All right.
Well, good morning, everyone. It's good to see you.
! Just want to highlight again our Good Friday service at 11 o'clock.
! Just a slight typo in the new sheets at 11.
And, yeah, do come along to share if you want to take part.
There's opportunity to read and pray as we remember the death of Jesus for us.
And then we'll be meeting next Sunday as we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus.
So let's turn in our Bibles, please, to 1 Thessalonians.
We're almost at the end of our study.
Okay.
We're going to read from 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, verse 12 to 15.
So it's a short section, but it's jam-packed.
Lots of good things for us to consider this morning.
1 Thessalonians chapter 5, starting in verse 12.
Now we ask you, brothers and sisters, to acknowledge those who work hard among you,
who care for you in the Lord, and who admonish you.
Hold them in the highest regard, in love, because of their work.
Live in peace with each other.
And we urge you, brothers and sisters, warn those who are idle and disruptive.
Encourage the disheartened.
Help the weak.
Be patient with everyone.
Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong.
But always strive to do what is good for each other and for everyone else.
Lord God, we come to you as the true and chief shepherd.
Lord God, we pray that you would be our teacher this morning.
And that we would be those who listen carefully to your word.
So that we who are weak may be helped.
And we who are disheartened might be encouraged.
Bless this time together, we pray.
In Jesus' name.
Amen.
So, what's the health of the church?
Well, recently I had to go to the doctors for my six-monthly check-up.
Bloods were taken.
I did find some.
Five tubes in total.
And for good measure, they sent me away with a blood pressure monitor.
One of those devices that you wear for 24 hours.
And it goes off every hour, day or night.
So, not much sleeping that particular evening.
Thankfully, with the results all back, my cholesterol was good.
I can eat cream buns again.
And my blood pressure hasn't blown.
I am, according to the doctor, healthy.
I'm in good shape.
But tell me this.
How do you measure the health of the church?
Is it the size?
Is it the amount of programs that we have going?
Is it our talented musicians?
Or is it the quality of the coffee we serve?
How do you measure the health of a church?
Well, as we come to the close of this letter, we'll see what a healthy church looks like.
This morning is part one.
And then in a couple of weeks, we'll look at the rest, which will be part two of a healthy church.
But before we look at the health of the church, we first need to know what is the church.
No point in talking about the health if we don't know what the church is.
So let's have a look at that.
The local church.
Look at verse 12.
Now we ask you, brothers and sisters.
We see the same again in verse 14.
We urge you, brothers and sisters.
Brothers and sisters.
And in fact, it's repeated down in verse 25.
Brothers and sisters, pray for us.
Verse 27.
I charge you before the Lord to have this letter read to all the brothers and sisters.
In fact, this term is found 15 times in the letter.
It keeps repeating.
So who are the brothers and sisters?
Well, just go back to chapter 1, verse 4, where this phrase appears for the first time.
Chapter 1, verse 4.
For we know, brothers and sisters, loved by God, that he has chosen you.
Now, I want you to notice, I'm quite sure in your Bibles,
after brothers and sisters, you might have a little letter.
In my Bible, it has the letter B.
And if you go down to the very bottom of the page to the notes,
if you look along the corresponding letter,
it'll say something like this.
The Greek word for brothers and sisters, Adelphoi refers here to believers,
both men and women, as part of God's family.
Do you have that?
Yeah?
Okay.
So, brothers and sisters, we want to know who they are.
They are believers, people who trust in the Lord Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of their sin,
both men and women, who are now part of God's family.
You see, it's a reminder to us that the church is a gathering, not of just people,
but of people who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, who trust him.
We're members of a family who've turned from self and are trusting in God's Son, Jesus Christ.
So, first, we're brothers and sisters, part of a family.
But more than that, we're brothers and sisters who are committed to each other.
So, look at chapter 4 and verse 9.
Now, about your love for one another.
Chapter 5, verse 11.
Therefore, encourage one another and build each other up just as, in fact, you are doing.
Chapter 5, verse 13.
At the end of verse 13, live in peace with each other.
And we see the same in verse 15.
Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always strive to do good.
What is good for who?
For each other.
You see, you can't separate being a Christian from the church.
If you claim to be a Christian, then you should also be identified with a local church.
A family of brothers and sisters who have responsibilities to love, encourage, and do good for each other.
It's like our biological families.
I have a brother and a sister.
And what makes us brothers and sisters is that we have the same father.
But more than that, it's our relationship to our father that unites us to each other.
No one else gets to be called my brother or sister in a biological sense.
That's what makes us family.
Well, if you're a Christian, God is your father.
And because you have a relationship with God the Father, you become part of God's family.
You enter into a relationship with brothers and sisters who also trust and look to God.
So here's a summary of what I think a local church is.
It could be more, but it's at least this.
A local church is a family of brothers and sisters who believe in Jesus,
which is expressed in baptism and committed to each other,
which is identified through membership.
Well, you say, well, I didn't read anything there about baptism or membership.
You just talked about brothers and sisters and being committed to each other.
Where did you get baptism and membership from?
Well, let us go to Acts chapter 2.
So go back to Acts chapter 2.
And we'll see the pattern that there was in the early churches.
People heard the gospel, the good news about Jesus, and their response to it.
So Acts chapter 2, verse 38.
Peter is the preacher.
He's the speaker.
Chapter 2, verse 38.
Peter said,
Well, how did the people respond?
Look at verse 41.
Those who accepted his message were baptized as a sign of their trust and their commitment to Christ.
And about 3,000 were added or included to their number that day.
Well, included to who?
Added to who?
The church.
The local church.
They became members of the local church.
So you see, we are a church of brothers and sisters who believe in Jesus, which is expressed in baptism,
committed to each other, which is identified through membership.
You see, knowing who our brothers and sisters are is crucial to being a healthy church.
So now that we know what a church is, what does a healthy church look like?
Well, we're going to look at two things.
Love for leaders and care for church.
That's how we measure the health of a church.
Love for leaders and care for church.
So look at love for leaders.
Let's go back to Thessalonians chapter 5 and verse 12.
Let's read from verse 12.
Now we ask you, brothers and sisters, to acknowledge those who work hard among you.
Verse 13.
Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work.
Who's he talking about?
Well, he's talking about the leaders of the church or, as sometimes is referred to, the elders of the church.
The leaders are those who are appointed by the church and are accountable to the church.
And their responsibility is the spiritual oversight of the church.
And their work, their hard work, is seen in two ways.
Did you see it there in verse 12?
Those who work hard among you, who care for you in the Lord, and who admonish you.
So first, they are those who care for you.
Now we've got a wonderful example of what that care looks like if you go back to chapter 2 and verse 7.
The care that the leaders have for the church.
Chapter 2, the middle of verse 7.
Paul is speaking.
He says,
Just as a nursing mother cares for her children, so we cared for you.
Because we loved you so much, we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God, but our lives as well.
A nursing mother feeding her infant child is a beautiful picture of the kind of care we are to expect from our leaders.
A leader is those who will watch out, protect, feed, nourish.
It's caring for the spiritual needs of the church family.
So leaders are to care for you.
And they were to admonish you.
Again, we have a good example if you look down at chapter 2, verse 11.
For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children.
Encouraging.
Comforting.
And urging you to live lives worthy of God who calls you into his kingdom and glory.
A good father will watch out for his children.
So picture the scene.
A little toddler who goes running out in front of their father.
They're just running and darting wherever they please.
They can't see the danger or the trouble.
The father at times needs to correct the little one.
To warn them, to steer them on the right path.
So they don't run out on the road, but keep to the pavement.
Leaders admonish.
They correct.
Encouraging, comforting, urging.
Not that way, this way.
Ensuring that the church is in good health.
Go back to chapter 5, verse 12.
So we ask you, brothers and sisters, the church, to acknowledge those who work hard among you, the leaders,
who care for you in the Lord and admonish you.
So this caring, this admonishing, must be done in the Lord.
In other words, the church belongs to the Lord.
It's not my church or your church.
It's God's church.
So the leaders do not impose their own authority.
Rather, they are to represent the Lord's authority.
We don't enforce our own will.
Instead, we teach what is God's will.
This is a healthy church.
It's like a parent, a mother and father caring for and admonishing their children.
It's giving the spiritual nourishment and correction that a church needs so that they grow and mature
and become all that God wants us to be.
It's speaking his truth, the authority of God's word for the blessing of God's church.
Now, the church has a responsibility to the leaders.
If that's what the leaders are to do is to care and admonish,
the church has a responsibility.
Verse 13.
Hold them, the leaders, in the highest regard, in love because of their work.
Now, that's quite a statement, isn't it?
Hold your leaders in the highest regard.
Now, let me clear about this.
That doesn't mean you're to treat your leaders with celebrity status and send pictures around
and say how wonderful they are.
It doesn't mean that if you meet me in the town or one of the other leaders in the town,
you don't go, oh, hello, Johnny, is there anything I can do for you?
No, it means to deeply respect their role.
Why such respect for your leaders?
Well, and I say this carefully, and I want you to hear this carefully.
The reason why we hold our leaders in the highest regard is
they are the most important people in your life.
Yes, they are.
They are the most important people in your life.
Why?
Because they are responsible for your spiritual health.
If you were physically sick and you took a turn, where are you going to go to?
The hospital, to A&E, to the doctor.
Why?
Because of your physical health.
You want to be looked after and cared for and made well
and make sure that everything is okay.
You are not going to go down the road and say to the plumber,
I have got a bad heart.
Or to the electrician, there is something wrong with my leg.
No, you go to the doctor because they are going to care and provide what you need.
Well, the leaders are there to provide for your spiritual health.
To make sure that you are prepared and ready to meet the Lord,
as we looked at last week.
You see, one day,
as a leader,
as a pastor,
and indeed the other leaders of this church,
will one day stand before God.
And it says we will have to give an account
for every single person
who has been entrusted to our care.
I am responsible.
Hold them in the highest regard,
verse 13,
in love.
So how do we love our leaders?
Well, I am going to suggest three ways in which we can love.
Here is the first one.
Become a member.
You see,
if the leaders are responsible for caring for
and for admonishing the church,
if they are to provide and exercise spiritual oversight,
then the leaders have to know
who they are responsible for.
So does that mean we are responsible for everybody
who arrives at a Sunday service?
What if they come for a few weeks
and don't show up for another few months?
Who are we to care for?
We need to know.
And the way we can know
is to identify yourself
with the local church.
To become a member.
To commit and say,
I want you
to care for my
spiritual health.
I want you
to hold me accountable.
I want you to support me
and teach me.
I want you to
love me
and watch over me.
So how do we love our leaders?
Well, by becoming
a member.
second way
to love your
leaders.
Submit to their authority.
Gosh, that's a big one, isn't it?
Do I really have to submit
to their authority?
Well, the authority
that leaders have
is not to be used
to demand their own wants.
No, the leader's authority
authority comes
from God.
God.
Now, to help us see this,
this is important,
go forward
in your Bibles
to Hebrews.
Hebrews.
So you get
2 Thessalonians,
1 and 2 Timothy,
Titus,
and then
Hebrews.
Hebrews chapter 13,
right at the end.
Hebrews 13, verse 7.
So here,
in writing to the church,
the author says,
chapter 13, verse 7,
remember your leaders.
Why do we need
to remember them?
They spoke the word
of God to you.
Now look at verse 17.
Have confidence
in your leaders
and submit
to their authority
because they keep
watch over you
as those who must
give an account.
Now, can you see
the connection
between verse 7
and verse 17?
The leaders spoke
the word of God
to you
and you're to submit
to their authority.
They're not two
different things
but one of the same thing.
the only authority
that a leader has
is to teach
and apply
God's word.
We don't make
things up.
It's in the teaching
and the application
of God's word.
That is what we're all
called to submit to.
And as the church,
they are to hold
the leaders
accountable
to God's word.
So if the leaders
drift from God's word
and don't teach
what the Bible
is saying,
then it is the church
who must hold
the leaders accountable.
So how do we
love our leaders?
Submit to their
authority
because they are
teaching
the word of God
to you.
Third way
to love.
Seek out
their counsel.
Let's go back
to chapter 5
of 1 Thessalonians.
Leaders have been
provided
to watch out
for you
and to protect you.
So it makes sense
that we should
seek out
their counsel.
So ask
the leaders.
Would you come
and visit?
I have something
I need to talk over.
Something I need
to pray about.
I'd like your
input
input.
To listen to
what the Bible
has to say.
Now that doesn't
mean to say
that the leader's
words is
perfect.
But it does mean
that there is
learned wisdom
that will help you
as you respond
to challenging
circumstances
and make decisions.
They are there
to watch over.
To care.
To care
for the spiritual
health
of the life
of the church.
So verse 13.
Hold them
in the highest
regard in love
because of their work.
Live in peace
with each other.
And I am so thrilled.
I am so thankful
that there is
peace
amongst the church.
Between the leaders.
Between one another.
Between us all.
So let's keep
working this
out together.
Holding each
other accountable
and fulfilling
our roles
to one another.
Love your
leaders
who care
for you
and who
admonish you.
So that's
the first sign.
The first
mark
of a
healthy
church.
Here's the
second one.
Care for your
church.
You see
as brothers
and sisters
all of us
we have
responsibilities
to each
other.
Verse 14.
And we
urge you
brothers and
sisters
warn those
who are
idle and
disruptive.
Encourage
the disheartened.
Help
the weak.
Be patient
with everyone.
Well isn't that
what the leaders
are for?
They're the
ones who
warn,
encourage and
help.
Yes all of
that is
true but
it's also
the responsibility
of the whole
church.
Look at
verse 14
again.
We urge
you
brothers and
sisters.
So we're
all responsible
for the
care of
the spiritual
needs of
one another.
We are
all to
watch out
for each
other.
I need
you to
hold me
accountable.
I need
you to
ask me
how I'm
doing in
my faith,
how I'm
doing in
my
relationship
with God.
So how
do we
care for
the church?
Well,
here's
five ways
in which
we can
care.
First,
warn
the
idle.
Verse
14.
Warn
those who
are idle
and disruptive.
You see,
the idle
or the
lazy have
a very
simple
motto
in life.
Live
to be
served.
They're
consumers,
not
givers.
Church is
a place
I come
to to
get what
I want
and if
I don't
find what
I like,
well,
I'll go
somewhere
else.
And if
I don't
like that,
I'll go
somewhere
else.
There's a
danger with
that kind
of approach.
There's
no
accountability,
no
responsibility.
It's
spiritually
unhealthy.
God
gave to
us
brothers
and
sisters.
He gave
to us
a family
who can
care for
us and
lead us
and direct
us on
the right
path.
So,
care for
each other
by warning
the idle.
Second,
encourage
the
disheartened.
Perhaps
you're
discouraged
today,
discouraged
by people's
lack of
support,
fed up
with not
being thanked
for all
the service
that you
do.
Maybe
you're
tired
from
helping
and
serving
others.
Maybe
you've
become
disillusioned
with where
your life
is at.
And in
those
moments
and in
those
times
we can
begin
to
doubt.
God
doesn't
care.
Nobody
cares.
God
doesn't
hear my
prayer.
God
can't
love
me.
And
what we
long
for in
those
moments
is for
someone
to bring
some
wise
encouragement,
reminders
of God's
truth,
promises
from God
that yes
he does
love us
and it's
a steadfast
love.
He's
never
going
to let
us
go.
And
he does
see and
he does
know.
What we
need is
someone who
will listen
to our
cries and
will come
alongside
and pray
for us.
So maybe
there's
somebody who
is disheartened
today that
you can
encourage,
care for
each other
as we
encourage
one another.
the third
way,
verse 14,
is to
help the
weak.
Now we
all experience
weaknesses.
We can be
overwhelmed by
anxiety.
We can
become
overcome
with fears.
We even
get bogged
down and
weighed down
by our
past sin.
We all
know that
dark feeling
of sinking
and drowning
under the
pressures and
strains of
life.
Well,
try harder
and do
better is
not the
answer.
We need
to get
alongside
the weak
and support
them and
carry them.
Rather than
abandon
them, we
walk their
path with
them.
We help
them to
collapse
into the
loving arms
of God.
So is
there someone
weak today?
Weighed
down by
past sin,
overcome by
anxiety and
fear?
But we
can help
them by
speaking truth
of God's
word.
Let us
care for
each other
by helping
the weak.
faith.
And
fourth,
patient with
everyone.
How quick
we are to
write one
another off.
Maybe
there's
someone who
you know
who's
drifting back
into sinful,
harmful habits.
It's easy
just to give
up and go,
well, I've
tried, and
just dismiss
them.
Well, rather
than judge
and disapprove,
instead of
wagging the
naughty finger
at people,
we respond
with patience.
Why should
we put
limits on
God's grace
and mercy?
Does God
put limits
on his
grace and
mercy towards
me?
No, we
show people
again the
path of
repentance and
faith.
We lead
them on the
right path,
and we go
again.
So is
there someone
who you're
feeling,
well, not
going to
bother with
them, I've
tried.
No, let
us be
patient with
each other.
And then
finally,
verse 15,
which kind
of wraps up
the way in
which we can
care for one
another.
Make sure,
verse 15,
that nobody
pays back
wrong for
wrong, but
always strive
to do what
is good for
each other
and for
everyone else.
Now, here's
where the
church excels
and models
the goodness
of God.
We live in
a culture
where people
pay back.
You wrong
me, I'll
wrong you.
You withhold
forgiveness,
well, I'm
not going to
forgive you.
We're good
at bearing
grudges.
We
remember.
We remember
what they
said and
how they
hurt me
and what
they did
and how
it upset
me.
But not
the church.
Verse 15,
we strive
to do
what is
good,
making sure
that we
don't pay
back wrong
for wrong.
Always
doing what
is good.
Not for
me.
how will
it help
me or
how will
I feel.
But how
will it
bless and
help the
other person.
You see,
isn't that
how Jesus
has treated
us?
Remember
what he
said?
I am
the good
shepherd.
The good
shepherd lays
down his
life for
the sheep.
Here is
the one who
is the
true leader,
the perfect
shepherd who
cared for
us by
giving of
his life to
death on
a cross,
by paying
for our
sins,
who corrects
us when we
drift away
and gently
by his
Holy Spirit
leads us
back.
Jesus is
exceedingly
good.
He encourages
the disheartened.
He helps
the weak.
He sustains
you by his
grace,
pouring out
his grace
in abundance.
He strengthens
you with his
power,
equipping you.
As scripture
reminds us,
a bruised
reed he
will not
break,
and a
smouldering
wick he
will not
snuff out.
Jesus is
patient with
us, never
giving up,
always forgiving.
He doesn't
pay back
wrong for
wrong.
Instead, he
remembers our
sins no
more.
As far as
the east is
from the west,
so far
has he
removed our
sins from
us.
Isn't
Jesus good?
And how
much we
need to
experience the
goodness of
Jesus,
because that
is what we're
called to do,
brothers and
sisters,
in all that
we're saying
this morning
is, let's
bring each
other back
to our
chief shepherd,
the Lord
Jesus Christ,
who cares
for us
well,
and only
does what
is good
for us.
let's
turn back
to Psalm
95.
I just
want us
to close
with this
this morning.
It's how
we began
our time
together.
Psalm
95.
starting at
verse 6.
6.
Come,
let us
bow down
in worship.
let us
kneel
before the
Lord our
God,
for he
is our
God,
and we
are the
people of
his
pasture,
the flock
under
his
care.
Let's
pray.
Father,
we thank
you that
you are
the good
shepherd who
cares for
us intimately
and personally.
Father,
we entrust
ourselves to
you afresh
today and
ask that
you would
encourage us
and strengthen
us.
Help us
to listen
to your
voice,
to your
word,
that we
would not
go astray,
but that we
would listen
to your
gentle voice,
for you
care for
us,
and you
correct us,
and you
do only
what is
good.
Father,
help us,
me,
and Alex
and Ralph
and Jonathan.
Help us
to be the
leaders that
you call us
to be.
Help us
to care
for the
church.
Help us
to admonish
the church.
Help us
to love
our leaders.
Help us
to do
all things
in love.
Father,
help us
all
together
to
encourage
one
another
and build
each other
up in the
faith.
Help us
to do that
today.
Help us
to do it
through the
week,
for we
need one
another.
Lead us
back to
Christ,
we pray,
our
name,
we ask
all these
things.
Amen.