Today is the beginning of a revolution. It’s going to start with a very radical counter-culture message. What I want to talk to you about this morning is the exact opposite of what you’ve been taught most of your life. But God promises that if you’ll do this, if you’ll do it His, way that you’ll never again have to struggle with loneliness. You’ll be able to overcome things like fatigue and fear and frustration and failure. If you’ll do what He talks about you’ll be able to handle depression and despair and have that replaced with hope. It is the concept of community.

As Americans we idolize independence. We like songs like "I’ve Got to Be Me," "I’ll do it my way," I don't need anybody to tell me what it’s all about. We honor the Lone Ranger. We love the Lone Ranger. Of course even the Lone Ranger had Tonto but we like the idea of being totally independent. We have bought into a myth that says that the key to happiness is independence. God says that the key to happiness is not independence but inter-dependence. We need each other. God wired you to go through life not as a solitary individual but in community.

The Bible says in Romans 12 "Since we are all one body in Christ we belong to each other and each of us needs all the others." We need each other. God says community is not optional. You may not feel it. You may feel like "I'm very self sufficient. I don't need other people in my life." But the truth is you absolutely have to have other people in your life if you’re going to be all God wants you to be.

Four years ago we did 40 Days of Purpose. The big idea of that spiritual journey over 40 days was that God put you on earth for five reasons. For five purposes. You’re here not just to use your life the way you want to use it but to fulfill the five purposes God uniquely created you to fulfill. That’s the big idea behind 40 Days of Purpose.

Today I want us to start a journey on an even bigger idea. That is you cannot fulfill God’s purposes for your life by yourself. So today we begin a congregation wide focus on community: called 40 Days of Community. Today I want to give you a little introduction. We’re going to look at why we need each other. Why we need God’s family specifically the five reasons God says you need other people in your life and why you need a small group.

What does that mean? It means I need you to help me grow spiritually. Colossians 2:6-7 says "Just as you received Christ Jesus the Lord so walk in Him." Did you know that the Bible often compares life to a walk? Why? Because you’re on a journey. Throughout the New Testament we’re told to walk in obedience, in the Spirit, walk as Jesus walked. Many, many other ways the Bible tells us that we are to live life.

But one of the key ways that God tells us to walk is this: you were never meant to walk through life alone. This has nothing to do with whether you’re single or married. Nothing at all. We have several single adults in our church who are very involved in deep, intimate, meaningful community. We also have married couples in our church who are desperately lonely. Marriage does not solve the issue. Community does.

Some of you say, "Joe, what’s wrong with walking alone? Let me give you three reasons.

1. It’s safer. Walking through life with other people in your life is safer. It’s less risky. Have you ever had to walk through a dark alley at night in the inner city by yourself? It’s a little scary. Or a walk down a long road in the countryside by yourself. It can be scary. It’s safer to walk through life with others.

2. It’s supportive. What I mean by that is it keeps you from giving up. When you’re walking with other people you get the energy to keep on going that you wouldn’t have.

There’s an old Zambian proverb that says, "When you run alone you run fast. But when you run together you run far." Good words. Life is not a 50-yard dash. It is a marathon.

If you’ve ever watched in the fall when a flock of geese are flying south and they’re in "V" formation. Do you know why they do that? Because it creates an uplift in the back draft and it makes it easier and they can fly farther and longer when they fly together. The same is true in your life.

3. It’s smarter. It’s just smarter to go through life with a few really close deep friends. You learn more by walking with others than you do by yourself. Proverbs 28:26 says "Only fools trust in what they alone think." In other words if I'm the only one who thinks this and nobody else agrees with me, guess what? I'm wrong. The Bible tells us "In a multitude of counselors there is safety."

The Bible says this in Genesis 2:18 "It is not good for man to be alone." That’s the first thing God said after He created Adam. He looked down at a perfect environment, the Garden of Eden, and said, "It’s not good. It’s not good for man to be alone." God hates loneliness.

So what’s His antidote? He created two groups. Physical family and a spiritual family. The physical family is the one you grew up in. The spiritual family is the one you have the rest of your life. It goes on into eternity. The physical family eventually moves apart, eventually dies and doesn’t go on. But the spiritual family, God’s church, is going to go on forever and ever and ever. So God says I want you to be connected in My family, the church.

Community is God’s answer to loneliness. There’s only one way you can do that. You’ve got to get with other Christians to walk through life with you. So that’s why during the next 40 days I'm asking everybody in our church to get in a small group for just six weeks. I'm not asking you to do this the rest of your life. I'm just saying get in a group for the next six weeks because you can’t learn about community without being in community.

In these groups you will be participating in six Bible studies on how to turn bad relationships into good relationships. How to grow in love. How to develop friendship. How to build true fellowship. The only place you can get this is by being in a small group. You will also be using the book called Better Together: What on Earth are We Here For?

(Recognize hosts and Sunday school teachers who will be holding a group over these 40 days. In fact if you’ve agreed to be a host would you stand up right now? Applaud these people! It’s the people who give out that God blesses.)

The Bible says this in 1 Peter 4:9 "Open your homes to each other without complaining." The Bible says, "Where two or more are gathered in My name, I'm there in the midst of them."

Steve Shoaff is our small group ministries leader, and along with Debbie Whitfield and Andrea Jarvis with Sunday school we have provided several small group opportunities for you. Steve: Tell people how to get in a group for the next six weeks.

I need people to work with me. The Bible says God put you on earth to do a certain work that only you can do. Ephesians 2:10 says this "God made us to do good works which He planned in advance for us to live our lives doing." Before you were even born God decided the talents that He was going to give you. Because He has a purpose for your life and part of that purpose is He has some work for you to do.

Anytime you use your talents or your abilities to help somebody else there’s a word for that. It’s called ministry, or service. All of us are ministers. Not pastors – ministers. What that means is when you use your gifts and what God wired you to be to help others you’re doing what God wants you to do. He says these are your good works.

God tells us in the Bible why we’re supposed to work together. Ecclesiastes 4 "Two people are better than one. Because they get more done by working together."

Did you now that West Point has a system that feeds 4000 cadets in fifteen minutes. Imagine that. They do it three times a day. Four thousand cadets in fifteen minutes. How in the world do they do that? Everybody has a role… with butter. (Just seeing if you’re listening.) Everybody has a role to play. Everybody has a part. It’s all like clockwork. Bam! Bam! Bam!

You’ve heard it said before, snowflakes are frail but if enough of them stick together they can stop traffic. I am asking you to join with other flakes—or snowflakes. Together we can make a difference if everybody does just a little.

Community is God’s answer to fatigue. If you’re tired it’s because you don’t have the relationships built in to support you that you need in what God has called you to do. Have you ever watched on TV or a movie Witness where the Amish build a barn together. They do it in a day. The whole community shows up and where there was nothing, at the end of the day there’s a barn standing. How? Everybody has a little part to play.

During 40 Days of Community our church is going to take on some mission projects… in our community. Included will be individual missions in each small group/Sunday School class; a youth community mission project; and our biggest mission—fall festival! Now it always sounds overwhelming if you just looked at it like that. But if everybody in our church who’s in a small group and each small group gave about two hours to the project, we’d be able to accomplish the work and more.

Inside the bulletin there’s a flap that talks about how to be involved in the 40 Days of Community Missions Morning. If you’d like to be a part of that and your group, you can find that information.

I need people to walk with me through life and I need people to work with me through life, but also…

I'm talking about people who’ll defend me, stand up for me, protect me. The Bible says in SLIDE #17 Philippians 2:4 "Look out for one another’s interest, not just your own."

Have you ever seen these Neighborhood Watch signs. Sometimes you see them out in an area. That’s a sign of community. It says we watch out for each other here. We’re looking out for each other.

But my question is not is anybody watching out for your stuff. It’s is anybody watching out for your soul. Your soul is a whole lot more important than your stuff. Is there anybody in your life who helps you stay on track spiritually? Is there anybody who loves you enough to say, "I'm not going to let you get discouraged. I'm not going to let you drop out. I'm not going to let you get tired. I'm here with you. Let me support you." And they encourage you in your spiritual life. If you don't have anybody like that, that’s sad.

The Bible says in Hebrews 13:1 "Keep being concerned about each other as the Lord’s followers should." We should care about each other. We’re family. We’re in God’s family. As brothers and sisters I should defend you and you should defend me and I help you stay on track and you help me stay on track.

When Satan attacks you, he doesn’t come in a little red costume and a pitchfork and say, "Boo!" How does Satan mess up your life? Through habits you can’t break, through hurts that you won’t let go of and you hold on to the resentment, through hang-ups you can’t change in your life, through problems and circumstances, through relationships that break your heart and hurt you. He always works around and through others. Most Christians are defeated. They live in defeat. Why? Because we try to fight him on our own. And that’s stupid. You’re never going to win against the devil on your own. You need other people who will watch out for you and help you.

Community is God’s answer to defeat. The Bible says in Ecclesiastes 4:10 "If one person falls another can reach out and help. But people who are alone when they fall are in real trouble." All groups are based on this principle. Joe, why don’t you take over and share the final two points?

To wait and weep. I'm talking about they wait while I'm waiting for the bad news. And they weep when I get the bad news. I need people with me in the inevitable crises of life, when the tragedies hit. I don’t want to face that alone.

There are situations that nobody should ever have to go through alone. The fact is some of these things are going to happen to you. They’re inevitable.

Rick Warren tells a story that most pastors can relate to. "There was a guy who came to this church for seven years. He sat up in the bleachers. He came for seven years, never got involved in anything, never joined a small group. Just came to worship and left. Never even met anybody in the church. I'm the only person he ever knew. Never made any friends in the family. One day he had a heart attack and got in the hospital. Then he got an infection and he was in for two weeks. I was out traveling around, speaking somewhere. When he got out of the hospital he came to the church and said, "I'm leaving the church." I said, Why? He said, "Because it’s unfriendly. Nobody visited me in the hospital." I said, I'm sorry and he left. As he left I thought, It’s your fault."

He never visited anybody in the hospital. He never cared about anybody but himself. He never cared enough to even meet anybody. He never got in a group, never gave, never shared. It was his fault when the crisis came that nobody was there for him.

Community is God’s answer to despair. Romans 12:15 says "Be happy with those who are happy and weep with those who weep." We do that in the group. Somebody has a good thing a promotion or celebration, a graduation, we party. We have a good time. We have fun. Somebody has a tough time, we weep with them.

What do I mean by that? You have a life message that God wants you to share with the world. It’s part of your mission. The Bible says that God put you on earth to do a mission. There is great power in group witness. God never meant for you to do your mission alone. God would never send soldier out by himself. He says we go out together.

Consider this question: Is anybody going to be in heaven because of you? Let me make you a little guarantee. If you will get in a small group for the next six weeks and you will take one of these invitations and you will invite somebody who doesn’t go to church to come and be in that small group and watch those videos, together we’ll make this happen. By the end of 40 days you’ll be able to say, "Yes! Somebody’s in heaven because of me."

We all need each other. We need other believers to walk with us, to work with us, to watch over us, to weep with us and wait with us when we need to wait, and to witness with us. Say this, "I really, really, really need a group." That is your declaration of interdependence.

On your tear off today is a covenant card. This tear off is different from most Sundays. We don’t want you to turn it in. Take it home. Sign it. Put it up on your mirror, your refrigerator, your desk, your computer, wherever you will see it everyday for the next 40 days. It says this: "I will participate in the 40 Days of Community home group. I’ll read a chapter a day from Better Together. I’ll do my best to hear all six of the messages. And I’ll try to memorize a Bible verse each week if possible."

God did not bring you to this church so you can watch history being made from the sidelines. He brought you here because He wants you to be a leader in it. To be involved in it. I’ve been praying for 100% participation. You can’t learn about community without being in community. I don’t want you sitting on the sidelines.

Prayer: