Songs of Summer 9 – Unity

These are the buzz, kissable dandelion fuzz. I'll be doing whatever snow does in summer. We were created to live life in connection with God and with one another through Jesus Christ.

Today, we are going to look at Psalm 133, which speaks about the unity that is good and pleasant, a unity that God desires us to enjoy. So, open your Bibles with us to Psalm 133 and follow along.

I have the privilege a couple of days a week to take our three oldest kids to school and then pick them up. A couple of Fridays ago, I was picking our three-year-old up from preschool. As we were getting in the car, I asked her, "So, Evangeline, what did you learn today?" She replied, "I'm learning the Pledge of Allegiance," and she wanted to recite it with all the gusto that is Evangeline.

So, she said, "I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all." She has been repeating it quite a bit and loves to say "one nation under God, indivisible." The phrase seems to fit her well, even though "indivisible" is a hard word for a three-year-old.

Thinking about that statement, "I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America," emphasizes the importance of being united, which is a crucial concept not only nationally but in other ways, even more importantly.

If you would, open your Bibles this morning to the Psalms, specifically Psalm 133. If you don't have a Bible, you can raise your hand, and one of our ushers will bring you one. Psalm 133 is right about the middle of your Bible, in the big book of Psalms. Find 133, and if you would, please stand with me as we consider this song, reflecting on the blessedness of unity.

You'll notice as you get there, there is a heading over Psalm 133 that says, "A Song of Ascents" or "A Song of a Sense of David." In Psalm 133, verse 1, David writes, "Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity."

Unity is like the precious oil upon the head, running down on the beard, the beard of Aaron, running down on the edge of his garments. It is like the dew of Hermon descending upon the mountains of Zion, for there the Lord commanded a blessing, the blessed life forevermore.

Father, as we consider this blessing of unity, or the blessedness of unity today, this short passage from Psalm 133, I ask God that You would bless us with understanding and wisdom. Lord, grant us application by Your Spirit concerning this Psalm that was written three thousand years ago. Open our eyes, and help us to see how this relates to us living in the 21st century. Transform us, we pray, by Your Word and by the power of Your Spirit. We ask this in Jesus' name, and all those that agreed said, "Amen." You can be seated.

Psalm 133 begins with the heading "A Song of Ascents." Some other translations might have the heading "A Gradual Psalm," "A Song of Degrees," or "A Song of Steps." Some even refer to this as the Pilgrim Songs. There are 15 Psalms in the Book of Psalms referred to as the Psalms of Ascents or the Gradual Psalms. They begin at Psalm 120 and go right through to this one, and Psalm 134 follows it. Of those 15 Psalms, four of them, including this one, are attributed to King David, who was the king of the nation of Israel three thousand years ago.

Here, he writes this Song of Ascents, which makes us wonder: what exactly is a Song of Ascents or a Pilgrim Song? Most Bible commentators and teachers believe that this refers to the songs or Psalms that were sung by the people of Israel every single time they made the journey up to the city of Jerusalem. We still go to the city of Jerusalem today; we'll be going there in just a little over a year. If you'd like to join us on our trip next year in November, we pushed it out a year. Three times a year, the ancient nation of Israel was commanded by God to appear before Him.

Feast three different feasts at three different times. In the spring, or the early part of the year, they would go up for Passover, where they would celebrate the first harvest of the year, the barley harvest. Then, seven weeks later, they would return to Jerusalem to celebrate what is called Pentecost. This celebration marked the summer harvest, the firstfruits coming in at that point in time, and it was known as the Feast of the First Fruits.

A third time, in the fall, which is actually just about to be celebrated, they would again go up to Jerusalem to celebrate Rosh Hashanah. They would celebrate the time of the ingathering, the time of bringing in the fall fruits. Each time, they rejoiced before God for the harvest. It was a joyful time; everybody loves a good feast, a good festival, and that's what these occasions were.

In Exodus chapter 23, the second book of the Bible, at the very beginning of the nation of Israel's history, God said, "Three times a year, you are to appear before me for a time of festival and feasting and rejoicing in the good things that you brought in from the harvest." The kind of rejoicing the Bible describes is akin to the joy one would experience if they received a nice, hefty bonus at the end of the year. Each time they brought in that harvest, it was like bringing in the joy of a nice bonus. All the people would gather up to Jerusalem, and they would rejoice.

As they made that trek up to the city on the mountains of Zion, the people united together would sing songs of degrees, or the songs of ascent, as a corporate gathering. They would all be singing these songs together, filled with joy. Here, David writes another one that is added to the list of the songs of ascent. He says, "Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for the brethren to dwell together in unity."

I imagine that David, whose palace was there in Jerusalem, would watch the people coming over the hill of the Mount of Olives, opposite his palace. As he saw them coming up each of those three times, rejoicing and excitedly singing, he would think, "Look at that," and he would write this down: "Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity." It is a joyful thing to see all these people gathering together and rejoicing in unison as one nation, as one people.

One body, and so He has. Behold how good and how pleasant that is! Now, there are a lot of pleasant things in this life, are there not? If we took a little bit of time to write down all the enjoyable, pleasant things, I'm sure we could come up with a long list of joyful, pleasant things that we enjoy.

On that list, there would probably be some things that most of us would say, "Yes, that's enjoyable." For example, a three-day weekend. Most everybody would nod their heads in agreement. Or, I don't know about you, but Thanksgiving dinner—there you go! I'll say yes, that would be on the list, and we'd all nod in agreement.

There is a long list of things that are pleasant and enjoyable, and many of us would agree with the things that are on there. However, there would be some things on that list that you might hear someone say, "Well, I really think this is great," and in your mind, you might think, "No, I don't know about that."

For instance, every time my wife and I are driving around at the end of the day with the kids in the western part of our county, we see those hot air balloons rising up into the sky. I can't tell you how many times I've turned to my wife and said, "We should do that! We should go on a hot air balloon ride." She shakes her head and says, "Not on your life!"

You know, that would be on my list of things I think would be enjoyable and pleasant, but she insists there is no possible way you're getting her in that basket 3,000 feet above the ground. She has told me several times, "If you want to do that, you can take Pastor Mark or Pastor Josh and go do that with them." I respond, "That's exactly what I want to do—a nice sunset, romantic hot air balloon ride with Pastor Josh!"

So, on my list of pleasant and enjoyable things, she says, "No, I don't think so." There would be some things we agree on and some things we would say, "No, I don't know about that."

You know, there would be some things on that list that might make some people blush, but we're not going to get into that. Not all things that are pleasant are good, right? Not all things that are enjoyable are right and good morally. One great preacher on this text said, "All men love pleasant things, and yet it frequently happens that the pleasure is evil and not good." But here, the condition is as good as it gets.

David looks at the nation gathering together as one people, rejoicing in the goodness of God. He says this is pleasant; it's enjoyable, but it's also good and right. Not all enjoyable things are good, and not all pleasant things are right. The inverse is true as well: not all good things are pleasant.

I think about exercise, which might fall into that category. I try to go to the gym and exercise three days a week, and let me tell you, there’s not a morning when I’m on my way to the gym where I’m thinking, "Yes, this is enjoyable." I normally say, "That was fun, that was good, that was enjoyable," when I’m done. But not all good things for us are enjoyable. Fasting, as the Scriptures reveal, is good, but I’ll tell you, it’s not enjoyable. The denial of pleasures, the denial of the flesh, is not enjoyable.

So, not all pleasant things are good, and not all good things are pleasant. However, here David beholds the nation of Israel gathering together, the people of God worshipping God and rejoicing in His goodness. He says this is good and this is pleasant; it’s exactly as it ought to be. That feasting, that time gathered, is good and pleasant. He says, "Behold this; look at it; consider it." That’s the way it should be—both good and pleasant.

Point number one on your outline, your sermon guide there in your bulletin: Church should be good and pleasant. In saying that, I think it might be helpful to define exactly what church is, because this building is not the church. The first use of the word "church" is found in the New Testament, in the book of Matthew, chapter 16. There, Jesus makes a statement: "I will build my church."

The word "church" in the original language, which was written in Greek, is the Greek word "ekklesia," and it just means the gathering together, that corporate gathering. Jesus says, "I’m going to build, I’m going to create this corporate gathering." As we go through the Gospels and journey through the whole of the Bible, we see that the corporate gathering that God desires to make is a gathering of people from every tribe and every nation, a gathering of all peoples from all places. He says, "I want to gather them together and make them one," which is a phenomenal and awesome thing to consider.

To take individuals from different places, different classes, and all kinds of different languages and make them one, I will build my gathering, He says. That gathering should be good and pleasant. I hope that when you got ready to come here today, there was an aspect of coming here that caused a desire and anticipation in your heart to say, "It's enjoyable, it's good, it's pleasant."

I think we could easily make the case that gathering together in this way and worshiping God through song and the study of His Word are good and right. But I hope also that it's enjoyable. I gather together with you each week, looking forward to this time to worship together and to go through the Scriptures together. This gathering should be good; it should be pleasant.

He says, "Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren, brothers and sisters, to gather together in unity." Now, you are all sensible people. God has given you brains and minds to think about this, and this is not a difficult verse or word to deconstruct here in this passage. You don't need to grab the Greek or Hebrew Strong's dictionary and break it out to see what it actually means in the Hebrew. Brethren simply speaks of family—brothers and sisters.

What is unity? Let's deconstruct it and see exactly what this is. We don't need to do that; it simply says how good and how pleasant it is for the family to dwell together, to stay in a place of unity with one another.

Now, I do think it's important to note that this word "unity" does not mean "conformity." Unity does not mean conformity. We see this represented in our own nation, where one nation is united together, but we are a nation of people from all over the world. When you look at our nation, there is a rather distinctive nature to the United States of America in that it is a nation of individuals—people who look different, talk differently, wear different things, like different things, and think differently. We are a nation of diversity, but hopefully, there is unity in that diversity.

As we look around, it is sad to see that in the United States of America in the year 2015, there is a lot of division—whether it's political division, economic class division, or racial division.

There unfortunately is a lot of division, and we do see that. Yet, we're still one nation; there is unity in the diversity. The church should be the same way in the sense that this is not unity in the way of conformity. We do not all have to look the same, dress the same, or talk the same. I think of those old videos of that big corporation, IBM, back in their heyday when everybody wore basically the same dark blue suit. If you were going to be a part of that company, I wonder if they even just gave those suits out, like, "Here you go, this is the uniform," at the very beginning.

There is conformity, and sometimes people think that to be a part of the church, there needs to be conformity; that we all have to act the same way and talk the same way. However, this unity is not conformity, nor is it absolute agreement on every single point. Yes, within the body of Christ, we need to have agreement on the essential doctrines of the Scriptures: the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the deity of Jesus Christ, the virgin birth—those sorts of things we do need to agree upon.

We must uphold the cradle orthodoxy of the church, but there is a lot of difference even in this local church. When you start to talk with people about secondary doctrinal issues—now that may not be a term you use too often—what am I talking about? Well, the style of worship is one area where people disagree. Some people say, "My favorite band is Rich's band," while others say, "Emily's band is what I really like," and still others might say, "Casey's band is really what I like."

There are differences of opinion related to style, and there may even be differences of opinion on doctrines like the rapture of the church, eschatology, or even views on creation, such as young Earth versus old Earth. There are those differences within our own church, and yet we still need to be united as one body.

So, unity here does not mean conformity, and it does not mean total and absolute agreement on every possible thing. What unity here speaks of and means is a togetherness in community. David, as he looks at the gathering of the people coming together to worship and praise God for His goodness, sees that this is good and pleasant. They gather together as one body, united. That is the way it ought to be within the church.

Many churches in the world today are characterized more by disunity and division than by unity. It can happen so easily that we see division and disunity find their way into the church. There was a church in the New Testament that was characterized by division. It was originally pastored by a man named Paul, who planted the church. Later, he had to write a couple of letters, which we have in the New Testament, called First and Second Corinthians. We could even title them First and Second Californians; they would fit pretty well, I think.

In his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul writes to them and says, "It has been reported to me that there is division among you." Unfortunately, he believed it. He had heard some reports that there were a lot of problems and division within their gathering. Because he knew the nature of man, he believed that was the case, but it ought not to be.

As you go through the book of First Corinthians and examine the issues that were causing division, you find that they were often issues of personality. Some people preferred one leader over another. They would say, "I like the way that Pastor Paul preaches," or "I like the way that Pastor Peter preaches," or "I like the way that Pastor Apollos preaches." The division was not necessarily over issues of doctrine; it was over issues of personal preference.

Not only was there division over personality issues, but there was also division over foolish things like economic class. The upper class and the lower class would gather together, and the upper class, who had money, would bring good food. The lower class, who didn’t have anything, would bring nothing. The upper class would say, "This is our food; you can’t have it."

Paul writes to this church and says these divisions ought not to be there. In fact, in First Corinthians chapter 3, he states that the origin of these divisions is from envy and strife, and it is an indication that they are immature and worldly. Think about that: division within the family of God, the church, is an indication of worldliness and immaturity, stemming from the fleshly aspects of envy and strife.

We see it all the time, don’t we? We see our tendency toward envy and strife.

Our tendency toward picking things apart causes division, and Paul says it should not be so. In fact, in another one of the letters that Paul wrote to a different church, the church at Ephesus, he writes in Ephesians chapter 4, verse 3, that we need to work as a church. We need to endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. We have to work at this unity.

As Christians existing in the church, if we're going to experience the good and pleasant nature of the gathering of the body of God, then we need to put in the effort. It doesn't just happen because we're Christians and part of a church. We are still carnal; we are still worldly. We have all these different little things that cling to us and cause divisions, and we are so easily offended. Are we not? I mean, we are all so easily offended by what someone says or does, or doesn't say. Maybe they sat in your seat, took your parking place, or even took your jelly-filled doughnut. Suddenly, there is a serious problem.

So, Paul writes in Ephesians chapter 4, verse 3, that we need to work and endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Disunity is bad; it is unpleasant. But unity, as David says, is good and pleasant, enjoyable.

As we've seen already in our series in the Psalms, David, who wrote this 3,000 years ago, was the king of Israel. He was a king, a soldier, a warrior, but he was also a poet and a songwriter. Here, the poet and songwriter expresses that this unity is good and pleasant while observing the gathering of all these people coming into Jerusalem. He shifts into poet mode and begins to speak about the goodness and pleasantness of the unity he is observing through simile.

He uses two similes to describe it. In Psalm 133, verse 2, he says that this unity, which is good and pleasant, is like the precious oil upon the head, running down the beard, the beard of Aaron, running down to the edge of his garments. Frankly, this is one of those odd artistic poetic lyrics that, when someone reads it, or you get 50 different people to read it, they all come up with 50 different ideas about what it means. Isn't that the case?

With modern-day lyrics, Bono or someone else writes a lyric in a song, and everybody starts singing that song, bobbing their heads. They don't even know if they're singing the right lyric because sometimes the lyric doesn't sound exactly like the words. You go and look at that little booklet with tiny print, using a magnifying glass, wondering, "What does that mean?" People start to speculate, "Well, it means this," and "It means that." Unfortunately, we don't have David here today to explain exactly what he meant by this lyric.

If you look at 50 different commentaries on Psalm 133, verse 2, you're going to find 50 different opinions about what it means because it's a simile; it's kind of metaphorical. What do you mean, "It's like the oil"? First, we have to consider what David is talking about. The oil coming down the head, going down the beard, the beard of Aaron, down his garments may seem rather disconnected from anything we understand today. However, in David's day, the people who were reading or singing this would have had a picture in their minds, a picture that originated back in the Book of Exodus in the early history of the nation of Israel.

As the nation of Israel came out of Egypt—remember "The Prince of Egypt" or Christian Bale leading the people—God called them to Himself. He said, "Listen, I want to have a relationship with you, so you're going to build a tabernacle, a tent where we're going to meet together." There, at that meeting place, there would be priests who would come to God on behalf of the people and come to the people on behalf of God. One of the priests would be the head guy, the chief guy, the high priest. The first high priest was a man named Aaron, Moses's brother.

God said to Moses, "When you build this tabernacle, you need to anoint it and consecrate it, setting it apart as My place." The people who work there need to be set apart for this work. One of the ways you're going to set them apart is by anointing them with a special oil that was to be made for this purpose, called the anointing oil. In Exodus chapter 23, it says you're going to anoint the priest Aaron with this oil. Interestingly, we still practice anointing with oil in the 21st century in the church, but normally it looks something like this: someone comes and says, "I'm sick; I need prayer." We go back to a room where we have a little jar of oil. We dip our finger in it and put some on their foreheads, sometimes even making the sign of the cross.

This practice was quite a bit different because...

The picture here is that they pour a lot of oil over the top of the head of the priest. It goes down his head, down his beard, and down all the priestly garments that they had just made, drenching him in oil. Here’s the picture that David is using: the unity of the body gathering together, rejoicing in God for His goodness, is like that oil.

You might wonder how this connection works. As we look at the oil and the incident of anointing with oil, we need to consider what is so great about this oil. Well, number one, if you want to jot it down in your notes, it was precious. The anointing oil for the high priest and the instruments of the tabernacle were made exclusively for that task. It was not to be used for anything else, and it took work to create it. It took time and effort to make it happen.

I would suggest to you that the community of the gathering of the people of God is precious, and it takes time and work to make it happen. It doesn't just flow out; it has to be prepared. Not only was this oil precious, but secondly, this oil was sanctifying. When they would take Aaron or the high priests who came after him and pour out this oil on the high priest, they were dedicating him to the work and service as the high priest. They were sanctifying, cleansing, and consecrating him, setting him apart for this task.

I would suggest to you that the gathering of the people of God to rejoice in the goodness of God has a sanctifying aspect. As Solomon, an ancient king of Israel, observed in Proverbs chapter 27, he said, "As iron sharpens iron, so it is when you gather together with other people." When you gather together in the communion of the saints, there is a sanctifying aspect that takes place within the community of the saints. This aspect is less obvious or less powerful when you are living your life alone, separated from the church.

In the New Testament, one of the authors of the book of Hebrews writes in Hebrews chapter 10, verse 24:

What happens when we gather together is that we stir one another up to love and good deeds. We challenge each other to be better, to be different, and to walk better in Christ. This takes place in the community of the body. Just like the oil that was precious and sanctifying, the gathering together of the people of God is precious and sanctifying.

Furthermore, it is fragrant. The book of Exodus tells us that this oil was to be made of spices and special oils that would have a fragrant, perfumey smell. When they poured it over the head of Aaron, it would begin to drip down. He, of course, would smell it and take in the fragrance of it. It was pleasing to him and to God, who commanded that they do it. It was also a pleasing aroma to those who were around watching this take place.

I suggest to you that the community of the body of Christ is the same. There is a fragrance, a sweet-smelling aroma to God, who looks upon it and says, "That's right, that's good, that's pleasant." It is a sweet-smelling aroma to those who are experiencing that community of the saints. However, there is also a nature of this in which it is a fragrant, sweet-smelling aroma to those who are outside and do not yet know that community.

The Creator God, the one who made us and gave us His word here in the Scriptures, stated at the very beginning of the Bible, in the first book, Genesis 2:18, that it is not good for man to be alone. God's original intent, His original design, was that we would live life joined together in community. But Genesis 3, the very next chapter, says that sin entered in and caused a fall, a rip in humanity, and we have been separated ever since.

There is a residual desire in the heart of every single human being walking the face of this planet today, longing for that connection and looking for it. When we express and enjoy the community of the body of Christ, that fragrance grows out, and people say, "I want that. I want to enjoy that."

The oil was precious, it was sanctifying, and it was fragrant. Moreover, it was abundant. This might seem odd because we see that it is also precious and rare, but it was abundant in the fact that they did not just smear a little oil on his forehead; they poured it out. It went down his head, down his beard, down all of his garments, and onto the floor around him. There was an abundance of this oil.

In that picture and simile, we see that the fellowship of the body of Christ should be something abundant and expansive. It should continue to flow out to all places. It's not something we only experience when we gather for 75 minutes on a Sunday morning; rather, it should be something we look to experience throughout our day and week.

He says it's like the precious oil upon the head, running down the beard, the beard of Aaron, running down the edge of his garments. Then he moves to his second simile, pointing out on your outline that Christian community should be precious. It should be sanctifying, fragrant, and abundant.

The lyricist David says it's like the dew of Hermon descending upon the mountains of Zion. This may seem like an unhelpful artistic simile for 21st-century Americans. What does it mean, "like the dew of Hermon"?

Some geography might be helpful here. In the northernmost part of the nation of Israel, the border with Lebanon is on the left and Syria is on the right. These two nations are in the news quite a bit right now, and we should be praying for the things happening in that part of the world. The sad things we are seeing include refugees fleeing from Syria.

At the northern edge of Israel is a mountain called Mount Hermon, which is where the headwaters of the Jordan River are located. The snow, dew, and rain coming down on Mount Hermon fill up the springs of the mountain, causing great springs, like the one in the northern part of the nation called Surya Phillip, to flow. All those waters go down into what is called the Jordan River, which continues south towards the Sea of Galilee. This river serves as the water lifeline for ancient Israel.

As David sees this picture of God's people gathering, he says this unity, which is good and pleasant, is like the dew coming down on Mount Hermon and descending to the mountains of Zion, where Jerusalem was. Thus, this community is like oil.

Water is a strange thing that he's using here, but what is he talking about? As we think about the water from Mount Hermon, there are a few important aspects to consider.

First, it's precious. Just like we saw previously with the oil, water is precious in a desert land that is in desperate need of it. David spoke of that same region, emphasizing its need for water. The water that would come down in the form of dew, rain, or snow on Mount Hermon was precious and not to be wasted.

Secondly, it is pure. The water descending white as snow is pure and right. In the same way that this water is precious and pure, the fellowship of the body of Christ should also be precious and pure.

Thirdly, it is essential. You must have that water lifeline; otherwise, life is lost. This leads us to the fourth point: the water of Hermon is life-giving and life-sustaining. How is the fellowship, the gathering of the community of God's people, like the water from Hermon? In the same way, it is precious, pure, essential, life-giving, and life-sustaining.

Now, point number three on your outline: there is no life in Christ without community—the community of the saints. This may seem like a bold statement, but I am absolutely convinced that it is true. There is no life in Christ without the community of the saints. This is why the author of the book of Hebrews said that we should not neglect the gathering together of the body. There is no life without that experience of the community of the saints. It is essential, life-giving, and life-sustaining.

We must experience the community of saints, which means you cannot live the Christian life alone. The Christian life is a life lived in connection with others. Without one another, you cannot fulfill the "one another" commands of the Bible. What do I mean? The New Testament is filled with all kinds of commandments from God to His people. He says that we are to love one another, bear with one another, forgive one another, exhort one another, encourage one another, and pray for one another. There are numerous "one another" commands in the Bible.

So, point number four on your outline...

There is no point in saying that the "one another" commands of the Bible are impossible without others. You cannot live this Christian life alone. Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! It is like the oil upon the head, running down the beard, the beard of Aaron, running down to the edge of his garments. It is like the dew of Hermon descending upon the mountains of Zion.

In the last two lines, it says, "For there the LORD commanded the blessing, life forevermore." Notice the definite article in front of "blessing." The blessing is life forevermore. What is he talking about? Where did God command the blessing? Is he talking about Zion, which is the place referenced immediately before that? In one sense, you could say that because it was there in Jerusalem on Mount Zion that Jesus was crucified, and through Him comes the blessing of everlasting life.

However, I suggest to you that this is only part of the way that the blessing is brought. The context of Psalm 133 is the unity of the gathering of the brothers and sisters of the body of God to rejoice in His goodness. There, in that place, is a greater, more full blessing of the life we are to experience—the abundant life, which is life forevermore. But it is life in connection with God and with one another.

You notice that this is our vision here at Cross Connection: life in connection with God, one another, and the world through Jesus. So, what do we do? What is the application of all this?

First, we should be those who experience and enjoy this life in connection with God. How do we do that? When we gather together corporately, week in and week out, to worship God through song and through the study of the Scriptures, we connect with God. We give to the Lord sacrificially, and we connect with Him through all of those things—through baptism, through communion, which we will partake of next Sunday.

All of these ways allow us to gather together to live life in connection with God. But then, to experience and enjoy life in connection with one another, simply saying "hi" to someone for 42 seconds on a Sunday morning doesn't really fulfill that. So, we desire to...

We meet in small groups, our connect groups, throughout the week. You may notice in the bulletin at the top that this week we are calling for new connect group hosts. We currently have eight connect groups, and we want to add more as we move into the fall. Therefore, we need some more hosts who can provide the opportunity for us as a church to experience life in connection.

If you're interested in being a host, we invite you to come out to a meeting on Wednesday night at seven o'clock here in the sanctuary. We will share with you what a connect group is, what a connect group host does, and how you can become a part of that. By attending the meeting, you are not immediately committing to being a host; you are simply coming to find out more about it.

You might be wondering, what is a connect group host? Essentially, it is a person who has a heart for people, is willing to open their home, is willing to serve their guests, and is willing to talk about Jesus. It’s really simple. If you have a heart for people and are willing to open your home, serve your guests, and discuss Jesus, then this might be for you. If that stirs your heart and you think you could do that, please come on Wednesday night at seven o'clock. We will share more about what it means to be a connect group host and how to become one.

We want to start more groups because our eight connect groups are already kind of full. It is an awesome thing to see people gathering together to live life in connection with one another.

Thirdly, our vision is to live life in connection with the world through Jesus. Not only are we to experience and enjoy connection with God and connection with one another, but this is not an exclusive club. We are to extend that connection to others through outreach and missions. That is why we are involved in outreach in our community and missions to the uttermost parts.

For example, we pray for people like Carrie and Keaton, who are going over to China to teach English, but ultimately to share the gospel with people and bring them into connection with God and one another through Jesus. This next week, we are seeing another family go out from our church to serve the Lord in Asia.