Rhythms & Roots · Letters to the Churches

The Sermon Didn’t End with the Benediction

By Donnie Hinshaw · June 29, 2026

There are Sundays when you walk away thinking, “That sermon went exactly as I planned.”

And then there are Sundays when God has other plans.

This past Sunday was one of those Sundays.

We began a new series called Rhythms of Grace, and I fully intended to preach through three movements of the message—from Genesis to Mark to Acts. But somewhere along the way, I realized we needed to slow down.

Community is simply too important to rush.

Instead of trying to cover everything, we stayed in Genesis.

And honestly, I think that’s exactly where we needed to be.

Before There Was Creation...

One sentence has stayed with me all week:

Before there was creation, there was communion.

Before there were galaxies...

Before there were oceans...

Before there were mountains...

Before there were people...

There was the Father.

There was the Son.

There was the Holy Spirit.

Perfect love.

Perfect unity.

Perfect relationship.

The Bible doesn’t begin with humanity.

It begins with God.

And before God ever invited us into community, He had already been living it.

That changes how we understand ourselves.

Community isn’t simply a good idea.

It isn’t a strategy for building healthy churches.

It isn’t just something we do because loneliness is increasing.

Community is rooted in the very nature of God.

We were created in the image of a relational God, so it makes perfect sense that our souls long for relationship.

We weren’t designed merely to survive.

We were created to belong.

Looking Up

One image has captured my imagination this week.

Astronomers describe a nebula as a stellar nursery—an immense cloud of dust and gas where new stars are born, or where the remnants of dying stars drift through space.

As breathtaking as that is, Scripture invites me to look even deeper.

Before there were stars to ignite...

Before there were galaxies to expand...

Before there was space, time, or matter...

There was God.

The Father.

The Son.

The Holy Spirit.

Perfect love.

Perfect communion.

The universe didn’t begin because God was lonely.

It began because love overflows.

Creation is not simply a display of God’s power.

It is an expression of God’s generosity.

Every galaxy.

Every mountain.

Every ocean.

Every person.

Exists because the God who has eternally lived in perfect love delighted to share His life.

When I look at the heavens, I don’t just see the greatness of creation.

I see the generosity of the Creator.

Why We Long for Community

That may explain something about all of us.

Think about the milestones of life.

Birthdays.

Graduations.

Weddings.

Thanksgiving.

Christmas.

Family reunions.

Even after funerals, families instinctively gather around tables to share stories, tears, and meals.

We’ll find almost any reason to gather together.

I even joked on Sunday that we’ll create another holiday if it gives us an excuse to enjoy a day off, fire up the grill, and spend time with people we love.

Underneath all of those moments is something much deeper.

Our longing isn’t ultimately for another holiday.

It’s for one another.

Because the desire to belong isn’t an accident of culture.

It’s an echo of the God whose image we bear.

The Sermon Continued After Worship

One of my favorite moments didn’t happen while I was preaching.

It happened this morning.

Someone from our church sent me a message that has stayed with me.

They shared that my challenge to come a little earlier on Sunday—or to linger a little longer afterward—had convicted them. Not out of guilt, but out of love. They realized they had been missing some of the very community they longed for.

That encouraged me deeply.

The goal isn’t punctuality.

The goal is presence.