Why Small Groups? | The Search | Matty Finlay

It's couches and porches and a kitchen table.

It's stories shared and moments worth remembering.

It's hoping and praying and taking chances.

It's jokes and laughter and shoulders to cry on.

It's questions and answers.

I don't know.

It's knowing you don't have to figure it out all by yourself.

It's messy.

Yeah.

It's giving and serving.

Growing better together.

It's life.

We weren't meant to do it all.

Life is better together.

Well, hey, good morning.

And once again, welcome to Silverdale.

If you and I have never met before, my name is Maddie.

I have the privilege of serving as a part of the team here on our Bonnie Oaks campus.

And this morning, I have the joy of opening God's word with you.

So as you turn in your Bibles, we're gonna jump around just a little bit this morning.

So we all want to encourage you to pull out your worship guides.

You can follow along on the front of these, and then all the text that we look at this morning will be on the screen behind me.

If you've been at Silverdale for any length of time, it won't be surprising to you to hear me say that we are a growing church.

I mean, you just have to look around the room to see that rooms, our room is full, and all of our campuses, their rooms at 9.30 and 11 are full.

We're getting ready to plan our North Georgia launch on North Georgia campus here in a few months, which you're excited about.

Any of you part of that?

Anyone going to North Georgia?

Wow, you seem really excited, those of you that are going, we're glad for you.

We're excited for you.

How about that?

Is it so we are excited?

But you may not know to what extent we're growing.

Like, I hear us say that.

I know what that means, but if you're anything like me, you're sitting in your seat and you're wondering, like, so many, what does that actually look like?

Well, over the course of the past 12 months, our church is growing by about seven or eight hundred people.

Now, that is a large church in and of itself.

But what that means for us is while we celebrate that and while we acknowledge that, it means several things to us as a church.

It means several things to our leadership.

It means that there are potentially 800 people sitting in all of our worship venues who have no idea why we do what we do the way that we do it.

It means that there are potentially people showing up who have become a part of Silverdale who have no idea who we are or why we do what we do the way that we do it.

And for those of us that have been around Silverdale for a little while, you've probably heard the statement vision leaks.

And what that means for us is that if we don't keep the why of what we do in front of you as a church, at some point it's easy to lose sight of the why.

It's easy to lose sight of why we talk about small groups so often, why we ask you to take next steps so often.

I'm sure for many of you, maybe sitting in the room this morning, like, oh man, small groups Sunday again.

I've heard this message a thousand times.

Well, can I tell you something?

You're gonna hear it a thousand times more before you ever leave Silverdale.

Because small groups are that important, so as you want to keep the what and the why in front of you.

Our church operates with three core values, and they are this worship, grow, and serve.

And you can find those in our mission statement, which I've put at the top of your outline for you this morning.

It's this that Silverdale exists to lead people, lead you into an authentic relationship with Christ so that you'll worship God, grow in their faith, and serve Him in our community and our world.

We want to lead people, we want to lead you into an authentic relationship with Christ.

And it's one of the reasons why week after week we call you to respond to God's word in obedience.

Because we desire for you, we want more for you than just religion.

We want more for you than just a list of do's and don'ts.

We want you to have more than a head knowledge of who Jesus is.

We want you to know Jesus, love Jesus, and actually follow Jesus where he's calling you to go.

And the reality for the Christ follower is that as we know and follow Jesus, that we will worship, grow, and serve.

Again, it's why we talk about taking next steps so often.

Just seeing people come to know Jesus is only a part of the mission.

We want to see you grow in your faith.

Look at the way Jesus says this in John 10:10.

John 10:10

It says this that the thief, Satan, comes only to steal, kill, and destroy.

But I, Jesus, came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

Notice what Jesus doesn't say.

Jesus doesn't say, I came just to forgive sins.

He says, I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

Which means that as important as salvation is, that's not all that Jesus has for us and wants for us.

Jesus desires for you and I to have an abundant life, which we believe is comprised of worshiping, growing, and serving.

Look at where the apostle Paul would say this in Colossians 1, verses 9 through 10.

Colossians 1:9–10

It says this.

Paul says, And so from the day we heard, and what Paul is referencing is the Colossians church's faith in Jesus.

It says, From the day we've heard, we've not ceased to pray for you.

So since we've heard about your faith in Jesus, we've been praying for you, and then Paul tells us what he's praying for the Colossian church.

Look at this, it says this asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God.

Do you see it?

Paul is praying that the Colossian church would worship, grow, and serve.

Look again, says this, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding.

That's the grow portion.

That's where Paul is praying that they will grow, that they will grow in their understanding of God, they'll grow in their understanding of his word, they'll grow in understanding what he desires for them to do with their lives.

Then he says this, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him.

That's worship.

That we would offer our entire lives as worship to God, that everything we do would be done in such a way that it is pleasing to him.

Worship is more than standing and singing songs.

Worship is a lifestyle, worship is the way we choose to live our life every single day.

And then he'd go on to say this: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.

That's serve.

To bear fruit in every good work, to serve others, to serve the church, to work for their good.

The beauty of this is that Paul isn't writing to a person.

Like so often in Paul's epistles, he's writing to Timothy, he's writing to Titus, but in the Colossians, the book of Colossians, Paul is writing to the church.

Paul is writing to a group of believers.

So here's what that means.

We can take what Paul is writing and understand that he's writing to us.

If you are a follower of Jesus, this applies to you.

That's the mandate for all followers of Jesus is that in our lives we would worship, grow, and serve.

Here's what that means, kids in the room right now.

That you are not exempt because you're 11.

Then if as an 11-year-old, you're saying, I've put my trust in Jesus, I put my faith in Jesus, then the expectation of you is that you would worship, grow, and serve.

It's the same expectation for a college student.

College students, you don't get an out because your schedule's full.

Those of us who are married and have kids, we don't get an out because our kids are playing sports.

Or they're in a busy season of life.

The mandate for every follower of Jesus is that we would worship, grow, and serve.

And here's what we know as a church that every single Sunday, there are thousands of people who walk into our sanctuaries.

You park your tail in a seat, and most weeks you hear good preaching, some weeks maybe not so much.

You sing worship songs, maybe you shake a few hands around you, and you walk back to your car and you leave, and nobody knows you.

You attend Silverdale, but you are not a part of Silverdale.

You show up on Sunday mornings, and you experience some of the same things that others do, but you are not reaping the benefits of being a part of a church because you are not a participant in a church.

You're not seeing growth in your life.

Maybe that's you this morning.

Maybe you're that person.

Maybe you're the person who just shows up and attends every couple weeks.

And we love you, we're glad you're here.

But what we also know is that you're left wrestling with questions and you're asking things like, God, why are you not working in my life?

God, why do you feel more distant now than ever before?

God, why am I not experiencing some of the same things that other people say they're experiencing their relationship with God?

At Silverdale, as we think about growing in your faith, for us, it has become almost synonymous with small groups.

We believe that at Silverdale, small groups are the primary vehicle of discipleship.

We believe that they are the primary vehicle by which spiritual growth will occur in your life.

We don't believe that the most spiritual growth in your life will happen in this room.

We think it's important.

That's why we do it every week.

We value it, that's why we put so much time and effort into it every week.

But we believe the primary way in which you will grow as a follower of Jesus is in the context of Christian community, which we would call small group.

And what I want to do this morning is I want to open God's word.

I want to give you a couple reasons why we believe not only should you be in a small group, but why we believe your faith will actually flourish.

Why for us, small groups are not just another ministry program.

Small groups are not just this thing that's like, yeah, it's cool, we do it, be involved if you want to be.

But small groups for us is actually one of those things that we say, if you want to live out your calling as a follower of Jesus, if we as a church are gonna live out our calling as a church, then you and I need to be a part of Christian community.

So here's the first thing I want you to jot this down on your outline for me, and it's this that we experience God best in community.

We experience God best in community, that a follower of Jesus will flourish in the context of healthy Christian community, and that we are actually designed and made to desire that kind of community.

Think about it.

We desire all kinds of community, right?

Like, how many of us are part of a golf club?

Maybe you've got a gym membership, maybe we're in a book club, right?

We desire community, we join things to be a part of community.

Genesis 2.18 tells us this that it's not good for man to be alone.

That from the very beginning, God said, man needs community, man needs people, man needs others.

When Jesus sent out his disciples, he did it by sending them out in pairs, he sent them out in community.

Jesus himself often had Peter, James, and John with him.

When Paul went on his missionary journeys, he took Timothy, Silas, and Barnabas.

Everything we read in scripture points to the reality of us experiencing God best in the context of community.

Doing life alongside other believers.

Just think about this with me for a second.

Think about the people in your life who you know who have walked some really dark roads.

Maybe they found themselves in addiction, maybe they've contemplated suicide, maybe they've cheated on their spouse, got caught up in some things at work and lost their job.

Nine times out of ten, those things begin when somebody feels isolated and alone.

When somebody feels like they've got nowhere to turn, they've got nobody to turn to.

When they're looking for a place to find some value or some worth.

What I'm not saying this morning is that you'll experience God best when you are around other people.

Some of you show up every Sunday at 9.30 and you're at about a thousand other people, and you've never felt more lonely than you do right now.

There are lots of places I go where I am around other people but have no community.

But what I do believe is that as followers of Christ, we will flourish when we are in a place where we know people and are known by people.

Just three weeks ago, our church hosted what we call Vive Camp.

It is our fifth through twelfth grade student camp.

And there's a lot of great things that camp does, and they'll hear great teaching, they'll go serve in our community, they do a whole bunch of fun stuff, they have great worship.

But arguably the most impactful part of Vive Camp is what our student ministry calls tribes.

And what tribes are is they take a grade of students and they put that grade together, and instead of just calling them ninth grade or tenth grade or whatever, they call them a tribe.

And what they do is they give that tribe a color, and that tribe picks a name, and everyone shows up to Vive Camp and they've got their face painted and legs painted, and they're decked out in their tribe color, and they've got trinkets and glasses and sprayed hair, and you can probably find glitter on the seat right now if you look hard enough from just a couple weeks ago.

But here's what that does.

Sure, on one hand it looks silly and it's cool and it gives something to do, but you know what it does is it takes the kid who's outcast and isolated and it makes them a part of something.

It gives them an identity, it gives them something to be a part of.

All of a sudden, they're a part of the green tribe or the orange tribe.

And then in the context of that tribe, what we do is you break those students down into small groups.

And we put them in groups of 10 or 12.

You got 10 or 12 girls, 10 or 12 guys, a couple of adult leaders, and in the context of those small groups where they already have some identity and some belonging, now they get in an environment where they begin to be known.

And they show up in a small group and people learn their name and they learn what they're struggling with, and they learn what is going on, they learn where life is hard for them.

And those tribes, those small groups, become the breeding ground, if you would, of what God does over the weekend at Vive Camp because those students begin to experience God best in the context of community.

We experience God best in community.

Here's the second thing I want you to jut down on your outline.

It's this that small groups allow us to know and be known.

Small groups allow us to know and be known.

Now, to be known when we talk about Christian community is something much more than knowing superficial things about each other.

See, in my small group, I know that Dan loves all things red meat.

I know that Mike loves his coffee so black that you can chew it.

I know that Alex could run a small country by herself, right?

I know these superficial things about those in my small group.

You too would learn those things if you came inside of my small group for one week and just asked a couple of questions.

But I also know things about them that I would never dream of sharing with you from this pulpit.

I know where their marriages have been struggling, I know where the kids have struggled, I know the things that keep them up at night.

I know the wrestle with what God wants to do in their lives, and they know the same about me and my family.

These small groups allow us to be known and to know others.

They put us in an environment where people know our strengths and our gifts, but it also puts us in an environment where people know our struggles and our weaknesses, where others know the hurts and the things that we wrestle with.

And here's the beautiful thing that as we know people and are known by people, it helps us move from this place of selfishness and self-centeredness to a place of selflessness.

See, contrary to popular belief, I I think that most of the world does actually believe there is a God.

They just believe that there is.

And they believe that the whole world, most of us, believe the whole world is centered around us.

That we are the axis, and everything spins on what we want and what we need.

And what small groups do when we get into that context of community, what small groups do is it diverts our eyes and our attention from ourselves and to other people.

I want you to write this down this morning for me.

Dr.

This down is this that my awareness of a need is my invitation to meet that need.

My awareness of a need is my invitation to meet that need.

See, we live most all of our lives taking care of me, myself, and I.

We make sure my needs are met and we caress and manipulate situations to our advantage and for what's best for us.

But when we live in Christian community, we gain perspective and we will quickly find that life, our life, is not all about us.

Look at the way the early church began.

Acts 2, verses 44 through 45 says this.

Acts 2:44–45

And all who believed were together, they were in community with each other, they were together, and they had all things in common.

And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all as any had need.

The church, this church that we know and love began with people understanding that life was not all about them, but God wanted to use them to help meet the needs of other believers.

Listen to me, church.

The seat you sit in right now, the sanctuary that we get to worship in, the ministries that we are a part of have all been prayed for and paid for by people who believe that what you needed, what we, the next generation, needed was more important than what they wanted.

When we are a part of a small group, when we are in genuine Christian community where we know and are known by others, it is inevitable that at some point people will have a need, and needs should trump once always.

Maybe as you find yourself in a context of small group Christian community, someone needs a babysitter and you offer to help.

Maybe they need a meal and you bring it.

Maybe they need someone to listen to them in your willing ear.

Maybe they need correction, a teaching, and and you you share that with them.

Maybe they need someone to walk with them through a difficult season and you show up.

Our awareness of a need is our invitation to meet that need.

And what God will do in the context of a small group is he'll use that to change our perspective, to renew our minds, to take our minds off of ourselves, and give us the mindset of Christ, which is to serve others.

Paul says in Romans 12, when he's talking to the Roman church, he says this that we are all members of one body.

Small groups allow us to see and experience that.

They give us the right perspective when it comes to being a part of a body of Christ, of the body of Christ.

I read a story just a couple weeks ago about a guy who was he was at work and he works with chemicals and dangerous chemicals, and there was this moment that there is something that was knocked over, which caused this spill, and when it spilled it, it caused a splash.

And when it splashed, these chemicals got into his eyes and on his face, and his face was pretty badly burned, but he actually lost his eyesight.

And several years later, he was being interviewed about that experience and what had happened, and so on, and so forth.

And one of the things that he said was remarkable to me.

He said that as he had lost his eyesight over time, he felt like his sense of smell, his sense of hearing became that much stronger.

He said it was this really fascinating thing to him to experience in real time is that as he lost his eyesight, it felt like these other things, these other senses began to take on the load, if you will.

They began to carry the load of what was missing.

You see, our bodies, our physical bodies are designed to support areas that are hurt, broken, or weakened.

Our physical bodies are designed in such a way, you know, when there is something that is hurting, broken, or weak, it supports itself, it comes alongside and helps itself.

Can I remind us this morning that this body is designed in the same way?

That the body of the church is designed in such a way that when it sees something that is broken, hurting, or weak, it should rally to support itself.

Because our awareness of a need within the body is our invitation to meet that.

Need.

Healthy bodies are designed to move toward hurt and not away from it.

They don't ignore it.

Paul would again say later in Galatians 6, he'd say this to bear one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ.

That we are to bear one another's burdens because Jesus modeled that for us when he bore our burden, our sin burden.

Burdens are heavy loads.

They are things that people struggle to carry alone.

But to bear somebody's burden is to carry a load with them or even for them.

To bear somebody's burden is to feel the weight of that thing with them and alongside them.

And don't miss what the outcome is.

Paul says this when we do that, when we bear one another's burdens, we fulfill the law of Christ.

Paul's saying, when we love somebody like this, we love them as Jesus did.

So what does that look like?

I think about coming alongside people who are struggling, struggling to finish something they started, helping somebody endure through a difficult season in their marriage, walking with somebody through a diagnosis and then the treatments.

It's about coming alongside somebody who's struggling and propping them up, bringing a meal to a parents of a newborn.

I think about coming alongside somebody to provide something that they may need.

That is bearing one another's burdens.

It can be physical, it can be tangible, it can be emotional, it can be spiritual.

How many of us have had somebody pray for us?

And I don't mean the people that say, Hey, I'm praying for you, but the people who say, Hey, I have been, I will, and I am praying for you.

And you know that they mean it when they say it.

To bear one another's burdens.

Listen, I've shared this story with you guys before, but I remember when our first son Preston was born, he spent about 10 days in the NICU.

And I'm probably about three or so years into being married, so I'm still a pretty new husband.

I'm not looking at my firstborn, my newborn son, who's getting whisked off to the NICU, and I'm left in this position where I remember standing in a hospital room and I'm looking at my wife who's just had major surgery, and my son who's about to go into intensive care.

And the only thing I can remember thinking at the time is my responsibility as a dad and a husband is I've got to be strong.

And for me in that moment, what that meant is all of my emotions, all of my fear and uncertainty and my sadness and anger, and all of those things I was feeling at that time.

I've got to squash all of that down, and I've got to keep all of that locked up, and I've just got to be strong now for my wife and for my son.

And that's about how it played out for a couple days.

And people came and they visited and they went and all of those things.

And then there was this moment a couple days in when things seemed to have kind of settled down.

We knew what the next week or so was potentially gonna look like.

We had an idea of what that journey was gonna be, and there's this moment that my friend Matt Boone shows up in the hospital.

And I walk out of these doors.

If you've ever had a baby at Erlang at East on the second floor, walk out of those doors into that little waiting area right there, and he's there, and he comes and he gives you this big old bear hug.

And I'll never forget that moment because not because Matt showed up, a lot of people showed up and said a lot of kind things and did a lot of wonderful things.

I remember that moment because it was the first time I felt like someone gave me something that I needed, and what Matt gave me in that moment was a space where it was okay to not be okay.

And I remember the moment he wrapped his arms around me just sweeping.

For the first time, I was like, I don't have to be strong right now, there's someone that can do that for me.

And he held me and I cried like a baby.

And I just remember him saying, Hey, it's gonna be okay, it's gonna be okay, it's gonna be okay.

He bore my burden with me, if only for a few seconds.

He gave me a place where I didn't have to be strong because he was being that for me.

That's what Christian community looks like.

We come alongside others and we bear their burdens with them.

Our awareness of a need is our invitation to meet that need.

Here's the last thing I want you to jut down.

It's this that small groups leverage our story for somebody else's growth.

Small groups leverage our story for somebody else's growth.

There's this incredible interaction that we see Jesus have with Peter.

Let me set the scene for you just a little.

Jesus has finished his earthly ministry, all of the miracles have done, most of the healing has taken place, most of the teaching has been done at this point.

Jesus has told the disciples that he's gonna be killed, that one of them would betray him.

He then serves them communion, and this discussion or conversation begins among the disciples about who's gonna be the greatest among them and who was the best disciple.

No doubt our guy Peter was probably pretty vocal in that argument.

Then, right after that discussion, Jesus looks at Simon Peter and he says this.

I want you to look at me, Luke 22, verses 31 through 34.

Luke 22:31–34

He says, This Simon, Simon, behold, Satan had demanded to have you that he might sift you like wheat.

But I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail.

And when you've turned again, strengthen your brothers.

And then Peter said to him, Of course, he did, Lord, Lord, I'm ready to go with you both to prison and to death.

I love his confidence.

And then Jesus says in verse 34, I tell you, Peter, the rooster will not crow this day until you deny three times that you know me.

Now, with a cursory reading of that text, we can easily miss what Jesus is saying and the principle that applies to us today.

See, Jesus tells Peter this you're gonna deny me three times.

He knows Peter is going to turn his back on him.

He knows Peter is gonna make a choice to put himself, his reputation, and his life as more important than his relationship with Jesus.

Jesus knows Peter is going to sin.

He knows Peter is going to mess up.

Don't miss that.

And then look at what he tells him.

And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.

Jesus is saying this, Peter, I know you're gonna reject me.

I know you're gonna wander away from me.

I know you're gonna deny me.

I know you're gonna mess up.

I know you're gonna make mistakes.

I know you're gonna be a failure.

But I also know that you do love me.

And when you have turned back, when you have repented, when you have come back to me, strengthen your brothers.

When you have turned back to me, allow your story to encourage them.

When you've turned back to me, use your story to point others to the truth of who I am.

When you've turned back to me, allow me to use your story for somebody else's growth.

And the same principle applies to you in the room this morning.

Jesus would tell you, I know you're gonna fail.

I know you have already failed.

I know you've messed up.

I know you've made mistakes.

But allow me to use your story to strengthen somebody else.

Some of you have literally been through hell and black in your life.

I have sat across coffee tables from some of you who have felt like you have stood toe-to-toe with Satan himself.

And what a tragedy it is that the only time your story encourages somebody is when you look in the mirror.

God has done an incredible work in your life.

Not so you can keep it to yourself, but so you can share it with others.

So God can use your story to encourage somebody else.

So God can use your story to help grow somebody else.

What God has done in you and through you was never meant to be just for you.

And when we get in Christian community and we find ourselves in the context of a small group, it's in that context that God uses your story to encourage somebody else.

Not everyone gets to do what I do.

But I get it.

I get to stand here and I get to share how God has worked in my life with you and hopefully encourage you on your journey.

Not everybody gets to do that like we do.

But every one of us can be in a small group and sit in a circle across from somebody else and hear what they're struggling with and look at them and say, Hey, can I share with you how God shaped my life?

Can I share with you the work that God has done in me?

God wants to use your story for somebody else's growth.

That six months from now, 12 months from now, maybe last week, somebody's gonna get a cancer diagnosis.

Somebody's spouse is gonna die.

Somebody's marriage will be hanging by a thread.

Somebody's gonna celebrate a miracle.

The question is not whether life will happen or not.

The question we have to ask is whether you'll have people when it does.

That's why we would encourage you to be a part of a small group.

So when life does happen, which it will, you'll have somebody to call.

You'll have people.

And what I want you to know this morning is if you choose today to say, I don't wanna, I don't want to be part of a small group, I don't need people, I'm good, I got this.

When life happens, we will still be here for you.

And we will still show up, and we will still love you.

So here's what I want everyone to do.

Want you to pull your phone out for me.

And take it out for just a second.

Go ahead, pull your phones out.

What we know is, as I've shared with you, that many of you are not in a small group.

And beginning next week, we are starting a church-wide series.

It's an eight-week church-wide series where every small group will do the same study every week for those eight weeks.

So, what that means is that there's never a better time to get into a small group, to try a small group than right now.

We understand that one of the barriers can be, man, I don't know what they're doing, what if they're in a Bible study, what if I don't know?

Like, we're all doing the same thing for eight weeks.

So here's what we would encourage you to do.

On your worship guide, there is a QR code right down at the bottom right here.

You can go ahead and scan that QR code and it's gonna bring up a form that has some information.

The QR code will also be on the screens behind me.

There's also that tap tag on the back of your chair that you can stick your phone to that, and it'll bring up a list of options.

And the top one says, I'd like to find a small group.

And when you select that QR code or on that tap tag, it's gonna take you to this page right here on the left.

It's a it's a website, it's a landing page.

And on that landing page, we're gonna ask you about four or five questions.

And those are not your life story.

We don't need to know if you've been arrested or not at this point.

Maybe we need to know that later, but we can find that all out in due time.

But it is your name, age, what campus you primarily attend, because we'd like to, if we can, kind of get you with people that you may see on Sunday mornings.

And then a couple of things, a couple of questions about the preferences you may have for a small group.

Like what days of the week you prefer, what type of group you prefer, men's, co-ed, women's, singles, or if you would, um, or in addition to that, what season of life you may find yourself in.

Maybe you say we're empty nesters and we'd love to do life with other empty nesters, or we've got young family and we'd love to do life with other young families.

And once you have filled up that form, you hit select on that, you hit submit on that, sorry.

Our small group team who are working on this right now this morning, will by the end of this week will send you a recommendation.

We will look at you and say, Hey, BJ, we think this is gonna be a great small group for you.

And then our encouragement to you would be next week to try that small group.

Now, here's the caveat to all of that.

People.

And people are weird, and people are strange.

Look at your neighbor and say, You're weird.

It's the reality, people are strange, and we may think, based on your selection of preferences, we may say, hey, we think this is a great small group for you.

And you may get in that group and you're like, Man, these are not my people.

This isn't it.

Like, I'm a I'm a hunter and a fisherman, and this guy, like, is not that one bit.

Great.

Come back to us and say, hey, I tried it.

That's not the group for me.

Here's what I want you to know.

We have let all of our small group leaders know that they're weird and you may show up and never show up again, and that's okay.

They are prepared for you to come once.

You don't have to have an awkward breakup conversation, you don't have to send them the it's not you, it's me text.

You just don't ever have to show up again, and that's gonna be okay.

For eight weeks, they are fully prepared for you just to stand them up on a second date.

It's gonna be awesome.

For those of you that have always wanted to do that, now is your chance.

But in all seriousness, we wanna give you an opportunity to find people that you would enjoy doing life with that are in the same season of life.

And while I joke about our small group leaders being strange and so on and so forth, they really do expect people to not show back up again.

What's most important to us is not just that you're in a small group, it's that you're in a small group with people you want to do life with.

So here's what I want to ask you.

I'm gonna give you an opportunity here in just a second.

If you are a small group leader wearing one of these shirts, would you stand for me for just a second?

Holocaust, want you to stand for me?

You got these small group shirts on.

Here's what I'm gonna give the rest of you the privilege to do, the opportunity to do.

This may be wrong in church, but forgive me later.

I'm gonna ask for forgiveness and not permission.

I'm gonna give you permission to be just a little bit shallow this morning.

And what I'm gonna invite you to do, whether it's here now and as you walk through the atrium, is I want you to look around all these people wearing these shirts.

And if you look at someone and you think, you know what?

They might be someone I would want to spend time with.

They look cool, they look like me.

I want you to go talk to them.

I want you to walk them and say, hey, so you lead a small group, and they're gonna say, Yeah, I lead a small group, and we've got space in our small group.

You want to come visit us, and then you're gonna exchange information, you're gonna scan the QR code on their lanyard, you're gonna put your name in, you're gonna answer those questions that were just on the screen, and we're gonna get you information for their small group so you can show up and try.

Again, we want you to be with people you want to do life with.

Because life will happen, and when it does, the question is will you have people to call?

Let me pray for us and then we'll continue on in worship.

Father, thank you so much for your goodness, your grace, your mercy in our lives.

God, we are grateful for Christian community.

We're grateful for the way it molds and shapes us for what it's already done in my life, God.

I'm grateful for the way you're gonna use Christian community in the context of the church here.

So, God, we ask that you would move powerfully, Jesus.

Good for the man or woman, boy, or girl this morning who's like, Man, that's not for me.

God, would you stare in their hearts and remind them that yes, it is for you.

Christian community is for all of us, it's by your design that we would find ourselves in Christian community.

So, God, have your way this morning.

It's in Jesus' name that we pray.

And everybody said.