John 10:10

The thief does not come except to steal, to kill, and to destroy. I have come that you may have life and that you may have it more abundantly. Lord, we see the work of the thief. So many people, both in this room and those we know, have been robbed by the thief who has come to steal, to kill, and to destroy. People often do not realize that they are feeling and living the effects of the thief's work in their lives.

But Jesus, you came to give life and more abundantly. I pray that this would be the experience of this group here, that we would know life in you. Not only would we know life in you, but we would also experience an abundance of life. May it be evident in our lives, expressed in everything we do. By your grace, through the power of your Spirit and the work of your Word in us, make us bold to share and extend that abundance of life to others.

There are people in our lives—friends, coworkers, family members, and neighbors—who have been robbed and do not even realize it. I pray, God, that we would be those who can show them life, shining light into dark places. So, God, work in us, your church, to make us more and more of a bright light to a world that is in such desperate need. We ask this in Jesus' name, and all those who agreed said, Amen. You can be seated.

In a June 2016 interview, the Surgeon General of the United States said that our greatest public health crisis isn't cancer or heart disease; it is isolation. Isolation. He emphasized the effects of being socially isolated. That's a powerful statement coming from the Surgeon General of the United States—that our greatest health problem or crisis is not cancer or heart disease, but isolation.

Social isolation is almost hard to believe as a view, especially considering the data from the National Institutes of Health and the CDC. When looking at the various medical, health, and welfare statistics in our nation, for someone to claim that the greatest health crisis we are facing is isolation seems surprising. I don't think it's false to say, and I believe you would probably agree, that we are the most connected people in all of human history. From a technological and practical standpoint, we are certainly the most connected individuals ever.

At just about any time and from virtually any place, you and I can instantly connect with almost anyone. This has been particularly evident over the last ten years. I remember an experience in 2010 when I was in Mozambique, Africa. We were about 100 miles from any sort of real civilization, sitting in a grass hut church on a Sunday morning. I was delivering a message with a translator when I heard a noise: do-do-do-do-do-do-do. I was interrupted in the bush, in a grass hut church with no actual lines of electricity—just solar panels—by a cell phone. It struck me that this was no different from being in Cross Connection Church at 1675 Seven Oaks Road.

We are indeed the most connected people at any other time in human history. Even individuals who do not know us and have never been introduced to us can still connect with us. I experienced this very clearly last Monday. As I was on my way to pick up two of my kids from preschool, I received a notification on my phone from someone I had never met before. This person did not have my cell phone number or my email address, but they wanted to get in touch with me. They searched for me on Twitter, found my handle @PastorMiles, and sent me a message. In an instant, I was connected with someone I had never met before. It’s a simple yet amazing phenomenon.

About the only place that we, modern Americans living here in the United States, especially...

Southern California in the 21st century is a place where, about the only time we are not connected is in the shower or the pool. However, Samsung and others are trying to make it possible to stay connected at all times and in any place with new waterproof devices. You might really need to answer that text message while you're in the shower in the morning, and they want to ensure that you have that capability. They’ve got you covered wherever you are.

This constant connectivity has become as normal to us as brushing our teeth. In fact, for many of you, before you brushed your teeth this morning and probably after you brush your teeth tonight, you will look at your device to see what’s going on, who has tried to connect with you, or to connect with someone else. These behaviors have become completely normal. For a growing percentage of Americans, checking their devices is the first thing they do in the morning and the last thing they do at night.

Now, some of you might be shaking your head, saying, "No, that's not me." If that’s you, I bet you two things: number one, you’re over 40, and number two, you have kids or grandkids who are like that, even if you are not. This trend is not going to change; it’s only going to become more prevalent. We are constantly connected. I see more and more people with wrist devices, whether it’s a Fitbit or a smartwatch, and now these devices are waterproof as well. You can be notified while you are in the pool, and if someone is trying to get a hold of you, you don’t even have to type a response. You can just speak to it.

In fact, I was teaching a class here yesterday on faith and finances. My phone was sitting on the table next door, and I said something that my phone apparently interpreted as, "Hey, Siri." I don’t want to say it too loud because it might start talking to me. You don’t even have to touch it; you can just say, "Hey, Siri," and she will respond, "What do you want me to help you with?" I can then say, "Send a message to my wife," and she will ask, "What do you want to say to your wife?" I can simply reply, "I’ll be home in 10 minutes," and just like that, the message is sent. We are instantly connected with anybody, anytime, and anyplace. It’s phenomenal, and it has become completely normal, even though it is totally new.

This year, the iPhone, which was the first of the tablet-sized smartphones with a touchscreen, continues to lead the way in this evolution of connectivity.

The iPhone will turn 10 this year. It's only been 10 years since it came out, and it has completely transformed society. We see this every single one of us, don't we? I was laughing at this, and I'm sure you've laughed at it before. We all have this experience when we're in a group of people.

I was over at my parents' house on Christmas Day, sitting in the living room with probably eight or nine other people. I looked around the room, and I looked up from my device. What did I see? A whole bunch of glowing faces. No one was talking to anyone; they were just looking at their devices. It didn't matter if you were in your 60s or if you went down to my nephews, who are just 8, 9, 10, or 12 years old. They were all on their devices.

I was at the airport in San Francisco earlier last year. I had flown up to teach at a church in Santa Rosa, and while sitting at the airport, I looked around the gate I was at. There were probably 200 people in sight, and virtually every single person there was like this—no interaction.

What's really funny is when you see a group of people. If you've never seen this, just go over to the youth ministry, and you'll see it. You'll find a group of five or six people sitting together, sending messages to each other and laughing. Their communication is through text, not talking. Yet, there is this constant connection, even though it's new.

Facebook will turn 13 on February 4th. It becomes a teenager this year, and at this point, there are 1.79 billion people on the face of this planet connected through Facebook. If Facebook were a nation, it would be the largest nation. Sixty percent of American adults are on Facebook, which means the majority of you in this room.

One hundred sixty million Americans check their Facebook accounts every week. The average American spends 39 minutes on Facebook each day. It became very interesting during the last campaign cycle because it has been found by Gallup and others that the number one source of news for Americans today is Facebook. This means you only see news that is liked or promoted by people you know, which generally means you only see news related to things you like or agree with.

This changes perspectives. It's very interesting. Here we are, connected in this way. If you have a Facebook account, you can instantly connect with up to 1.79 billion people—people you don't even know. You can, to borrow an old motto, reach out and touch someone you don't know.

On a different continent, there is no lag in communication; it has become ubiquitous. Yet, the Surgeon General of the United States of America states that our number one health crisis is social isolation. Social isolation is on the rise in America, with a growing percentage of Americans reporting that they are lonely.

The amazing thing is that technological social media does not help reduce social isolation; in fact, it increases the feeling of loneliness. Within the last ten years, the American Psychological Society has introduced a new classification that I have talked about before. It is called Facebook anxiety or Facebook depression.

Facebook depression occurs when a person looks at social media, whether it’s Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, or any other platform. People only feature the good things in their lives on social media. They post pictures of their delicious meals with friends, exciting outings at the beach, or other fun activities. As a result, all the people you see on Facebook appear to have awesome lives. Everything seems perfect; they never show the flat tire or any of the mundane struggles. It creates the illusion that everything in their friends' lives is fantastic all the time, while one’s own life feels inadequate, leading to feelings of depression.

To amplify this Facebook depression, a person may post something—a picture or a status update—on Instagram or Facebook and receive no comments or likes. This lack of engagement can lead to feelings of worthlessness and sadness. This is a real issue. Just two weeks ago, a 12-year-old girl committed suicide, hanging herself while live streaming on Facebook Live. I guarantee you she was suffering from social isolation, and social media did not fix it.

Currently, 20% of Americans and climbing suffer from what is called chronic loneliness. Chronic loneliness has been associated with a significantly greater risk of cardiovascular disease, stroke, and even a more rapid progression of Alzheimer's disease in older individuals. Unfortunately, chronic loneliness is not reduced by social media; it is actually amplified by it.

A 2010 National Institutes of Health study found that, regardless of age and gender, stronger social connections increase the likelihood of health and thriving. Health and wellness are significantly impacted by connectedness, while a decrease in social connections contributes to a loss of mental and physical health. It is becoming increasingly clear, and science and medicine are confirming this.

Point number one on your outline: you cannot and will not experience an abundant life without connection. I was reading an article on this recently, not from a faith perspective at all, but actually from a scientific journal. The article started out by stating that humans were not designed to be solitary creatures. We evolved to survive in tribes. The need to interact is deeply ingrained in our genetic code. So much so that the absence of social connections triggers primal alarm bells, just like hunger, thirst, and physical pain.

I totally agree with that statement. However, I find it interesting that the author of this article presents a conflicting worldview in their first and second sentences. In the first sentence, the author claims that humans were not designed to be solitary creatures. In the second sentence, they state that we evolved to survive in tribes. So, what is it? Were we designed, or did we evolve? Of course, I believe the former. We were designed; we were created for this connection.

God said it is not good for man to be alone. This observation is recorded in Genesis chapter 2, verse 18, where it states that it is not good for man to be alone. Following this, God created a comparable helper for man. In the beginning, God created a man, Adam, and He noted that it is not good for man to be alone. Therefore, God made a compatible helper in woman so that the two would become one flesh.

And then He gives a command to them. Genesis chapter 1, verses 22 and 28 say it: "Be fruitful and multiply. Make more." Why? Because it's not good for man to be alone. It's abundantly clear.

Point number two on your outline: We were created to live life in connection with one another. God never intended that we would live independently of one another. This is by design; it is not by evolution or social construction. Independence and isolation bring death. They reduce human thriving and contribute to the increase of mental and physical loss of health. At the very least, being disconnected is a life that is, in scientific terms, non-optimal. That's what scientific research says. It's non-optimal, which means it's bad. It is not good for man to be alone.

What God has said for thousands of years, science and medicine are confirming over and over again: It is not good for man to be alone. There is a lot of research that has been written on this. A great book came out, I believe it was in 2004, called "Bowling Alone." It discusses the rise of social isolation in our nation. The author, a Harvard professor, wrote some prescient and prophetic observations. Now we are seeing many of these issues come to pass.

He wrote this at the same time that Facebook was being developed at Harvard University, the same university where he is a professor. He identified the problems of social disconnection and isolation. Now, thirteen years after Facebook's founding, what do we have? The situation has only increased, even though we thought that social media would bring us closer together. Instead, it is adding to our isolation.

God never intended it to be this way. We were created to live life with one another. So the question is, if God created us and designed us to live life in connection with one another, why is it that social isolation is on the rise? Even though there are more and more humans, humanity has essentially fulfilled...

God continues to fulfill that command to be fruitful and multiply. There are 7.4 billion of us here on this planet today. You would think that with more people, there should be more connection. And yet, we're more divided than ever, more isolated than ever. The amazing thing is that in certain groups of elite influencers of culture in the Western world, they are saying that we need to actually decrease the population. Instead of fulfilling the command of God to be fruitful and multiply, they argue that we need to decrease it.

If you look at Western Europe over the last half century, especially the last 25 years, you see that this idea of decreasing population has become a major problem. In places like France, the Netherlands, Denmark, and many other European nations, they are no longer at replacement rate birth rates. They haven't been for a very long time. Replacement rate, as defined by researchers, is 2.1 children per family. Now, I don't know what 0.1 of a child is, but I'm pretty sure I was kind of in that classification as a kid. In countries like France and the Netherlands, they have not been reaching that 2.1 children per family for a very long time.

As a result, we have declining populations, which is why there has been so much of a push in the European Union for the last 20 years for open immigration. They need people to come from the Middle East and Northern Africa to fuel populations in these areas where there is a decreased population. However, they are having a very hard time figuring out how to deal with that. This is what we are witnessing with all the influences of Islam from Northern Europe and the Middle East coming into Europe. How do you deal with that? Unfortunately, no one has a good answer for how to address this other than to say they need the gospel. They need Jesus.

At the same time that there has been this push in Western Europe for a decreasing population, there has been a war against God. Now, in places like Scotland, where the English Bible originated, they are considered an unreached people group. Less than 2% of the population is evangelized in Scotland. So, we see a trend of getting rid of God and decreasing people. This leads to all kinds of problems stemming from social isolation.

If God created us to live life in connection, where did this isolation and loneliness come from? Again, if you read through the opening chapters of the Bible, you will find an answer to this, because in Genesis chapter 3...

We see the rebellion of humanity against the command of God. In man's rebellion against God's command, sin enters the world. Sin is the rebellion against God's commandments, and from sin comes death. God said to Adam and Eve, "You shall not eat of all the trees in the garden, but of the tree in the midst of the garden, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat of it. For the day in which you eat of it, you will surely die."

When they ate of it, as recorded in Genesis chapter 3, they did not immediately keel over dead. However, there was a death that was experienced instantly. This death is described as follows: they saw that they were naked and made coverings for themselves. There was a separation of oneness, a shame that entered, and a death of connection.

We live thousands of years from that point, yet we still experience the death of this connection. Point number three on your outline is that sin destroys connection. Sin destroys connection; it still does, just as it did thousands of years ago in Genesis chapter 3. Sin continues to destroy relationships and community. Every single person in this room has felt the effects of this personally.

There are people in your lives—maybe a brother, a sister, a parent, or a cousin—with whom you no longer have any sort of connection due to bitterness, anger, or some form of sin at the root of it. When you dig deep, you find that the roots are sin in some way, causing the destruction of connection and relationship. Sin always separates, always alienates, and always fails. The result of sin is always death in some form.

On this side of Genesis chapter 3, we live in a world filled with broken relationships and division. Sometimes, the heights of that division are amplified more than at other times. Many people would agree that the rhetoric in our nation this past year has furthered division. This is all the result of sin. Yet, resident in every single human being—whether they go to church or not, whether they have an interest in the things of God or not—

Every human being has a desire for deep relationships and oneness. Everybody wants to belong; everybody wants to be a part of the group. I would venture to guess that most of you have an experience that you remember. It's still in your thought patterns, going back to a time when you were in elementary school or junior high, and you found yourself isolated from a group that you really wanted to be a part of. Someone put you out of that group, and the pain it caused is something we can all relate to.

I have watched this with some of my own kids. We moved to a new neighborhood about a year ago, and it's a great neighborhood with a lot of kids. However, I have seen several times where there are these little groups, and one of my kids will come home with tears in their eyes because they have been isolated, put out from the group. We can all relate; we've all been there. There is this desire to be connected, and it shows up very early.

I observe this quite frequently with our youngest child. He's three years old, and he is one of those kids who has no problem entertaining himself. Has anyone ever had a kid like that? He will go find his cars—he has a billion of them—and gather them up. He has his fire engines, and he will play for hours with these cars, crashing them into each other.

However, here's the interesting thing: though he loves to play by himself and entertain himself, he does not want to be in a room by himself. He will follow me wherever I go, bringing his cars and sitting five feet from me. He doesn't have to talk to me or interact with me, but if I get up and leave the room, he wants to know where I'm going. He wants to be near somebody. What is that? Is it just evolution? God created us that way; we long for connection. This means every person you know has this desire within them.

Now, there are people who object, saying, "No, I don't really like crowds." I am among the majority who identify as an introvert. How many of you have heard of extroverts and introverts? The majority of people in our society identify as introverts. They often experience some social anxiety when they are in larger groups or meeting new people. That's pretty normal for a lot of people. However, they still don't want to be alone. Just because they may have a hard time with a big group doesn't mean they desire solitude.

For new people, it doesn't mean they want to be alone. Nobody wants to be alone unless there's been some sort of rift or brokenness that has caused them to be afraid of the group. We desire oneness. We desire relationship, and sin hinders that. But this is what Jesus came to deal with: to deal with sin, to deal with death, and the effects of death. He came to seek and save that which is lost. He came to find the one who has been isolated and to bring them back in.

He came to deal with sin. How did He deal with sin? On the cross. He died in our place for our sin to deal with the punishment, to deal with the penalty, and to deal with the effects of sin. He also deals with death. How does He deal with death? He died and conquered death by rising from the dead, which we are going to celebrate in four months. He conquers death so that He can say, "Oh death, where is thy sting?" The sting of death is sin, but He deals with that. And that is great news.

The night before Jesus would die to deal with our sin and to conquer death, He prays to God the Father in heaven. Some people have a really hard time with the concept that Jesus is God, and yet He prays to God the Father in heaven. What's going on here? Well, actually, in the prayer is the answer to that question. It's found in the Gospel of John, chapter 17. If you're in John chapter 10, just turn a few pages to the right, and you will find it.

John 17 is the record of this prayer, referred to as the high priestly prayer of Jesus. Jesus is between where He just partook of the Last Supper with His disciples in an upper room and the Garden of Gethsemane, where He will be betrayed by one of His disciples, Judas. He is somewhere in between these places. He might already be at the garden; whatever it may be, this is where He is when He prays this.

Look at John chapter 17, verse 11. Jesus is praying, saying, "Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world."

Who's he talking about? At the very least, he's talking about the disciples who are with him, at least eleven of them. One of them is gone; Judas has already left to prepare to betray him. So, Jesus is with his eleven disciples, and he says, "Father, I pray for these who are in the world, because I'm not going to be here any longer. I pray for these in the world. I come to you, Holy Father, keep through your name those whom you have given to me, that they may be, what? Say it louder. One. That they may be one as we are."

How do we answer this question? Here you have Jesus, the Son, praying to the Father, and the Father is God, and Jesus is God. How does that work? This gets into the doctrine of the triune nature of God, the Trinity: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Three persons, but he just says here, "We are one." One God existing in three persons. Total unity. Total oneness. The perfection of oneness is there in the Godhead: Father, Son, Holy Spirit, completely one.

What is Jesus' prayer for us? He says that they may be one as we are one. I do not pray, look at verse 20, for these alone, these eleven alone, but also for those who will believe in me through their word. Who's that? That's us. Jesus, do you realize this? He prayed for you and me 2,000 years ago. What did he pray for us? Verse 21 states that they all may be one. As you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be one in us.

Jesus is praying for oneness, that we would be united as one in him, connected to God and one another. Through what? Through Jesus. This is his prayer for us. And why? Look at the end of verse 21 for the reason behind what he's doing: that the world may believe that you sent me. What is that? This oneness that we can experience in Jesus, a united connection with God and with one another, this oneness is evangelistic. What does that mean?

It's the very good news that this world is longing for. At the deepest level, people long to be connected, to belong. They may not realize it or articulate it in such words, but they are longing to be connected to the divine, to God, connected to one another, to the group. There is a deep longing, and when people see it actually worked out, it's attractive. It draws them.

Jesus says that the world may believe that you, Father, sent me. In verse 22, He states, "And the glory which you gave me I have given to them, my people whom I'm praying for, that they may be one just as we are one." Do you think He's trying to drive home a point here? In verse 23, He continues, "I in them, you, Father, in me, that they may be made perfect or complete in wholeness, in one." For the second time, He emphasizes that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them as you have loved me.

Point number four on your outline: Jesus destroyed sin to restore connection. It was sin that brought the destruction of connection. Jesus destroyed sin to restore connection. How does He do this? How does Jesus make this happen? Well, the answer, I believe, is found in another New Testament book, the book of Ephesians. You can turn there if you'd like, or just note it down in your notes.

Ephesians chapter 2, beginning at verse 14, states, "For He, Jesus Himself, is our peace, who has made both one. He has broken down the middle wall of separation or division, having abolished that in His flesh, the enmity, the warring between individuals, between man and God." He has abolished that enmity, which is the law of commandments contained in ordinances, to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace where there once was war.

In verse 16, it continues, "And that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity." So here's what Ephesians 2 says: Jesus came to this world to, in His flesh, deal with the problem of war, sin, and death on the cross. Through His death, He reconciles us together. He brings warring parties back together and reconciles us to God in one body.

What is the one body? What is the body of Christ? The church. Where does this take place? In the church. This is where it is experienced and expressed here upon the earth. The oneness of relationship that God desires His people to experience and express happens here in the church, the body of Christ.

Unfortunately, because of our fallenness, we see the division of churches. Still, within the body of the local church, it is amazing what God does in bringing people together. I look around this room and see the diversity that is reflected, not just in this room, but in the church globally. The gospel of Jesus Christ and the church is supracultural; it transcends culture and moves beyond the borders and boundaries of culture. Jesus is our peace. He is the one who brings this.

At the birth of the church, recorded in the second chapter of the book of Acts, after Peter preaches the gospel empowered by the Spirit of God, we read this in Acts 2:40. Note it down in your notes. With many other words, Peter testified and preached to the people who were gathered. He exhorted them, saying, "Be saved from this perverse generation. Be rescued from the brokenness of this world."

Then those who gladly received the word were baptized. What is baptism? It is the introduction into the church, the body of Jesus. Those who gladly received His word were baptized, and that day about 3,000 souls were added to the church.

What did they do? In Acts 2:42, a central verse for us as a church, we read that they, the church, continued steadfastly in the apostles' teaching, in fellowship—communion with one another, joining together—in the breaking of bread and in prayers. Fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles.

Now all who believed were together and had all things in common. They sold their possessions and goods and divided them among all as anyone had needs. They continued daily in one accord in the temple, breaking bread from house to house. They ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all people. The Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.

Point number five: The church is God's plan for the restoration of connection. This is why our mission...

Our vision of what we want to be, and our mission to get there, is life in connection with God, one another, and the world through Jesus. This connection with God and one another only happens in and through Jesus. You cannot have it apart from Jesus.

All the efforts of politicians, non-profits, and other groups to try and join people together, break down racial divides, and address socioeconomic divisions will always be in vain. They will yield little dividends. Only in Christ and through Jesus is this life more abundantly found—this life in connection with God, one another, and the world. It only happens through Him. This is what people are longing for at the deepest level.

We want to be those who are experiencing this life in connection. How does that happen? In some respect, it happens when we gather together in this corporate experience, like they did 2,000 years ago in the early church, continuing daily in the temple. They gathered together as a corporate group, and we have the corporate experience of worshiping God, connecting with Him through prayer, worship, and His Word, and growing together.

However, the time we spend together for about 90 minutes on a Sunday, as we interact with people and worship together, is not sufficient. At Cross Connection, we have desired to increase our connection with one another, which is why we have our connect groups. We have been doing these for a couple of years, and they have been very fruitful for those involved. Yet, about 80% of our church is not involved in connect groups, which means you are not experiencing this life in connection in the way that God desires you to experience it.

I am convinced that without that connection, you will not experience that life in connection. We want you to. So we encourage you to plug into these groups. You may ask, what is a connect group? It is an event outside of the church where we gather together, just like the early church did. In Acts chapter 2, it says, "continuing daily with one accord in the temple and breaking bread from house to house." What is that? They had meals together.

It sounds simple, but God has created, in some amazing way, this aspect of partaking of a meal together, uniting us closer as one. This is why there is such a big push among secular people in our society for families to have dinner together. You hear people advocate for this.

Even at governmental levels, families need to have dinner together. We often wonder, what's that all about? Why is that such a big deal? There’s a oneness that’s generated through that. Within our connect groups, that’s what they do.

What is a connect group? Every other week, they gather together in homes throughout our community, and people bring something to share, like a potluck. I don't really like the terminology "potluck," but that's kind of what it is. They gather together, and we enjoy relationships with one another. The way it was classified in the early church was as an agape feast, a love feast, when they gathered together and shared with one another.

You might think, that sounds so simple. Yes, that’s exactly what it is. Is there a Bible study? No, there’s not a Bible study. We just gather together to be with one another. Over the last couple of years, my family has been involved with one another, and now it just so happens that the one we go to is at my parents' house.

Every time we get in the car, my kids ask, "Are we going to connect group?" They are super excited to go. My wife normally works on the nights that connect groups are happening on Tuesday nights, which means she’s getting ready to go to work right as we’re getting ready to go out the door. There are nights when I think, I don’t know if I want to bring four small kids, ages eight to three, to connect group. I don’t know if I want to do that tonight.

Has anyone ever been in that place? Just be honest. You might think, I’ve had a long day; I don’t know if I want to do that. You know what happens? My four kids come and say, "No, we have to go to connect group. We’ve got to go to connect group." Why? Because even the littlest one loves that connection with the people of the church. It’s life-giving.

We want you to be involved in connect groups. If you’re not plugged into a connect group, you need to be involved with one. You might ask, how do I do that? Go out to the connection point afterward. We’ll log you onto the website, show you where some of them are, and we’ll help you plug in right there.

Thanks to modern technology, you can click the join button. You can do this on your smartphone right now if you want to. Go to our website: Lifeinconnection.com. Does it get any more simple than that? Just go to Lifeinconnection.com and then slash groups. All of a sudden, you’re connected with connect groups. Click join, and you’re connected with the host. They receive a little message saying, "Oh, so-and-so wants to join our connect group. Come on over. This is when we’re meeting."

Not only do we want you to get involved in connect groups, but maybe you’re a person who has a heart for people and is willing to open your home to serve your guests and talk about Jesus. Perhaps you could be a host of a connect group.

What's a host? They have a heart for people. They open their home, serve their guests, and talk of Jesus. H-O-S-T. If you have a heart for people, are willing to open your home, serve your guests, and talk of Jesus, and you're interested in maybe being a connect group host, come out to the connection point. Let us know. We'll be in contact with you this week to plug you in so that you can open your home, serve your guests, talk of Jesus, and experience the growing abundance of life in connection.

The amazing thing is that your neighbors and some of your friends who don't know Jesus can be invited too. They might ask, "What is it? How come there are all these cars in front of your house every couple of weeks?" You can tell them there’s a group of people coming over to spend time together. You can say, "Well, they're people from my church." They might respond with curiosity, "Ooh, what's that?" You can share, "Well, I'm a Christian." They may have heard about Christians on the news, and you can invite them over.

What happens? They come over and realize that Christians aren't quite as weird as they thought. Listen, we're still weird; the Bible calls us a peculiar people. However, we may not be as strange as people think we are. It's evangelistic because people want connection, and Jesus came to restore it. That's good news.

Would you stand with me as we close in prayer? Father, I pray because I know that right now there are people here for whom this sounds really good. They come on Sunday and do so faithfully, but they've never plugged in. I pray that you would draw them by your Spirit to grow in their connection with you and with one another within your body. Draw them out to come and be a part of a connect group.

There are some people standing here right now who have a heart for people, a home they’re willing to open, and a love for serving others because you've given them the gift of hospitality, a spiritual gift. They talk about you already, and Lord, you're calling them to be connect group hosts. I pray that you would help them take that step and just come and say, "Yeah, I might be interested in that." Draw them out, because Lord, you want us to live as your people in the life-giving and life-satisfying abundance of connection.

Make that a reality for us. We pray this in Jesus' name. And all those who agreed, say it. Amen.