Values 2019: Connection Is Our Culture

Values 2019: A Healthy Connection Culture

Story: Meeting Adam at Student Camp

Connection determines direction. Those that you connect with, do life with, that hold you accountable in life, ultimately is going to set the direction for your life.

Question: Are your relationships healthy? Are the people around you building you up, encouraging you, and speaking truth over your life?

Your relationships set the direction of your life, but they also establish the legacy of your life. At the end of your life, when you look back on your family, friends, and people you influenced, will your legacy be one of healthy relationships or broken relationships?

Passage: Romans 12:9-16 NLT

9 Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. 10 Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other. 11 Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically. 12 Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying. 13 When God’s people are in need, be ready to help them. Always be eager to practice hospitality. 14 Bless those who persecute you. Don’t curse them; pray that God will bless them. 15 Be happy with those who are happy, and weep with those who weep. 16 Live in harmony with each other. Don’t be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people. And don’t think you know it all!

Pray:

Title: A Healthy Connection Culture

Main Points: 7 Keys To Healthy Connections

1. Be Authentic
   1. 9 Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good.
   2. EX: In other words, DON’T BE FAKE in your love for others! Be real! Don’t put on a mask. Don’t pretend like everything is OK when everything is falling apart.
   3. I don’t believe people are looking for a perfect community, but they are desperately seeking an authentic community.
   4. Authentic love happens on purpose and requires you to be vulnerable and ask intentional questions.
   5. Vulnerability is something we all crave. If we desire it, then we have to be it.

   6. GO DEEP.

      1. You can be authentic and still only go 2” deep in all your relationships. (How’s the weather?, Been hiking lately?, How’s work?)

      2. Lean in a little harder, ask more intentional questions, and listen more so that you can go 2’ deep.

         1. How has it been finding community?
         2. Anything I can be praying for you?
         3. How’s your emotional and mental health?
         4. How’s your relationship with God? 3. You go deep first, and show others how to trust, how to love, how to be vulnerable, and how to dig deep.
            7. In order to be authentic with others you must first allow yourself to trust others with your story.
         5. Give Honor
            1. 10 Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other.
            2. EX: Honor is not meant to puff up, but to build up! Its purpose is to speak truth, respect, and life in others around you. Honor lays a truthful foundation to build on.
            3. Illust: Honor Circle last night

      3. “Outdo one another in showing honor.” - Romans 12:10 ESV

         4. Question: How are you at giving honor? Not just at people’s birthday parties or special occasions, but in your everyday life?
         5. I believe that honest and consistent honor will solve a lot of the brokenness and challenges in many of our relationships.

      4. Keep Praying

         1. 11 Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically. 12 Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying.
         2. EX: The overflow of these healthy behaviors and characteristics are going to come from our intimacy with God. It’s our ultimate source of both love and honor.
         3. When the relationships around us seem to be crumbling and falling apart, “Serve the Lord enthusiastically, be patient, and keep on praying!”
         4. Some relationships may give you reason to retreat or take your eyes off your purpose, but in order to maintain healthy relationships we gotta keep leaning in, Keep On Praying! Keep On Believing! AND KEEP ON SHOWING UP FOR GOD’S GLORY!
         5. How many of you know, that when you’re faithful to show up, God’s faithful to grow you up!
         6. Question: Who in your life do you need to regain hope for and start praying again for?

      5. Maybe it’s a spouse, a friend, a sibling, a co worker.

      6. Do we believe God can do more in a second of prayer than in a lifetime of our own efforts?

      7. Practice Hospitality

         1. 13 When God’s people are in need, be ready to help them. Always be eager to practice hospitality.
         2. EX: Hospitality = Sacrifice
         3. One of our greatest obstacles to practicing genuine hospitality is our attitude towards sacrifice and not wanting to be inconvenienced.
         4. Hospitality means to LET PEOPLE IN! Your house might be messy, they might eat all your food, you might have to listen a little extra, BUT it’s worth it!
         5. Hospitality creates environments where healthy relationships can be discovered and thrive!
         6. Illust: Baldridge Family

      8. Anytime people need a place to crash for a few nights they say “We have an extra bed.”

      9. Bless Others

         1. 14 Bless those who persecute you. Don’t curse them; pray that God will bless them.
         2. Illust: My Neighbor
         3. Question: Who has wronged you that you have cursed? Who do you need to pray that God would bless them?
         4. When we read this verse what is our first reaction… we think of all those that have wronged us and persecuted us. But what if we switched it up and thought about all the times we’ve wronged other people?

      10. How do we want people to respond to us when we’ve been the one in the wrong?

      11. Don’t get caught in the vicious cycle of cursing one another! Rise above and BLESS OTHERS!!!

      12. Demonstrate Sympathy

          1. 15 Be happy with those who are happy, and weep with those who weep.
          2. People don’t want to be fixed, they want to be understood. They want a shoulder to cry on. They want a friend to celebrate with them.
          3. Everyone has a desire to know and be known, to love and be loved.
          4. Illust: Have you ever gone through a season where you suffered great loss or experienced great tragedy in your life? What did you need then? What did you crave?

      13. Be that person to others.

          5. Application: Treat others the way you want to be treated.

      14. Genuine sympathy requires you to be more concerned about other people over your own self interests.

      15. Heartfelt sympathy requires you to put yourself in others’ shoes and feel with them.

      16. Humble Yourself

          1. 16 Live in harmony with each other. Don’t be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people. And don’t think you know it all!
          2. “Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love. 3 Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace.” - Ephesians 4:2-3
          3. It doesn’t matter how successful you are, we all have the same problems. We’re all trying to find community. We’re all trying to live out our purpose.

      17. DON’T be so arrogant to think that you are better than someone else because of your status or accolades.

      18. DON’T be so proud to think that you have all the answers to life's problems.
          4. There’s something genuine and attractive about humility. It creates a safe atmosphere where healthy relationships can grow and flourish.

Closing: A Healthy Connection Culture

Walking Points:

1. Sundays
2. Crews
3. Growth Track
4. Servant Leadership