December 18, 2023 • 36 mins
Have you ever found yourself in a room full of people, yet felt a profound sense of isolation? This week at Community Church, we peel back the layers of loneliness and discover the importance of forging meaningful relationships. Our conversation takes us on a journey through the beloved holiday classic "Home Alone," where we uncover how the absence of genuine connections can amplify feelings of solitude, even in today's hyper-connected society. As we prepare our hearts for the Christmas season, we extend a warm invitation to all, especially newcomers, to our candlelight Christmas Eve services, promising an atmosphere of worship and togetherness that lights up the darkest nights.
This episode isn't just about listening; it's an invitation to engage with your faith community and recognize the transformative power of coming together. Drawing inspiration from Hebrews 10, we reinforce the biblical call to gather for mutual encouragement, exploring how 'Emmanuel'—God with us—isn't just a concept for personal solace but a collective experience of God's presence among us. As we look forward to reuniting with our church family, we eagerly anticipate sharing in the sacred tradition of Christmas Eve communion, and we give a sneak peek into the next event, Jumpstart Live, with hopes that we'll all be part of it if it's in the Lord's plan.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Well, what's up, family, welcome to Community
Church To those of you who areworshiping with us for the first
time.
Man, thank you for hanging outwith us this morning.
Sincerely appreciate you takingthe time to see what God is
doing at Community Church.
If this is your first timehanging out with us in our
worship service, man, go aheadand click that link in the
(00:24):
description.
Let us know you're here.
We love to say hello to thepeople who hang out with us for
the first time, not that wedon't say hello to everybody
else, but we especially love toknow that our first time
worshipers are in the building.
So click that link or scan thatQR code, man, let us know that
(00:44):
you were here.
If you are at one of ourin-person services right now, we
are currently in a seriescalled Christmas at the Movies
and we would love for you tojoin us next week at one of our
Christmas Eve services.
Now, our Christmas Eve serviceis going to be doing our regular
(01:07):
service times 8.30 in Slidel,10 o'clock on Highway 1085 and
11 am at our Columbia Streetcampus.
But bring your family, man,we're gonna have candlelight.
We're gonna celebrate communion.
It's gonna be just a fun feel,but at the same time, very
worshipful experience at allthree of our campuses.
(01:31):
We've been planning for it,we've been praying about it,
we've been anticipating whatGod's gonna do next week at our
Christmas Eve services and wecan't wait to see you there.
As I said, if you are in persontoday, we'll be wrapping up our
Christmas at the Movies series.
Well, pastor, why are we notdoing it online?
(01:52):
Because of copyright issues, wesimply cannot do that.
But hey, don't let that stopyou from sharing this video.
Don't let that stop you fromhitting that like button,
hitting that share button,sending this to somebody else,
because, just like God ismeeting us in our in-person
(02:13):
services, I believe that God'sgonna meet you right where you
are, right now, here online.
So let's pray and then dive into see what the Lord wants to
say to us.
Father, we thank you for whoyou are and I just pray for
everybody who's tuned in rightnow.
I ask, father, that you wouldtransform us, make us new Lord,
(02:35):
father, shape us into the peoplethat you want us to be.
Meet us, lord, right where weare.
Lord, I know somebody showed up, tuned in, looking for a word
from you, looking to hear fromyou.
Speak to them, let them takeone step closer to you.
We thank you and praise you.
Praise you in Jesus' name, amen.
(02:58):
Have you hit that share buttonyet?
Come on, man.
If you haven't done it, hitshare, come on.
Somebody needs to know what youare about to hear.
You know in-person, we're doingChristmas at the Movies, and
today Christmas at the Movies ison Home Alone.
And if you've been around sinceI don't know any time after the
(03:22):
mid, early 1990s, you know whatHome Alone is.
It's a movie about a boy namedKevin who, quite frankly, wishes
that his family would justdisappear.
The reason why he wishes theywould disappear is because he's
had several conflicts withdifferent members of the family.
(03:43):
Well, they're supposed to beflying out to France for
Christmas vacation and when hisolder sister did a head count,
one of the neighbor's kidsjumped into the head count and
they thought Kevin was accountedfor and he actually wasn't.
(04:05):
So they thought he was there,but they didn't realize Kevin
was nowhere to be found.
Kevin wakes up and realizes thatthe house is empty and his mind
, his family's presence makeshim miserable.
And now they're finally gone.
And so Kevin is like man partyover here.
(04:28):
He feels like his dream comestrue.
He literally says with a smileI made my family disappear.
Don't you feel like thatsometimes, don't you wish?
Come on, be honest with me,come on, come on, now, it's your
pastor.
Be honest, don't you sometimeswish that you could make your
(04:50):
family disappear?
At least they would all go away.
So what does Kevin do?
He does what any kid would do,right, he thinks his dreams come
true and he pretty much throwsa one-man party.
And you know, kevin thoughtthat he wanted to be left all
(05:13):
alone.
He thought that he wanted hisfamily to disappear.
But you know what Kevin foundout?
Kevin found out that being leftall alone wasn't all it was
cracked up to be.
And you know, some of us knowthat to be true, because there
was a time when we literallywanted to be left all alone.
(05:37):
And then we found out what it'slike to be lonely.
And when I say lonely, I don'tnecessarily even mean being
physically by yourself.
You see, loneliness doesn'tmean that I don't have people
around me necessarily, you know,because it's possible to be in
(05:58):
a room full of people and stillbe lonely.
You can be surrounded by acrowd and at the same time, feel
like nobody understands you.
Come on, you can be surroundedby people and still feel lonely
because you feel like nobodycares about you.
That's loneliness.
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It's feeling like, even thoughI might have people around me,
I'm not connected to anybody.
Loneliness is this feeling thatyou get.
It's a feeling of having likeno one to talk to, even though
your phone is full of contacts.
Come on, it's a feeling ofbeing cut off from the rest of
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the world, even though theentire world is at your
fingertips and despite all ofthe technology and despite all
of the social media and ways ofconnecting to other people,
studies show that loneliness isgrowing in our world more than
(07:04):
anything else.
Isn't that something?
All of the different ways thattechnology has given us to
connect to people?
We're growing more and morelonely.
It's a common ailment in themodern age, and there are more
people spending time alone,living alone.
There are more peopleexperiencing loneliness than
ever before, in spite of thefact that we have all these
(07:26):
different ways of connecting topeople.
One of the biggest lies I hearpeople say is as long as I got
God and myself, I'm going to beall right.
Yes, I said that's one of thebiggest lies that I ever hear
people say, pastor?
Why do you say that?
Because God said in Genesis 2,18, it is not good for man to be
(07:48):
alone.
In other words, god said I didnot create man to be by himself.
Author Larry Crab wrote no lie.
No lie is more often believedthan the lie that we can know
God without somebody elseknowing us.
See, god just doesn't want toknow the posture of your heart.
(08:12):
He wants to know who are thepeople in your arms.
In other words, who are youdemonstrating his love to and
who's demonstrating his love toyou?
Who are you connecting with?
Even God himself chose not to goat it alone.
He chose to exist in acommunity of the father, the son
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and the Holy Spirit.
And yet we live in a generationthat makes an idol out of the
very thing that God calls usaway from.
It's called independence.
God made you for relationships.
I believe that one of thebiggest mistakes we've made is
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forgetting what God says inGenesis that he didn't intend
for man to be alone, that it isnot good.
Not good for man to be alone.
He created us for relationships.
And too many people, quitehonestly, are trying to deny the
fact that God created us forrelationships and, as a result,
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we have a nation of strangerswho live in isolation,
especially when you're goingthrough something.
There's nothing like being byyourself when you're going
through it.
But can I tell you this, whenI'm a part of a group of people,
when I'm connected to otherpeople, when I'm not out there
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on my own, when I'm not a loneranger, when I'm not by myself,
there's nothing like havingother people to lean on, to lean
into when I'm really goingthrough.
Proverbs 17,.
17 says this says a friendloves at all times and a brother
is born for adversity.
(10:03):
You know, in the movie Kevinthought he wanted to be alone
but you know he found out therewere a couple of robbers, a
couple of guys who were goingaround looking for easy prey,
and when they figured out theywere by, he was by himself.
They looked at him and theysaid you know what?
There it is, there's the easypickings.
First, peter five and eighttells us this.
It says be alert and of sobermind.
(10:26):
Your enemy, the devil, prowlsaround like a roaring lion, lion
looking for someone to devour.
You know, if you ever looked athow predators attack, they
usually look for easy prey.
They look for prey that'swandered off from the herd to
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prey that doesn't have anybodyor any other animals around to
help out.
It's amazing that the Biblecompares Satan to a lion, in
other words a predator, and itsays he's prowling around.
If Satan is prowling aroundlooking for prey, what kind of
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prey do you think he's lookingfor?
He's looking for easy prey,prey that's not connected to a
herd, prey that's not connectedto other people.
That's why God told us inHebrews 1024,.
He says and let us consider howwe may spur one another on
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toward love in good deeds.
Here's the key not giving upmeeting together.
Not giving up meeting together.
He says let us consider how wemay spur one another on,
encourage one another on, pushone another on.
The picture there is ofsomebody who kind of gets stuck
(11:54):
because of circumstances, wholoses their motivation.
And he says let us figure outways to motivate one another, to
encourage one another, to pushone another on towards where
we're supposed to be going.
And then he says here's the keynot giving up meeting together,
(12:18):
as some are in the habit ofdoing.
The key to it is making surethat you get together.
God wants us to stand together.
He wants us to be there for oneanother.
He's designed our lives anddistinct in such a way that when
the enemy comes to attack oneof us, we all stand together and
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fight for one another.
You don't do it alone.
Listen, listen, listen, listen.
You don't do it alone.
You don't do it alone, you, you, listen.
God didn't design this thing insuch a way that you would hurt
alone.
I know I'm speaking to somebodyright now because you're
(13:03):
hurting and you don't want to bearound anybody.
The enemies told you to isolateyourself.
That's the reason why you'rewatching online.
That's the reason why you're atyour house in darkness watching
this online, because the enemyhas done a great job of telling
(13:24):
you stay away from other people.
Deal with this by yourself.
I know I'm talking to somebody.
Listen, I want to encourage you.
You don't have to hurt alone.
That's the reason why you're sopassionate about this.
The reason why I'm sopassionate about it is because
I've been there and I know thatwhen I was alone and all by
(13:50):
myself and I was going throughit, I know the field day that my
spiritual enemy had with mymind Because I shut everybody
out.
I didn't have anybody to speaktruth to my life.
I didn't have anybody toencourage me.
I didn't have anybody to helpme fight the attacks of the
(14:12):
enemy.
I didn't have anybody to liftme up when I was feeling down.
I was in it all by myself.
Listen, god didn't intend foryou to do that.
He didn't intend for you to gothrough hurt alone.
He didn't intend for you tofight sickness alone.
Listen to me.
(14:33):
God did not intend for you togrieve by yourself.
God did not intend for you togrow through the valley by
yourself.
God did not intend for you todeal with your relational
battles by yourself.
(14:54):
That's not what he intended Forsome of us.
Listen.
For some of us, there's nothingwrong.
That being with a connectedgroup of life-giving believers
won't help.
You got to hear me.
Let me say this to you myonline audience Listen to me.
(15:15):
I love you.
I thank God for you.
I thank God for the fact that,and I'm humbled by the fact that
you faithfully and consistentlytune in to hear what God has to
say through Paston A.
I thank the Lord for it, but Ineed you to hear me, okay, and
(15:37):
hear my heart and know that it'scoming from a position of love.
I want to say this to you beingonline does not do for you with
gathering with other believersin the house of God will do for
you.
It doesn't give you theconnection, it does not fill you
(16:01):
up.
There is a difference betweenwatching the service and being a
part of the service.
I'm going to say it again thereis a difference between
watching the service and being apart of the service.
Watching the service is a goodalternative when you have to do
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it, but for some of us listen tome, good, you're vulnerable
right now.
You're hurting, you're goingthrough a lot.
Life has dealt you some stuffthat in your mind you would
never have to go through.
There's been some things thathave hit you that you didn't see
coming.
(16:46):
Some of us were spirituallyslipping.
We're not where we once werewhen it comes to the things of
God and our spiritual walk withHim.
The reason why is because, whenit comes to our worship, we're
forsaking the assembly, theassembling of ourselves together
with other like-mindedbelievers.
(17:07):
That's why, in our passage inHebrews, chapter 10, god tells
us, he tells us.
He says listen, don't give upmeeting together.
Don't give up meeting together.
Don't give up meeting together.
He says that's some in thehabit of doing, but notice what
(17:28):
he connects it to.
He says don't give up meetingtogether, as some are in the
habit of doing.
He says, but encouraging oneanother.
See, the question I would havefor you is who are you
encouraging and who'sencouraging you?
Matthew 1 and 23.
(17:53):
The Bible says the virgin willconceive and give birth to a son
, and they will call himEmmanuel, which means God with
us.
Listen, I want you to noticesomething.
It says God with us, not Godwith me.
(18:19):
I need you to understand thisthat God intended that.
God designed that.
God structured yourrelationship with him in such a
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way that it will be lived outwith other people who are in
relationship with him.
It says the virgin willconceive and give birth to a son
, and they will call himEmmanuel, which means God with
us.
Now watch this.
(19:02):
In the Old Testament, god wouldsay I'm with you.
And in the Old Testament, whenGod said I am with you, what
that meant was I'm on your side.
What that meant was I'm for you.
What that meant was we wouldsay I got your back.
And it meant a lot.
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I mean, even back then in theOld Testament, there was the
difference between victory anddefeat.
Back then in the Old Testament,just like now, god with you,
was the difference betweenprovision and lack.
When God said I'm with youdon't misunderstand me and meant
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the whole lot.
But the reason why we celebrateChristmas is because in the New
Testament God was not satisfiedto simply be with us in the
sense that he was on our side.
It means that Jesus came tophysically be with us.
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That's why God said his nameshall be called Emmanuel.
We celebrate what John one saysIn the beginning was the word,
and the word was with God.
The word was God.
But then it says this Godwasn't satisfied with the word,
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ie Jesus Christ being with him.
It says and the word becameflesh and dwelt among us.
So what is Christmas?
Christmas is that time when Godcame to dwell among us in the
person of Jesus.
He wasn't just on our sideanymore, like in the Old
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Testament.
He didn't just have our back.
Like in the Old Testament Godsaid no, I know that I don't
have to, but I love them so muchthat I have to leave heaven and
go be with him.
I have to leave heaven and golive life with him.
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And then he physically came toearth in the person of Jesus.
But that still wasn't goodenough for him.
He says I want to be with him,not just on this side, in the
sense that I have their back, orin the sense that I provide for
them when they need it, or inthe sense that I give them
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victory when they need it, orthat I help them through the
valley.
No, that's not if I'm reallygoing to be with them like I
want.
I don't want to just be ontheir team.
That's not close enough.
I don't want to just be on theearth.
That's not close enough for me.
So I am going to go, first inthe person of Jesus, then in the
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form of a helper.
Lord, have mercy, name the Holyspirit.
Now, not only can I be on thisside and not only can I be there
in their physical presence, butI'm going to send my spirit,
after Jesus leaves the earth, tolive in their hearts.
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I want to be that close to himso that, no matter where they
are, I'm with them.
And what I want to remindsomebody who's watching from
your sick bed is that he's withyou.
I want to remind somebody who'swatching, not just in darkness
(22:50):
in your house, but you've gotdarkness in your soul, you've
got darkness in your mind.
You've got darkness in yourheart because of the valleys
that you've been traversinglately.
I want to remind you that, eventhough it may not feel like it,
he's with you.
To the senior citizen who'slonely at home, can I tell you
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this?
Can I tell you that God is withyou?
If you're facing unemployment,your provider is with you.
You don't have to fear.
You are not in this alone.
God has not abandoned you, andthe reason why we celebrate
Christmas is because he just hadto be with you.
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Can I tell you this?
Everything you need is in him.
I want to speak to somebodythis morning who's going through
a trial right now.
If you tuned in today and youwould say Pastor, man, I'm
struggling, I tuned in todaybecause I'm looking for answers.
(23:54):
I need answers.
I need answers.
Pastor, I want you to know thatwhatever you're looking for,
you can receive exactly what youneed from the Lord, his answers
that you need.
God will give it to you.
May not be the answer thatyou're looking for, but God will
give you answers.
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Bible says that there's nohardship, there's no trouble,
there's no peril, there's nofamine, there's no sword, not
nakedness.
Everything can separate youfrom the love of God that is in
Christ Jesus.
I need you to know that he wasnot satisfied to be by your side
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.
People say the Lord is on yourside.
No, that's not close enough.
Emmanuel, god with us, becausehe wants to live in your heart.
Come on and pray with me.
Father, thank you for the factthat you never leave us.
You're never forsaken.
For the fact that you were notsatisfied, lord, to be in heaven
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at a distance.
You were not even satisfied,lord, to come and live
physically on this earth.
Thank you for the fact that yousacrificed your life so that
you can live in our hearts.
In Jesus' name, listen to me,hear me clearly.
You know what Christmas isabout.
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It's about the fact that Godsent Jesus, emmanuel God, with
us, who was without sin, who wasperfect, to die on the cross so
that he could live in ourhearts To pay the penalty for
our sins.
You see, sin separates us fromGod.
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He can't have anything to dowith it.
And we were in this situationwhere we can't help it because
we were born into sin.
We had this propensity, thisnature to sin, and God says I
got to do something about thisbecause I want a relationship
with them.
So God sent Jesus.
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And Jesus didn't sin.
He was God in the flesh.
He lived the perfect life, godsaid there it is.
He says you know what I'm goingto do.
I'm going to sacrifice my life,my perfect life, for their sins
.
And he died on the cross sothat anybody who called on His
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name would be forgiven, would betransformed.
God Himself would come to livein their hearts.
They would be adopted into thefamily of God by accepting Jesus
Christ, be spirituallyconnected to Him.
You would say to me man, pastor,I need that.
I need God living in my heart.
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I need those answers.
I need Him with me in mybattles.
I need Him with me when I gothrough things.
I need Him with me in thevalley.
I need to know that when I die,I'm going to heaven because my
sins are forgiven.
I need this relationship withGod.
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I need that.
I don't fully understand it, Idon't fully get it, but I feel
real impressed that it's what Ineed.
Listen to me.
This is your day, this is yourtime.
This moment right here is thereason why God had you tuned
into this video.
This moment right here is thereason why you didn't keep
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scrolling.
This is it right here.
This is your time to meet Him.
This is your time to beforgiven.
That's the how, how, how, howdo I get forgiven?
I need His grace, I need Hismercy, I need His presence, I
need His forgiveness.
How do I get it?
You repeat this prayer after me.
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This is what you say dear Lord,come on, say it right now.
Don't wait.
Satan's going to tell you notto say it.
But say it right now.
Don't say dear Lord, today I'maccepting you as my Lord and
Savior.
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I know that I'm a sinner, but Ialso believe you died for my
sins and I'm asking you to beLord of my life.
Come on, tell the Lord, tellHim please come into my heart,
(28:44):
call me with your Holy Spirit sothat I can be who you want me
to be.
Tell Him thank you for savingme today and for giving me
eternal life.
In Jesus' name, I pray amen andamen.
Listen to me If you just prayedthat prayer, you are now a
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member of the family of God.
You now have a relationshipwith Jesus Christ.
Man, I can't tell you howexcited I am for you.
I can't even begin to tell youhow awesome, how amazing it is
that Jesus now lives in yourheart, pastor.
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It happened just like thatHappened.
Just like that Happened justlike that.
Well, I don't feel likeanything's changed.
Pastor, listen, sometimes youfeel like something's changed.
Sometimes that doesn't happenright away.
Here's what will happen.
We will tell you how to getstarted on the path to living
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like and understanding thedecision that you made.
Pastor, I need that.
I need somebody to walk methrough it.
I need somebody to guide me.
I need somebody to show me.
Here's what you're going to doYou're going to text the word
LIFE to 985-260-8411, or you'regoing to click on the link that
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says I accepted Christ.
Either one, we're going toreach out to you and let you
know what the next step is andhelp you understand the decision
that you've made.
Man, listen, I wouldn't want togive my life to anything else
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except helping people into thekingdom of God.
Why, pastor?
Because I know that there's nogreater investment that you can
make than helping people moveinto eternity, knowing for a
fact that they're going to livewith Jesus in paradise.
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I know that there's no hopethat's greater than the hope
that we receive when we come toknow Jesus Christ.
I know that there's nothingthat changes and impacts lives
more than a relationship withJesus Christ.
I wouldn't want to give my time, my money, my talent to
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anything else.
What greater investment couldyou make?
Come on, I want to ask you, Iwant to employ you, I want to
encourage you, I want to tellyou to join me in investing in
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the kingdom of God.
There are many other things, ofcourse, in this season that you
could be investing your time,talent and treasure in.
There are all kinds ofopportunities to invest our
money, to invest our time and toinvest other things.
Listen to me, there's nogreater investment that you can
make.
God says when you invest in mystuff, not only do you get
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blessed, but other people getblessed.
When you invest in my stuff,not only do you get blessed, but
you bless other people byhelping them to realize that
there's no greater life thanliving life with the person of
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Jesus Christ.
Listen, and a great place toinvest in the kingdom of
business is that communitychurch.
We are about the business ofwinning people to Jesus.
We are about the business ofhelping people to realize that
there's no greater life thanliving life with Jesus Christ.
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You know that.
That's why you tune in everyweek.
Help us reach more people forJesus Christ.
For those of you who are membersof the community church family,
you know that what we do is wetime Give 10% of everything that
God blesses us with to thekingdom, and we invested that
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community church.
Why do y'all do that, pastor?
Because we believe that 10% isthe starting point.
In the Old Testament, godcommanded to bring 10% of your
increase to his temple.
He commanded 10%.
In the New Testament, we don'tsee 10%.
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What we see is generous,sacrificial gift, and so what we
say is 10% is the startingpoint and for many of us at
community church, we are alreadybeyond that 10%.
We give more than that.
Why?
Why would y'all give more thanwhat's required, pastor?
Because we've seen God pour itback into our lives with good
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measure pressed down, shakentogether and running over.
And if you want to experiencethe blessings of God like you've
never seen before on your lifeand your finances, I dare you to
try.
I dare you to test it.
I dare you to invest in thiskingdom.
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Pastor, how do I invest incommunity church?
There are a number of ways youcan do that.
You can go to communitychcomand click the giving option.
You can also mail it in to oneof our three campuses, or you
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can do it like I do and set itup through your bank, where it
automatically comes out and thekingdom of God will be blessed
by.
I want to say thank you so muchto all of you for joining us
this morning.
If I don't see you, if I don'ttalk to you, I want to tell you
Merry Christmas, happy Holidays,but I really hope to see you
next week at our Christmas Evecandlelight service, you and all
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of your children, and for thoseof you who are members of the
community church family, some ofwhom I have not seen in quite a
while, I want you to do as theBible says Jesus told the lepers
to do come, show yourself toyour priests.
Your pastor wants to see you atour Christmas Eve
candlelighting service.
Regular service times 830 inSlot El 10 on Highway 1085 and
(35:54):
11 o'clock on our ColumbiaStreet Campus.
I can't wait to see you.
God bless each and every one ofyou.
Hit that share button.
Share this video.
Share this video.
Share this video and if it'sthe Lord's will, I'll see you
tomorrow morning for JumpstartLive.
Well, what's up, family, welcome to Community
Church To those of you who areworshiping with us for the first
time.
Man, thank you for hanging outwith us this morning.
Sincerely appreciate you takingthe time to see what God is
doing at Community Church.
If this is your first timehanging out with us in our
worship service, man, go aheadand click that link in the
(00:24):
description.
Let us know you're here.
We love to say hello to thepeople who hang out with us for
the first time, not that wedon't say hello to everybody
else, but we especially love toknow that our first time
worshipers are in the building.
So click that link or scan thatQR code, man, let us know that
(00:44):
you were here.
If you are at one of ourin-person services right now, we
are currently in a seriescalled Christmas at the Movies
and we would love for you tojoin us next week at one of our
Christmas Eve services.
Now, our Christmas Eve serviceis going to be doing our regular
(01:07):
service times 8.30 in Slidel,10 o'clock on Highway 1085 and
11 am at our Columbia Streetcampus.
But bring your family, man,we're gonna have candlelight.
We're gonna celebrate communion.
It's gonna be just a fun feel,but at the same time, very
worshipful experience at allthree of our campuses.
(01:31):
We've been planning for it,we've been praying about it,
we've been anticipating whatGod's gonna do next week at our
Christmas Eve services and wecan't wait to see you there.
As I said, if you are in persontoday, we'll be wrapping up our
Christmas at the Movies series.
Well, pastor, why are we notdoing it online?
(01:52):
Because of copyright issues, wesimply cannot do that.
But hey, don't let that stopyou from sharing this video.
Don't let that stop you fromhitting that like button,
hitting that share button,sending this to somebody else,
because, just like God ismeeting us in our in-person
(02:13):
services, I believe that God'sgonna meet you right where you
are, right now, here online.
So let's pray and then dive into see what the Lord wants to
say to us.
Father, we thank you for whoyou are and I just pray for
everybody who's tuned in rightnow.
I ask, father, that you wouldtransform us, make us new Lord,
(02:35):
father, shape us into the peoplethat you want us to be.
Meet us, lord, right where weare.
Lord, I know somebody showed up, tuned in, looking for a word
from you, looking to hear fromyou.
Speak to them, let them takeone step closer to you.
We thank you and praise you.
Praise you in Jesus' name, amen.
(02:58):
Have you hit that share buttonyet?
Come on, man.
If you haven't done it, hitshare, come on.
Somebody needs to know what youare about to hear.
You know in-person, we're doingChristmas at the Movies, and
today Christmas at the Movies ison Home Alone.
And if you've been around sinceI don't know any time after the
(03:22):
mid, early 1990s, you know whatHome Alone is.
It's a movie about a boy namedKevin who, quite frankly, wishes
that his family would justdisappear.
The reason why he wishes theywould disappear is because he's
had several conflicts withdifferent members of the family.
(03:43):
Well, they're supposed to beflying out to France for
Christmas vacation and when hisolder sister did a head count,
one of the neighbor's kidsjumped into the head count and
they thought Kevin was accountedfor and he actually wasn't.
(04:05):
So they thought he was there,but they didn't realize Kevin
was nowhere to be found.
Kevin wakes up and realizes thatthe house is empty and his mind
, his family's presence makeshim miserable.
And now they're finally gone.
And so Kevin is like man partyover here.
(04:28):
He feels like his dream comestrue.
He literally says with a smileI made my family disappear.
Don't you feel like thatsometimes, don't you wish?
Come on, be honest with me,come on, come on, now, it's your
pastor.
Be honest, don't you sometimeswish that you could make your
(04:50):
family disappear?
At least they would all go away.
So what does Kevin do?
He does what any kid would do,right, he thinks his dreams come
true and he pretty much throwsa one-man party.
And you know, kevin thoughtthat he wanted to be left all
(05:13):
alone.
He thought that he wanted hisfamily to disappear.
But you know what Kevin foundout?
Kevin found out that being leftall alone wasn't all it was
cracked up to be.
And you know, some of us knowthat to be true, because there
was a time when we literallywanted to be left all alone.
(05:37):
And then we found out what it'slike to be lonely.
And when I say lonely, I don'tnecessarily even mean being
physically by yourself.
You see, loneliness doesn'tmean that I don't have people
around me necessarily, you know,because it's possible to be in
(05:58):
a room full of people and stillbe lonely.
You can be surrounded by acrowd and at the same time, feel
like nobody understands you.
Come on, you can be surroundedby people and still feel lonely
because you feel like nobodycares about you.
That's loneliness.
(06:19):
It's feeling like, even thoughI might have people around me,
I'm not connected to anybody.
Loneliness is this feeling thatyou get.
It's a feeling of having likeno one to talk to, even though
your phone is full of contacts.
Come on, it's a feeling ofbeing cut off from the rest of
(06:42):
the world, even though theentire world is at your
fingertips and despite all ofthe technology and despite all
of the social media and ways ofconnecting to other people,
studies show that loneliness isgrowing in our world more than
(07:04):
anything else.
Isn't that something?
All of the different ways thattechnology has given us to
connect to people?
We're growing more and morelonely.
It's a common ailment in themodern age, and there are more
people spending time alone,living alone.
There are more peopleexperiencing loneliness than
ever before, in spite of thefact that we have all these
(07:26):
different ways of connecting topeople.
One of the biggest lies I hearpeople say is as long as I got
God and myself, I'm going to beall right.
Yes, I said that's one of thebiggest lies that I ever hear
people say, pastor?
Why do you say that?
Because God said in Genesis 2,18, it is not good for man to be
(07:48):
alone.
In other words, god said I didnot create man to be by himself.
Author Larry Crab wrote no lie.
No lie is more often believedthan the lie that we can know
God without somebody elseknowing us.
See, god just doesn't want toknow the posture of your heart.
(08:12):
He wants to know who are thepeople in your arms.
In other words, who are youdemonstrating his love to and
who's demonstrating his love toyou?
Who are you connecting with?
Even God himself chose not to goat it alone.
He chose to exist in acommunity of the father, the son
(08:36):
and the Holy Spirit.
And yet we live in a generationthat makes an idol out of the
very thing that God calls usaway from.
It's called independence.
God made you for relationships.
I believe that one of thebiggest mistakes we've made is
(08:57):
forgetting what God says inGenesis that he didn't intend
for man to be alone, that it isnot good.
Not good for man to be alone.
He created us for relationships.
And too many people, quitehonestly, are trying to deny the
fact that God created us forrelationships and, as a result,
(09:21):
we have a nation of strangerswho live in isolation,
especially when you're goingthrough something.
There's nothing like being byyourself when you're going
through it.
But can I tell you this, whenI'm a part of a group of people,
when I'm connected to otherpeople, when I'm not out there
(09:41):
on my own, when I'm not a loneranger, when I'm not by myself,
there's nothing like havingother people to lean on, to lean
into when I'm really goingthrough.
Proverbs 17,.
17 says this says a friendloves at all times and a brother
is born for adversity.
(10:03):
You know, in the movie Kevinthought he wanted to be alone
but you know he found out therewere a couple of robbers, a
couple of guys who were goingaround looking for easy prey,
and when they figured out theywere by, he was by himself.
They looked at him and theysaid you know what?
There it is, there's the easypickings.
First, peter five and eighttells us this.
It says be alert and of sobermind.
(10:26):
Your enemy, the devil, prowlsaround like a roaring lion, lion
looking for someone to devour.
You know, if you ever looked athow predators attack, they
usually look for easy prey.
They look for prey that'swandered off from the herd to
(10:46):
prey that doesn't have anybodyor any other animals around to
help out.
It's amazing that the Biblecompares Satan to a lion, in
other words a predator, and itsays he's prowling around.
If Satan is prowling aroundlooking for prey, what kind of
(11:07):
prey do you think he's lookingfor?
He's looking for easy prey,prey that's not connected to a
herd, prey that's not connectedto other people.
That's why God told us inHebrews 1024,.
He says and let us consider howwe may spur one another on
(11:28):
toward love in good deeds.
Here's the key not giving upmeeting together.
Not giving up meeting together.
He says let us consider how wemay spur one another on,
encourage one another on, pushone another on.
The picture there is ofsomebody who kind of gets stuck
(11:54):
because of circumstances, wholoses their motivation.
And he says let us figure outways to motivate one another, to
encourage one another, to pushone another on towards where
we're supposed to be going.
And then he says here's the keynot giving up meeting together,
(12:18):
as some are in the habit ofdoing.
The key to it is making surethat you get together.
God wants us to stand together.
He wants us to be there for oneanother.
He's designed our lives anddistinct in such a way that when
the enemy comes to attack oneof us, we all stand together and
(12:39):
fight for one another.
You don't do it alone.
Listen, listen, listen, listen.
You don't do it alone.
You don't do it alone, you, you, listen.
God didn't design this thing insuch a way that you would hurt
alone.
I know I'm speaking to somebodyright now because you're
(13:03):
hurting and you don't want to bearound anybody.
The enemies told you to isolateyourself.
That's the reason why you'rewatching online.
That's the reason why you're atyour house in darkness watching
this online, because the enemyhas done a great job of telling
(13:24):
you stay away from other people.
Deal with this by yourself.
I know I'm talking to somebody.
Listen, I want to encourage you.
You don't have to hurt alone.
That's the reason why you're sopassionate about this.
The reason why I'm sopassionate about it is because
I've been there and I know thatwhen I was alone and all by
(13:50):
myself and I was going throughit, I know the field day that my
spiritual enemy had with mymind Because I shut everybody
out.
I didn't have anybody to speaktruth to my life.
I didn't have anybody toencourage me.
I didn't have anybody to helpme fight the attacks of the
(14:12):
enemy.
I didn't have anybody to liftme up when I was feeling down.
I was in it all by myself.
Listen, god didn't intend foryou to do that.
He didn't intend for you to gothrough hurt alone.
He didn't intend for you tofight sickness alone.
Listen to me.
(14:33):
God did not intend for you togrieve by yourself.
God did not intend for you togrow through the valley by
yourself.
God did not intend for you todeal with your relational
battles by yourself.
(14:54):
That's not what he intended Forsome of us.
Listen.
For some of us, there's nothingwrong.
That being with a connectedgroup of life-giving believers
won't help.
You got to hear me.
Let me say this to you myonline audience Listen to me.
(15:15):
I love you.
I thank God for you.
I thank God for the fact that,and I'm humbled by the fact that
you faithfully and consistentlytune in to hear what God has to
say through Paston A.
I thank the Lord for it, but Ineed you to hear me, okay, and
(15:37):
hear my heart and know that it'scoming from a position of love.
I want to say this to you beingonline does not do for you with
gathering with other believersin the house of God will do for
you.
It doesn't give you theconnection, it does not fill you
(16:01):
up.
There is a difference betweenwatching the service and being a
part of the service.
I'm going to say it again thereis a difference between
watching the service and being apart of the service.
Watching the service is a goodalternative when you have to do
(16:24):
it, but for some of us listen tome, good, you're vulnerable
right now.
You're hurting, you're goingthrough a lot.
Life has dealt you some stuffthat in your mind you would
never have to go through.
There's been some things thathave hit you that you didn't see
coming.
(16:46):
Some of us were spirituallyslipping.
We're not where we once werewhen it comes to the things of
God and our spiritual walk withHim.
The reason why is because, whenit comes to our worship, we're
forsaking the assembly, theassembling of ourselves together
with other like-mindedbelievers.
(17:07):
That's why, in our passage inHebrews, chapter 10, god tells
us, he tells us.
He says listen, don't give upmeeting together.
Don't give up meeting together.
Don't give up meeting together.
He says that's some in thehabit of doing, but notice what
(17:28):
he connects it to.
He says don't give up meetingtogether, as some are in the
habit of doing.
He says, but encouraging oneanother.
See, the question I would havefor you is who are you
encouraging and who'sencouraging you?
Matthew 1 and 23.
(17:53):
The Bible says the virgin willconceive and give birth to a son
, and they will call himEmmanuel, which means God with
us.
Listen, I want you to noticesomething.
It says God with us, not Godwith me.
(18:19):
I need you to understand thisthat God intended that.
God designed that.
God structured yourrelationship with him in such a
(18:41):
way that it will be lived outwith other people who are in
relationship with him.
It says the virgin willconceive and give birth to a son
, and they will call himEmmanuel, which means God with
us.
Now watch this.
(19:02):
In the Old Testament, god wouldsay I'm with you.
And in the Old Testament, whenGod said I am with you, what
that meant was I'm on your side.
What that meant was I'm for you.
What that meant was we wouldsay I got your back.
And it meant a lot.
(19:24):
I mean, even back then in theOld Testament, there was the
difference between victory anddefeat.
Back then in the Old Testament,just like now, god with you,
was the difference betweenprovision and lack.
When God said I'm with youdon't misunderstand me and meant
(19:46):
the whole lot.
But the reason why we celebrateChristmas is because in the New
Testament God was not satisfiedto simply be with us in the
sense that he was on our side.
It means that Jesus came tophysically be with us.
(20:12):
That's why God said his nameshall be called Emmanuel.
We celebrate what John one saysIn the beginning was the word,
and the word was with God.
The word was God.
But then it says this Godwasn't satisfied with the word,
(20:38):
ie Jesus Christ being with him.
It says and the word becameflesh and dwelt among us.
So what is Christmas?
Christmas is that time when Godcame to dwell among us in the
person of Jesus.
He wasn't just on our sideanymore, like in the Old
(21:02):
Testament.
He didn't just have our back.
Like in the Old Testament Godsaid no, I know that I don't
have to, but I love them so muchthat I have to leave heaven and
go be with him.
I have to leave heaven and golive life with him.
(21:23):
And then he physically came toearth in the person of Jesus.
But that still wasn't goodenough for him.
He says I want to be with him,not just on this side, in the
sense that I have their back, orin the sense that I provide for
them when they need it, or inthe sense that I give them
(21:44):
victory when they need it, orthat I help them through the
valley.
No, that's not if I'm reallygoing to be with them like I
want.
I don't want to just be ontheir team.
That's not close enough.
I don't want to just be on theearth.
That's not close enough for me.
So I am going to go, first inthe person of Jesus, then in the
(22:09):
form of a helper.
Lord, have mercy, name the Holyspirit.
Now, not only can I be on thisside and not only can I be there
in their physical presence, butI'm going to send my spirit,
after Jesus leaves the earth, tolive in their hearts.
(22:29):
I want to be that close to himso that, no matter where they
are, I'm with them.
And what I want to remindsomebody who's watching from
your sick bed is that he's withyou.
I want to remind somebody who'swatching, not just in darkness
(22:50):
in your house, but you've gotdarkness in your soul, you've
got darkness in your mind.
You've got darkness in yourheart because of the valleys
that you've been traversinglately.
I want to remind you that, eventhough it may not feel like it,
he's with you.
To the senior citizen who'slonely at home, can I tell you
(23:12):
this?
Can I tell you that God is withyou?
If you're facing unemployment,your provider is with you.
You don't have to fear.
You are not in this alone.
God has not abandoned you, andthe reason why we celebrate
Christmas is because he just hadto be with you.
(23:33):
Can I tell you this?
Everything you need is in him.
I want to speak to somebodythis morning who's going through
a trial right now.
If you tuned in today and youwould say Pastor, man, I'm
struggling, I tuned in todaybecause I'm looking for answers.
(23:54):
I need answers.
I need answers.
Pastor, I want you to know thatwhatever you're looking for,
you can receive exactly what youneed from the Lord, his answers
that you need.
God will give it to you.
May not be the answer thatyou're looking for, but God will
give you answers.
(24:16):
Bible says that there's nohardship, there's no trouble,
there's no peril, there's nofamine, there's no sword, not
nakedness.
Everything can separate youfrom the love of God that is in
Christ Jesus.
I need you to know that he wasnot satisfied to be by your side
(24:38):
.
People say the Lord is on yourside.
No, that's not close enough.
Emmanuel, god with us, becausehe wants to live in your heart.
Come on and pray with me.
Father, thank you for the factthat you never leave us.
You're never forsaken.
For the fact that you were notsatisfied, lord, to be in heaven
(25:05):
at a distance.
You were not even satisfied,lord, to come and live
physically on this earth.
Thank you for the fact that yousacrificed your life so that
you can live in our hearts.
In Jesus' name, listen to me,hear me clearly.
You know what Christmas isabout.
(25:29):
It's about the fact that Godsent Jesus, emmanuel God, with
us, who was without sin, who wasperfect, to die on the cross so
that he could live in ourhearts To pay the penalty for
our sins.
You see, sin separates us fromGod.
(25:50):
He can't have anything to dowith it.
And we were in this situationwhere we can't help it because
we were born into sin.
We had this propensity, thisnature to sin, and God says I
got to do something about thisbecause I want a relationship
with them.
So God sent Jesus.
(26:13):
And Jesus didn't sin.
He was God in the flesh.
He lived the perfect life, godsaid there it is.
He says you know what I'm goingto do.
I'm going to sacrifice my life,my perfect life, for their sins
.
And he died on the cross sothat anybody who called on His
(26:38):
name would be forgiven, would betransformed.
God Himself would come to livein their hearts.
They would be adopted into thefamily of God by accepting Jesus
Christ, be spirituallyconnected to Him.
You would say to me man, pastor,I need that.
I need God living in my heart.
(26:58):
I need those answers.
I need Him with me in mybattles.
I need Him with me when I gothrough things.
I need Him with me in thevalley.
I need to know that when I die,I'm going to heaven because my
sins are forgiven.
I need this relationship withGod.
(27:19):
I need that.
I don't fully understand it, Idon't fully get it, but I feel
real impressed that it's what Ineed.
Listen to me.
This is your day, this is yourtime.
This moment right here is thereason why God had you tuned
into this video.
This moment right here is thereason why you didn't keep
(27:41):
scrolling.
This is it right here.
This is your time to meet Him.
This is your time to beforgiven.
That's the how, how, how, howdo I get forgiven?
I need His grace, I need Hismercy, I need His presence, I
need His forgiveness.
How do I get it?
You repeat this prayer after me.
(28:02):
This is what you say dear Lord,come on, say it right now.
Don't wait.
Satan's going to tell you notto say it.
But say it right now.
Don't say dear Lord, today I'maccepting you as my Lord and
Savior.
(28:23):
I know that I'm a sinner, but Ialso believe you died for my
sins and I'm asking you to beLord of my life.
Come on, tell the Lord, tellHim please come into my heart,
(28:44):
call me with your Holy Spirit sothat I can be who you want me
to be.
Tell Him thank you for savingme today and for giving me
eternal life.
In Jesus' name, I pray amen andamen.
Listen to me If you just prayedthat prayer, you are now a
(29:09):
member of the family of God.
You now have a relationshipwith Jesus Christ.
Man, I can't tell you howexcited I am for you.
I can't even begin to tell youhow awesome, how amazing it is
that Jesus now lives in yourheart, pastor.
(29:29):
It happened just like thatHappened.
Just like that Happened justlike that.
Well, I don't feel likeanything's changed.
Pastor, listen, sometimes youfeel like something's changed.
Sometimes that doesn't happenright away.
Here's what will happen.
We will tell you how to getstarted on the path to living
(29:55):
like and understanding thedecision that you made.
Pastor, I need that.
I need somebody to walk methrough it.
I need somebody to guide me.
I need somebody to show me.
Here's what you're going to doYou're going to text the word
LIFE to 985-260-8411, or you'regoing to click on the link that
(30:21):
says I accepted Christ.
Either one, we're going toreach out to you and let you
know what the next step is andhelp you understand the decision
that you've made.
Man, listen, I wouldn't want togive my life to anything else
(30:44):
except helping people into thekingdom of God.
Why, pastor?
Because I know that there's nogreater investment that you can
make than helping people moveinto eternity, knowing for a
fact that they're going to livewith Jesus in paradise.
(31:06):
I know that there's no hopethat's greater than the hope
that we receive when we come toknow Jesus Christ.
I know that there's nothingthat changes and impacts lives
more than a relationship withJesus Christ.
I wouldn't want to give my time, my money, my talent to
(31:30):
anything else.
What greater investment couldyou make?
Come on, I want to ask you, Iwant to employ you, I want to
encourage you, I want to tellyou to join me in investing in
(31:56):
the kingdom of God.
There are many other things, ofcourse, in this season that you
could be investing your time,talent and treasure in.
There are all kinds ofopportunities to invest our
money, to invest our time and toinvest other things.
Listen to me, there's nogreater investment that you can
make.
God says when you invest in mystuff, not only do you get
(32:23):
blessed, but other people getblessed.
When you invest in my stuff,not only do you get blessed, but
you bless other people byhelping them to realize that
there's no greater life thanliving life with the person of
(32:44):
Jesus Christ.
Listen, and a great place toinvest in the kingdom of
business is that communitychurch.
We are about the business ofwinning people to Jesus.
We are about the business ofhelping people to realize that
there's no greater life thanliving life with Jesus Christ.
(33:06):
You know that.
That's why you tune in everyweek.
Help us reach more people forJesus Christ.
For those of you who are membersof the community church family,
you know that what we do is wetime Give 10% of everything that
God blesses us with to thekingdom, and we invested that
(33:32):
community church.
Why do y'all do that, pastor?
Because we believe that 10% isthe starting point.
In the Old Testament, godcommanded to bring 10% of your
increase to his temple.
He commanded 10%.
In the New Testament, we don'tsee 10%.
(33:54):
What we see is generous,sacrificial gift, and so what we
say is 10% is the startingpoint and for many of us at
community church, we are alreadybeyond that 10%.
We give more than that.
Why?
Why would y'all give more thanwhat's required, pastor?
Because we've seen God pour itback into our lives with good
(34:18):
measure pressed down, shakentogether and running over.
And if you want to experiencethe blessings of God like you've
never seen before on your lifeand your finances, I dare you to
try.
I dare you to test it.
I dare you to invest in thiskingdom.
(34:39):
Pastor, how do I invest incommunity church?
There are a number of ways youcan do that.
You can go to communitychcomand click the giving option.
You can also mail it in to oneof our three campuses, or you
(35:04):
can do it like I do and set itup through your bank, where it
automatically comes out and thekingdom of God will be blessed
by.
I want to say thank you so muchto all of you for joining us
this morning.
If I don't see you, if I don'ttalk to you, I want to tell you
Merry Christmas, happy Holidays,but I really hope to see you
next week at our Christmas Evecandlelight service, you and all
(35:27):
of your children, and for thoseof you who are members of the
community church family, some ofwhom I have not seen in quite a
while, I want you to do as theBible says Jesus told the lepers
to do come, show yourself toyour priests.
Your pastor wants to see you atour Christmas Eve
candlelighting service.
Regular service times 830 inSlot El 10 on Highway 1085 and
(35:54):
11 o'clock on our ColumbiaStreet Campus.
I can't wait to see you.
God bless each and every one ofyou.
Hit that share button.
Share this video.
Share this video.
Share this video and if it'sthe Lord's will, I'll see you
tomorrow morning for JumpstartLive.
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Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
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If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.