THE POSSIBILITIES OF PLUGGING IN // S01E03 (EPISODE 3)

Plugging into the local church body isn’t just to make friends or to complete what God has told you to do—it is a vital component of serving Him and encountering opportunities to do His will. Today we’re diving into the importance of seeking community and the domino effect it has in leading others to seek Christ.

QUESTIONS WE TOUCH ON IN THIS EPISODE

• What is community?
• What does it mean to plug in?
• Why is community important?

VERSES FROM THE POSSIBILITIES OF PLUGGING IN

James 2:17, Galatians 6:2, Ruth 2, Colossians 3:14, Hebrews 10:24-25, Acts 2:46-47, Colossians 3:23-24

QUOTES FROM THE POSSIBILITIES OF PLUGGING IN

“Don’t just let church be that place you reside.”

Shea Watson, The Pantry Podcast S01E03: The Possibilities of Plugging In

“And so the concept for this episode, the possibilities of plugging in because plugging in into the church body is like spiritual fertilizer in so many ways. There’s blessings that feel like blessings in the moment. And then there’s those blessings that are just those big challenges that stretch you and make you feel uncomfortable. But in the long run they bless you because you’re growing and developing.”

Michelle Watson, The Pantry Podcast S01E03: The Possibilities of Plugging In

“I think that um, sometimes you look at the Bible in this sense, it’s action. Even the word friend is not even a noun, but it’s a verb. One of those action words. That is what church is. That is what, and when I say church, I’m not talking about four walls. I’m not talking about a place you just go on a Sunday. I’m talking about this body of Christ.”

Shea Watson, The Pantry Podcast S01E03: The Possibilities of Plugging In

ANNOTATED TRANSCRIPT

Michelle: Hello everybody.

Shea: You would think that we were doing this, uh, for a long time or maybe it’s just cause we keep recording.

Michelle: I would probably agree with you though. We have been doing it for a long time. Um, on a couch.

Shea: The couch chat. Amen. Amen.Tonight we’re going to be talking about community. 

Shea: How powerful community is when it’s aligned to set up correctly. Um, it’s amazing the things that I’ve seen over the years, both challenging and fruitful, all in the same, but it’s been an awesome way to kind of see how we get along, how we bring each other together and how we expand our sense of necessity for one another. 

Shea: When you know someone’s in need, there’s always someone to step up when there’s someone who has something to give, there’s always someone there that is in kind of a need to receive. I’ve seen it with you and and people that you know, and I know that there’s people that I talk to as well. They are like, Oh man, you said this at the right moment. Or I’ll say the same thing. I know I have a friend at work and it’s like he says things at the right moment. And so tonight we’re gonna talk about community. We’re gonna talk about how that works.

Michelle I love this book, this read through of Ruth because I had never really looked at the community aspect before, but for this time, because we had just decided to do a podcast, we had just decided on faith, works and community being the overarching themes. I was reading everything, looking for all three and for the first time I saw in Ruth this idea that resonated with me because it reminded me of when I first came to Christ and when I first started going to church because although we don’t really know how she was for those 10 years, we don’t know what kind of relationship she had with the God of the Bible during that time. We know that when she was with Naomi and committed to following Naomi to Bethlehem, she also said she would follow Naomi’s God and that Naomi’s people would be her people.

Michelle: And it reminds me of when you first come to Christ and you’re telling God, you know, I’m going to follow you. You’ll be my God. Your people will be my people. And you don’t really know what that means until you dive in. 

Michelle: And so the concept for this episode, the possibilities of plugging in because plugging in into the church body is like spiritual fertilizer in so many ways. There’s blessings that feel like blessings in the moment. And then there’s those blessings that are just those big challenges that stretch you and make you feel uncomfortable. But in the long run they bless you because you’re growing and developing.

Shea: Right? Right. God definitely, uses us in that community aspect. It was kinda cool. Like you’re, you’re bringing up how she said, you know, I’ll follow you off all your God, I’ll follow whatever. And it makes me think of Galatians 6:2, where it says that we’ll share each other’s burdens. And in this way, obey the law of Christ. Ruth made this decision that you know what she was going to share in Naomi’s burdens. In other words, they’re going to be together through whatever came their way.

Michelle: Right? And we talked about how when they got to Bethlehem, it was very quick that Ruth decided she was going to go start trying to get them some food. That’s when you’re first coming to Christ, you’re hungry, right? You go to church often looking to be fed. You’re not necessarily going off the bat to feed. Now of course Ruth was trying to feed herself and Naomi, right? So that was one of the big motivators. 

Michelle: But when she put herself out there in the community, she did it in a very humble way. She was gleaning, everybody saw that she was in need, right? She didn’t care about that. She was focused on the love aspect. You know, she was providing for her family. And I like it because it’s not just you should be Ruth, you should plug in immediately. You know? And this isn’t a lesson for those who are new in the faith. It’s also a lesson for those who have been in the faith a long time, just a quick checkup. Are you Boaz in the sense of you see someone new and you reach out and make them feel loved and protected and watched out for and provided for because that’s exactly what he did. And I love that, that dual vision in this book.

Shea: I really, I really liked that idea cause you know, sometimes we walk into a church and we want to be in like the pastor, you know, you kind of get this, this, wow, I like this guy. Like I want to be in this church. I want to, you know, like to listen to his word and you want this time with him or you know, you kind of like to desire that. But then what happens is in a good community, people come around and it’s not always the pastor, you know, it’s like the flock has learned how to also feed, you know, to take on that terminology that we all have become ministers. 

Shea: You know, we don’t have to wait, you know, for someone to say, okay, go out and do this. God has already done it through our belief. Yeah. Boaz was a leader, but already the people who are under him had been watching and allowing, they weren’t stopping or saying, Hey, get out of my crop. You’re a foreigner. No, they were living by the Levitical, you know, law. And they were just allowing this and not really pressuring her, you know, just kind of letting her do her thing and it’s kinda cool, you know? The leader wasn’t there, but here his followers were living by how they were supposed to live.

Michelle: He does tell everybody to, you know, leave her alone, leave a little extra for her to find, et cetera. But there’s no documentation of her feeling threatened or being on edge. You just, he notices her. She’s busy with her work in Ruth 2. Ruth is saying, you know, I’m only a foreigner. And then right after that Boaz says, yes, I know, but I also know about everything you’ve done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband. I have heard how you left your father and your mother and your own land to live here among complete strangers. That means people were speaking positively about her. For him to find out those things that shows another great aspect in the community when people are speaking life and uplifting and positive things about the people that they’re noticing. You know, I think back to when you first came to church, you know, I mean if you’ve looked at the cover art for our podcast, you’ve seen that Shay’s got three quarter sleeve tattoos and he walks into church and he’s, and he had his, you know, I don’t know what gauge earrings and zero gauge earrings and tattoos, but you know what I noticed that was really powerful is everyone just bum rushed you during the welcome each other time.

Michelle: When I first got there I thought I had to be something special. I had to dress up really fancy to go. So I had on heels and a nice dress. And then, so my first time I come into church, I got there at like 10 15 and church starts at 10 30 and there was like almost no one there

Michelle: And so it was really obvious that I was new and Leah made a point to sit right by me. She asked me if I wanted to go to Bible study? So I had just come to Christ a month and a half before and I was like, I need to go to church. I’ve dilly dallied along enough, right? So I’m finally in the church and I had told God, you know, you’ve got my Sunday mornings, I’m going to clear my schedule definitely you’ve got my Sunday mornings. I hadn’t cleared Tuesdays, Tuesday evenings. But when Leah asked did I want to, that was an additional opportunity from the established community side. 

Michelle: Someone reaching out as soon as they saw me with an opportunity to get deeper into the community. And at first I was like, I don’t want to go. Cause I mean like my, my biggest thought was, you know, I don’t know her. Do I want to go to their house? Like what is Bible study? You know, like what is this going to be like?

Shea: It’s natural. You come into something like that and you’re like, Oh wait, hold on. What do they want? You know, but you, we found out that man, what a family, right? What a loving family. It was really an awesome time for growth to hit the Bible study, hit church every Sunday. I kind of fell in the same pattern, you know, of course I came in a little different.

Shea: I came in knowing that I needed to Lord. Uh, yeah, I had drifted there for a few years, just a couple 20. But uh, you’re right. Um the same thing, you know, I walked in and the same feeling, honestly y’all, our church does have a lot of love. Um, and I think that’s what’s kept me there through the ups and the downs and the lefts and the rights. It always comes back to that one word, love and see when God is love and God has demonstrated.

Shea:  So now you have all of this like this triple, this triple threat of love. You know, you’ve got three hearts, three loves, and it’s beautiful. It’s how they all just came together in this love, good community. We see the building up of people, we see the love of people, we see the people who want to help people that have a word, people who come for a word. 

Shea: It has all of these layers because you know what, let’s be honest, we’re not all at the same level at the same time. In fact, sometimes you get on this high and this peak and it’s like BAM you’re back to the bottom, I work with medical equipment. So I always imagine like the ECG, you know, how it kind of goes up and down. Like you when you go to the doctor they hook you up it’s like beep, beep, beep, beep, and then like eventually you flatline and then God comes back and brings you back. But it’s kind of cool. It’s kind of neat that way though. And so we see that in Ruth and Naomi. Um, we see things where, you know, above all things they are putting on love. You know, Colossians 3:14

Michelle:: One of the cooler things that I just thought of actually was how my mom was the one that had been praying for me my whole life, you know, to come to Christ. And so I grew up with God in our house. I had children’s Bibles, I had children’s Bible puzzles and  you know, activities. So I knew about God, I always treated him like a genie.

Michelle: And when I needed something I ask him for it, did not understand at all what Jesus dying for sins, didn’t know how that played out at all. I was like, that doesn’t really make sense. I’m going to just move on from that. So I always knew he was there, but then I never knew if the Bible was fully accurate, et cetera. My mom hadn’t joined a church my whole life. She read the Bible at home.

Michelle: She prayed to God all the time, but she didn’t have a church. And then I come to Christ on the couch reading the book of revelation on the laptop, right? That’s how I came to Christ. Decide I need to find a church. I felt really convicted that, you know, okay, you’ve been reading the Bible alone for a month. Now find my family, find the family I’m giving you. And I was like, okay, I need to get a church. So I went and I was church shopping. That was the first church I was going to every week I was going to try another one until I found the one. Instantly someone comes and asks me to plug in deeper to that local church body with a Bible study. I come back home and I tell my mom, I found a church that’s solid, nice people loved the one visit.

Michelle: And I felt the love I could sense at the very least that Leah cared and that she was solid and she was in it. Because what’s funny is our pastor was not there. He was not there that week. We had a visiting pastor who did awesome, by the way, but I hadn’t even met the pastor yet. But I came home and I told my mom, Hey, you should come. So what’s funny is my mom was Naomi in the sense of, she’s the one who brought Christ to me, right. Brought God to me. And I was the Ruth in that sense. Right. 

Michelle: But at that moment I was Naomi and she was Ruth. Cause I was like, come with me to this, this church body. Right now she’s there with us. You know, she’s in charge of the welcome center. It was these little actions.

Michelle: Yeah. I had no idea she’d be in charge of the welcome center. You know? I had no idea I’d be the tech leader. I had no idea. I would meet my husband there. I had no idea. I wasn’t looking for any of that. I just felt like I needed to plug in.

Michelle: Right in this podcast about community is this idea, not just, it’s good to have community, but really challenge those who are already plugged in. You’re getting fed. Are you feeding, you know, milk to solid food. You’re on your solid food, hopefully. Right? Are you turning around and feeding others? If you aren’t plugged in yet, what’s holding you back? You know, cause I want them to feel encouraged. Those who are already plugged in to be making it very welcoming to be plugged in. And what can people expect once they are, cause it’s not all sunshine and roses but it is all worth it.

Shea: I think that um, sometimes you look at the Bible in this sense it’s action. Even the word friend is not even a noun, but it’s a verb. One of those action words. That is what church is. That is what, and when I say church, I’m not talking about four walls. I’m not talking about a place you just go on a Sunday. I’m talking about this body of Christ. You know, every church that plays its own part in all of this, every person plays a part in this bigger kingdom church. And we’ve got to understand that if you just sit there, you’re going to be okay. But are you going to be living in active? How do we live by being active? How do we live by plugging in? I do it. I don’t know where it comes from. Where the energy, I think I just like to do things.

Shea:I mean like right now we’re just having to sit at home because of the situation in the world and the Coronavirus. I don’t like sitting still, right? I like interacting with people. What’s beautiful though is Hey, we can still plug in even in an environment where we have to stay in, look, we’re online. We’re throwing out love to people, calling people, texting people. That’s the church. That’s the body. That’s what we’re looking at. 

Shea: Don’t sit idle. Don’t sit there and just say, God, God, God, God, God. I’m telling you. Sometimes you read the Bible and it doesn’t even make sense until you turn around and share it to somebody else and then it’s like a light bulb kicks on and you’re like, what? Wow, so see, here’s Ruth. She doesn’t wait. She goes out there and the light bulb kicks on because the community is demonstrating a love

Michelle: in the very, at the very end of Ruth, when Ruth and Boaz are confirmed that they’re going to get married, the elders leave them a blessing and it’s such a rich blessing. It says, may the Lord make this woman who is coming into your home like Rachel and Leah, from whom all the nation of Israel descended. May you prosper and Ephrata and be famous in Bethlehem. And may the Lord give you by this young woman who will be like those of our ancestor Perez, the son of tomorrow in Judah. And then very close after the women to Naomi say, may this child be famous in Israel. May he restore your youth and care for you in your old age. 

Michelle: The community just applies. Blessings on you, speaks life into you. All that reminded me and what you just said actually reminded me of some verses in Hebrews 10:24-25 it says, and let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works. Not neglecting to meet together as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another and all the more as you see the day drawing near right. And then the other one Acts 2:46-47 where it says end 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 and the Lord added to their number day by day, those who were being saved. Wow.

Shea: Don’t just let church be that place you reside.

Michelle: I don’t, it’s not just Sunday. If you’re cheating yourself, you’re stealing from yourself. If you limit it to Sunday. And if you say, you know, this community isn’t where it’s at. And if you go to a church where community struggles because you live, let’s say in a city where everyone’s so busy, that’s oftentimes, that’s our struggle. So much traffic on a weekday that by the time you’re done with work, it takes an hour and some change to get home because you can’t afford to live where you work. So you have to drive way out to get to your house. Right? And then you just have time to make dinner and maybe see your kids or maybe see your spouse or maybe just breathe and you don’t have time to turn around and go back out to a Bible study, a life group, a prayer meeting. Maybe you’re so busy or you have odd work hours that aren’t typical and you don’t have time, you know?

Michelle: And so everyone’s like that. So it’s hard to plug in, right? There’s not a lot of consistency and community be that person that just starts with texting somebody, right? You know, when you have that five minutes, Hey, when you need to go to the bathroom and you’re pulling out your phone anyway, text somebody, you know? And it might take them all day to reply, but you have no idea what that kind of reaching out will do because the Lord multiplies on that because that’s what this is about, is the support and just surrounding his people with love. He hugs us through the hugs we get from the church body. You know, he gives us word through the people.

Michelle: So, I mean that’s the encouragement that we want to continuously bring up through this.

Shea: Yeah, I liked that they blessed them. It’s like, here’s, here’s the inheritance that’s going to happen to you. And for the closing verse, it’s just going to throw one out here. Cause I mean, it really dials this in Colossians 3:23-24 whatever you do to it, hardly as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of inheritance for you. Serve the Lord Christ Ruth served God through that lineage comes Christ. That’s beautiful.

Michelle: That’s so beautiful. Amen. Thanks for joining us. And if you want to be a part of the pantry podcast community, we do have a Facebook page and you can also leave us some feedback questions per our request on thepantrypodcast.com. Until next time, see ya later