Romans 12:15- Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.

• What happens at the table?
• • Communication, or connection, can be defined as three levels
  • • Shallow - external facts and stories
    • Midlands - internal facts of experience or feeling
    • Depths - internal reflection and resonating with someone else's internal reflections
• Romans 12:15
• Jesus' path to complete joy
• • Love leads to joy
  • • Galatians 5:22-23
    • John 15:9-11
  • Jesus sharing joy: Mark 14 - The Lord's Supper
• "Being able to participate in someone else's joy is good for them, good for us - and good for everyone around us! Rejoice together and feel yourself grow lighter and more joyful." - Vivek Gambhir, Leadership Expert and Author
• When it's hard to rejoice: Choose Joy.
• • "Joy does not simply happen to us. We have to choose joy and keep choosing it every day." - Professor Henri Nouwen.
  • • A Case for Choosing Joy from Neurology:
    • • Survival brain and the 14:1 ratio of anxious thoughts
      • Neuroplasticity and God's Design
      • • Neurons that fire together, wire together
        • • We can grow our "joy center" in the brain by choosing joy
    • A Case for Choosing Joy from Scripture: Rejoice Always
    • • Philippians 4:4-8
      • Sharing Sorrows the Jesus Way: Jesus knew sorrow.
  • Mark 14:32-34
  • A Case for Sharing Sorrow from Psychology:
  • Community's impact on Trauma Recovery
  • The Impact of relational support in developing resilience
• A Case for Sharing Sorrow from Scripture: Bearing on another's burdens
• • Hebrews 10:24-25
  • • "Encourage" - Greek parakaleo, verb of paraklete, noun for the Helper (the Holy Spirit)
  • Ecclesiastes 4:9-12
• What breaks community
• • Covetousness breaks our ability to share joy
  • • Luke 12:13-15
  • Contentment builds community
  • • 1 Timothy 6:6 - But godliness actually is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment
  • Pride breaks our ability to share sorrows
  • • Romans 12:16 - Be of the same mind toward one another; do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation.
  • Humble Unity builds community
  • • 1 Peter 3:8 - To sum up, all of you be harmonious, sympathetic, brotherly, kindhearted, and humble in spirit;
  • Gossip breaks our ability to build trust
  • • Proverbs 16:28 - A perverse man spreads strife, and a slanderer separates intimate friends.
  • Listening and speaking wisely build community
  • • Proverbs 10:19 - Where there are many words, transgression is unavoidable, but he who restrains his lips is wise.
    • James 1:19 - This you know, my beloved brethren. But everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger;
• Our Hope for Real Community: Jesus prayed that we would be unified in Him
• • John 17:20-21 - "I don't ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me."
• Next steps to build community
• • Get around a table; get real with people.
• Spiritual preparation for community
• • Confess: Covetousness, Pride, Gossip
  • Ask: Contentment, Humility, Wisdom to listen and to speak

Tables: Who's at the table?

1 Corinthians 12:12-14, Romans 15:7

July 12th, 2026

“Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body, whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free, and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.” -1 Corinthians 12:12-14

-Matthew was a Tax Collector

-Simon was a Zealot

-Jesus chose them BOTH

- Jesus wasn't building a group of people who naturally belonged together. He was building a family whose unity would be found in Him.

1) The Body Needs All Its Parts

-Our primary identity is no longer found in our background, our politics, our age, or our status. Our primary identity is that we belong to Christ.

"A dwelling place requires not one big stone but many pieces of stone, interlocked and fortified together... together our unique shapes complement each other and create a more structurally sound building." -Brett McCracken

2) Living with Different People is Hard

"Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ."

Galatians 6:2

-Community isn't about finding people who never create burdens. It's about becoming the kind of people who help carry them.

"bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you." - Colossians 3:13

"Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace." - Ephesians 4:2-3

"In true community we will not choose our companions, for our choices are so often limited by self-serving motives. Often our companions will be persons who upset our settled view of self and world." -Parker Palmer

3) The Spirit Is the Bond That Holds Us

"For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body." 1 Corinthians12:13

-The church is not an institution for perfect people. It is a sanctuary for sinners saved by grace

"If I had never joined a church till I had found one that was perfect, I should never have joined one at all." - Charles Spurgeon

"Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.” Romans 15:7

Listen to the podcast and take your own notes!

All great change in America begins at the dinner table.” -Ronald Reagan

Central IDEA

God, who is Himself a community of Father, Son, and Spirit, created us in His relational image. We are not built for isolation. Jesus calls us to be family.

This is our job description:

Ephesians 4:

The table I am bringing emphasis to this morning is The EMPTY TABLE

Genesis 1:26–27 | Mark 3:13–35

Theme: Loneliness & God’s Design

Sociologists and historians point to the kitchen table as the most formative table in human civilization-where families ate, argued, laughed, and passed down faith and values.

• It's where language and story were passed down.
• It's where conflict got resolved (or didn't).

• It's unglamorous and therefore consistent.

• Research backs it up.

Tables are connected to some of the most important and meaningful moments in our lives.

The Empty table. Loneliness and God’s Design.

The Loneliness Crisis (Statistics)

But for followers of Jesus, this isn't simply a social problem. It is a spiritual problem.

The enemy's strategy has always been isolation. God's design has always been community.

The Deeper Problem that drives loneliness and the empty table:

• Sociologists call it “radical individualism” — the cultural programming to prioritize self above any community.

The community is then valued only as long as it helps the individual achieve those goals.

• Radical individualism is sabotaging our formation into people of love because it trains us to prioritize personal autonomy, self-fulfillment, and private spirituality over the sacrificial, interconnected life Jesus calls us to live. Here are several ways individualism is destructive:

1. Love Becomes Optional Instead of Obligatory

Jesus commanded, "Love one another as I have loved you."

2. Community Becomes a Consumer Choice

Instead of asking, "How can I contribute to the body?" we begin asking, "What am I getting out of this?"

3. We Avoid the Cost of Relationships

As Paul writes, "Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ" (Galatians 6:2).

4. Personal Freedom Becomes More Important Than Mutual Responsibility

Radical individualism elevates rights and preferences;

Christianity elevates responsibility and love.

5. Self-Expression Replaces Self-Giving

The highest virtue becomes self-expression.

Jesus offers a radically different vision:
"Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me." (Luke 9:23)

Instead of looking inward for identity, Jesus calls us to look upward and outward:

6. Faith Becomes Private Instead of Shared

When God saves you, He doesn't just forgive your sins; He brings you to His table and makes you part of His family."

Radical individualism teaches us to organize our lives around ourselves; Jesus teaches us to organize our lives around love. Love requires a table.

POINT 1 | God Is a Community

Genesis 1:26–27

POINT 2 | Jesus Called a Family

Mark 3:13–35 NLT

Mark 3:34–35

Key Word: Adelphoi (Siblings)

Dunbar’s Four Circles

Our deepest formation happens in the smaller circles — not just the tribe, but the table.

• Intimates (1–5): People who deeply know and love you

• Community Kin / Table (15–50): People you do life with

• Small Group Village (~150): Your wider church community

• Tribe: The larger movement — Turning Point, Open Bible Churches

CONCLUSION

• The ache of loneliness is real — and God put it there It is not a malfunction; it is a signpost pointing us back to community

• We are made in the image of a relational God.

• Jesus did not save us to be alone — he saved us into a family

This summer, we’re going to learn how to set the table.

ANCHOR VERSE

“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.”

Adult & Teen Challenge is an arm of the Church. We are a mission of the Church & our mission field is THE (Spiritual) BATTLE FIELD OF ADDICTION.
Describe Addiction. Core is sin. Deep yearning. Sinful nature. When we give over to it, we become slaves to it (Jeus words).
THAT IS WHAT HAPPENED TO ME.
It doesn’t have to be chasing intoxication through drugs & alcohol, it can be: chasing money, business, anger, lust…. The core word of intoxication, is TOXIC, because it is destructive to our souls, we are never fully satisfies, and we are left wanting more. That is the sinful nature.
John 4:5-18, 28-29
Jesus invites us to come to Him, and drink and be fully satisfied in Him. In fact, so much so, that it Wells up to Eternity. And later in John 7:37-39, Jesus also says that whoever believes in Him, Rivers of Living Water will flow from within them (and He is talking about the Holy Spirit).
**JESUS, THANK YOU FOR FULLY SATISFYING
(So Jesus stayed in that town for 2 days then continued to travel, healing along the way and was making his way to Jerusalem for the Passover Feast.
—John 5:2-9
“Get up, take up your bed, and walk.” (9) AND AT ONCE THE MAN WAS HEALD, and he took up his bed and walked.
(VICTIM. // The man remained there because he had HOPE. Adult & Teen Challenge is like that pool, and a place of healing.)
I thank GOD for the work of His Church, and a for a mission like Adult & Teen Challenge; where Jesus Shows up, heals men (like myself), and so many others. Offers us a drink from His eternal well. And that He heals us! No longer a victim, and blind, lame and paralyzed in bondage. We become truly alive in Christ.
Those who the Son set’s free, are free indeed!
He’s done it for me, and Now I get to be on mission as a husband, a father, delight in Jesus, and serve some incredible men at ATC for His Kingdom Sake.
But He is also warns us to “sin no more, than nothing worse may happen to you.”
I have decided, to follow Jesus;I have decided, to follow Jesus (draw near),
The Cross before Me, the world behind me,No turning back, no turning back
** TESTIMONY: Corey & David
He calls us out and re-forms us to be like Him. We were de-formed by all the wrong things, but now He makes us new.
We used to be (Sinners) addicts, but now we are child of God who experiences the promised (John 10:10) abundant life that Christ came to give us (He rescued us).
Justification / Sanctification – learn to Sacrifice, and Suffering for Him and His Kingdom (we need His grace to walk this out!) / Glorification
Adult & Teen Challenge exists: To share the Good News of Jesus -- who heals, delivers, transforms, empowers and makes all things new. To shepherd students away from the kingdom of darkness, and toward the Kingdom of the Son of the God.
We work really hard to provide a strong program, and a beautiful campus that is conducive to this new way of living, following after Christ. (Sin / archery) – IT’S A CHALLENGE
Through our COMPREHENSIVE APPROACH model (Brokenness/Sin/Bondage – Healing, Transformation)
Turning Point helps us do that. Thank you for your partnership, and investing in the work.
Why do people sin (use drugs/alcohol)? Because it offers something, but it’s counterfeit. Jesus came that we may have life and life abundantly.

Unoffendable

"I think a mature Christian is someone who is very difficult to offend." Dallas Willard
PART ONE: THE CLAIM WE MAKE FOR OURSELVES

"My Anger Is Different"

Ephesians 4:26 NIV
“In your anger do not sin”
Ephesians 4:26–27 NIV
“In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold.
Ephesians 4:31 NIV
Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.
James 1:19–20 NIV
My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.
PART TWO: WHAT ANGER ACTUALLY DOES TO YOU

The Carrion We Won't Put Down

Paul's instruction in Romans 12 is one of the most counterintuitive things in the New Testament:
Romans 12:19 NIV
Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord.
PART THREE: THE FREEDOM ON THE OTHER SIDE

What Unofficial People Look Like

Ephesians 4:32 NASB 2020
Be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.

What the World Sees When Christians Stay Offended

John 13:35 NIV
By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
What offense are you carrying right now that you have labeled righteous? What anger are you maintaining because you believe you are owed something?

We are currently experiencing the largest and fastest religious shift in U.S. history. Greater than the First and Second Great Awakenings—and every revival combined—but in the opposite direction.

The Great Dechurching

Dechurching simply means stopping church attendance.

Deconstruction

Deconstruction is something more internal. It is the process of pulling apart the architecture of your faith: questioning doctrines you were handed, examining foundations you were never allowed to examine, asking whether what you were taught is actually true.

For some people, "faith deconstruction" means that they have come to see the historic teachings and doctrines of the church as crafted to make us pawns and suppress our personhood. They are walking away from both the church and traditional Christian faith altogether.

For them, deconstruction—a dismantling—is the end-point of the process.

— Tim Keller, "Reconstructing Faith," Gospel in Life (2022)

The Cave (1 Kings 19)

1 Kings 19:1–3 NIV

1 Kings 19:4 NIV

1 Kings 19:5–7 NIV

1 Kings 19:9–10 NIV

1 Kings 19:11–12 NIV

Part Four: Why It Happens (And What the Church Must Own)

1. Suffering and injustice
2. Disillusionment with Christian leaders
3. Conflating primary and secondary beliefs
4. Faith that was never truly owned

What We Are Called to Do - Go Into Caves

Hebrews 10:24–25 NIV

And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

Teach People to Doubt Their Doubts

Christians in our cultural moment will have to rethink their faith, but at the same time they must learn to "doubt their doubts." They must deconstruct not only their tacit, mistaken beliefs, but also just as importantly, the cultural narratives that are offered as the alternatives to Christian faith.

— Tim Keller, "Reconstructing Faith," Gospel in Life (2022)

The Prophetic Word

There is a generation right now, in Spokane, in our city that is deconstructing quietly, drifting painfully, sitting in caves. They need to encounter a community that will come in after them. Not to lecture them back into church. To bring them bread. To sit with them. To ask: what are you doing here? And to stay long enough to hear the answer.

Jeremiah 17:7–8 NIV

Artificial Intelligence

What does it mean to follow Jesus in a world being reshaped at the level of truth, identity, relationships, and what it means to be human?
Four thoughts in response as a follower of Jesus to Artificial Intelligence:

First Thought,

We Need to Understand the Moment

Meet Martha, Again

Luke 10:41–42 NLT
This Is Not the First Time the Church Has Been Here

Ecclesiastes 1:9–10 NLT
History merely repeats itself. It has all been done before. Nothing under the sun is truly new. Sometimes people say, “Here is something new!” But actually it is old; nothing is ever truly new.
“Think of AI as an intelligent, capable seminary intern at your disposal. It reduces administrative burdens, but just as churches wouldn’t outsource pastoral care to an intern, they shouldn’t use AI as a shortcut for spiritual leadership.”

- Kenny Jahng, National Association of Evangelicals

What AI Actually Is (And Isn’t)

•What AI IS: a capable tool, a research assistant, an organizer, a translator, an amplifier
•What AI IS NOT: a soul. It cannot feel conviction, shepherd a grieving widow at 2am, or pray with faith. It has read every commentary ever written and has never once wrestled with God over a text at midnight. That matters.
Colossians 2:8 NLT
Don’t let anyone capture you with empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the spiritual powers of this world, rather than from Christ.

Second Thought,

Know Who You Are

The Inner Life AI Cannot Touch, But Can Disrupt

Matthew 6:31–33 NLT
You Are an Image-Bearer, Not a Data Point

Psalm 139:13–14 NLT

Third Thought,

Four Places the Church Must Hold the Line

Psalm 139:1–6 NLT
Psalm 139:23–24 NLT

1st Line to Hold: Spiritual Guidance.

Hebrews 4:12–13 NLT

2nd Line to Hold: Our Kids Are Not Ready For AI. Get Them Ready!

Proverbs 13:20 NLT

3rd Line to Hold: Truth and Deepfakes are Blurred. Character Is the One Thing That Cannot Be Faked

“In a world already polarized and skeptical, deepfakes will erode the final remnants of shared reality, where no photo, video, or voice recording can be trusted without verification.” - Carey Nieuwhof
John 14:6 NLT

4th Line to Hold On AI and Death: The Resurrection Answers What AI Never Can

1 Thessalonians 4:13–14 NLT

Final Thought,

How Do We Respond?

Use It as a Tool, Not a Teacher or a Companion

Proverbs 3:5–6 NLT
Philippians 4:8 NLT

Double Down on What AI Cannot Do

Acts 2:42–47 MSG
Micah 6:8 NLT