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BECOMING A CHURCH THAT CAN'T BE MISSED John 13:34-35, Acts 2:42-46Have you ever gone to a restaurant, sat down, and nobo...
19/07/2026

BECOMING A CHURCH THAT CAN'T BE MISSED
John 13:34-35, Acts 2:42-46

Have you ever gone to a restaurant, sat down, and nobody noticed you?
No greeting. No menu. No one asks what you need.
After 20 minutes you just get up and leave.

That’s exactly how a lot of people feel in church.
They show up. They serve. They sing. Then one Sunday they don’t come... and nobody calls.

Church isn’t supposed to feel like a restaurant. It’s supposed to feel like home.

Today I want to talk about 3 things that make a church feel like home:
1.Family
2.Love
3.Brotherhood.

Father, teach us how to love like You love. Make us a family that reflects Your heart. In Jesus name, Amen.

POINT 1: THE IMPORTANCE OF FAMILY
Ephesians 3:14-15, Ecclesiastes 4:9-10

The first thing God gave Adam wasn’t a job. It wasn’t a ministry. It was family. Genesis 2:18 — "It is not good for man to be alone."

Think about your biological family. When you’re sick, they bring soup. When you lose, they sit with you. When you win, they brag about you. They don’t ask “what can you do for me?” They just show up because you’re theirs.

That’s how church should be.

3 Truths about God’s Family:
1. Family is where you’re known: In a crowd you’re a number. In a family you have a name. Jesus called His disciples by name.
2. Family is where you’re safe: You can be weak and not be judged. Galatians 6:2 — "Bear one another’s burdens."
3. Family is where you grow: Iron sharpens iron. Proverbs 27:17. We challenge each other to be more like Christ.

But family without love becomes duty. So the second thing we need is...

POINT 2: LOVE ONE ANOTHER
John 13:34-35, 1 Corinthians 13:1-3

Jesus said this would be our ID card. Not our denomination. Not our worship style. Love.

"By this everyone will know you are my disciples, if you love one another."

You can have the best sound system, the best preaching, tongues, prophecy, miracles... but if a widow is crying alone in the back row and no one goes to her, we missed it. Paul said without love, we’re just a loud gong.

What real love looks like:
1. Love notices: If someone is missing 2 Sundays, love texts them. "Hey, we missed you."
2. Love serves: James 2:15-16 If your brother is hungry and you just say "be blessed", that’s not love.
3. Love stays: Love doesn’t leave when it’s hard. Romans 12:10 — "Be devoted to one another in brotherly love."

The world is tired of slogans. They want to see love that costs something.

And when love becomes lifestyle, you get the third thing — real brotherhood.

POINT 3: THE IMPORTANCE OF COMMUNITY BROTHERHOOD
Acts 2:42-46

Look at the early church. They weren’t just meeting on Sundays.

"They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer... All the believers were together and had everything in common."

This was community:
- They ate together
- They prayed together
- They shared needs together
- No one was in need

A coal by itself goes cold in 5 minutes. But put it with other coals in the fire and it stays hot for hours. That’s brotherhood. We keep each other on fire.

3 Things brotherhood does:
1. It carries you: When you’re too weak to pray, someone prays for you.
2. It corrects you: Proverbs 27:17 — Friends tell you the truth in love.
3. It celebrates you: Romans 12:15 — Rejoice with those who rejoice.

But here’s the honest part. Sometimes we fail each other. We preach love from the pulpit and ignore people in the pews. And people get hurt and walk away. Not because they stopped loving God. But because they stopped feeling like they mattered.

God is calling us to repent of that.

Jesus said the world would recognize us by our love.

So let me ask 3 questions:
1. Who knows you? Who would notice if you weren’t here next Sunday?
2. Who are you carrying? Who can you call this week and say "I’m with you"?
3. What kind of church do we want to be? One with great programs, or one with great love?

I challenge you for this week: to pick some names. Text them. Call them. Visit them. Bring them food. Pray with them. Let’s make love impossible to miss.

Father, forgive us for the times we’ve been a crowd instead of a family. Teach us to love like Jesus. Help us to see the ones who are hurting, the ones who are missing, the ones who are tired. Make our church a house where nobody walks alone. In Jesus name.

Amen.

JS

Let me talk to you.Stop Running to Tarshish Jonah 1:1-3, Jonah 3:1-2, Matthew 11:28 Have you ever felt tired of being ...
18/07/2026

Let me talk to you.

Stop Running to Tarshish

Jonah 1:1-3, Jonah 3:1-2, Matthew 11:28

Have you ever felt tired of being "you"? Tired of the mask, tired of the lies, tired of pretending, tired of living a fake life?

Jonah felt that. God gave him a clear, anointed appointment: "Go to Nineveh and preach."
But Jonah bought a ticket in the opposite direction. Tarshish.

He wasn’t just changing cities. He was abandoning the thing God anointed him for.

And when he did, 3 things happened: His life got chaotic, people around him got hurt, and he lost his peace.

You can run from God’s assignment, but you can’t run from the storm it creates. The way to rest is to come back to the call.

Today God is asking the same questions:
Why are you upset?
Where are you going?
Why are you running away?
Why are you hiding?
What are you afraid of?

Let’s walk through Jonah’s story so we can find our way back to rest.

POINT 1: ABANDONING THE ANOINTED CALL CREATES CHAOS
Jonah 1:1-3 "Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah... 'Arise, go to Nineveh...' But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord."

Anointed doesn’t mean easy. It means "set apart and sent." When God puts His hand on your life for something, that thing carries His presence.

The moment Jonah said "no", everything unraveled.
Jonah 1:4 "But the Lord hurled a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest... so that the ship threatened to break up."

Notice: It wasn’t just Jonah’s storm. The whole boat was shaking because of one man’s disobedience.

That’s how it works today.
When we abandon the work God gave us, when we choose to live a lie, cheat, fake it, hide it, break people's hearts, break other people’s homes, the chaos doesn’t stay in us. It spills over.
Into our home. Into our ministry. Ito our businesses. Into our families. Into our friendships. People start saying, "something is off with you."

You can try to sugar coat your story. But storms expose what’s really in the boat.

A generator that’s not plugged in. It still makes noise, but there’s no light. That’s life outside of God’s assignment. Busy, noisy, and dark.

POINT 2: WE RUN BECAUSE OF SHAME, NOT BECAUSE OF STRENGTH
Jonah 1:3 "to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord."

Why did he run? Nineveh was cruel. He was afraid they wouldn’t listen. Afraid he’d fail. Afraid of being known.

Sound familiar?

We change place we live in, cities, go into hiding. We build a fake life because:
1. SHAME: "If they knew what I did, they’d reject me."
Psalm 32:3-5 "When I kept silent, my bones wasted away... I acknowledged my sin to you."
2. FEAR: "What if I try and I mess up again?"
3. PRIDE: "I don’t want to be known as the problem."

So we lie. We cheat. We perform. But Proverbs 28:13 says "Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy."

Running doesn’t remove guilt. It multiplies it. The fish was uncomfortable, but it was also God’s mercy. Sometimes God will put you in a tight place just to get your attention.

What are you hiding right now that God is asking you to bring to the light?

POINT 3: GOD’S ANSWER TO WEARY RUNNERS IS REST, NOT REJECTION
Here’s the good news. God didn’t fire Jonah.

Jonah 3:1-2 "Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, 'Arise, go to Nineveh...'"

Second chances are in God’s nature. The anointing wasn’t cancelled. The appointment was waiting.

And Jesus says it even clearer:
Matthew 11:28 "Come to me, all who labor and are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest."

God is not saying "Come after you clean up."
He’s saying "Come as you are. Weary. Ashamed. Tired of lying."

John 8:32 "and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."

Truth breaks the fake life. Confession breaks the hiding. Obedience brings back peace.

The prodigal son. He rehearsed a speech. The father just ran and hugged him. That’s our God.

Jonah ended up in Nineveh. 120,000 people repented. One man’s obedience changed a city.

What city, what family, what assignment is waiting on your "yes"?

God is asking you today:
Where are you going? Back to Tarshish, or back to Nineveh?
Why are you running?
Because of shame? He offers forgiveness.
What are you afraid of? Because He says "I will give you rest."

You don’t have to keep performing. You don’t have to keep hiding.

If you’re weary today, if you’ve abandoned what God put in your hands, if you’re living a lie, this is your Jonah 3:1 moment. God is speaking to you a second time.

Lay down the mask. 1 John 1:9 "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us."

Come back to the assignment: What did God tell you to do that you walked away from? A relationship to mend, a ministry to restart, purity to choose?

3. Receive His rest: Not the world’s rest. His rest.

Let’s pray.

Father, we’ve been running. We’ve been hiding. Forgive us for abandoning what You anointed us for. Today we come back. Give us courage to face Nineveh, and give us Your rest for our weary souls. In Jesus name, Amen.

JS

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