5 Characteristics of a Thriving Community | Acts 2:42-47

Good morning, Watermark. How are we doing? I hope you had a great Thanksgiving. I'm glad you're here. My name is Jacob Alger, and I have the joy and the privilege of getting to serve on staff here at Watermark as our director of men's community. I am here this morning on behalf of our Community Team to bring a close to our A Community Church series.

Just in case you are unfamiliar or unclear about what our Community Team does here at Watermark, we have the joy and the privilege of getting to oversee the 1,100-plus Community Groups that make up our church. Our team of community directors gets the opportunity to know, love, and care for all of our members who are required to be in community.

My wife and I have been here at Watermark for the last nine years. Here's a picture of our Community Group that we have been with for the last six years. These people have been a tremendous blessing to my life, to our family, to our marriage, and I am undoubtedly a better husband, a better dad, and a more faithful follower of Jesus because of these friends. Life is truly better together, and I am excited to get to talk about community this morning, especially to have the privilege of opening God's Word together as a family.

Before we do that, as we do every Sunday, I want to invite you to pray. Here's what I would ask you to pray. Ask the Lord, "God, would you open my eyes to see, and would you give me ears to hear, a mind to understand, and a heart that is open and receptive to what you want to do in me here this morning?" Pray that prayer. And would you pray for those around you that God would clearly speak to them this morning? Then, lastly, would you pray for me that I would clearly and accurately teach God's Word to you this morning?

God, that is our prayer. We ask that you would give us eyes to see you more clearly this morning, that you would give us ears to hear from your Word, that you would give us minds that would understand and comprehend your truth, and that you would give us open and receptive hearts to do in us and through us all that you want to for your glory. We pray that in Christ's name, amen.

I will never forget the moment it hit me that I wanted to marry my wife Brooke. Here's a picture of my family now. This is my wife Brooke and our three kiddos, Truett, Emmy, and Olive. It was about seven years ago. Let me set the scene for you. It was the summer before my final semester in college, and I was doing what men do. I was sitting out by a lake. I was watching the sun set over the water, pondering the deeper, finer things of life.

I was thinking about and imagining what my life would be like in the next season, and I began to feel a deep resolve that I wanted to marry Brooke, that I wanted her, unquestionably, to be a part of my life heading into the next season. While I was thankful for that moment of clarity, my very next thought (probably because I'm an Enneagram Three) was that I needed to get absolute clarity on what that actually meant.

I realized at that moment that I had about $500 to my name, I didn't really have a full-time job, and I was still living with six other dudes. I didn't think she would be super-pumped about having six other roommates, so I realized I needed to get clear about what I needed to change if I was going to marry Brooke, and not just marry her but have a marriage that would thrive and not just survive.

So I began to meet with mentors. I began to read books. We went through the premarital ministry Merge here at Watermark together, and I started to think seriously about jobs, because I realized that while I loved Brooke, love wasn't going to be paying the bills. I look back on this season for us as such a formative season, one that was instrumental and helpful in giving Brooke and me clarity and confidence as we began to move forward to begin the journey of marriage together. There are so many things we learned in that season that have proven to be true and are honestly still helpful and beneficial to us even still today.

Now, why do I share that? I'm not talking about marriage this morning, but I start there because, as we close our A Community Church series, my desire this morning is that we would gain a clarity and a confidence about what it would look like for us to be a part of and to experience a thriving community. Our desire at Watermark Community Church is not just that we would have surviving communities where we are begrudgingly pressing through life together just to fill our membership requirements. Like, who would want to do that?

We want to be and to experience a thriving community, and we want every one of our members to be a part of it. The good news for us this morning is God's Word gives us clarity about what that looks like. My hope and prayer is we wouldn't just gain clarity but would move toward gaining confidence about what it would look like for us to experience a thriving community.

So, this morning, we're going to look at Acts 2:42-47, and we're going to talk about 5 Characteristics of a Thriving Community. Let me give you some context for where we are in our passage this morning. This is after Christ has come. The eternal Son of God has left heaven and come to earth, living the perfectly obedient life that we couldn't live, dying the death we rightfully deserved on the cross.

He was buried. He rose again three days later, overcoming sin, death, and Satan, and he ascended to the heavens where he's seated at the right hand of God. He has sent his Holy Spirit to come into the life of believers, and right before the passage we're going to read this morning, we see that Peter, who is one of the apostles, is preaching the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ, and it says thousands are being added to their number.

In other words, what we're seeing here is the birth of the church. Then we're going to get a glimpse into how this new community of Christ followers begins living together, and it is absolutely unquestionable that they were experiencing thriving community. So, look with me, starting in verse 42. This is the Word of God.

"And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles."

1. Prioritizing God's presence together. What do I mean by that? Well, look at how the passage starts. It says, "And they devoted themselves…" The word that's used here for devoted conveys this idea of having an ongoing attentiveness or a giving of one's self continually and deeply to someone or to something. In other words, we are getting a glimpse into what they prioritized.

Now, notice what it says. What did they devote themselves to? It gives us four things: the apostles' teaching, the fellowship, the breaking of bread (which was likely a reference to the Lord's Supper), and the prayers. These are four very clear practices that have defined the gathering of the church from the beginning, and they are still some of the primary elements of what we're practicing together as we gather on a weekly basis as a church family.

Now, you may hear that and think, "Wait a minute. You said they were prioritizing God's presence, but as I read that and hear that, it sounds like they were devoted to four main practices." That's actually my point. I think a lot of us, myself included at times, have come to a place where we have found ourselves devoted to a list of practices, but we don't know what it means to encounter God's presence through the practices.

Listen to how one author put it in the book Gospel Fluency. They said, "I have come across many godly men and women who are walking through life with the people in their churches by teaching them how to study Scripture, helping them understand spiritual disciplines, finances, relationships, and so on. Yet the deceptive blind spot in their discipleship relationships is that they have discipled people in how to successfully do all of the above without Christ."

Do you see what they're saying? It's prioritizing practices without the presence. Do you know what that's like? That's like going to a steak house and ordering a salad. Who does that? You're missing out on the substance, the fullness, the goodness of all that you are intended to experience at a steak house. So my encouragement for you this morning is "Don't be the salad guy."

What we're experiencing and seeing in Acts 2 is they were feasting at a steak house. They were prioritizing practices to encounter presence. In other words, it wasn't just about what they were doing; it was about who they were relating to and encountering through what they were doing. Friends, the early church was unmistakably encountering and prioritizing God's presence with one another.

The main point I want to drive here is they weren't just doing this individually. Notice what it says. "They were devoted." They were encountering and prioritizing God's presence together as they gathered. This wasn't just private and personal; it was corporate and communal. The reason I think this is so significant is right now there is an emphasis and a trend toward prioritizing the personal and the private. Like, just Jesus and me with a cup of coffee, reading God's Word, quiet prayer in the closet.

That's not bad. That is a critical element of what it means to walk with Jesus, but I'm not just seeing a prioritization of that but also a neglect of the corporate and the communal practices that have marked the gathering of the church from its beginning. So it's good for us to evaluate. Are we, as a church, prioritizing God's presence together as we gather?

While I know this is a part of the Community Church series, what I want to be really clear about is I am talking about the corporate gathering as we come together as a family week in and week out, this moment we're in right now. So, I want you to consider for a moment… Did you come to church today expectant and eager to meet with God? Did you come ready to hear from him? Was there any part of your morning this morning where you were intentionally preparing your heart to encounter God's presence together as we gather today?

Friends, I think we need the same reminder Paul gave to the church at Corinth in 1 Corinthians 3:16. He says, "Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you?" The you there is plural, because the assumption is he's writing to the gathered church. Y'all, this is the purpose of our practices. This is the reason we gather: that we would prioritize and encounter God's presence together as a church.

Do you want to know what that looks like when that happens? Look back with me at verse 43. Notice what it says. "And awe came upon every soul…" Could you imagine that? Could you imagine if every Sunday every soul in here, all 3,000-plus people, left with an overwhelming sense of awe? Like, "We just met with God. God himself is actually with us." God's promise to us, as his people, is that he is with us, and we are living in and encountering and experiencing that promise together, as a church family, having an unshakable sense that God is with us.

Friends, this is what had changed in Acts, chapter 2. The Spirit of God himself is now with and in these believers as they are gathering with one another. This is the beauty of the new covenant promise: God is with us and in us together. So, our hope and our prayer is we would experience thriving community by prioritizing God's presence together.

Listen to me. That means we are prioritizing God's presence together in this moment on Sunday mornings and when we gather together as Community Groups, that we would live with a holy sense of expectation, looking forward to our gatherings together with one another, and that would propel us out into the world and into our Community Groups to practice and to experience God's presence together in our gatherings.

So, if that's going to be true, let me encourage you with this. This starts by you being present. Be present. It's the old saying, "You must be present to win." So let me encourage you. If you are prioritizing other things than gathering with your family on Sunday mornings, can I suggest that you are missing a very critical aspect of what it means for you to be a part of his church and to be a part of his family. This is a blessing we get to experience to be together as a family.

What I'm seeing right now is sometimes we're prone to prioritize or see our Community Groups or the gathering with the whole body as an either/or. If that's you, I want to encourage you to reprioritize and reconsider that, because your Community Group, unmistakably, is an important part of this church, but it is not the same as the whole gathered church. My encouragement is not to settle for an either/or; see it as a both/and. In other words, eat a steak and a salad. If you salad people were upset with me, now you see what I'm saying. It's both.

My second thing here is be attentive. Prepare your heart intentionally to gather with one another. Come expectant to meet with God and to hear from him in his Word as we gather. One thing that has helped me do this… This is the reason I've loved being in a book of the Bible together. If I can look forward to what passage we're going to be reading on Sunday morning, I will read that passage Saturday morning and Sunday morning just to prepare my heart to hear from God on Sunday morning and spend time in prayer for our whole church family that we would encounter and prioritize God's presence together.

That leads me to the final thing here: be together. What do I mean by that? Friends, this gathering we're in right now is the most clear and visible demonstration to us that we are not alone. We have been given brothers and sisters in Christ to gather with and to be encouraged by. One of my favorite things is looking around at the family as we're worshiping God together, to hear one another's voices worshiping the same God, the same Jesus, by the same Spirit who has bound us with one another. So be together.

My Community Group has prioritized coming to the same service with one another on Sundays. Every Sunday, we're at the 4:00 p.m. service. It has been good for us to be together on Sundays as a whole group, sitting under the authority of God's Word, worshiping together, and that has moved us out into our gatherings throughout the week. So, if you're able to do that with your group, do that. Prioritize coming together with one another. The first indicator that you're experiencing thriving community is you are prioritizing God's presence together.

2. Living in unity with one another. Look back with me at verse 44. "And all who believed were together and had all things in common." The word that is used here for together is conveying this idea that not only were these people physically present with one another, but it places an emphasis on the fact that they were unified together as they gathered. This is amazing.

We can envision this scene kind of like that moment in Remember the Titans. Do you know what I'm talking about? "Left side! Strong side! Left side! Strong side!" It's an iconic moment in this movie. You have Julius and Gerry Bertier. You're watching these people who were once so divided become united. You're watching these people who were separated according to their differences becoming one team.

It is an absolutely iconic movie and an iconic moment, but do you want to know what's amazing? That moment doesn't even hold a candle to what is happening here in Acts, chapter 2. Why do I say that? Well, if you read earlier in Acts 2, you know this group of people aren't exactly those whom you may describe as having all things in common with one another. In fact, they're very, very different than one another.

It says earlier in this chapter there were over 15 different nations present at Pentecost. Can you imagine that for a moment? Fifteen different nations, which means we're talking about different languages, different families of origin, different ethnicities, different cultures, different backgrounds, different upbringings, different likes, different interests, different foods, and worshiping different gods.

These people could not have been more different, yet something so transformative has taken place that they are now together, not just physically, but they are united with one another, which means the things that once separated them and kept them from one another have become obsolete. Isn't that amazing?

Friends, this is exactly what the gospel does. It takes those who couldn't be more different and divided and unifies them around the person of Jesus. Just think about this. Now these people from over 15 different nations have trusted in the same Jesus. They have received the same salvation. They have received the same Spirit. Now they belong to the same family, and they are considered sons and daughters of God together. They're on the same mission now to reach the world with Christ.

Y'all, this is what the gospel does. The gospel breaks down barriers and unifies those who have nothing in common. This is what Jesus prayed for in John 17. As he's about to go to the cross, he prays to his Father. Do you want to know what he asks? He prays for us, that we would be one as he and the Father are one, and then he goes to the cross and accomplishes for us this unity we're talking about through his life, his death, his burial, and his resurrection.

Do you want to know why I think certain communities are not thriving the way God intends? I think what I'm seeing within groups, oftentimes, is we are rebuilding the very barriers Christ came to tear down. In other words, we have made our community with one another dependent on something other than Christ himself.

Just think for a moment. Have you ever thought to yourself in relation to your group or to a group of people, "Man, it's just too hard to be with people who make more money than me; it tempts me to be envious or jealous. We don't have the same vision about what community actually is. They just don't get it. We don't live in the same neighborhood. It's too inconvenient.

You know what? They're not running at the same pace as me spiritually. I need to be with people who are going to challenge me, who are going to encourage me, who are going to build me up. They're just lazy travelers. She's too healthy. Our personalities don't go well together. He's not really a guy's guy. I need a strong kind of man. Man, they're way too relaxed with their kids. They're way too rigid in their parenting. We're just in different stages of life," and so on and so forth.

Friends, when we live that way and relate to one another that way, we are rebuilding the very barriers Christ came to tear down. If we are going to experience thriving community, it means we are living in the unity Christ purchased and accomplished for us, and we now, led by his Spirit, strive to maintain and preserve that peace with one another.

Just think for a moment. Is your Community Group living in and experiencing the unity Christ purchased for you or is there any area where you might be rebuilding the barriers he came to tear down? Maybe, for some of you, it's the things I've already mentioned or maybe it's that you've experienced hurt, betrayal, annoyance, frustration, or avoidance within your Community Group that's tempting you to bail or maybe it's that some of you have mistaken unity for unanimity. Meaning, some of you think unity means you have to agree with one another on absolutely everything all the time.

If that's you, you will make mountains out of molehills and destroy your group. Why can I say that? Well, Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13, as he's talking about what it means to love, that love does not insist on its own way, which means that at times amongst the family we are going to disagree about what the right way might be, yet the thing God may be wanting to do in us is to teach us what it means to actually love instead of just getting our own way with one another.

Regardless of what it might be, I think the best question we can learn to ask ourselves and to apply is…What does the gospel have to say about that? Like, "How would Christ respond if he were me right now?" If we want to have any chance at experiencing thriving community with one another, we must regularly ask ourselves that question and apply it through the power of his Spirit. So, the second characteristic of a thriving community is that you are living in unity with one another.

3. Freely meeting one another's needs. This is one of the most tangible ways that unity can be expressed. Look with me at verse 45: "And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need." I love this. Not only are these people no longer divided but together, and not just together but united, but now they're even going to the extent that they are selling their own possessions and belongings and giving it to anybody around them who had need.

In other words, something so transformative has taken place they are not primarily concerned with their own achievement. They're not primarily concerned with their own career or their own security or their own satisfaction. They are actively moving to meet the needs of their brothers and sisters.

Can I just say this to my church family? One of the greatest joys of my job has been watching members of our church live this out together. It has been truly humbling to watch and even to experience for myself. I think about when my wife and I… We were 21 and 23 at the time, pregnant with our son in our first pregnancy, and we went out of town for my brother's wedding.

I remember my brother came out of the reception and said, "Hey, bro. You might want to get in there. I heard Brooke say something about contractions." I was like, "Whoa. We're not due for two months. What are you talking about?" So I go in there, and my wife is hunched over in pain. I'm like, "Oh, boy. This isn't good." So we leave the wedding. We beeline it for a hospital down in Austin, and we end up giving birth to my son that night, two months premature. We spent the next month down in Austin in the NICU with my boy.

When I tell you we had nothing ready, we had nothing ready. We hadn't had a single baby shower. We didn't have anything prepared in our apartment for when we got home. Do you want to know what happened? Faithful friends of ours, people who are at this church, rallied. I mean, a list of people. We still don't even know who all it was, but they got everything we could have needed from our registry and had it set up for us when we got home. That was so humbling.

I think of another story I heard recently about a family that was experiencing severe illness because of a mold infestation in their home. They were battling through severe illness and had to get rid of every bit of their furniture. Just imagine that. A family with young kids has to get rid of everything in their house. At the same time, another member of our church, Mary Nix (30:59), reached out to her community director, Julie Breedlove, and said, "Hey, I'm selling my lake house, and if there's any way the furniture in that home can be a blessing to a family at the church, please let me know."

Do you want to know what happened? That family ended up getting every bit of the furniture in that house and had it delivered and installed in their home. The coolest part is when Julie asked Mary, "Mary, why? What led you to do that?" she said, "Honestly, I was spending time in prayer, and I felt like the Lord impressed it on me that I needed to sell my lake house, and I didn't know why. Now we know why." Isn't that amazing?

Let me encourage you. Even if it's not financial resources… I heard another story in our church of a family that needed a one-on-one buddy for their child in our Kaleidoscope ministry, which is our ministry to those who have additional needs. They shared this need with their Community Groups, and two people from their Community Groups jumped in and served with their child so their parents could attend church together, which they hadn't gotten to do previously, while also knowing their child was being seen and welcomed and being taught about Jesus in a safe and secure environment. Isn't that amazing? It's incredible.

So, let me say this. If you're a member of our church and you have needs, my encouragement for you this morning is to let your needs be known to your Community Group and be willing to receive. Don't give way to shame or fear or insecurity. Then, if God is inviting you to meet the needs of your brothers and sisters around you, give freely, give generously, and give without expectation of return.

Friends, when we freely meet one another's needs, that is a testimony about what we believe to be true about the gospel. Listen to how Paul encourages the church at Corinth in 2 Corinthians, chapter 8. He says, "For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich."

What's his point? He's saying that when we consider what we have received in the gospel, the most natural thing for us to do is to move to freely meet the needs of those around us. So, as Community Groups, do you see it as a joy, as a privilege, and a responsibility to meet the needs of those around you? Do you give freely, joyfully, and without expectation of return?

If you're experiencing a need beyond what your Community Group is able to meet, please reach out to your shepherd or your community director. If you don't know who that is, email community@watermark.org. We have a structure in place so that no member of our church will go without food, shelter, or clothing, because a thriving community is one that freely meets one another's needs.

It doesn't even stop there. It gets better. Read verse 46. "And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people."

4. Living integrated lives. What I mean is you don't compartmentalize your Community Group. It's not just one more thing to add to your already overfull and overbusy schedule or something you're just begrudgingly enduring and trying to suffer through. What marked the early church is they were together day by day.

It says they were attending the temple together, which was actually a form of mission for them, and then they were in each other's homes, breaking bread, sharing meals, praising God, and rejoicing with one another. So, here's my encouragement: aim as best as you can to integrate your lives with one another.

I want to be clear about something here, because I think some of you might try to weaponize what I'm saying here and, this week, go back to your group and feel all the liberty in the world to begin expressing your frustration and disappointment at how little other people have given to your group. Don't do that. Let me suggest a different alternative. I would encourage you to see this more about invitation than obligation or expectation. In other words, invite people into your life; don't demand it from them.

So, what could this look like? Well, the easiest and simplest way to do this is to just invite people into what you are already doing with one another. Maybe it's having your kids on the same soccer team. I recently did this with another couple in our Community Group. One of the dads and I decided to coach this 4-year-old soccer team. It was an experience.

Were we mediocre coaches at best? You bet we were. Were we on the verge of a defeated season? Absolutely. But we prevailed in our final game. The Elephants were getting stomped until the final game, and we prevailed. But it was so fun for us to see our kids enjoying time with one another and for us to get another opportunity to overlap with this family.

So maybe it's that, or maybe it's working out together at the same gym. Let's be honest. I know half of Watermark already goes to CrossFit Richardson, so maybe it's syncing up your life and your workout routine in the same place. Or maybe it's participating together in the same area of service. I had the joy of doing this as I was leading a student small group through our student ministries. For the last two years of our time, another guy from our Community Group jumped in to lead with us.

That was such a blessing. It was so fun to get to experience an area of service together as friends and Community Group members. So maybe it's that, or it could just be as easy as if you're going out to dinner, invite other people to join. If you're going to watch a football game, invite people to come with you. You get what I'm aiming at here. Make it your aim to integrate your lives by extending invitations without obligations or expectations.

Now, as we talk about being a thriving community, we could stop there. All of that is amazing. Yet if we did, I think we would be missing one very critical element of who God intends for us to be as a part of his church. Look with me at how this text ends. Verse 47: "And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved."

5. Willingly including others. What you need to know from the end of this passage is God's intention is addition. Let me be clear about what I'm talking about here. I'm not just talking about including those who are already in your group into your life. What I'm now talking about is not just focusing internally but externally to those whom God is seeking to add to his family.

I want you to notice the language here. It says the Lord is adding to their number day by day those who are being saved. Let's be really clear. Who is doing the adding here? It's not the disciples. It's not the recent converts. It's not these Christians. It is the Lord. Why? Because this is his church. This is his family. He is the head of his body, and he is the one calling the shots. He's not just sovereign over binding these people together; he is also sovereign of including more people into their number.

You see, God's desire for his church is not that we would become an insulated, closed-off, comfortable, holy little huddle. No, God's desire for his family is that he would add to his family and we would willingly include others into the rhythms of discipleship and the family we just saw in verses 42-46. The amazing thing is God invites us to participate with him…not for him, with him…in that work. What a privilege.

Now, here's the thing. I know addition can be hard. I've seen this to be true even with my own family. I remember bringing my daughter home from the hospital and introducing her for the first time to my son, who was 14 months old at the time. We have a video of it. He walks over to my daughter, squats down like this, stands up, and walks away. Like, he could not have been more indifferent to this new addition to our family.

I've seen other videos where parents bring home a new child from the hospital to these older siblings, and it's like weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth. "Send them back! Send them back!" Or here's the really tricky one. Maybe you've seen those pictures on Instagram where the older siblings are really happy, joyful, holding the new baby, yet if you're a parent in the room, you know what happens a few weeks later.

They begin to realize, "Uh-oh. This one is here to stay. They're here," and they realize, "Look. All time and attention are no longer just mine anymore. All of my possessions are no longer just my own. The normal rhythms of my life are getting disrupted." Addition can mean things are going to get uncomfortable, things will get inconvenient, and it will involve a good bit more of sacrifice. I think it is true that addition requires adaptability, sacrifice, and a willingness to be uncomfortable.

That being said, I don't know all of the specific ways the Lord might see fit to add to our number here at Watermark, but my question for us this morning is…Are we ready, expectant, and willing to welcome people into the rhythms of God's own family and into our very own lives? Is there any part of us that is like that older sibling who's indifferent, unwilling, or in direct opposition to that because of the discomfort, the disruption of normal rhythms, or the sacrifice it might entail?

Friends, I think that's an important question for us to ask individually, together as Community Groups, and as a church as a whole. Are we joyfully, willingly, and expectantly participating with Christ as he adds to his family? What would that look like for us? Maybe that's including people who are more recent additions to the family into your group, where you will have the opportunity to walk alongside of these friends as they are growing, learning, and maturing in their faith.

Or maybe it's not them joining your group but it's you investing into their new Community Group. I think about men like Pat Dunne, who's an older, faithful, seasoned saint in our church who right now is serving as a men's community shepherd, helping this group of men to abide in Jesus and to enjoy life together. He's walking with them through a variety of different seasons, trials, challenges, joys, and triumphs. It's amazing.

Or I think about people like Paul Sanchez, Aaron Abeyta, or Whitney Brown who are faithful young adults in our church who are gathering every single week with their Community Groups on one night of the week, and then they have created a separate opportunity another night of the week just to invite and to include other people to come and hear the gospel, to read God's Word together, and to be engaged in a relational environment. It's amazing.

Or I think about Gordon and Jaynelle Ip who host what they call the lunch bunch every single Sunday after church as a way to invite, to welcome, and to include other people who don't yet have strong community or relationships here to just share a meal together and to be welcomed into their life.

Friends, to participate with Christ as he adds to his family is a wonderful blessing and is an opportunity God has chosen to allow us to steward. Like I said, this could look so many possible ways, but if God's intention is addition, are we willingly, joyfully, and expectantly participating with him despite whatever sacrifice, discomfort, or inconvenience that might entail? The final characteristic of a thriving community is that we are willingly including others.

So, where do we go from here? Let me speak to anybody who's in the room this morning who doesn't know Jesus. Maybe you're not a Christian. Can I just say this to you this morning? Everything we have talked about is only possible and only makes sense because of the person and the work of Jesus Christ, what he has done for us through his life, his death, his burial, and his resurrection. If you're here this morning, and you don't know him, we would love to have a conversation with you about who Christ is, what he has done for you, and what he desires for you to experience as a part of his family.

Then, if you are here and are not a member of our church, I'd like to invite you to take next steps in our membership class. Our next membership class is going to be January 5. You can go online to watermark.org/membership and register for that class today. That is your clear and next step toward becoming a member here at our church and experiencing thriving community and life together as part of a Community Group.

Then, if you're here and are a member but are not in community, I would encourage you not to wait to plug into a group. Our next Community Formation event is December 8. It would be our joy to help you get connected to a group. Lastly, if you're here and are a member and are in a Community Group that is more surviving than thriving, would you please reach out to your shepherd or your community director?

I'm saying this on behalf of our Community Team. It would be a true honor, joy, and privilege for us to get to come alongside of you and your group to help you walk and experience an abiding relationship with Jesus together, to enjoy life together, and to make disciples together. Friends, our hope and prayer is not that we would just be a surviving community but that we would be a thriving community. Let me pray that that would be true.

Father, we thank you for the joy and the privilege it is to gather as a family this morning. We thank you that we can call you our Father because of Christ, that while he knew no sin he became sin on our behalf so we might become the righteousness of God, that we would have the privilege of being called your sons and your daughters. Thank you that you didn't just save us to yourself but you saved us into your family.

God, I want to pray and ask that right now our church family would be bound together in Christ, that we would prioritize your presence as we gather together this morning and throughout the week, that we would be united together as one family because of Christ, that we would freely meet one another's needs, that we would aim to integrate our lives together, and that we would willingly include those whom you are seeking to add to your family.

Jesus, we pray and ask that in all of these things you would be exalted, you would be glorified, and we would be built up and strengthened as your church. We love you, and we thank you for first loving us. It's in Christ's name we pray, amen.