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Hey, welcome to Prairie Lakes. We are delighted that you're here this weekend, whether it's in a campus or online at home, or on vacation, or wherever you are. Uh, it's great to do this together. Never forget this about Prairie Lakes.

We're no matter church, no matter who you are, where you've been, what you've done, or even what's been done to you, God loves you, and you can go on the journey. You can look for God, uh, here. So, so great job. We're delighted that you're with us and, and we can do this together around Iowa.

Alright, so here's what's gonna happen. We're starting a new series this weekend, and the new series is entitled, we Don't Go To Church anymore, which seems kind of weird, right? We're gonna be talking about the people that are actually not going to church, to the people that actually are going to church.

I mean, it's, it's crazy, right? We only get 52 weekends a year, and you take out like, you know, advent Christmas e and the kind of Easter lin, which are really pretty prescribed, right? It leaves just like, you know, 42, 43, 44 kind of weekends in there where we can teach from the Bible and, and talk to you and, and ask what's God up to, uh, in us and, and, and around us.

So it, it's, it's a good question. Why would we talk about this in this setting? Well, my friends, here's why. Because something is happening at an unprecedented rate in our country.

It has never before been seen. Uh, there was a, a book written in, in August of 23 called The Great Deter de de Churching. And these guys did a, a study, a sociological study across the country. And lemme just read these two short paragraphs to you about their conclusions.

As a nation, we're currently experiencing the largest and fastest religious shift in the history of the United States. Tens of millions of formerly regular Christian worshipers nationwide have decided they no longer desire to attend church at all.

These are what we now called the de Church, what are now called the De-Churched. Second paragraph, about 40 million adults, which is 16% in America, the day used to go to church, but no longer do. And for the first time in eight decades, that Gallup has tracked American religious membership.

More adults in the United States don't attend church than attend church. This isn't a gradual shift, it's a jolting one. We're talking about this at Prairie Lakes Church on one of our precious weekends. In fact, for, for a few of these weekends, because we, it's happening.

We all know people who used to go, not church hopped, not church shopped, but church stopped people. And it's not out there somewhere. It's right here in our great state of Iowa. In fact, look, look at these charts and we'll, we're not gonna stay long on 'em, but I'm gonna give you the gist, okay?

Here's the, the people who identify, this is across America, the people who identify as evangelical Christians. We're an evangelical church. And by that we simply mean this, that we believe in a personal, uh, relationship with Jesus Christ.

Do we adhere to that? You have to make the decision to follow Jesus. That's, that's one of the tenets of evangelicalism. But look, in Iowa, only about 25% of Iowans would, would, would, would identify self-identify as, as evangelical.

Okay? So that, that's a big picture, right? So now let's, let's, let's bring it down to Iowa. Here's Iowa. And this is the change in religious adherence rate in 2020 versus 2010, right? So we're, we're, we're a few years behind this one, but this is crazy data.

Um, we are, um, uh, all these numbers are negative, okay? All these numbers except for a few, these green ones, but the rest are negative. And, and, and check this out, we are in counties here, here, here, here, and here and here. All of them are red. All the counties that Prairie Lakes is a part of are red, less people are regularly attending over the last 10 years, and I'm assuming that rate's even a little bit more since, since 2020.

And now this is the startling one for me. This was the, this was the one I probably would've argued against this chart, excuse me. But this is re religious attendance among Iowa and its neighbors. And normally, right, Iowa at the top of our neighbors is yes, because we're Iowa and you're not.

But this is the worst chart to be on top of. Just, just catch this, okay? So, so weekly is the yellow, or weekly plus is the yellow a 10 weekly is orange, monthly is red, okay? Or this pinkish color yearly is this color?

Seldom is bliss blue and never is this blue. So if you look at this, almost 70% of people attend church less than once a year. Let let that sink, 70% of Iowans attend church one time a year or less. It, it's happening. People are doing church less.

You know it, and I know it, and it seems really strange, right? It seems really strange for those of us who, who for this is, this is a big deal. This is, this is a part of our lives. This is what we're called to, right?

It's a, it's a big deal. We, we, we've, we, we sit in this spot that says, Hey, the, the, the church is the hope of the world. Paul even even said it like this. In, in, in Colossians 1 27, he says to them, the people who follow Christ, right, who have Christ in them, to them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

So when, when the people of Christ in them are this thing called the church that we believe we're the church, which is the hope of the world, right? We, we, we just got through going through the book of Ephesians, and there's a spot in Ephesians where he says, consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers.

Yes, you're no longer on the outside, but fellow citizens with God's people and also members of his household built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets with Christ, Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone in him, the whole building.

Now, he's, I always talk about this, this body of believers is joined together and rises to become a holy temple of the Lord. And in him, you too are being built together to become a dwelling, which God lives by his spirit, right? So, so that's how we view the world.

And, and it doesn't stop there, right? This is littered throughout the New Testament, littered throughout, really the whole Bible, just in Ephesians where we just were just one simple sentence. Husband loves your wive, love your wives.

Good idea, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her so far from, it doesn't matter. We view this as one of the most important things that does matter. If that's not quite enough, you know, we, we go, okay, so, all right, what did Jesus do?

Right? Because we wanted to be what Jesus did. And well, here's what Jesus did. Here's a story. Here's a, a verse from Luke four, and it says, he, Jesus went to Nazareth where he had been brought up, right? Remember, he grew up in Nazareth, and on the Sabbath day, he went into the synagogue, and what's the, what's to say?

As was his custom period. Then he stood up to read, but as was his custom. So, so the model of Jesus was, as was his custom. He worshiped on the weekend, right? He, he went to church, he went to to synagogue, which by the way, just kind of a side note here, there's some people I know that say, I, I'm a Jesus follower, but you're not following Jesus in this way.

Okay? Now, now, not, not just Jesus though, but it was the model of the New Testament. In fact, same thing said about Paul is, was his custom. Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days, he reasoned with them from the scriptures.

Regardless of how we feel, listen to this. We love this thing called the church, but right now in Iowa, 70% are opting out more people are missing it than getting it. All right? I'm gonna turn a corner now, and right now I wanna speak to people who are not in the room, who, who, who are not in the, the room.

Now you're, you're, you're, you're gonna come across this, okay? You're gonna come across because a friend said to you, you, you should check this out, or you're gonna come across this because it, it, it scrolled across one of your, uh, social media platforms, or, or for some reason, you're just curious, and this just happened to kinda roll into your world, but for whatever reason, you're not in the room.

For some of you, it's simply just, I've never, it's never been a part of your life. It just, it's not a part of your, your existence growing up or anything. For some of you, you went as a kid, but as soon as mom or dad or grandma or grandpa stopped making you go, you know, you opted out as soon as confirmation was over or whatever, for some of you, you just got busy or bored or even burnt, and you're just not here anymore.

I need you to know this. Oh, I need you to know this. In the next few weeks, we're gonna talk about some of those things. But I need you to know this today, right now, that what you're gonna get around here in this thing called the church, this church is a mix that you can't get anywhere else in this increasingly polarized nation.

And my friends, it's gonna get more polarized in the next year. And here's what you're gonna get around here. It's a rare mix of authenticity and optimism. Now, your view of the church, if you had some experience, may be different than that.

You, you, you, you may say, I don't, I don't, I've never, I can't imagine that. I've never seen that, or I, I didn't see that where I was. Okay? I'm telling you this now, that you're gonna get something that you can't really get anywhere else in our whole world.

And it's this rare mix of authenticity and optimism, and this incredibly hard to find in this polarized culture that we live in. What do I mean by this? I'm gonna, I'm gonna, I'm gonna walk down. I'm gonna, I'm gonna state some things that, that this is what the church is, this is what this church is.

And I, and I hope it surprises you. I hope it surprises you. Um, here, here's the first one. Okay? Here's the first one. It's okay to be stuck, and you don't have to stay stuck, okay? So, so, so authenticity, it's okay to be stuck. Optimism, but you don't have to, to stay stuck.

That's what around, around this place, right? We, we go to the, the Bible and we, we read it, and we look for God's truth. We believe it's God's word to us. But, but here's what you just, you just gotta know, we're, we're trying to reflect God.

And here's, here's who God is. God's this no matter God, that no matter who you are, where you've been or what you've done, or what's been done to you, he loves you and you can't change it, right? And so it's okay, right? It's okay to be stuck.

He loves you right where you're at and, and what he wants from you. He wants for your life to be better. He wants for you to be at peace. He wants for you to have a, to have a healthy whole heart and soul and spirit.

He doesn't have to stay stuck. It's okay, but you don't have to be there. This is the model of Jesus, right? This is what, what Jesus, this is the heart of God, and all this is what the gospel is for, for Jesus came. So, so he said this with Jesus talking about himself.

He said this for the son of man in Luke 19, he's talking to Zacchaeus, right? And, and remember the story of Zacchaeus was the wee little man, okay? For the son of man came to seek and save the lost, right?

This is Jesus talking about himself, say, so I came, Jesus said to seek and save the Lost. It's okay to be stuck. It's okay to be Lost. You don't have to stay stuck, and you don't have to stay lost.

Hmm. You know, who never gets tired of knowing God as this, no matter God and being a part of a church? That's a no matter church. It's the person that's experienced it, and the person who never forgets they need it. I've had five conversations in the last two weeks with guys who are showing up for the first time, guys who are taking steps in what we would call steps in their faith.

And you know, what matters to them. It matters that we're a no matter church, that it's okay to come in stuck. And, and, and I don't have to stay stuck in my, in my spirit, in my mind, in my life, in my relationships, in my marriage.

I don't have to stay stuck. You know, who gets tired of the no matter church, the self-righteous person who has forgotten the goodness of God to them? And this message gets old for them, my friends, listen, you, you don't go right now or you rarely go.

I want you to know this around here. We've got this rare mix of authenticity and optimism that says it's okay to be stuck, And you don't have to stay stuck here. Here's another one. There are no prerequisites to show up.

This is the, this is the religion versus relationship thing, right? I don't have to be something to, to be a part. I, I, I don't have to. There are no prerequisites, you know, religion says, and you may have a picture in your brain of religion.

And religion says this, religion says, um, I, I need to look the part, I need, I need to dress the part. I need to speak the part. I I need to act a certain way. And if I do certain things and I check the box off, um, then I'll be okay with God. And then people will like me, or people will think more highly of me than they ought to.

That's what religion, that's what religion does. So religion is the set of rules, void of love. But, but around here, there's this optimism that says, listen, it's not a check boxing issue. It's an issue of God loves you and you can just relax and be at peace with that.

You, you don't have to do anything. You know, one of the greatest, one of the greatest verses, and I think you'll like this, one of the greatest verses from Jesus. And, and, and of course all of 'em are gold, right? But one of the greatest verses that just seems to kind of grab me, it stirs something in me, is in Matthew 1128 to 30, when Jesus says this, he says, come to me, all you are weary and burdened.

And isn't, isn't that just something right there matter who you are, where you've been, or what you've done, or what's been done to you? You can come to me, Jesus says, and I'll give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. In other words, lean into me and let them get, get connected and hooked to me and learn from me, for I'm gentle and humble and heart, and you'll find rest for your souls.

For my yoke is easy. And my burden is like, you know, I just, there's a picture that that I get. I've got, I've got my wife, Kay and I, we have 11 grandkids that are 10 years old and under. And I can tell you one of the, the greatest ages is when they're just that, that tiny thing, and they still think you're the best thing in the whole world.

And you pick up one of those grandkids and they, you hold 'em and they just go limp in your arms and they, they put their head in your shoulder and they're just content. They just, they just lean in and you're holding them, and they just, they're just there.

And they trust you. And they're, they know they're protected, and they're, they're their, your strength is their strength, and they feel loved and cared for. And it's such a, such a great feeling as a papa. I I think it's that same thing with Jesus.

I think you can come to him no matter, and you can rest in him, and he can bring peace to you. You don't have to be something to show up. Just show up and let him do something in you. No prerequisite, prerequisites to show up at this place.

Here's a third one. Okay? Here's a third one. We're gonna talk about all the stuff, okay? We're gonna talk about all the stuff. There's really, there's really no any, any no go zones when it comes to this church. There, there, there just isn't. And why are we like that?

Because, because Jesus was like that. Because that's what, that's what what Jesus did. He didn't run away from any conversations. He didn't run away from tackling the hard stuff. I mean, he, he hit it all. And, and so are we, right? Sex and sexuality, money and marriage and grief, and raising kids and emotional health and forgiveness and past mistakes and joy and pain and hurt and disappointment and trust and love and, and hate all the stuff, right?

All the stuff, because Jesus talked about all the stuff. Sometimes it's uncomfortable. We're okay being uncomfortable. Sometimes you, you just wanna know what's God say about that? Or, or, or how do you view this part of the world?

How do you view this? We're not afraid of that. Here. We're gonna talk about it. And and not only was Jesus like that, but it was the model for how the early church first started. In fact, Paul, who was, who was the, you know, the lead apostle, right?

One of the apostles and, and was the great missionary who spread the good news and wrote most of the New Testament in, in Acts 17. There's just this, it's, it's, it's fascinating 'cause he went around to all these different parts of the Middle East, and, and he, and he, and he, he says, Paul then stood up in, in the meeting of Theus, right?

So he stood up and it was in Athens, right? Greece. And he said, this people of Athens, I see now, listen to this. I see that in every way. You are very religious. Now, catch this, for as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription to an unknown God.

Now just, just think about that for a minute. What did Paul do? He walked around so he could know the culture, he could know what they're facing. He could know what they're dealing with, know what they're worshiping and not worshiping and know what's going on so he could speak to it.

And my friends, that's what we're gonna do. That's what the church does. We're gonna talk about all the stuff because God speaks to it and want what's best for you. Okay? So, so another step here. Now, let's keep going. So it's okay to be stuck, and you don't have to stay stuck.

No prereq prerequisites show up. We're gonna talk about all the stuff. And then this one, everything is grace and truth. And the crazy thing about grace and truth is this, that there's a lot of people that wanna pit those against each other.

It can be all full of grace, which means unmerited favor. That doesn't matter what you did, you know, just okay or all truth. And this is what it says. So, right? And, and, and we wanna, we wanna make those opposite of, of, of each other.

We, we wanna pit 'em against each other. We want grace and truth. They, we can look at 'em as diametrically opposed. You can't have 'em both together. They're, they're not the same. And here's the crazy thing about grace and truth is that constantly, when you read the gospels read about Jesus' life, he had enemies all the time.

Enemies mostly were the religious people. And here's what they did all the time. They're always trying to pit grace and truth. They're always trying to trap him into, into making some kind of statement that made these bang in to each other.

But Jesus didn't let that happen. And why didn't Jesus let that happen? Here's why. Because in John one, in the very beginning of John's gospel, the very beginning of chapter one, verse 14 talking about Jesus, this is the, this is code for Jesus.

The word Jesus became flesh or think Christmas, right? Think birth of Christmas became flesh and made, made his dwelling among us. He lived on this earth. And then he said, John said, we've seen his glory. I mean, he means we've seen his glory, the glory of the one and only son who came from the Father, right?

Came from heaven. And look what it says about Jesus full of grace and truth. Not 50 50, not 2080, not 30 70, not 40 60, but full of grace and truth, not opposed to each other. He wasn't a split personality, but Jesus, Jesus walked the earth with this.

He was full of grace towards people who made mistakes and full of truth. So people could move on from their mistakes full of grace, that people could be forgiven full of truth, of how they could be forgiven. This is, it's messy and it's tough to live out, but hey, friend, you may have never been here, or you may have used to go a long time ago.

You, you need to know that around here, there's this rare mix. And one of those rare mixes is this, just like Jesus, we're gonna do our very best to be full of grace and full of truth. Here's another part of the rare mix that, that you just need to know that the struggle is real And it can be good, Right?

And I'm real careful saying this right, but All Of the struggle, it's real all, I can't tell you the conversations I have in a week of, of, of marriages that are struggling, of people that are struggling, of kids that are struggling of, of people that have had a horrible past of death that's happened in the family of the, the Dr.

Coles. And it's the, it's the cancer word, right? It's just none of us escapes this. You live on this planet. Struggle is real, but the optimism with this thing called the church Around here is What we know is it can be good. That, that God could actually, if you allow him to, He'll Let you be in the struggle.

Which is weird to say that he lets it happen, but he it does. And He's in the middle of it doing something in you and with you. Paul wrote a book to the Romans, and, and, and he described struggle.

And and look at what he says about it. He says, he says in almost three, five, he says, not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings. Now, that's a really hard statement, right? Glory. In other words, we, we kind of, we kind of hallelujah in, in our sufferings.

And he says, because, because we know that suffering produces perseverance. Perseverance, character and character, hope. And I, and I and I, I think of this, this spot. And when you're in the middle of it, it's hard to see and I don't wanna see it.

But I think, you know, and I, and I know that in my struggles as I've walked through them, not avoided them, but walked through 'em, not missed them, but really had 'em, that you can look back and you go, you know, something happened in me. And he says that it can produce perseverance, which is hang in there, and that could be character, which is you are who you say you are.

And then hope. And then he says, this is about hope, like hope's the last thing you think about in suffering, right? He says, hope does not put us to shame, 'cause suffering and shame go together. Why am I suffering? What did I do wrong?

Why is this happening to me? I must be right because God's love has been poured out into our hearts, through the Holy Spirit who's been given to us. So it's this crazy mix, right? It's this, this crazy mix. Can you imagine not running from your struggle or cursing it all the time, though I do curse mine sometimes, or even playing the victim card, but actually seeing purpose from it.

It's this rare mix of authenticity that happens and optis optimism, but God can use it. A couple more quick ones, okay? That, just, that, that to have this right, we journey alone and we journey together. What? Yeah, the, the, the journey, the spiritual journey.

Part of it's alone. It's you and it's, it's your walk with God, right? It's, it's, it's what's him working in you. It's you giving him room. And part of it's together. Some of us say, well, I don't like being alone. I like being together. Some of us say, I like being alone.

I don't like being together. Some of us don't like either one of those, some of 'em like both all the time and, and, right. But here's the deal. When it comes to this like learning about God and walking with God and, and, and growing with him, it's alone and together.

It's alone and together. And that's how he works. And, and there's just one more of these, one more mix, right? And, and here's the mix. It's it's decisions that get made about faith and spirituality and about Jesus. It's your decision. It's not ours, right?

So, so we're in this together, alone in together, but the decisions that that are made are, are yours. And, and we know this, right? Lasting decisions and commitments are never coerced by guilt or force or even, even even emotion. Nobody decides big spiritual steps for you.

Nobody around here. This church is gonna force big spiritual steps on you. I mean, when you were young, maybe your mom did, or your dad did, or your parents did, but that doesn't happen. That's not the way that it works.

A milestone like the faith line where you finally say, okay, Jesus, I I can't do it. And you can, you, I confess my sin and I, I repent. I turn from it and, and, and I wanna be a new creature. We've had a bunch of those milestone, or whether it's a milestone like baptism where you're publicly displaying it or, or membership becoming a part of this church and saying, I'm gonna, I'm gonna make a difference in my little Iowa, whatever it is, right?

Or a next step, like attending or serving or groups or giving or inviting, whatever it is, those decisions are yours, not ours. We don't coerce or dictate or, or, or emotionally. Um, emotionally manipulate met with a guy this week who made the decision, right?

His decision to step over the faith line and what his decision was based on was this. He was just sick of himself. He was sick of where he was and he didn't want to be there anymore. And he knew that Jesus was really his only hope.

I didn't decide for him. He decided, best decision you'll ever make. Alright? So, so thank you. Um, that's what the church is, that's what this church is. Alright? Now I'm gonna step again and now I wanna talk to us back in the room.

Okay? I wanna get back to us back in the room. And the question is now what? Right? We've seen the stats and they're incredible. 70% of Iowans go to church one time or less a year. 70% seven out of the 10 houses on your street, seven out of the 10 coworkers that you have, seven out of the 10 people on your team, seven outta the 10 families that you hang out with.

Seven out of 10 in Iowa don't go. So I'm gonna speak to us in the room, right? This the way this, the way this jolting church crisis gets solved is when the majority group, the no-go see the minority group.

The dogo actually look and smell like Jesus. When the dogo start to pray and act more like Jesus and be more like Jesus, then the no-go will become do goes. Peter speaks to this and, and he and he, and he said, they just, he just said this boldly and simply in his book, in one Peter two 12, he says this, live such good lives among the pagans.

And though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us, they, he visits us. The day Jesus either comes back or the day that you go home. Um, you can glorify God in those two days if you're at peace with God, and you could be at peace with God.

If you've seen how good God is and how you're gonna see how good God is, is when you see it from somebody who knows him. That's the call friends. That's the call. And here's the deal. Most of the no-go say they would go, this is statistically proven that they would go if they were invited, simply invited by a trusted friend.

So our strategy at Prairie Lakes and our strategy, if you're a part of this thing called Prairie Lakes, all around Iowa, Your little Iowa needs you, your little Iowa is the people that you, that you sit with, your neighbors, friends, coworkers, relatives, that's your little Iowa.

They need to see you being an authentic and optimistic follower. And they need to be invited by you. They come sit with me and see this church that looks like Jesus. And here's the strategy.

It's you inviting and it's one soul at a time. One spirit at a time, one heart at a time, one relationship at a time. It's one coffee at a time. It's one sitting in the garage watching the game at a time. It's one, uh, pickup game at a time.

It's one play date at a time. It's one workout at a time. It's one dog walk together at a time. It's one fishing trip at a time. It's one garage gathering at a time. It's one game watching at a time. It's one bleacher sitting at a time.

It's one wrench turning session at a time. It's 1D IY project at a time. It's one back deck at a time. It's one coffee at a time, one lunch at a time, even one beer at a time To help the no-go become Dogo friends.

The Statistics Are Terrible, but we belong to the one place that carries authenticity and Optimism Because of Jesus. We are the do Goes That need to help the no-go show up one at a time on an arm.

Come sit with me. That's the way we're gonna win Iowa. That's where the stats are gonna be reversed. All right? Cross Iowa right now. Let's pray together. Okay? Let's pray. Breathe with me, okay? Breathe with me. So, God, thank you. Um, Forgive us for our part in these stats that are bad.

We haven't always been the church. We should be. We haven't always been the neighbor we should be. But Father, we, we want that to change through our simple prayers that we God could model the rare mix of Jesus, the authenticity and the optimism that can only come from him.

May we model that in this thing called the church name of Jesus we pray. Amen. Amen.