What's the Deal With .... Going to Church?

www.rushchurch.com

Transcript

Spring Banter And Allergies

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome everybody to another episode of Rush Hour Podcast. I'm here with Ashley and Brittany once again today on a beautiful spring day. I was actually just sitting out back reading a book in my chair by the pond a little bit ago. That sounds nice.

SPEAKER_03 0:15

Oh, really nice.

SPEAKER_00 0:16

Really nice out there. Beautiful day. Except for all the bees and dandelions and things that make me sneeze, but we'll get over all that. You guys have allergies?

SPEAKER_03 0:24

Bees make you sneeze?

SPEAKER_00 0:27

No. I don't know why. I was thinking about the flowers and the pollen and the dandelions. That's true.

SPEAKER_03 0:33

Yes, pollen makes me sneeze. Okay. I don't know if I have allergies.

SPEAKER_00 0:37

Of course you don't know. I have nothing. That's okay. You probably do. Everybody. Do you think everybody's like allergic to something? I don't know. Pollen, trees, grass.

SPEAKER_03 0:48

My kids didn't. Oh, I'm allergic to grass. Until we moved up here.

unknown 0:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 0:52

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 0:52

Haley's allergic to grass, also.

SPEAKER_00 0:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 0:55

Those weird ones.

SPEAKER_00 0:57

It's everywhere, so no escaping that one, right?

SPEAKER_02 1:00

If I sit in it, it makes me itch.

SPEAKER_00 1:02

Well, we're glad you're joining us once again for another episode. You never know what you're going to hear on the podcast. That's true. That's why people listen, I think. Because we are fun. We're fun to be with. It's great. So some things that are going on, Rush Church coming up. We have once again some student camps that you can

Camps And Summer Calendar Updates

SPEAKER_00 1:20

sign up for on housemill.org. We have Rise and Shine Girls Camp in July. We have Paintball Camp in June. The price goes up April 22nd. So if you have students that you know that want to sign up for that, make sure they price doesn't go up too much, but it's still it's a better deal before April 22nd. Yeah, and then we have I don't I don't know, there was kind of a slow month, April is, which is kind of nice sometimes to just kind of reset, get ready for summer, because we got a lot of stuff in the summer. Some of those things involve our uh ministry Rush 18, the big trailer that we have with all of our equipment and things that we can go out and do outreach projects. And we have a couple of those coming up, but which one should we talk about today?

SPEAKER_03 2:00

Yeah, so we've got the first one is June 6th, and that is the pineapple Palooza. Uh we were asked to partner with the radio station, uh the river, and we are gonna be down downtown Bellfountain on June 6th. We'll be out there from 2

Pineapple Palooza Volunteer Details

SPEAKER_03 2:16

to 8 p.m. Yep, that's correct.

SPEAKER_00 2:19

Yep, I think it's 2 to 8. The whole event goes till midnight, but we're only there till 8.

SPEAKER_03 2:23

Yep. And we are gonna be in front of Kiomi on that street, and we're gonna have our obstacle course out there, and we're gonna have our yard games and our photo booth. And so it'll just be a fun, exciting time. Uh the radio station playing music right next to us. That'll be exciting. What's the river?

SPEAKER_00 2:39

What's the radio station now? The river. The river.

SPEAKER_03 2:42

Yep. And so we're gonna need we're gonna have two shifts that day. We'll need six people per shift. So if you're interested in helping out, we're gonna have four people on the obstacle course because pineapple Palooza brings in thousands of people. Um, and so we definitely need eyes on that thing. And then two per photo booth. So six people per shift. It's only a three-hour shift. Super exciting. I we we've wanted to be able to get into downtown Bell Fountain. I'm sorry. It's okay. It's allergy season.

SPEAKER_00 3:10

Evidently, I do have allergies. Listening to the podcast. Brittany Koff, we gotta turn it off. Don't listen to this anymore.

SPEAKER_01 3:15

Sorry, gosh.

SPEAKER_00 3:16

But yeah, pineapple Palooza, I'm excited. We're outside of Kyomi. I'm gonna get some egg rolls and lunch on those while I'm hanging out.

SPEAKER_01 3:22

Yeah, you just be looking over.

SPEAKER_00 3:23

I'll be eating egg rolls and crab ragoon while people are going down the obstacle course. But I'm really excited. And if you want to help, that's not like like Ashley said, it's nothing crazy. Anybody can just kind of come. It'll be fun. I promise to you that. So I'm excited about that one coming up.

SPEAKER_03 3:39

We have so much fun with Rush 1e. We do. I think it's the coolest ministry we've got right now.

SPEAKER_00 3:45

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 3:45

It's a good time.

SPEAKER_00 3:47

Definitely good time. Um yeah. I'm the host, so I gotta say something next, I guess. I can get what I'm doing.

SPEAKER_03 3:55

I got icebreakers if we're done with announcements.

SPEAKER_00 3:57

Yeah, I don't think there's anything else we really needed to talk about. Those are the main things for now.

SPEAKER_03 4:02

Okay. So first icebreaker. I'm gonna choose. I'm already laughing.

SPEAKER_00 4:12

No surprise there. Half the 80 for 80% of the time I see Brittany, she's laughing about something. So

Embarrassing Fashion Confessions

SPEAKER_00 4:19

that's good. It's good though. At least you're not like mean mugging it all the time.

SPEAKER_02 4:22

Can you imagine if all the time you saw me?

SPEAKER_03 4:25

Right? Okay. What is the most embarrassing fashion item that you've worn in your lifetime?

SPEAKER_00 4:31

Now, did you guys have any fashion things that you were into?

SPEAKER_02 4:35

Well, there for a while, shorts, big basketball shorts, and tube socks were my thing. Oh my gosh. For a long time. But you were you were a basketball player. I mean, yeah, but I was also a girl. Right. So it depends on the this was middle school life. Like oh, middle school Britney with big middle school Brittany, tube socks all the way up, like men's style of men's basketballs all the time.

SPEAKER_03 5:03

I'm so sorry.

SPEAKER_02 5:04

Yeah, it was rough, but I still had friends.

SPEAKER_00 5:09

That's kind of the thing though.

SPEAKER_02 5:11

I still remember during that time, like my girlfriends, I still have, and they all started carrying like a purse, and I still kept my money in my shoe. I was like a little delayed. The lunch lady was not happy. Shoe money. Good grief. Why would you keep the money in my shoes? I don't know. I didn't have a lot of other places to keep it.

SPEAKER_00 5:36

I don't know. That's really strange. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 5:38

Yeah, that's probably embarrassing.

SPEAKER_00 5:39

Yeah, that's embarrassing enough. Enough of that. Shoe money. That's the Cody.

SPEAKER_03 5:43

Anything you got?

SPEAKER_00 5:44

Well, I guess I go back to middle school or early high school where jean shorts and sleeveless shirts were my go-to. I used to wear jean shorts all but it was kind of the thing though, wasn't it?

SPEAKER_02 5:56

I mean, kinda. Maybe not.

SPEAKER_00 5:57

Maybe if she was this 2002, maybe.

SPEAKER_03 6:00

Yeah. I hate guys' jean shorts, period.

SPEAKER_00 6:03

Like I just but all my shorts were jean shorts. Like I didn't like I just wait. Were they fringe or were they hemmed? They were hemmed. Oh, that's they were like, I was just kidding. But I was sleeveless shirts in jean shorts. I'd you know, I'd go play basketball on my jean shorts. Like it was probably gross. Um and then I but also like in middle school, I guess I was like ambercrombie and fitch person. So I had ambercrombie shirts and I had those necklaces, those like oh, puga show kind of like those, and then also the other like just beaded ones that you would wear. So yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 6:44

What a face, right? Or like I remember one time I my school pictures, like later that day, I had on a yarn choker collar made of like black and white yarn, and I had on a Tommy Girl t-shirt, and then when I got home, I told my mom it was picture day, and I got in a lot of trouble. It's still hanging on the wall. But I need proof of this. I need to see that. That's good. Had the curled bangs, that was pretty cool.

SPEAKER_00 7:11

Yeah, we were all cool. Yeah, Ashley, were you cool?

SPEAKER_03 7:15

No, but I think my middle school like era the toe socks with flip-flops, yeah. That was pretty bad. Yeah, because you I lived in Florida, you always wore flip-flops, but then when it was like winter wear, yeah. So when it got cold, you would wear socks. Well, I wasn't I wasn't rich enough to have Birkenstock, so I couldn't wear you know socks with Birkenstock, so I got toe socks with flip-flops.

SPEAKER_00 7:42

Toe socks and flip-flops. That might take the kick. That might be our our winter.

SPEAKER_03 7:46

Our new uniform. Coming to Rush 18 uniform.

SPEAKER_00 7:52

Check the rush rush rush store apparel. We got toe socks coming in for you.

SPEAKER_03 7:57

Oh man, that would be bad.

SPEAKER_00 7:58

That would be bad. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 7:59

Okay, that's embarrassing.

SPEAKER_00 8:00

That was good stuff. Good icebreaker question. I like that one. I used to be really in the NASCAR too, so I'd have a lot of NASCAR apparel and hats and shirts and stuff with my jeans shorts.

SPEAKER_02 8:09

Actually, I feel like now that I remember you were in Kentucky, yeah. You're probably like I mean, that's probably what everybody wore.

SPEAKER_00 8:17

Yeah. I don't remember.

SPEAKER_03 8:18

I just know it's what I Well, Florida for sure. Because Daytona. Like when we went to Daytona this past February, my husband's like, Do you want any merchandise? And I'm like, I'm never gonna wear it.

SPEAKER_02 8:28

You right? Like, well, now that I'm thinking we're coming right out of the 90s, so jean shorts and a NASCAR t-shirt are probably Yeah. That was it. Cody, wait, you were cool.

SPEAKER_00 8:37

Uh yeah. Okay, we'll go with that. Definitely cool.

SPEAKER_03 8:42

Okay, so give us some time for the joke of the day.

SPEAKER_00 8:46

Uh that's okay.

SPEAKER_03 8:48

All right. Joke, two jokes, very short. Number one. What do you call a sleepwalking nun?

SPEAKER_00 8:58

Sleepwalking

Joke Of The Day Break

SPEAKER_00 8:59

nun?

SPEAKER_03 9:00

A Roman Catholic.

SPEAKER_00 9:02

Roman Catholic.

SPEAKER_03 9:08

Okay. Wow. Sorry. Next one.

SPEAKER_00 9:12

Did not expect that one? We should have known when we weren't nuns, but uh, all right.

SPEAKER_03 9:18

Okay. What did God do to cure Moses' headache? He gave him two tablets.

SPEAKER_02 9:30

You didn't like that one?

SPEAKER_03 9:31

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 9:32

That's fine. I thought that was really good.

SPEAKER_00 9:35

I like the first one a lot. But those were good.

SPEAKER_02 9:40

I like them both.

SPEAKER_00 9:40

Hope you guys enjoy Ashley's jokes on the podcast. Let her know if you like them or not. Yeah, let me know.

SPEAKER_03 9:49

If you have one you would like cared, let me know.

SPEAKER_00 9:53

People are gonna start giving us jokes.

SPEAKER_02 9:57

Sounds good.

SPEAKER_00 9:58

It'll be great. What could go wrong? Oh. I had a joke, but I forgot what it was. Never mind. It's the worst. Okay. So let's talk about our next topic. So we're gonna go into uh did you guys like the spiritual realm episodes that we did?

SPEAKER_03 10:18

I loved it.

SPEAKER_00 10:20

We did heaven and angels and you know unseen realm type

What Church Really Is

SPEAKER_00 10:25

stuff. So we finished it off with giants and a little demon talk last week. So that's pretty good. I think people enjoyed it, hopefully. If that's not your cup of tea though, maybe we'll get into something a little bit more practical in this next part. We're gonna do what's the deal with church. And so I figured we would just start with talking about what church is, why it's important, and kind of maybe get into why people kind of what what kind of excuses people make or why they think it's not important sometimes. So when I when you think of church, just the word, or when somebody talks about church, what's the first things that go through your head? What do you think?

SPEAKER_03 11:01

Sunday morning.

SPEAKER_00 11:02

Sunday morning church. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 11:05

Worship.

SPEAKER_00 11:07

Worship. Okay. A lot of times when I've been doing youth stuff and teaching students, middle school and high schoolers, usually sometimes the middle schoolers like the idea they have of the church is just the building that you go to on Sundays, or the they go to church and you're there and you do the things that you do, it's on Sundays or Wednesdays or activities or whatever it is. So sometimes it's the idea, and I think the idea of church is more than just the place that you go. And the church isn't just a building, but it's more of a lifestyle, it's the body of people, it's the body of believers. So when the Bible talks about the church, we're talking about all believers everywhere, and that's who we are as a church. And so to get to start out with that, so if you if you have if you ever thought that, or you still think that, that's fine. Like get past the idea of the church is just this physical building that we have, whether that's Rush Church or any church that people go to, to get past that idea and just say that church is more than a building. Would you agree?

SPEAKER_03 12:12

Agreed, definitely.

SPEAKER_00 12:13

Agreed. Okay, good. Glad we all agree. Nothing to add to that, so we'll move on. And so the idea of why it's important to actually be a part of a church, to be together with other people that are believers. Would you say that going to church is required of a Christian, of a person who follows Jesus?

Is Church Required For Christians

SPEAKER_02 12:40

I mean, when you phrase it like that, maybe not sure.

SPEAKER_00 12:46

Okay. Maybe not.

SPEAKER_03 12:48

I don't personally think it's required.

SPEAKER_00 12:50

Okay. That's a good what would you say then instead of required.

SPEAKER_03 12:57

I would say that the I don't want to use the word benefit because that sounds like you're in it to get something. Okay. But I feel like the outcome of going to church or being part of that body, it just, I don't know, I mean, it gives you it it it provides something, it provides togetherness, it provides a family, it provides outreach, it prov I mean it just it provides so much that's beneficial to your life.

SPEAKER_00 13:27

Can you follow Jesus without being part of a church?

SPEAKER_03 13:30

Yes.

unknown 13:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 13:31

Yeah. I think you you can. You can be a part of a you can follow Jesus and and not be a part of a church, I think. You know, the idea of believing him, I trust him, you're following him. But the Bible seems to say that we should be with other believers in some way. And and the idea of the body metaphor, you know, the church, the body of Christ, and the church is the body. You can't be a hand or you can't be an eye, or you can't be a part of the body if you're not among the body, if you're not uh with the people. So physical presence allows for the device, the diverse parts of the church to function together, I think. Somebody needs to be there to provide all these different things to be the body of Christ. And so you have to have a body of believers. And the New Testament really talks about how the follower, if you're a follower of Jesus, then you you're gonna meet with us together. You're all gonna meet together and be together. And it's it's it's I think God gave us the church for our benefit. I do, like you were talking about. Brittany, what were you were you gonna say something?

SPEAKER_02 14:39

Yeah, I just don't personally, I do not feel like I'm not I guess I don't know how to word that, I'm sorry. I don't I don't know that it's possible to feel God or the Holy Spirit in myself without church. Like to that max.

SPEAKER_00 15:07

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 15:08

Like I know that there's times or places where I'm in certain situations and I feel like I'm really tied and tight. You know, I might be in prayer, or I might be studying my Bible, or I might be out and about and feel like you meet someone, you know, that you have that kind of pull with, or you can really feel that love with, but nothing like I don't know where else I would get that of what I get here. If that makes sense.

SPEAKER_00 15:37

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 15:37

There's just something different about being there's just something different that I don't know where else I would get it.

SPEAKER_03 15:42

I almost feel like too, like if you're on your own, like let's say you're you're doing this life on your own, you're reading your Bible, you're studying, you're getting your own interpretation of the Bible. And so sometimes I think we get that wrong if we're not reaching out to, you know, the pastor or to our fellow believers or to somebody like the youth ministry. Like, you know, it's good to feed off of other people and be like, hey, what is what do you think this means? Or in the teaching, especially like that, how I mean, my my mindset has changed a lot since being here about scripture and about different things. So I I think it's it's a it's a fine line to be home alone in studying your own Bible because you might take something out of context um or you might look at something and be like, I'm pretty sure that's the way that it means, but really it doesn't. And being part of the body of Christ kind of helps that with that too, just as a side note. Yeah, agreed.

SPEAKER_00 16:36

Okay, we're gonna talk about more of this stuff as we go through this this series and even in this episode. Uh I just wanted to get you guys thinking and some of your thoughts on church attendance. This started because somebody left a question in the box over in the foyer at breakfast, and it was a question about why is why is church attendance important? Why is going and being part of a church important? And it was kind of like the counter-arguments of well, why can't I just

Livestream And The Consumer Mindset

SPEAKER_00 17:01

stay at my house and watch it from my TV? I'm getting the message, I'm getting the worship, I'm hearing all the stuff, I'm just not there. I'm just watching it. Or what if the what is you know, I just I come once a month, does that be that should be good enough to be part of everything if I just come every once in a while and be and show up in the thing? And so and then the last one was like, what if I just come once a year just to keep my membership at the church, just so they know I'm still around. And I think the person that wrote this is just kind of plain devil's advocate with these questions. They're like, they they I mean I'm maybe not. Maybe they maybe they're in one of those categories. And if they are, then we'll kind of talk about these things. But it's the idea of, well, why is church, why should I come to the why should I come to church? Why can't I just watch on like TV or just come every once in a while or come, you know, when I want to? And so that's kind of sparked this whole series that we're gonna talk about the next couple weeks. And so those kind of questions are kind of what we were what I want to address as we go through some things. And so the first thing I thought was like watching a screen is is it's not I mean, if you can't make it to church, watch live stream, yeah, do that. But I don't think it should replace coming to the church and being together, watching it if you get in the habit of just watching it, like watching sermons at your house or on a screen, it kind of kind of becomes a consumer experience. Like I'm just consuming this and I'm taking and taking and taking. Instead of being in the room with people and being a community together, which is what the church is supposed to be. It's not just supposed to be us showing up and taking and be like, Oh, that was really good. I benefited a lot, or you know, have you ever had somebody like say, Well, I just didn't really get anything out of the service today? So, you know, and it's it's kind of what's the what's the problem with saying that, do you think? Because I've heard that before, but somebody's like, Well, I left this church because I wasn't really getting anything from it, or I don't, I or this this the speaker today, just in general, not our church, but just you know, because John never he's always on fire, you know, he's good all the time. But like, do you think there's a problem with somebody walking away from a Sunday morning going, I didn't really get anything out of that?

SPEAKER_02 19:05

I don't know how that's like I'm trying to put myself in that position, but I don't even know that that's possible. I don't know how that could be possible because even if I sat there and I listened to the sermon and the sermon had absolutely nothing to do with what I was experiencing in my life right now. What I would still be getting educated in some way. I mean, we're still going over scripture, we're still learning something. And like what I know we've we're gonna talk about education and Ashley already mentioned it, but bare minimum, you're at least learning the word of God. So I don't know how that could how you could walk away and and not feel like that.

SPEAKER_03 19:50

Right. And I mean, nobody lives a perfect life, so at some point there's something in the sermon that like you we don't walk into the church and be like, I was perfect this week. I don't need a near I don't need to learn nothing, you know. Like learn anything, sorry, my English it's okay.

SPEAKER_00 20:07

It's we live in WrestleMania. I'm the one from Kentucky, I don't know what's happening. I understood everything you just sounded right to me.

SPEAKER_03 20:15

I don't know. I just I think it's it's almost a okay. If you're not getting anything, what are you giving?

SPEAKER_00 20:21

Well, that's what I'm that's my point is like when you when you get in the habit of just watching a service live streamed or you just you know watch church from a distance and you're just kind of doing that, it it kind of becomes more of a consumer experience where you're like, what am I getting from this? instead of the idea of sh of coming to church and being present and being with others kind of takes your focus from what am I getting from this to what am I contributing, or like what am what how am I being a part of the body of Christ in some way? Which I think in our culture, in our American culture in a general, like people have started to see the church as a place to go and consume. It's all about what I get from it, or what are they doing for me. I mean, that's yeah, you get things from the church, it's beneficial to you, but also if you're a follower of Christ, you should be contributing, you should be bringing something to the table, you're part of this larger thing. And so I think if you just focus on live streams or watching sermons on your tablet or your phone or your TV, you know, it can disconnect you from the one of the purposes of the church. Does that make sense?

SPEAKER_01 21:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 21:28

Okay. So and also like some of the best church moments happen in the lobby, getting coffee with somebody or in the parking lot after church. You you get to know people and you have people in relationships, and so you lose that if you're not showing up. And so you get those real moments of like, how are you actually doing? How's life for you? Let's talk about these things that you're struggling with. You get those kind of things, maybe not in the sermon, like, but in the in between in the hallway, in the parking lot, and the the breakfast buffet. Line that we have at Rush Church, you know. What's on the menu this weekend?

SPEAKER_02 22:03

Yeah, biscuits and gravy.

SPEAKER_00 22:04

Biscuits and gravy.

SPEAKER_02 22:06

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_00 22:08

Sweet. Sorry. I am.

SPEAKER_02 22:10

I'll save you some.

SPEAKER_00 22:11

Biscuits and gravy.

SPEAKER_03 22:13

Sorry, I gotta get he loves those biscuits and biscuits and gravy.

SPEAKER_00 22:17

Biscuits and Jesus. All right.

SPEAKER_03 22:18

Didn't you make a whole song about that?

SPEAKER_02 22:21

We're not allowed to talk about that song.

SPEAKER_00 22:23

I bet I could play that on here. It's an AI song that I made.

SPEAKER_02 22:26

Oh anyway. It's actually really good.

SPEAKER_00 22:28

Maybe we'll do that one time. Not prepared for that today. Let's talk about some scriptures that support meeting together and kind of being with each other as the church. So Hebrews 10, 24 through 25, it says, and let us consider how we may spur one another on towards love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together,

Scriptures On Meeting Together

SPEAKER_00 22:47

as though some are in the habit of doing. So the writer of Hebrews is looking around, being like, some people have fallen out, like they're not meeting together. Like in the book of Acts, we see daily they met together and they would pray and they would learn and they would, you know, eat together, all these different things. But now the author of Hebrews is like, some are in the habit of neglecting to meet together now, but we should be encouraging one another. And so that's kind of Hebrews and the idea of how are we supposed to spur one another on in love and good deeds if we're not together? You know, and how are we supposed to be there for each other as believers if we're not constantly coming together in some way? And that could be different. Like you could have house churches, you could have you know groups of people meeting together. The church, I mean, Sunday mornings are just a a time now that we all come together, so that's the easiest thing to do, I think. First Corinthians 12 21. The eye cannot say to the hand, I don't need you, and the head cannot say to the feet, I don't need you. This whole idea of going back as the church, and the New Testament uses this as a over and over again of the body of Christ, the body of believers, the church coming together and each playing their own role. You can't have a role if you're not among others who are believing the same thing. Does that make sense? Yeah. Yeah. What are you getting? You've heard that before, I guess, the the body parts and how each have our own place and role to play. So it speaks to the necessity and the uniqueness of each follower of Christ. When we stay home, we're essentially telling the rest of the body that we don't need them and they don't need us, which Paul argues against over and over again. So if you're like, I'm a Christian, I follow Jesus, I just don't really like the church. I don't like to go to church on Sunday. Well, you got a problem because it's an emphasis of you know importance throughout scripture. So I don't know. Have you guys ever tried to I'm I'm I'm pretty sure you guys have gone to church a lot of your life. But have you ever had that or known somebody who claims to follow Jesus but like, I don't really want to go to the church on Sunday.

SPEAKER_03 25:01

Yeah, I mean I've I've known a lot of people who like, well, that's my only day off.

SPEAKER_00 25:05

Okay, we'll we'll get to we'll get to some of the excuses in a little bit, but just kind of the idea of knowing that that's a thing, you know, people have for whatever reason. But Acts 2 42, they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship to the breaking of bread and prayer. So once again, we see this idea of coming together, doing things together as the church. This shows the early church, like I was just saying, this is the point in Acts. I was just brought up, fellowship and breaking of bread. They they imply this physical shared life together, like being somewhere, eating with people, being together, praying with people, and so those are just kind of some of the scriptures that I had written down and gotten to kind of support the idea of yeah, you can you can follow Jesus, it's a personal relationship, but coming with that, you're part of something much bigger than just that. When you give your life to Christ, yeah, it's a personal thing, it's a personal decision. It's also saying I'm gonna be a a part of something bigger than myself, and then that happens to be the church. So I I I think it's possible to to follow Jesus to to have a relationship with him and and not have a church that you go to, but I think it just makes it that life that much more difficult. I think that we're so we're meant to be a part of something like the church, part of a body of believers together. That's how it was designed. That's the way Jesus set it up for us to follow him but not do it alone. And so back to the original question of can you follow Jesus and not go to church? Meh yes, but you shouldn't. Does that does that kind of make sense? Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 26:50

There's an accountability aspect to going to church as well.

SPEAKER_00 26:54

Exactly.

SPEAKER_03 26:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 26:56

Well, how so? What do you mean?

SPEAKER_03 26:59

Well, like I I don't know. Brittany, Britney can tell when I'm not in a good mood.

Accountability And The Loneliness Problem

SPEAKER_03 27:08

But so I just I think that that's like when you're when you're here and in person in the flesh, like you somebody can sense when you're something's not up, you know, or something's not something's not right with you. And I just think that there's an accountability, you know, of knowing that I'm I'm coming to church with other believers and I need to I don't know, I need to bring I I'm kind of talking in circles, I get that.

SPEAKER_00 27:35

Yeah, how are you gonna be encouraged if you don't aren't around other people that are supposed to encourage you?

SPEAKER_03 27:39

Right, who are doing who are living the same lifestyle as me.

SPEAKER_00 27:41

Yeah. And it's just and so I think that's a big part of it of you you have all these benefits, all these helpful things that come along with being part of a church family. And it is like a family. I mean it should be, that's what it that's what it is, and so and I think in our world that we live in now, the we are more connected in different ways than we've ever been before in the history of ever. You know, we have a computer in our pocket, we have screens, we have the internet, we have information at just whenever we want it. But yet this seems to be the loneliest generation of all time so far. So there's something amiss, if you will. And especially among young adults, college-age kids right now, though the the studies are showing how loneliness is an epidemic. It's a thing that's people are are dealing with, and it's ironic that we have phones and all these ways to communicate and stay connected, and yet we're disconnected from everybody. And and I think the church can be should be the thing to come in and fill those gaps for this generation of people who are feeling lonely. Come to it, come to the church, see what you know, see that you don't have to go through life alone, that you can be come and be encouraged, that you can come and have somebody pray for you, have talk about stuff that's going on in your life, and people genuinely care because you're together under the under the name of Jesus, I guess you could say. And so that's why I think you know, we see the loneliness, and then we see also see a generation that's coming back to church. The studies are showing. So I think there's a correlation there of yeah, you you you can follow Jesus without going to church, but the tr the the idea of coming together and being together is so powerful, and it can do so much more than you can on your own. Yeah, you can read your Bible, you can study, you got so many resources that you can study and learn and grow in scripture by yourself, but that's only part of it. You're missing the other part of people coming alongside of you, and you don't have to go through life on your own. We see that in scripture all the way from the very beginning. Uh story after story of people not doing it on their own, and when they try to, it fails. Even Moses had his people around him and supported him, Aaron and a couple other guys, you know. One of my favorite stories is in Exodus when they have a battle going on, the Israelites are fighting somebody. I can't remember who, they fight a lot of people. But Moses is up on the thing, and and the Lord says, if you hold your staff up and your arms up in the air, Israelites will continue to win. But Moses gets tired and he drops his arms and they start to lose. So he has Aaron and a guy named Her come up and hold his arms up for him, and they end up being victorious. And you gotta have those people on both sides of you to be able to hold up when life's hard, life's difficult, and sucks sometimes, you know? It's just you know, and that's another thing, you know, following Jesus. Life's still hard, there's still challenges, and that's the church. That's where the church steps up, and you have your your people around you that support you and encourage you, and you're not in it alone. So, yeah. Like that.

SPEAKER_02 31:10

Yeah, that was really good.

SPEAKER_00 31:14

A couple more things that I wanted to bring up.

SPEAKER_03 31:17

It gets you stirred up, like yeah, it's like coming up.

SPEAKER_00 31:20

And you should hear it and be like, if you just if you're in the habit of just showing up on Sundays and just being here because it's what you've always done or it's what you're supposed to do, think about it as a way of this is God gave us the church as a gift. He's like, you know, you have Jesus and you have this saving grace through him, and then life's still hard. So here's the church of people that believe the same things you do, and you don't have to do it alone. And I think we gotta take advantage of that.

SPEAKER_01 31:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 31:50

And come to a place where you do ask the questions of, well, do I really have to go to the building? Do I really have to show up on Sunday morning and be around people? Because I know some people just like introverted. They're like, I don't really want to. I'd rather not be in a crowd of people, but there's all different kinds of churches for all different kinds of people and and and small groups that we've started and all these different areas that you can get plugged into and be with others who are following Christ. So I have a lot. I'll see what we can get through real quick. The Greek word ekle ecclesia uh is the word that we translate to church. And this word in the Greek in the New Testament, uh, it just it's it's a purposeful assembly. That's what you just think of. When you see the word church in the New Testament, it's

Ecclesia Means Purposeful Assembly

SPEAKER_00 32:34

usually the word ecclesia, and it means purposeful assembly. In the ancient world, this word was a gathering of citizens called out to handle the business of the city. Before it was a religious word, they actually used this word in like political sense, I guess you'd say, or like gathering of people to make a decision for something, or you know, and so how a purposeful assembly, a group of people coming together with a purpose. So that's that's what the church is. We come together, we have a purpose, and we have these things that we uh want to accomplish together. One of the biggest themes uh is that the followers of Jesus collectively are the church, we are the the new temple, you could say, um, where heaven and earth meet. And so wherever the church is, it's like that should be like a glimpse into heaven of how we do things, how we come together, how we make life better for each other. It's like a small glimpse of heaven in a sense. And also 1 Peter 2, 5 talks about how you know living stones, different members of the church are these living stones, and and you a stone by itself is just a brick. But if you get a bunch of these stones together, you can build something, you can have uh something really cool. And so he's talking about the temple, he's talking about living stones, but I always think of like you know, a single brick isn't anything by itself, but you bring all of us together, it creates this assembly of people for a purpose. And and so another thing I wanted to mention was the church, you know, we kind of talked about already, but the church is less about what you receive and more about how the body benefits you from showing up. Like, how does what are you bringing to the table uh for God's kingdom? If we changed our mindset of I'm gonna go to church and just take and take and take, and I feel really good about myself when I leave, what if we did that too? But also,

What You Bring To Church

SPEAKER_00 34:32

what am I what am I bringing to the table? What am I contributing to this body of believers? I mean, we all have our different, you know, like what are some things that people can contribute, do you think? What of our gifts or our talents or passions that we bring to the table? Just generically.

SPEAKER_02 34:48

Like other people? Like if I was gonna tell a stranger off the street what they could bring to church?

SPEAKER_00 34:54

Well, yeah, just in general, like I would think like some people are really good at encouraging, they would be encouragers and they're bringing their their ability to lift somebody up and they're bringing that to the body of Christ. What's another thing that somebody could bring to the table?

SPEAKER_03 35:08

I don't even know if this is I can describe this well, but being joyful alone, like Joyce Downing, my word, that woman is joyful all the time. I can never be sad around her.

SPEAKER_01 35:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 35:21

And seriously, like I remember my first time coming and meeting her. I felt so just happy to be here because she was happy to see me, you know, even though she'd never seen me before. Like, man, that's that's a huge thing to bring to the table.

SPEAKER_02 35:35

I think just conversation in general. Like it doesn't have to be, I mean, being joyful, yeah, but if you're sad, there might be somebody else that's going through the same thing that you're going through. If you're grieving, but just having conversation with maybe I always say somebody new. Always talk to somebody new. I think that can be really beneficial.

SPEAKER_01 36:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 36:02

Just starting that relationship. It's hard to have a relationship with somebody if you don't talk to them. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 36:07

Just somebody asking you and really caring about how your week was, you know. And maybe we take it for granted because we're church people. We've been going to church a long time, and we but you know, think about somebody who hasn't experienced church before. You know, how how lonely could it get when you go through your week and you just you know like nobody's asked you how you're doing or like how your week's going. And it happens here. Yeah. But like imagine somebody visiting a church for the first time, not you know, just any church or whatever, and somebody like taking the time to have a conversation like this and being like, hey, how's it going? Where are you from? Yeah, what's what's and I think we take it for granted because we're part of a church and I've been part of church my whole life. So I don't really but I can see where that would be a powerful thing where you just show up and it's like this community of people who actually genuinely care. It's not just a you know, and I think that's what the church has to do. It has to genuinely care and be authentic. People don't want fakeness and you know, you well, I think they're just asking me because they want me to stay and they want me to give money to their church. Or I think some people have this in their head of the church doesn't really care about me, they just want my money. Some people have that kind of response to the church, and some people are like, oh, they're just being nice because they have to be, or or whatever it may be. But to actually be a church that cares about the people that come through the door can be a powerful thing. And just having those conversations, like Britney was saying, you could bring that to the table. If you like people, you like meeting new people, be a greeter. Walk around and talk to people, have conversations. So we, you know, all different things that you can bring to the body of Christ, whether it's you love to serve, you just want to serve, and you do all these areas that you can serve, or you're an encourager, you're just like a people person, or you're you know, a worship person, or you're a teacher, or all these different areas that we have, people with unique abilities and talents. What are you bringing? Are you just showing up and taking? I I I I think that's okay, but like you don't the Bible the New Testament seems to give this idea of everybody came together and they're part of the body, and each person brings something to the table.

SPEAKER_02 38:07

Right.

SPEAKER_00 38:07

I don't I hope that's coming across in the way I want it to.

SPEAKER_02 38:10

I think you have to be both. I mean, I I just think you have to come in to church to get the full experience. You have to come in knowing that you're going to get something out of it. I mean, it's your recharge, it's my recharge.

SPEAKER_00 38:25

Yeah, and I and I think if you're coming for like the first time, it takes a while to get into the yeah first. If you're just coming, then should come and and and see and experience and and take all the stuff in. Right. There comes to a point where you've seasons you're growing, yeah, you're maturing, and now it's time to like get to work, so to say. Now it's time to say hello. Now it's time to say something. What are you bringing to the body of Christ?

SPEAKER_03 38:56

Yeah. There's definitely seasons in our lives that we are a part of that. You there's a, you know, if you're new, you're new to Christianity, you're new to a church period, you know, whether you've been going to church your whole life, but you're new to this church or you're new to another church, take that time to to sit, to, to take in, to see what that church is like or offers. But then there's like it's like the training wheels. Okay, the training wheels are off now. It's time for the meat, it's time for, you know, get off the the milk and it's time for, you know, sorry, I didn't mean to sound bad, but like sincerely, like I thought you were going with another saying.

SPEAKER_00 39:34

It's like, no, did I?

SPEAKER_03 39:36

I mean, this is I maybe being the children's minister is it just gets you passionate about that, but like stop being a seat warmer, you know. And I'm not saying this out of hate, I'm I'm saying it out of love. You when you be when you serve, there's something so beautiful about that. And maybe you're not somebody who wants to teach classes. That's fine. You can make coffee, you can sweep up the floor in between services in the foyer, you can help in the kitchen, you know. Like there's just all kinds of different areas to be a part of where you don't have to be a front, a front person. You can be a back person, but you're still giving back to the church. You're still being a part of the church. Like, I don't, yeah, it gets me wound up.

SPEAKER_00 40:22

Yeah, I don't even think it has to be like the idea of giving back, it's just like be a part of something. Right. Because God wants you to be involved. He it's how we were designed all the way back in the beginning. He didn't just put Adam and Eve in the garden and say, lay around and be lazy all day. He's like, work the garden, take care of it. You're in charge of these things. He gave us a purpose. He gives us a purpose when we come and assemble together. And the the the main church word means purposeful assembly. You can't be an assembly if you don't actually assemble. You can't be a part of what's going on if you don't actually show up. And so what else do I have in here? That's that's pretty good for today, I think. Let me tell you one quote that I had written down that I really liked. Actually, we got we got you guys got time or you gotta go somewhere?

SPEAKER_03 41:06

No, I got time.

SPEAKER_00 41:07

All right, let's go a little bit longer because I do want to get into one other thing. I like the way that it's put. Going to church is an act of working for the kingdom, not a hobby. Don't look at church as a hobby or just another one of your things that you do. This is much bigger than just another hobby or another thing that uh you're involved in. One of my favorite New Testament scholars, his name is N. T. Wright. He has a lot of books. He's been doing this for a long time, but I like to listen to his podcasts and I like to read his stuff, and he has this quote it says, The church exists primarily for two purposes, to worship God and to work for his kingdom in the world. So you come, the church is you you praise God, you worship God, you learn who he is. And then the second thing it's it's supposed to do is get to work and bring the kingdom of heaven into the world that we have right now. Fellowship

Church Is Kingdom Work

SPEAKER_00 41:57

is to encourage one another, to build one another up in faith, to pray with and for one another. And so I really like the quote of idea of the church is yeah, you come together, you you do life together, but it's also taking it out and doing work for the kingdom. And so let's get a few of these. I just wanted to wrap this up with excuses that people give for not going to church, not being part of the church. If somebody was like, I can get better teaching on YouTube or in podcasts, I got the best teachers in the world on my phone. Like I can just go watch whoever I want to, I can listen to whatever I want to. Like you can get classes, you can take the Bible classes on. So I have all this,

Excuse One Better Teaching Online

SPEAKER_00 42:36

all these resources and stuff about the Bible. I can learn about the Bible in my living room and my pajamas. I don't have to go to church. What would you say?

SPEAKER_03 42:44

Great, do that on your own time. Yeah, that's kind of what I was gonna say. That's wonderful, right? Yeah, you need more time during the week, but on Sundays.

SPEAKER_00 42:52

I love that answer because it's like, yeah, that's really good. Do that. Yeah, come to church on Sunday.

SPEAKER_02 42:58

Yeah, you know, just don't do it between 9 30 and 11 or whatever.

SPEAKER_00 43:04

You've got seven days, yeah. So the the uh the argument would be like, why should I drive 20 minutes to hear a local pastor when I can just do it from my living room, my house? And I think we all agree that you know this treats church like just a resource to learn in like a lecture hall rather than a family. Yeah, and you're missing a whole aspect of the church that you don't get if you don't show up here in the walls in the building or wherever you meet. And so you can watch a cooking show, but you can't eat the food, right? You can watch people cook, but you can't taste it when they get done with it.

SPEAKER_03 43:37

Yeah, and so church is like literally you will not get biscuits and gravy if you do not come here Sunday.

SPEAKER_00 43:45

You might be able to get all the information in the world, but you know, your your local church knows your name. They know what you go through every day. That guy on your screen, that's classes you take online, they don't know you. They don't they're not they're not concerned about what you're going through on Tuesday. Afternoon or during the week. And so that would be my argument against that.

SPEAKER_03 44:04

Stephen Verdick doesn't call you up.

SPEAKER_00 44:07

Please don't listen to Steven Furtick. Sorry. If you like him, let's talk about that another time. But he's got it. Never mind. That's called rage baiting, I think. Oh.

SPEAKER_03 44:22

Check.

SPEAKER_02 44:23

So sorry.

SPEAKER_00 44:24

I should there's just certain. All right.

SPEAKER_02 44:27

Next topic. No, I just feel how about this one?

SPEAKER_00 44:29

I've heard this one a lot, and we kind of brought it up a little bit earlier, I think. Maybe. I feel closer to God when I'm out in nature or by myself. I feel a lot closer to God when I'm just in his creation or I'm just by myself. What would you argue?

SPEAKER_03 44:42

Well, that's the I I do too. That's why I go on a hike on Saturdays. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 44:47

I just

Excuse Two Feeling God In Nature

SPEAKER_02 44:48

can't imagine. I I same, by the way. Like when I go for a walk or exercise and I'm outside, I don't have any music playing or anything like that, because I just want to feel like that's also my quiet time in my mind. But I can't imagine having that having that relationship and speaking to God and whether it's just prayer or sometimes I just talk out loud. Um that he would respond with, you're better here than you are with other people. That's good. Like I can't imagine that that's what never have I ever had him go, take care of you and only you. Just think about yourself and nature and don't interact with anyone else. Right. I don't think that's ever been a thing.

SPEAKER_00 45:39

I think that's what we see in scripture. That's what we see. If you look at the Christian life, you see that because the argument would be like, I'd rather be on a hike or at the lake. God's everywhere, isn't he? I'm like, well, yeah, he is everywhere. He's with you while you're at the hiking or while you're at the lake. God's indeed everywhere, but he's not embodied everywhere like he is when he is with the church and with his people. You can worship God anywhere. That's true. You can worship God on a hike. The mission of the kingdom is a team sport, though. You can't practice one another commands that the Bible gives us without being with one another. Love one another, forgive one another, bear one another's burdens. You can't do those things if you're by the pond by yourself.

SPEAKER_01 46:20

Right.

SPEAKER_00 46:20

You know? And so I I I love the idea of these arguments, are they're not bad. The do those things is good. Like, but don't replace those, don't replace being with other people with those things. Another argument that I hear, maybe one of the most popular ones, is the church is full of hypocrites and it's really messy.

SPEAKER_02 46:43

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 46:44

And they'd say the argument is I've been hurt by people in the church, it's easier to just love Jesus on my own.

Excuse Three Church Hurt And Hypocrisy

SPEAKER_02 46:52

Oh I've heard that a lot.

SPEAKER_00 46:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 46:56

I've heard that a lot. If I do hear that, I do try to remind people that people can be terrible. I mean, people can be terrible. People can be people. Jesus is different than people.

SPEAKER_03 47:13

Yeah, we are human. We're going to fail. I'm going to offend you on some point in your life. And I am sorry. Yes. But don't look to me for your salvation. Don't look to me for no, look to God. Who's in charge?

SPEAKER_02 47:27

I mean, that took me a long time to even with like family, you know, you get close to family members or you have your close family. And I would let that influence how I felt at church. I would, you know, I've come in here, I love it here. Sometimes people say things to me here, but I'm like, oh, that wasn't that wasn't really cool. Sorry. You know, Ashley's definitely on my list. No, I'm just kidding. You know, or even while I'm serving, I'm kind of like, oh, that was kind of a lot to ask. But I do it and I realize that that's not what it's that's not why I'm here. I'm not here so everybody treats me perfectly. I'm not serving because I want everyone to just be in love with everything I'm doing. I just think that's so sad when people give up such an amazing part of their life because of other people.

SPEAKER_03 48:29

Right? Because I don't think that people truly mean to hurt you.

SPEAKER_00 48:34

Sometimes they do.

SPEAKER_02 48:36

Sometimes they do.

SPEAKER_00 48:38

But for the most part, I'm saying for the most part they don't think so. Right. But there are people who do it on purpose.

SPEAKER_02 48:44

There are people you're like, okay, that was you definitely tripped me there. No, I'm just kidding.

SPEAKER_00 48:48

And that's and that's that's part of Then we need to pray for you. Yeah. That's another reason why you come together with the body of Christ. And when somebody does something like that, we correct them, or we do our best to, or we say, like, well, then you you can't be a part of this body anymore. That's what we should do.

SPEAKER_01 49:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 49:08

You know, if we see people abusing the power or, you know, doing things intentionally that hurt others. And so the church needs to step up in those moments and be like, hey, not here. That's not what we're about. And so we get rid of those. That's why we don't. I mean, you know, the little things, you know, people offending people, we can get past all those things. But if it's intentional and it's hurting the church in general, then the church has to deal with those things. And sometimes it does really well at that, sometimes it sucks at that. And we've seen news stories about all these things and cover-ups and all these things. And so the church is messy, and people see that and well, it's just a bunch of hypocrites. There's not and those the church is full of people, and people are not perfect. And and we follow a perfect Jesus, and we're working together to be more like him. And when it doesn't go like that, then we have to discipline, we have to take care of those things and cut off the bad parts. But yeah, people say it's hip, it's it's full of hypocrites and it's messy. I'd be like, You're right. You're right. That it is full of hypocrites and it is full of people who say one thing and do another thing. But find a good church who doesn't put up with some of that stuff, or when it does get messy, they handle it the right way and they know what they're doing. And so some churches are better than others.

SPEAKER_01 50:23

Right.

SPEAKER_00 50:23

It's just how it is. I wish it wasn't, but as long as humans are running the show, it's gonna be a mixed bag of stuff. And so if it does suck when you hear somebody that has a story from a bad experience at a church that didn't do it the right way, and they're like, Well, I'm not doing that again. Give it a second chance. Find a find a better one, find a, you know, yeah, try again. So it is messy. If the church is a body that's gonna have bruises sometimes. Happens. We're not perfect. You don't amputate a leg because it has a scratch.

SPEAKER_03 50:57

Right.

SPEAKER_00 50:57

Right?

SPEAKER_03 50:58

You don't cut your toe off because of an ingrown toenail.

SPEAKER_00 51:00

You make you take care of it and heal it, and you move on.

SPEAKER_03 51:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 51:04

And so staying away because of hypocrites is like saying it's like staying away from the gym because there's out-of-shape people there, you know.

SPEAKER_02 51:13

Oh, shoot. I think that's probably good. I think we've hit enough of those.

SPEAKER_00 51:18

You think that's good? Okay. I think they could just think Brittany's done.

SPEAKER_02 51:24

No, I'm just laughing at Ashley. Always. You guys make me laugh.

SPEAKER_03 51:31

Yes. We are part of the body of Christ. We bring joy to each other. That's right.

SPEAKER_00 51:35

We're almost done. Let's finish it up real quick, okay? Staying away because of hypocrites, like staying away from the gym because there's out-of-shape people there. It's exactly where the messy people belong. It's where if you're a mess, come here. We all have our stuff. And so this is the best place to be. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 51:52

When you're sick, where do you go? To the doctor. Sometimes I go. Okay, but we mean.

SPEAKER_02 52:02

I do not go to the doctor.

SPEAKER_03 52:04

Yeah, I mean, that's the case.

SPEAKER_00 52:05

Like when you're the last one I have written down is I'm just too busy. I need my Sundays for me time. There you go. I work all week. My kids have sports. There's all hands. Sunday is the only day to recharge. Is this a valid argument?

Excuse Four Too Busy To Attend

SPEAKER_02 52:24

I don't know. I might be weird. I might be a weird breed. Because I'll tell you this Sunday from sunup to sundown, I think I was. I mean, I serve here at church, and then I went home and played a bunch with my kids, and then walked down to the neighbors, which just happened to be my brother's, helped them work, then went to my mom's, worked the whole time, and I felt so recharged. I mean, because everybody was just like, that was amazing. We got this done, you know, that kind of thing. So and don't get me wrong, I know sometimes people just need rest, they just need to sleep. But it was really good for my soul. It was a good recharge.

SPEAKER_00 53:11

Yeah. I'm not, I'm not, this isn't a like a guilt trip of like if you missed a Sunday. I like I I am not one of those people that like, oh, you gotta be there every single Sunday throughout the year. I get it. Life is you're not gonna be here. That's fine. And it's fine. It's just the idea of the habit of coming to church, and when you can be here, you're here for because it's good for you. If you're too busy for the community of God, then we're busier than God intended us to be. If you're too busy to come to church, you're probably way busier than God ever intended you to be, because this is how he set it up.

SPEAKER_01 53:45

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 53:46

Needs you to rest sometimes, and and going to church brings rest. It brings it shouldn't be just another thing on the list that you have to check off. Be like, I gotta go to church and do this thing. Right. On a checklist.

SPEAKER_03 53:55

It brings recharge.

SPEAKER_00 53:56

It brings recharge. In-person attendance is coming to church should be a protest against the busyness of the world. Be like, I'm coming to church, and it's not just another thing that I have to do, it's it's important. Um, and so like I said, I'm not guilt tripping anybody to be here every single Sunday. I don't, if you if you're not here, that's okay. You probably have something to do or something came up. But it's the habit, it's the idea of this is important, it's gonna be a priority. I might not make it there every Sunday, but I'm gonna, when I can, I'm going to because it's what we should be doing. So that's kind of an intro to the whole thing of church, why it's important to attend and be here in person. Hopefully that was helpful for somebody. Or it's fun to talk about. Like I just talked talking about stuff like this. So next time we'll go into like maybe that what's the deal with like church denominations, different backgrounds, why are there so many different churches?

Wrap Up Prayer And Next Topic

SPEAKER_00 54:51

Why are they different? And we'll get into a little bit of that, maybe about what rush church, how we operate as a church and our background. And do we have a dominant do we have a denomination or not? Or so just answer some of those questions for people that want to know or interested in that kind of thing. So sound good?

SPEAKER_03 55:07

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 55:08

Good. My friends are on board. Let's pray. God, thank you so much for this time today. Thank you for your church. Thank you for giving it to us because you know life is hard. You know, we're not designed to go through it in solitude. We're not designed to go through this life alone. You sent Jesus to rescue us, to save us, to give us a better way to live. And in that, you also gave us the church and a place to come and be encouraged and be lifted up and help one another through life. And so we're thankful for that. I pray for the ones listening today and this week, or wherever they are, whatever they have going on. Uh, you bless everybody and bring us safety. And yeah, Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Good job, everybody. That was a long one, but we kept it under an hour. Wow. Rush hour under an hour. Here we go. But yeah, we'll see you guys next time. Thank you for listening. Have a good week.