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The River ChurchSermons

Stirred Up

Josh Yates · Sunday, 23 August 2026 · 45:05 · 7,404 words

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The sermon examines why many people stay away from church, exploring reasons such as doubt, individualism, moral disagreements, and hurt. It emphasizes that the church is the body of believers, not a building, and calls listeners to stop riding as passengers and to engage actively in community. Drawing on Hebrews 10:24‑25, the speaker urges believers to stir one another toward love and good works, to be willing to share their faith, and to join growth groups, especially those feeling isolated.

What this sermon is about

Ranked by keyness against every other sermon in the corpus. Each one is a word this sermon actually said — nothing here was written by a model.

church 140 stir 21 independently 6 spirituality 7 hypocrites 7 alone 16 yearning 6 draw 13 schedule 6 discipline 8 attend 7 part 21

Topics

The Body of Christ 4 Faith 2 Prayer 2 Salvation 1 The Holy Spirit 1 Love 1

Scripture referenced 8

Verified against the transcript. A reference the recording does not support is never listed here.

Hebrews 10:24-25 0:51 Ephesians 1 25:35 Ephesians 2 25:47 1 Peter 2 25:51 Ephesians 5 25:59 John 10 26:10 John 15 26:19 Ephesians 3:18 35:55

Transcript

Every word, as spoken, with the second it was said. Each word links to its own entry in the index.

Pre-service announcement — 7 lines, 0:33. Excluded from every count and search on this site, kept here so nothing is hidden.

Hey everyone, my name is Lorena, and thanks for checking out one of our sermons today.

We're so glad that you're here, and we want to connect with you and your family.

And the easiest way to do that is to text RIVERCHURCH to 97000.

There you can ask questions, submit a prayer request, and even support the River Church financially.

And at the end of the day, we just want to connect with you and be a blessing to you in any way that we can.

You can also visit our website, theriverchurch.cc, to learn more about us and what we have going on as a church.

Thanks again for joining us, and we hope that you are blessed by today's message.

Again, you may all be wondering why you have one of these in your hands as you walked in this morning.

Well, I can imagine that's a pretty good question.

I want to read you a patch of Scripture as we begin.

Hebrews 10, verses 24-25, and it's really where we're focusing today for the entire time.

And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works,

not neglecting to meet and get together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another.

And all the more as you see the Lord.

See the day drawing near.

It's time to stir, all right?

So, this is a reminder of everything we're about to learn this morning, all right?

It is a stir stick that is a little flimsy, but if you keep it in your Bible,

it's going to remind us why what we're talking about this morning is super important.

So, as I consider what the writer of Hebrews is saying as I study for the message today,

a question came to mind.

Why do people not want to go or be part of the church?

Why?

Why do people not want to come and be a part of what's going on on Sundays at churches all across the country?

I mean, you can invite people to church, and there's a real hesitancy that people will have when you invite people, right?

I mean, some of us here today might even be here reluctantly.

I'm glad you're here despite that.

All right, let's be honest about it.

So, I looked up some reasons online, and Pew Research and Barna Research both highlight some pretty big reasons.

There's the rise of the nuns in our country, the N-O-N-E-S.

A growing percentage of population identifies as religiously unidentifiable.

They're atheistic or agnostic, feeling no inherent or culture expectation to attend church.

There's a lot of people that have intellectual and scientific doubts.

Questions rise around science, creation, historical accuracy.

Many find traditional religious dogmas unsatisfying.

I would say for us in the church, the problem with that is that we have not allowed people to ask questions.

And we don't answer them well.

There are answers in God's word, but let me not get ahead of myself.

Individualized spirituality.

I mean, in our country, we're so individualistic, right?

We barely even know our neighbors anymore.

We're really, really social if we know our neighbors' names, right?

I mean, the block party isn't a thing like it used to be as much.

We're so busy.

We have so much going on.

I mean, people still value personal faith or ethical living, but they pursue their spirituality independently

rather than as a part of their life.

They pursue their spirituality independently rather than as a part of their life.

They pursue their spirituality independently rather than as a part of their life.

They pursue their spirituality independently rather than as a part of their life.

They pursue their spirituality independently rather than as a part of their life.

They pursue their spirituality independently rather than in the church.

And we're going to see today that there's a real problem with that.

There's moral and political disagreements.

I mean, let's be honest.

Some of us in this room are known more for our political affiliation than our Jesus affiliation.

And that's true of the church overall.

I seem to remember a time back in the day when there was an emperor by the name of Constantine

where the church melded itself with a political leader

and it was one of the darkest periods in the history of the church.

Be careful putting Christianity,

and molding it to a political ideology.

And yet that's what we do, right?

On either side, or whatever color.

It's about Jesus first, Jesus always, Christ above all.

But the problem is, is we're known more for our political ideology

than we are for our Jesus following.

Social and ethical stances.

So many disagreements over LGBTQ inclusion,

gender roles, productive rights, all that kind of stuff.

People can view that as exclusionary or harmful.

The reality is we have to never stop preaching the truth of God's word.

But the problem is,

so many of us become jerks for Jesus.

We're not called to be jerks for Jesus.

We're called to both speak truth in love.

It's both.

Problem is, as a secondary to that,

people get offended at you

rather than getting offended by what Jesus has to say.

May that never be so.

But that's the problem.

Then there's hypocrisy and institutional scandals,

high-profile misconduct.

Unfortunately, the faithful pastor's story

does not sell,

ads on television or in magazines or in the newspaper.

You only hear about the people that fall,

which is a small percentage compared to the faithful pastors,

men and women that are serving on a weekly basis all over the world.

You don't hear about them,

but you do hear about those scandals and they draw people away from the church.

Past moral injury or church hurt.

There's a lot of church hurt.

There's also a lot of church hurt that's labeled as such.

That's actually just being held accountable to living for Jesus.

And we're going to talk about that.

In a little bit, too.

Then there's competing priorities and busy schedules.

Modern lifestyles offer endless alternatives for community and weekend time.

Family activities, recreation, digital spaces,

making weekly attendance at church less of a reality, less of a priority.

But yet we also have to talk about the fact that sometimes

we are the reason people don't come to church.

We miss the mark, right?

Sometimes our attitudes about what church is or isn't or should or shouldn't be

keeps us from church,

let alone stops us from influencing the people around us.

And we have to take it a step further because we often don't know people outside of our church or Christian circles.

We end up rallying the troops around us and all we know is people that know Jesus.

And even if we do know people that don't know Jesus,

we don't think to ask people to come to church with us.

Relationship matters.

In the 2014 LifeWay research study,

it showed that 67% of Americans would consider attending a church

if they were simply invited by a family or friend.

67%.

Used to be 81% a long time ago.

It's more.

More recently it's 67%.

And 63 would,

67 is by a family member,

63 is by a friend or a neighbor.

So that's high numbers.

But often we don't even invite people to come to church with us.

In a 2016 LifeWay study,

it targeted unchurched adults.

And of unchurched people who never have attended church,

35% said that they would likely attend a traditional Sunday worship service

if a friend invited them.

Now that number also went up with community-focused events

like the

Trunk or Treat or Eggnormous or a Fall Cookout.

That's the vision behind those events, guys.

That's the vision.

It's we're not just doing an event just because I have an event.

We're doing an event to reach a community for Jesus Christ, right?

So we can't focus just on making a cool trunk.

We got to invite our friends and neighbors.

That's the whole point.

That's why we do this.

People need Jesus.

But I want to challenge you this morning.

I don't want to stop.

I don't want to keep you from saying amen and agreeing with that.

But does your life agree with that or just,

because we don't invite like we can.

We don't invite like we should.

Do we really believe that Jesus is the hope of the world

and the church bears the gospel of Jesus Christ?

If we believe it, we got to start living it in our communities.

Man, it was so cool this week.

I mean, like, again, this is just my testimony of what happened this week, right?

The Great Commission, I'm totally off script now,

so hopefully I get back here in a second.

But like the Great Commission is to go and in your going make disciples.

That's what Jesus is saying.

So this week,

I was at a car shop getting my windows retinted.

That's a whole different story.

And there was a couple of people in there.

There was a guy.

What was his name?

Amari was his name and Meredith was her name.

And they're in there getting their windows tinted too.

And we're just talking about sports and life.

And that one's in school.

The other guy's just trying to make it in life and all this stuff.

And then they get to the point where they asked me what I do.

I got to tell them.

And then we started talking about the church and why it's important and all this kind of stuff.

And at the end, I got to tell them about Jesus.

Just didn't, I didn't plan on it.

It just happened.

They told me about some of the things in life.

They struggle with us.

Hey, can I pray for you guys?

Or like, or what could I be praying for before I go?

And Amari says, why don't we pray right now?

I'm like, let's go.

It's going in.

We don't have to overcomplicate this stuff, guys.

We simply have to be willing.

Simply have to be willing.

I mean, something else happened this week.

And I know I'm really well, so I don't really want it to be online.

But I had another opportunity to talk to somebody about the Lord.

Just talking about life and stuff within stuff that I'm doing outside of in the community.

And with Sydney and all this other stuff.

You just have to be willing.

You have to be ready.

Be ready to give an answer for the hope that we have.

But we're going to keep diving into this in the book of Hebrews.

And in this specific passage.

We can't keep this to ourselves.

We need to be stirred up.

We need to be stirred.

And the basis of this passage is really the exhortation, the commandment really.

To stop neglecting meeting with one another as is the habit of some.

And we have a problem in the 21st century church.

We have churchless Christians.

I hear it all the time.

Nature is my church.

Golf is my church.

Love is my church.

I hear God the best when I'm at the gym or I'm working out or that kind of thing.

Music or concerts are my church.

The art or theater is my church.

The coffee shop is my church.

Being on the road is my church.

Or my family is my church.

There are many.

I want to start off by saying there are many ways to connect with God.

And every single one of us has different ways to connect with God.

None of those I'm not saying are not a way to connect with the Lord necessarily.

But because of the things I talked about earlier in those surveys.

There are many people that cling to God.

Claim to be Christians.

But hate the church.

Or at minimum will not be a part of the church.

Let me also say at the beginning.

The church is not the organization.

The church is you.

There's a reality when people get together in an organization.

There has to be administration.

There's things that happen.

I mean think about your companies.

Your companies that you work for are really you.

Because without you there's no business.

But there has to be an organization that helps that.

Often times it hinders it.

But that's another point.

That can be true in the church too.

You guys know church is perfect.

But the reality is there's organization that happens as well.

But you're the church.

And to say I'm not going to be part of it.

I don't want to get ahead of myself.

And the reality is we're all hypocrites.

Including the guy doing the speaking.

Because for as many times as I get to have a testimony about meeting a couple people at an auto tent shop.

I just go right over the opportunity and say I'm too busy.

I mean there's times I feel like I should talk to somebody.

I'm like oh I don't have time God.

And I just keep on moving.

We all do it.

But let's not just talk about that.

There's all kinds of ways we're hypocrites.

All of us.

We say we're hypocrites.

We say we believe one thing.

We live another.

So let's just set that as a baseline.

The first church of hypocrites.

All right.

Or the 80th church of hypocrites.

Whatever you want to call it.

So if you're watching online and you struggle with that.

We're hypocrites.

You are.

Come join us.

We all are hypocrites.

We don't always say.

We don't always act what we believe.

This is the truth.

Because we're all broken.

Why we need Jesus.

And it's why he gave us the church.

It's why he gave us the church.

But then often times what happens to people in the church when they leave.

Or they hear something they don't like from the pastor.

Or what a church might believe.

Especially in today's world where we want a church that tickles our ears.

Rather than tells us.

Or that tells us what we want to hear.

The Bible is offensive.

It offends me almost every time I read it.

There's verses I wish were not in there.

But they're in there because we have a loving father who guides us into him.

To become more like him.

To live the life that he created us to live.

And he's a loving father.

We all have church hitchhikers at times.

Kent Hughes who's a pastor wrote this.

He says church attendance is impossible.

The church is infected with the malaise of conditional loyalty.

Which has produced an army of ecclesiastical hitchhikers.

Or church hitchhikers.

The hitchhiker's thumb says.

You buy the car.

Pay for the repairs.

And upkeep the insurance.

Upkeep and the insurance.

Fill the car with gas.

And I'll ride with you.

But if you have an accident.

You're on your own and I'll probably sue.

That's what a hitchhiker says.

So it is with the credo of so many of today's church members.

Hear this.

You go to the meetings.

And serve on the boards and committees.

Grapple with the issues.

And do the work of the church.

And pay the bills.

And I'll come along for the ride.

But if things don't suit me.

I'll criticize and complain.

And probably bail out.

My thumb is always out for a better ride.

When we first.

Anytime anybody visits our church for the first time.

I tell them.

Finding a church is hard.

Finding a place to belong is hard.

It just is.

It's just.

I mean it's almost.

It almost is like this.

As adults it's hard to find friends.

Churches like that on steroids.

Because churches have personalities.

And they have insider language.

And we try not to.

But we all do.

You know.

And trying to find a new church is difficult.

But the problem is too.

Is that when we're looking for a church.

We're looking for what I want.

We have to change that question.

And say God where do you want me?

Because yes the church is here to serve you.

But in reality what you're looking for.

Is a place to serve the Lord.

And grow in him.

And help people know Jesus.

Your community.

Can you do that within that church?

That's the question.

Yeah you're going to look at the kids ministry.

And the youth ministry.

And all those things.

But man we forsake getting together so easily.

All it takes is a couple raindrops or snowflakes.

And oh yeah I'm staying in bed today.

I've said it before.

I'll say it this morning.

There's times I don't want to be at church.

And Jeannie has to remind me I'm the pastor.

I mean I say that kind of in joke.

But it's the truth.

There's times I would.

I mean can I be really transparent this morning?

I'm well it is my birthday.

So I'm doing 70% of what I love.

But also right now.

Sydney is playing a soccer game in Brighton.

And if they win or tie.

They make the final.

So I'm like.

You know I'm doing 70% of what I love.

And 30% is in Brighton right now.

So pray for me as I continue.

God's taking over.

I appreciate it.

I'm so thankful for the spirit of God.

But even that.

It's like trying to work schedules.

And making it work.

You know we all have things we do.

And playing travel sports.

Or having your kid in band.

Or having a job that sometimes takes you on a Sunday.

These things happen.

But if it's a continual thing.

We're forsaking the meeting of believers.

It's not that you're expected to drop everything all the time on a Sunday.

And yet so many of us are gone.

Four out of three Sundays.

Ah you got that.

You caught that.

And a lot of times we'll say it's just a season of life.

Guys if it's been more than three months.

It's not a season.

It's your life.

And we have to think about that.

It's important that we get together.

It's important that we get together.

And so we keep moving on this morning.

But sometimes we're just church hitchhikers.

We got to find the place that God wants us to be.

And the reality is too.

It's the individualistic thinking that we have in America.

To keep to ourselves.

And when it comes to our relationship with God.

No one has any authority to tell me anything.

But yet God's word says.

He gave us apostles and pastors.

And teachers and evangelists.

For what?

For the building up of the body of Christ.

To train you to do the work of the ministry.

That means there's a level of authority there.

Not to be lorded over you.

But for your good.

King Hughes also said.

Another reason for the de-churching of many Christians.

Is the historic individualism of evangelical Christianity.

And grassroots American impulse.

Against authority.

The natural inclination is to think that one needs only an individual relationship with Christ.

And needs no other authority.

Such thinking produces Christian lone rangers.

Who demonstrate their authenticity.

By writing not to church.

But out to the badlands.

Reference Bible in hand.

To do battle single-handedly with the outlaw world.

Guys do we really want to fight the enemy.

And fight everything that's out there.

And struggle alone.

That's not what we were built to do.

The church is important.

In fact the church fathers could never fathom a Christian without the church.

They have God as their father.

But reject the church as their mother.

And as a result are incomplete and stunted.

Augustine said.

The deserter of the church cannot be in Christ.

Since he is not among Christ's members.

Some of the church fathers thought.

That you couldn't follow Christ at all.

If you weren't part of the church.

You have to be careful.

It's Jesus only that saves.

Jesus only that saves.

Sitting here on a Sunday morning.

Or getting so involved.

Doesn't make you a Christian anymore.

Than going to McDonald's.

Makes you a hamburger.

That's the truth.

You have to.

It's about Jesus.

And him crucified.

But Jesus loves the church.

And if Jesus loves the church.

And we say we hate it.

Do we actually love Jesus?

We got to be careful.

Church is far from perfect.

Because guess what?

We're in it.

Martin Luther said.

Outside this Christian church.

There is no salvation.

Or forgiveness of sins.

But everlasting death and damnation.

Even though there may be a magnificent.

Appearance of holiness.

John Calvin said.

The church is the common mother of all the godly.

Which bears, nourishes, and governs in the Lord.

Both kings and commoners.

And this is done by the ministry.

Those who neglect or despise this order.

Want to be wiser than Christ.

Woe to their pride.

He built the church.

These are some serious statements.

But again.

We're talking about the church as church universal.

Not the river church.

Or another church.

But the body of Christ.

The church again is the people of God.

Those that know Jesus and have surrendered to them as their king.

And salvation again is through Christ alone.

The church doesn't save you.

Church attendance does not save you.

In fact.

Having perfect church attendance.

And looking to that as something that you know you're saved.

That worries me.

As a pastor.

You got to look at the fruit of your life.

Not just being at church on Sunday.

Because there's a lot of people that come to church on Sunday.

And cuss out their families all week.

Just because you're here doesn't make you a Christian.

But being a part of the body of Christ is a duh response to loving and following after Jesus Christ.

As imperfect as we are.

Jesus established a church and he loves the church.

And I got to tell you.

The church is not online.

I'm so thankful for this tool.

Because when you're on vacation you can watch.

Or when you're sick you can watch.

Our shut-ins can watch.

It's great.

But I hear people that say.

You know.

I go to church online.

No you don't.

You watch a dude talk about Jesus.

The church is the people.

You don't go to church.

In your home.

Or anywhere else.

By yourself.

The church is the body of Christ.

Gathered together.

We live as the church.

Everywhere we go.

But we gather as the church.

Be accountable.

To stir one another.

Well then what does it mean to stir one another.

In love and good works.

As the writer of Hebrews says here.

Well.

It seems that the writer of Hebrews was heartbroken.

Over what he was seeing in the church.

All we have to do is look at some of the verses.

Immediately following this challenge.

And the call to this.

And I don't have it on the screen.

But.

The next verse in verse 26 says.

For if we go on sinning deliberately.

After receiving the knowledge of the truth.

There no longer remains a sacrifice for sins.

So what he's saying is.

He's seeing people in the church.

That would say they know Jesus.

They would say they know Jesus.

But they don't live like it.

They don't even care.

They just want to try to have some fire insurance type of salvation.

And this is the problem.

When we don't get involved in the church.

When we don't actually grow in our walks with the Lord.

So many people.

If I had time.

I'd get my four chairs up here again.

And talk about the chair of the church.

Of the believer.

And so many of us are in the bark lounger chair.

Where we got saved.

Or we think we did.

And all we did.

Is have a spiritual encounter.

And maybe set a mantra.

But our lives never change.

If you know Jesus.

Your life changes.

Because the Holy Spirit becomes a part of you.

None of us are perfect.

None of us are perfect.

That's not.

Well it is the goal.

But that's going to happen in heaven.

We become more like him every day.

But we can't do it alone.

We do it together.

And he goes on.

And he talks about how people were shrinking.

Looking back.

There's a fearful expectation of judgment.

Anyone who set aside the law of Moses.

Dies without mercy.

How much more worse punishment do you think.

Will be deserved by the one who is trampled underfoot.

The son of God.

The writer of Hebrews is heartbroken.

He's like guys.

If you break a law of Moses.

You're in trouble.

But Jesus fulfilled the law.

How much worse is it going to be if we trample on him.

We need each other.

To stir each other up.

Toward love and good works.

Because that's not our default.

Our default is.

Our default is not to love.

It's to be right all the time.

It's to make sure I get mine.

That's also our world.

Our default is not good works.

It's doing things that only benefit me.

Or I'll do good if I get the credit.

Right?

But again.

We stir each other up.

To remind each other.

The writer sees the lack of getting together to worship and fellowship.

Being fatal to faith and growth in Jesus Christ.

If we don't.

If we're not involved in the body of Christ.

You cannot grow alone.

We need each other.

And then the word for let us consider here.

In verse 24.

Let us consider how to stir up one another.

It means to notice.

To pay attention to.

Or to closely look at.

We're called to give great attention to the conscious activities.

Of encouraging one another.

In Christian community.

We're called to bring out the best in one another.

Again.

Kent Hughes the pastor says this.

The dazzling images of the church.

Assault us again and again in the New Testament.

In an effort to raise our thinking to the proper height.

As the church.

Actually.

We are Christ's body.

In Ephesians chapter 1.

He's the head.

And as members of his body.

We have the same time.

A profound unity.

We are a temple.

Ephesians chapter 2.

He is the cornerstone.

And we are living stones.

Forming a living place of worship.

When we come together.

We're a living place of worship.

We are the bride.

Ephesians chapter 5.

And Christ our groom loves us with a holy love.

Which.

Will bring us to the marriage feast of the lamb.

One day.

We are his sheep.

He is the nurturing shepherd.

In John chapter 10.

He is the vine.

We are the branches.

We just sung about that.

We are organically in him.

Drawing all our sustenance from him.

John 15.

We are tempted to draw our sustenance from so many different sources.

Every single day.

We need to be reminded by one another.

That he alone is the vine.

And we are the branches.

And we can do nothing without him.

And I.

Need that reminder too.

Just because I do what I do.

Doesn't mean that I don't have other sources as well.

So we're being called to stir one another up.

To encourage one another.

To motivate one another.

To remind one another.

To challenge one another.

To help one another.

To point one another back to Jesus.

And in doing that.

We care deeply for each other.

We share concern for one another.

This is done through support and reassurance.

But also reproof and warning.

We don't like that part.

We get nervous about that part.

But I found something over my years.

That if you're sharing a hard truth with someone.

With a tear in your eye.

Because you actually care about the person.

They'll receive it a lot better.

Our problem sometimes is we come in like we have it all figured out.

We tell somebody how they should be living.

And we're doing nothing but bringing guilt.

And discouragement.

Rather than exhortation and encouragement.

To live for Jesus the right way.

It's not about being right.

It's about loving people.

It's love and truth.

Truth without love is a hammer.

And a lot of us in this room are hammers at times.

Love without truth is a teddy bear.

Some of us in this room.

Are teddy bears a lot of the time.

Being loving.

Truthing in love.

Is being like Jesus.

That's what he did.

We also spoke last week about holding to our confession.

Holding fast to it.

To draw near to God.

But sometimes again.

I said earlier.

We don't always like what the Bible teaches us.

And we want things to change.

I hear often that the church needs to understand the times.

And change what we teach.

It's often about sexual ethics.

Sometimes it's about family.

Typically about changing moral commandments.

In order to fit today's desires.

But here's the thing my friends.

We cannot change what God has said.

But here's the other side of it.

We don't have to be jerks when we say it.

And we need to love better than we do so often.

We have to hold fast to our confession.

We have to hold fast to the truth of God's word.

Because God defines morality.

Not us.

We have to go to the gospel.

We have to point to God's word.

In order to follow him and live for him.

Why?

Because a commentator said this.

And I love how he said it.

Our hearts are not always what they.

Are not always what or where they should be.

We go seeking to find our.

Our hearts and are led to treasure troves.

Hidden in dark caverns that are shunned by God.

We find their hearts in need of cleansing.

Hearts that are deceitful.

And we yearn for the wrong things in life.

Things that crowd out God's voice.

And love for him.

Commentator says I must ask myself daily.

For what am I yearning today?

To what are my energies and efforts being drawn?

Am I like Moses?

Drawing near to God in a face to face intimacy?

Am I that close to God?

Am I trying to get that close to God?

Oh, they're down there.

Okay.

I started reading.

I'm like, wait a minute.

I'm not.

There you go.

Or am I like Solomon whose heart was divided as he turned after other gods?

To come to God, to draw near to him, must be done with a sincere heart.

One that has been sprinkled clean from a guilty conscience.

This cleansing is only possible if one has a right understanding,

a right belief in who Jesus is and in what he has accomplished on our behalf.

Even for those who have new covenant hearts.

To persevere in this drawing near, we must keep right thinking in place.

And yearning hearts engaged in the pursuit of God.

See, when we become part of the church, our yearnings are exposed for what they are.

See, we can go off into our own little corner as individuals and just kind of be in an echo chamber all the time.

Listen to either Fox News or CNN, whatever your particular political leaning might be.

And only watch videos on YouTube that make sense to what you want to know.

And we can get on our own and create a Jesus that actually isn't there.

But within the body of Christ, we're always pointed back to who Jesus really is.

We should be.

Because we're not perfect either.

That's why we need each other.

Because our yearnings will draw us away.

And in the church, our yearnings are exposed for what they really are.

But that's also part of the encouragement.

Because do we yearn for anything else?

Shutting God out and his church.

Because in reality, another commentator said it like this.

I love this too.

We may ask who has time for that anymore.

Such seeking, such drawing near to God may seem archaic.

Conjuring pictures of medieval monks.

How does one fit into God and do a day planner?

How does one seek God in the rush and crush of corporate or even small town America?

If we are to draw near to God, our yearnings must be cultivated in the right direction.

Because if they're not, our culture will consume us.

Siphoning off our energies and our desires.

There was an article called Fast Folk in Harper's.

And Louis T. Grant dissects an article published earlier in Woman's Day.

That's another magazine, guys, just so you know.

In which the lifestyle of one working mother is praised and presented.

And it is a model of sorts.

Listen to the woman's life.

She rushes home to work, from home to work, early in the morning.

Eating yogurt in the car for breakfast.

Has lunch at the spa where she works out.

Leaves child care to her husband.

Who also has a managerial position 40 miles the other side of home.

Pilots a small plane in her leisure time for pleasure.

Teaches on the side a class at a local women's college.

Leaves the kids with grandma.

Leaves the kids with sitters.

Leaves the kids.

Grant, he likens this lifestyle which he calls,

Fast Folk, to keeping up with the gerbils.

In his immensely perceptive piece,

he illustrates the shallowness of relationships in a Fast Folk family.

Our culture and its pace does not lend itself to strong relationships.

Because relationships sometimes can be seen as wasting time.

Because time is money.

Because that's just for slow pokes.

We can add that such a lifestyle leaves little place for intimacy,

for communication, for listening to God.

It takes time to keep our lives focused on the right things.

We're called to draw near to God.

On the basis of the completed work of Christ.

That's probably one of the biggest things I hear

about not getting into a growth community.

I don't have time.

Every single one of us has the same 24 hours, guys.

We can either be controlled by our schedules

or we can control our schedule.

Now I get it.

Some of us are in jobs where you're traveling.

It's difficult.

My purpose is not to cause guilt.

My purpose is to cause us to maybe step back a little bit and say,

maybe I could take a look at something.

Because we all make time for the things that are important.

So what are we going to stir each other to do in the church?

What happens here that doesn't happen anywhere else?

Presence of God is in the church gathered.

It is.

Now it's not the only place God is.

Nor is it the only place God has experienced.

But there is something special about corporate worship.

There's something special about being together and worshiping him together.

It's true that a person doesn't have to go to church to be a Christian.

You don't have to go home to be married either.

Let me say that again.

You don't have to go to church to be a Christian.

But you don't have to go home to be married either.

You're not going to have a good relationship.

You're not going to have a good relationship in either of those places though.

Martin Luther said,

At home in my own house there is no warmth or vigor in me.

But in the church, when the multitude is gathered together,

a fire is kindled in my heart and it breaks its way through.

There's something about worshiping together when we gather.

There's something about learning about God together.

Because theology is done by the assembled church.

Ephesians chapter 3 verse 18 says,

So that you may have strength to comprehend with all the saints

what is the breadth and the length.

And the height and the depth.

I think Paul is kind of alluding here that you can't know the love of God completely

without being gathered together.

You just can't.

We comprehend together the love of God.

Theology is done in the church.

We take communion and we're baptized together.

We're discipled together.

We grow when we open up our lives to each other

so that we can see where we struggle and grow together.

In the church, stirring is done by praying for each other.

By seeing examples of what it looks like to follow Jesus around us.

By getting into God's word together to understand

and to hear how God has shaped other people's lives.

And so we encourage one another.

My friends, there is so amazing power in a word of encouragement.

There really is.

You and I can change a life with a kind word.

You see something in somebody, I'm amazed at what it does for people.

I'm amazed at what it can do for me.

We need the church.

We need it.

Because discipleship is a team effort.

And you cannot stir up a faith you only practice alone.

Discipleship is a team effort.

And you cannot stir up a faith you only practice alone.

I can't use again.

I can't say it better than him.

And I believe this statement with all I've got.

I owe so much to Christ's church.

My life, my character, my world view, my calling, my vision, my peace, my hope, everything.

I believe in the church.

I do.

I give my life to God through his church.

So what do we commit to?

Stir one another to love and good works in the church.

Again, Kent Hughes was a pastor that really got it.

He wrote a book called The Disciplines of a Godly Man.

Men, if you want to know how to follow the Lord, ladies, you can read it too.

But men, if you want to learn how to follow the Lord, read this book.

The Disciplines of a Godly Man.

But he talks about the discipline of regular attendance at church.

As part of this matter, you need to commit yourself to regularly attend the worship services of your church.

Your schedule ought to bow to your commitment.

When you travel, you ought to attempt to schedule yourself to be back for church.

And if that's impossible, attend elsewhere while you're on the road.

Yeah.

Because here's the thing.

The church is anywhere.

And you can attend.

Another church.

And glean things from that.

When you're consistently gone from the body of believers that you call your church,

the thing is, when you're in the church, when you decide to go somewhere and you make it your church,

you know the people there.

And they know you.

And now you're building family.

You don't want to be away from family.

You want to help each other.

Going to another church is great for a service every once in a while.

But, man, being part of the body, that's where you grow because, well, if we're really part of the body,

if we're really part of the church, we know each other's warts, we know each other's, you know, ouchy spots,

we know each other's strengths, and we get to know each other's heart.

And all together, we get to know the heart of God.

Guys, that's beautiful.

That's a beautiful thing.

And he talks about the discipline of membership.

And we don't have membership here, but I get what he says.

You need a covenant before God to find a good church, join it, commit yourself to supporting her and submitting to her discipline.

That's where the authority comes in.

We don't like the word discipline, you know.

But I can tell you that anybody that I've got to meet for coffee,

you know, I've got to meet for coffee.

I've got to meet for coffee and talk about tough stuff.

You know, any quote-unquote authority that I as a pastor might, you know, execute or whatever you want to call it is always done in love.

I always want to tell you the truth in love, and I need to hear the truth in love, too, because I'm far from perfect as well.

But it's not about power.

It's just about what God has done and pointing us all back to God's word because only there is the authority.

Our ultimate authority is God's word in living our lives.

He talks about the principle of giving, financially supporting the local church, the discipline of participation,

your time, talents, expertise.

That's why we talk about joining the team.

And then the discipline of love and prayer, of love and prayer.

It's said that the giant redwood trees of the western United States have a relatively shallow root system.

I was actually born in Eureka, California, 48 years ago.

And I haven't gone back there, but I see pictures of the redwood trees up there, and they are beautiful, and they are tall.

But they have a relatively shallow root system.

Their enormous weight is supported.

They are supported, in part, by the interlocking of a tree's roots with those of the other trees around it.

As Christians, we need interlocking roots with other believers in the church to withstand the enormous weight of life.

We need others spurring us on to love and good deeds in a world so bent on self-centeredness and self-gratification because the world needs Jesus, and so do we.

Stop riding in on the passenger seat of your faith.

Oftentimes, we come in riding on a passenger seat.

Grab your stick.

Dive into the messy reality of community.

Start stirring one another toward love and good works.

And like the giant redwoods, again, none of us were meant to stand alone against the weight of the world, the wind that blows against every single one of us.

For some of us in this room right now, the winds are blowing stronger than for others.

We survive, thrive, and look like Jesus only when our roots interlock with each other.

It's only when it happens.

So can we stop making excuses for isolation?

If you feel alone this morning, can I encourage you?

You don't have to.

You don't have to be anymore.

We would love to have you involved in one of our growth communities.

Are we perfect?

No.

Are we going to screw up?

We're not going to love perfectly, and you may even get hurt.

Maybe some of you have come in from other churches or you have church hurt in the past.

Guys, I have church hurt in the past.

Super transparent, I have church hurt here.

Doesn't that happen in families?

Our stories have family hurt, too.

Do we just say, oh, I'm out?

Well, some people do.

Most families say, I'm going to try to believe the best about you even if you hurt me, and we're going to try to work that out.

That doesn't always happen.

I pray that would happen more in the body of Christ than it does, to be alone anymore.

God doesn't want you to be alone.

Because it says, let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works.

Not neglecting to meet together as some is the habit of some, but encouraging one another.

And all the more as you see the day drawing near.

Discipleship can't be done alone.

Team effort can't stir up a faith.

You only practice alone.

You don't have to be alone anymore.

Reach out.

Get to the fall cookout.

Find your people.

We're a little weird.

We all are.

We've tried to love Jesus.

We've tried to love Jesus as best we can.

If you have questions, please reach out.

River Church, the 97,000.

We'd love to talk to you.

Let's stir one another up to love and good works.

Let's pray.

Heavenly Father, thank you so much for your love for us.

I just pray that, Lord, that your spirit just has opportunity to work in us today.

That, God, we would desire you more.

Thank you for your love, and thank you that we don't have to be alone, and thank you for the church.

And we stir one another up toward love and good works.

In Jesus' name we pray.

Stand and end with some worship this morning.

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