Podcast

What if the biggest relationship mistake we make is the same one we make with our phones — we never open the User Guide?

One well-known estimate says we will spend 17+ years of our lives on our smartphones. Almost none of us have read the manual. We just mash the apps we already know. We do the same thing with marriage, dating, friendship, and work. We jump in, then ask confused friends, TikTok, YouTube, or an AI companion what to do next.

In this Big Day kickoff of Better Together at Rutgers Oasis Church, Pastor Dave Butler opens the only User Guide that actually knows how we were made: God and His Word.

God is relational. Before there was a garden, a job, or a spouse, there was the Word with God, and the Word was God (John 1:1). We were made in that image (Genesis 1:26). And the first “not good” in the Bible is not sin. It is solitude. “It is not good for the man to be alone” (Genesis 2:18). Adam had a perfect garden, a perfect job, and a perfect walk with God, and God still said he was not meant to do life alone.

Better together is not a slogan. It is how the Trinity lives, and how image-bearers flourish.

In this message

• Why 17 years on a phone is a picture of how we treat relationships
• Where most of us actually go for relationship advice
• John 1:1 and the first relationship in the universe
• Genesis 1:26: made in the image of a relational God
• Genesis 2:18: the first “not good,” and what ezer (helper) really means
• Why loneliness is a design feature, not a design flaw
• The Big Idea: you were never meant to do life alone, because the God who made you never has

This week Connect with someone face to face. No smartphones. Meditate on Genesis 1:26, Genesis 2:18, and John 1:1. Join a connect group. Invite a friend.

The series: Four weeks. One User Guide. Week 1 — Why we were made for connection Week 2 — Dating: how to meet and pursue the right person Week 3 — Marriage: how to strengthen your relationship with your spouse and kids Week 4 — Communication: how to talk so a relationship can thrive

Come back next week. Bring someone with you. We really are better together.

Scripture John 1:1 · Genesis 1:26 · Genesis 2:18

Rutgers Oasis Church 100 College Ave, New Brunswick, NJ Sundays · family, students, and singles Connect: https://cometotheroc.comhttps://rutgers.church

Subscribe for the rest of Better Together, and share this with someone who has been doing relationships without the User Guide.

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