Transcription
First Kings 12:6-11. Can, can, can I, um, can I share something with you really quickly? Um, we have been in a series called Blocked, and, and I do plan on challenging you in a completely different way today. Um, and so, can you just elbow the person next to you and say, "Buckle up."
She started playing doing like this. All right. First Kings 12:6-11. This is what it says.
Then King Rehoboam discussed the matter with the older men who had counseled his father Solomon. "What is your advice?" he asked. "How should I answer these people?"
Verse 7 says, "The older counselors replied, 'If you are willing to be a servant to these people today and give them a favorable answer, they will always be your loyal subjects.'"
Verse 8 says, "But Rehoboam rejected." Somebody say, "He rejected."
Rejected. He rejected the advice of the older men and instead asked the opinion of the young men who had grown up with him and were now his advisors.
"What is your advice?" he asked. "How should I answer these people who want me to lighten the burdens imposed by by my father?"
The young men replied, "This is what you should tell those complainers who want a lighter burden. My little finger is thicker than your than my father's waist. Yes, my father laid heavy burdens on you, but I'm going to make them even heavier. My father beat you with whips, but I will beat you with scorpions."
Listen, I, I, I, I want to, I want to read verse 7 and 8 one more. Really, I was read verse 8 one more time.
But Rehoboam rejected the advice of the older men and instead asked the opinion of the young men who had grown up with him and were now his advisors.
I need you to go ahead and introduce the title of our subject today. Can you go ahead and elbow your neighbor? Say, "Neighbor."
Neighbor. Come on. Y'all know that's the wrong neighbor. Find somebody else. Let's do a blueprint way. Say, "Cousin."
Cousin. Circles. And ceilings. Father, help me to preach this. Help me to teach this. In the mighty name of Jesus Christ, we all say, "Amen."
Amen. Wait, I didn't even do what I need to do. Let's do it how we do. Let's put it in the building one time. So now unto Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think according to the power that works in us. In Jesus name. Amen.
Let's go ahead and teach this. Listen, I want to start today's lesson with a strong statement. Show me your circle and I'll show you your ceiling.
Show me your circle and I'll show you your ceiling. I'll, if you show me the people you surround yourself with, I'll show you how far that you'll go. Show me who you hang with and I'll show you what your future looks like. Show me who's closest to you. Show me who you confide in and then I'll show you how close your ceiling is.
Jim Rohn, who was an American author and entrepreneur, was credited with with a quote that we hear often. And this is what it is: Is that you are the average of the five people that you spend the most time with. Pastor Matt, what are you getting to? I'm trying to get you to see that the company you keep would directly impact the destiny you achieve.
The company that you keep will directly impact the destiny that you achieve. We're concluding a series today called Blocked. Somebody say Blocked.
Blocked. Now, we are a, a talkback church. So, that means that you can holler at your boy if you can't say amen. Say, "Ouch."
And so, we're concluding our series today called Blocked. And the premise of this is that there are perspectives, habits, and even people that can serve as barriers. Somebody say Barriers.
Barriers. Barriers in our life that stop us or block us, per se, right? Achieving, being, receiving, or getting all that God has for us. And we've talked about a few things so far, as we talked about unbelief, and then we talked about disobedience. And Pastor Donald preached an incredible word last week on emotional instability. Come on, let's give it up for him. Incredible job. So proud of him. But he, he preached on "Check yourself before you wreck yourself." But today, we're going to talk about something that is hard for many of us, and that's our friendships. I'm here to tell you that there are not many things that will block your destiny like your circle.
Some of y'all are uncomfortable right now. Not many things will hinder you and hinder your destiny like the wrong people. Hear me. Write this down. The community you have will directly affect the destiny that you encounter. The community that you have will directly affect the destiny you encounter. PM, why are you so passionate about this? Because you have to understand, don't miss this. Your circle shapes you.
Let me say that one more time. Your circle shapes you. And let me give you Bible because some of us are so arrogant that you think that you're so influential that you cannot be influenced. Some of y'all think that you're so impactful that you cannot be impacted. And so when we sit here and we talk about circles, you like, "Yeah, but I'm the leader of the friend group." You think so?
You think so? But 1 Corinthians 15:33, let's see what the Bible says so y'all don't argue with me. Cuz I see how y'all looking at me. Watch this. "Do not be misled."
I could stop right there. That done preached itself. Bad company corrupts.
Paul is saying, "Don't get it twisted." And, and if you were to really look into the Greek, what that word means, it means don't be deceived and led astray. So, what he's saying is that there is this idea that we can all get in saying, "Hey, I know that I'm with the wrong people, but the wrong people won't get on me."
This, this, this is how the saints would have said, "If you lay down with dogs, you'll get up with, you'll get up with fleas."
It's saying, "Don't get it twisted. You, you can't surround yourself with the wrong people and then not just watch me. It's not just going to affect your destiny. It will affect you."
It, it will affect your own character. Paul is saying is that your circle shapes you. And I want you to know, I, I really want to teach this today. So, I need you to make sure that you have your notebooks out because notetakers are what?
World changers. Your circle shapes you in five ways. Yeah, we gonna go here. Your circle shapes you in five ways.
Number one, your circle will shape your perspective. That is how you see. Watch me. Your circle determines what looks normal, possible, and acceptable.
My God, today. I got you. I got you again. Your circle will shape your perspective. That's how you see. Which means your circle will determine what looks normal, what looks possible, and what looks acceptable. Watch me. Your circle will shape how you see things because you watch. Oh, don't mess this. You don't just adopt opinions. You adopt lenses.
Let's be honest, cuz y'all don't want to be, I'll be messing with y'all since y'all don't want to be messing with me. It is because there's some things in your life that look normal to you that did not look normal before you joined that friend group. That there are some things that that were foreign to you until you got exposed to something new and so you started seeing. Watch me. And it doesn't just work in the wrong way. It works in the right way. That I remember that, that when I got into corporate, I started seeing how they acting. I was like, man, this is like that. This is something new. And it conditioned me on how I saw.
Because your circle will shape your perspective. If you don't believe me, that if you look in the book of Numbers, and I preached this a couple weeks ago at the beginning of this, is that we saw when, do y'all remember when, when the 10 spies went into the, into the land? They were spying. Y'all remember this?
And, and what happens is is that 12. Somebody say 12.
12 of them went, and all 12 came back. But 10 of them saw it one way. Two of them saw it the other way.
10 saw said, "We don't need to go there." The two said, "We need to go right now." Watch me. It was the same land, the same giants. Different perspective. And because the 10 went throughout the nation of, of Israel, y'all remember this? And they conditioned them to see it the same way, and they fell. Because your circle will shape your perspective.
Number two, your circle will shape your interpretation. Y'all not going to like me for this one. Because, because perspective is how you see. Interpretation is how you hear.
Come on. Interpretation is how you hear. Watch this. Your circle affects how you process information. So the conversations and the people you, that you are around will shape how you interpret what is said and done around you. Now, let me come down some of y'all row. Some of y'all who are so easily offended now because you hang out with people who are always offended.
So, so now y'all done clicked up over offenses. And so now everything somebody says now bothers you too. It didn't do that before. There are some things, watch me. Let's, let me make, let me contemporize it. There are some things that trigger you that did not trigger you until you got triggered into that friend group.
Because it has shaped how you interpret information. You didn't just get there, you drifted there. Y'all started having little game nights. Y'all started beat grouping outside of B-groups and doing whatever. And now all of a sudden, y'all think just alike. Marriages that you get married, that you're married to somebody and all of a sudden you start to interpret things the same way. That there's some things that my, my wife will go see. I know who she talking to because we think the exact same way. Because your circle, who you're closest to, will shape your interpretation. It won't just shape your perspective. It'll shape your interpretation. Watch me.
Number three, can I keep going with this? Watch this. Is, is, is that your circle, uh oh, it will shape your actions, which is how you move. My perspective is what I see. How I see things. Right now, hear me, because the word "how" is first. It's not "what." Because all these things, because your perspective, we can be looking at the same thing, but we can be perceiving it differently. Y'all with me? That we could be hearing the same thing, and you can be perceiving it differently. Amen. That, that, that you can be interpreted different. But now, it is your circle will shape how you move, your actions. Your circle will determine what behaviors feel normal. This is how people end up in circles and end up losing themselves because what used to be abnormal is now their new normal.
Do y'all ever see people? Because I know y'all not going to tell yourself, it's not just y'all, it's other people, right? But, but have y'all ever seen people that they got in a friend group and you like, man, their actions have completely changed? That, like, man, that, and, and it's, and it's not just bad ways. Good ways. That, like, some of y'all joined a church and you're like, man, now I've got in community, I got in a group, and there's some things that that used to be abnormal, like getting up and reading my Bible. Absences used to be abnormal. Now it's my normal. That, that now I'm waking up in the morning, I'm praying, I'm getting up at 6 a.m. prayer. And some of y'all, amen. That for some of y'all serving, that, that man, raise your hand if you're on the dream team. Raise your hand. Come on, y'all. That hundreds of people dedicate their time. But now, for those that raised their hand, raise your hand if you have been serving in church your whole life.
Okay. Now, raise your hand if when you, the first time you served was at Blueprint. Like, there's some things that are abnormal, but who you get plugged in with, right? That, what your circle, it will shape your actions. Somebody say actions.
Is this making sense? Watch this. You, what, what? Write this down. What your circle normalizes, you will eventually practice.
Amen. What your circle normalizes, you will eventually practice. Now, this next one is the one that y'all gonna be mad at me for. Watch this. Your circle will shape you in this fourth way, which is, it will shape your morals.
My help is coming from right here. That's it. They the only one that, all y'all don't want to talk to me. I'm about to come over there to y'all. It will shape your morals. Watch me. Write this down. Which is how you choose. Over time, your convict. Oh, do not miss this. Over time, your convictions either erode or strengthen based on who's around you.
Let me say that one more time. They will weaken or strengthen based on who's around you. This is where what everybody's doing it comes into play. And now some of us don't say that, but you live like that. Everybody in your circle is going out on the weekend, so you just so happen to start going out on a weekend. Okay, you know what? Don't worry about it. How you choose is that, is, is that now everybody's moving in with their boyfriend. Everybody is having sex before marriage. So, I mean, it's kind of like, you know, nobody pays their ties. But it will affect your morals.
Watch me because I'm, and this is what you have to understand is because some of y'all, let's look back at Paul. "Do not be misled." Because for some of this, what I'm trying to show you is that it doesn't happen immediately. It happens gradually. That you decided to get into the friend group or you decided to partner up with some people, and then all of a sudden you just looked up and it was kind of like, "How did we get here?" Like, what, man? So, okay. And watch me. And, and the worst part about it is gradual changes, you don't recognize until you're already out, out of sight, out of sore. And so you're being slowly conditioned into being into normalizing. Y'all, y'all hearing what I'm saying by this?
And watch me. Th, this is what happened because, because y', this is not just us. This is what happened with King Solomon in the, in the book of First Kings, because we're in First Kings chapter 12. Somebody say 12.
12. But, but before that, we hear about King Solomon, who a lot of us know that he was the, the wealthiest and the wisest king to ever live. But do y'all know that they also use him as an example as a, of how not to be as a king? Because what happened is, watch me, that he had so many wives, and he did not just have, yeah, crazy, but, uh, but he had so many wives and concubines, but he was marrying, watch, he was marrying women from other nations who were worshiping other gods. And the Bible literally said that Solomon's wives turned his heart from God. Watch who you marry. Before we end February in love month. Watch who you marry.
But listen to me. What is saying is that Solomon initially started off as a follower of Yahweh. But because he never removed the people who were pulling him away, it eventually turned how he chose. And it all started because he started letting people build altars in places where they should not have. Where before it was against his moral compass. But then it was in, it was in proximity, proximity to him all the time. And so now it became normal.
Is this making sense? The fifth one, and I move on, is that your circle will shape your faith, which is how you believe. Let me share this with you. Faith is contagious.
But so is unbelief. You hang out with people who are negative all the time, you going to be negative. That's why nobody's getting healed, nobody's getting saved, nobody's getting delivered. Everybody's just, we, we all, we all bad. E, everybody is, oh, I'm, I'm not, I don't have time to teach that. But, but when you look around, that we would see that the lepers would always hang out together. Because they were ostracized from the community, but they also said, "Hey, we all struggle with the same thing, so let's all click up." So, if everybody is, is, is has a lack of faith, then you're, you're not producing anything. Are y'all following me on this? It will shape why, it will shape your life. So, I'm trying to show you that your circle shapes you. Somebody say, "It shapes me."
So, we see the importance of the circle biblically, but we've also learned about it practically. But this is my problem that I see consistently as a pastor. Are y'all okay? Can I, can I say what I want to say? Is that many of us have changed our life, but never changed our circle? Many of us, hear me, many of us have changed our life. You raised your hand and said, "Man, I want to give my life to God." That you said, "Man," that you honestly, you made decisions to say, "He, this is what I want." But you did not change who surrounded you. I know this is tough, but the thing is is that so you made a decision and then, and then watch me, created an environment that was antithetical to it.
Is this making sense? And this is the thing. And so, I've seen it, I see it, and I've lived it. And as a pastor, watch me. I have constantly had to walk people through this dilemma. And this dilemma occurs for a plethora of reasons, but the most common concept is one that is one that I discovered called this. Write this down. Dangerous loyalty.
Dangerous loyalty. I could preach an entire sermon on this. She said, "You should let me pass you real quick. Maybe, maybe one time." Dangerous loyalty. I'm going to give you a definition for it. We'll also send in the news. Watch this. Dangerous loyalty is relational allegiance that conflicts with divine assignment and obstructs spiritual formation.
Y'all didn't know y'all was going to seminary, huh? I got you. Dangerous loyalty is relational allegiance. Watch me. So that means that you're committed to them. That I have an allegiance to a relationship. But watch me, that relationship conflicts with divine assignment, things that God is calling you to do. So that relationship that I'm, watch me, that I'm so loyal to, I'm in way your picture. I'll move right here. That, that is so that you're so loyal to is now conflicting what God is calling you to.
So, watch the two things. It is conflicting what God is calling me to, but it is also obstructing who God is calling me to be. Dangerous loyalty. That I raised my hand and said, "I want to give my life to Jesus," but I'm still going to hang around people who don't want to live like him. Dangerous loyalty is that I've said that Jesus is the head of my life, but I'll marry somebody who's not. Dangerous loyalty. That, that I'm saying that I want nothing but Him, but I don't surround myself. I'm like, "Hey, I still have these friends that I don't, or these relationships." And it's kind of like, let me bring somebody into the space who never wanted to be in the space. And so now every time you take a step, you getting pulled back like this. Because you're chained. You are chained to something dangerous. Watch me. And this is the thing. I am afraid that many people have been blocked from seasons and places not because it wasn't theirs, but because they had the wrong circle.
And this is what we see in our text today. Can, can I teach this to you really quickly? Are y'all okay? So, so, and so in, in our text today in, in First Kings chapter 12, what, what we're seeing is we're seeing what should be, somebody say, "Should be." We're seeing what should be the fourth king of Israel be installed as the leader. Y'all with me? The fourth king. And I know y'all like, man, well, I don't really know who the fourth king is. Well, we all know who the first one is. We know that Saul. Amen. And then we all love David. He was the greatest. And then, and, and, and he was tripping sometimes, but we love him. Now. And, and then number three was Solomon, who it talks about. Solomon had a lot of kids, but he had one who was the heir to the throne, which is what we see as Rehoboam. Right in First Kings chapter 11, at the very end of, of chapter 11, we see that Solomon dies. First Kings 12:1, the Bible says, "Then Rehoboam goes to Shechem," right? And basically, what he's doing is he's having his ordination. He's having an installation service. All of the leaders of the nation of Israel meet him there. And before he gets installed, what happens is is the leaders come to him and say, "Hey, we need you to do something for us." They said, "Your father was rich and he was wise, but he was harsh to us. And so what we're asking is, can you lighten up the taxes and not work us so hard? If you do that, we'll be loyal to you forever." And listen to what Rehoboam says. Give me three days. In the midst of that, he goes back and we get to First Kings. Watch me. First Kings 12, verse 6. And that's in our verse today. This is what it says.
Then Rehoboam discussed the matter with the older men who had counseled his father. "What is your advice?"
So, what we see, give you context to this, is that every king had an advisory board. Amen. That's why the Bible says that there is safety in a multitude of counsel. This is what I'm getting to. This was a circle who had been there before. Who had advised his father. They were older and wiser, and they said, "Hey, this is what you should do. Just lighten the load. And if you do that, they'll be loyalty." He said, "Be their servant today. They'll be your servant forever."
And the Bible says that he rejected it. Somebody say rejected.
And then he went to, watch me. It says he went to the younger men who he had grown up with and were now his new advisors. He'd been king for one minute, and he done made his partners his new advisors.
And so the Bible says, is that he goes and asks, "What should we do now?" Can I teach this the way I really want to? They've never been there before. They've never counseled a king, and they're asking. So, he's trying to bring old people into a new place. Watch me. Which is not a problem. But they had no desire to go and learn the new place. And they say, "Man, turn up." Think about how crazy that sounds. He comes to them and he's like, "Yo, they want to, man, they're fighting me." And they like, "Turn up. Take it up a notch." And this dummy listens to him.
Now, let me summarize the rest of this because we, we finished at verse 11. Three days later, it says it says that the leaders of Israel and a man named Jeroboam, this is Rehoboam, but a man named Jeroboam comes to him and says, "So, what is the verdict?" And he says, "We turn it up." And he tells them, watch this, and I want to tell you what happened. He tells them that they're going to increase the labor and increase the taxes. He listens to what his younger friend says. I know, crazy. But watch what happens. Is the Bible says is that he goes back and pays no attention to the people that the nation of Israel rebels against him, kills his staff member, and then appoints a brand new king. And the king, do, do not miss this. I, I'll teach this one day. The Bible say, "But then the kingdom of Israel splits, and 10 tribes go with Jeroboam and only two stay with Rehoboam."
Do not miss this. And the kingdom of Israel never is united ever again. So, what we see is that he was one circle away from the promise of God still staying on his life. He was one circle away. He was one. It was divided forever. Think about this. That there was a lineage that was promised to his father and his father's father.
And he missed it. He messed it up because he bent his ear to the wrong person. He messed it up because he surrounded himself with people who were not right for the season. And can I give you a big idea really quickly? Is that sometimes the greatest blockage in your life isn't opposition, it's association.
Sometimes the greatest blockage that you'll ever have is not going to be the, the things that come against you, but it's the people that you're bringing with you. I can't get no help. It's okay. But this is what I want to listen. This is what I want to say. I want to introduce you to a concept that was difficult for me to grasp at first. And this is, and this is what I want you to know. Friendships are never neutral. Write that down.
Friendships are never neutral. Now, I got this right here for you. You ready for this? They are either barriers that block destiny or bridges that carry you towards it. So, I'm telling you that the people that are closest to you are either, watch me, either they're either blocking your progress, progress, or they're building your path. And I know y'all like, "Well, PM, how do I know?" Some of y'all just need to take a deep breath. How do I know if they're a barrier or a bridge? Well, I'm about to tell you. It brings me to my very first point. Number one, write this down. Is you have to audit your circle.
You have to audit your circle. Now, I'm not going to have time to go through everything on this, but you have to spend time, watch me, intentional time assessing the friendships that you have and how they affect your life. And my concern is that many of us don't. Is that, is that, is that we just go through life just bringing the only thing that stops y'all is, is, is a friend conflict or breakup, not your purpose. Y'all will argue about a trip to Miami before you argue about your purpose. All right, let me get back in.
They don't want to talk to me, Bri. Don't worry about it. I got you. Now, let me be honest. Bring it in. I made y'all laugh cuz it's not about, y'all not about to laugh about this. Now, let me be honest. Some of y'all don't want to audit your friendships because you know what you're going to find. And let me be very clear, in the most loving and honoring and respectful way. It's very easy for our more seasoned people in here, our 15-and-up club, to think that I'm just talking to them. Because, because for all, because all of our more senior people in here, y'all have friendships and relationships y'all have for 30 years that you know is not purposeful too. You got to audit your circle.
Now, let me give you four. Let me give you these things right here to let you know if or how to audit your circle to see if somebody is in your circle as a barrier or a bridge. Write this down. You ready for this? Okay. He said, "No." Is this how you know somebody's a barrier? I'm going to give you four things real quickly. They normalize what God is trying to deliver you from. You trying to grow and they joking about it. You're trying to be absent and they saying, "Hey, don't take all that." Let me really press into that really quickly because for some of y'all, you are trying so hard to break something out of your life. And you got friends who, who do not care enough to stop doing it around you.
Y'all not going to talk to me, but I'm going to talk to you. You've been trying to stop smoking for the longest, and they won't stop coming around you. Number two, they feed your flesh and not your faith. Every hangout leads to compromise. And this is not just for your friends. It's for that person that you dating too, or that y'all just talking to in a situationship with, whatever y'all like to call it. Every time you hanging out, y'all slip up. Number three, they drain without depositing. One-sided relationships. They drain without depositing. Is, is, is that you feel heavy and distracted. You feel less focused on purpose, but you had a time last night. That's stupid. Number four. Number four. They resist your growth. Some people love you at your level, but struggle at your upgrade.
Some people love you at your level, but they struggle at your upgrade. These are barriers, y'all. Okay. Let me give you, let me give you identifiers of a bridge. Y'all ready for this? Y'all ready? We going, I mean, you can get the sermon for this, but listen. Is this right here? Is that a bridge? Number one, they challenge you. Some of y'all can't have, can't have healthy friendships because you don't want to be held accountable. Every time somebody hold you accountable, you get offended. You feel like you're being judged. Well, this is the reality. You are being judged. The Bible says to judge righteously. So, yeah, when you keep lying, then I'm going to keep saying something. You keep gossiping, I'mma say something. If you don't like it, oh well. But you should want a friend who challenges you. Number two, watch this. Number two is that they celebrate your growth even when it creates distance. They don't say, "You've changed." They say, "I'm proud of who you've become." That's a bridge. Number three, they expand your vision. Every time you spend time with them, you think bigger, you think bolder, and you see clearer. That's my girl right there. Number four. Number four, watch this. And this is why I'm so thankful for, for my friends, is they guard your blind spots.
Watch me. They, they protect destiny. All of my friends who are here will pull me aside privately and let me know if I'm tripping because you got to watch me. Correction is important, but also environment is too. Cuz some of y'all got friends who just want to call you out in front of everybody else to make it seem like they're right all the time. And they don't gossip about your blind spots with everybody else. Bridge versus barrier. Let they guard your blind spots.
So, so I've told you how to identify. Somebody say identify.
Identify. You have to audit your circle. This is, this is the next thing that you have to do. You have to act accordingly. Got to act accordingly. There it is. This is where courage comes in. Watch me. You have to be willing to act on what it is that you have assessed. But can I really step on your toes? The other action that you have to make is not just with your friends, but it's also in becoming what it is that you expect. Because a lot of us in this room demand a friendship that we do not give out.
Because for some of us, we are the barrier in people's lives. And there is this thing, there is this thing in Christianity where people are a barrier, bridge. And what I mean by that in Christianom is that you love bringing people into the kingdom, but the moment that they get into the kingdom, that you don't let people grow within the kingdom. Y'all following me? So, it's, we just act crazy as Christians, but I hide what I do from non-Christians. So, I look like a bridge, but you come in and I'm really just a barrier.
Is this making sense? You got to act accordingly. Now, now, now hear what I'm saying so you don't hear what I'm not saying. I'm not saying that you need to get out here and, you know, lose all your friends because everybody doesn't need to be removed. Some people just need to be repositioned. Hear me. Hear me. Everybody doesn't need to be removed. Some of them do. Some of those people that we're dating do need to be removed permanently. Not just, you know, permanently. Get them out. But, but some people need to be repositioned. What does reposition look like? Is that I change my access because you have to understand is that, watch me, is that their access will determine their influence.
Does this make sense? And so you got to act accordingly. And then the last thing is this. Last thing is this is that you have to actively seek purposeful connections. Now, let me say what I really want to say. The biggest, one of the biggest things that I see as a pastor is that people get in the kingdom and start living for God, and they do not invest the same effort into building new friends that they did before they were in the kingdom. And we say, "Well, PM, that's just not my personality." Yeah, but it's your purpose, though. Well, well, it's not really my comfort zone. Yeah, but it's your calling that we're talking about. I had, I had, I had a young lady come to me, uh, months ago, and she was like, "PM, I'm, I'm thinking about leaving the church." And I'm like, "Man, I hate to hear that. Like, what's going on?" I said, "Like, do you feel like you're not being poured into? You're not being fed?" And she was like, "No, I feel great." And I said, "Okay, well, did somebody offend you?" She was like, "No." And I said, "Well, help me out, baby. What's, what's going on?" And she said, "I just don't feel like I found community." And I, I kind of started laughing. And I think she got a little offended. And I said, "There's 3,000 people here every week. You ain't found nobody." And, and I said, "There's thousands of people that come here." And I said, "Do you serve?" And she said, "Yes." I said, "Do you talk to anybody you serve with?" She was like, "No." And I said, "Do you try to talk to people at church?" And she was like, "No." I said, "Did you join a B group?" She was like, "Yes." I said, "Did you go?" Some of y'all sign up for 15 and don't show up to any. And she said, "I went once." But watch me. I went once. And I said, "Do I have permission to be pretty honest with you?" She said, "Yes." I said, "So, it doesn't seem like you couldn't find community. It seems like you weren't willing to do what it took to find it."
I said, "Actively seek purposeful connections." It broke my heart for King Rehoboam because all he had to do was seek the people that God had sent him to give him the right advice. And this is what I'm saying. As your pastor, you're talking to an introvert. I don't like talking to people. Let me be very clear. Is, is I have to turn this on every week. But it's something that God has built in me because I understand my purpose is bigger than my personality.
And hear me, I would not have feel so protected and loved. And watch me. I would not be as healthy as I am if I would not have gotten outside of my comfort zone and made, watch me, and continue to build the relationship with the bridge friends in my life, but to build new bridges with people that God sent. Lean in. This is why we do B-groups. This is why. Because some of y'all don't need another sermon. You need connection. Some of y'all, some, some of y'all don't need another podcast. Please don't do another podcast.
You need somebody who knows your name and that you can sit and you can break down the sermon with, that you can apply these things in life. You need community. And this is my prayer is that we remove the blockages from our life. We remove the barriers. We reposition the ones that need to be repositioned. But it's not enough just to reposition and remove people if we don't actively build the right connections. Because you can be walking around like a healthy tree with no limbs, nothing. But we want to bear fruit. Somebody say fruit. The circle will determine your sin.
Let me pray for you. Father, in the mighty name of Jesus, we love you. We lift you. We thank you. There's nobody like you. So good. God, I ask right now in the name of Jesus, Father God, that you just touch our hearts. Thank you, Father God, for how it is that you have challenged us today. Thank you, Father, for how it is that you have, um, thank you, Holy Spirit, for how you've convicted us, Father. Thank you, what you've taught us, God. I thank you, Father God, for the wisdom and discernment and the courage to audit our circle, Father God. But also, God, to actively seek the right connections, God. And I pray that for those of us that that seems that's really, really difficult for us, Father. I pray that we would know and that we would actively, Father God, walk in the places and position ourselves to meet like people who want to help achieve purpose together.
If you're in this place, you never give your life to Jesus or you want to rededicate your life to Jesus. I know somebody who's a friend that sticks closer than a brother. And there is no greater love than for somebody to lay their life down for their friends. We have a God who did, did not just want to stay in heaven by himself, but he loved you enough that he stepped outside of eternity, outside of divinity, walked in humanity, wrestled this world, died, gave his life, and then took it back so that you and I may be reconciled to the Father if we believe. If you're in this place, you want to give your life to Jesus for the first time, for the hundredth time, doesn't matter. And on the count of three, I want you to raise your hand as boldly and as quickly as possible. One, two, three.
Come on, y'all. I see the hands. Come on. I see your hand back there. Come on, y'all. Let's put those hands up. My God, we are so, so proud. I'm so proud of you back there. Listen, everybody repeat after me. Say, "Father, I love you. I thank you for Jesus. I believe that he lived, that he died, and that he rose for my sins. Come into my heart. Be my Lord. I am yours and you are mine. In Jesus name. Amen."
Come on, let's give it up.