In Focus - Week 2, Pastor John Mozingo

Welcome to Family Church's Sermon of the Week.

We're so glad you're here.

Each week we share a message from God's Word to encourage your heart, strengthen your faith, and help you grow in your walk with Jesus.

We hope this time blesses you and draws you closer to the heart of God.

I wanted to start this morning by talking a little bit about Family Church and updating you on where we are in the process of becoming an independent church.

If you're not familiar with our history, we started almost four years ago as a campus of Park Valley Church in Haymarket.

At the time there were three campuses, includ uh four including the Haymarket campus, and somewhere in that process, the the plan became for the churches, the campuses to become independent churches.

So we are working on that.

Our Warranton campus has already accomplished that.

They are the Rock Community Church now and they're functioning completely on their own.

And so we when we uh when that decision was made, when we made the decision that we were going to become an independent church, um, we had set a goal of three years.

So that would mean like November of 2028 was our goal to be completely independent.

And we based that on how long it took uh the rock to become an independent church and just our current giving trends and attendance trends and all that, and just kind of calculate it, it's gonna take that long.

We are still under the uh leadership of Park Valley Church at this moment.

Now we make decisions of everything that goes on in our services and our ministry, but we are still under their authority legally, um, and we answer to their trustees.

And so last February the trustees came to us and said, you know, we've prayed about it, and and we want you to set a goal of Easter of 2027 to be an independent church.

So about half as much time as we had planned.

But God can do anything, you know, and and I looked at that and I thought, you know, there there is this is an opportunity for us to look back and say, this is you know, statistically impossible to do, you know, based on what we looked at before.

But God can do that.

So so we're just trusting God that all of that's gonna fall into place and that that by Easter of 2027, or maybe even sooner, that we we are an independent church.

So I wanted to bring you up to speed on all of that.

Um so you know, so we've got several goals, and uh, and and when I talked to you about this before, we had we we talked about some goals.

This was we talked about it in uh March and then again in June.

Um, and just to give you an update, we had certain goals that we wanted to accomplish, and we have met some of those goals.

Um, first uh we we needed to do several things on paper.

We needed to create articles of incorporation, we've done that.

We need to be established as a co as a corporation in Virginia, we've done that.

We need an employ uh an employer ID number, we've done that.

We had to register as a business with Prince William County, we've done that, and we had to create constitution and bylaws, we have done that.

Okay, so we have already accomplished all of those things uh in a short period of time.

And uh um the next thing we have to do, and our are we had to have our bylaws finished before we could do that, but we need to apply for nonprofit status with the state of Virginia.

So so we're very close to that.

Our bylaws are are we're tweaking them right now, and we should be able to send those in.

Now that is there is a six-month backlog on those things.

So we're gonna pray for another miracle that somehow somebody misfiles those to our advantage or something, or if you know somebody that works in that office that we can we can talk to and pray with and whatever, whatever it takes, you know, we'll we we uh but as it stands right now, probably about February that will uh that will go through.

Um and then we need to, and what but once we submit all of those, uh all that paperwork, we can operate as if we were uh a nonprofit organization because they don't I don't think they turn too many of those down, you know, especially if you watch the news lately.

I don't think they turn too many nonprofit organizations down.

So they said that we can we can go ahead and function as if we are a nonprofit organization.

We can backdate things as far as 27 months, so so we can go ahead and start organizing ourselves as that, which means we can start opening our own family church bank accounts and things.

So so lots of the stuff that was that was uh on the table back in June when we when we talked about this before, we have accomplished most of that uh as far as becoming an independent church.

Um in conjunction with all of that, we talked about uh developing our own team of leadership.

So the leadership at Family Church will consist of senior pastor, two trustees who will handle the business end of things, then three elders who will function in pet in a pastoral capacity.

They are they are huge help to me.

Um pastoring a church is is hard enough to have only one pastoral person on staff is like next to impossible.

So I've got three amazing men that have stepped up uh to help me with that as elders, and they are taking on some pastoral um uh uh responsibility.

And then we have we will we have not chosen them yet, but we will also choose deacons.

The word deacon means servant, so they will serve as servants in the church, and they will be the people that you have direct contact with.

They will be checking up on you, they'll be there for you when you when you need a hospital visit, when you need meals, things like that.

Our deacons are gonna be uh involved in that.

Um we have chosen our trustees, uh two great men, uh Tony O'Hey and Steve Maynard, and they've been an enormous help to me.

Enormous help in developing bylaws and so many more things that we have to get done.

Um our our elders are John Henley, Ola Uliboat, and Brent Gilbert, and you see them here every week.

They are already involved in the leadership in this ministry, and so they're fantastic guys.

Um now we now officially, legally, they are not serving in those uh positions.

They are they are serving in those positions, but they are not legally those, I don't know, the legally is not the right word, but they're not officially in those positions.

Um, because first, according to our bylaws, we have to install them as a church, and then also we're still under Park Valley, so they are functioning in those as far as we go, but but we will install them officially after we become uh uh an independent church.

Another goal was that we worked towards financial independence as a church.

When we started this year, uh we were uh for to meet our budget, we were dependent on Park Valley Church by$50,000.

Okay, so so we would we would be able to meet all of our budget except for$50,000 very quickly into the year.

We were able to close that gap.

We made some changes in our budget and changes in spending and things.

So we are not dependent on Park Valley, assuming things go the way that the giving and everything continues uh the way it has been.

We are not dependent on Park Valley Church for a dime.

In fact, our giving from January until uh August has gone up by 21%.

So praise the Lord for that.

And thank you all for being a generous church.

Um and and it's gonna take it's gonna take a increase in giving to do that, to accomplish these things.

Um uh we are still can we are still dependent on Park Valley for certain functions, particularly human resources and the paperwork part of payroll.

We are we are covering payroll, uh the the cost of payroll, but as far as the people writing the checks and everything that goes with that, we still depend on uh Park Valley.

Um we still depend on them for liability insurance and and in part for facilities.

I still have an office at Park Valley, we still hold meetings at Park Valley.

As we become independent, we will need to pick up those costs.

We are covering everything right now.

The 21% increase will help to cover some of that, but it's not gonna cover all of that.

So we still need to see an increase in spending to help with covering those things.

Um and and as far as space where we can have offices, honestly, offices, a lot of y'all did it for a number of years back in uh back a few years ago.

We can office from home and we can we can talk online or whatever.

Um but as far as like a place to do Bible studies and things like that, that's the priority.

We want a place where you know we can fit 40 people to come in and and our student ministry can use it.

We can use do Bible studies and things like that throughout the week.

So we're lacking that space right now, that plus offices.

To rent something right now, it it's a good$5,000 a month to rent something or more, to rent something, a uh storefront or office space that would that would uh uh work for those purposes, and that's not in the budget.

Our giving would have to increase significantly to be able to afford another five thousand dollars a month.

So we can make do without it in the meantime, but we can also pray, you know, God has God has proven himself faithful uh in the past when Park Valley started, superior paving, let them use their let them use office space at no cost for about the first year, office space and meeting space.

Um when we started a campus in Ashburn several years, about 10 years ago we started a campus in Ashburn, it no longer exists, but when it started, they uh and when it went independent, they they uh uh used offices at first column uh uh technical services.

So something like that could work out.

So if you uh have a contact, somebody that that has spare spare room at their offices, offices or warehouse or whatever that we could use, that would be awesome.

You know, so God can provide those things, and we we look for him to do that.

Um so adding those those costs can be a pretty significant to our budget, um, and that's the biggest challenge facing us right now.

But we serve a God that is bigger than all of that, and God can meet all of those needs, and so we're trusting him to do that.

Um and when we talked about this back in February, and I'll I'll say this every time I'm up here, you know, the that God's plan to fund his church is through his people.

So we have two ways that we can go about this.

I can't stand up here once a month and say, please give more, and I don't want to do that.

The other choice is that we could do what we're supposed to do, and we can go make disciples, and we can invite friends to church, and we can see this ministry grow.

And as it grows, there's more people, there's more giving, and and we can meet the needs.

We can we can meet those needs that are coming up uh in a few short months that we're not able to do now.

So so I would just say, more than anything, help us grow this church.

Invite friends, invite family, invite strangers.

Okay, grab a handful of the cards on the way out.

There's a big sign that says invite somebody to family church.

Grab some of those cards when you go to lunch today, invite the uh the the your your waiter.

Okay, invite people, and they will come.

Um, there was a uh a gentleman that visited uh about a month ago, and I met him.

I said, How'd you hear about us?

He said, Somebody in somebody at Lowe's invited me this morning.

Okay?

It works.

Invite people.

The best way, no matter what gimmick, no matter what new method of church growth there is, the number one way to grow a church is for the people of that church to invite family and friends.

So help us do that.

Help us to invite family and friends.

Now I want to answer three questions, three most asked questions about this process.

Uh uh and the first one became very, very lots of people asked this this week because I sent I sent an email out inviting people to our Discover Family class.

That was supposed to go to 30 people and it went to over 400 people.

Not sure how that happened, so a lot of you are calling me.

Do I need to take that class again?

No.

Here's where we are with membership.

Right now, uh you will be a m if you are a member at Park Valley when we made the transition to Family Church, you are a member of Family Church if you if you are choosing Family Church to be your church.

Okay?

So you don't have if you took Grow at Park Valley or you took it when we were Park Valley Gainesville, you don't have to take the new membership class.

If you have become a member since February last year and have taken Discover Family and chose to be a member, you are a member.

Okay?

If if you if you have not, if you have come in the last year and have not taken it to become a member of Family Church, you need to take uh the Discover Family class.

We're actually doing that today, uh the first the first of three classes today after church.

You're you're welcome to join us uh for that.

Um and then once we become independent, which you know we'll just say Easter next year, after that point, somebody coming from Park Valley that's never been to Family Church would have to do our membership classes.

So if you've done the membership classes, you don't have to do them again when we become family church.

And I know a lot of you were, I mean, this morning, I think four people asked me, are we doing that?

So that answers the membership question.

The other question is, are we looking for property?

And right now the answer is no.

I mean, I'm always looking.

Every time I'm driving, I see a for sale sign.

I'm like, is that it?

Is that it?

You know, and and there's there's a couple pieces of property I actually drive on about once a week.

I park there and pray, God, give us this piece of property.

You know, and I pray give it to us because right now, uh as when we when we become family church, independent family church, then it will be five years at least before a bank would even look at us to give us a loan to purchase land and build a building.

Okay?

So it's not it's not something we're we're gonna be outside of God doing just something unbelievable, it's not something we'll even be able to do anytime soon.

Now, once we have our own bank accounts and things set up, we will set up a building fund and start saving towards that because in five years a bank will look at that.

What have you contributed to this?

So, so as far as land and things, we are we are not actively looking, though I am always just looking, you know, and praying about it.

And you can pray with me, you know.

Maybe if if all of us start praying for that piece of land, then God will give it to us.

We'll see.

But uh, but uh that's just something we're praying about.

And another question, and this is a simple thing.

Some some of you ask, when I start make when can I start making my checks payable to family church?

As soon as we have accounts.

So probably by the end of the year, if not sooner, uh, you'll be able to start making your checks payable to family church.

In the meantime, keep making them to Park Valley Church with uh Family Church in the uh memo.

Okay?

So that's where we are.

God is doing some some amazing things and sending us amazing people, and and uh we pray, we pray every week, Lord, send us laborers, because the Bible says the fields are wide under the harvest.

Pray to the Lord of the harvest to send laborers, and he'll do it.

So we pray every week to send laborers, and some of those laborers are people that God has blessed with the gift of giving and gift of generosity.

You know, that are to help us do that, help us accomplish these financial uh uh uh goals.

So pray with us that God continues to send us laborers, send us people that will help us build this church and build this ministry because it's a big job, and we need to be ready because there are gonna be three at least 3,000 new homes within five miles of this in the next three years.

So we have a big job to do, and we need to be ready to reach out to those people and to minister to them, and that when they come here, they are gonna feel like, man, this is my family.

We want them to walk out of here, just like last week.

The lady I heard, I heard her as she was walking in and say, Man, this is the friendliest church I've ever been to.

I love that.

And we need to continue doing that because people need the church in their life.

You know, and there's probably gonna come a time where we have to stand before a county board of supervisors and convince them to let us build a church, and the answer is gonna be because people need churches.

You know?

All of us need the church in our life.

And as we've looked, uh, this is the second week we're looking at the book of Colossians in our series in focus.

Today we're gonna focus on the church.

We're gonna focus on the church because Paul, at the beginning of the second chapter of Colossians, he he talks about the church and he talks about the importance of the church in our lives.

So look with me at Colossians chapter 2, verse 1.

Colossians 2:1

It says, I want you to know how much I've agonized for you and for the church at Laodicea and for many other believers who have never met me personally.

Okay?

In 16 days, my son Travis is usually here standing in the back working with our production team.

Uh, he's not here today, but but uh in 16 days, we're gonna say goodbye to Travis, and he's gonna get on a bus, and he's gonna take the long trip to Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri for basic combat training for the U.S.

Army.

And yes, thank you.

Thank you.

We are so proud of him, and and uh um Melin and I have invested a lot of time in raising him to be a young man of God, and and we have prioritized choosing good friends and and being involved in church and and submitting to godly authority and and prayed that God would bring godly other godly men into his life to influence him.

We have prayed that for years, and in 16 days, he is going to a place where odds are none of that exists.

And some of the some of the guys that have been through basic training are going, yeah, yeah, it's not there.

He's not gonna find it in basic training.

Okay, so this is gonna be a real test of Travis's faith.

So when he leaves, the agonizing begins for Melinda and me.

We're gonna start agonizing in prayer.

God, get keep him, keep him safe, protect him through this.

Lord, put godly leaders over him, let him meet godly men in basic training.

And we've prayed that for all of our sons.

We've got two other sons that are in the army, and God has delivered on all of them.

One of this, we had one son that went to a Bible institute for a year, got a certified certificate in in uh uh in Bible studies, and and uh when his younger brother went to the army, we prayed, God put put influences in his life, godly influences.

So after he did basic training and AIT and airborne training, when he got stationed at Fort Bragg, he was in a temporary dormitory where he would only be there for a week, and his roommate was a guy that went to Word of Life Bible Institute with my other son and was going to be a chaplain.

You know, I mean right away God answered that prayer.

So we're we're praying that for Travis because because, you know, we're praying that because we're gonna agonize, and anybody that sent their kids off to the military or college or whatever, you know what it means to agonize for your children and to just pray God's best for them and God's protection on them.

So you know exactly what Paul was talking about when he said, I'm agonizing over you.

I'm agonizing over the church at Colossae.

And remember, the Colossian church was a church full of mature people.

We talked about this last week.

They were known for their faith in God, love for people, confident hope in the realities of heaven.

So, but they were distracted.

They were distracted.

There were people coming into the church, preaching and teaching other things that were trying to just that, and Satan was using them to distract them.

There were people saying, hey, you still have to follow, if you're gonna be saved, you still have to follow all of the Jewish rituals.

And there were others saying, hey, you know, we we need to be, we need to be worshiping angels.

God has brought angels to this earth.

We need to be worshiping them.

There were others, you know, in the in Roman culture when when, you know, the the uh Roman uh secular philosophy was at its highest, there were people saying, hey, we need to pay attention to this too.

We need that we need to be teaching those things.

And all those things served as a distraction to the church.

They served as a distraction to the church.

And Paul said, I'm agonizing over you in prayer because it would be so easy for you to stop focusing on Jesus and focus on all these other things.

And when the church stops focusing on Jesus, it becomes ineffective.

And then when a church becomes ineffective, it becomes divisive.

And when a church becomes divisive, it is no longer used by God.

It does more hurt to the kingdom than it does help.

So it's important that we stay focused, and that's what Paul was agonizing about, because there is a lot at stake.

When a church takes its focus off of Jesus, there is a lot at stake.

You know, and and with 3,000 homes coming into this community, Satan would have liked nothing more than for family church to stop focusing on Jesus and start focusing on everything else so that we have an ineffective ministry and we fail at reaching the people of this community.

So it's important that we stay focused.

And and and because there's a lot at stake.

And Paul said that, and here's what he said about him in verse 2.

He says, I want them to be encouraged and knit together by strong ties of love.

Encouraged and knit together by strong ties of love.

So two things.

He said, I want them to be encouraged, I want encouragement and I want love.

And I'm gonna talk more about this in a minute, but but right now I want you to hear from one of our church members who can tell you all about encouragement and love from her church.

Would you please welcome Kim Withers to the stage?

Thank you, John.

Can you all hear me?

Yes, wonderful.

I just want to say thank you, truly.

It is because of the prayers and the faithful um seeking of the Lord for me and my husband as we've gone through health journeys over the last few months that I stand before you today, and it's truly an honor to be able to be here.

Just say thank you.

I have notes, so forgive me.

I wanted to make sure I don't forget things.

So the body of Christ here really uplifted and supported my husband through some of the most trying times that we've had over the last few months.

And I wanted to be able to provide a glimpse into some of the blessings that we received from this body of Christ.

Back in April, early April, my husband had to have a foot surgery, and we were blessed with meals from our ministry teams that we served on, as well as our small groups and many others across the church.

On Friday, April 17th, I ate a delicious meal that had been dropped off and kind of rushed out the door afterwards with my daughter and met my mom at a local elementary school for one of our dear family church friends here.

Her son was going to be in the Cedar Point musical.

And so we had a delightful time watching that.

And after the performance, we congratulated him for his stellar role.

And then my mom and my daughter and I went to Efes for ice cream.

And I just highlight this because I want to reinforce the fact that even before our medical crisis, our time, our love, our investments were in family church people because we have just been so blessed by this.

And I also wanted to highlight the fact that I had a very normal Friday night and didn't know that the next day would change my life.

So Saturday morning I awoke.

We were ready to go to a family wedding in Stanton, Virginia.

That was the plan, at least.

Within five minutes of my uh getting out of bed, I couldn't get off my bathroom floor.

I was in so much pain.

And my daughter and my husband rushed up to me.

My temperature was 94 point something.

I didn't even know that that was a thing.

So when my husband asked, Do I need to call the ambulance?

I said yes.

The ambulance was on its way, but my husband made two other texts or phone calls to two of our dear friends at family church.

And these couples rushed right over at eight o'clock in the morning and were at our house before the ambulance departed.

I was so out of it that I didn't even know that they were there or that he had even made the phone call.

I was in the back of the ambulance and I felt hands on my shoulders, and my dear friend was praying over me.

And at that point, my breathing was just, I was hyperventilating, I was in pain, they were about to give me morphine.

But her prayers just like I noticed my heart rate slowing, and I just felt a peace and was so grateful for that.

At the hospital, it was determined that my intestines had twisted on themselves, and I needed emergency surgery, or um I probably wouldn't make it.

So over the next two and a half months, I had additional complications.

I had to have four additional surgeries and spent almost eight weeks over three hospital stays in the hospital.

So I was really glad to come home on July 10th and begin my recovery.

Thank you all, because I know you were praying me through it, so thank you.

I truly can't express what the support that I received from this body of Christ meant to me and my husband and my family.

The prayer team spent hours praying for me.

I'm looking at Ola and Dana and many others.

Um I'm just so grateful that the Lord listened to their prayers.

Uh, the first impressions team on which we serve, as well as our small groups and other friends, uh, stopped by, visited, texted, uh, picked up groceries, called and just checked in, and just made us feel amazingly supported and loved.

Many contributed meals.

Uh, we had a wonderful meal train and gift certificates, so that as I was going through my recovery, meals were much, much easier.

And it just was so reassuring to know that we were not alone.

Um, I one of my friends said at one point, we are here, we are with you in all of this.

You are not alone, and that just will ever stay with me.

The scripture verses, Christian songs, and other encouragement I received daily from texts through um through this whole time really carried me through.

And when the situation was really bleak, as I was in the hospital and had many ups and downs during that time, um, the prayers and encouragement felt like a blanket of love.

There was more than one 911, if you will, call to uh a cherished friend to say, I need prayer, I can't do this anymore.

Um, and it was always there at a moment's moment's notice.

I hope you can tell how we truly, I I don't know how we would have gotten through it without you all.

Um and I want to encourage you all because I want you to have what we had, invest in the relationships here, be a part of the body, get involved in a ministry team, get plugged into a small group if you're not already.

It's so important.

Um, even just making time to talk in the uh uh whatever we call with the refreshments or wonderful refreshments team after church because the time investment and it the benefits are gonna far outweigh any time investment or any social anxiety that you have in in introducing yourself to someone new.

So I encourage you to do that.

Thank you for allowing me to share my story.

Um, and I I really want to finish this in the same way that I started, and that is saying truly thank you from the bottom of Bill and my heart.

The prayers that you raised on our behalf, the Lord heard, and I'm grateful to be here.

Thank you for encouraging Bill and my heart and forever knitting us together with yours in love.

Thank you.

Thank you, Kim.

You know, when when the Apostle Paul said, I want you to be encouraged and knit together by the bounds of love, that's what he was talking about.

That's what he was talking about.

And what happens, you know, when we when we go through a trial of some kind, whether it's a uh time in a hospital or financial troubles or relationship troubles or whatever, we tend to isolate.

Men especially.

You know, we tend to isolate.

We want to go and we want to deal with it on our own.

We don't want to talk about it, we don't want to be around people.

And, you know, again, men, you are guilty of this more than than any woman in in this room.

That's just what we do.

You know, women when they have a problem, they like to go to coffee with a friend.

Am I right?

That's kind of what ladies like to do.

Men like to go to the garage or the deer stand or or on a bank of a river fishing.

You know, they want to go where nobody else is and not have to talk about their problems and not have to deal with it.

But Paul said that's the wrong thing.

Isolation is where Satan does his best work.

So instead of being isolated, we need to be insulated by the family of God.

We need to have people around us that are gonna help us through those things and encourage us and demonstrate love to us.

Look back at verse 2.

He said this.

He said, I want them to be encouraged in it together by strong ties of love.

I want them to have complete confidence that they understand God's mysterious plan, which is Christ Himself.

In him lie all the hidden treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

First, Paul said, I want you to be encouraged.

I want you to be encouraged.

That word encouragement comes from a Greek word called perakaleo.

And it means to come alongside of.

You know, so it's far more than just, you know, encouragement, like a pat on the back or an attaboy, you know, that's encouragement.

But this is more than that.

This is more about coming alongside someone and walking through the valley with them when they're struggling.

That's what biblical encouragement looks like.

Then it says he wants us to be knit together by love.

And this is what Paul meant when he said knit together.

About an hour from here is the Shenandoah River.

Okay?

And the Shenandoah River begins as two rivers, the the North Shenandoah River and the South, the North Bend and the South Bend.

The North Bend runs through the Page Valley, South Bend runs through Shenandoah Valley, and they come together in Front Royal.

And then from Front Royal, it travels north.

That's the part John Denver sings about, from Front Royal North.

Okay?

And that goes up into West Virginia, and then it goes all the way to Maryland, or it's all the way to the border of Maryland in Harper's Ferry, West Virginia, and it comes together with the Potomac River.

Okay?

And so if you're standing there at Harper's Ferry, you're standing in West Virginia, you look that way, you're looking at Virginia across the Shenandoah, you look that way, and you're looking at Maryland across the Potomac, but the Potomac and the Shenandoah come together as one river, and there is no way that you can stand in the water of the Potomac and go, okay, we need to get Shenandoah water out of the Potomac River.

You can't do that.

It's impossible.

And the Greek words for knit together is where we get the word coalesce, which means to become one.

And that's what Paul is talking about.

He wants us to be so close, so tight, that we are like the water of that river that cannot be separated, but we can't function without each other.

That's what he's talking about.

Then he goes on, and he says, he says, uh in in verse 4, he says, I'm telling you this so that no one will deceive you with well-crafted arguments, for though I am far away from you, my heart is with you, and I rejoice that you are living as you should, and that your faith in Christ is strong.

So, so if we're gonna live as one, you know, we have those strong ties of love, here's what happens.

Okay?

It says that you're gonna be, you know, we're gonna be encouraging, we're gonna come alongside each other, we're gonna be knit together, we're gonna be one, and that will protect us from deception.

Those close ties will protect us from deception.

And here's what I mean.

The word deceived comes from a Greek word paralogosome.

Okay?

Now, paralogosomai and perakaleo, encouragement and deception, the Greek words have something in common.

And I think they're on the screen behind me.

They both start with the prefix para.

Okay?

That word para is where we get the idea of come alongside.

So what Paul is saying is, as the church, we need to come alongside each other and walk through those valleys to protect each other, and if we don't, the world is happy to come alongside us to deceive us and walk us, walk with us through those valleys, telling us, hey, God is not with you.

Where is God when you need him?

God's abandoned you.

You don't deserve this.

So the world will gladly walk alongside you through those times.

Satan will gladly walk alongside you through those times.

But if you are insulated by the love and encouragement of the people of God, you're gonna walk in truth.

You're gonna walk in truth.

And if you are not walking in truth with the people of truth, you are more likely to be seived by the father of lies.

That's how important it is to have the family of God in your corner.

Paul talks about this in Ephesians chapter 4.

Ephesians 4 · chapter mention

He's talking about the unity of the body of Christ and how we're all created to serve in a specific way within the body of Christ, and it's up to all of us to be effective in the work of ministry.

And then he says, this will continue as we do all of that.

And here's what he says will happen in verse 14.

It says, Then we will no longer be immature like children.

We won't be tossed about and we won't be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching.

We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth.

So, so how do you how do you get to that point where you're no longer immature, you're no longer an immature believer?

By being part of the church.

By being close to the people of the church, submitting yourself to the teaching of the church, serving in the church.

That's how you grow to become more like Christ.

All of those things together.

Back in Colossians chapter 2, Paul says, verse 6, he says, and now just as you accepted Christ as your Lord and Savior, you must continue to follow Him.

Colossians 2 · chapter mention

Let your roots grow down into Him, and let your lives be built on Him.

Real quick, let me show you three things, three necessities to insulate yourself among the church, the people of the church.

First, choose to follow Jesus even when it's hard.

Choose to follow Jesus even when it's hard.

And notice it it Paul said, uh, now that you have accepted Jesus, you must continue to follow him.

Okay?

Getting saved is not saying, okay, I'm a follower.

I'm done, I'm a follower.

You know, sometimes we look at we look at getting saved as like, okay, you know, you're God is drawing you to him, you're you're you're giving your heart, and finally you say, hey, I'm gonna give up my life, I'm gonna accept uh Christ, and I'm gonna become a follower of Jesus.

And you sit there and go, Whoo! I'm a follower.

Okay, but it doesn't end there because when you make that decision, you have eternal life, you are guaranteed a place in heaven, you have crossed from death into life, but Jesus is standing over here saying, Get up, follow me, come on, there's more, there's more.

And as he's doing that, if you get plugged into the church, that means there is a bunch of people along that path cheering you on, patting you on the back, walking through the valley with you, and encouraging you to follow Jesus.

So if you're going to if you're going to uh uh uh grow as a believer and and and have that protection that that the church offers, you have to get involved in the church.

You have to have those people, you have to choose to follow Jesus, and that involves being part of the church.

Number two, you have to commit to growing in your faith.

Okay?

You have to commit to growing in your faith.

Too many people make the mistake of getting saved and sitting there and waiting and saying, Okay, God, transform my life.

I'm ready.

Transform my life.

But Jesus is still over here saying, You come this way and your life will transform.

You surrender and your life will transform.

You get involved, your life will transform.

You love the people of God and your life will transform.

He's never saying, wait there, just stay there.

I'll get I'll get to you eventually.

He's saying, follow me.

Come with me, and your life will change.

The third thing, you have to build your foundation solely on Jesus.

You know, when you're sitting in that chair, your foundation is on Jesus.

But it's still easy, just like the Colossians.

You know, some people wanted to make their foundation, well, you know, it's got to be about the uh the uh uh uh the Jewish feasts and festivals and all that stuff.

Got to do that too.

Your foundation is there.

No, it's not.

Your foundation is in this, your foundation is in that, your foundation has to be solely in Jesus and nothing else.

That means you're gonna submit every area of your life to the teaching of God's word.

It has to be solely on Jesus.

And here's the thing: all of that happens within the body of Christ.

Everything happens in the church.

You are not capable of growing as a believer to your full potential without the church.

And that's not a plea for perfect attendance, that is a biblical principle.

God designed it that way.

That you would grow by being part of this church.

And at Family Church, we have two things gonna help you get plugged in.

That's serving, the other is small groups.

Small groups are the discipleship part of our ministry, they're the discipleship part of our ministry, and and you are you are gonna grow, you're gonna be in a spiritual growth incubator when you join a small group.

Because nobody grows in isolation, everybody grows in community.

That's the way God designed it.

Spiritual growth happens in the context of relationships.

It's the word of God that changes you and the Holy Spirit that leads you, but that happens first in the context of relationships.

It doesn't happen when you are isolated and on your own.

God designed it that way.

And so, so I mentioned last week, you know, we're an amazing church.

We defy the statistics.

60% of our people are involved in serving, 60% of our people are involved in small groups.

That's awesome, but that means 40% of people are not connected to a group of people that are going to love them and encourage them and help them to grow spiritually.

40%.

So, my challenge to you today, if you've been part of this church for a while and you haven't connected with a small group yet, that's my challenge.

And and we make it as easy as possible to do that.

You know, you can you can join a group or you can start a group, and and we we kind of set the bar kind of low for starting a group.

You know, we don't we don't demand that you have you know hours of training and all this stuff.

We just feel like, hey, if you if you've got a Bible and two friends that want to grow and be like Jesus, you can start a group because you can study the Bible and talk about it together, and we'll equip you with with teaching and things like that.

But we make it pretty simple.

You know, I had my I I've told y'all this before.

My brother-in-law was a was a missionary in Albania, and he started churches with new believers, and they're thriving churches all over Eastern Europe now because he's he he equipped a new believer to lead a church.

You know, so if he can do that, we can do that with small groups because it's all about discovering who Jesus is and what he what he's done for your life and how you can serve him better.

So if you're not involved in a group, I want to encourage you today to make make take some steps towards getting involved in a group.

Um I believe on the screen behind me there is a uh a QR code.

You got a card when you came in, it's got the same QR code.

You can get you can go on that and just say, I'm interested in joining a group, I'm interested in starting a group, here's kind of what I'm looking for, here's any other comments you want to get you give us, and and we'll we'll look at that this week, and then we'll reach out and we'll help you find a group or start a group.

It's that important.

And and if you feel like, hey man, my my spiritual growth has kind of stalled or plateaued, I'm telling you, the group is the place to be.

Some of you might be here today and and and you're thinking, join a group.

I don't even I don't even know why I'm here, man.

I just came with a friend.

I just came to check out this whole Jesus thing.

If you're here today and you've never accepted Jesus, it is it is so simple.

And and I think if you're here today and you've never accepted Jesus, you're here today because today's the day you're supposed to accept Jesus.

God has a purpose in everything.

He's got a purpose in your being here today, and it might be that that today's the day you're gonna accept Christ.

And it's simple.

Jesus did all the hard work.

He died on the cross, was buried, rose again on the third day.

His blood was shed so that you can have forgiveness of your sin.

All you have to do is acknowledge and accept him.

So with every head bowed and every eye closed, if you're here today and you've never accepted Christ as your Savior, and today, and you want today to be the day?

It's as simple as this.

It's just it's just praying something like this.

You can repeat after me or pray it however, pray however you want to, but uh, it's just praying something like this and saying, Dear God, thank you for sending Jesus because I could never I could never earn eternal life on my own.

I could never deserve a home in heaven.

So, God, thank you for sending Christ to pay the price for my sin on the cross.

So today I trust in his death, burial, and resurrection for my salvation.

I trust in his shed blood for the forgiveness of my sin.

And today I choose to follow him.

And if you just prayed that, there's a promise in the scripture that says you have crossed from death into life, and that you have a home in heaven, and nothing can change that.

So I'd I'd love to pray for you if you prayed that today.

So just do me, do me a favor and just throw your hand up real fast.

Let me know that you prayed that, and I'll pray for you.

God, thank you so much for those that have uh raised their hand this morning.

Thank you, thank you for for Lord, everyone in this room that has accepted Christ, we are so grateful for what Jesus did on the cross so that we can have eternal life.

Because we could never earn it, we could never deserve it.

Lord, we all deserve death.

Because the wages of sin is death, and every one of us in here are sinners.

But God, Jesus took the price for our our sin and paid the price for our sin on the cross.

And we thank you for that.

If you're here today and and you kind of feel like, hey, you know, I I I've kind of stalled with my spiritual growth.

I'm, you know, I'm I I need I need to I need to get up and I need to I need to do what I need to do to transform.

And and if you're here today and and you're thinking, yeah, I probably need to find a group, I want to pray for you.

I want to pray that you'll find the right group, or if you're if you're willing to start a group, that you'll the the right people will come to you to to make this happen.

But uh, but if you're here today and you feel like, yeah, I I need I need to make that choice and get into a group, lift your hand so I can pray for you.

All right, God, thank you for those that raise their hand.

Lord, I pray that that you would would uh just the people that raise their hands, Lord, you would bring the right people to them that would help them to discover uh what it means to be part of a group and be part of a group of people that are committed to serving you and loving you, and and Lord, that that that we can have that Lord, that insulation that that keeps us uh protected from deception and protected from from uh the enemy.

And Lord, that that we can be encouraged and loved the way you've designed.

So, God, thank you for this church, Lord, as we move forward uh to become family church, Lord, I pray that you would just continue to bless us.

Lord, do amazing things.

Lord, I I just want to get to the end of this and go, this never would have happened unless God was involved.

I don't want that, I don't want anyone to look at anyone in this room.

I don't want anyone to look at me and say, look what John did.

I don't want anyone to say, look at our leadership team and say, look what they did, or our our our our staff and say, look what they did.

I want them to say, look at what God did.

So God, we just want to follow you and we just want to trust you to do amazing things with Family Church.

Lord, as as 3,000 new homes are built within a stone's throw of this place, Lord, I pray that you would use Family Church to reach them with the gospel and that people would get saved because family church is here and lives would be transformed because family church is right here.

God use us in a in a miraculous way.

Lord, thanks for every every person that's in this room today.

Thank you for the role that they play at Family Church.

And Lord, we just love you and we completely trust in you today.

And we ask all of this in Jesus' name.

Thanks for listening to Family Church's Sermon of the Week.

We pray this message encouraged you and helped you grow in your faith.

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You can learn more about Family Church at myfamilychurch.com.

If you are in the area, join us on Sunday mornings at 10 a.m.

We meet at Patriot High School 10504 Kittle Run Drive.