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[0:00] Good evening, brothers and sisters and friends. A joy again to worship the Lord together. Just again, the reminder of the one new thing in our activities, that's the men's breakfast in the mints.

[0:14] Again, I know often we're a wee bit new enough, a wee bit arid about these things. I won't categorise you, I won't question you. It's an excuse to have some bacon rolls together, or whatever else you want, and just a time together.

[0:27] Half nine next Saturday morning. Just as long as you want, as short as you want. And then we can begin the rest of our days. Let's carry on the public worship of our God.

[0:41] All our singing this evening is in the Scottish Psalter. First of all, singing then from Psalm 34. Psalm 34. Psalm 34. Verses one down to verse nine.

[0:58] Psalm 34. Verses one down to verse nine. God, will I bless all times. His praise my mouth shall still express.

[1:09] My soul shall boast in God. The meek shall hear of joyfulness. Extol the Lord with me. Let us exalt his name together. I sought the Lord. He heard and did.

[1:21] May from all fears deliver. Psalm 34. Verses one to nine. To God's praise. God, will I bless all times.

[1:37] Christ. Jesus Christ. My heart shall express. My heart shall express. My soul shall boast.

[1:50] Christ. In the nation we well. Ghost. That one to four. To me. Jesus Christ. His name is Shrine. Now, is God. Jesus Christ. Is there a chance to Kasinta? His name is Shrine?

[2:01] Shrine.ongium. Thank you.

[2:32] Thank you.

[3:02] Thank you. Thank you.

[3:34] Thank you. Thank you.

[4:06] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

[4:18] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

[4:30] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

[4:42] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

[4:54] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. by day and week by week and help us for the short time together to fully focus on your word, to fully focus on the beauty of what it is you're saying to your people, on the challenge your word gives us, on the hope, on the promises we find in it. We come this evening admitting that in many ways we are needy. In our own lives we find so much lacking. In our conduct towards ours, in our service towards you, we find there is so much missing. We come this evening confessing and admitting we are not the finished article. But we come this evening not looking to ourselves, not looking to our worth, not looking to our efforts. We come this evening with all the worries and stresses and strains.

[5:55] Come this evening bringing all the desires of our heart, of how we wish we were and how we wish what we were. We come this evening, those of us who know and who love Jesus, we come cleansed and washed, made perfect by his finished work. As your word assures and reassures us that when you behold us, when you look on us, when you think on us, you see us in the light of the sun.

[6:28] But we are loved, if we're your people this evening, we are loved as the sun is loved, with that eternal, unchanging love. Help us then, Lord, of that confidence to come just now to the throne of grace, knowing that we are heard there, knowing we are seen there, and knowing that there we meet with a God who is a father to his people, a God who is a perfect father, a God who hears our prayers.

[7:00] Help us then to pray as we ought. Help us this new week to bring before you in prayer all we encounter. Forgive us, Lord, for times of prayerlessness, how many days and how many hours we go through the day and we think of ourselves and we plan through things, but we at no point include you.

[7:21] Help us, Lord, then to be a people of prayer, a people of constant prayer, relying on you for all that we have. We thank you again for this gathering. We thank you again for the privilege of worshipping you like we have this day.

[7:35] As we meet just now together like this, we are mindful, as always, of the great privilege we have of openly, freely worshipping you as we do, with our sound system on, with our cars parked outside, with our doors unlocked.

[7:52] And we remember just now, dear brothers and sisters who love you as we love you, but at this very moment are worshipping you in secret, are worshipping you in fear.

[8:04] Remember again, especially brothers and sisters in Central Asia, in some of the areas there, Lord, you know the details of the countries we are thinking about.

[8:15] Pray for them just now, especially brothers and sisters in a certain area who are facing, in the last few weeks, what seems to be an overwhelming amount of persecution.

[8:27] As they find their homes either destroyed or burnt to the ground or repossessed, their places of work letting them go, their churches gone.

[8:37] As they find their livelihoods, their places of worship, their family homes all being taken away from them. We pray for them.

[8:48] Those who have nothing left in this world, in material matters, those who are left on their own in terms of their society, we bring them to you.

[9:00] All because they dare to proclaim the risen Saviour, that there is hope and there is life to be found in Jesus and in Him alone. We thank you, Lord, for the freedom we have.

[9:14] Pray, Lord, you'd give us the wisdom to make full use of it whilst we still have it. We do pray for our own government. Pray for those in leadership over us locally and nationally. Pray just now for the Council.

[9:26] Pray, Lord, for Holyrood. Pray for Westminster. Pray, Lord, for our leaders of the various levels and all the various positions. We're very mindful, just now praying, of the upcoming elections.

[9:38] We ask, Lord, that wisdom would be seen. Whatever takes place, that you will reign and rule. And all that takes place, Lord, we understand and we are so aware that we as a nation have and continue to go far, far away from you in the highest of our places.

[9:59] And with hearts that are mourning and with understanding that pains us, we see the result of leaving you and your law behind.

[10:10] We see the increase of sin. We see the increase of rebellion. And we take these things and we ask, Lord, in the face of these things, you would make us not harder, but make us softer in our hearts.

[10:24] Make us more Christ-like. We would have a growing concern for the lost. A growing concern for those around us who are heading in that direction. A growing concern for those who have no care for you.

[10:37] Help us in our conduct, our words, our very lives, to be shining glorious witnesses of our Saviour. To meet the pain, to meet the evil and sin of this world.

[10:52] To not be scared to point these things out. To not be scared to be bold and brave in the word. At the same time, to be gentle as we present the truth.

[11:02] As your word tells us to do, we declare, we present the truth in love. Neither compromising on the truth, but also never compromising on the love of which we share that truth.

[11:15] Help us then, Lord, to be wise, to be careful. Pray just now especially for the bills which are going through our own parliament. Bills which, as we've heard in recent days, will potentially curtail the free preaching and the free sharing of your word.

[11:32] Bills which may curtail the ability we have to publicly, at least, without consequence, read certain passages and engage in certain activities.

[11:45] Lord, we leave that with you. You are sovereign. Whatever may take place in our nation in the years to come, and give us a wisdom and give us a strength to serve you well. Thank you, Lord, for placing us in the mission field we are here.

[11:58] Would you pray for, again, North Tulsa? As we prayed this morning, we pray for every single home from the Glen to Gary. Every single individual and family. Pray especially just now for those who have no church connection.

[12:12] Perhaps the many who have moved in over the years, who have no connection to your people here. Pray just now for the many who are born here, whose church connection has long since been severed, who have long since walked away.

[12:27] We ask, Lord, in love, help us to be good neighbours, to be good friends. Help us in our conduct, in our invitations, to gently but clearly invite them along.

[12:39] Help us in all that we do to point those around us to our Saviour. We bring just now before you those who are heavy in our minds, our closest of family and friends.

[12:50] Those we've been praying for for years to come and to know you. Those who've been begging for years to have a full of grace to come and to have an understanding of you.

[13:01] And as of yet, we see no answer to these prayers. As of yet, we see that in your wisdom, in your providence, which is at times closed off to us, we see our loved ones still show no or very little gospel interest.

[13:14] Lord, help us to be faithful, to keep on praying, to keep on bringing the gospel to them, to keep on inviting them, to keep on sharing with them the hope that we have. We trust that we cannot save any.

[13:29] Our job is clear. We are witnesses. We are missionaries. We are ambassadors. We are lights. We are a city and a hill.

[13:40] We are there to point everyone around us to the Saviour who saved us. And trusting that He alone has the power to change hearts and lives.

[13:51] We pray once more for our community. We pray just now especially for those of our own number here who are missing this evening. Brothers and sisters who have been missing for a good while because of illness and other various reasons.

[14:06] We pray just now especially for brothers and sisters just now who have recently not been feeling great and who are recently and still recovering from various things. Lord, again, you know the full detail.

[14:19] We ask your healing hand in their lives. Uphold them and uplift them and be with them. Let's give you praise, Lord, of the good news, Lord, of new life.

[14:31] Thank you, Lord, just now, as we have heard over the last few days, Lord, of a new baby boy. Lord, we pray now, Lord, for Laura and kneel our prayers, Lord, for Donald and Rhoda.

[14:43] We thank you for them as a family. Pray, Lord, for blessings, gospel blessings, your blessing on that new life. Lord, that he would grow up one day to know and to love and to serve you.

[14:58] Pray for peace for them and strength for them as a family as they carry on, Lord, their family. As we see our two precious grandchildren and pray all the same for Donald and Rhoda and give them support.

[15:13] We thank you, Lord, again for the... We prayed recently in a prayer meeting. We pray again, Lord, just now, just now for the also recent birth we have heard from James and May. Lord, we pray for them.

[15:24] We thank you for them and we ask you to encourage them also as they continue to raise their child. Thank you, Lord, for the hope we see in new life.

[15:35] You're the God who brings and the God who gives these glorious gifts. Thank you, Lord, for the children in our community. Pray, Lord, for the children who attend our Sunday school and, if it's your will, the children who will attend our youth fellowship after a summer holidays.

[15:52] We also are mindful of the many children in our community who have very little to no connection to church. We ask, Lord, you give us wisdom how we can reach out to them and how we can share the good news with them too.

[16:07] We come this evening confessing sin. We come this evening bringing before you our own weakness, bringing before you our own waywardness at times, bringing before you that in our thoughts, in our actions, in our very words, we have sinned against you, a holy God.

[16:23] Forgive us, Lord, then we ask. We ask as we come just now we remember that the debt has been paid, that he has, if we know him, if we love him, if he is our Lord and Saviour, he has fully paid, fully paid the debt of sin that was once held against us.

[16:42] We come, men, just now in freedom. We come just now in joy, understanding that we have been made free and made free only through the finished work of our Saviour. It's in his name we come, giving you praise for these many things.

[16:57] Amen. That's a read in God's word. We're almost at the end of our Galatians series. So we're Galatians chapter 6.

[17:08] Galatians chapter 6, that's page 916 of our church Bibles. Galatians chapter 6, page 916.

[17:19] Galatians 6. Galatians 6. Let's hear together the word of God.

[17:33] Brothers, if anyone is caught up in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted.

[17:45] Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. For if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself.

[17:56] But let each one test his own work, and then his reason do both will be in himself alone, and not in his neighbour. For each will have to bear his own load.

[18:08] Let the one who is taught the word share all good things with the one who teaches. Do not be deceived. God is not mocked. For whatever one sows, that he will also reap.

[18:21] For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption. But the one who sows to the spirit will from the spirit reap eternal life.

[18:32] And let us not grow weary of doing good. For in due season we will reap if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of a household of faith.

[18:48] See with what large letters I am writing to you with my own hand. It is those who want to make a good showing in the flesh who would force you to be circumcised, and only in order that they may not be persecuted for the cross of Christ.

[19:04] For even those who are circumcised do not themselves keep the law, but they desire to have you circumcised, that they may boast in your flesh. But far be it from me to boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.

[19:25] For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. And as for all who walk by this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, upon the Israel of God.

[19:41] From now on, let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Be with your spirit, brothers.

[19:53] Amen. Amen. Good praise to God for his holy and his perfect word. Let's again sing again from the Scottish Psalter. This time, Psalm 57.

[20:05] Scottish Psalter, Psalm 57. Scottish Psalter, Psalm 57. It's on page 288.

[20:20] We can sing verses 1 down to verse 4. Psalm 57, verses 1 to 4. Be merciful to me, O God, thy mercy unto me. Do thou extend, because my soul doth put her trust in thee, ye in the shadow of thy wings my refuge I will place, until these sad calamities do wholly overpass.

[20:42] Psalm 57, verses 1 to 4. To God's praise. In heaven worth so, thank you for the crashes in the name, of thy humility.

[20:59] Be merciful to me, O God. Thy mercy unto me. God bless you.

[21:34] It is, my freedom Dog bless you.

[21:45] He is overcome, there is no limit to all the paths of a登��, How would you love me over us?

[22:01] My thriving rather cuestión of the love will have to stand,...

[22:12] ...and you are the word of mine. Till the Spirit of the Holy wee, Herr There, O James Mary.

[22:40] from the heavens first blood波.

[22:52] God who leads the cross to the end, that the Lord is the peace that He approached me.

[23:21] My Son of in Matthew하고. You That shall forgive their time Let's turn back to the chapter we had, Galatians chapter 6 Looking this evening at verses 1 down to verse 10 generally For the sake of our text, just to help us, we can have a first verse here

[24:23] Brothers, if anyone is caught up in any transgression You who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted I can't say we're almost drawing near to the conclusion of our series in Galatians It has run longer, much longer than I planned it would But we're getting there Just a week or two left to go potentially Remember, we've been building up a Paul And we've been seeing Paul build up the argument Chapters 1, chapters 4 and chapter 5 Of what it is to be in Christ We saw and we remember that the Galatians had this problem of those who had come in Who were saying to be truly saved, to be properly saved, to be a proper Christian It was Christ plus something else And in the case of the Galatians There were these teachers who were saying to be a proper Christian Yes, believe in Jesus

[25:23] And yes, always bits and pieces But to be a true, proper Christian You also must reflect some of your Jewish history You must be circumcised You must be circumcised You Gentiles, you must be circumcised If you're not, you'll never truly be a Christian We applied that all the way through to ourselves Of what that looks like for us And we saw last week, did we not?

[25:48] The week before that We saw the liberty we have in Jesus The freedom we have to live a life that glorifies Him Then last week we saw the other side of that That being free in Jesus Doesn't mean we can do whatever we want But in fact, according to God's word Verses 16 down to verse 26 last week There is also a set way for us to live our lives Honouring God Seeking to honour Him in all that we say and think and do And that catches us up now to where we are As Paul brings his letter to this young church to an end He does so being incredibly practical Incredibly pragmatic So I hope for us to do the same this evening And we're looking at these verses Very much from the angle of What do we here in North Tulsa How do we apply this teaching to ourselves?

[26:47] Having learnt and having been reminded That it's all about Jesus and Him alone Having been reminded of the freedom we have in Jesus Having been reminded of the love we should have for one another in Jesus Having then been reminded last week Of the way we're supposed to live and shape our lives What does all that mean?

[27:08] What does that look like when it's played out Day to day and week to week? How should that look in North Tulsa Amongst brothers and sisters? So there's three very simple headings To help us perhaps get a grasp of these verses First of all we can see verse 1 We can be looking at bringing one another back Bringing one another back Then verses 2 down to verse 5 Holding one another up And then verses 6 down to verse 8 Encouraging one another And then finally doing good to one another First of all then Bringing one another back Verse 1 Brothers if anyone is caught in any transgression You are spiritual Should restore him In a spirit of gentleness and so on Just to remind ourselves again If you have the pew Bibles The ESV or any of the other translations

[28:10] You'll see there's a wee A number, a wee letter In the pew Bible There's a wee five there Beside brothers Just to remind us We said it before Every time Paul uses the word brothers here For the Galatians And for the time and the context Of Paul's writing This was a catch-all term For brothers and sisters Again, there's no controversy there We know that That is the literal Greek language That we have To what Paul says here Addresses brothers Again in verse 18 It's saying brothers and sisters Paul of course is again Talking to the whole church These are instructions to the whole church And again I don't want to say this before Even our forebears Our forefathers You can read some of the translation notes Of those who translated The King James Bible version And they Going back to previous versions Which included brothers and sisters They had the same debate Whether they include it or not Brothers and sisters

[29:11] This takes in The whole church So what is the first command? What is the first instruction we have Towards the whole church When it comes to forming Our pastoral care For one another?

[29:25] It's a simple Short command To bear One another's burdens And here in verse 1 That is shown By bringing One another back From the edge By bringing One another back From the edge Brothers If anyone is caught up In any transgression You who are spiritual Should restore him In a spirit Of gentleness This deals of reality That we are Fallen people Yes saved Yes sanctified Yes redeemed But we are still A people who sin Who engage in sin And people who are Sinned against And we live in A fallen world And this deals of reality One we all know That in our experience Of brothers and sisters We are dealing With those Who are sinners And we ourselves Are with them

[30:26] In that Yes saved sinners Yes loved And yes we're transformed And yes to the Lord He changes and transforms us But at the same time We're still fighting That old man We still at times Engage in sin And Paul knows that The Lord writing And inspiring the words Of Paul He reminds the Galatians They are sinners Dealing with other sinners And the reality is Nothing's changed It doesn't need to be named But we know ourselves In our own history As a As a domination And as a church In Scotland We have plenty of examples Of sin Against brothers And sisters By other Brothers And sisters It's not easy To discuss this It's not pleasant To discuss this But God's word Does not require it To be easy or pleasant God's word Is the truth And we deal with The truth So what happens What happens When there's a brother Or sister Engaged in sin

[31:27] How do we conduct Ourselves towards him What does it mean For us to be there For them Well firstly We can note This is a command The command To help Our brothers Brothers and sisters It is one For all Christians Brothers or sisters If anyone Is caught up In any transgression You who are spiritual In other words You who are Professing You who are Engaged in Christian Growth You who are Fellow brothers And sisters It is our duty To be there And to come Alongside them So how do we Help brothers And sisters Who we see Who we know Are caught up In sin Well quite clearly First of all We go straight To them If you are Seeing someone Or hear of someone Engaged in sin And they are a brother And sister in the Lord As uncomfortable And as awful

[32:27] As it is We are told To go to them Ourselves Not to gossip About it Also equally Not to keep Quiet about it We are to Follow the Biblical structure That is what Paul is Alluding to here We see our Lord Telling us Matthew chapter 18 If your brother Or sister Sins What is the structure Go Point out Their fault Just between The two of you If they listen To you You have won Them over Our first Port of call If you hear Or see A brother Or sister Engaging in sin We are To go To them Directly Ourselves That is our first Port of call In Matthew We know And we see That if they don't Listen Then they are Supposed to Take someone Else with you And if they Don't listen Again You take The church We know That is the Process of

[33:27] Our own Discipline In the free Church It is Your duty As a brother And sister In the Lord Your duty To be looking Out for one Another This does not Mean we are Sin hunting We are looking For excuses But we are a Family And a family Means we care For one another And we care For one another Even if it means An awkward Conversation Or an Unpleasant Conversation An embarrassing Conversation We have to be Ready to engage In it Why?

[34:06] Because it is How the church Grows together Before things Escalate A gentle word From a brother To a brother A sister To a sister A gentle word Spoken Carefully in love Can help Before things Before things Get too bad Or too much Worse It is awkward It is not pleasant But for the sake Of our fellow Brothers and Sisters We are To approach And to speak And to deal With them In love What is the goal Then of doing this A brother Or sister We know Is in sin We approach Them What is our goal Are we there To apply Discipline to them Are we there To see them Be exposed For what They are wrongdoing What does the text say What does Paul Say to the Galatians Why are we doing it You who are spiritual Should restore him

[35:08] In a spirit Of gentleness Restoration Is our goal That is true For all levels Of church discipline It is what we are taught In God's word It is what we get taught In our own education In ETS It is what I have seen Myself In press Pretty papers And everything else Restoration Is always the goal Always the goal Now that does not Mean Restoration To the same position In the church If someone is an elder And they are engaged In sin Perhaps they will never Have been an elder Or a deacon Ever again Never a minister Ever again Restoration Does not mean Restoration To position What does it mean It means Restoration To fellowship To fellowship That there is no Avenue for us To cut a brother And sister Out of the church Forever Yes they might be Removed for a while And lose

[36:09] As it were Privileges For a while They might have Their name As it were Struck off For a while But the second There is repentance The second There is a coming Back The second There is the Prayed for restoration Scene No one Is forever Barred From coming Back To the Lord's Table Simple as That Why Because we are All about Restoration That looks Different in every Single case It is all about Restoration It is all about Careful Gentle Restoration We want to see Every single Brother and sister Grow In grace Those who have Committed great sin Those who have Wandered away In obvious ways And those of us Perhaps who have Led a quiet life Just getting on to things We all want to see Each other grow In grace But it doesn't mean They escape Due punishment Whether civil punishment

[37:09] If needed Or certain levels Of discipline In the church If needed All that's assumed But at the base level We want to see Restoration That's what the Gospel work is all about Restoration In time Carefully done That those who are Spiritual Should restore him In a spirit Of Gentleness We're to restore In a spirit Of Gentleness Where often Perhaps We're reminded here Too harsh In dealing With one another's sin Now don't Don't hear what I'm not saying There I'm not saying sin Doesn't need to be dealt If it does But we're told here To deal with a person Gently Not to ignore things Not to Mollycoddle them But to be gentle There's a way to be clear And to be gentle At the same time There's a way to deal With a situation Correctly

[38:09] But still deal With a brother and sister In gentleness It must be done That way It must be done We never Excuse The sin We never Sweep the sin Under the carpet Indeed that Also has caused Much issue For the church Of Christ Throughout the years We ignore sin And we sweep it Under the carpet And the sin Grows And the sin Grows That causes A disaster For the cause Of Christ In the area We don't ignore sin But when we deal With it We follow the pattern Here And we deal With it Gently We then have The interesting Instruction Following this Keep watch On yourself Lest you too Be tempted So as you seek To pray And to encourage A brother or sister

[39:10] Engage in sin As you seek To restore them As you seek To walk Alongside them Paul says Keep watch On yourself Lest you too Be tempted Watch yourself Brothers and sisters Now some will say Perhaps this means That if you're dealing With someone Who's engaged in sin You might be tempted To engage in the same sin They are I don't think that really Follows What we experience In life Others Personally This is my Thought too Temptation here Is to think That somehow That we are Better Than the brother And sister We're counselling We're helping We're seeking To encourage The sin here Is really the sin Of pride As you Help a brother To help a brother Or sister As you seek To restore them As you walk Alongside them As they seek Restoration And as they seek To move away From their place Of sin To a place Of restoration You yourself Can very easily

[40:10] Fall Into a place Of pride I am the one I am the one Who helps them I am the one Who walks beside them I am the one That's restored them I am the one In a situation Who is helping This sinner Watch yourself Paul says Why?

[40:27] Because you Too You too Are just as them And you too Can easily Be tempted That's why When we Speak And deal With a brother And sister Who is engaging In sin We do it gently Because we are them We are them We said it was a few weeks ago Didn't we?

[40:49] That let's not be surprised We said Why does scripture Give us These awful descriptions Of the early church Engaging in some Heenous sins And the brothers And sisters And we said Well how can that Be true?

[41:05] We were reminded By Calvin As Calvin tells us Our heart Is an idol factory We are capable Every one of us Of every single Possible sin Let's not be surprised At the sins we find In our own hearts In hearts of others Let's be watchful As we seek To bring Brothers and sisters Back Bring them To restoration We're told to bring Brothers and sisters Back together Then we're told In verse 2 Down to verse 5 To hold One another up To hold One another up To bear One another's burdens And so Fulfill The law Of Christ Brothers and sisters We are all We're all burdened We're all burdened I know we know that But often Are we guilty Of portraying Ourselves And acting In a way That somehow Shows our lives To be fine

[42:05] When someone asks you How are things Oh fine Yeah In reality Things are not Things are not Things are quite the opposite Aren't they at times Life we know is At times Just situation After situation Sadness After sadness Disappointment Disaster Tears Long days And longer nights We live In a world Of sin And we ourselves Are often burdened In so many ways Every one of us Here this evening I can Pretty willing to say This is a fact At some point In this past year Perhaps financial worries Tick Family worries Almost certain Health worries More than likely Worries about Close loved ones About their health About their situations About their families Worries perhaps

[43:06] About our own faith Worries about our own walk Worries about the wider world There's no point In really giving illustrations Because every one of our walks Our lives are so unique And we bring to this place And we bring To our church family together Worries and concerns And stresses and strains We are here this evening As a people Who right now reminds Have burdens Think for a second What is on your mind Just now What is heavy on your mind What burdens do you have Of this coming week What burdens Are you trying to leave behind Last week I am sure there are many In our minds Brothers and sisters We are a people Who at times Are very Very heavy laden We have a simple And we have a simple And beautiful Command here From our Lord As Paul reminds These Galatian Christians Bear One Another's Burdens Bear

[44:07] One Another's Burdens I say command I say command Because it is a command This is an imperative This is something we are being told That we must do It's not an option for us This is not an option given To those of us Who are perhaps more capable And others of us Who are quieter And are more awkward We can't do it Every one of us In our own capacity Are being told To bear One One Another's Burdens The call is simple And the call Is clear We must As brothers and sisters Be there for one another To help One Another Question of any of this I guess Well how It's good enough Saying that Good enough Knowing that But how do we Implement that How do we make sure We are bearing One another's burdens If it's a command For us to follow How do we follow That command That was kind of obvious But it has to be said perhaps We have to really get To know one another I know for many of us here

[45:09] We know one another well We're a community But we have to really get To know One another And we should be seeking To be growing In love For one another I want to encourage you For a few Perhaps Points Here For us A challenge And afterwards As brothers and sisters The question is How often are you praying For everyone else In the church I'm not saying you aren't Because I know many of you do I'm saying this To encourage perhaps All of us To do it Take On an evening Take two people In your mind And pray for them The next day Take another two people And pray for them And pray for them And pray for all Your brothers and sisters In Tulsa Those with us And of course those who go To our congregations Pray for those next door Those in town Pray for them Pray for all the Christians In North Tulsa Try and work through them

[46:11] In your mind Each night Pray for two Pray for three In a month Maybe a bit You can work through Most of the Christians In North Tulsa You have to get to know One another The challenge for us In helping us To better Share one another's burdens Is something perhaps Slightly strange To our culture But is something that We should not stop doing Because of our culture Is when was the last time Dear brother Dear sister That you asked Someone else How can I pray for you It's a strange question For us at times Not because we aren't A praying people We know we are Because think Way back when When our island was different When our culture was different We knew everyone's lives We're in and out

[47:12] Of each other's houses All the time We work together Many of us In the village together We knew each other's stories And family situations But let's be honest The situation has changed And we Even those of us Perhaps who mix the most We are still so Individual In our families By ourselves We know less and less About each other's lives And the question then is Well how do we support one another Well we are Sadly now having to do This simple thing That other brothers and sisters Have been doing Since the start of Of the church itself Asking the simple question How Can I Pray for you How can I pray for you Not waiting for a crisis To ask that But asking As part of our conversation As brothers and sisters Together Again this is not Some new fangled thing We're bringing in The early church

[48:12] Did this I've written down On my phone But I can't find it For life One of the church fathers Dealing with this passage He notes the exact same thing It's his idea I'm nabbing here And he says the same thing Well how do we bear One of us burdens We have to know What a person's burdens are How do you do that You have to ask them The early church At times Is just as no enough As we are As awkward as we are The first time You've asked someone How can I pray for you It's strange The second time Still is strange But the third Or fifth time You've asked someone How can I pray for you It feels normal Brothers and sisters We need to bear One of us burdens Not just guess Or wonder We're a family You would ask A brother and sister How their life is You would ask them How can I help you It should be the same For us as a church Family Bearing one another's

[49:12] Burdens We ask them How can I pray for you That's our challenge This week That's our challenge This week Myself included This week Let's With the Lord's help Challenge ourselves To ask at least One other Christian Not one you live with That doesn't count Ask one other Christian How can I pray for you This week Use your own words And let's see How that helps us To grow together In the Lord Verse 3 The danger is That if we Think we don't need Prayer If we think We can bear Our own burdens We are in trouble For if anyone Thinks he is something When he is nothing He deceives Himself Brothers and sisters Quite simply We need one another We need one another Some of us at times And indeed Perhaps all of us

[50:12] At times That we think We are on an island We think We are alone We think We can handle this And deal with this The Lord Has not made it so We say this often But we'll say it again Every single promise The Lord gives To his people Every promise We see in the New Testament To the church It is all In plural It is all God making promises To a group of people To his church We are made To love one another We're made To come together We're made To serve one another Not one of us Is made to live A solitary Christian life If you do Eventually You'll be worn down And worn down We're not as strong As we think We're not as able As we think Again We are made To need One another How Can I pray for you This week A simple question

[51:13] But one That will change Our dynamics Together As a church family Bear One Another's burdens Verse 5 For each Will have To bear His own load For each Is that a contradiction Paul As Paul the lawyer Suddenly got Things a bit mixed up Here Why is he now saying First of all Bear one another's burden He's now saying Each has to bear Their own load Is Paul getting His words mixed up Is this showing us This is not God's word Context We know We always say Context Always helps us To understand All supposed Contradictions What's being said Here At verse 5 The first In verse 2 Of the first instruction To bear one another's burdens That is an instruction We have In terms of one another Bear each other's burdens Bear each other's burdens

[52:14] The second In verse 5 It is clearly From the context And from common sense A reminder We all have Our responsibility To do What's being asked Of us In verse 2 What is our load What is our calling What is our responsibility It is to bear One another's burdens And so fulfill The love of Christ In other words If we're not Seeking to uplift And up build And be with one another And support one another And bear one another's burdens We are failing To do And accomplish Verse 5 We're a family Growing Together We're called To bring one another Back From the brink of sin Called to hold And support One another up We're also Quite simply then Called To encourage One another

[53:15] Encourage One another Verse 6 Let the one Who has taught The word Share all Good things With the one Who teaches Verses 7 and 8 Are coming up In a future Prayer meeting So we can leave that For now For the Lord's help We'll do that later on But just verse 6 Encourage One another Let us encourage One another Let the one Who has taught The word Share all good things Of the one Who teaches Brothers and sisters If the apostles Needed Encouragement And prayer Then so Do we Here the instruction Is simple The Galatians Are To return And to remind And to show Their pastors Show their ministers Of how much They are encouraging Them in the word That the one Who has taught The congregation

[54:16] Here in this context Share all good things With the one Who teaches The minister The pastor In other words The Galatians Are being reminded That their minister Their pastor And themselves Are together Workers in God's kingdom We all need encouragement And Paul is saying Don't think That doesn't include Your ministers Now To God's glory And I was telling this To brothers Of the induction Of our ministers I had a good chance To meet As a minister I haven't seen for a while Brothers with me In college I've been asking How we're getting on On Tolstance You tell them all The bits and pieces And I can honestly say That I am encouraged here I am very encouraged And I appreciate The encouragement That you give me I appreciate The many of you Who tell me That you pray And are praying For the work Behind the scenes And praying for us As a couple We appreciate that

[55:17] We appreciate The encouragement So this is not My plea But a reminder For us together That brothers and sisters We're in this together Don't think for a second Not that you do And I'm sure In the last year I have dissuade you From all these opinions Don't think for a second That somehow Your minister Is some super Christian Who has every single idea And every single thought Perfectly formed I'm sure you know that already Don't think for a second Your minister Or any minister Is somehow Holier Is somehow Closer to the Lord Than the rest of you If you think that We have failed you Horrendously We are fellow workers Fellow workers Called to serve In this mission field From McGlenn to Gary We are called To serve in North Tulsa Every one of us

[56:18] Together And just as you Need encouragement Remember Because I am A fellow brother The encouragement I need Is pretty high Too at times It's a hard task Isn't it For every one of us And in recent days In recent weeks We've seen the Lord Blessing his work In Tulsa We praise him For that Again We've been praying For increase And we've seen increase Again We've seen that Half a pew Go almost to a pew And a bit Soon Hopefully the Lord Help a pew And a half of children What's that Three times The amount Of children In a year Praise the Lord For that We saw Fourteen people Including children Come back out For the back To church Sunday Some new faces Some returning faces And they are keeping Coming out Now for five weeks The same faces Are back again We give praise to God For that At the same time It is still A hard calling Isn't it Think of the Four hundred people In North Tulsa

[57:18] Give or take We said before Say there's There's a hundred We said Less than a hundred Involved Less than a hundred Who would say They are the Lord's people Say a hundred Now three hundred People That is your mission field Brothers and sisters As well as your own Places of work Places of study Your own life Outside this place But in Tulsa alone Three hundred or so people That is our mission field The calling Is high The calling Is glorious But it's one That needs Constant encouragement From me to you And from you To me Let the one Who has taught The word Share all good things With the one Who teaches That doesn't mean At all For a second Tell me I'm doing A good job Or tell me I'm

[58:19] Fascinating Or tell me my My suit is nice But it means How is the Lord Using his word In your life How is the Lord Encouraging you In his word I am always Wanting to hear that I don't want to hear I don't mind I don't care About hearing About me But I want to hear How is the Lord Using his word Read or taught How is it Encouraging you What new insights Are you seeing What growth Are you seeing What encouragement Are you having From his word Please always Share that With me Let us not Grow weary Of doing good In verse 9 Let us not Grow weary Of doing good For in due season We will reap If we do not give up So then As we have the opportunity Let us do good To everyone Especially to those Of a household Of faith Finally doing good To one another

[59:19] Doing good To one another If we are very honest At times The work we are called to It is wearying work It is tiring work We sow And we sow And we sow And we water And we water And we water We pray for friends We pray for family We beg We plead We lay ourselves Open before them And there is nothing Ten years later There is nothing Twenty years Thirty years later There is nothing We keep praying We keep pleading We keep praying We keep pleading We reach out To this community We put events And we share the word We hand out tracts We have this We have that And there is response But there is so much More work needing To be done In North Tulsa And it can be Very overwhelming Our whole island Overwhelming Our nation Overwhelming You see Brothers and sisters Suffering Physically Mentally Spiritually You see Brothers and sisters Needing help And encouragement

[60:20] It is overwhelming And to all that God In his word Says to us here Let us not grow weary Of doing good For in due season We will reap If we do not Give up Our calling Does not change Regardless of how difficult The calling is We are called To sow And to reap The lost We are called And to encourage One another As brothers and sisters No matter how hard Or painful Or awkward It might be for us And to keep on Keeping on To keep on going To keep on doing this Why?

[60:59] Because the Lord Will bring All things to fruition In his time And in His way The glorious But simple Command Of as we have Opportunity To get every Chance we have Taking every Chance we have Doing good To everyone First of all We are doing good To everyone We are here To be good witnesses To our community We did that Recently didn't we Things like the Funday The congregational Funday When members Of the community Come to that And they receive Food And have the kids Have fun Why do we do that It's just for a fun Day No Why do we do it If we want to Show our community We care for them We want North To all of a sudden To know We are here To serve you Why?

[61:49] Because we love you And what does that mean It means we want you To come to know Our saviour Let's not ever Tire Of doing good To everyone around us Friends and neighbours But especially Our first focus There Is to those Of the household Of faith Brothers and sisters To those Of our church Family That's our structure There for us Always seeking To do good To build one another Up first and foremost And whilst building One another up Then seeking To do good To North Tulsa And sharing the word One another Bearing one another's Burdens First and foremost Then that reaches out Then to encouraging One another To serve in North Tulsa As we're built up In our discipleship Remember that's What we're looking For this year As we're building Ourselves up Stronger in discipleship And growing together As a family And growing together In the Lord We then are able To reach out

[62:49] Much more effectively The stronger we are As a church family The stronger our witness The stronger our efforts The more coherent Our message The more united We are in prayer For North Tulsa And the Lord Blesses the work Of his people Simple as that Let's then This week We have the challenge We have the challenge Bringing one another Back from the brink If any is in sin Bearing one another's Burdens Holding one another up Encouraging one another And doing good To one another With that final challenge Brothers and sisters In your own words This week Ask someone else How can I pray For you Now that's all For the brothers and sisters I'm aware of that This instructions are for us And how we conduct ourselves As a family And how we seek

[63:49] To grow together Friends If as of yet You cannot say That you know Nor love Jesus You're not As you know yourself You're not yet part Of this family You're outside of the family And our desire And I hope you know this I'm sure you do Our desire Our prayer Our very Our very purpose In the Lord sending us Out in this place Is to see you come to know And come to love The Lord yourself And to come and be part Of this family And to come And know what it is To be prayed for To be loved by brothers And sisters To be thought about As a brother As a sister of the Lord To come And to know what it is To be part of the family Of God That is our desire For every single one of you Here and those Who will listen later Perhaps online Come and join the family

[64:51] Come and know this support Come and know this love For yourself A love that comes From having Jesus As our saviour As our king And as our elder brother It's about our heads now A word of prayer And we thank you once more For the gift But also the challenge Of your word Help us this evening Lord We pray just now For any of our number Who know you And who love you But who are engaged In sin Secret sin perhaps Lord we ask you Would remove that From them We pray just now Lord for those Of our number Who are heavy laden Who are deeply burdened Lord help us As brothers and sisters To come alongside them To encourage them To if we can Remove some of the weight Of that burden From them Help us the brothers And sisters To encourage one another To lift up one another To do good To one another Help us Lord In doing all that To then be better prepared To serve you well In the mission field Of North Tolstah

[65:52] With the many homes And the many individuals Who are yet to know you Who are yet to know what it is To have salvation from you Help us Lord then Not to rest Until we see your name Known and glorified Across this village Help us this new week To serve you well Help us this new week To be built up And encouraged In your word And encouraged also By your people Help us this week To take the time To pray For one another Thank you as always To the ones Who lead the sung worship We thank you The privilege we have Of singing your praises From your word As we sing your words Back to you We know we are perfect words Being sung to you Our perfect God Ask all these things In and through And for Christ His precious name's sake Amen Well how else to end Other than that Psalm of brotherly Of church Love Psalm 133

[66:55] Psalm 133 Psalm 133 In Scottish Psalter Behold How good a thing it is And how becoming well Together Such as brethren are In unity to dwell Like precious ointment On the head That down the beard did flow Even Aaron's beard And to the skirt Stood off his garments go Psalm 133 To God's praise Inắc In You On the Worth Are In So Thank you.

[68:06] Thank you.

[68:36] Thank you. Amen.