We Need Christian Community | Matt Curtis

So a couple years ago I signed up for something called the Dopey Challenge. Uh,

the Dopey Challenge is a four day race in Disney property in Orlando.

On Thursday you run a 5K on Friday,

you run a 10 k on Saturday you run a half marathon.

And on Sunday you run a full marathon. And if you complete all of these races,

you are awarded a shirt and a medal with dopey from Snow White on them. Uh,

because you have nearly run 50 miles and you are dopey right

now. I I know what you're thinking.

You were looking at me and you were sizing me up and you were asking yourself

the same question that my kids asked. And to be very clear,

I did not win the dopey challenge. I did not come in first place. Uh,

but I did finish, you know, the colloquial, yeah, . There we go.

Oh, it was ugly. Calm down .

You know the colloquialism, it's not about the destination,

it's about the journey. The dopey challenge was a journey for me.

So leading up to the race, I did all the training, right?

Six months out I'm running several days a week long runs on back to back days.

But then on Christmas Eve, two weeks before the race,

I'm messing around in my backyard in the dark barefoot like rednecks do.

And I stepped on a rusty nail. Yeah, it was bad.

So I showed up on race day, still nursing this deep wound in my foot.

Now during the first race, my hip started to hurt.

Now this was a strange new kind of pain that I hadn't felt before.

I didn't know this uh, until about six weeks later.

But apparently because of the way I was nursing my left foot,

it caused the stress fracture in my right hip.

But I got through the 5K and I got through the 10 K and I got through the half

marathon, the marathon, little bit of a different story.

It was a struggle.

I remember being on mile five into the marathon and I'm pretty confident,

I mean I can bear through this, right? They've got good snacks out here.

And then at mile 5.1 I thought, this has got to end.

This is not going well. And that's when the mind games really started to start,

right? I had coordinated with my wife,

I was gonna see my family out on the course about halfway through. Uh,

because you know, they want to cheer me on and they want to encourage me.

And I've told you guys this before,

she refers to me as hunks and I need to earn that title.

They don't just give that out . Uh, but I wanna also,

I wanna show my boys that I can do hard things and that I'm an athlete and that

I can have fun.

But mile 13 came and went and I never saw not a one of them .

So now I'm hurt and I'm hot and I'm tired and I'm just sad.

Then we made it to mile 19.

Now running along Animal Kingdom through fake Morocco,

the sun is out. It's 85 degrees on a January morning,

which felt like actual Morocco I would imagine. My foot hurts, my hip hurts,

my skin hurts. I keep hoping to see my family. They're nowhere in sight.

And I kind of hit this wall of defeat. You see,

the thing that you need to know about the Disney races is it is not a

competitive environment like whoever won that race,

nobody cares unless you're in this room. Congratulations.

But whoever dressed the best, who was wearing the best costume,

that's who those jokers care about. And let me tell you,

the lowest low for me on this race was when these two individuals passed me at

mile 19. First Captain Jack Sparrow in full costume.

I mean he's bopping and hopping around the crowd of runners, right?

He's got an empty bottle of rum that he's got, he's got, he's in full character.

He is got dreadlocks wearing a leather hat,

like four layers of pirate clothes speaking in an accent.

He's having a great time.

And he passed me right by and it didn't take long for him to get outta my sight.

But then my left shoulder is brushed by a guy who is dressed up in Hans,

in a costume is Hans Solo, who is frozen in Carbonite.

meaning for four days this man ran with his shoulders

attached to a four foot cardboard box .

And this guy dressed as a fictional character who was supposed to be incapable

of motion passed me.

And my perspective about my journey to finish this race was doomed.

Like what am I doing out here? Mickey Mouse is a rat.

The finish line is too far. Am I even gonna be able to make it?

I just wish this was over. I'm all alone. Nobody sees my pain, nobody cares.

That's where my head was at. It got dark, y'all and I'll come back to that.

But have you ever felt that way about your life at the

finish line is too far. Am I even gonna be able to make it?

I just wish this was over. My circumstances are against me.

My life is too hard. I'm all alone and nobody sees me and nobody cares.

Have you ever been there, ladies?

Have you ever felt like you were the glue that holds everything together And

there's no time for you to do the thing that you need to do for you because you

are holding it all together for everybody else and nobody sees you.

Nobody says thank you.

Nobody knows that your journey is difficult and you just feel alone in it.

Fellas, you ever felt like the weight of the world is on your shoulders?

And if you don't grin and bear it, you will be crushed.

But you would rather be crushed than be seen as weak

and disappoint people. You guys ever been there? I've been there.

I'm there way more often than I would've to admit. Uh,

we're wrapping up this series about the foundations of the faith and we've

learned that we are made in the image of God and that we are broken and we can

be fixed. And last week Dwayne said,

we're heading towards something better and heading towards something better is

abiding in Christ, focusing on Jesus,

which takes some very individual personal intentional time,

right?

Taking a walk with Jesus requires time alone with Jesus.

And today I wanna introduce to you another element into heading towards

something better.

Today we're talking about community because we began the series

talking about being created in the image of God, right?

And God himself a triune God, father, son and Holy Spirit,

one God in three persons we are created in the image of a God who in

himself is community.

And in the creation story God made Adam and he said it is not good

for man to be alone.

So he created Eve and then together with the creation of

community, creation was complete and God rested.

We are designed to be in community,

a collective together as a part of others.

But we are a stubborn bunch,

especially in the American and the western world where individuality is our

priority. Or better yet, my comfort and my ease is my priority. And people,

community with people is not easy,

but God has designed us to be in community.

So let's figure out what the scripture says in Hebrews 10.

We're gonna be in Hebrews.

Now Hebrews is interesting because we do not know who the author of Hebrews is.

Uh, there are a lot of theories out there and there's really little consensus.

But we do know that Hebrews was written to an urban people, all right?

Jewish Christians and Jewish people who knew of Jesus in a city setting.

In fact,

there are more references to city in the book of Hebrews than anywhere else in

the New Testament. Now why does that matter? Well,

the makeup of a biblical city is pretty much what we see here in the triangle.

It was a pluralistic society and we live in a pluralistic society.

We're in communities no matter where you are in this area,

all of our communities include a pretty high level of diversity of thought,

diversity of ideology and experiences, races, heritage, culture,

values, right? And all of that influences social norms.

And that is the experience of the recipients of the book of Hebrews. You see,

there were so many different belief systems.

A Jewish Christian's commitment brought a level of marginalization,

brought a level of hostility,

and the audience of the book of Hebrews is suffering in persecution

and they're struggling to keep the faith.

So the question that is being addressed in Hebrews is if God is so good

and he is for me so much, then why is my life so hard?

Can we get a retweet on that? Life is difficult.

We don't respond well to difficulty. We want comfort and ease at all costs.

So because of this hardship,

some of these Jewish Christians have left the faith.

Some of these Jewish Christians have hidden their faith.

And the author of Hebrews is attempting to remind the group of Jewish Christians

that life is a journey. It is a slow drip.

It's a marathon, not a sprint.

It's a journey from weariness into rest.

It's a journey from loneliness into togetherness.

It's a journey from isolation into the presence of God.

And the only way we are going to get home as the author of Hebrew says,

and Dwayne reminded us last week, is if we fix our eyes on Jesus.

So the author attempts to answer that question by these two themes that are

woven throughout the book of Hebrews. The number one theme, right?

The supremacy of Jesus. Jesus is the true and better. Moses,

he's the true and better high priest. He's better than the angels.

He's better than the old covenant. He's better than old traditions.

He's better than the law. He's the true and better offering.

And he's the true and better sacrifice. It's the first theme.

The second theme that is woven throughout this book is a challenge to the

readers to remain faithful to Jesus despite the distractions,

despite the persecutions.

So the scripture we're looking at today is gonna capture both of those themes.

We're gonna break it up a little bit.

Let me show you Hebrews 10 19 is where we're starting. Therefore brothers,

since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus,

by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain,

that is through his flesh.

And since we have a great high priest over the house of God,

you get that Jesus is the curtain, he's the doorway into the presence of God.

And he's also the great priest over the house of God and continues let us

draw near with the true heart. In full assurance of faith,

our assurance that we have access to the presence of

God is by our faith and through faith we have grace.

And then it aligns with this,

with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience in our bodies

wash with pure water. So through Jesus' life and his crucifixion,

the resurrected Jesus Christ,

the name that is above all names made for us.

A way to enter into the presence of God. Amen.

The second theme is a challenge, right?

The challenge to the readers to remain faithful to Jesus despite the suffering,

despite the persecution, the marginalization or the distraction.

He says stay focused. Verse 23,

let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering for he

who promised is faithful.

And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works.

Not neglecting to meet together as is the habit of some,

but encouraging one another and all the more as you see the day drawing near.

And that's the challenge. Remain faithful.

Remain faithful to Jesus despite distraction.

Stay focused on the hope that we have and encourage each other. Look, church,

if we are going to endure the journey, if we're gonna endure the sufferings,

if we're gonna endure marginalization or distractions of society,

if we are going to remain faithful to Jesus, we must do it together.

So I ask you, do you have community?

Do you have people that you can call on in a time of want or need?

Do you have people that will check on you?

Do you have people that will satisfy the idea of belonging that Bill mentioned

in his video? Because those are, those are actually tricky questions.

I think most of us will nod our heads and feel pretty good with the surface

level idea of community that we have.

But I also think that the vast majority of our relationships,

the vast majority of our security in our community is superficial.

And this is why I say that the data's out there and it's a little bit wild. Uh,

the surgeon general.

So the same authority who in 1966 said that all tobacco products are in need

of a health risk advisory. He has sent out a loneliness health risk advisory.

Alright, we are in an epidemic of loneliness. He writes in 2023,

loneliness is far more than a bad feeling.

It harms individual and societal health.

Loneliness is associated with a greater risk of cardiovascular disease,

dementia, stroke, depression, anxiety, and premature death. He says,

being lonely is worse on your body than smoking 15 cigarettes a day.

Being obese and being physically inactive.

This report says that you can be at home, home sucking down a pack of heaters,

eating Burger King binge watching all 97 episodes of iCarly.

And your physical body would be less,

would be healthier than if you're lonely.

It continues the harmful consequences of a society that lacks social connection

can be felt in our schools

and our places of work or civic organizations where performance,

productivity and engagement are diminished for the last 20 years.

Social isolation has continually increased.

And household family engagement,

general companionship has dramatically decreased.

We are either taking steps to fight against loneliness or we are suffering in

loneliness. But perhaps you're like, this guy is dopey,

I'm not lonely, I'm fine. That might be you. Listen,

I'm not trying to shame or guilt anyone and to convincing yourself that you're

lonely. And I know the different types of community.

There's different relationships, certainly different personality dynamics,

right?

I know that the introverts of which I am what the introvert is sitting here

thinking, I'm not lonely. I'm happy the introvert.

We are a self-sufficient people. We don't need anything from anybody.

We don't need help. We don't need somebody to tell me to go out and find myself.

We don't need help identifying boundaries. 'cause guess what? We got 'em.

And our boundaries are firmly between me and everybody else because

we sure don't need the drama.

We don't need the energy or the ideas or the karaoke nights or the board games.

Just let me be.

I personally identify with some of that, although I do love a karaoke night.

But that doesn't make it right and it doesn't make it good.

And it's certainly not in line with our design, fighting,

comfort and ease for this person is just showing up and engaging.

And I'm telling you that is difficult.

It is easier to hide than to be healed.

Then you got this other group, maybe there's a loneliness epidemic.

But I can't be lonely. I got more people than I know what to do with.

My schedule is slammed. I'm in re-engage on Monday,

coaching baseball on Tuesday, hanging out with A and B on Wednesday,

c and d on Thursday and A to Z on the weekend between soccer games.

Now the extroverts are social people. They love a party.

They live a group project. They love a group chat.

But the threat to the social people is we might have a lot of

relationships,

but are they depth relationships of depth and care?

Are they relationships where you are truly known?

Or is your community a social club that enables the pursuit of

distraction or the pursuit of apathy or the pursuit of sin

fighting comfort.

Comfort and ease with this bunch might be having a conversation about

feelings or identity or rest.

Because if the scripture says, let us hold fast,

the confession of our hope without wavering faithfully for he who is

promised is faithful.

And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works.

Not neglecting to meet together, but encouraging one another.

The question isn't, do you have community?

It's do you have gospel community and gospel community?

Simply put,

it's a group of people who are honest and self-aware about our sin and

brokenness and acknowledge the dependence that we have on Jesus.

Gospel community applies the Bible for life change.

Gospel community prays together and for one another, right?

They're committed to servanthood of others and they spend time together 'cause

their lives are interwoven around Jesus. A gospel community says,

I can't fix my brokenness.

I can't head towards something better without Jesus and without you.

So do you have gospel community?

You have a safe space to fall to fail.

Do you have someone you trust with your pain or your sin?

Not just someone you trust the sin with.

You have people in your life who will stir you up towards love and good works to

compel you towards the finish line.

Do you have someone in your life that you trust with your pursuit of abiding in

Christ? And for the past six years,

I've had a group of men that I meet with and we simply ask two questions.

How are you close to Christ this week? And how did you deny discipleship?

How did you deny Jesus? We meet every week sort of,

y'all know how life is. We didn't meet this week .

And there've been some tough conversations at that table. Brutal honesty.

And the most helpful element of that gospel community for me is self-awareness.

And am I being honest with myself about myself?

Because James talks about confessing sin. James says, therefore,

confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you

may be healed.

And when I say out loud to these men who love me that I have been apathetically

denying abiding in Jesus,

or that I'm stuck in a habit of eating too much,

or that I haven't been paying enough attention to my wife,

there is no hiding in that confession. There is healing in that confession.

And Paul says, watch carefully how you are walking.

Ephesians five 13. But when anything is exposed by the light,

it becomes visible for anything that becomes visible is light.

Therefore it says Awake,

oh sleeper and arise from the dead and Christ will shine on you.

Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise, but as wise.

That is what gospel community looks like.

Gospel community is an awakened church. And listen, church, family,

if God is calling us to anything collectively here at Hope Community Church,

he is calling us to wake up.

He's calling us to wake up because Christ is alive.

Wake up because Jesus is king.

Wake up because we are not alone and we are not designed to be alone.

We are designed by a creator.

We are sculpted by him himself for community to

be together.

And we must wake up because there is a sleeping world around us that has no

chance of waking up if we are not holding fast to the confession of our hope

faithfully and stirring up one another to love and good works faithfully

and refusing to neglect meeting together faithfully,

but encouraging one another faithfully.

So do you have gospel community?

Do you desire gospel community?

Are you intentionally running from gospel community?

So there I was mile 19,

you with me

back in the dopey challenge mile 19.

And I was completely defeated because Johnny Depp and Harrison Ford just passed

me. And I'm shuffling along man.

I'm living in complete doubt that I will ever finish this,

that I'm even worthy to be on the journey.

And it was at this point that I met the most,

met the most impactful stranger that I have actually never met.

I don't know this guy,

but I come up behind him and he has two individuals adjacent to him,

one on his left and one on his right.

I only noticed this group because the two individuals on the outside are wearing

these bright yellow jerseys that say support athlete.

They were there to help the man in the middle get to the finish line.

And my brother needed some help.

He was a six foot four giant solid rock of a man.

And he's on day four of the dopey challenge. He's 43 miles in,

out 48 miles and he's paraplegic.

He was there running on carbon fiber, legs attached somewhere below his waist.

And as I saw him moving each prosthetic leg, left leg forward,

right leg forward, as I witnessed this, my paradigm shifted

because this man was there on the same course that I was on.

He's running in the same race that I'm running.

He's headed to the same finish line that I'm headed toward.

But from a completely different background.

And I don't know if he's a wounded warrior.

I don't know if he was in an accident, if he was born this way.

I know he is working with a completely different set of circumstances and I'm

positive that he's been through more hardship than I have ever known.

And I watched as he endured the journey, left leg forward,

right leg forward. And because he was there,

I knew he could finish the race.

And in that it emboldened me to know that I could finish my own race.

And let me be clear, this was not a sense of superiority.

It wasn't because I have legs and you don't.

It's because it wasn't because I think I can make it because you shouldn't be

able to make this.

It's not I'm better than you or my body is in better shape than yours. No,

this moment was a moment of inspiration compelled my purpose

and my motivation, my perspective changed.

My foot still had a hole in it and my hip still had a crack in it. But my,

in my mind, I said, I am here with you brother.

And because you are here, I can get to the finish line.

Your presence in this race, in this journey gives me hope,

makes me a recipient of hope. And that makes you a conduit of hope for me.

And my presence in this race,

in this journey makes me a hope giver and that and an ambassador for you

and for Jack Sparrow and Hans and all these other knuckleheads at the Dopey

Challenge.

Now I know that's a strange revelation to have at the Dopey Challenge,

but in that moment I understood more clearly that this is what being made

for community is.

This is what being part of the body of Christ is.

This is what church is a place where we are free to be who we are

from whatever background we have,

with whatever circumstances we are suffering through,

and be a recipient of hope and also a conduit of hope for others.

Because in the same way that the Father sent the Son who is the hope of the

world, and Jesus has invited us into community with him,

and I have an obligation to invite others into me,

into community with Jesus. Because in Jesus' physical absence,

he sends us out to be people of hope.

He commissions us as hands and feet.

He entrusts us to use these gifts that he has given us for the purpose of

building up one another and being a mere reflection of the goodness of God.

And church, we aren't building up one another enough.

We let distractions creep in.

Some of us have fixed our eyes on our flesh and not the torn flesh

of Jesus.

And we've lost sight of our purpose that God has given us our gospel

presence in this world.

Be it in this room or online or at work or at school or in your home.

Our gospel presence impacts the ability for those around us.

To endure sufferings allows others to deny distractions,

allows others to stay focused and fix their eyes on Jesus.

And the marginalization of this world cannot stand up against an awakened

church. Amen. Amen. So Hebrews goes on chapter 12,

verse three says this,

consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself

so that you may not grow weary or faint hearted in your struggle against sin.

You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.

The author has given perspective on what the supremacy of Jesus has done for us,

that we would be compelled to come alongside another in fixing our eyes

on Jesus.

'cause Jesus endured hostility and he turned the other cheek and Jesus endured

hostility and he carried his own cross up a hill.

And Jesus endured hostility.

And he allowed men whom he created to thrust nails into his

body and hang him to die so that we might be in community

with him and the Father who sent him.

Being a gospel community, a hope giver

means we, we must step into a life of sacrifice.

And sacrifice always comes with a high level of risk and exposure.

The reality is people will let you down and they will disappoint

and they will offend.

But I remind you that Jesus denied himself.

Jesus was left alone on the cross so that you and

I will never be, he will never let you down. Hebrews 13,

I will never leave nor forsake you.

So we can confidently say that the Lord is my helper.

I will not fear what can man do to me.

Jesus was separated from the Father in his death,

whom he had always been in community with eternally.

And in his resurrection. We are welcomed into community,

into relationship with God.

Community is at the core of our identity as a new creation in Christ.

It's the church being the church.

It's who and how we are designed to be together with him in

community. And there's so many different opportunities for gospel community.

I mean, just even here in our ministry programs, right?

We've got small groups and mission teams and serve teams.

And I mean,

serving in Kid City and initiating a gospel community for our children would

be a great place to start.

And all of those environments are designed so that you might experience gospel

community.

That you might be a hope carrier and a hope receiver into somebody else's life.

But I wanna simplify this and back it way up because

gospel community takes some intentionality.

I'm gonna challenge you to a little exercise. Um, no marathons.

We're we're good on that. I'm not doing one. Uh,

I was introduced to this exercise a few years ago by a friend of mine named Don

Ross, uh, who's actually a mission partner here.

And it requires vulnerability and it requires intentionality.

But it's a great way to initiate gospel community.

It's called 4 3 2 1 hope. All right?

You can rename it if you'd like. Uh,

but this week take some time and identify these things.

Identify four people who have impacted your life positively or negatively.

Identify three communities that you have been a part of that have impacted you

positively or negatively.

Identify two spiritual moments that you have experienced.

Identify one wound that you carry and a hope,

a goal for your life,

a hope that you have for your life that will benefit others.

I want you to think through those things and maybe journal them down.

Write 'em in your notes. But here's the challenge.

The call is to share it with someone. Share it with the spouse, with a friend,

a roommate, someone from your small group, someone you serve with family.

Sit down at dinner and share your story with your kids.

Ask your kids these same questions.

'cause gospel community starts in the home and it requires intentionality

and focus. And look,

there's no greater expression of intentional community than when Jesus,

the creator of all things,

relinquished his authority over all things and humbled himself to death on

a cross. We love because he first loved.

We serve because he first served. We give because he first gave.

So we're gonna move into a time of communion,

of reflection and remembering the supremacy of Jesus,

the true and better sacrifice.

And as we reflect and acknowledge,

acknowledge our suffering, acknowledge our sin,

also ask God,

who is he calling you to compel towards the finish line?

Who is he calling you to compel towards him?

Where is he calling you to give of yourself,

to be a conduit of hope for another?

So if you'll collect your elements,

we're gonna do this as one church together across our

campuses As one gospel community.

First I'll read Hebrews 12 says, therefore,

since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses,

let us lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely.

And let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. Looking to Jesus,

the founder and perfecter of our faith,

who for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross,

despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

Church, will you pray with me? Father,

we thank you that you are our God and we are your people.

God, I lift up those individuals who are lonely,

who are unknown God, that you would break into their lives,

into their hearts and let them know that you are the Father,

that you are the good shepherd. Lord,

I pray that we would be a people that would slow down enough to have

relationships among ourselves, God,

that we'd be willing to pray for one another.

We'd be willing to see ourselves as hope carriers

for others. And God that there would be resurrection of new life.

We are your people, you are our God and all these things we say.

Amen.

I'm gonna remind you that on the night before Jesus was crucified,

he sat with his disciples, he pulled out the bread, he and he broke it.

And he said, this is my body and it's been broken for you. He said,

take it and eat it and do this in remembrance of me.

And then he picked up the cup and he said,

this cup is the new covenant.

It is my blood that has been poured out for you.

And I will never leave you and I will never forsake you.

You will never be lonely in Christ. He said,

drink this in remembrance of me.

Thank you Jesus. Love you church. Let's worship.