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August 18, 2025 · 47 min · Adam Mesa Sermons
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Adam Mesa is Lead Pastor of Patria Church and speaks to a congregation of 12,000 about how the gospel of Jesus Christ brings purpose to every life. Patria
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The Importance of Gathering Together 0:01 Amen. Well praise God. So good to see everybody, today. I want to welcome all of our campuses. We got an all campus weekend, so would you do me a favor Rancher, would you welcome Pomona0:13 and Alameda to service today with us, as well. I just came in from our Alameda campus. They had their first ever men's day. We were praying0:24 for 30 men to come. We had a hundred men signed up at our Alameda campus, and it was powerful. We just didn't know what to expect for our first men's0:36 event up there. So it was amazing. So shout out to all the men in Alameda who came, and shout out to, I also want to talk for a moment about our sprint coming up, because all of our sprints are listed on a0:48 website, patriotsprints dot com, all our past ones. When I was just at Alameda, a young man came up to me, said he was in the middle of doing the apologetic sprint, so it's so great. Reason why we do these sprints, not0:59 only to disciple people, but also in the future wherever God would lead us to cities in the church, we can walk people through a discipleship process from wherever they're at and whenever they start church. And so, this1:11 leadership sprint, it's gonna be available online as well, once we start getting started with it. So even for our Alameda campus, they'll be able to come, but if you're in Rancho and Pomona and you're driving distance,1:23 it starts next week. And so, people have asked what kind of topics is our leadership team gonna discuss at the Leadership Sprint? Well, some of them are gonna be like this. How do you lead when you're not in charge?1:34 Because not everybody is the boss or the CEO, but you still want to lead. How do you lead a team? We're all gonna be part of a team at some point. Whether it's in your household, or in your workplace, we have1:45 questions how to lead a team. Additionally, we're gonna talk about how do I lead in the social media age? How many of you guys know that the pastor, the manager, the boss, the mentor is not a1:57 person's greatest influence today? It's what's on their phone. How do you lead through that when you're not always the greatest voice in the person's life, and so how do you how do you build a bridge to people that2:08 you're leading when they're gonna double check everything you said on YouTube or Google. So, that is some of the stuff we're gonna talk about during the sprint on Tuesday night, so make sure you join us, or you can2:19 simply jump on patriotsprints dot com after the first week. We'll be able to make it available. Well, I'm excited as we are actually concluding our series that we've done pretty much all of summer. It's been about a 92:31 week series called Questions for Life. This is the last 1 that we're dealing with. I do want to encourage you to join us next week, because we've started doing this a couple times, and I've heard from2:42 people at our church have told me this have become some of their favorite weekends. Next weekend is what we call our next gen weekend, where what we're having is we're2:54 having some students in our kids ministry, youth ministry, and young adult ministry preach a message to us next weekend. So, I'll be sharing a portion of it, but then our next generation is gonna come. And3:05 Jesus makes it clear that out of the mouth of children, out of the mouth of babes, they too can speak about the glories of God. And so, as we've done this annually, most of us end up crying3:17 or encouraged or whatever it is. So, you don't want to miss next week and that's happening all across our campuses. Next gen students all across our campuses, sharing, encouraging us, and challenging us,3:29 which is something I always look forward to. Well, if you have a Bible today and you like to follow along, I'm gonna be sharing a few verses, but our predominant verse we're gonna be at today is in Hebrews3:41 chapter 10. And so, if you brought a physical Bible, you could flip there and put your finger there. Also additionally, if you didn't bring a Bible, that's Okay. We're gonna have it on the screen as well.3:53 Well as we've started this series every single week, we always start with a video. I'll tell you this ahead of time. When I play this video, at first, this is gonna be hard for you to tell what is the topic we're4:05 tackling through these questions. And so, as you guys know, across all of our campuses, we allowed everyone within our church to submit questions, and then we compiled that and said, hey, okay, these would be the4:16 questions that people are asking. This 1, though it seems a little bit over the all over the place, it's really not at the end of the day, not fully. And so I'm gonna play this, and we're gonna jump in with the topic4:27 today. Let's see what the questions are today.4:30 How will I overcome spiritual dryness?4:33 How do I discover God's purpose for me?4:36 How do I deal with anxiety as a Christian?4:39 How do I keep the faith when things aren't going my way?4:42 I just gave my life to Christ recently. What does it mean to fully surrender to the Lord? I've been getting asked, a lot, how can I help you in your faith journey? And honestly, I wanna know ways in4:53 which I can be supported in my faith journey.4:56 How do we forgive and receive true healing to restore broken relationships?5:01 Some of my family members do not share the faith. What's the best way to share the joy of Christianity? My question for life is how do I deal with the5:13 enemy getting in my head with certain intrusive thoughts and also how to deal with making tough choices.5:22 Okay. Let's talk about it. You may have thought, like I said, like, hey, that's a lot of questions. There's anxiety in there, there's faith questions, there's dryness questions. How could that deal5:34 with anything? Well, have you ever connected with the statement, whether you've gone to, you know, buy a car, you've gone to the doctors before? There's a thing called preventative maintenance, or5:46 preventative care. Have any of you guys know that? Like, you know what happens when your car first has that change oil light on. How long have you left that change oil5:58 light on before? Is it 1 month? 3 months? 6 months, not too long ago, it was just a few months ago, I had a little bit of pain in 1 of my teeth,6:10 and that little bit of pain started to become a lotta bit of pain, which came into excruciating pain. And so, I went to the dentist and 1 of the first questions Doctor. Rall asked me was, how6:22 long have you been feeling this pain? I didn't want to admit how long I had been feeling that pain. And so, I said, oh I don't know, it just kinda seems like it's popped up. Even though I6:34 had felt it for some time. And so, whether it be in a doctor's office, or whether it be with our vehicles, there is something called preventative care, preventative maintenance, which the6:45 idea is that if I can stay consistent with my health, with my vehicles, with my home, there has been times that I've had issues in my home that were really little, but because6:57 I didn't want to spend the 200 dollars, the 300 dollars, what was a little issue became a lotta issue when the entire AC went completely out. AC repairman recently came, saw an issue I7:09 had. He said honestly, if you would have just had a preventative care with us, I don't think you would have had to fix what I had to fix. I thought man, I gotta be more consistent so7:21 that my big problems aren't so big, those problems can be dealt on a consistent basis. So you may be asking yourself, okay, Pastor, what is the question? Well the question is7:32 this. Why do I need to go to church? Why do I need to physically go to church? Is attending church still7:45 relevant? In an day and age when I got Instagram and I have YouTube and I have access to all the greatest preachers, I have, you know, we got a phenomenal worship team.7:56 But to you, you may say but they're not this worship leader, they're not that worship leader, they're not this song, oh they didn't do the rendition of the worship song that I like. Or, I like my preacher, don't get me8:07 wrong, I like my pastor, but have you seen this guy blowing up on YouTube? And so it's very quick that we can say, ah, it's really not all that important to come to church.8:20 But here's what happens. A lot of times in our faith, you may start to see that change oil light come. And any of us who have been in church long enough, you recognize in your own faith that you will experience8:32 seasons of anxiety, you will experience seasons of dryness, you will experience seasons of pain, and what we can do is we can say, my faith walk and my disciplines in my church attendance,8:44 my disciplines in my daily word with God, either I can get to a place that when I start to see that check engine light, or I start to feel that toothache, I am so consistent in being8:56 around fellow believers and in the presence of God that when I start to feel it, I nip it. Rather than when I feel it, I just go longer without going. Longer without going to9:07 church. Longer without attending around other believers and being in the Spirit of God. Watching online is good as a supplement, but it's not good as the diet.9:21 You can take a vitamin C tablet every day, but you can't live off of it. And so I wanna encourage you, Hebrews 10, like I said, if you wanna stand for just a moment for the reading of God's Word, it's just a few9:33 verses today, whether you're in Rancho or Pomona, We stand just because the highest honor we can have is reading God's Word in our life. And so, as we open God's Word, we want to give God the greatest honor that it9:45 deserves with our attention. Here's what Hebrews chapter 10 verse 24 says this. And let us consider how to stir up 1 another to love and good works.9:58 Not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some. He admitting. He's like there are individuals who don't prioritize meeting10:10 and gathering. And He says but encouraging 1 another and all the more as you see the day drawing near. We're to stir 1 another and10:21 encourage 1 another. And we're not to forsake gathering together. I'll share a little bit today why, but you may be seated for just a moment. I want to share with you for a moment, here's the culture that we10:33 currently live in. It's 20 25 right now, and here's just some data points of what we see in society. 1 in 3 practicing Christians stopped attending church altogether10:45 after 2021 in 3. That's a lot.10:51 That's a10:51 lot of people. That's not, that's not a little data point. Just think about a third of your income dropping overnight. You feel that. And so therefore, since COVID, 1 in 3 people11:03 have stopped. Why have they stopped? Well, they got in a habit of watching online. Or they got in this habit, deconstruction and disillusionment have increased spiritual independence. In other words, people have started11:15 to make their, their faith more private. Out of fear of losing friendships or relationships, or just a desire to not want to be accountable to anyone, what happens is11:27 they've started to make their faith life very private. And so they may listen to messages every day, they may journal every single day, but the reality is they are doing it by themselves.11:39 And so this is the culture that we live in. Every single week, I meet someone that says pastor, out of my back. And I say, what, you back from vacation? They said no, back to church from COVID. I said man, it's 2011:51 25. How long did it take for you to go back to work? We fast. But we say that, and you know, and I'm pastor Adam, I'm much12:03 nicer. If I was my dad, pastor Diego, I'd probably say something a little bit more direct. But instead, I just say I'm so glad that you're back. We've missed you so much. You know, hasn't been the same since you left12:15 in 2020. But, that's what we live in today. But here's some things I wanna give you data points before we jump into the Word of God of12:27 here's what is factual that gathering together does. This is not done particularly by Christian studies. These, some of these are university studies,12:38 secular studies, who have studied people who go to church to see what type of data is behind it. Here's some things that they've realized. Attending religious services at least once a week,12:50 weekly, is linked to 33 percent lower risk of death by suicide. So almost 33 percent less risk for those that go to church every single week of having the13:02 desires and the action of suicide. On top of that, 22 percent lower risk of depression. Just by attending weekly. A person, depression13:13 goes down by 22 percent. Just by attendance. Here's some other things. Frequent service attendance correlates with higher levels of hope. It's been studied that people who go to church, they13:25 have a 33 percent hope view of life than the average person. On top of that, they have 30 percent higher life satisfaction.13:37 And I13:37 have on here the study so that you don't think I'm making it up or anything like that. So that you can look it up if you want yourself. Here's the next 1. Adults and teens involved in church are 213:49 times less likely to engage in drug and alcohol abuse. Why should the next generation be in church? Well, here's just 1 data point. On14:01 top of that, for adults and teens, they are more likely to recover faster from addiction. Individuals who go to church regularly and get involved are less14:13 likely for substance abuse, and less and more likely to recover from addiction sooner. That's powerful. These are just14:25 normal data points. We hadn't even gotten into what the Bible says, we hadn't even gotten into how radically gracious God is through the Spirit of God. We're just talking about individuals who have studied believers and14:36 people that go to church. On top of that, church attendance boosts social networks. It reduces loneliness by 29, social isolation increases mortality risk by 30 percent. So it reduces14:48 loneliness. On top of that, an improved self reported mental health and emotional well-being for individuals that go to church. People are more emotionally confident. On top of that,15:00 75 percent of weekly churchgoers say they find a great deal of meaning in life. Yes. 79, 75 percent of people.15:12 Would you say 75 percent of your workplace finds great meaning in life? Would you say 75 percent of your family members find great meaning in life? Well,15:24 it suggests that those that go to church, 75 percent say, I know why I'm here. They may not fully grasp it yet, they may not fully understand it, but they say, God has revealed to me what my purpose is15:36 and why I'm here. I have meaning in this life. God cares that I'm alive. God cares that I'm breathing. God cares about my marriage. God cares about my children. God cares about my well-being.15:49 And these individuals have been studied that they discover this why while being gathered together. Under a roof where we worship together, we pray together,16:01 we sing together, and we read God's Word together. Because we know that when we are together, we are stronger. But there's a lot of individuals, and we've all fallen prey to this16:13 that says, I love Jesus, I don't have to go to church, I don't have to attend church, I don't have to be spiritual, because loving Jesus is enough. But, when you read your Bible, you can't do it in a16:25 vacuum. And when Jesus speaks, Jesus speaks to His bride, His church. Which is the gathering of His people. If you like16:37 following Jesus by yourself, or you know someone that likes following Jesus by yourself, I'll tell you this, they're gonna be really uncomfortable in Heaven. Because Jesus is not gonna give them a cubicle16:49 in Heaven and say I'll come check-in on you in an hour. He's gonna say hey, we're all gathering together to worship. You wanna come? And you're like oh, I've never done this17:00 before. I only ever did this by myself. Rich Viloto says it like this, you can't love Jesus and hate His bride. It's hard to love Jesus, but17:12 hate the thing that Jesus loves. We say, oh, church folks are messy, and if you need to process some more church healing, a couple months ago, we did a17:24 message where we talked about church hurt. And so you can go find that on our YouTube page, and Pastor Diego talked about it. It's very strong and very powerful. So, I'm not here today to put any type of disillusionment17:34 to say, hey, the church is perfect, and individuals are perfect, and everybody gets it right all the time. No, it's human. But it's God's. And we're His bride.17:47 And no bride has ever been a perfect bride. We make heirs and we make mistakes because we're human. But that doesn't mean we give up on what God has blessed and God has redeemed. Here's some things I want to share with17:59 you about values of gathering together. Here's the first 1 if you like taking notes. A value of gathering together, number 1, is community. It's a place to belong.18:12 Here's what Acts chapter 2 says in the Word of God. Acts chapter 2 verse 42 says this. And they, speaking of the church, the early church, were in the second chapter of Acts. So this is day 1 of18:24 the church. Holy Spirit has descended upon the upper room. The church starts. Now it's been activated. And they go, okay, what's next? Here's what happens. And they18:36 devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship. The teaching of the Word of God and the fellowshipping together. The community together. To the breaking18:48 of bread and to praying for 1 another. Where is this happening? This is gathered. And what happens as a result? And all came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being19:00 done through the apostles. Through the leaders that God has instituted, because they were doing things the way God had called them to do, which was this. To gather together, to teach19:12 the Word of God, to preach the Gospel of Jesus, but also to care for 1 another. Be in community together. Pray for people when they're broken. Believe for19:24 people when they're addicted. Show grace on individuals who are struggling. This is something that gathering together, you ever felt before, you've ever felt so condemned inside of19:35 yourselves until someone told you it's gonna be okay? Until someone forgave you, until someone told you that they love you, and then you go, oh, I'm so, I feel so much better.19:47 You can't do your faith alone, because every single day, the enemy is trying to point you out. Every single day, the enemy is trying to make you feel guilty. Every single day, the enemy is trying to make you19:59 feel broken. Every single day, the enemy is trying to show you your past. But what happens is when we gather together, and we hear the Word of God, and we pray for 1 another, and we fellowship together, we say20:11 hey, that thing that you're believing, that's a lie of God. That thing that you've let fall into your mind and your ears, let's just spend a second renewing your mind and praying20:23 over that. There's healing in prayer. There's healing in confession of sins. Acts chapter 2 says that happens when we gather together. Can20:35 that happen with a group of friends at a Starbucks? Sure. But how often are you guys doing it? And are you inviting people? What happens when it grows? Well you've started a church now.20:48 Tell people all the time, they're like, hey Pastor Adam, is it wrong I'm starting a Bible study? Yeah, no, it's not wrong, start a Bible study. And then they come, like Pastor Adam, a hundred people are coming. Is it20:57 still wrong I'm starting a Bible study? I said, well no, but technically at some point, you started a church. Because then you gotta meet somewhere, and then you gotta care for people, and then you gotta counsel people,21:08 and then you gotta marry people, and then you gotta bury people, and then you gotta walk deliverance through people and disciple people. And so, anything that is fueled by the power of God will make an impact and it will21:19 grow. And so anything that God is involved in in community, God will make an impact. But a lot of times, when we have this philosophy that my faith is independent, or I can21:31 do it on my own, all I gotta do is be able to, you know, have my journal out and watch a sermon off of YouTube and not gather with other people, it's almost like me saying like this. Does anyone here21:43 not have a fireplace in their home, and every Christmas, this is what you put on your TV when you guys go to have dinner? I've got21:55 a fireplace at my house, and I'd never lit it. And I still at Christmas time choose, I put 1 of these on. And then we blast the volume up, and22:07 it's either got Christmas songs or it's got the little crackle and the little pop in the back. Clack clack clack clack clack clack clack clack. Now here's the thing. That's nice and great for setting a vibe, for22:19 setting an ambiance, for setting a mood. But if I was really cold, I couldn't do this. Like for what this is made22:31 for, it may look good, but it's meant to be functional. And so if we're just trying to set a mood or be inspired, then yes, looking at22:43 this is enough. But if you're really cold, like, like, if you're really at a place where you're like, I am freezing. I like, I think I might go through22:54 hypothermia. Like if this place doesn't start getting warmer, then what happens is, I got this little, they call it a little portable campfire. I haven't we haven't lit this yet, so let's see what23:06 happens. This is our first service of the weekend, so I don't know how successful it gets. And so this will determine whether the rest of the day tomorrow, this will be used.23:19 Does it seem like, oh, we see it a little bit. Okay. Well it's getting there. But I'm getting more nervous at the smoke than anything else. So I'm not gonna light it, because I don't want service to be, you23:31 know, left out. But if you imagine, if I put this on, and it's created a fame, they call it a portable campfire. As good as it will look, and actually, this23:43 wouldn't look as good as the campfire I showed you, but guess what? This is far more functional. If if if I was cold and you had this campfire, or you had a picture of a23:54 beautiful campfire, or a beautiful fireplace, I'm choosing this. Even though it don't look like that, I can actually get warm from this. I I I can actually get, I can24:06 make a marshmallow over this. I could put a can over this and boil something. There is so much more function in this than there would be for what I was watching. And24:18 so as watching church and doing church through technology, as good and as much as that sets a vibe in your life or may inspire your life and it's a good supplement, there24:30 are days where you will just need to be in the fire. You just gotta be around the fire of God. And when we gather, there are24:42 times where your faith can't get you to Tuesday. But there are individuals across all of our campuses and in these rooms where they will have enough faith to pull you by.24:55 Because where you came in and you're like, God, I'm crumbling. There may be someone to your left or right of you that is worshiping God with all of their heart, and through them, you are watching them and you're25:06 saying God, give me enough faith in this season to be like them. Or you will come and you will be broken, and you will say, I don't think I can pray another prayer, cause I feel like I've25:18 been praying, and I feel like things haven't been going the way that I've expected. But guess what? At all of our campuses, we have prayer teams, where they expect after service every single service, every single Sunday,25:30 they expect to have enough faith for you that when you're struggling, when you feel like you can't pray another prayer, or you feel like you need someone to come in agreement with you, there are individuals at all of25:41 our altars across all of our campuses that they came that Sunday specifically to pray for you. I don't come25:53 every Sunday. I know I do pray for people. But I come every Sunday expecting to, when I come, to preach God's Word.26:01 But26:01 there are individuals here at this church, they come every Sunday expecting to intercede for you. Expecting to pray for you on your lowest day. Could26:13 you Zoom your favorite preacher for that moment? Could you Zoom your favorite church for that moment? I'm not here to make fun of, we do church online.26:25 But I tell people all the time that say hey, I live in this state, you're my home church. I say, I hope not for long. I want at some point you to be able to find a church that you can get around a campfire.26:37 Cause you're, you're gonna be days, you may be good right now, but there will be a day where you're gonna need the heat on a cold day. And yeah, we may be able to answer a DM with an encouraging word,26:49 and yeah, we may be able to go in the comments section and say, hey, we got you, we're praying for you. But there's just nothing like being around the fire. And so God created His church, because God27:01 knew you couldn't do it by yourself. And He created gathering because He knew we couldn't do it alone. And so we need to get to a point where we don't forsake coming together in community. Here's27:13 the second thing as well, though. We're also in community, but secondly, God wants us to gather in church because he has a calling over your life. God wants you27:25 to contribute in the kingdom of God. God wants you and I to be participators in the kingdom of God. First Corinthians 12 1227:37 to 13 says for just as 1 body has many members, all the members of the body, though many, are 1 body, so it is with Christ. For in 1 Spirit, we were all baptized into 1 body.27:48 Jew or Greek, slave or free, all were made to drink from 1 Spirit. In other words, God doesn't want to just feed you at church, He wants to use you.28:02 Not to drain you, but to activate you. That God is aware of how He has created you. God is aware of your gifts and your talents. And God28:14 wants to activate that. To not only fulfill the call over your life, but to fulfill the desires of the kingdom that28:23 He28:23 has. This is not what church is. I know we're in America, and I know we brand everything and we market everything in the United States of America. And so, many of us on the outside, if we're just28:35 attenders at church, and we don't take our faith outside the walls, we don't engage with other people, and we just slip in and slip out, or we just watch online. Unfortunately, here's what we believe about28:47 church. Is we believe that church is just kind of a marketing ploy for God. In other words, I got the word church, and we would say this is church, just go to it.29:01 We think this is God's like marketing desire. Like oh, just church, why? Just go to it. You ever had a parent before like that? Like when you were younger, you're like why do I29:13 have to do this? Why do I, and then what did mom and dad say? Because I said so? But God doesn't say that in the Word of God. He's not like oh go to church and we're like why God? And He's like cause I said so. Cause you29:24 will die if you don't do it. He doesn't say that. He makes it very clear to us why He wants us to gather together. And it's less of a marketing thing, it's less of a branding29:36 thing, and it's more like what He wants us to do is He wants us to get into a room together, not a second picture for that. And He wants to be the church, the body of Christ.29:47 It's29:47 not a marketing thing for God. It's not a branding thing that, oh, if you guys just go to church, it's just, you'll look better together. And then that'll make more people want to come. You know, it's like a car29:57 accident. When there's a car accident, you know, it's like everybody slows down, everybody wants to look at it. So it's not like God's thinking, if you just guys go to church, more people will be interested in church,30:06 because you guys are going. That's not God's response. God's response is you gather together because you are functional together. Because we are his body. And there are individuals that we see30:18 in first Corinthians that you have different gifts than I, and you have different gifts than the people at your left and right of you. And when you are not activated and called within the body of Christ, then30:30 what happens is we're, we're missing out on your, the member of your body, you. And so God has called us to be engaged. And in the month of August, we're gonna go deeper into that, we're gonna talk a little bit30:42 more about activating ourselves, not just in the church, but on the outside of the 4 walls of the church. And we have GrowTrack at Patria that will walk you through your spiritual gifts and be able to help you to30:53 understand your spiritual gifts a little bit more. And that's what we'll talk about in a later time. But God has called you. But here's the third thing God has do. Not only does God call you, not only does He desire31:03 community from us, but also, church is a place for covering. It's a place for accountability and spiritual safety.31:16 A covering and spiritual safety. Hebrews 13 17 says it like this. It says, be responsive to your pastoral leaders, listen to their counsel. I31:28 would say that, he's not just talking about the pastoral leaders from the platform, he's talking about leaders within the church that are, that are giving up their time, that are giving up their energy to be there for31:39 people in the church. And he says this, listen to their counsel. They are alert to the condition of your lives and worked under strict supervision31:51 of God. In other words, a lot of times our faith goes rogue, because we're acting rogue. And we're not under any spiritual covering, and we're not under32:03 any spiritual authority. And so it's not like we're jumping to church to church to find the right church God called us to, which that's fine. Go to as many churches as you need to until you find the church that God has32:15 called you to. But when He called you to it, know that this is a place that I'm expected to be covered. Not oh, the moment someone holds me accountable, I'm out of here.32:28 Or the moment I see a little bit of friction, I'm gonna go to the next place, because, wherever you go, there you are. Wherever I go, there I32:39 am. And so we have to recognize that there are times we're not even perfect. And we need spiritual accountability, and we need covering. There32:51 was a, recently, my son Thomas, we were we were on vacation, you know, just about a week ago. And I know that you guys have wondered if my skin tone has gotten darker, and yes, because I've been in the sun.33:03 And so, I'm 1 step closer to what I identify as, which is African American. So I'm almost there. 2 more weeks in the sun. I may be darker than my wife.33:16 Not darker than my oldest son Matthias though. That boy, he gets dark in the sun. But my youngest, that's my white boy. That's Thomas.33:23 And I33:23 got a picture of Thomas right here. And we were recently on vacation, about a week ago. And we were at the beach and he had a little floatie on and he was in the water, the water was really calm in the ocean.33:35 And so Thomas tells me and Ashley, we were getting out, and he says, he says I wanna go and swim in the ocean. And we said, no Thomas, you're 4 years old. You're not swimming in the33:47 ocean alone. We're going inside. And he goes, you ever argued with a 4 year old before? It's 1 of the most frustrating things that you will ever experience in your life. So we say, Thomas, no,33:59 absolutely not. You are not going in the ocean alone by yourself. And he goes, I'm not by myself. I'm not alone. And I said, I said, yes you are, Thomas, you are alone. Your mom and I, we34:11 are getting out, you are alone. He goes, nuh-uh, I'm not alone. And I'm like, Thomas, you are by yourself. Nobody is there. The answer's no. And he says, no, you're lying. Jesus is34:23 with me always. Now number 1, I wanted to say be quiet. Be a little smart, Alec. You're34:34 right. But would I say oh yeah, in that case, Thomas, go a mile out if you want. Jesus is with you.34:46 No. Though that's true, it doesn't mean it's wise in application. And so when people say, I, I, I can34:58 go and swim this life alone. I don't need community. I don't need accountability. I can live my faith out by myself. And what happens is when a pastor or fellow35:10 Christian says hey, it's not wise.35:13 And they35:14 say, but but but well, Jesus is with me. It's not that it's not true. I'm not trying to tell you what, well, you know, that's, no. He's not with, he is. But also, he's35:26 wanted you to have wisdom. Also, He's there not, not there to rescue you in everything. And so what happens, we gotta recognize just because something is true about35:37 God, doesn't separate the fact that other things are true about God. Just because the Word of God Jesus says I will be with you always also doesn't mean what we just read is35:49 null and void. If Jesus believed our faith was independent by ourselves, He would have never said don't forsake gathering. Day 1 of the Holy Spirit descending on the church, you wouldn't36:01 see that they were breaking bread and praying for 1 another and eating food. And so, just because it is true, because you'll hear it, I've talked to people before, they're like well I have the Spirit of God. I, I could36:11 do it in my I could, I, I, you know, I could have a relationship with Jesus in the bedrooms. Yes, it's true. But, but what happens when the devil who's prowling like a roaring lion looking whom36:23 he may devour, what happens when he finds you by yourself? What happens when he finds you struggling in your closet at home? Or struggling in your bedroom? Who do youShow more In this video 0:00 The Importance of Gathering Together41:13 Responding to the Call of Salvation
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