From The Ground Up I, Called To Be Connected

And let's go ahead and take our North Way notes, and also grab the outline that's in your notes. You're saying, mommy, I want to listen to that man. Can I stay in here? Don't make me leave. And I just want to say, speaking of that, we have so many great volunteers. Every once in a while, they have to, for whatever reason, are called away. And I just want to mention Ron and Debbie Susick, who I know I've known for a couple of years and been serving in the kids ministry. Where are you, Ron and Debbie? You're leaving. Is this your last week? Are you here? Just stand up. We want to thank you guys for serving. Where are you? Aren't you in the service someplace? Come on, there they are. Thank you so much, guys. Just know that little applause is a symbol of our prayers for you to make your transition successfully. And we'll be hearing from another couple that God is sending to us to come alongside. Now, Steve Ambrose, in his really exciting book called Undaunted Courage, the story of the Lewis and Clark expedition of the early 1800s, tells of the moments when the expedition had reached sort of the critical point. Here they are, listen now, 24 months on a journey, 24 months of camping out. And they'd gone through uncharted territories. They'd encountered enemies they hadn't expected. They'd been hungry. They'd suffered from heat exhaustion. They had been plagued with some desertion and fatigue. The morale was falling. The enemies that had been stalking them were closing in. Illness was coming, and then even death at times, for two years. Now, imagine that. And they reached the Continental Divide. And that's the place, of course, where the waters go in separate directions in the middle of our nation. The best advanced information that they had was that from that point on, this is their expectation, they'd have about a half day's portage from there to carry their belongings. And then they'd get on the headwaters of the Columbia River and ride the Columbia River gently down to the Pacific Ocean. That's what they'd been told. So Meriwether Lewis left the team behind. He climbed the rest of the bluffs because he couldn't see the horizon. It took him about a half day to do that. And when he got to the very top of the bluffs, imagine what he thinks when he sees not the sloping gentle valley that opens to the waters of the Columbia River and floating on to the Pacific. What he sees, he's the first American citizen to see the Rocky Mountains. Imagine that. Two years now, they've been struggling along. And he realizes, before they get to the paradise that they'd been so anticipating, they were going to have to cross those mountains. What would you say? I mean, what would you go back and say to those people that were waiting back there at the base camp? Pack up all your stuff again, and we've got to get back on the road to go who knows where for who knows how long, encountering who knows what, before we get to what it is that we wanted to do. Now, because of this adventure, they were going to have to dig deeper down into themselves than they'd ever imagined. They're going to have to find reserves of strength and will that they did not know they had. And because of this, they would find a confidence about themselves, he later writes, to face anything that life would throw at them. But on this side of the Rockies, all they see is the challenge of it all. Loved ones of North Way, we are about to embark on an adventure into some uncharted territory. We're going to find some things we didn't expect. We're going to meet some challenges we didn't count on. We might even face around a bend or two some mountains we hadn't anticipated. But if we pull together, if we dig down inside, if we reach out a hand to help one another when we begin to stumble, I believe we're going to make it into what the Bible calls, metaphorically, a land flowing with milk and honey, a place of covenant blessing, where fruitfulness and growth beyond our imagination await us. It's an adventure of a lifetime. It's God calling us to places we haven't been in ways we haven't gone. And going to an amazing place requires the flow of God's amazing grace. I firmly believe, I've said this earlier, since I've been back from my study break, that the previous time in the journey of North Way has been a prologue. It's not been the pinnacle. And that is saying quite a lot. And in case some of you are wondering, well, gee, what is he really talking about? I'm not even talking about the property part yet. I'm talking about a different environment of spiritual growth. I'm talking about an excitement of opportunities for you to develop into the kind of believer God wants you to be, to discover your destiny and know your calling in life. I'm talking about the challenges that we face to reach our community in the city and the nation in which we live. I'm talking about God taking our weaknesses and turning them into strengths that we gave a whole message to last week, or as one writer says, turning our trash into treasure that God wants to display to all the world. Now apparently, God's noticing this because he is sending us more and more people, some seeking to know him. I'm sure there's some of you out here today who are just really in the seeking stage. You're not sure where you are in your spiritual journey. And at the end of the service today, you can make a step of decision to know him better. Some of you have been a believer for quite a while, and you need to take the next step of your spiritual growth. God sent you to us for that purpose. Some of you are ready to serve. You're coming from another location, and you're just looking for a place to serve. And that's why we have challenges today, like we shared about the Pioneer Clubs, big challenges. But on top of this, out of nowhere, God opens the possibility. And I want to underscore this for those of you who've missed some of the background of this. Without us searching for it, without us looking for it, God says, oh, by the way, I want you to double the size of your church campus. Let's go to that next slide. This is the overhead slide of the church campus we currently own, which is right here. And he said, oh, there's 46 acres here that I want you to take possession of and create a whole new campus design. Show that slide, please, where we can integrate our current facility. And if you'd have told someone out there, we're going to double our campus size, and by the way, the new facility will be, listen, up higher than all the rest of the stuff that's being built so it can be more clearly seen. It'll have three places to get in and out on Route 19 for easy access. You won't have the backup and all the parking issues going on. And it'll be contiguous with the property so you can figure out a way to connect the building somehow, perhaps, or have ways of moving things in and out and use what we've already invested in. And oh, by the way, you don't have to pick up and move 20 miles away to get some big piece of land. It's going to be right next door. I would have said, I can't imagine that. It's a God thing. But I will say, at this point, it looks like we have to cross the Rockies to get there. How many of you had a child? Don't put your hand up in this, but you had a child that came along seven, eight, 10 years later than the last one you thought you were going to have, huh? Remember your feelings when that happened? All your plans lined up. Oh, man, it's our last one, honey. And when this one goes to school, I can go back to work. And then we can start to travel a little bit more. And they can take care of themselves. And then all of a sudden, out of nowhere, comes a caboose. And there it is. And all of a sudden, your plans are upside down. Remember your mixed feelings? And I've had so many people tell me, when that first happened, they felt a little guilty because they weren't sure they really wanted to have another child. And that they've almost invariably said, that last one has been such a great blessing, so rounded out their family, and so kept them on the growing edge of things. I have to tell you, I feel a little bit like this. I thought we crossed the Rockies. I was looking at the Pacific. And I said, no, that wasn't my plan. This is the new plan that I have for you. And so we have an adventure together. But what's far more important than the property, and I want to stop about that for today, is what God wants to do with us, with His family, the people of Northwood. Wherever He has us, physically speaking. And what I want to talk about today, the questions I want to answer are these. Why do we do this thing called church? Why do we plan services the way we do and have the ministries that we do? Why do we give our money and our time and our energy to sustaining them? What's behind all of this? What are the benefits of really belonging to this church home? I mean, is this just our way of doing the religious thing? I've had people say, oh, it's just your way of doing your religious ritual. I have mine, you have yours. Or is there something biblical about this that commands that we look at it and respond to it with intellectual understanding, but also with faith? That's what I want to talk about today. You see, once you begin this spiritual journey, and take your outline out and look at this, you see, it says this. God has given us the privilege of being born again so that we are now members of God's own family. And we're going to be using that word over and over again. You're not just individually. Listen, religion is not a private thing. I just want to bomb that cliche out of your thinking. My religion is a private thing. It is not. I mean, according to scripture, God grafts you into a family. And he makes you part of something bigger than you've been before. And then this family becomes, look at the next verse, the church of the living God becomes the support and foundation of the truth. One of the reasons why people I know and you know who make a decision to come to Christ and then drift away and fall away is because they don't plug in and find support and the foundation for the truth. How many of you know, it doesn't matter how beautiful the building is, the foundation is weak, something's going to come along and destroy the building? I mean, a storm is going to come. Erosion is going to happen. And the buildings are going to collapse. And I know people like that. They don't have the foundation of a church family. And they build this sort of experiential Christian life that goes on for a little while. And then suddenly a storm comes and they're gone. And their faith is shattered as well. And I believe God wants us to be excited about adding people to our family. I want to plant a little seed in your heart here, folks. It probably won't happen today, but along the way, as I give invitations on Sunday, you know how I do it. And the team does it. I mean, we invite people to come in. And they personally make a decision. And we connect eye to eye. And then at the end of that, normally, I encourage you just to welcome them. And you politely clap. But I want to say, I was convicted as I was thinking about this. That should be one of the highest moments of Thanksgiving that we experience. The Bible says that when someone comes into the kingdom of God that the angels in heaven get psyched. That's my translation of the word rejoice. OK? I mean, they get pumped up. They just let it rip. And I think we need to just pull the plug a little bit. When we come to that point, I say, let's welcome these people into our family. I don't want there to be a golf clap. I want this because it's a great moment in the journey of somebody who's finding God. And we oftentimes later hear that story. That's where I want us to go. And so you see, we're part of this family together. And I want to talk today about the benefits of it, how we can become connected. And at the end of today, you can decide. No one can decide for you. And certainly, you're welcome here. If you decide not to get connected, you can just keep showing up now and then. But you'll miss the benefits. So here they are. And by the way, if you are connected, this message will also help you know what your next step of development should be. That's very important. Because some of you think, well, I'm already connected and in a group. That's just part of it. If you'll follow with me today, you're going to capture the rest of it. I'm going to use our church logo throughout this series. We'll put that up. Now, here it is, the North Way Tree, as it's called. And you say, well, that's sort of an interesting logo, but I don't know what it means. And lots of folks have said, I wish I could understand that so I could explain. I'm going to be explaining that over the next five weeks. Pastor Dave's going to take next week. But the first week, we want to talk about the root system. And we just want to sort of expand that a bit so you get the idea. Roots have to go down deep, and that rootedness is being connected. And that's what I want to talk today with you about, is how do you get connected? And what are the benefits? So here's the first benefit, if you're taking notes. It helps you to focus on the Lord. Now, if you're like me, friends, I have lots of great intentions about getting focused on God and days start out and I'm just going to do it and I just get caught up in things. So before, you know, I'm in the shower, I'm thinking, all right, I take care of this, I got to do that. Oh, that's right, I need to make sure this gets covered and so on and so on. And distractions pile up. And it becomes very easy to drift and lose my focus. Over the past year, through the help of a couple of friends, I created an office in my home, down in the basement of my home, because I found when I came over here to North Way, there were so many things going on, I just couldn't really concentrate on the Lord and do what I needed to do. So I finished off some space in the basement and, you know, just got some nice lighting and a comfortable chair and a nice desk space. And it was beautiful. And I found for the first three or four weeks, you know, I'd go in there and I just, I would be able to concentrate on the Word and I'd be able to pray and I journaled some and I had some great times with God. Well, then some magazines started to pile up and some mail got dropped off and then some CDs got left there and then, you know, a couple packages and then some reports. And if I said, you know, I said, Carol, get your stuff out of my desk. No, actually it was my stuff piling up. And within about another three or four weeks, this lovely, well-designed, organized space became a landfill. I mean, it was awful. And here's what I noticed. I noticed that my ability to concentrate on God was greatly affected. And so I have to go in there and I had to get it all out of there and start again with clean space. And the Lord spoke to my heart. That's a metaphor of our lives. That's a metaphor of our lives. If our lives are cluttered, if our lives are full of stuff, if we don't have the ability to focus on God, we will not hear from Him and we'll miss the thing that most of us say we want. Look at the next verse says, love the Lord your God with, circle the word all, all your heart and soul and circle the word mind. You see, you can't love God mindlessly. And out of the words of Jesus comes this next sentence. This is the first and greatest commandment. When you become committed to becoming a part of the church family, at least once a week, and maybe more often than that, you're gonna clean out your internal office space. You're gonna join with many others in worshiping the Lord as your primary focus for a set period of time. Now someone's thinking, well, I can do that. I can go walk around North Park and worship God, can't I? Well, yes, you can. But would you say there's something just a little more powerful about joining together with a group of say 10 or 12, like in your small group, or a group of almost a thousand like we have here in the service today. Did you sense the Lord's presence as we lifted our voices and our hearts together? I believe there's a great power in that. There's a reality that God says, where two or more gather in my name, I am there uniquely in the midst of them. There's one other amazing benefit. When we focused on the Lord, he readjusts our perspective on life. He reminds us that he is in control. Look at the next verse. To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal, says the Holy One. How many of you believe that from time to time, you think there's someone else in control, like your boss maybe, or the person that controls your home mortgage and is bugging you for your payment or whatever it is. You see, there's a thing that's going on here. And that thing is this, God wants you to know when you focus on him, he's got it under control. The things that are invading your life, the distractions, the problems, the issues, the Lord is there to deal with them as I talked about two weeks ago. So this is the first purpose. We come to focus on the Lord and it's such a benefit. And I wanna say to us, friends, if this is something you struggle with, then you need to belong. See, becoming part of a church family is about belonging. And it's a high priority. Number two, it helps me to face life's problems. There you see somebody broken down the side of the road. Despite the many advances in our culture, life is still tough. You know, we have communication and we have technology and we have science and we have medicine and so on, they're all wonderful. But here's something I know about you. You're either in a problem right now that maybe no one knows about, but you're in it. You're coming out of one that you just got through or worst case scenario, you're just about to go into a big one. And that's the nature of life. It happens to all of us that way. That's the way we're wired. God knows that. And he means for us to not face those problems on our own, but to navigate them with others. He wants us to have a family of like-minded people. You know, when I walk out there in between services, I ask people, well, what's going on in your life right now? And when they share with me, I'm facing this or I'm going through that, it's a privilege to stand with them and say, hey, well, let's pray about it. Let's believe the Lord together. Look at the next verse. It says, Jesus died for us so that we can live together with him and so encourage each other, circle each other and give each other, circle it again, strength. Friends, we need each other. Simple as that. Grew up in Grove City earlier this week and it was just a joy to be up there and see all the college students were gathering together in chapel service, actually. It's a special fellowship group that they have. And one of the North Way graduates that went up there to begin her freshman year came running up to Carol and me and she was so excited. And we said, well, how's it going? She said, well, the neatest thing is my roommates because, you know, like every night we get to pray about the mountains we're facing in our lives. And then her roommates came over and they were just all excited and huggy and like, wow, that's a pretty cool thing. I guess it must be really difficult making this, and it is difficult going into this college life without support. She said, it's just so great to have support. You know, it's just like that old analogy. I know it's been sort of worn out, but it's so accurate. Your Christian life is like a bed of hot charcoal. And when those coals are together and the flame's burning, you're burning with it. But if you pull out one of those coals, does the rest of the fire go out? No, just that one coal. And unfortunately, there are folks that aren't here today whose coal has been pulled out. They just let it slip out and their flame is going out. And it's an axiom. Hear me, it is a law in the spirit. If you pull yourself out, you will begin to die out. I counted them up. Carol and I have been part of, I think, between 12 and 14 small groups over the life of North Way. So a year and a half ago, and Pastor Scott and I were talking about starting up some new groups because we had so many new people coming. We called them beta groups. And I said, well, maybe I ought to start a group and get involved in it. And he said, but see, you know, I mean, that was part of the pastor's fellowship, which is a different thing. And we got started and we said, well, let's just go ahead and we'll get involved in it. And I got to tell you, after 12 or 13 groups, I just didn't think that we all had a big deal. Well, we really, we have a great group. We love to be together. We're learning together. And it's the coolest thing is that I don't teach or lead the group. I just show up late. I critique the leader. I make fun of the talks. I doze now and then. I make fun of the fanatic member in our group and so on. It's just sort of, it's a role reversal deal. It's kind of cool for me. Actually, it's a lot of fun. And it's a great spiritual encouragement. And we pray together. The other night, we went through a list of one year's worth of prayer requests, how many things God has done to change us. This piece of being connected is so crucial, I can't overstate it. It's not just support in your problems. Listen, hear this. It's not just support. It's having someone just sort of edge you up another notch. It's getting alongside someone who's a little hotter than you. It's putting your life in the way of someone who can bring you up to another level in God. A Christian without a small group is a spiritual orphan. I wanna say that again. And I wanna write it down. A Christian without a small group is a spiritual orphan. Ephesians 4.25 in your outline, the last verse. In Christ's body, we are all connected to each other. Bottom line, we are. Now, that doesn't happen here on Sunday mornings. We don't have that kind of connectedness. We smile and shake hands. But we have groups that meet every day of the week, almost any time you wanna meet, in places you can't imagine, let alone just homes, offices, schools, different places, for different purposes, with all kinds of people. And as Dave Blahnik said a couple weeks ago, North Way is just a small church with a lot of people. That's what it is. Now, a couple of folks are thinking, no, I know Jay, I should get involved, but I'm really too busy right now. I just wanna say one thing about busyness. If you're too busy to put yourself into a place of some sort of spiritual growth with other people, too busy to encourage, too busy to experience God's grace in the context of a group, I want you to know I believe you're too busy. And you will pay a price that will be too great to pay. I want you to hear a testimony this morning about a couple who discovered, when they made plans, God had to change. And when those plans came along, it was a challenge for them, and they had to make an effort to get connected. Give a warm welcome today to Scott and Deanne Warfel as they come to share. Hey, Scott. Great, you found both girls for this service, huh? Hi, Deanne. We did find both girls for this service. The tall one is Madison, and the shorter one is Rebecca. Hi, Rebecca. Well, go ahead. Thank you. It was our home. We were both raised in Oklahoma City. After living through both the federal building bombing and a tornado which hit our home, we knew what it meant to be connected. Our families, our friends, our cell group, the Promise Keepers group, and our church were our network. And we were blessed with support in the good and bad times. May 3rd, 1999, an F6 tornado leveled the homes of over 10,000 people, including 45 families left homeless from our family's church alone. My mother's home sustained significant damage as well. These events helped the community connect, as well as the connection to our own families be strengthened significantly as we worked, prayed, and supported each other through these disasters. However, our lives were about to change. God had other plans for our family. A few weeks after the tornado, God revealed his plan for us to move to Pittsburgh. We knew in our hearts that God had been preparing us for this for several years. On Tuesday, 18th of May, D.N. accepted a position in Pittsburgh. The next day, we flew to Pittsburgh for the first time on a house hunting trip. That Saturday, we bought a home. The following week, the moving trucks were loaded, and Sunday, May 30th, 1999, we flew to Pittsburgh. Within a week and a half, our entire sense of community and all our connections were gone. We got off the plane in Pittsburgh with no one waiting with outstretched arms to greet us, no grandparents to swoop up our two- and four-year-old little girls and love them. It was just us in a city we had only been in one time, and we were on our own. We knew God had a reason for this, but that didn't keep us from being just a little intimidated. We knew we needed to get connected somewhere. D.N.'s work was keeping her very busy, and I was trying to get a home set up, find some friends for the girls, and just make things normal again. It was easy in Oklahoma. We had all our connections, but here, we had none. We began searching for a church home. Both of us had always been one denomination, so that's where we started. However, God kept nudging us to just try North Way. One Sunday, we decided to give it a whirl. Wow, we walked in the doors and were just overwhelmed with how big this place was, but even more amazing was how friendly everyone was. People were happy to just be here to praise the Lord. Do you like my earring? It just seemed too good to be true. That Sunday, there was a couple giving a testimony, and they were in the process of moving away from this community to a city where they knew no one, and were talking about how God was leading them there and how they were going to miss their North Way family. Ha, how in the world could a place this big with this many people be a family? We didn't stick around to find out, but a seed had been planted. A few weeks later, God led us to stop by the church during the week. There was no one out front at the time, so we just ran in really, really fast, picked up a visitor's packet at the welcome center, and drove away without anyone ever knowing we were there. We wanted to see the detail about this place on our own. We were again amazed as we read the information in the packet and noted all the programs available. More connection opportunities, and another seed was planted. Finally, after about six months of struggling, not connecting, and still feeling like we were on our own, God spoke to both of us. It was time to try North Way again. As we walked in the door, Pastor Scott greeted us and began to talk with us about the church and what our needs were. I looked at my Scott as Pastor Scott found someone to take us to the children's area and said, see, I told you this is where we were supposed to be. After a few weeks, we heard about the discovery class and knew immediately that this is what we needed to do. We could learn more about the church, meet some people, and maybe find out where we might fit in. What opportunities there were. We were both so excited that I think we were ready to just jump right in and do a little bit of everything. The Lord was truly working through these people and the connections were beginning. At some point during the discovery class, the church had a cleanup day. Scott had his yard tools and all his leather gloves and he was excited about working outside. I wanted to help and also get to know some people, but wasn't sure what I could do with two preschoolers in tow. But all four of us loaded up that Saturday morning anyway and headed for the church. Scott helped outside and I asked for something I could do where the kids could play while I worked. What better than cleaning toys in the nursery? I met some wonderful people that day. We all worked and sweated together and the connection continued one person at a time. Still amazed at how large everything was, I wanted to continue to get more connected and felt the children's ministry would be a good way for me to serve. I began teaching the three-year-old Sunday school class every other Sunday and I've been blessed with the opportunity to work with such wonderful little children and at the same time meet more people with similar values. We also let our discovery leaders know during our class we were interested in a cell group. Within a short time, we had a phone call and then the following Sunday, we were meeting with a wonderful group of people. That group had some transition and a few months later, Scott began to lead the cell group, which has now grown to eight adults and eight wonderful children all five years old and under. Within a few short months, God had us connected in a place which we felt was so big at first. But now we truly understand the couple who was here. That very first Sunday that we were here, who said that they were leaving their family here at North Way because even though we left our immediate family back in Oklahoma City, we now know we have another family here in this place. This church has become very small in a very short period of time and we know it's because we got connected. It takes some energy. It takes some effort. But becoming connected has a great benefit to helping in your spiritual journey and facing life's problems. The next benefit is that it helps you to fortify your faith. Ever looked at a package of Twinkies? They're so cute. It says they're fortified with, well, try Pop-Tarts. Those are highly fortified, those little guys. What is that talking about? Well, to fortify is to strengthen or build up or to somehow develop. And that's the idea, that within the church family, as you get connected, you're gonna grow up in your faith. You're gonna develop in your spiritual maturity. What a church family does is to help you clarify your values and sort of focus in on your convictions and strengthen your understanding. And it helps you develop your character and your convictions and your integrity. I have a question for you. If you're not really connected, and I mean deeply connected, where else will you go? Where will your children go to find the kind of values that you know are crucial to building a life that's gonna last in the storm that they're gonna face? Where are they gonna go? Do you know in the schools today that our teachers have to fight for the privilege of telling kids about values? So what do they do? They watch television? Do you know the kind of values that are being parlayed off on television as being acceptable? I don't think so. It's gotta come from a place like your local church home. Look at the next verse. Let us go on and become mature in our understanding as strong Christians ought to be. You see, as a pastor, I'm asked this question more than any other one. Over all the years I've been in pastor ministry, how can I know God's will for my life? Or another way of saying it, how do I know what God wants me to do with my life? I get asked that almost every week in one way or another. And there is a, well, you do the A, B, C, and you'll end up there with D. It is a process of maturing. You discover what God wants you to do by walking day by day in the things of God and growing in your understanding of who God is in your life. And then he, in a mysterious and yet wonderful way, begins to unfold it to you. And you know what? I'm so convinced that if you'll do the basic daily things, that you can't miss the big ones. That's what I've discovered about God. He won't let you miss it. Or as Oswald Chambers says, you become the will of God as you live out your daily life. So it's really in your power to decide, will you be a spiritual wimp or a spiritual champion? But you have to decide that you're gonna mature. Because if you're not growing, you're basically just propping yourself up. And I have to say this enough today, I'm looking out in the eyes of some people that are basically sitting there just doing your best to put on your Sunday smile. But inside, you're just slowly melting away. Underneath it all, there's not much left, a spiritual fire of passion. You're going through the motions and inside your dreams of what you could become are dying. And you're just the shell of what you once were. And if you learn to live without your dreams, you can look like you