Our House - Week 3: Connection

Amen. Amen, Amen, you.

Got a Bible. Go to Genesis chapter eleven. Genesis chapter eleven.

We're in our core value series. We're talking about those uh,

those values, our guiding principles here at Cornerstone, those things

that lie just on the perimeter of the four things

that we do experience God walking, freedom, find our place

so that we can live with purpose. These are those

guiding principles, the guardrails that make sure as we do

the four things, we're staying true to who we are

and helps us battle that missional drift that we find sometimes.

And today this is one of This is the probably

the core value that has made the biggest impact over

the last six or seven years here at Cornerstone, as

we really honed in and realize that this is what

God is calling us to. Part of our identity, part

of our DNA is the core value of connection.

Connect. You know, for a long.

Time, we tried to do groups and gatherings and things

like that as something.

Separate from who we are. In other words, it was

just another thing we did.

And then I think that God just kind of spoke

one day and he said, Hey, that's not something you do.

That needs to be something you are. Connecting people together

needs to be the lifeblood of who you are as

a church, who you are as believers, and that whole idea,

not idea, that whole ideology of connecting.

I was born in a very strong way.

And now you can see in our church that that

groups are not something we do, it's something that we are.

We operate in that. And just raise your hand. If

you're part of a group, raise your hand. I mean,

just look, I want everybody to look around. If you're

if you if you go to group, raise your hand,

raise your anybody that goes to group, raise your hand. Yeah,

that's that's powerful. Look, look look at all the people that.

Are involved in groups.

Because we believe that connection is an important part of

the Christian experience, especially the Christian experience here at Cornerstone.

Every church is called to do something different and listen.

If you don't like people, if you don't like people,

if you don't like doing life with people, this is

probably not the place for you.

Amen.

If like you dread it, you're just like, oh no,

I got it.

Ricky Marlow got to go see Ricky Marlow today.

I mean, you know, just if it's probably not the

place for you. I mean, you know, you need to

go somewhere else because we believe connection is vitally important.

As a matter of fact, I believe the modern church

has missed it because we despiritualize fellowship. We put emphasis

on all the other things that we do, and we

call those things spiritual. But what happens before and after

and through the week, that's just fellowship. That's just hanging

out with friends, that's just having a good time. But

that's just as spiritual as everything else we do, and

it's vital to you achieving your purpose. Everything we do

is designed to help you move towards and achieve God's

purpose for your life. You've got a Bible, Genesis chapter eleven.

We're gonna start in verse one. Genesis chapter eleven, Verse one,

it says, now the whole earth had one language and

one speech.

And it came to.

Pass as they journeyed from the east, that they found

a plane in the land of Shenar, and they dwelt there.

Then they said to one another, come let us make

bricks and bake them thoroughly. They had brick for stone,

and they had asphalt for mortar, and they said, come,

let us build ourselves a city and a tower whose

top is.

In the heavens.

Let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be

scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.

But the Lord came.

Down to see the city, a tower which the sons

of men had built.

And the Lord said, indeed.

The people are one, and they have and they all

have one language. And this is what they begin to do. Now,

nothings that they propose to do will be withheld from them.

Underline that, and now nothing that they propose to do

will be withheld from them. Come, let us go down

and there confuse their language, that they may not understand

one another's speech.

So the Lord scattered them abroad from.

There over the face of all the earth, and they

ceased building the city. Let's pray, Father, we thank you

for your word. It see the only change agent we

have on the face.

Of the planet. And I pray that today we're changed.

Lord, that we see connecting with one another as not

something we can do, not something we might do, but

something that it is essential to do.

Lord, help us.

Frame it in kingdom context, so we see the power

of doing life together.

And Father, blessed time together.

Open our ears to hearing our hearts to receive in

Jesus' name. Amen, this is the story of the Tower

of Bible or Babel, depending on how you want to

say it. I say Bible because I'm in the South,

and that's how we say it. Amen. I know that's

not how it's spelled, but that's how I say it.

And it's okay. We all read it, so now we

know where it's at. You can call it what you

want to.

I'm gonna call it the Tower of Bible.

So it's a story that we've heard in Sunday school

and everywhere else, and a lot of times we miss

the significance, and that is that the people were together.

They all spoke a common language.

Language is the foundational principle of culture.

Let me say that again.

Language is the foundational principle of culture.

Every culture that.

Is the same shares a common language. It is the

building block of culture. And they shared a language, and

they got together, and they began to talk, and they

began to dream, and then they said, hey, let's build

a city. And not just a city, but let's build

a tower. Because that tower is going to help people

see us, and we want to be seen. We want

to leave our legacy. We want to do something for ourselves.

And they begin to build this tower and God comes

down and he sees the city. Now, first of all,

I want you to understand that God was not opposed

to cities or towers. Let me say that again. God's

not opposed to cities or towers. God's gathering people into

cities as we speak right now, so that it's easier

for us to evangelize the masses. He tells us that

when you build a tower, you should count the costs

before you start building the tower. God wasn't as to

what they were doing. He was opposed to the reasoning

behind what they did. He was opposed to the fact

that they were trying to build something for themselves and

not for him. And then God makes a profound statement

in the middle of all that. He says, listen, they

got this.

Language and they've come together.

And now that they're moving in unity, that they're saying

the same things, that they're talking the same things, nothing

can stop them.

We should think about that for a moment.

Now that they're thinking and they're in one accord and

they're moving in unison, nothing can stop them. We need

to go in and we need to disrupt the language

so that they naturally scatter, so that they can't have

communication and fellowship and continue in one accord and build

something that only glorifies their selfish ambition. Connection is all

about coming together with a group of people and speaking

a language that empowers us towards purpose.

Let me say that again.

It's about a group of people coming together with like mindedness,

speaking words that empower us towards purpose. And when we

surround ourselves with a group of people that are saying

what we say, that are talking like we talk, that

are that are married to the same purpose that we're

married to.

Nothing can stop us.

Nothing can stop of people who are completely united and

share the same goal and the same language.

It's why we're pretty.

Insistent on the way we say things around here. We're

pretty peculiar about the language. That's why listen, I am

so oh, I'm so sick of standing up here every

week and saying four things.

You know. It's like, I.

Wake up and one of the first things I think

about is how much I love my wife and my

family and the four.

Things I'm just gonna be honest with.

I think, Oh, man, God, thank you for blessing me

with the most beautiful, sweetest, most of the time's sweetest

wife in the entire world. Amen, God, thank you for that.

And oh yeah, I need to experience you. I need

a walk in freedom. I need to find my place

so I can live a purpose. And I guess so

tired of saying it over and over again. But the

reality is is that I say it and not everybody

can say it back yet. And in six weeks from now,

if everybody in this place learns it, we still need

to keep saying it, because there's gonna be people that

come here in the next six weeks that start moving

in alignment and start going towards the same purpose we're

going to, and they need to learn it too, because

that is the language of cornerstone.

Amen.

Those four things are the language of cornerstone that helps

you U nine us and move us towards purpose. And

when we get united moving towards purpose, nothing can stop us.

God has already given us our city. We just have

to continue to speak it, continue to believe it, and

continue to live it, and continue to come together and

strategize because God will use groups to surround the high

places of our community and bring them down and bring

glory to God.

I got.

I got a really cool opportunity this week. I got

to go over to to a Martin elementary and speak

to the FCA to the fourth and the fifth graders.

And I walked in and I stood there and I

got to see all these kids. They started coming in

and uh, And I'm gonna be honest with you, I

think the main draw was not me. It was Donuts,

Donuts and Caprice Son. They were much more interested in

don'nus and Caprice Son than they were me. But here's

something that I noticed. They all came in and there

was this little clapping rhythm that happened, and they all

clapped back.

Amen.

And they all immediately went and they sat down, and

they sat down and they turned and they locked in

on what I was saying because that was the culture

of the group and they had learned and bought in

to the culture at the fourth and fifth grade level.

I know you can do it if they can do it, Amen.

And one of the big things of our culture and

our language is that we have to connect in order

to build that synergy and achieving.

The vision that God has given for us. That when

you have a need.

You need to let somebody know so that we can

come alongside and pray and sew into that need.

Amen. You know, if you're struggling, we stand up.

We talk about our food pantry every single week here

almost And I know that some of you go home

and you don't have enough groceries at your home, but

you're too afraid to ask or embarrassed to ask. You

need to let us know because that is available to you,

and you're part of the family of God. You're part

of the family, and we want to provide that for you.

We know that there's people and listen that you're struggling

with thoughts of suicide, you're struggling with same sex attraction,

you're struggling with this, and you're struggling with that, and

you go home and you keep it pinned up on

the inside because you're too embarrassed or ashamed to talk

about things. But language is all we have to move

us towards.

Our purpose, and our purpose is.

Living a purpose filled free life.

We got to get past all of.

The embarrassment and understand that coming together is the key

thing that God has called us to. In Hebrews Chapter ten,

verse twenty three, It says, let us hold fast the

confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised

is faithful. And let us consider one another in order

to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the

assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some,

but exhorting one another, and so much more, and so

much the more. As you see the day approaching, he says, Listen,

don't forsake assembling yourselves together. And we want to think

that this is all about singing and preaching and shouting

and clapping, but he says, listen, you need to come

together because it's about building one another up so that

we can love better, so that we can love better.

Because when we're bound and we're beaten down, and we're

discouraged and we're isolated, the last thing in the world

we want to do is love others better. The last

thing I can do is love others better. But when

I'm surrounded by a group of people that've got my back,

when I'm surrounded by a group of people that are

going in the same direction, I'm going. Listen, I'm excited

about church end of today because we have a board

meeting today and I know the guys that sit.

At that table have my back and listen.

We gonna talk about ridiculous stuff for the first ten minutes,

just like some of the conversations we have.

I'm like God called us to lead this place.

Why can why can people now that wasn't a board minium,

that was group. Why do people still live in Alaska

when it's so cold? Why don't they just move to

a warmer place. We talked about it for fifteen minutes

in group the other night, because we're doing life together.

Those things let us see a little bit about one another,

but we're moving towards the same purpose. And the more

we talk and the more we share, the more we

figure out our commonalities and our differences and where we

can come together and what we can pray for one

another for. And he says, listen, don't forsake assembling together.

Don't stop assembling together, because it helps us figure out

how to be more like Jesus and gives us support

and structure to overcome the things that have us bound.

In Matthew chapter eighteen, in verse nineteen, he says, again,

I say to you that if two of you agree

on Earth concerning anything, that they ask listen. He's reinforcing

the statement that he made at the tile re Bible.

He says, if any two of you agree on earth

concerning anything that they ask, it will be done.

For them by my Father in Heaven.

For where two or three are gathered together in my name,

I am there in the midst of them.

Connecting.

Meets the criteria for Jesus to show up and prayers

to be answered.

Let me say that again.

It meets the criteria for Jesus to show up and

for prayers to be answered.

If you won't.

Breakthrough in your life, stop praying about it, bye, I mean,

don't stop praying about it.

That's not what I mean.

Don't just pray about it by yourself, but get into

a group of people and begin to share that need

so that you can have the prayer of agreement. Because

when we pray, and the prayer of agreement, it doesn't

become a maybe prayer, It becomes a shall be prayer

because it shall be done by our Father in heaven.

That when we come together there is a united power.

You know, the same spirit that raised up Christ Jesus

from the dead dwells on the inside of Calvin Amen

and Pastor Clay and Amelia, you know, I mean Caleb

and the other Caleb.

And Corey and Taylor.

The same spirit that raised up Christ Jesus from the

dead dwells on the inside of every believer.

And here's the cool thing.

The Bible doesn't say that the same spirit raised up,

the same spirit that raised up Christ Jesus from the

dead dwells on the inside of each believer. To a measure,

the full power that raised Christ Jesus from the dead

is on the inside of every believer. So let me

do just something. Let's just do some rational math here.

So if we have I don't know, if we got

two hundred believers in this building right now, we got

two hundred believers gathered here today, that means that there

is two hundred times the power that raised up Christ

Jesus from the dead that's right here in this place

right now. Maybe that don't excite you, but it excites

me that there is that much spiritual energy gathered.

In one building.

At Kurtz On Tuesday mornings at men's breakfast, you know,

there's multiple times of God's power that sits around and

eats biscuit and gravy together that raise Christ, Jesus from

the dead, miracles waiting to happen.

When we gather together, and when you're in.

Group, the same power is there, and the same ability

to believe and to lock into.

A common goal and accomplish something. I were ladies' groups.

Here they accomplish things I don't even know we're getting accomplished.

I have people walk up.

To me all the time and say, I just want

to thank y'all so much for this, that and the other.

And I'm thinking, you're welcome. Don't know what you're talking about.

Do you even go to our church? I don't even

know who you are, but thank you very much. And

then I start asking questions, right, and then we drill

down and we find out that, you know what, it

was a group that came just in the nick of

time and stood in the gap, or took up an offering,

or sent a letter or or a card. And it's

the power of God setting people free because of a

united gathering and connection that pierces through darkness and shines

light into a very cold world. But yet we still

choose to stand on the outside and not get involved

in the process, and we think, oh no, it's good enough.

For me just to come and be together.

I want to tell you that never one time in

my ministry has anybody ever stood up in the middle

of a large gathering and started talking about how hard

things are and how.

Bad sin has infected their life.

Because this is not the context and the atmosphere and

the environment where that happens. But it happens regularly when

there's four or five guys sitting around on a cap

sharing life together, and one of them looks that us, Hey,

you know what, guys, I'm struggling with this.

Will you pray for me.

You got friends in your life that will never come

to this gathering if they come to your house. If

you started a group, if you started a Sunday afternoon

NFL group, y'all are laughing. But a Sunday listen to me,

listen to your pastor.

A Sunday afternoon.

NFL group is just as spiritual as our Sunday mount.

Morning worship experience.

And you watch the game, you yell at the TV

and the referees amen, and then at halftime you all

repent together.

And you learn the spirit of repentance.

And then at the end of the game, you just

ask guys, what's going on in their lives and is

there anything you can pray about, and you pray about

it and your fellowship together, and that is spiritual and

it's part of our core value. We don't want you

to find something to start a group about. We want

you to just keep doing life and invite people to

do that with you.

That's connection. That's the power of connection.

That we would walk in the same freedom that Jesus

gave us in the altar. But by the time we

get to the car, we're bound and we're worried and

suffering through our dysfunction.

Again, if we.

Had a support system around us where we connected with people,

we could truly walk in the freedom that we found

in the altar every single day.

We I don't have to clap, It's okay. In Acts,

chapter two, verse forty.

Six, it says, so continuing daily with one accord in

the temple and breaking bread from house to house.

So they had church and then they had group. That's

what this says. That's what it says. It says they

went to church and they went to group. Let me

define that for you.

So they were gathered together in the temple, they were

gathered together in in corporate worship, and then groups of

them were from house to house, breaking bread from house

to house.

They ate their food.

With gladness and simplicity of heart. They weren't stressed out

about the junk we're stressed out about. They weren't intimidated

to go over to Little Billy's friends mama's house because

she's rich and I'm poor and my shoes ain't good enough,

because I went to group with people that wear the

same shoes I wear, Just saying. They weren't stressed out

about the things we get stressed out about.

They weren't worried.

About who was gonna watch my kids because they were

meeting from house to house and they knew they could

count on those people.

They weren't worried about the fact.

That I might show that, you know what, I may

be just a little short on my rent this week,

because they had a group of people that they did

life with that they knew were gonna chip in and

help them through it when their parents got older and

they needed help getting them in and out of the bathtub.

And cleaning them up.

They knew they were doing life with a group of

people that were going to show up and go over

there and help them. You know when when when my dad,

when my dad passed away, I was standing outside thinking

what in the world am I gonna do? And you

know what, Pastor Gary drove up. I don't even know

how he found out. I don't know how you knew

where dad lived. And when he pulled around the side

and out listened. My best friend from elementary school was

standing there with me. But there was something comforting about

the fact that he was there because we did life

together and kingdom life and shared the same purpose and

we were going the same direction building something for God.

And it made me feel comfortable because he was there.

You need people in your life like.

That, because connecting can't just be something we do. It

has to be something we are. I'm gonna I'm gonna

go fast. It acts chapter four, verse thirty one. We

think that you know, we have to come, and you know,

past listen. I'm sorry that I just spit. I'm sorry,

I just spit. But whatever that was, it's been in

my mouth for like three hours, and finally I got

it out of my mouth.

I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry.

It's been like a struggle all morning long, and I

didn't hit you, did I Let me gather myself again.

We think that when we come together that that you know,

Pastor Clay has to pick the exact, the exact right song,

and you know, the subs have to be thumping just

at the right Patrick Lay has a say full set up,

you know, I know y'all love that you know. And

then when all those conditions are met and the lights

are just right and it's a perfect sixty nine point

three degrees, the Holy Ghost is gonna show up and

miracles are gonna happen because we're in church. Let me

share something though, when we look at scripture, the only

people that were healed and received miracles in the corporate

gathering were people.

That were not yet part of the kingdom.

It was someone who was brought in from the outside

and they experienced God and they received healing, they received

a miracle. Everywhere else we see those mighty moves of

God happen, it.

Was in small group.

In Acts, chapter four, verse thirty one, it says, and

when they had prayed. Now they're eating dinner together and

having a prayer meeting. They're not gathered as the church.

They're gathered as a group they're praying because the apostles

had been thrown into prison. And they got together and

they started praying and seeking the Lord. After they ate

dinner together and an Acts four point thirty one, it

says that when they had prayed, the place where they

were assembled together was shaken, and they were all filled

with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of

God with boldness that in small group, the Holy Ghost

showed up baptized.

People in the Holy Ghost. The house shook.

A miracle, a visible, tangible miracle. The house shook, and

they were empowered to go share their witness. Pastor Clay,

you guys can come and get ready because.

They connected beyond the large gathering. And I want you

to know that there is a place for you here.

And I also want you to know and this is tough,

but somebody needs to receive this. If you don't have

friends and you feel by yourself in this church, it's

your fault. I want to say that again in case

you missed it, in case you were wallowing in your

own self pity, thinking that you're all alone and nobody

likes you. I want to share that word again. If

you feel like you're alone and you don't have friends

in this church.

It's your fault.

You need to get in the path and the progress

and understood that there are opportunities for you to get together,

to find people that are like minded and do life together.

And if you choose to stay isolated, we can't help that.

There's nothing we can do about that except give you

an opportunity. Amen, nothing we can do. I used to

pasture a young man who this was back during our

youth days and listen that the people.

Would would would get together.

Start talking about after after church. They started about where

they were gonna go eat and what they were gonna do.

And people would jump in the car and they would leave, and.

And he would come to his say, nobody likes me.

I mean they all go to eat and I don't

ever get invited, and I just I just feel lonely.

And and I look at him every week. I would

look at him when I would say, thirty two people

got in that Honda a course, thirty two people got

in there and they're headed to Sonic, and not one

of them was invited. Not one of those people got

an invitation to go. They all just talked about what

they wanted to eat. Somebody said sonic, two people nodded.

They started packing into the car, and that's where they

ended up.

And that's the way life works. You don't have to be.

You don't have to get an invitation to do life

with people. If you're lonely and you're isolated and the

enemy is trying to destroy you, find a place to

fit and connect so that you can have life better.

Than you have it right now.

But you know what, maybe you're here today and you

don't know anybody here, you're relatively new, maybe this is

your first time.

Maybe you don't even know Jesus. The Bible talks about that.

In Romans, chapter eight, verse fourteen. It says, for as

many as are led by the spirit of God. That

means for as many people that come to Jesus and

say I'm heard and I'm broken and I need your help. Lord.

You sinners are not these nasty, ugly entities that the

Church hates. There are people that have just not yet

experienced the grace of Jesus.

And the cleansing of his blood.

But as the moment you invite him to forgive you

of your sins and be the lord of your life,

you begin to be led by the spirit. For as

many as are led by the spirit, these are the

sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit

of bondage again to fear, that you receive the spirit.

Of adoption by whom we cry out, Abba Father. You

may be walking through life all by yourself.

You may be bound by guilt and shame and fear,

and insecurity.

And dysfunction and addiction and whatever it is.

But the Bible says, when you come to a place

like this, people that identify as the family of God,

the moment you open yourself up to Jesus, you become

part of that fellowship. You become part of that family,

and you don't have to go through things by yourself anymore.

You don't have to try to make it through that

alone anymore, because the Family of God will surround you

and you will come to the place because you understand

through people pouring into.

You, that you can look to God.

And he's not that mean entity, but you thought he

that you can literally call him daddy.

That's what I'm a father means.

It means a relationship that's so close and so intimate,

that cares and protects.

And brings you into the family. So, if you're here

today and you don't know Jesus as your Lord and.

Savior, but you want to invite him into your life,

could it give you an opportunity.

To do that.

Every head bout, every eye closed. If you're hearing you say,

Pastor Steve, I want to I want to ask Jesus

to forgive me of my sins. I want to ask

him to be the lord of my life. I want

to be part of the family of God. Tired of

making my own way. I'm tired of the guilt and

the shame, tired of the heart of the brokenness. I

want to come to Jesus today. If that's you, just

lifts up your hand and say that's me, past Or,

pray for me. I want to give my life to Jesus.

Just put your hand up and put it right back down.

I'm going to wait another by five seconds. Four, Just

put your hand up, put it right back down. If

that's you, three, two, one, Every eye open, everybody stand

to your feet. By the testimony that we saw today,

we're all already part of the family of God. And

that's a tremendous thing. God listen, if you want to grow,

if you want to take this this this message and

put it into action of your life. Go to seastone

dot church slash groups