How To Survive A Hurricane | Part 1: Homecoming

[Music] [Applause] [Music] all right what's up church hey great to see you on pastor tim i want to say welcome back from summer vacation the beach wherever you were it is almost fall and so we're kind of kicking off our flip-flops getting back into rhythms of work and school and as you know we're calling this season at liquid homecoming and so can we just welcome home all of our campuses give a big hand welcome guys special shout out today to our somerset county campus who just moved into their new home at somerville high school we were just so happy for you guys so welcome home somerset now here's the deal let me just tell you we had plans to celebrate today with a marching band and a pep rally but honestly so many of our families and neighbors are still hurting from the catastrophic flooding caused by hurricane ida uh we know families who lost homes cars suffered traumatic loss and and honestly just as i was praying i felt the lord saying you know what tim just just kind of go in a different direction so is that okay with you well we'll get to the pep rally next week but this isn't really a time for for hoopla you know because our hearts hurt for so many families who are still digging out from the damage caused by item some lost all you know the storm took the lives of 27 people it's one of the deadliest now in new jersey history so i want to let you know how you're responding our church it was difficult for me to process um the pictures that we saw last week you know people being being plucked from their homes by by rescue boats rivers over running their banks flooding entire neighborhoods homes and highways the summerset patriots baseball state did you see it it's completely underwater it's it's unbelievable entire communities in manville and elizabeth just utterly devastated by flood waters but can i tell you it made me so proud of our campus teams who immediately swung into action over labor day weekend bringing relief supplies and support to hurting families can i just brag on our leaders a minute in union county we provided emergency meals to 150 families in elizabeth who were displaced and are in a shelter our campuses are actually hosting a pack out for city relief you guys know the relief bus who served the homeless and they lost everything their whole headquarters elizabeth was flooded by two feet of water they sent me the photos it's a disaster uh destroyed furniture food and all their relief supplies were ruined so we're going to help them rebuild from the ground up doing clean up demo packing hygiene kits for their volunteers so service to our homeless friends can continue in passaic they're under a boil water advisory still impacting about 145 000 people in paterson and so we're partnering with convoy i hope to truck in and check this out 1800 cases of bottled water we got a full 53-foot tractor trailer load so residents have safe clean drinking water uh in morris we're hosting a free market not a flea market a free market just give away essentials clothing uh toys new toiletries small appliances to people who lost everything um in somerset in middlesex uh we are restocking the shelves of neighborhood food banks devastated by the flooding so we do need your donations of food and canned goods so we can feed local families in the weeks ahead and i got an email from this week from a chief development officer who said you know i just want to thank tim liquid church for their your quick response of your people uh to help our staff and team recover from this disaster so guys understand something if you go to this church at liquid we don't just go to church we are the church amen can we hear for our volunteers praise god for you man this is a love thy neighbor moment man and that's faith in action now i do want you to understand this is only the beginning this isn't one and done so as the waters recede in the weeks ahead a lot of families are still going to need our help so last week we set up a herding families relief fund to help our neighbors rebuild their lives and i want to invite you to help if you take out your phone and you type in liquidchurch.com relief or you can go there if you're online you're going to find all the details are like how do i donate stuff you can find all the details there there's actually two options get help or give help so if you're in a financial position to give help know that your generous support is gonna help deliver god's love to the doorstep of our hurting neighbors it's gonna provide relief supplies grocery clothing help build back their lives uh all donations are 100 tax deductible so thank you to everyone who gave help but if you need assistance just click give help or get help i should say and know this we stand ready to come alongside your family we want to stand with you in this moment again we don't go to church we are the church and in dark moments we shine the light and love of jesus to our neighbors say amen if you agree so this week i'm praying about how how can i encourage people you know and and god led me to write this message i'm calling how to survive a hurricane now whether or not you were impacted by ida i'd need to let you know this applies to all of us because we've all been through the hurricane of covid still going through it a little bit we've been through an economic hurricane a racial hurricane a political hurricane it's like every day there's more and more head-scratching events that kind of shake our world and cause us to question our faith and i i promise this is going to encourage you so if you have your bible you can turn to the gospel of matthew i'm in chapter seven uh we're going to look at verses 24 through 27. this is jesus concluding the greatest sermon series ever preached it's not at the movies it's a sermon on the mount which we studied last spring you guys remember that crazy happy blessed the poor the merciful the peacemakers well jesus concluded his famous sermon by telling a story about two men who get hit with a hurricane two men whose homes get hit with torrential rain rising flood waters and gale force winds and though both their homes are beaten and battered in the same way they have two totally different outcomes at the end of the storm one stands strong high and dry while the other his home comes crashing down total loss let's read matthew 7 together my bible calls this the wise and foolish builders jesus said therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the what on the rock say rock the rain came down the streams rose the winds blew and beat against that house but man it did not fall because it had its foundation onto everybody on the rock but everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand the rain came down the streams rose the winds blew and beat against that house and it what happened it fell with a great crash everyone say crash i remember first hearing this story when i was a little kid in sunday school uh lillian taught us a song the rains came down and the floods came up and the house on the sand went splat anybody remember that song clinton you need me on the worship team this that's a gift right there this story jesus tells us fascinating because these two guys have a lot in common did you notice both men actually share the same dream if you're taking notes they both wanted to build a house we don't know if it was a colonial split level two two bedrooms or four but both men had this vision a desire they're like we want to build a house that lasts now in the bible it's interesting a house can represent a few different things it could represent building a life right you we all want to erect a life that's solid that that's stable that's successful a life that's meaningful right makes a difference leaves a legacy we all want that building a house can also represent building a family right families live in homes a lot of us have that dream in the bible think about it families are called the house of david the house of saul we all want a family home marked by harmony love and trust not abuse and conflict so house could represent a life it could represent building a family but a house could also represent a church you and i are called the household of faith right now we're meeting in the house of god so a house can represent building a ministry that's strong that's spiritually violent not violent spiritually violent well some churches are like that especially vibrant that's what we're trying to do at liquid my guess is you are trying to build all three you you got a dream too right you want a life to be proud of you want a family that's stable and intact and we all want to be part of a church that's strong and solid stands a test of time so we all fit in jesus story both men shared the same dream and not only that they heard the same message did you notice this jesus said these two men heard these words of mine these guys were in the same bible church isn't that cool they had the same preacher pastor jesus a lot better than me you don't get better than that because you've got the written word of god being preached by the living word of god so these guys go to the same church and they heard the same scripture it's not like one's an atheist where the other is a christian they both valued the bible and took time to listen to the word of god they've got the same dream heard the same message and notice both men lived in the same neighborhood did you see that mike now i know you may say wait wait i didn't say anything about the location tim of their houses but you can infer they live the same geographic region because both men faced the same exact storm they got hit with a hurricane you're like well how how do we know it's a hurricane well look at jesus descriptions pretty precise verse 27 the rain came down the streams rose and the winds blew and beat against that house and what happened it fell with a what a great crash now i'm not a meteorologist but i think you'd agree any time you get hit with torrential rain rising flood waters and high-speed winds that knock a building over that's called a hurricane cat4cat5 i don't know reality is no matter where you live we all get hit by storms don't we last week um someone's got a few inches of water in the basement others had their first floor flooded or roof ripped off why because that's life in a broken world still under the curse our circumstances may be different but one thing is true we all get rained on don't we life isn't all sunshine and rainbows i wish i could preach that to you and tell you jesus had the keys to your tesla just wait and keep praying it's not that way we all face trials and tribulations tragedies that make us cry and question the foundation we're building these guys had so much in common they had the same dream they went to the same church heard the same message faced the same storm and yet and yet they had completely opposite outcomes you catch that g says there's a twist when the storm's over one is standing strong high and dry and the other is in a pile of rubble on the floor completely collapsed total loss why so last week i saw this video you probably saw it went viral of a new jersey family who lives in cranford whose house got flooded and uh you could take a look in the video a teenage boy you can see him kind of walking through his basement in water up to his ankles and what's crazy though is what happens next because the rain was coming down so hard and the flood waters rising so quickly the basement walls literally burst open and flooded the family's entire home look at the furniture just like floating around it's crazy now fortunately nobody got hurt the boy got trapped in the basement but he made it out after being rescued by his father jesus said when this storm hit there were two very different outcomes for the wise man he said the rain came down the the split streams rose and the winds beat and blew against the house yet it didn't fall because it had its foundation on the what on the rock but for the foolish man same thing rain comes down streams up wind beats and blows and it fell with a great crash what's the difference the answer is the two men built two totally different foundations and jesus says it revealed something about their character notice that jesus calls the first guy a wise man and the second man he calls a now the greek word for foolish that's where we get the word from and see in scripture that's the difference between being wise and being a fool did you know that wisdom in the bible has nothing to do with academic degrees it doesn't matter if you graduate from college you dropped out of high school in the bible wisdom has nothing to do with your academic credentials how many of you know an educated fool somewhere don't point to them in the bible wisdom is the ability to take god's instruction and actually apply it to your life and jesus says everyone who hears these words of mine and what puts them safe together puts them into practice that's the wise man in other words jesus is matching his theology with feet ology he says you can't just listen to god's word you've got to put feet to your faith and actually put it into practice if you want to build on solid rock fools don't do that they got the same dream they have the same words but they don't do anything with it proverbs is actually full of the fools who who hear the truth but they don't live it out and as a result the men built totally different foundations for their faith one builds on rock one builds on sand what's the difference answer money and time see if you're going to build on rock it's going to cost you a lot of money and it's going to take you a long time building on sand is actually much cheaper much faster at least in the short term have you guys my brother lives in san francisco have you guys heard of the millennium tower it's a luxury skyscraper in downtown san francisco here's a picture it's 58 stories of gleaming glass and steel it's actually filled with luxury condominiums in 2009 it opened and it cost a half a billion dollars to build okay people were like architectural masterpiece um you know earthquake resistant and the luxury condos there sold very quickly to tech baron celebrities snatched up joe montana quarterback for the 49ers he bought a unit and the penthouse apartment sold for 13 million that must have some bidet right but but there's just one problem with this this shortly after construction the millennium tower started to tilt a little bit to lean like the leaning tower pizza just an inch at first then another inch then another another until the whole building sank 18 inches and began leaning 14 inches actually to the left it's the tilting tower of san francisco the engineering floor actually only came to light when one of the residents shot a video he put a marble on his floor the hardwood floors of his million dollar apartment and the marble rolled all over because the building is leaning so much what's the problem well the builders of the millennium tower decided they weren't going to drill down the bedrock they said we're going to take a little shortcut we ain't going down that far we're going to put the foundation on sand a mixture of clay mud sand and dirt they never drilled down the rock and guess what right now it's going to cost them very very dearly watch this homeowners in luxury san francisco high-rise are furious this morning over their sinking investment you could call it the 58-story millennium tower has reportedly sunk 16 inches since its completion back in 2009 it's also by the way leaning toward the pacific no problem there carter evans is in san francisco with why this building has moved so much carter good morning good morning condos in this famous glass tower range from about a million dollars to more than 10 million dollars but now the building is listing and that's giving residents a sinking feeling the millennium tower is home to some of san francisco's rich and famous joe montana once lived here and giants outfielder hunter pence is among current residents who've recently been told the building is sinking jerry and pat dodson bought their condo in 2009. we paid 2.1 million dollars for the apartment and you get a great view for it right but you're getting closer to the ground every day and at this point the building has sunk 16 inches but that's not all the building is tipping it's leaning 15 inches out towards the west from here unlike some other new san francisco high rises the millennium tower is not anchored in bedrock you can see that this building has been settled ray sullivan a geologist with san francisco state university leads tours of the city's sinking and leaning buildings he says the area where the millennium tower is built used to be in the water after the gold rush parts of the bay were filled in to create more land bedrock is two or three hundred feet below us it's a long way down there's a lot of mud lots of sand on top and i would be concerned if we have a major earthquake there's a lot of finger pointing going on right now but the one fact remains if they had drilled pilings down to bedrock would we be here no that is the heart of the problem can you imagine paying two million dollars for a two-bedroom apartment and the building goes hey we shouldn't be surprised everything in california kind of leans a little left doesn't it i'm just kidding now now of course the lawyers are involved right the homeowner is actually suing the developer the developers are suing the city it's a total mess but they actually came up with a hundred million dollar solution this is recent news the developers agreed they were going to drill new pilings hundreds of feet down into the bedrock to stabilize the high-rise but guess what literally last week they had to stop construction because the building tilted ain't another inch as soon as they started drilling i mean talk about a mess i got a friend in the construction business and i said to him this week i said hey why why didn't they drive the piles down into bedrock and he said easy it costs a ton of money to drill 200 feet down all the way to bedrock he said it's cheaper and faster to build on the surface whether it's clay or sand or whatever what's the point in jesus's story here in matthew the wise man dug down deep he went the hard way to build his foundation on solid rock and when the storms came it stood strong because he built house to last but the foolish man what did he do he took the easier route the cheaper route he built on shifting sand he wanted a maybe a flashy house for show right a house people would drive and go look beautiful it was for show wasn't for depth and when the storm hit it came down with a crash because he had a flawed foundation so here's my question for you what foundation are you building on your life your family your business your faith what foundation are you building on because as long as the sun is shining right you may not care what you're building on but notice something storms have a way of exposing the strength of your foundation we've been through a lot of storms in the last 18 months right i mean it's not just it's not just hurricane ida we've been through the hurricane of covid the hurricane of racial unrest the hurricane of political division and right now with the hurricane winds of culture swirling around us can i just say as your pastor i'm concerned i'm concerned that some of you are building a faith on sand and it's not gonna last maybe like well how do i know i'm building on sand tim what i've noticed is there are three warning signs that you're building on sand right now as i look at our world i see three things culture is shifting christians are drifting and god is sifting his church there's a shifting a drifting and a sifting going on right now have you noticed that the culture is shifting i mean it's been cracking for many years but the shift away right now from biblical values has been head snapping over the last five years the the cultural headwinds are very very strong right now and they're blowing against the church against biblical truth um cultural norms are shifting very quickly uh gender is now fluid marriage is outdated christians are bigots and a lot of people are rejecting many of the biblical norms that god established for how people should live and relate to one another um you've got disillusioned believers who are deconstructing their faith i don't know what is true anymore people are questioning the church as an institution does it hurt and abuse people if you're if you're a person of faith have you have you felt that cultural shift right now it can almost feel like hostility like people are attacking you personally but remember even though people are hostile towards biblical truth doesn't mean you have to be hostile to them in fact remember our identity we are followers of christ we're not a nation or political party we follow the crucified nazarene who said hey love your enemies pray for those who persecute you who reject you so understand in a shifting culture we hold fast to our position but our posture is one of love and grace we're open armed and i get it guys it's hard to be open armed right when you when you feel under attack so it's no surprise as our culture is shifting christians are drifting they've been hit with these hurricane force winds of cultural change and fewer people are attending church i mean bible reading it's at an all-time low evangelism is now seen as like that's too aggressive you know why would you force force your beliefs on somebody and christians are out in the water kind of adrift with no anger i've noticed a lot of believers kind of embracing i'll just be honest false ideologies or basing their beliefs on human opinion or what feels good or is easier to go along with now this is not a surprise i'll just tell you in fact jesus himself predicted this when he was describing the end times here's what jesus says he says at that time many will turn away from the faith and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people jesus says actually because of the wickedness in the world the love of many christians will grow cold and i'm seeing that right now like as your pastor i'm concerned i'm concerned that people haven't returned to church in person and i'm not guilty anybody obviously covet has interrupted all of our rhythms of worship and prayer and small groups but i'm seeing people giving up on faith like a lot of the foundational practices that kept us anchored in christ have been washed away by the hurricane of coven and people have kind of retreated into isolation in their homes right and and we wonder then why people feel battered and their lives are crashing down people filled with record levels of anxiety depression fear and anger guys we've been through a lot of storms the last 18 months the culture is shifting christians are drifting but i believe god is sifting his church you know what i mean by sifting in the bible sifting is how you separate the wheat from the chaff what you did is you would take the husk of wheat you'd rub it in your hands to separate the grain from the husk jesus actually said to peter peter satan has asked to sift all of you like wheat and i believe right now that the lord is sifting his church i mean we're watching ministries literally rise and fall pastors and church leaders living double lives of hypocrisy and scandal and abuse and suddenly when the hurricane hits because the foundation of that ministry is built on sin the whole house comes crashing down the lord's sifting his church he's separating the christians who are committed from the christians who are chameleons the one who to try to blend in and fit in but but don't really want to do what the lord requires i mean let me just ask you how many of you know there's a big difference between believing in god and actually believing god most americans believe in god but they don't actually believe god and take his word at face value as the final authority for their life and teaching you know when john the baptist described jesus he said this he said he is ready to separate the chafe from the wheat with his winnowing fork that he will clean up the threshing area gathering the we into his barn but burning the chaff with never ending fire that's a tough verse that's savage man friends i can't water this down but god will not use a compromised church a church that looks like the rest of the world talks like the rest of the world and just acts like the rest of the world so he's he's sifting us in this season he's suffering the wheat from the chief the sheep from the goats those who hear the word but don't do it morons and those who hear god's word take it to heart actually put it into practice see storms always reveal the nature of your foundation are you building on rock or sand you know this week i talked with um a woman our church i'm friends with and her whole home was flooded their family's house the first floor uh got completely flooded um her carpet soaked is pretty new it warped the wood floors underneath they're all wavy gravy now and she said actually told my husband's car tim but she was she was fine but it was really amazing because her house was a disaster but i could hear in her spirit it was still very strong and actually full of joy i was like what's behind that she said you know it reminded me this is just earthly stuff tim all this stuff doesn't matter in the long run i've got my eyes on eternity and i was surprised because even though she was surrounded by devastation she wasn't devastated why because her hope was built on something solid the rock the hope of eternity that we have in christ again hurricanes reveal what kind of foundation your faith is built on are you building on rock or sand understand if you're if you're in a storm right now i just want to encourage you in christ the storm may be strong but your savior is stronger amen he was built for this storm and we all need to remember that because hurricane ida guys it ain't the last storm we're gonna see there's more to come i mean it's been said you're either in a storm you're coming out of a storm or you're about to go into one and so here at the start of the fall as you reestablish your spiritual rhythms and routines i just want to gently ask you what foundation are you building on what spiritual practices are you prioritizing what are you doing to just drive those pylons of your faith down deep into bedrock and anchor your family what are you modeling for your kids let me kind of challenge you this is i want to invite you to see this as a reset moment for some of you you know what i'm saying some of you are like tim i've seen the shift and i i certainly have felt the drift and now you understand the sith this is a moment god's inviting you to recalibrate and make sure you're building your life your family your home your ministry this church on rock not sand so i want to close with three pilings or three spiritual practices to really drive your faith in christ down deep into bedrock this fall if you're taking notes the first piling is corporate worship i'm gonna risk saying something kind of crazy you ready for this i want to invite you to come worship in person this fall in person no disrespect to those watching church online but here's the deal if you're watching online the problem is you're probably just watching right most likely you're probably not actively worshipping that that's what it is for me i can conf can i confess a secret sin to you i'm a pastor and when i go to church online i actually don't worship i don't i watch worship but i don't sing in my living room i don't put a hand on someone pray for people after the service in the kitchen i just watch other people do that you know what i'm talking about the difference between being in person with the people of god and kind of watching online and look i get it it's it's it is nice to have a cup of coffee i'll just be honest and watch church from your couch okay but as your pastor i just want to invite you there's more god has more for you there's more to corporate worship than just watching church online is wonderful by the way i just want to in fact just take a moment can we thank our volunteers for our amazing online ministry you guys are building community and you're the front door of our church but we want people to step through that door into the living room and connect in real life irl with the family of god i'm just i'm just telling you as a passage i've shared my heart is this okay i'm just seeing too many believers who are isolated all alone at home and again i get it life feels overwhelming right now but i want to invite you out of isolation into live worship because christianity is not a spectator sport guys it's an action sport and there's something very special about being in the house of god worshiping alongside the people of god in the presence of god where two or three gather jesus i'm right there in the middle of them some of you hear worshipping in person am i right do you agree in person what do you you feel the spirit's presence let me tell you something i've never done um when i'm i'm scrolling through a pre-recorded service on my phone i rarely cry you know i really feel convicted so sometimes you just need another believer you know to put their hand on your shoulder pray for you in person so i'm just inviting you if you haven't experienced worship in person in months we miss you man your brothers and sisters miss you and it's homecoming season so come on home all right again i'm not trying to kill anybody and again church online huge blessing when you're sick you're traveling you can't make it in person but let's just be honest the hurricane of coven blew away the regular rhythm of in-person worship for most of us and that was necessary for a season but now we've got to build a new habit flex a new muscle because it's not healthy long-term it's not sustainable listen to what god says he's calling us to this and hebrews chapter 10 verse 25 the bible says some people have gotten out of the habit of meeting for worship but we must not do that we should keep on encouraging each other especially since you know that the day of the lord's coming is getting closer in other words as the storms grow stronger in these last days christians actually should be meeting to worship and encourage each other more not less the greek word for church is ecclesia it actually means assembly so people need to assemble in person for worship that's how god designed his church to work it's like read the instructions assembly is required so if you're going to grow your faith deep and strong anchored on rock parents i just understand something how you treat church on weekends is discipling your children like they're learning right now whether faith is optional or priority and you know this intuitively right like if your kid plays sports let's say they play soccer or volleyball or football or or they cheer if you wanted your child to develop their athletic abilities would you say you know what son skip practice in person this week and just go watch more youtube videos yeah don't get out in the on the field and flex your muscles just watch games on tv right like what no of course not you instinctively know they're not going to develop their skills and their gifts as an athlete they need to show up to practice and actually play in the game in person that's how you develop as an athlete same with church you've got to show up and worship in person if you're going to grow stronger as a disciple of christ so can i just challenge you make corporate worship a priority this fall every week worshiping god with the people of god in the house of god drive that pylon deep down into bedrock now the second pylon is community you are building on rock when you're in weekly community with other brothers and sisters what that means is you're praying with other christians you're opening god's word you're studying the bible you're you're sharing and caring each other's burdens if you're new to liquid we actually believe community happens best in small groups now small groups are 8 to 12 believers they meet during the week for bible study prayer and fellowship and you've come at a perfect time because in just three weeks we are starting a brand new small group series called emotionally healthy spirituality it is an eight-week course that will drive you deep into the bible in the context of community we're going to study spiritual practices such as silence and stillness how to sabbath we're going to teach you about your family of origin how do you deal with grief and loss in a season like this how do you get through walls when you feel dry in the christian life this is going to be a very rich series i believe it's going to be a life-changing series for some of you but guess what you have to be in a small group to participate in that christianity in a solo sport so if you're it's only if you're growing and tethered and anchored in community if you're not you will drift spiritually that's just the fact i'm telling you you can listen to sermons every week and be untransformed you shouldn't worship in person every week be on transform because it's a big crowd you ha need to have people who know your story can love on you pray with you and carry each other's burdens as christ commands did you know there's a hundred commands in the new testament they're called the one another commands you know like when jesus says like love one another pray for one another encourage one another forgive one another serve one another my question says how do you obey the one another's if you all by yourself christianity is a community sport we actually need each other to live our faith as jesus envisioned so i'm just calling you out of isolation go get in a group this fall sign up for emotionally healthy spirituality you got some info on the way in today you'll be very glad you did finally i'll close with this the last pylon i want to challenge you to drill down deep this fall is serving jesus's story here in matthew it is a call to action he said everyone who hears these words of mine and says a prayer and believes the right things is like a wise man no he doesn't say that because everyone hears these words of mine and what say it together church puts them into practice he's matching theology with feet ology you've got to put feet to your faith when you see your neighbor hit by a hurricane suffering loss of their home their livelihood their dreams you cannot sit on your couch get off the couch get off your blessed assurance and serve them sacrificially be the hands and feet of jesus did you know serving others actually is a form of worship james says be doers of the word not hearers only a lot of talk i mentioned walk so it's not enough to come to church you've got to put your faith in action and guys it is our privilege to do that this fall as we serve hurting families who are flooded by ida we're going to close we're going to feed them we're going to love on them helping rebuild their lives as a church so when you leave today don't you forget go to liquidchurch.com relief when you get home you can sign up to help it is a privilege to serve in god's house amen and you've got a chance to do that this fall on a dream team at every campus i'm just telling you we still need volunteers we'll put on a jersey get down on the field and get in the game so if you're kind of coming back you're like homecoming what is that i guess i'll come home i'll check out church if you've been away you haven't served in a while awesome we need you if you're watching a church online come back put the jersey on man get on the field and serve on a team and if you're new because i see a lot of new people on campuses or you've never served man this is your moment to get involved homecoming is a season to reunify it's to come together as a family of god make new friends and i want you to imagine with me i want you to just think about what god could do through this church if everybody was worshiping and serving together not scattered but unified as one church as the cultural winds blow and rage and we stand strong like the house on the hill because it's built on the solid rock of jesus christ imagine the world it's going different direction but then they see those people in the middle of the storm and they're worshiping and serving and carrying one another's burdens why because we're just imitating our savior jesus what could god do through a people committed to worship and community and serving others in the name of jesus guys those are the three bedrock beliefs the pylons the foundational practices i want to invite you to give yourself to as a church this fall so let me encourage you drill down deep anchor your family and build a foundation that doesn't just survive but thrives in a hurricane amen well today we want to close by committing this ministry season this fall really to christ by celebrating communion together at our live locations we gave you a communion cup on the way in and you could take that out right now you can rip the foil off the top and you know the cracker in the cup that you received represents the body and the blood of our savior jesus christ this is the solid rock these these are the twin towers the foundation of our faith and the night he was betrayed jesus took the bread and he broke and he said this this is my body it's broken for you do this in remembrance of me and then he took the cup he said that's my blood poured out for you forgive your sins do that to remember me too you know what jesus knew we're forgetful he said they're gonna have to be regularly reminded again and again about their ongoing need for a strong foundation of forgiveness for renewal maybe today you realize you need to rebuild your foundation you may be in a storm right now but can i just tell you your savior's stronger amen so if you're an all-in follower of christ you are a wise woman you're a wise man you've put your full faith in the death of jesus on the cross that's the foundation your faith in his resurrection to new life guys god loved you so much so much that he sacrificed his only son to reunite you to him so if you don't just believe in god but you believe god and you trust christ fully for salvation you're welcome to receive communion let's take a moment for silent prayer before we partake examine yourself confess your sins to god consecrate your life and new to him and your family to christ and then we'll partake together let's pray [Music] father we thank you that you haven't let up thus blowing around aimlessly in a storm but you have anchored us the very hope we have in christ we hold him in our hands and we thank you jesus that your love can never be in doubt because of what you sacrificed on that cross that was in my place jesus you are my substitute so father i ask you to come into my heart afresh cleanse it father god where i've drifted would you pull me back father god for men and women who feel distant right now pull them back let them know you love them that there's forgiveness that every time we drift far away we turn around and realize we're the ones running and you never moved we thank you for communion which draws us close to you in these gifts in jesus name amen you can receive the body and the blood let's take it together thanks for watching liquid church youtube channel hey don't stop here i want to invite you to be part of our online community subscribe to this channel so you don't miss a single video or live stream and share this with a friend you know everybody's welcome to join us if you're blessed by this message you can support our ministry by clicking the give now button to help us continue to reach people around the world for christ thanks so much for watching god bless

Channel: Liquid Church

Views: 1,182

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords: Liquid Church, #LiquidChurch, New Jersey, Christian Church, Tim Lucas, Pastor Tim Lucas, Non-Denominational Christian Church, Christianity, Contemporary Christian Church, Hurricane, Hurricane Ida, Survive, Rebuild, Reopen, Fresh Start, Homecoming

Id: bI4KH8UQI58

Length: 39min 50sec (2390 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 12 2021