Reggie Dabbs.

I said, So I gotta follow Reggie Dabbs.

Okay, great, good.

Uh, how about this church?

Ten people committed their life to Christ last Sunday.

Come on.

Incredible, incredible.

Will you stand with me this morning for the reading of God's Word?

Mark chapter two.

Mark chapter two, we're gonna get into this story.

I believe the message this morning, I believe that it is for everyone in this room, and I believe we need this today.

Mark chapter 2.

Mark 2 · chapter mention

We're gonna start in verse 5.

Sorry, uh verse 1 through 5.

And here's what it says A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home.

They gathered in such large numbers that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them.

Some men came, bringing him a paralyzed man carried by four of them.

And since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on.

When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, Son, your sins are forgiven.

How many of y'all are thankful for a God that forgives for the grace that Jesus has given us?

Now, verse 11 and 12 skip down with me.

I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.

He got up, he took his mat and walked out in full view of them all.

This amazed everyone, and they praised God, saying, We have never seen anything like this.

This morning, I want to speak to us for just a few minutes from the topic community that carries.

Community that carries.

Turn to one person around you, just say, You need this message today.

Well, you need this message today.

Will you close your eyes?

Let's pray.

Father, we thank you today.

God, that your presence is here.

God, at the beginning of this message, I pray.

God, prick our hearts.

Move in this room.

God, let this be more than a message.

Let this be more than words that come out, Father.

I pray that as we leave today, God, we leave changed.

Father, we ask all this in Jesus' mighty name.

Amen and amen.

Uh, this morning, you can be seated.

This morning, we are uh going to talk about community and relationships in our lives.

We're gonna talk about friendships, and for some of you, that gets you really excited.

For others of you, when we talk about friendships and relationships, you want to run for the exits.

Right?

All the extroverts in the room, when you hear a message like this, you're like, yes.

All the introverts are like, no, I'm good.

I'm good.

Uh let's take a poll for just a moment.

How many extroverts do we have in the room?

Your hands went up really fast.

Okay.

All the extroverts, all the introverts.

Get it high, guys.

Come on, get your hands high.

There we go.

There we go.

Introverts.

All right.

Whether you're an extrovert or you're an introvert, uh, this message uh it applies to us.

Um, you probably already know who you are, extrovert or introvert.

Um, but I was reading some things this week about the difference between extroverts and introverts that I thought was kind of telling as we're talking about godly community.

Uh we should probably know around us who's an extrovert and an introvert.

Here's how uh you know an extrovert.

Extroverts walk into a room and immediately start talking to somebody.

Come on.

You you know, you're sitting beside one.

Uh extroverts think um the more people, the better.

Okay.

Extroverts um get invited to something and ask who else gonna be there?

This is hitting too close to home for some of you.

Okay.

Extroverts can make a friend in the grocery store checkout line.

Come on, wave at me.

Oh, this is a big one.

Um, extroverts will call you instead of texting you.

I'm sorry, I am that person.

Okay.

Extroverts say we should hang out sometime, and they actually mean it.

Now, as I was reading that, all of the introverts just want to crawl into the chair.

Now, here's how you know you're an introvert.

Introverts walk into a room and immediately look for somebody that they already know.

Okay.

Introverts think the fewer people, the better.

Right?

Uh, introverts get invited to something and they ask, how long are we gonna stay here?

Introverts see someone they know at the grocery store, and suddenly they become really interested in the other checkout line.

Come on, introverts.

An introvert is definitely gonna text you before they call you.

And then an introvert, they're gonna say we should hang out sometime.

And by saying that, they mean either never or a few months from now.

Right?

That's an introvert.

Whether you're an extrovert, introvert, somewhere in between, um, I believe this that God has designed us all for godly community.

Can I get an amen?

There are four disciplines, four spiritual disciplines that I believe that every person should have in their life.

Uh, I believe that we should all be praying, I believe that we should all be fasting, I believe that we should all be committed to Bible reading, and I believe that the fourth spiritual discipline and one of the most overlooked is godly community that we need.

We need prayer, we need fasting, we need Bible reading, but you need the right friends in your life.

You need the right people.

And I'm going to spend this morning talking about that and really trying to convey that this morning.

Eugene Peterson, pastor, author of the Message Bible, he said this.

I want you to see this quote because I think it's so telling, especially of our age and the world we live in.

He says this: He said, There can be no maturity in the spiritual life, no obedience in following Jesus, no wholeness in the Christian life apart from an immersion in and embrace of community.

Everybody say community.

But I want you to see this last line.

He says this I am not myself by myself.

I want you to write that down.

I want you to remember that phrase right there.

I am not myself by myself.

In other words, what Eugene Peterson was trying to convey to us is that the best version of you is always when you're in the right community.

When you're around the people that are pulling the best out of you.

How many of there are people in your life that they pulled the best out of you, and then there's some people that they pull the worst out of you?

Come on, right?

Hey, listen, we're coming into college football season.

You better be careful who you hang around, okay?

Alabama fans, you need to avoid Tennessee fans, Auburn fans, LSU fans.

There are people that pull the best out of us and the worst, but I know this you are not yourself by yourself.

Okay?

God designed us for godly community.

And whether we realize it or not, guys, we are living in one of the most connected generations that we've ever lived in, but we're also living in the loneliest generation that we've ever had.

I think that it's I think that it's really interesting that we're more connected than we've ever been, but we're also more isolated and lonely than we've ever been.

I want to show you this.

In 2023, the U.S.

Surgeon General uh released a study and findings, and he called it the loneliness epidemic.

The loneliness epidemic, and here's what it found, okay?

He said 58% of U.S.

adults were classified as lonely.

58% of U.S.

adults were classified as lonely.

Almost half of Americans, 49%, reported having three or few close friends in 2021.

Now, in 1990, that was only 20 percent, 27 percent said the same thing.

He goes on to say this lacking social connection carries health risk equivalent to smoking 15 cigarettes a day.

I did not believe that.

I had to fact check that.

It's legit.

That's what loneliness is is doing to us.

And then he goes on to say that nearly three in five Americans would say that no one truly knows them.

Three in five Americans would say that no one really knows them.

So that first statistic that says 58% of Americans are lonely, if we were to run that out just in this sanctuary, say we have 400 people in here.

That means that 230 people just in this room right now would admit I'm lonely.

I don't have the right people around me, in whatever shape, form, level that that equates to, this is the world that we're living in, church.

We are, if I had my phone, I would hold it up.

We would say we're more connected than ever.

But statistics would say that we're lonelier than we've ever been as a society.

That's interesting.

And I want to say this, and and I want you to get this at the beginning of today's message, and this is gonna sound strong and maybe not even theologically correct, but I really believe it.

Is that God is not the only relationship that you need in your life.

I'm gonna pause and just let that settle for a moment.

God is not the only relationship.

Now, God is the most important relationship.

Can I get an amen?

He's the only one that can save you, he's the only one that can forgive you, he's the only one that can heal you.

But you don't just need God in your life, you also need God's people in your life.

I have heard for 20 years, I just need Jesus.

You can believe that, but that's not biblically accurate.

You need God, but you also need God's people in your life.

You you have to have both, and we see all throughout the Bible that God created us to be around godly community, to be built up by the saints from Genesis to Revelation.

We see it in Genesis chapter 2, verse 18.

Genesis 2:18

God, he tells Adam, he says this, he said, the Lord said, It is not good for man to be what it's not good for man to be alone.

And I want you to see that that was before the fall.

He did not say that in response to sin, he said it before it.

So the first problem that God tried to fix was not sin, it was solitude.

It was not sin that he was trying to fix.

He was trying to put people together.

And God would look down the corridors of time and see that his people would always need to be connected with other people to live the life that God had called them to live.

So it's not good for man to be alone.

We see this in the life of Jesus.

Jesus could have easily done ministry by himself.

Have you ever thought about this?

He could have done whatever he needed to do all by himself with nobody around him.

But yet he chose to take twelve misfits.

Twelve really jacked up people.

And he didn't just do miracles with them, he did life with them.

He traveled with them and he taught with them and he prayed with these people.

So I want to challenge your thinking this morning that it's not just God that you need, you also need God's people.

You need both to really fulfill what God has called you to do.

And that's what we see in Mark chapter 2.

Mark 2 · chapter mention

We see this convergence in this story of two things.

We see a coming together of God and God's people.

We see the miracle that Jesus does in his life, but we also see how God used the people that were around the paralyzed man.

In other words, the paralyzed man, he needed God, but he also needed God's people.

He needed both in his life.

And this morning, I want to give you, I want to give you four things.

If you're taking notes, I want you to write these down.

Four things that we can do this morning to cultivate godly community.

Everybody say godly community.

As we're looking at Mark chapter 2 this morning, four things we can do to cultivate godly community.

Mark 2 · chapter mention

Number one, number one is I want you to let yourself be known.

Number one, you have to let yourself be known.

I want you to go to verse one and two with me in Mark 2.

It says, a few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people had heard that he had come home, and so they gathered in such large numbers.

I want you to see this this morning.

They're gathering in large numbers, and there was no room left.

I want you to picture this in your mind.

Imagine this home as Jesus is teaching, and the room is just completely packed, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them.

And then verse 4 since they could not get to Jesus because of the crowd.

I want you, if you have your Bible, I want you to highlight the word crowd.

I want you to underline the word crowd.

It's interesting in this story.

There's two different groups of people.

Okay?

First, we have the crowd.

Everybody say the crowd.

And then we have the four friends.

Everybody say the four friends.

And in this story, again, they have heard that Jesus is doing ministry.

They've heard that he's performing miracles, and they have heard that he is healing the blind, and all of these amazing things are happening, and the word has spread like fire.

So the crowd has showed up to the house to hear what's going on.

Okay.

And then you have these four friends.

And I want for just a moment, I want you to see these two different groups of people.

You have the crowd, and then you have the four friends that really represent godly community.

You got the crowds, and then you have really the godly community, the four friends that are bringing him to Jesus.

There's absolutely nothing wrong with the crowd.

Nothing wrong with the crowd.

The crowd wanted to be around Jesus.

The crowd wanted a touch from God.

I mean, no, we need a touch from God.

The crowd just wanted to be in his presence.

The crowd was hungry.

They wanted more of Jesus.

But what we see in Mark chapter 2 is the difference between being around people and having people in your life.

Mark 2 · chapter mention

The paralyzed man was around the crowd, but he really had four people that were in his life.

There's a big difference between being in a crowd and having godly friends and godly relationships in your life.

Can I just remind us this morning that you can be in a crowd of people and nobody really knows you?

You can be amongst 400 people and still be lonely.

We have a whole generation that has more Instagram and TikTok followers than they ever have, but they're lonelier than they've ever been.

Why?

Because you can be in a crowd and still not have community.

And that's what we see in the story with this man in Mark chapter 2.

Mark 2 · chapter mention

It's the paralyzed man.

He's around all of these people, but he really had four people that were with him.

He really had four people that were close to him and knew what was going on.

And here's my concern for us is that I'm afraid that in the Western church we've replaced biblical community with crowds.

I'm afraid that we have replaced large gatherings with really having close people in our life.

Now hear me, I am not at all against moments like this.

You need moments like this.

There's nothing wrong with the crowd moments.

You need moments where we gather in worship, where we hear the word together, where we respond in prayer.

How many?

We need those moments.

But you cannot replace those moments with having close people in your life that will bring you to Jesus.

These moments, the crowd moments, should fuel the fire for us to be reminded I need close people in my life.

You gotta have crowd moments.

These are great, but you also need four friend moments.

You gotta have both.

You need both of them in your life.

Crowds, I put them on the screen, I'm gonna hit it really fast.

Crowds, they gather with you.

Crowds connect you.

They know your name.

They see what you're facing, they can encourage you, and they're around you.

Again, crowds are significant.

But godly community, it walks with you.

Godly community knows you.

Godly community knows your story.

Doesn't just know your face, it knows your story.

It knows your struggle.

It helps you carry what you're facing, it supports you.

Oh, and it's with you.

We need the crowd moments where we're gathering to be with Jesus and gathering around God's people, but you also need close people in your corner.

Can I get an amen?

So when the man couldn't get himself to Jesus, he needed more than a crowd.

He needed close people around him, he needed community.

So, four ways how we're cultivating godly community.

Number one, you gotta let yourself be known.

Number two, you gotta stay connected.

Everybody say stay connected.

In verse 3, here's what it says: some men bringing to him a paralyzed man being carried by four of them.

Sometimes we skip past this paralyzed word in the Bible.

When someone in the Bible was paralyzed, biblically, historically, here's what would happen.

Really, two things happened.

Um, number one, they were more than likely considered a complete outcast of society.

When they were paralyzed, when there was a physical ailment like what it was, is they were thrown to the side.

They were automatically considered less than.

They were outcast, pushed out.

Oftentimes there were full communities that were built around people with physical ailments, because nobody in the city, nobody that was in those areas wanted to be around them.

So, first off, they were they were outcast if they were paralyzed.

Number two, is oftentimes the religious system of Jesus' day believed that if they were paralyzed or if they had a physical ailment of some kind, that there was either sin in their life or there was sin in their family's life.

We go back and you can read, and in John chapter 9, is the same situation.

John 9 · chapter mention

So automatically, this paralyzed man has this condition that he's been around, that he's known what we believe is probably most of his life.

And the paralyzed man, I want you to hear me, had every reason to be able to pull away from godly community.

He had probably every thought that you could possibly imagine had ever gone through his head because of the condition that he had, because he had become an outcast, because people had told him his whole life there's either sin in your life or there's sin in your family's life.

Can you imagine what had gone through his head until those four friends showed up?

All of his life he had thought nobody understands me and nobody's coming near me.

I am the only one who's going through this.

It's always gonna be this way.

They only see me for being paralyzed.

And can I just remind this church?

We've all got issues.

We've all got things that we're facing, we've all got places in our life that the enemy has tried to lie to us that we feel like we'll never be able to overcome.

But it's in those moments that you need godly community more than you ever have.

And this man, he's has all these lies and all of these things, and it would have been so easy for him to isolate and withdraw.

And can I just oftentimes when things come into our life, when sin comes in or disappointment or hurt or failure, our natural tendency as humans is to withdraw from the very thing that can bring healing to us.

And that's God's people.

The very thing that God wants to use to accelerate the call that He has on our life is oftentimes the place that the enemy lies to us the most to try to get us to run from.

Right?

So all these things come up, and whatever it may be, we pull back because I want you to write this down.

One of the enemy's most effective tactics is isolation.

And what's so sneaky about isolation is that we get isolated and we don't even know we're isolated.

We don't realize that we ashamed and we isolate, hurt comes in and we isolate, we get offended and we isolate, discouragement comes in, maybe you're struggling spiritually, maybe it's a season where you just don't know where God is.

And we have this tendency to isolate and pull away.

But here's why isolation is so dangerous, and I want you to I want you to get this and write this down.

Because isolation is the place where feelings start to become our facts.

Isolation, if we're not careful, is the place where what you're feeling starts to become a fact in your mind.

So maybe your marriage is struggling and there's isolation there.

The enemy becomes, he begins to lie to you and tell you it's never gonna get any better than this.

Maybe there's an area of your life that you've been struggling in, that you've been praying for.

The enemy has this tendency to lie to us and just say it's never gonna get any better, and we begin to listen to our feelings and what our feelings are telling.

How many of you can't trust your feelings?

You certainly can't trust your feelings when you're isolated.

Right?

1 Peter chapter 5, this is how the enemy works.

1 Peter 5 · chapter mention

It says, be alert and sober-minded, your enemy.

He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.

That's how the enemy works.

He's sly and he's sneaky, and he tries to pull us away.

The other day I was watching, uh I love a survival and outdoor show.

Um, I don't know why, I just do.

Um, I'm never gonna go with them or do anything like that, but I do enjoy those shows.

And I was watching one the other day, and they were out in the safari, and it was two guys, and uh, they were going from one village to the next village, and they had to get in this truck to go to the next village.

There were a couple of guys that were in this truck, and they were going uh to the next town over.

And they get in the truck, and the the guy um who was taking them to the next place, he kind of stopped the truck and he said, There's one rule in this truck.

They're gonna be going through the safari, they're gonna be around all these different animals, anything could happen.

He said, There's one rule above anything else.

You can take pictures, you can eat snacks, you can talk, you can do whatever you want to, but one rule you cannot do, you cannot, under any circumstance, leave the truck.

He says, if an elephant charges the front of this truck, don't leave the truck.

He says, if a lion tries to come towards the truck, don't leave the truck.

He says, because if you leave the truck thinking that you're safer outside the truck, you become lunch for the lion.

And you become finger foods for the cheetahs.

So don't leave the truck.

I was watching that and I just felt the Holy Spirit in that moment just remind me, I was thinking through this message.

There are often times the enemy comes in and he's trying to attack, and the whole time what he's trying to do is get you to get out of the truck.

That's his whole plan.

He's a lion.

He's trying to do everything he can to scare you, to get you to leave the truck.

If you've ever watched National Geographic, you understand that when a predator goes after a flock, he never goes for the middle of the flock.

Ever.

He goes for all of the ones that are on the outside, that are on the outskirts of all of the flock and all of the herd, because he knows he'll never get them if he goes in, but he can always get the one that's on the outside.

Right?

So what happens is he begins to pick off the one.

And I just want to remind us whatever you gotta do, stay in the truck.

When you don't feel like coming to church, stay in the truck.

Come on, when the enemy's lying to you, stay in the truck.

When you feel ashamed, stay in the truck.

When the enemy's lying and trying to beat you down, stay in the truck.

I've seen it too many times over the last 15, 20 years of people that God was doing so much in their life and they begin to listen to lies from the enemy, and all of a sudden, they're picked off.

It happens often.

It's what I call the cycle of isolation.

I'm not gonna go into, I don't have time to go into this.

You can take a picture if you want to.

But what happens is we have some type of dysfunction or pain in our life.

Something causes us hurt.

And what happens is from the dysfunction and pain, the enemy begins to lie to us.

And from the lies, we begin to believe the lie.

Can I just stop here and say everything the enemy tells you, you don't have to believe?

The most dangerous part of this cycle is between the lies of the enemy and what you believe.

Right?

Because there's gonna be some dysfunction, there's gonna be some things you don't understand, there's gonna be some pain, but you don't have to believe it.

Because if we're not careful, pain turns to a lie.

We believe the lie, and then what we believe turns into isolation, it pulls us away, and then the cycle starts all over again.

So stay in the truck, stay connected to godly community.

Number three.

Number three, do the work.

Everybody say do the work.

Mark chapter 2, verses 4 and 5.

Mark 2:4

I want you to see this.

Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it.

And then they lowered the mat the man was lying on.

I just love the image that's happening here.

I love the picture.

I love just being able to visualize this in my mind.

By digging through it, and then they lowered the mat the man was lying on.

When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, Son, your sins are forgiven.

Can I just remind us that godly community takes work?

I want to say that again.

Godly community takes work.

It takes investment.

Intentionality is crucial in you having the right people God's called you to be around.

I took some time this week, and in this story in Mark chapter 2 is in all three synoptic gospels.

Mark 2 · chapter mention

And so I took some time in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, and I just broke down what this story was and what the friends did to get this man to Jesus.

Because you can read past this story and just forget.

They put in work to get that man there.

They showed up.

They put in effort and sweat to get that man to it.

We just read right past it.

They did what they had to do.

There were actually eight things, and and I'm not going to go in detail into all these, but number one, they they showed up.

Sometimes you just need a friend that shows up.

They went to where he was, they picked him up, they carried him.

Okay.

Four grown men are carrying him.

How many that that took strength?

That took time, that took energy.

Real relationships are gonna make you sweat a little bit.

Right?

They encountered an obstacle.

They got to the house and began to have, they had to tear things apart.

Verse six or number six, they found another way.

They didn't just stop when it got inconvenient.

They opened the roof and then they lowered the man to Jesus.

As I was reading that this week, I was just reminded that godly community doesn't happen by accident.

It doesn't just happen like it takes work.

Everybody wants four friends that can carry them to Jesus.

But are we willing to put in the work to make those friends?

We read this and we're inspired, but it takes work.

Godly community is sometimes inconvenient, it's time consuming, it can be messy, it requires vulnerability, but godly community is worth it.

Somebody say it's worth it.

So you gotta let yourself be known, you gotta stay connected, do the work.

Number four.

Number four.

You gotta let others carry you.

You gotta let others carry you.

Verse five.

I love this this verse.

It's probably one of my favorite verses in the whole story.

When Jesus saw whose faith?

Their faith.

When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, son, your sins, they're forgiven.

Verse 11 and 12, I tell you, get up, take up your mat and go home.

He got up and he took his mat and he walked out in full view of them all.

Can you imagine this moment?

He walks in paralyzed, comes in paralyzed, walks out fully healed.

A brand new person.

This amazed everyone.

They praised God, saying, We have never seen anything like this.

Can I just remind us that when your faith feels weak, you need people in your life whose faith can help carry you.

When your faith feels weak, you have to have people in your life that can help carry you.

And I believe this with everything in me.

There are two seasons in the life of every believer.

The first season is when you're one of the four.

Your faith is strong.

You're carrying people, you're praying, you're believing, you're doing what you feel like you need to be doing it.

Your faith is strong, you're carrying people.

But then there are seasons, church, when you have to get on the mat and you have to let somebody carry you.

And I just want to remind us that both are okay.

There's gonna be moments when you are carrying people, and then there's gonna be times when someone's carrying you, and that is the picture of the body of Christ.

There's gonna be moments when you're strong, and then there's gonna be moments when you got to make the call and say, I need you to carry me.

I need you to help me, I need you to be with me in this moment because I need some help.

It's not weakness to ask for help, it's wisdom.

It's not weakness to ask for help, it's wisdom.

So our job is simple.

We just carry people to Jesus.

We can't heal them, we can't forgive them, we can't change them, but Jesus can.

There's gonna be times when you're when your faith is strong and you're carrying, and then there's gonna be moments where you're gonna need the people around you that can carry you.

So I want to end this message just really practically.

Where do we find this community?

Where do we go from here?

When you read something like this, what what does it look like?

I believe that we find community in the church.

As a matter of fact, I put it in your notes like this: the local church is God's strategy for community.

I want to say that again.

The local church is God's strategy for community.

Us connected to one another, us connected here through the body of Christ.

So throughout this fall, I don't want to just preach about community.

I want to show you just four ways.

They're gonna be on the screen.

Then we're gonna pray.

I'm gonna spend just a moment praying over you four ways throughout this fall that you can get connected.

Number one, Sundays.

How many of y'all love our Sunday gatherings here?

Our Sunday gatherings are powerful.

But I want to encourage you, some of you, show up early and stay late.

I know you gotta get to ball practice and lunch, and you gotta beat the church down the road to the restaurant.

I get it.

I've been there.

Show up early, stay late.

For some of you, this is the only time you can be here.

People are traveling from everywhere to come to CLC right now.

Sometimes this is it.

Sunday mornings is what you got.

If it's what you got, show up early.

Make a friend.

Stay late.

Have the conversation.

Number two, here's a second way is small groups.

I want you to hold this up.

I'm not going to go into great detail.

You should have had this when you came in today.

In just a couple weeks, we launch small groups.

September 13th, all of our small groups go live.

I'm imploring you, find a group this fall.

We are launching this fall.

I love this number.

We are launching 41 small groups this fall.

41 groups.

That's 41 opportunities for you to get plugged in, to find people that you can be around.

On the very back, there's a QR code you can scan there.

You can go to our website.

Look at all the groups.

All the groups are online today.

Here in just a couple weeks, they'll launch.

Find a group that fits you.

Here's what I'm asking you.

Find your four people this fall semester.

People that you can carry and that can carry you.

That other one is not just small groups, it's teams.

We don't just push teams because we need people doing things.

We believe that some of the best places that you find godly people is serving next to somebody.

Using the callings and the giftings that God's put on your life.

And then we have events.

We don't just do events here at CLC to have fun and gather people.

We want there to be connections.

There are four ways this fall that I want you to find community.

Will you stand with me?

Stand with me.

I want to take just a moment.

I want to pray for us.

Four groups of people that I want to, or three groups of people I'm going to pray for today.

If you would just close your eyes.

But they're not the star of the show.

Jesus is the star of the show.

Jesus is the main one.

Jesus is the healer.

He's the forgiver.

He's the one that could do what those four friends could not do.

And maybe you've walked in here today and you just need a fresh touch from the Lord with your heads bowed, your eyes closed.

I want us to have a moment here where I'm going to pray for us.

If you say, Pastor Noah, that's me.

I'm in a season and a place of my life where I just need the Lord to touch.

Will you just raise your hand just right where you are?

I want to pray for you.

Well, thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Hands popping up.

I'll give you just a second.

I want to pray for you.

I think there's something powerful when we take a moment to acknowledge our need for the Lord.

If that's you, just slip up your hand right there.

Father, I pray right now over your people.

I pray a fresh encounter with Jesus.

I thank you, God, that you are the one that saves and you are the one that heals, and you are the one that you do what we cannot do in and of ourselves.

So I pray over every person right now that has raised their hand.

I pray, God, that you would meet them exactly where they are, that you would move in a powerful way in their life.

That even in this moment there are things that they prayed for, they've been believing for.

And I'm asking God that you would supernaturally answer every one of those prayers.

There's healing that needs to happen in their body, there's financial issues, there's there's relationship things.

I pray, God, over every person that raises their hand, God, move in their life.

Touch their heart.

A second, for those that you you come in, you've come in here today and you feel, you feel isolated.

You just kind of feel alone with your heads bowed, your eyes closed, I want to pray for you today.

I want to pray this morning, not just a generic prayer.

I want to pray that God puts the right people in your life this fall semester.

That for those of you who feel like you've been walking alone, that you need, you desire those people, I believe God's gonna do it this morning.

If that's you, just raise your hand.

I'm gonna pray for you.

Father, I pray right now over every person that this message resonates with their heart, that is fighting loneliness and isolation.

God, I'm asking that you this fall would put the right people around them.

Bring them friends that can carry them to you, God.

I pray there's connection.

I pray anything that has caused them to pull back and to retreat and to isolate.

We bind those lies and we ask God right now, put the right people around them in Jesus' name.

And then lastly, there's those of you who've come in, and you may not be lonely and you may not be isolated, but you need somebody to carry you right now.

You're in a season of life where somebody needs to carry you.

And I think the first step is just to let the Lord wash us of pride and allow Him to bring the right people around us.

Will you bow your heads, close your eyes, and we'll pray for us.

Father, I pray right now for those who may feel like their faith is low, that they've been carrying the weight of the world.

I pray right now, God, that the right people would come around them to help carry them to Jesus.

I pray in us, God, if there's any ounce of pride that is keeping us from connecting with you and with people, I pray remove it.

Will you just pray that right where you are?

Come on, I think for some of us that may be where we are.

If there's any pride in our life, God, remove it.

Anything that's keeping us from connecting with you.

Before Pastor Caleb comes, I want to.

On Friday morning, I woke up and I just wrote a prayer in my prayer journal.

And I want to pray this over you this morning as we're concluding.

Because again, I think there's four disciplines prayer, fasting, Bible reading, and this.

How many of y'all believe you need God the community?

I want to pray this over you, and then Pastor Caleb's gonna come and close us this morning.

Just close your eyes.

Here's what I wrote.

Lord, I pray that no one in this room would try to walk through life alone.

Give us the courage to be known, the wisdom to stay connected, and the humility to let others carry us when our strength is low.

Surround us with godly people that will pray with us, believe with us, and keep pointing us to Jesus.

I want to pray that again.

Surround us with godly people that will pray with us, believe with us and keep pointing us to Jesus.

And make us those kinds of people for someone else.

That when the enemy tries to isolate us, remind us that we were created for community, God.

And may this be a church where people are known, where burdens are carried, and no one has to share their mat alone.

Father, I just speak right now, God, over every person.

Father, I pray that you'd bring the right people around them, that they'd find the community that they so desperately need so that God, we can walk in the community and the calling and the purpose that you have for our life.

Jesus, we need you, and we need your people today, God.

Father, we thank you for this in Jesus' mighty name.

Amen and amen.