What is a Healthy Church Member?

[0:00] Thank you.

[0:30] Thank you.

[1:00] Thank you.

[1:30] Thank you.

[2:00] Thank you.

[2:30] Thank you.

[3:00] Thank you.

[3:30] Thank you.

[4:00] Thank you.

[4:30] Thank you.

[5:00] Thank you.

[5:30] Thank you.

[6:00] Thank you.

[6:30] Thank you.

[7:00] Thank you.

[7:30] Thank you.

[8:00] Thank you.

[8:30] Thank you.

[9:00] Thank you.

[9:30] Thank you.

[10:00] Thank you.

[10:30] Thank you.

[11:00] Thank you.

[11:30] Thank you.

[12:00] Thank you.

[12:30] Thank you.

[13:00] Thank you.

[13:30] Thank you.

[14:00] Thank you.

[14:30] Thank you.

[15:00] Thank you.

[15:30] Thank you.

[16:00] Thank you.

[16:30] Thank you.

[17:00] Thank you.

[17:30] Thank you.

[18:00] Thank you.

[18:30] Thank you.

[19:00] Thank you.

[19:30] Thank you.

[20:00] Thank you.

[20:30] Thank you.

[21:00] Thank you.

[21:29] Thank you.

[21:59] Thank you.

[22:29] Thank you.

[22:59] Thank you.

[23:29] Thank you.

[23:59] Thank you.

[24:29] Thank you.

[24:59] Thank you.

[25:29] Thank you.

[25:59] I just forgot the Thank you.

[26:59] And if you're here.

[27:29] Thank you.

[27:59] Thank you.

[28:29] Thank you.

[28:59] Thank you.

[29:29] Thank you.

[29:59] Thank you.

[30:29] Thank you.

[30:59] Thank you.

[31:29] Thank you.

[31:59] Thank you.

[32:29] Thank you.

[32:59] Thank you.

[33:29] Thank you.

[33:59] Thank you.

[34:29] Thank you.

[34:59] Thank you.

[35:29] Thank you.

[35:59] Thank you.

[36:59] Thank you.

[37:29] Thank you.

[37:59] Thank you.

[38:29] Thank you.

[38:59] Thank you.

[39:29] Thank you.

[39:59] Thank you. Let's stand and sing.

[40:29] Thank you.

[40:59] Thank you.

[41:29] Thank you.

[41:59] Thank you.

[42:29] Thank you.

[42:59] You are Lord of God.

[43:29] Thank you.

[43:59] Thank you.

[44:29] May that heart.

[44:59] Thank you.

[45:29] Thank you.

[45:59] Thank you.

[46:29] Thank you.

[46:59] Thank you.

[47:29] Thank you.

[47:59] Thank you.

[48:29] Thank you.

[48:59] Thank you.

[49:29] Thank you.

[49:59] Thank you.

[50:29] Thank you.

[50:59] today. So, And the next,

[52:29] And the Lord has said, And the Lord, And the quote,

[53:59] And the first, And our wallet, And the first,

[55:29] And the first, And the first, And the first,

[56:59] And the first, And the first, and the first, remember God's grace focus on the word prepare for opposition confront error trust God for fruit proclaim the gospel are filled with joy in the Holy Spirit now there's probably more there's not the only ones obviously but from our passage here 7 now again we're going to go through each one of these let me give some preliminary thoughts and then we'll go through each one of these one by one remember last week

[58:33] Paul showed us the gospel showed us bringing a savior preparing for that savior that the father killed the savior and then he resurrected the savior now there's forgiveness of sins now you can be justified he proclaims the gospel right or how to give the gospel to a Jew hey I did that on Friday I did that with Gary were you sitting there or did you leave of course it's when you leave yes gave the gospel to Gary I said I said hey I was thinking about you all last weekend he said really he says why hopefully it's not being recorded anyways it is being recorded and he said why I said well there was a passage that I was preaching through and I thought about you he's like really he's like well what was it about I'm glad you asked so it's funny because I I had then that Friday morning I was walking through it and then

[59:33] I had stopped when I came to the baptism of John when I was walking through it so when I came to that part when I was talking to Gary I kind of everything kind of shut down my mind kind of went blank and I went oh no what's after that so I had to run through the passage I was able to give him the gospel Gary's a Jew who lives in Jerome give him the gospel from that passage that was kind of cool anyways so this is what Paul does he gives the gospel to the Jews and then God fearing proselytes and Gentiles Greek speaking people who are God fearers so now he comes to this point now we come to this part of the passage the synagogue is over with what's the response what happens now we shall see as the response comes about healthy church members now let's walk through the passage and look through our characteristics healthy church members number one remember God's grace 42 to 43 remember God's grace and as Paul and Barnabas were going out the people kept begging that these things might be spoken to them the next Sabbath they were so struck by what Paul and Barnabas said they continually urged him to come back and preach more to them preachers hardly ever get this this is a dream for preachers all of you should be laughing actually none of you should be laughing what are you laughing for shame on you preachers hardly ever get this come back for more it's more like golly isn't it lunch time already when's that guy going to shut up oh hell they were interested in hearing more about the Lord Jesus Christ they were so impacted now it's not to say that these all responded to the gospel we'll actually see some did respond we'll see that in the next verse in just a second they definitely wanted to hear more about the word of the Lord so not all of them had just at that point repented and trusted in Christ but notice it says in verse 43 now when the synagogue had broken up many of the Jews and of the God-fearing proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas who speaking to them they were urging them to continue in the grace of God when the meeting was over these Jews and God-fearing proselytes they followed Paul and Barnabas now these were Jews along with non-Jews who embraced the God of Israel so apparently someone responded to the message of grace to the gospel and Paul and Barnabas speaking to them said remain or stay in God's grace in other words for them to remain faithful in God's grace which is another way of saying to encourage them to stay in the gospel or to remain in the gospel they needed to remember to stay in the gospel they needed to remember

[62:23] God's grace remember the gospel that's how you can gauge yourself Christian if you're healthy if you remember God's grace to you because if you do the opposite you remember what you I have to get God's acceptance I have to do this I have to do this I have to do this and this and this no you don't that's not going to get the acceptance of an absolutely holy God I mean how does the song go the gospel holy God in love became perfect man to bear my blame on the cross he took my sin by his death I live again that's the gospel song I live by faith in the son of God I'm dead to sin but alive to God I'm changed now I'm changed by the power of God's grace in my life I'm no longer a slave to sin I'm a slave to righteousness I'm a slave of righteousness the father loves me in the Lord Jesus Christ his love is conditional

[63:29] I should be condemned and yet he shows grace to me in Jesus Christ I'm united to Jesus and God loves me in his son it's remembering God's grace sin no longer has power over my life it's remembering I'm crucified with Christ and I no longer live it's remembering that Jesus Christ lives in me it's remembering the life I now live I live by faith in the son of God who loved me and delivered himself up for me praise his name see how do you know if you're healthy as a follower of Jesus specifically as a church member how do you know when you remember God's grace to you in the gospel the cross his resurrection number two you focus on the word you focus on the word verse 44 starting there and the next

[64:38] Sabbath next Saturday nearly the whole city assembled to hear the word of the Lord seems like that's a better some of your Bibles might say word of God different manuscripts say different things seems like it favors more word of the Lord but here we see that on this next Sabbath nearly the whole city had come out to the synagogue to hear Paul and Barnabas priest the word of the Lord what God had done in and through his eternal son the Lord Jesus Christ the word got out word got out from the maybe the God fearing proselytes about Paul and Barnabas so they're telling everybody about the message of Jesus Christ they're telling everyone you should you gotta hear these guys and the message of salvation is for all of us all these Gentiles like jam packed inside the synagogue if you can imagine that people who've never even set foot in the synagogue were there people that were there's no way you're gonna get me in that synagogue they were there to hear Paul and Barnabas what sparked their interest well Paul's a goofy looking guy let's go check him out

[65:56] Barnabas is like this really cool looking guy no they're handing out twenty dollar bills or I guess it'd be shekels they're handing him out twenty dollar shekels you know twenty dollar whatever that means anyway they're handing out shekels no it's not that what was the thing that sparked their interest it was the word of the lord do you know that the word of the lord or word of god is used four times in the ten verses that we're looking at verse 44 the word of the lord look at verse 46 Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly and said it was necessary that the word of god should be spoken to you look at verse 48 the Gentiles heard this they rejoiced and glorified the word of the lord look at verse 49 and the word of the lord is being spread through the whole region the word of the lord the word of the lord what sparked the interest of these people it was the word of the lord and yet unfortunately in many churches today preaching is done to people's felt needs including the need for entertainment because that's what people want appeal to my felt needs

[67:11] I need a better marriage I need a better parents I need a better this I need more money I need my health fixed and churches do this to draw a bigger crowd and they end up watering down the message of the gospel no sin no judgment no hell etc instead it's entertainment instead it's not the appeal of the word of the lord but it's the appeal of people well the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing but to the called when you talk about the cross and Christ salvation that's the power of God that the almighty just God should judge us rightly but he shows mercy and grace in the lord Jesus Christ who lived who died who rose the focus should be on the word so a healthy church member will focus upon

[68:23] God's word the bible knowing that this book is God's quote unquote as one has written about it love letter to his people he speaks to us only from his word church member are you reading God's word do you long for it do you long for him this is how God speaks to us it's not through some incantation not through sitting in a group and being quiet he's gonna speak to you no it's from his word his sufficient inerrant word that's how he speaks to you do you read Christians should embrace the word Christians should be reading his word that should be a priority for us so how do you know if you're a healthy church member how do you know if you're a healthy follower of Christ remember God's grace remember the gospel and two you focus upon the word of God number three you prepare for opposition you're preparing yourself for opposition you're you're ready you're ready for opposition or you're alert to it verse 45 start there then we'll hit verse 50 when the Jews saw the crowds were filled with jealousy and contradicted the things spoken by Paul and were blaspheming so so many people I come to hear Paul and Barnabas

[70:04] I mean Gentiles jam-packed I mean standing room only and the Jews got so excited about this positive reception I mean they were excited to hear that all these Gentiles were going to hear the gospel the message of grace the Jews were excited no they weren't excited it caused the Jews to oppose or resist Paul to slander him or to blaspheme now it's hard to determine who are these Jews who are doing this some think they're Jewish leaders others think it was the group that Paul addressed in verse 16 which we looked at last week well whoever it was they contradicted him slandered Paul because they were filled with jealousy they didn't want Gentiles to have any part of the promises they wanted power they wanted control of the people they wanted to draw them in through Judaism not through this message see when push came to shove he objected to the way

[71:13] Gentiles could become connected to the God of Israel I mean if you wanted to be connected to God of Israel and Judaism you had to be baptized you had to be circumcised as a Jew you had to go through this ritual and then okay you're alright now not through repentance and trusting Jesus well their zeal for the covenants of promise blinded them to seeing that God's promise was for anyone and everyone who turned from sin and put their trust in Jesus it's not just for Jews matter of fact it's not about becoming a Jew but you repent and trust in Jesus Christ well due to their rejection they became the scoffers of verse 41 that Paul talked about behold you scoffers so what's this mean for us we take away from this be prepared friends friends be prepared be alert when we proclaim the gospel of grace when we follow the

[72:26] Lord Jesus Christ when that's a purpose of us of ours we will face opposition whether it be through persecution like you see here in our text or just suffering in general physical suffering because the enemy hates the message of truth he hates the gospel of grace and he wants to destroy you notice what happens in verse 50 the spreading of the word of the Lord verse 50 but the Jews aroused it about women of prominence and believing men of the city and instigated a persecution against Paul and Barnabas and drove them out of their district so they incited prominent women who then moved the city's leadership to act against Paul and Barnabas seems like these women were from the upper class that controlled the Jewish community in the city they incited the highest representatives of the city to kick

[73:29] Paul and Barnabas out they created a reaction against the Gentile outreach kicked them or threw them out of the city friends listen when we are doing God's will in God's church God's way proclaiming the gospel news the good news of grace to others we may end up facing persecution they will oppose you you will face opposition not everybody's gonna like you just the way it is now praise God praise God he gives us his sustaining grace to endure right amen we must be ready we must be alert we must be ready that as we are remembering his grace and as we're focusing on his word and later on we're gonna see one of the points that we talked already proclaiming the gospel when we're doing that you gotta be alert you're gonna face opposition which leads to number four healthy church members confront error they graciously confront error notice how

[74:45] Paul and Barnabas didn't put up with this 46 to 47 Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly or freely they said it was necessary that the word of God should be spoken to you first to them the word of God should be given first be given to give them God's word first why is he saying that it was only proper to give the message them is the Jews it was only proper because Israel's history to her fathers to her people that the promises of blessing and a great descendant the promise to Abraham and David respectively were given therefore the word should be given to them first the gospel message is the fulfillment of God's original promises to the nation of Israel so it's only appropriate that the

[75:48] Jews have a prior right to hear how God has brought salvation in his son how we fulfilled his promises in Jesus it's only right for that to happen but notice he says they repudiated it judged themselves unworthy of eternal life and he says returning to the Gentiles let's unpack those statements first rejection or repudiated it repudiated it say that ten times real fast the word means to thrust out they thrust it out or they took God's word and pushed it aside they pushed it away forcefully no we don't want that they wanted nothing to do with the message because they were jealous they wanted it all for themselves and their way on their terms now you've probably never talked to anybody about that before how they want

[76:54] God on their terms their way oh never that never happens right I'm laying the sarcasm on real thick here people that's what they want they want it for themselves their way on their terms and that's what he says in the next part and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life in other words the message of salvation is the hope of eternal life so they're unworthy of the message of salvation they're unworthy of it see to embrace the gospel one must come to God with complete and total humility you don't come to God on your terms you don't come to God in your way you come to God on his terms in his way or another way to put it when one admits she or he is a sinner deserving

[77:55] God's just wrath one admits that only the Lord Jesus Christ his life death and resurrection is the only one who can save them they come as they are with a humble repenting heart turning to Jesus Christ and faith and they realize you know what God you need to change me I am just despicable in your sight save me change me take me I'm yours that's what that means but they pushed that away they showed themselves unworthy of this and notice what he says therefore we're turning to the Gentiles not that this turning away from Jews was absolute I don't know I'm going to talk to Jews not the us we confront them with truth and grace and gentleness because it's truth spoken in love that

[79:19] God uses to confront the false teaching the idolatry the error of this world that's why this is so important when you're the order of this so to speak remembering God's grace you're focused on the word you're ready for the opposition but you confront error that's why it's so important for us to focus on the word and to remember God's grace friends if we don't know the word how are you going to talk to that LDS friend I had a conversation with an LDS guy just a couple days ago how are you going to know that three things at least three you need to bring up with an LDS with a Mormon how do you know that you must first of one bring up about the Bible the inerrant sufficiency of the word how do you know to bring up that the aspect of the Trinity and how

[80:24] Jesus is the eternal son of God the one and only true God and then how would you bring up third how it's salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone who had to die as a substitute for sinners and be resurrected from the dead those gospel truths those important truths those are just three I mean there's more but if we don't know the word how are we going to be able to do that how are we going to be able to confront that error with grace and with gentleness towards that person who's an LDS and they ask you say so I notice you go to church on Sundays like what church do you go to bam bam right there it's right in front of you take it run with it go for it and you will face opposition but then you graciously walk them through the gospel walk them through notice

[81:28] Paul says verse 47 thus the Lord has commanded us we're turning to the gentiles thus the Lord commanded us I place you as a light for the gentiles you should bring salvation to the ends of the earth in other words Paul's saying the mission is universal it must follow this order though it must go to the Jew first but then to the Greek but if the Jews reject it we're going to phase two man phase two is gentiles it's not necessarily a shift in strategy but a focus and gentiles took precedence and Paul uses the scripture he quotes Isaiah 49 6 to back up his statement and it's just not a proof text notice he says the Lord has commanded he's commanding us something they were placed as lights for the gentiles that they should bring salvation to the ends of the earth that's what he's saying Israel was supposed to be a guide to the nations to show gentiles the way they can be made right with God like a light illumines darkness that's what they should be doing interesting note the amazing part about this prophecy in Isaiah 49 it's actually was originally spoken about

[82:48] God's servant it was actually originally written about Jesus but now Paul and Barmus represent him to the world Paul and Barmus are now extensions of God's work through his son so Jesus task continues through his servants his followers we are called to be lights going to the ends of the world now it's us so put yourself in here I've placed you as me as a light for the gentiles you should bring salvation to the ends of the earth so now it's us it's me us together it's always been God's plan to save the nations for his glory to cover the earth well time out is God finished with Israel as a nation not really some will respond to the truth now yes and maybe

[83:54] Gary will and Jerome who's Jewish but not all Israel is true Israel physical descent versus true spiritual descent there's a remnant chosen by grace but a majority of the Jewish people have hardened hearts Romans 11 25 Paul says brethren I don't want you to be uninformed about this mystery there should be wise your own estimation that a partial hardening has happened to Israel that's that's why you don't see many Jews coming to Christ very few and far between but the gospel as it's preached to Gentiles it makes Israel envious Paul says earlier in Romans 11 verse 11 he says but by their transgression that is them rejecting the gospel salvation has come to the Gentiles to make them jealous to make them envious but yet he says in the same chapter chapter 11 of Romans one day

[85:06] Israel nationally speaking will look upon the one whom they pierce and they will mourn they will nationally as a whole respond to their Messiah and believe that's why he says later on verse 25 of Romans 11 until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in and thus all Israel will be saved just as it is written the deliverer will come from Zion he will remove ungodliness from Jacob and this is my covenant with them when I take away their sins so one day Israel nationally speaking will respond to their Messiah and I believe it will be right before the Lord Jesus returns and then he will reign as king over the whole earth from Jerusalem with his people at his side Jews and Gentiles the body of Christ as one that's what will happen here back in Acts 13 here's a typical response from Paul he would start the Jewish synagogues proclaiming

[86:08] Jesus he would face persecution from the Jews then he would move on to Gentiles in particular strategically going towards them it became a pattern notice now we're still on that about confronting era go to verse 51 after they had instigated persecution verse 50 against Paul and Barnabas drove them out of their district verse 51 but they shook off the dust of their feet against them and went to Iconium as a response to those who drove them out of the city Paul and Barnabas they left the city and they shook the dust off their feet as a symbolic act against those who opposed them Jesus spoke about this Luke chapter 9 verse 5 Jesus said to his apostles 9 verse 5 and as for those who do not receive you as you go out from that city shake off the dust from your feet as a testimony against them so why did

[87:11] Paul and Barnabas what's the whole symbolic act of shaking the dust off the feet shaking the dust was a way to show that they are responsible those people they're responsible for their action against them Paul and Barnabas no trace of the people's response will be left even the dust from that town on their feet so he said we're done we're going to Iconium and that's what we'll look at next week so the responsibility for denying to the community further light of the gospel and the opportunity to receive the gospel will be upon those Jews whether it's the leaders or the Jews whoever it's on them not upon Paul and Barnabas it's your fault so friends as you face opposition and then you're going to confront the error there may come a time when after rejection constant continued rejection we shake the dust off our feet and leave the responsibility to the person or persons who rejected the good news it will be on their head it will be their fault so running through again we spend a lot of time on confronting confronting error we talk to remember God's grace focus on the word preparing for opposition confronting error a couple more number five trust God for fruit trust God for fruit verse 48 so Paul says this we're going to the Gentiles we're coming outside of this

[88:55] Jewish synagogue now and when the Gentiles heard this they rejoiced they glorified the word of the Lord they were excited and gave glory to the word that the Lord has spoken regarding salvation to them they responded to the message of God's grace in Jesus Christ and they were excited oh yes the message for us awesome they were just glorifying that word of the gospel so not only has God graciously opened the way of salvation to them but he did it in such a way that Gentiles did not need to become Jews so they need to be baptized circumcised as a Jew you need to be circumcised or go through this ritual and this custom no you repent and trust Christ you're in you're saved and then notice this next statement as many as had been appointed to eternal life believe those ordained to eternal life believe here we see God's sovereign work over salvation and that he assigned those who believe in Christ

[90:00] God chooses certain people and those people will believe or I'll put it in a double negative for you none of those whom he has chosen will not not believe maybe that helped you to figure that out better no it just confuses me more okay I'll take the first statement God chooses certain people and those people will believe that's his plan now realize this though election doesn't save you Jesus saves you through the means of faith alone but the reason why you respond to the message the reason why you repent the reason why you trust Christ is because the father has chosen you before the foundation of the world that's why look only God can open hearts enabling people to listen and respond to him I mean Jesus he said it even stronger John 10 24 the Jews gather around

[91:10] Jesus and they're saying how long we keep us in suspense if you're the Christ just tell us plainly Jesus answered them I told you you don't believe the works that I do in my father's name these bring witness of me but you do not believe because you're not my sheep it's not the other way around you're not my sheep no the reason why you don't believe is because you're not my sheep but my sheep hear my voice my sheep I know them they follow me I give eternal life to them and they shall never perish and no one shall snatch them out of my hand the people who come to believe in the son are his sheep that's what Jesus was saying that's what Paul's saying that's what Luke's saying the reason why some people don't believe that they will not respond to the gospel and they go to their grave and they say I will not I will not I will not believe in Jesus and they die the reason why is because they're not his sheep and you proclaim the gospel till you're blue in the face but only

[92:20] God's chosen respond to Jesus Christ you know isn't it interesting that here you have this evangelistic story and Luke puts that right in the middle of it isn't that striking now some people say why do you evangelize if God decides to be saved and given grace the others he passes by so why do you evangelize them on the contrary election gives greater faith and trust in the Lord God because we have confidence that as we proclaim the gospel God will save his elect his chosen ones but which ones are they good question I don't know that's why we give the gospel to everyone we simply proclaim the message and let

[93:30] God take care of the rest that's not my problem he will work in hearts because his word will not come back what void we trust God to bring the fruit how do you know if you're a healthy church remember how do you know you're healthy as a follower of Christ you trust God to bring the fruit you trust in his sovereign grace when he wants who he wants God has decreed the end yes but friends he also decrees the means to those ends and the means that he's decreed he's appointed and people coming to Jesus is to the proclamation of his gospel by his people so don't discount that we give the gospel to everybody but his elects are there think of it this way here's an illustration which I've heard before

[94:42] I think from John Piper nails wood why do they make nails to go into wood dig a rocket scientist to figure that out so there you have a piece of wood you got a nail go ahead go into the wood now I might be stupid but I don't think the nail will automatically go into the wood so what is the means that's used to take the nail into the wood what's it called a hammer take the nail nail it into the wood the means by which you nail the nail into the wood is the hammer the means by which God uses you to give someone the gospel for that person to be saved is you giving them the gospel is you proclaiming Christ that's the means that he uses isn't that amazing he can have the chairs speak the gospel he can have that piano he can have these beautiful flower decorations that are fake they have beautiful flower decorations to proclaim the gospel but no he uses stupid flawless arrogant rebellious dumb kind of don't can't think and put our foot in our mouth people right praise his name so you have the church remember trust

[96:08] God for fruit and of course which leads us to number six which is what of course it's going to be you proclaim the gospel verse 49 the word of the Lord is being spread through the whole region this is amazing the word can spread these believers they were changed by the gospel of grace and then they start speaking it and more people are responding to the gospel look friends converts speak it they respond to the message and begin to speak that message they speak it and they live it they speak it and they live it one responds in repentant faith to receive the benefits of salvation and then proclaims the gospel of Jesus Christ that they can have the benefits of that salvation too do you have the benefits of salvation today are you a follower of Jesus do you know the

[97:11] Lord Jesus Christ God should judge you he should he has every right to but he's gracious and kind in Jesus Christ who lived who died on the cross as a substitute for sinners and physically rose repent turn away from your sins and put your trust in Jesus Christ he will save you and this gospel truth Christian church member follower of Jesus if you know him today are you proclaiming the message to others are you proclaiming this gospel truth that's how you know if you're healthy and last number seven they're filled healthy church members are filled with joy in the holy spirit verse 52 but the disciples were continually filled with joy in the holy spirit healthy church members they're remembering grace and focusing on the word prepared for opposition they're confronting error they're trusting

[98:19] God for fruit they're proclaiming the gospel and they're filled with joy in the spirit which is interesting because in the midst of persecution opposition against the good news of Jesus of Jesus of Jesus Christ they're filled with joy they're controlled that's what it means to be dominated or controlled ongoing joy ongoing spirit involvement nothing can stop the progress of the gospel not suffering not persecution nothing we're moving forward God's spirits will enable joy and perseverance in the midst of intense persecution in the midst of opposition against you to the good news of Jesus Christ you'll be full of joy that's the fruit of the Holy Spirit right one of them is joy so satisfied with your God and so dominated by the spirit of God dominating your attitude dominating our actions as we're submitting ourselves to him and his word see all these they go together together these seven characteristics this is what a healthy church member looks like this is what a healthy follower of Jesus looks like so be encouraged pray for God to work these qualities in you and through you by his grace praise his name let God do that in you so let's do that let's take a few moments let you take some time to ponder what we've seen in God's word to pray through these remind yourself of his grace praise his name we can focus on his word that you're prepared for opposition ready to confront Aaron we're going to trust God proclaiming his gospel may he fill us with his joy and the Holy

[100:03] Spirit take a few moments and ponder from what we've seen in God's word then we'll do our time of giving our last two songs we'll sing and then eat together let's think yeah Thank you.

[100:48] Thank you.

[101:18] Thank you.

[101:48] Thank you.

[102:18] Thank you.

[102:48] Thank you.

[103:18] I count but loss And pour contempt on all my pride Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast Save in the death of Christ my God All the vain things that charm me most I sacrifice them to His blood See from His hand, His hands, His feet

[104:28] Sorrow and love, His hands, His feet Sorrow and love, and love, and love Did e'er such love and sorrow hold me Did e'er such love and sorrow hold me Or thorns compose so rich a crown For thorns compose so rich a crown Were the whole realm of nature, that were the whole realm of nature That were a present far too small Love so amazing, so divine My life, my life, my life, my own

[106:02] My Jesus, I love thee My Jesus, I love thee, I know thou art mine I know thou art mine And that was never In the снamic There in the nac Thank you.

[107:06] Thank you.

[107:36] Thank you.

[108:06] Thank you.

[108:36] Thank you.

[109:06] Thank you.

[109:36] And many times are not. We forget your grace. We're not reading your word. We're not prepared. We're not confronting. We're not trusting you.

[109:47] We're not proclaiming the gospel. We're not filled with joy in your spirit. You give grace. Thank you. Thank you Lord Jesus for loving us.

[109:59] Thank you Father for loving us. Thank you that you are continuing your work in us. That's a good thing. That's a good thing. That's a good thing. We need it. And that's why Jesus had to die.

[110:13] Because of those sins that we have done. So we come with forgiveness. Joyful. Thankful. And we come to say use us. We are yours.

[110:25] Work in your church amongst your people. Thank you for our food. And we long for the food of your word. As we long for this food. And conversations to be about Christ.

[110:36] The gospel. And encouraging each other. Stimulating one another towards love and good deeds. May that be done. Amen. Amen. Amen.

[111:09] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.