Summer At Elevation: Better together, How to stay connected, BEATING THE TRENDS | Ps Miles Paludan

If you have your Bibles, let's go. We're

Bible based believing church. We're

always going to be based on the word of

God. Let's go to Acts two. It's where

we're going to unpack the scriptures

today. This is an important message that

I'd like to bring to us. It's a a real

directional message. It's not

correction, but it's encouraging a

direction that I sense God is leading us

in. It sort of plans the future of 2026

for us. And we're better together. And

this is a a message about how to stay

connected, how to beat the trends, how

to build community. And it's important

because we've got to stay connected in

an increasingly disconnected

world. The world is becoming more

artificial.

The church must become more human. And I

believe the church's future direction is

even greater connection with God and

each other. Why? We're created by God

for community. We're created for

relationship, a personal relationship

with God through Jesus Christ, but also

created for relationship with other

people. Sounds simple. Sounds simple,

very basic. But it's getting harder.

It's getting harder. It's getting harder

because screens have replaced face to

face. And we are in a change in our

society like never before in humanity

where technology with AI will change our

future. Absolutely no question. It'll

actually change civilization. The only

question we don't know is how much how

many jobs will be lost. You know how

much will it change? It will change

civilization. We just don't know the

impact. Some great experts are saying

it'll be the biggest change in

civilization ever. So, we as a church,

we've got the word of God to keep us

grounded and to bring us truth and to

keep us on track. Did you know the

number one use of AI?

It's companionship and therapy.

Now, this is probably more in the next

generation.

72% of teens have AI companions. They

use AI for companionship. And 31% say

they prefer that AI companion to real

humans. So the other day I'm walking

through the house and I I I guess it's

one of my kids 19. He is. And he's

having this chat to someone on the phone

and he uses his speaker. That's all the

cool kids. They they don't talk like we

do. Boomers. It's don't put it to your

ear. You'll get cancer or die or

something. you talk to it. So my

grandmother, my kids talk to the phone.

I'm in the middle using anyway. Uh he's

going to get with the times. And so HE'S

HAVING A CHAT AND it was very meaningful

conversation.

And this person on the other on the

other end of the of the call is really

helping my son work through the

challenge of killing a spider.

I know it sounds ridiculous, but he kind

of felt bad about killing this spider.

And there's this deep meaningful

conversation. Look, it was worth putting

that spider, you know, out of its misery

because it could have bitten someone and

it's the greater good and I know it

feels bad. And he's having this big deep

meaningful like the empathy from this

person. They were so tight. I thought,

who is this friend? I didn't know you

had such a deep connection. He was far

more empathetic than I would be. I'm

like, mate, get just suck it up. Move

on. But there's care and commun. And I'm

listening, you know, as we do parents.

We're snoopers, right? We snoop. We

listen. We find my phone. We know where

they are. We're engaged. And so finally,

I'm listening. This is amaz Who is this

person? And he gets off the PHONE SAID,

"WHO WAS THAT?" HEY, it's chat GBT.

It sounded like they've been doing live

forever.

Experts believe AI will cause an

epidemic of mental health problems.

The reason is we're created for

relationship with God and others.

I don't know where you're at in

connectedness and community, but does

anyone here feel like no one knows the

real you?

that you're sort of going through stuff

alone and you might not be able to

express it because you don't want the

other person to feel bad or or to be

pressured or overburdened by your

problems. And what happens is we can

look elsewhere for that care and

connection. Look to the bottle, look to

socials and now there'll be AI. Um, for

many of you, your feed is full, but your

soul feels empty.

And the average adult spends seven hours

a day uh on a screen, while the average

teenager is up to nine hours.

68% of people feel stress and anxiety

when separated from their phone. Ah,

it's not me. Okay, give me your phone.

Give it to me right now and I'll give it

back to you this time next week and

we'll see how you do.

Someone's freaking out in the front row.

Nearly 40% of adults admit their phone

make them feel lonier. Check this out.

Here's the stats. And here's where we

need to step in as a church. One in

three admit they have no one to confide

in. God created us for relationship with

him and each other. The the world is

hungering for reality, for truth, for

genuine community. And this is an

opportunity for us as a church to step

in and fill that void that is in

people's hearts. Even today, maybe

you're feeling disconnected. You're

entertainment rich, but relationally

poor. Now, we used to say you're

experience rich and relationally poor.

It's shifted. We're now entertainment

rich with our phones and and and all of

our different accesses to different

subscriptions, but we're actually

relationally poorer than ever before.

It's the time spent with your spouse on

screens

instead of each other's arms.

Are your kids around you, but they don't

really know you?

Is church a place you visit

rather than a place where you're known?

Is this just full of strangers to you or

is this what you call family? So, we're

going to go back to Acts two to unpack

God's word to understand what was the

church created for. So, verse 42 of

chapter 2, they devoted themselves as

the believers that the gospel is

preached, people getting saved, the

church is birthed. The church means

ecclesia. It means gathering. It's

people. It's not a building. It's

people. They devoted themselves to the

apostles teaching and to fellowship and

to breaking of bread and to prayer.

Everyone was filled with awe. And many

wonders and signs were being performed

by the apostles. All the believers were

what they were. They were together.

This word together is filtered all

through these verses. Together.

Together. They had everything in common.

They even sold their possessions and

properties to give to anyone in need.

that there's a togetherness, a oneness.

Every day they continued to meet

together in in the temple courts and

they broke bread in homes and ate

together with glad and sincere hearts

praising God and enjoying the favor of

all people and the Lord added to their

number daily. I wonder why he added

daily. I I think it's a bit that people

were looking for this. You see, this was

in a culture of Rome where the empire

had built divisions where the rich

avoided the poor, Jews avoided Gentiles,

free avoided slaves. And so the early

church breaks this tradition. Jesus

comes with the good news, the gospel,

the kingdom of God. There's a better

way. There's a better way from

separation and hate and division. And

the better way is togetherness. Where

the rich ate with the poor, the Jews

worshiped with the Gentiles, those who

were free broke bread with the slaves,

those who had more shared with those who

had less. And so you could say the early

church was built on togetherness.

And this is good for us to to measure

ourselves against as we start 2026.

Here's what I will say. This church is

known for its community. You guys are

amazing with your community. We're not

known for our preaching or our worship.

We're not known for our lights or our

branding. We're known for our community.

And we're going to keep going in that

direction because that's what the early

church was known for. This is what the

early church were known for. THEY

STUDIED THE BIBLE WHAT? TOGETHER. They

shared meals together. They prayed

together. They fellowshipped together.

They worshiped together. They served

others together. They celebrate. It was

together. So, as we head into this year,

we need to focus and stay committed to

being together. And the early church

didn't just believe in Jesus. It wasn't

just a belief system. They actually

belonged. There was a belonging to God

and each other. They didn't just go to

church, actually in relationship with

people in the church. And I want to

encourage all of us to continue to work

hard to be in relationship with each

other to build community. Acts 244 sums

it up. All the believers were what that

they were together. So here are some

goals for us to be together. I want to

challenge each of you guys in these

areas. Number one, we're going to choose

community more than privacy.

This talks about life group where we

meet with other believers during the

week. So one of the disciples was John.

He was in his 80s late in his life

finishing up his time on earth. And he

writes in 2 John 15. I'm writing to

remind you dear friends that we should

what? We should love one another.

This is not a new command. What I'm

saying today is not new. But we need to

be reminded and we need to pursue and we

need to act upon it. Uh new commandment

but one we have heard from the

beginning. Then he says something in

verse 12. For I have much more to say to

you but I don't want to do it with paper

and ink for I hope to visit you soon and

talk with you what face to face. Then

what will be the result? our joy will be

completed. Uh John's saying, "There's

more I got to say. Uh there's so much

more I want to share. I've lived with

Jesus. I've done this ministry. I'm

older now. And here's what I I want to

share more about being together, about

loving one another. I can't do it on an

email. It won't come across in the test

uh text. I've got to be with you face to

face." We have to fight to be face to

face because it's too easy to be thumb

to thumb.

It's too easy to live on that screen and

just text each other. I I've been found

guilty of texting my wife when I'm in

the same room.

I I'm just broken human being, but we're

in the living room together and I'll

text her because it's easier. It's more

convenient.

We have to fight to be face to face.

Here's my problem. I get busy. I get

selfish. I can choose privacy over

community. And here's the result of

this. I become lonely and vulnerable and

I miss the opportunity to pour and

develop others. Uh I sort of hadn't

caught up with my mates for a while. It

had been few months actually. And

finally we we got together maybe longer,

maybe six months. And we finally had a

dinner. kind of got four of us, four

couples and and three other couples. And

so, uh, we we we just hung out. We we we

booked it in early, like 3 p.m. 4 p.m.

afternoon, and we just had a barbie and

chilled. Four hours later, the time flew

by. I feel valued. I felt connected. I

felt that I mattered. I felt respected.

That I was energized. And I walked away

thinking, why don't I do that more

often? Wh why don't I fight to be face

to face? We have a choice. We can either

go face to face or screen to screen. But

when you reach for your phone, remind

yourselves you're reaching for something

that fills the moment but can't fill

your soul.

Would you choose this year to be in a

life group? I just want to be bold and

call it out. Would you choose community?

We have a map here on Sydney and this is

sort of all of our life groups. Fulham

Hills, there's eight. uh Glenn Haven and

uh all all over the place, Quaker's

Hills, we want more. We want to cover

this map with community of people

meeting together. It is so important

that we build community. If you're not

in a life group, would you get in a life

group? If you can't find a life group,

would you start one? Why not? This is

biblical. This is how the early church

was built. Wasn't built on a show or a

preacher or a service. It was built on

believers gathering together, breaking

bread in the home.

>> You know what a win is at elevation? A

win is when you give your phone number

out to someone who's new and you say,

"Let's catch up for a coffee this week."

You know what a win is? A win is when

you decide to get a couple of couples or

families together for a barbie at the

park with the kids. That it's not on the

calendar. It's not created by the staff.

It's you coming up with intuition, with

initiative, let's get together. It's

families going on a camping trip. It's

doing life together. You see, life group

isn't the destination for community.

Everything we do is community. And

you're the ones that set the culture. I

can lead us through scripture, but I

can't create culture. Culture is

behaviors. You're the ones that lead the

culture of this church. And I am

thankful for you. I love you that you

value community. That's why you're here.

Even when the preaching is bad, you

still show up because you value

community. And that's what we should do.

We should value community. So I

encourage you. Would you be the culture

setters? We have a great new people's

team, a great new people's process, but

you're the ones that are going to help

infiltrate new people into our

congregation. And we have to have a

heart for new people, for every people

that as we get bigger, we got to stay

smaller, real, connected. That's why we

have the meet and greet. I know some of

you hate the meet and greet. It's

intentional because we want you to meet

someone new. Why? Because there's

someone there thinking, "I don't know if

anyone likes me. I don't know if the

roof's going to fall down. I don't know

if lightning's going to come." We need

to build community. And we do that when

you make that effort and talk to

someone. Say hi to them. I I empower

you. I anoint you in the name of the

father, son, the holy spirit. I empower

you to build community. Are we good with

that? Number one, you get in a life

group uh and invite others to build a

life group. Choose community more than

privacy. Uh number two, I'm going to

choose sitting instead of texting. Now,

this refers to pastoral care. The best

pastoral care in a church happens

amongst the believers, not through the

pastors. The pastors, we are limited.

We have location pastors, Joss and Jif.

Jocelyn and Sanjief. They are full-time

working in the corporate world. They're

full-time working. Yet, they volunteer

their time to be pastors. They don't

have time during they're working,

running a household, cooking, cleaning,

running. So, pastoral care must be done.

And the best way it happens is amongst

the believers. Acts 2:45. This is

Acts 2:45

scripture. They, not the pastors, not

the staff. They sold property and

possessions to gave to anyone in need.

Every day they, it's the people, they

continue to meet in the temple tour.

They broke bread uh in their homes.

Who's the they? The believers. That's

you. Not the staff, not the pastors. Um

I I just see so many people coming into

our church and there's needs. It it it

actually breaks my heart to see the

pain, the suffering. You know, there's

people sitting right next to you that

are going through things they haven't

shared with anyone. Do you know there's

people going through tragedies,

suffering, in grief, physical pain,

mental issues, financial pain? We must

be a church that's prepared to reach out

to those around us to love on them and

care for them. Did you know that as

pastors, we're not trained in

counseling? In fact, our legislation in

INC, we're not allowed to say the word

counseling because there's liabilities

associated. What our job is to train,

equip the saints in Ephesians 4:12 to

Ephesians 4:12

minister. You're the saints to do the

works of ministry. And you think, oh, I

don't know enough to be able to offer

pastoral care. You know what Job just

reveals in Job 2:1? that when the three

Job 2:1

friends of Job heard of the great

tragedy he had suffered, they got

together and they traveled from their

homes to comfort and console him. And

when they saw Job from a distance, what

did they do? They they scarcely

recognized him because of his suffering,

wailing loudly. This is their response

of empathy, of care, of love. They tore

their robes and threw dust in the air

and their heads to show their grief.

What did they do? They didn't preach at

him.

They didn't text him.

They didn't give him advice.

They didn't share him a clip from a

preacher. What' they do? They sat

on the ground for seven days and seven

nights. No one said a word. They sat

with him. They sat with him.

years ago there was a great friend of

mine who lost his son in the church and

it was two years old swimming pool

drowning horrific and I I just ran to

his place when I h found out I just

stopped everything and just drove over

and I mate I I just we just looked at

each other what do you say

how can you explain

I I didn't go into deep theology of

broken world and sin and I I just I just

said, "Mate, I'm here." And we we just

sat for a while and

we actually ended up building a fence,

guys. We got to do something. Um we

didn't say a word. I went back each day

and this went on for a few weeks.

Anyway, years later, he's talking about

what he went through and he said, "May

the the greatest

The greatest thing that helped me

through was the words that Miles said

that Miles was my pastor and he came

over and he just just gave me some

incredible words of wisdom. You know

what I said? Nothing. I did not say a

thing. I'm telling you, I was struggling

in my own faith. I'm like, is there a

God? Where are you, God? And and I I was

broken yet by sitting and caring.

Pastoral care doesn't come from the

pastors. It comes from the congregation

being in each other's world. Look, I

might be able to make it to your kitchen

once, but I can't be there every day,

but someone needs to be in your kitchen

every day at times. When you're in loss,

you need someone, a brother or sister in

Christ around you. When someone faces

tragedy and you hear about it, would you

just not text them? Just don't say, "I'm

praying for you." Would you go and knock

on their door? Well, what if they're not

home? I don't know. They're not home.

Come back. Leave a note. You work it

out. I I think we need to make that

effort to be face to face and sit.

It's it's it's just being there. And

pastoral care is so needed more than

ever. I'm hearing more pastoral care

issues than I ever have in church. And

we need to be a congregation where

pastoral care happens within the body of

believers to sit to talk. You can give

advice and prayer with love and and

concern and and seek the Lord,

but let's choose sitting instead of

texting.

Number one, we're going to get in a life

group.

Number two, we're going to give pastoral

care. And number three, we're going to

choose presence over independence.

There is a hunger in me for the presence

of God like never before. And we have a

desire as a church to see the presence

of God in our Sunday services. that

where two or three are gathered that God

is in our midst. And more than the

preaching or the worship or the

community, we need the presence of God.

It's the presence of God that changes

lives. It's the presence of God that

brings healing. It's the presence of God

that moves in our lives. It's the

presence of God that touches our

children. It's the presence of God that

one word, one moment, one encounter with

God will change someone's world for

eternity. It was a presence of God that

changed me. Just some ratag teenager

just lost and hurting. It's the presence

of God that changed me. It's the

presence of God that changes our lives.

It moves in. We got a hunger and thirst

for the presence of God. And

specifically, we focus that on a Sunday

where we gather together. Uh Jesus

didn't just come in written form.

He came in his presence in the

beginning. John 1:1, the was the word

John 1:1

and the word was with God and the word

was God. But God didn't send the word

just in writing through a text or an

email or written. He sent the word in

flesh. And what happened? He made his

dwelling amongst us. The presence of God

is what we hunger and thirst for. Now I

love technology. I am a fan of

technology. I believe we should redeem

technology for the kingdom of God. Uh

one of the churches Bonnie and I belong

to was Life Church. created you version

recently had a billion downloads of the

Bible. Do you know Bible sales are up

44% there? There is a Bible revival. We

we had that the other day with old

Benny. How about Ben, man? He we we run

a tight ship. We have a 25minute

allowance for preaching. Ben did 45 and

it felt like he just got started. That

guy can he was amazing. Who who enjoyed

Ben? Love the word. That's why we've

added Bible reading to prayer and

fasting this year. Uh we recently gave

$10,000 as a church. What that did is it

allowed Uver to fund half a million

Bibles to be downloaded. We we love the

app because

75,000 people have been able to read our

Bible reading plans from Elevation. I

recently had the honor. Bonnie also had

the honor. We did a verse of the day. 25

million people view the verse of the

day. I mean there's no way we can use

and reach those numbers with with our

own physical. It's only technology. A

church online that we're

sending right now streaming. We we can

reach people in other countries right

here, right? It's amazing technology. Uh

our music had 4 million streams last

year because of techn I'm a fan of

technology. I'm not against it. But

technology is a supplement. It's never a

replacement for connecting with God and

others.

We can choose independence

or we can choose his pre presence. We

can choose endless hours of doom

scrolling brain rotting on the couch

or we can choose seeking his presence.

Now I will say that my meal consumption

and the quality of dinners has gone up

significantly. Stats say 50% of meals

come from Instagram. They say 18 to 25

year olds, it's 70% of meals uh come

from Instagram. So, it's not all bad,

but screens can't satisfy. Screens can't

fill that internal desire to know God

and to know others. That's who we were

born for, created for. We're more

connected through technology than ever

in history.

Yet, we're more alone, more anxious,

more isolated than ever before. That's

why attending the local church is so

important. That's why we need to be in

person on a Sunday every week. A

Christian without a church home is like

an organ without a body. Ephesians 2:19,

Ephesians 2:19

you belong in God's household with every

other Christian. Let us not neglect

Hebrews 10:25, us meeting together as

Hebrews 10:25

some do, but encourage one another. Hey,

are you coming to church? Encourage one

another. Hey, I'll be there. I'll sit

with you. Hey, would you come?

Especially now, the day of his return.

What if the church was a place where the

presence of God was so strong, hearts

were filled, broken people felt they

belonged, there was love and care from

the presence of God and the presence of

other human beings. We cannot live in a

shallow screenbased connection. We must

go after a deep lifegiving community

through Jesus and others. Would you make

a commitment to be in church in person

as often as you can? Would you would you

make it a priority that we would seek

the presence of God in this place? That

you set the culture that when you come

and you worship, you attract the

presence of the Holy Spirit who wants to

fill this room, wants to heal broken

hearts, wants to see people saved. Would

you set the culture? Would you set the

culture of community and be in a life

group? Would you set the culture of

pastoral care by sitting and caring and

reaching out to people who are hurting?

And would you set the culture of the

presence of God is what we go after by

coming every Sunday and hungry. I honor

you. I praise God for you. Our church is

healthy. Our church is growing. We we

want to stay focused on what matters

most. Not personalities, not leaders,

but the presence of God and the presence

of people. Father, I pray today you

would move by your spirit over this

place. You would lead us all, challenge

us all. If there's areas that we can

grow in, we're here. We're humble. We're

broken. Guide us and direct us. The most

important relationship of all is a

relationship with God through Jesus

Christ. And I want to challenge you

today. If you don't know God, if you

don't have a relationship with Jesus

Christ, that's what you were born for.

God loves you. You matter. You are here

for this reason to know God through

Jesus. That we were born sinners yet

Jesus died and rose again so our sins

could be forgiven. So we could be born

again spiritually. The Bible says not

only can we go to heaven, but we can

know God personally. Eyes closed, heads

bowed, that's you and you know it. Count

of three, would you raise your hand and

say, "Jesus, be my Lord. Be my Savior.

That's why you're here." One, two,

three. Just raise it up. Thank you. Both

of you in the middle there. Well done.

Proud of you. Up the back there. I see

your hand. So good. That's why we're

here. Others boldly raise your hand

wherever you are. Say yes. This is

between you and God. Just raise it up.

Say yes to him. Say yes to Jesus boldly.

Come on. Raise it up. That's why you're

here. To know God, to be saved, have a

relationship. He loves you. He He wants

to reveal your future. He He knows you.

He's here. Would you say yes? Raise your

hand to surrender your life to Jesus

Christ. Let's all pray a prayer calling

on that great name. Let's pray. Jesus, I

am a sinner. I need a savior. Save me.

Forgive me. Be my Lord. I want to follow

you. I want to know you intimately. I

want a relationship with you all the

days of my life in Jesus