SPEAKER_00 0:00

Well, how are we doing? One church? It is great to see you. I'm so glad that you came. If I haven't met you, I'd love to. If you're new, welcome, welcome, welcome. Let's do something. Every week there's people that join us all around the world online. Would you guys let them know how much you love them? We're grateful you're here. No matter where you are, they love me. So I keep hearing this amazing story of what God's doing and what he's doing in this house, in this church, is just incredible. People keep saying this sentiment of like, I've I've just never felt so loved. And I we had discovered one church this last week, and I mean it was packed. There was like 60 families or something. And so uh a whole bunch of new people want to be a part of this place. And there was this sweet uh 20-something year old, and she came up and and um she you could tell her background's not church, and she doesn't know the language or whatever, and so she's just like um I I just want to tell you something, Pastor. I I um she got real teary. She was like, I I want you to know that I really struggle with um any organized religion. And I was like, that's so honest, thank you for saying that. I I feel the same way. And she was like, but what I keep telling my friends is like I just want to bring you because I can go there and I feel so loved, and I feel like so welcomed, and I feel like it is family. So out of her mouth to say that, it was like beautiful to hear that, and it's just so so awesome. And so she's been bringing her friends, and then next service today, one of her friends are getting baptized. Isn't that amazing? Yeah, so that's one of many people's lives that are being changed, and that's only because of the power of God, and He He's moving in this place, and people's lives are being radically transformed. It's awesome to be a part of it. And so, if you're new around here, every August I like to do something, right? I like to talk about who we are and why we do what we do, um, our vision and our values. See, every family has values. You might go in their house, and as soon as you walk in, you're like, you gotta take your shoes off, and you're like, oh, you value your carpet, right? Or if if their walls are all brown, you're like, oh, you guys value brown. Uh but then right, right? But then there's other things like um, you know, you smell candles, and I and you know, like, you like candles. Or there's things about family, like as a bergstrom, we would say bergstroms never quit, or bergstroms uh don't lie. There's values that we have that define who we are and they define how we live. And it shouldn't be me trying to talk you into these are our values as a church. It's something you should walk in and go, oh, that's just, I can see that. That's something that that's the way they are. It's the way they make me feel so loved and seen. And so um every year we like to talk about all of those things. And so, as a family here at one church, we want you to know our greatest value is love. And so it's our main mission is to passionately love God vertically and to horizontally love his people intentionally. And so that's that's our heart, and our heart is also to help people know God, grow deep, and go love. And so we always say, no, grow, go. And we want we want people to know him, to grow deep in him, and then also to go love the world and be on mission for him. And so today specifically, I want to talk about what it means to grow deep, and we're gonna talk about grow groups. And so um, it's crazy that we're we're preaching about that on the very day that we're launching grow groups, almost like we thought about that. And so, um, right up front, if you're new to church and don't understand what a small group is, well, I'm just gonna challenge you today to invest your life into other people by getting involved in a small group. And I know, I know some of you are like, Blake, man, I'm not about that. That's just weird. I'm not going to somebody's living room, the bunch of strangers, and they're gonna look at me and say, All right, tell us your deepest sin. Right? Not about that. Or the other one is, I show up and they're gonna ask for my deepest childhood wound. No, I'm I'm not, I'm out, right? And so you would probably be like, yeah, I came for the chips and queso. No thanks. And so I get it, I know that it's hard to step into a uh, you know, the feeling of feeling vulnerable with strangers. And so I want to challenge us today that my my heart really is that everybody that's a part of a church would find some people to follow Jesus with, that you make friends. And um, I know that that might take a little courage for some of you, and it always might feel a little awkward the first couple of times, but I'm gonna say that relationships always do. And eventually, though, what I've seen happen over and over is that strangers become friends, and those friends become like family. And so let me just get a raise of hands. Tell me if you're a part of a group that has become like family. Raise your hand. Yeah, all over the room. That's amazing. Here at OneChur, it's a massive value of ours. In fact, there are over 76 groups that meet throughout this city every single week, and over 800 people are involved in our grow groups at OneCurch. And so we care a lot about people finding other people and having people in their lives. And so this series is called Everyone Matters. And the first week we talked about how Jesus sees people. And he sees not just a crowd, but he sees the individual. Last week we talked about do you know God and the importance of knowing him? Because that's where we all start is by knowing God. But today I want to talk about like the next question. Well, okay, so once you know him, then what? Do we just pray the prayer, get baptized, and that's it? And I think a lot of times at church we make it really casual to be a disciple or a follower of Jesus, right? You get saved, try not to cuss as much. I come to church when I can if it fits my schedule, and then you know what, I'll see you in heaven, bro. And it's kind of very casual. But I need to submit that when you give your life to Christ and you get saved and you actually experience salvation, that's not the finish line, that's the starting line. And so that's when we start the adventure of a lifelong process of learning to live and love like Jesus. And so that's what we mean when we talk about growing deep in Christ. It's allowing Christ to transform the way that we live and the way that we think. It's learning your calling and your purpose. It's the way that we, you know, serve his church and partner with heaven to be a part of his community on earth. So Jesus, he didn't make it casual. He asked us to come and die. He said, I want you to lose your life for my sake, to decrease so Christ might increase. He said in Mark 8, for whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. So, from the words of Jesus, that doesn't seem very cheap or casual. He's asking for everything. He's saying, I want you to go all in and I want all of your heart. He doesn't want to share our heart with the world. He wants to know that we worship him completely, to live for him and him alone. He wants to be the king over our lives and the throne over our heart. And so when we love him, that's the natural outpouring of like, I love you, God, vertically, and so therefore your love flows through me horizontally to love his people. And so that's why when we we love God, the natural reaction is to love his church. Because his church are his people, and he dwells inside of people. And so I need to say this: growth happens best inside of the church, in community with other folks. Never alone. It doesn't work that way. And so my message today is called, don't grow alone. Will you just tap your neighbor and say that to him, say, don't grow alone. All right? And then follow up with that by saying, Man, we need each other, bro. Say that. We need we need each other. So we were we were never meant to live this whole thing out in a community of believers alone. It's not a private thing to be a Christian. Jesus, how did he do it? I I like to think of us as a New Testament church, meaning we want to be as close to the Bible and how the early church did church as we can. And so, what did Jesus do? He he formed his disciples in community, right? The early church, they grew together and they had everything in common. And they gave to anyone that was in need. Right? Some of the deepest work that God will ever do in our lives will happen through other people, right? So when the Holy Spirit speaks through someone, we hear from God through his word, through his people, and sometimes in a still small voice. And so I've experienced God's voice coming loud and strong through God's people. And so every one of us needs people that are ahead of us, that are stronger and farther along in their faith to show us the way. We need people beside us that are walking alongside of us along the way. And eventually we need people that are behind us, and we need to help them grow to show them their way in the faith journey. And so that's how disciples grow deep. And so let me challenge you. I have a question for you. Are you guys ready for a question? Okay, who is discipling you and who are you discipling? I'm gonna ask it again. Who is discipling you and who are you discipling? In other words, who is helping you grow closer to Christ, and who are you helping grow closer to Christ? If you can't answer either one of those, then maybe you're more of a casual Christian than you even know. Maybe you aren't living your life on mission and fulfilling God's purpose and plan for your life. Because the main point of being a disciple of Jesus is to make other disciples of Jesus. And so if you're not, I think you should ask. Like, okay, God, well then who would you want me to disciple? And who could disciple me? In Matthew 4, Jesus made this very simple. He said to Peter and Andrew, come follow me. Everybody say follow me. Right after that, he put them on mission. He said, Okay, immediately he says, and I will send you out to fish for people. And I challenge this last week. If you've never caught a fish, are you really a fisherman? And so I want to ask you, are you on mission? If you're saying, yes, I believe in Jesus, I'm following him, but you're not going out and fishing for people? Like I love the simplicity of that. Follow me. So what does that mean? Well, you you walk where I walk, you do what I do. You listen to my words and understand my heart, and then you watch how I treat people. You watch how I forgive and how I pray and how I serve. But most importantly, watch how I love. Stay close enough to me that eventually the way I live starts to become the way you live. That's discipleship. In fact, the the early days of the church, the movement of Jesus was actually called the way. And people, followers of the way, were called just that. People of the way. And it comes directly from John 14, 6, when Jesus said, What? I am the way, the truth, and the life. And no one comes to the Father except through me. And so I'd like to ask you, do you believe that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life? Come on, somebody. And so I need to clarify, Jesus didn't say that he is a way, as many would tell you today. Jesus never said that he is one of many ways. Jesus made it very clear that he's the only way to the Father. And so if you actually believe that, then you are people of the way who belong to the way. You're a part of the original movement of the early church. And I want to challenge us to make the gospel simple, right? I'm going to follow Jesus, who is the way, and I want to help other people to find their way. It's that easy. But as it we have this tendency, as humans do, to make things really hard and complicated. And religion can be so challenging to understand. Am I doing it right? Am I, you know, and so we make all these rules and regulations and we make it about law. And I just want to challenge us today that it's not about how much you know. It's not about like book smart and having, you know, doing another Bible study and another, you know, understanding doctrine and theology and what's Calvinism versus Arminianism and what's eschatology, and how do I be sanctified? And what does all that mean? And we we have a tendency to go, if you're spiritually mature, then you know all of this. And that's good and fine. I'm not condemning knowledge, but being a follower of Christ can't just be about knowledge and information. At some point, it has to be about heart transformation. Like allowing the Spirit to change you into the likeness of Christ. Right? It's going from your head to your heart, not just how much you know, but how much you're actually being transformed into the likeness of the one that we're following, right? It's saying, What is your way, God? I'm gonna do it that way. I'm not gonna do it my way. So Burger King was wrong. You can't have it your way. We have to do things his way. And that's why we talk so much about growing in Christ. The process of like actually giving of yourself to Christ and becoming like him. And um, it's not just, I always say, a lot of people come to church and they're saved, they're satisfied, and they're sitting. Right? They're they're doing nothing with their faith. Uh and so I want to say, if you're sitting, you're rotting. Right? If if you want to grow, growing, if here's the way I like to say this: if we're not growing, then we're dying. And so there's always got to be this growth. Colossians 2. So, so then, just as you receive Christ Jesus Lord, right? Now you know him, right? And so do this, continue. Everybody say, continue. Continue to live your lives in him, rooted down deep and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. Clearly, this text is about this continuing of growing in your faith. And think of faith like a muscle, right? And so, muscles, we all know this statement. If you don't lose it, I mean, if you don't use it, you lose it. You have to continue to work. And so this happens by being rooted, established in Christ, allowing your roots to grow deeper and deeper. So we can withstand all of the challenges and the winds of this world, right? To know that no matter what temptation comes, no matter how hard this life comes, no matter how much the devil tempts me, I know that I'm rooted and strong enough to withstand whatever he brings my way. And so there's this continual building, a continual learning, and a continual becoming strengthened in Christ. Are you guys tracking? So I geek out when it comes to trees. I used to have a furniture company and I love building things out of wood. And one of my favorite trees is the aspen tree. And I I don't know if you know this, but the aspen tree is actually the largest living organism in the world. There's an aspen tree in South Utah called Pando, which means I spread in in uh Latin. And so I I love the thought that it's a beautiful picture, the largest living organism of the church. The reason why, if I show you a picture of the aspen tree, um you go, man, that's a lot of beautiful trees, and you'd be wrong. That's actually not beautiful trees, plural, that's one tree singular. And so the cool thing about an aspen tree is that all the sprouts that come up from the ground are all from the same root system, meaning the largest tree is looks like a bunch of trees, but it's actually one tree. And I think that's a beautiful picture of us, the body of Christ all connected together, right? So you might see the beauty of an outward appearance and the leaves and the branches and the trunk, right? But everything that we see above the ground is being sustained by something that we can't see underneath the ground. And that's the same thing here. It's true for our walk with God. The life that everybody sees on the outside is only as strong as the root system that are being grown on the inside. And so, can I say something? We don't ever grow deep accidentally, it's never by accident. We grow deep intentionally. Nobody wakes up one morning and accidentally has man. I don't know, man. We just have an incredible marriage, right? Or you don't just go, wow, I don't know how it happened. Accidentally, I I have phenomenal friends. Or we don't accidentally get jacked in the gym by eating junk food and never actually working out. Right? Growth requires sacrifice and discipline in every part of life, in your friendships, in your work, with your finances, in your marriage, in every relationship, and especially with God. Growth requires sacrifice and discipline. Jesus talked a lot about this idea when he talked about producing spiritual fruit. He said that we can actually tell who followers are by their fruit. And so if you aren't producing fruit, then maybe you're not a follower of Christ. Fruit never grows by itself, it always has to be connected to the source, to have intimacy. And so he explained that in John 15 by saying, Remain in me as I remain in you, because no branch can bear fruit what? By itself. It must remain in the vine. And neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. And then Jesus said this about himself. It's kind of a wack-a-doo thing to say out loud. If you said this to me, I'd be like, Yeah, you're weird. He said, I am the vine. I am the vine, and you are the branches. If you remain in me, you will bear much fruit. But apart from me, you can do what? Nothing. We have to stay connected to the vine. If the if the someone branches cut from the vine, what happens? It withers and dies and it no longer grows. And so Jesus never intended for growth to happen in isolation. We have to be connected to him and to one another. Think about how Jesus made disciples. He could have done it however the way he wanted to. He was God. But what did he do? He formed a small group. And it was a very strange, weird, small group. Think about in your small group, if you had a fisherman, you had a tax collector, and you had a political zealot, you had Peter, who said everything that he ever thought. Do you guys have anybody like that in your group? Don't point fingers. Yeah, bro, it's right here. James and John, those guys, they they actually said, Hey, God, I think you should call down lightning from heaven for those people I don't like. Yeah, come on, bro. You had Thomas, who's always asking questions and doubting everything, right? And if you don't know this, but I know every single one of the disciples' names by heart. Do you guys know this about me? I can tell you all. Would you like me to tell you all of them? Okay. There were twelve disciples. Jesus called to help him, Simon, Peter, Andrew, James's brother, John, Philip Thomas, Matthew, James the son of Atheus, Thaddeus, Simon, Judas, and Bartholomew. Thank you. There you go. My wife taught me that song. So, anyways, if you want to know the names of the disciples, we'll have a sing along after this. I'll teach you. Anyways, so Jesus called these 12 guys, very different, all come together. And Jesus took this collection of dysfunctional humans and decided, you know what? Those are my dudes. Those guys right there are gonna lead the greatest movement in all of history. And so Jesus didn't like say, hey guys, gather around. Here's a workbook. I want you to fill out the blanks and come back next Tuesday. No. He invited them to do life with him, to eat together, they traveled together, they prayed together, they served everywhere that they went. And they watched Jesus do miracles. He watched him heal people, they walk they watched him love his enemies and deal with conflict appropriately. Jesus welcome little children. They watched him love the unlovable. And truthfully, they watched his every move. And little by little, day after day, they were becoming more and more like the one that they were following. And I'd submit that that's discipleship. And that's what we're supposed to do. And then at the end of Jesus' ministry, when he had done all he was supposed to do and he was ascending into heaven, and he was going back to be with the Father, he looks down to these twelve guys, and he says to them, Hey, go and make disciples of all nations, teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And so I want us to be clear. That's our mission. Go and make. Because Jesus' vision is that we become disciples who are making disciples who are making disciples. That's been the vision for well over 2,000 years, and it hasn't changed. And church, I believe that's one of the greatest needs in Christianity today is discipleship. We have plenty of sermons. We have lots of content. More content than ever before in human history. You can watch podcasts and sermons 24 hours a day now and see the very best communicators in the world. What we don't need is more content. We need biblical community. The world is desperate for friends. They want to put away their screens and find like someone that cares, someone that actually has intimacy. That to me, church, that's the secret sauce of the church. And we need people who actually know us. And they know us well. They know us enough to encourage us when we're discouraged. They confront us when we're drifting away. They pray for us when we're hurting and celebrate with us when God's moving. That's exactly what happened in the early church. And it hasn't changed. That's still what the church needs. And so, Acts 2.42, if you want to know a picture of the early church, it says, They devoted themselves to the apostles' teachings. So there were sermons being taught. They devoted themselves to fellowship with one another. They devoted themselves to breaking bread and to prayer. And then in verse 46, it says, Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts. So they did both. You didn't throw out the temple courts in the church, right? They gathered in temple in rows, but they also gathered in living rooms in circles, knee to knee, face to face. And that's something that we've said here at One Church from the beginning. You can learn a lot sitting in rows, but some of the deepest, most transformative life change always happens when you're sitting in circles with people who know your story, that know what keeps you up at night. So let me be clear. And it matters. The Holy Spirit shows up, and we all lift up the name of God in worship and praise. And there's something special about that. I love preaching God's word and allowing the word of God to come alive in people's lives. There's something powerful about the gathered church. But it can't stop there. That's not the full picture of the church. It's easy to come to a room like this and to hide, to disappear. And some of you prefer that. But those same people, some of us, need to allow people into our lives and into our brokenness. It's easy to like push people out. I don't want you to know what I'm going through, my struggles, and what my the battle I have with my marriage right now and my finances, right? And I don't want you to know how much of a mess my life really is, the addictions that I'm facing. But I'm telling you, when you have people like that, that's the best part of the church. Having people who know your struggles, who know what you're tempted by, and people who help us grow in the word, and people that actually spend time praying for you. And not just that part of it, but I love it when a grow group or a small group all serve together. And you have like common stories. You have like shared experiences and shared, you know, like you remember when we were cutting down that tree, or you remember when we went and helped with that tornado? You remember when those are those are the best parts of like when you're growing, like this this Saturday, maybe challenge your group to like, let's all serve together and let's side by side, you know, do the work of God together. It's beautiful. Shared experiences and shared memories matter. This summer I got to experience that in a different way. It was not for a church or anything holy or Christian. Um, I got to go to Salzburg, Austria, and I was with my wife, and she had one goal while we were there. She wanted to see the sound of music. And so, is there any people here that love the movie, the sound of music? Oh, there's a lot. Okay, all right. Well, I had more time thinking about this movie than anybody really wants to have. And so we went on this tour that was like a half-day tour, and we got to go see all these beautiful places, you know, where where she got married, and all the things that you can imagine about the sound of music, we got to see it all. In fact, I even got a hotel where you could look out the window and see the bridge that the kids came across when they were all in their curtains, whatever the green, anyways. So I I really tried to make this special for my wife. We went and had breakfast at the hotel Schlagenberger or whatever it is. And so we we had a blast. But um, I'll tell you that there was moments when I was on that bus and everyone was singing all of the songs for a four-hour sing-along. Four hours that I was like ready to like, you know, pop my eyes out. I was losing my mind. And so I wonder if you guys would like to see a video of us singing the would you like to see? Okay. Here you go. Sing along, everybody, if you know it. So my sweet wife, she, I looked over her several times and she's singing these songs, and she's just like crying. She's like, I'm like, really? You're crying? I'm like losing my mind. But if you love it, then I love it. And so the truth is it was really a special moment. And you know, doing that with a bunch of people that all like have this massive affinity for the sound of music, and they're just singing and singing. It was a shared experience and a shared moment that we got off the bus and we're all hugging and we had sung together, and all these, it was crazy. But what we have here, the shared experiences that we have, and the songs that we sing, it's not about a movie. It's not about a story. It's it's actually about something that happened in history that created the strongest movement in all of history. We get to come together and sing songs that worship our Savior, and we get to be a part of the church, which is the most important part of being a believer is that we have one another and we need each other. And so that's why we talk about grow groups and growing in a group together. It's shared life. It's me coming with my needs and my brokenness and saying, Help. And that's what the church does. It's not another program, it's not a Christian book club, it's not just another night where you have to, you know, go somewhere in an already crazy busy schedule. It's our attempt to create the kinds of relationships that Jesus always intended for his followers to have. It's being connected by the Holy Spirit.

unknown 31:57

Right?

SPEAKER_00 31:57

When the Holy Spirit shows up, guess what happens? The saints are unified. There's something special that happens. And so when we come together and people know your story and you know each other's wounds, you know when you're sick or someone's missing, you celebrate when somebody wins, and and then when somebody's world is falling apart, you show up. See, that's that's the church. It's people that are praying for you and challenging you, forgiving you, like laughing with you, crying with you, and occasionally loving you enough to say, bro, come on. You're acting the fool. You're you're throwing your life away. Every one of us need people who love us enough to correct us and to help us become more like Christ. You know, there's a whole bunch of New Testament one another verses. We love one another, serve one another, we pray with one another, we bear with one another. Did you know you can't do a one-another command by yourself? We all need people. Just look around this room. I mean, every tribe, tongue, and nation, different ages, different stories, different backgrounds, different gifts, talents, and abilities, different struggles, and very different personalities. That's the church. The church is made up of every kind of beautiful human. And even though we're all very different, we all belong to the same root system. And we're all connected, abiding together, connected to the vine, all following one man, and that's Jesus Christ. He's the only way to the Father. And when we come to Him, He gives us strength by giving us His one Spirit, and we all serve under one Lord, united by one faith, living as a family, as one church. So please hear me. You are never created to stand alone, to pull your britches up and have it all together. Some of you, when you look on the outward appearance, you look really strong. And you walk in here every Sunday, and everything looks polished and pretty and fine. You smile, you worship, you shake hands, and when people ask you how you are, you give the church answer. I'm blessed and highly favored. Meanwhile, oftentimes your world's fallen apart. Your marriage is struggling, finances are a wreck. Maybe you're battling an addiction, and the truth is you're just tired and weary and exhausted. And maybe, maybe you're even questioning God. That's the perfect time to come to church with other broken people that are all hurting, right? Here's the kicker. Don't do that alone. Maybe you came in here today and you're carrying something that you've never told another person about. There's too much guilt and too much shame. Well, we're a church that does not say shame on you. We're here to speak the words of Christ that says shame off of you. You can come here and be set free. Chains will break, demonic forces will be loosed, and you can actually have friends. You don't have to do it alone. That is a lie from the pits of hell. Being rooted in Christ doesn't prove that you don't need anybody. Being rooted in Christ proves how desperately we show up for one another. So maybe next time you're trying to put yourself together, just think of the aspen tree. Because when aspen are attacked by a bug or a you know, a fire, guess what it does? If it's old and it's dying, it sends all of its nutrients down into the roots so that the next generation can have strength to grow. That's our job. It's to make sure that we all stay connected to the vine and help each other grow. So maybe the day your next step is simple. Maybe it's time to stop hiding and to let other people into your life. Maybe it is to join a grow group. Maybe you've been following Jesus for a really long time, and it's actually time to lead a grow group. But here's what I want: I want all of us to start pouring out our life into other people to help the body of Christ grow. Find someone ahead of you to help disciple you. Find some people beside you to walk alongside of you, and then turn around and bring somebody else with you. Because that's discipleship. Disciples making disciples who make disciples. So my challenge for us today is to stay connected to the vine, abiding with Jesus. And let's live connected to his people. And little by little we will all start to look more and more like the one that we're following. That's the church. And it's the best part of being a part of a church because we don't grow deep alone, we grow deep together. Will you guys pray with me? Father, thank you for reminding us today how much we need each other. We repent of always trying to do it by ourselves, isolated, as individuals, the American way. God, I'm sorry for that. May we stop with that and lay down our pride and our arrogance. And may we be humble enough to see how much we need you first and how much we need your people. God, would you unify our hearts? Give us one mind and one body, all serving as one church to glorify you, God. And I pray if there's anybody here that's broken and hurting and they have heavy struggles that they're going through, that they'd they'd find people here to pray with, that they'd come and be healed and restored. Thank you, Jesus, for the cross, for reminding us that you came here for those that are struggling and that are walking in sin, so we could be washed and cleansed because you made a way for us. You are the way. And we get to know that one day we can be with you in heaven for eternity. And we praise you for that, God. We want to give our lives to you, God. We surrender everything to follow after you, to be disciples of you, God. We love you, Jesus, with all of our heart, soul, ministry. It's in your name we pray. Everybody said, Amen. If you have something you'd like prayer for, please come forward. We'd love to have a team that could pray over you. But we just want to thank you for coming today. We love you, one church. Let's stand and worship God.