WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:07.799 When people are gathered for preaching, the preacher must appeal to an authority. 00:00:07.799 --> 00:00:20.480 ! And that authority will either be God's authority as it's found in His word, or it will be an 00:00:20.480 --> 00:00:22.780 ! Or it will be an appeal to His own authority. 00:00:22.780 --> 00:00:29.980 I hope that there's a clear understanding in our minds that when we come to His own authority, 00:00:29.980 --> 00:00:35.880 come together for the preaching of the word, you haven't come to hear me speak or anyone 00:00:35.880 --> 00:00:42.640 else that may come, but you've come to hear the word of God speak. It's by this authority 00:00:42.640 --> 00:00:49.579 that we're given life and direction in that life. So let me ask that you take your copy 00:00:49.579 --> 00:00:58.400 of God's word out and you turn to Hebrews chapter 10. We are, as I think most of you know, taking 00:00:58.399 --> 00:01:05.159 a brief break from our normal pattern of verse-by-verse exposition. We have been in the book of Acts 00:01:05.159 --> 00:01:14.400 as of late, finished up chapter 10 and poised to go into chapter 11, see the gospel spring 00:01:14.400 --> 00:01:20.200 forth into Gentile populations. It's an exciting place to be, but as it's the beginning of the 00:01:20.200 --> 00:01:25.079 school year and much of our congregation is made up of college students, it's kind of the beginning 00:01:25.079 --> 00:01:32.679 of our year. And we deemed it important to take some time to either focus you for the first time 00:01:32.679 --> 00:01:39.719 or refocus you as we consider some areas of Christian living starting into this year. 00:01:40.019 --> 00:01:47.340 We started a couple of weeks ago talking about our gospel identity, and I've been crafting for you 00:01:47.340 --> 00:01:54.640 with some help of Wes and his grammatical prowess some summary statements to help us kind of get 00:01:54.640 --> 00:01:58.960 our heads around what it is that we're talking about as we look at the scripture together. And 00:01:58.960 --> 00:02:07.000 we started off with the idea of gospel identity. Who is it that we are in Christ? If you have placed 00:02:07.000 --> 00:02:12.400 believing faith in Christ, who are you? And the statement was as follows, by grace alone, 00:02:12.400 --> 00:02:20.480 through faith alone, in the person and work of Jesus Christ alone, we are justified before God, 00:02:21.080 --> 00:02:31.439 forgiven and adopted by Him. This gospel identity is our great motivation for worship. So having once 00:02:31.439 --> 00:02:37.000 been enemies of God because of our sin, having set ourselves against Him by the way that we lived, 00:02:37.000 --> 00:02:44.240 that record of wrong has been dismissed, and we've been granted the righteousness of Christ by believing 00:02:44.240 --> 00:02:53.920 in His person and His work. And if we have done this, we're accepted by God in Christ. We now have restored 00:02:53.920 --> 00:03:02.560 relationship with God. And it's that reality that causes worship to spring forth and worship that comes 00:03:02.560 --> 00:03:11.360 from every aspect of our living, not just music. So in all things we worship because of who God has 00:03:11.360 --> 00:03:20.000 made us in Christ. Romans chapter 12, verse 1, Paul writes, I appeal to you, therefore, brothers, 00:03:20.500 --> 00:03:27.520 the therefore is there because of the magnificent gospel presentation that has been given in the first 00:03:27.520 --> 00:03:32.980 11 chapters of the book of Romans. I appeal to you, therefore, because of these truths of the gospel, 00:03:33.680 --> 00:03:41.379 brothers, you are found in Christ by the mercies of God to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, 00:03:41.540 --> 00:03:48.740 holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. And what Paul is saying is that brothers, 00:03:48.939 --> 00:03:57.180 those found in Christ, give all of yourself to the worship of God. Having experienced the mercies of God to us, 00:03:57.180 --> 00:04:07.520 in Christ, we live for Him. We've been talking and using the metaphor of good trees, leaning heavily on this 00:04:07.520 --> 00:04:13.760 biblical metaphor. And the logo, it's not up there at the moment, but the logo, you're seeing it on papers 00:04:13.760 --> 00:04:23.840 everywhere. We might be overusing it, in fact, is to state that as good trees, the evidence of such is that 00:04:23.839 --> 00:04:29.179 we bear good fruit, right? We don't bear good fruit to become good trees, but we are good trees, and therefore, 00:04:29.839 --> 00:04:39.959 good fruit comes forth. And we've been presenting to you that the bearing of fruit takes effort on our part. 00:04:40.079 --> 00:04:48.639 The process of becoming perfect in Christ is a process that takes us as the Lord is working in it. 00:04:48.639 --> 00:04:53.800 So there's some things that we must pick up and do and strive for and aim for, right? 00:04:53.800 --> 00:04:58.919 Work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it's God who works in you, both to will and to work 00:04:58.919 --> 00:05:05.439 for His good pleasure. So we work as God works. And I've said to you before, we work as if it all depends 00:05:05.439 --> 00:05:12.000 on us, and we praise the Lord that anything good is accomplished by His power within us. 00:05:12.000 --> 00:05:19.439 And we're looking at four different areas of Christian living, fruit areas, if you prefer. 00:05:20.019 --> 00:05:26.500 And I recognize full well that these things are not nice, tidy, neat categories. They overlap in 00:05:26.500 --> 00:05:32.259 many, many ways. And so I don't mean to be over-reductionary as we talk about the Christian life, 00:05:32.360 --> 00:05:38.100 but it's helpful, I think, for us to have hooks to hang our ideas on. And so that's what we're 00:05:38.100 --> 00:05:43.960 attempting to do as we look at gospel identity and then coming out of that gospel conviction, 00:05:45.120 --> 00:05:49.320 gospel community, which is where we find ourselves today, and then coming weeks, gospel character 00:05:49.320 --> 00:05:59.260 and gospel commission. It is our hope that you are so tired of hearing about these things by the end 00:05:59.260 --> 00:06:05.040 of this year, but that your life is being molded and changed by what the Scripture has to say 00:06:05.040 --> 00:06:11.720 concerning these things. We want to see improvement in the life of our congregation. 00:06:12.939 --> 00:06:17.480 So today, the summary statement for gospel community is this, 00:06:17.600 --> 00:06:25.520 being justified before God, forgiven and adopted by Him, we worship Him through gospel community. 00:06:26.160 --> 00:06:30.840 Loving the church in varying means of fellowship and service. 00:06:30.839 --> 00:06:38.899 Now, this morning, I want to speak to you plainly, and I want to speak to you briefly, I hope, 00:06:39.619 --> 00:06:47.219 for multiple reasons. Number one, this has been a trying week for me, concerning community in a number 00:06:47.219 --> 00:06:51.079 of ways, and the details of which are not really important. But I have to tell you honestly that as 00:06:51.079 --> 00:06:58.639 I sat to prepare this particular sermon, some personal vendetta came out in my notes, and I had moments 00:06:58.639 --> 00:07:04.439 where I would take and highlight and delete whole pages and go, nope, not okay. Like, my motivation 00:07:04.439 --> 00:07:11.319 in saying the things that I'm getting riled up to say are not from love, and so I've gone through that 00:07:11.319 --> 00:07:22.060 cycle a number of times. It's been trying for me this week. Further, we have and we will speak often 00:07:22.060 --> 00:07:27.519 concerning gospel community. We speak about it a lot, and if you know me very well at all, you'll know that 00:07:27.519 --> 00:07:35.740 the topic of the local church is one of my great passions. I've seen its great need and the loss of 00:07:35.740 --> 00:07:42.199 the doctrine of the local church, and so we certainly will be talking about it more in the future. And then 00:07:42.199 --> 00:07:49.639 finally, you've soldiered through some long sermons lately, and I want to give you some mental space 00:07:49.639 --> 00:07:55.319 to consider the application of this morning's message for you. We're going to talk very practically at some 00:07:55.319 --> 00:08:01.480 points, and I want you to really consider what this means, what the Word of God means for your life 00:08:01.480 --> 00:08:09.800 today and as we move forward into this year. So our text for today, Hebrews chapter 10, verse 24 and 25, 00:08:09.899 --> 00:08:14.980 included on your notes there for you to mark up. This is not for you to ignore the text in your 00:08:14.980 --> 00:08:21.060 scripture, but for you to mark that up if you'd like to on that page. In order for us to get to Hebrews 10, 00:08:21.060 --> 00:08:26.540 24 and 25, it's really appropriate that we back up to verse 19. So I'll begin reading Hebrews chapter 10, 00:08:26.639 --> 00:08:29.220 beginning in verse 19. 00:08:29.220 --> 00:08:37.540 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, 00:08:38.139 --> 00:08:43.259 by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain that is through his flesh, 00:08:43.779 --> 00:08:50.879 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full 00:08:50.879 --> 00:08:57.820 assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure 00:08:57.820 --> 00:09:05.379 water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. 00:09:05.600 --> 00:09:12.520 Now let's pause for just a moment at the end of verse 23 and see that this text teaches us two 00:09:12.520 --> 00:09:20.020 wonderful privileges granted to us by the gospel. Two wonderful privileges. Number one, unlimited 00:09:20.019 --> 00:09:24.879 accessibility to God. Verse 19 and 20. 00:09:25.799 --> 00:09:33.879 Because we now have this confidence, because of what Christ has done for us, because he has been the perfect 00:09:33.879 --> 00:09:40.299 sacrifice for our sin, the sacrificial system has now been done away with. The temple curtain has been torn. 00:09:40.299 --> 00:09:49.699 We now have full granted access, unfettered access to God because of Christ. And you see that in verses 19 and 20. 00:09:49.700 --> 00:10:03.480 Unlimited accessibility to God. Secondly, we have great advocacy with God. Verse 21. We have a great priest 00:10:03.480 --> 00:10:13.460 over the house of God. The Lord Jesus Christ sits at the Father's right hand interceding for us. The access 00:10:13.460 --> 00:10:21.960 that we have is because of our great clothing in Christ. And we have him as our advocate. And so the text 00:10:21.960 --> 00:10:27.460 goes on. Because of this, because of these realities, right? Unlimited accessibility to God and great 00:10:27.460 --> 00:10:35.400 advocacy with God. And the writer of Hebrews gives us three exhortations. Number one, he says, let us draw near 00:10:35.399 --> 00:10:44.840 to God. We have full granted access, right? What a wonderful privilege it is to know God, not in theory, but in reality, 00:10:45.000 --> 00:10:57.019 relationally. Let us draw near to God. Verse 22. Secondly, let us hold fast the confession of our hope. Let us contend 00:10:57.019 --> 00:11:06.519 for the truth. Let's cling dearly to the convictions that we have in the gospel. Verse 23. And the third 00:11:06.519 --> 00:11:12.579 exhortation is found in verses 24 and 25. You're wondering when we're getting there. Here we are. Verses 24 00:11:12.580 --> 00:11:23.560 and 25. The third exhortation. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to 00:11:23.560 --> 00:11:31.500 meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the day drawing near. 00:11:32.820 --> 00:11:42.160 Beloved, this is God's word to us. It was written for our good and his glory. We would all do well to listen to it in order to 00:11:42.159 --> 00:11:51.039 believe its promises and obey its commands. So I've shown you the two exhortations. Let us draw near to God. Let us 00:11:51.039 --> 00:11:59.199 hold fast the confession of our hope. What is the third exhortation? What is the third exhortation? Let us 00:11:59.199 --> 00:12:10.860 consider how to stir up one another. And the Greek word for stir up is a very fascinating word. It can mean to 00:12:10.860 --> 00:12:21.759 stimulate, to stimulate, to spur on. Some would translate it in courage. Some incite. My favorite is agitate. 00:12:22.600 --> 00:12:31.379 Let us consider. Let us figure out how we can bug each other to the end of love and good works. 00:12:31.379 --> 00:12:41.779 The linguist Colin Round translated it affectionate incitement. Bringing somebody to, and whenever I 00:12:41.779 --> 00:12:45.840 think of inciting, I think of inciting someone to violence. Let's use the way I hear that word used. 00:12:46.659 --> 00:12:56.000 Here, affectionately inciting somebody to love and good works. So this is an affectionate incitement. This 00:12:56.000 --> 00:13:02.840 third exhortation is giving us that we would love one another with action. Consider how we're to do 00:13:02.840 --> 00:13:08.539 this. And it's a work, right? I love that the writer of Hebrews says, and let us consider, right? He's not 00:13:08.539 --> 00:13:11.940 suggesting that we just think about how to do it. We're going to do it, but he's saying there's effort 00:13:11.940 --> 00:13:19.919 required on our part, right? That it's going to take varying means. How do we do this work of inciting one 00:13:19.919 --> 00:13:28.539 another affectionately to love and good works? And I would suggest to you that affectionately inciting 00:13:28.539 --> 00:13:39.159 someone to be Christ-like would be to say that we should love the church to love and good works. And so 00:13:39.159 --> 00:13:47.799 your summary statement says that, right? Gospel community, loving the church. Now, beloved, if we love 00:13:47.799 --> 00:14:01.779 Christ, we will love what he loves. Jesus loves the church. Ephesians 5.25 says, Christ loved the church 00:14:01.779 --> 00:14:12.259 and gave himself up for her. Jesus loves the church because Jesus purchased the church. Acts 20.28. 00:14:12.579 --> 00:14:17.399 Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock in which the Holy Spirit has made you 00:14:17.399 --> 00:14:29.579 overseers. To care for the church. Jesus loves the church. Jesus loves the church because Jesus purchased 00:14:29.579 --> 00:14:38.980 the church with his own life. And Jesus identifies himself with the church. Acts 9.4. And falling to the 00:14:38.980 --> 00:14:47.279 ground, he, being Saul, heard a voice saying to him, this is Jesus speaking, Saul, Saul, 00:14:47.399 --> 00:14:56.819 why are you persecuting me? Saul is going around and hauling off Christians to jail. Christ identifies 00:14:56.819 --> 00:15:02.480 himself with the suffering of the church. So if we love Christ, we will love what he loves. Jesus loves 00:15:02.480 --> 00:15:10.240 the church because Jesus purchased the church and Jesus identifies himself with the church. What a great 00:15:10.240 --> 00:15:21.539 mark of true genuine, genuine regeneration is that we love what Jesus loves. And we do that through 00:15:21.539 --> 00:15:30.379 affectionate incitement, this love with action. And there's an aim to this incitement, right? We're 00:15:30.379 --> 00:15:38.600 pressing at people, we're pushing at one another to love and good work. We're pressing that we might 00:15:38.600 --> 00:15:49.519 walk in the ways of Jesus. We could call this activity discipleship. We rightly call it discipleship. And 00:15:49.519 --> 00:15:55.940 every activity of the church should be discipleship. Unless we have erred and we have wandered off into 00:15:55.940 --> 00:16:00.620 becoming a country club and we're simply holding activities for the sake of drawing us together so 00:16:00.620 --> 00:16:05.480 that we can all be good friends. If we are meeting together for the exaltation of Jesus Christ, then we meet 00:16:05.480 --> 00:16:14.539 together in order to press at each other in Christ likeness. What is a disciple? Simply a follower 00:16:14.539 --> 00:16:27.240 and propagator of Jesus, his teaching and his ways. So discipleship is affectionate incitement to this 00:16:27.240 --> 00:16:35.320 end. I fear too often we have too narrow of a view of what discipleship is. Certainly this morning, 00:16:35.320 --> 00:16:43.120 teaching you from the Word of God is discipleship, right? Wes very carefully picking out songs that are true in their 00:16:43.120 --> 00:16:51.020 content, right? To get your heart and your head to unite together is discipleship. I hope you leave humming tunes and 00:16:51.020 --> 00:16:57.360 considering the truth of God to you in Christ. Sometimes I want to take breaks from preaching altogether and just read you the 00:16:57.360 --> 00:17:03.880 scripture that's being referenced in all the songs that we sing. If you'll take some time, you'll see that they're rich with the 00:17:03.879 --> 00:17:13.220 truth of God. All that we do together is or should be at least discipleship. Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote a 00:17:13.220 --> 00:17:18.420 wonderful book called The Cost of Discipleship, I commend it to you, where in which he defines what 00:17:18.420 --> 00:17:21.740 discipleship is and what it is not. He wrote this, 00:17:21.740 --> 00:17:31.079 discipleship means adherence to Christ. And because Christ is the object of that adherence, it must take 00:17:31.079 --> 00:17:40.099 the form of discipleship. An abstract Christology, a doctrinal system, a general religious knowledge on 00:17:40.099 --> 00:17:47.140 the subject of grace or on the forgiveness of sins, render discipleship superfluous. And in fact, 00:17:47.140 --> 00:17:54.560 they positively exclude any idea of discipleship whatever and are essentially contrary to the whole 00:17:54.560 --> 00:17:59.940 conception of following Christ. I'm going to sum that up for you in my own words, right? He's saying 00:17:59.940 --> 00:18:08.759 abstractly knowing about Christ and about his ways is not discipleship at all. With an abstract idea, 00:18:08.860 --> 00:18:15.340 it is possible to enter into a relation of formal knowledge, to become enthusiastic about it, and perhaps 00:18:15.339 --> 00:18:21.279 even to put it into practice, but it can never be followed in personal obedience. And here's what I 00:18:21.279 --> 00:18:27.500 want you to stick in your mind. Christianity without the living Christ is inevitably Christianity without 00:18:27.500 --> 00:18:35.879 discipleship. And Christianity without discipleship is always Christianity without Christ. So we begin in 00:18:35.880 --> 00:18:46.740 Christ and we continue in Christ to be pressed on in his ways. And a primary grace to us in this effort is the gospel 00:18:46.740 --> 00:18:57.320 community. So discipleship is affectionate incitement to follow Jesus' teaching and his ways. 00:18:57.319 --> 00:19:06.720 And the author of Hebrews states this activity, this following of Jesus' ways in the to love, right? Love, which is an 00:19:06.720 --> 00:19:14.740 affection. I would argue with you that it's an affection that is decided upon. You set your affection on an object 00:19:14.740 --> 00:19:24.939 of affection and you seek the greatest good of that object. So love and good works are beautiful deeds. And this 00:19:24.940 --> 00:19:32.180 certainly expands beyond just the life of a congregation to the community around us. But for this morning's sake, 00:19:32.240 --> 00:19:39.759 we'll focus our energy on good works to one another. And good works are just a tangible outworking of that 00:19:39.759 --> 00:19:49.259 affection. And so we love the church in varying means of fellowship and of service. And I think if you're 00:19:49.259 --> 00:19:53.900 looking at that summary statement, you could make some synonymous connections. And I don't, it's not really that 00:19:53.900 --> 00:20:02.100 important that you do so. I'm not trying to rewrite Hebrews chapter 10 verse 25, but to say, 24, excuse me, 00:20:02.660 --> 00:20:09.180 loving the church would be to say to stir up, right? How do we affectionately incite, how are we agitating 00:20:09.180 --> 00:20:16.240 each other in a positive way would be to love. And we're going to do so to the church in varying means 00:20:16.240 --> 00:20:24.319 of fellowship, which is a closeness. And here we could see love in the fellowship of the saints and service, 00:20:24.599 --> 00:20:34.180 which is good works. So we're to love the church in these ways. But before we move on, what is the 00:20:34.180 --> 00:20:40.819 church? And many in our day have a confusion about this. And many would call this building the church. 00:20:40.819 --> 00:20:46.700 And that's confusing. I am not exhorting you today to love this building. You might be able to love me 00:20:46.700 --> 00:20:52.559 by loving the building, but I'm not ultimately suggesting that you love the building. What is 00:20:52.559 --> 00:20:59.460 the church? And the study of the church is called ecclesiology. It's the theology of the church. The 00:20:59.460 --> 00:21:06.539 word means literally church knowledge or church logic. And as we approach ecclesiology, it's really 00:21:06.539 --> 00:21:14.779 better to ask not what is the church or more rightly to ask who is the church. The Greek word ecclesia is a 00:21:14.779 --> 00:21:22.659 very general word, kind of a generic word, in fact, in Greek, and it simply means the gathered ones. So as we 00:21:22.659 --> 00:21:33.579 talk about the church of Jesus Christ, it's a it's a people gathered around an event, namely Christ 00:21:33.579 --> 00:21:39.679 redeeming his people, his life, his death, and his resurrection. That's who we are. It's not gathered 00:21:39.679 --> 00:21:46.859 for an hour and a half ish on Sunday morning. It's gathered as a people around an event, not a series 00:21:46.859 --> 00:21:55.679 of events, right? Life, death, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. We as the church need to see that 00:21:55.679 --> 00:22:02.059 that permeates all of who we are. We carry as the church of Christ, the message of Christ everywhere 00:22:02.059 --> 00:22:10.819 that we go. The church is both invisible and visible, right? Invisible is the church as God sees it, all true 00:22:10.819 --> 00:22:17.619 believers for all time. One of the reasons that we like to quote old dead guys and put it on the front 00:22:17.619 --> 00:22:22.859 of your bulletin is not because we want to sound smart. The point of that is to try to connect you 00:22:22.859 --> 00:22:29.659 to the church invisible, right? To remember that that we're not alone and we have a legacy of people 00:22:29.660 --> 00:22:36.300 that have gone before us, right? That we we owe an allegiance to only as they were following 00:22:36.300 --> 00:22:43.420 Christ. They say things often much better than I can, but what great access we have. I want you, 00:22:43.660 --> 00:22:51.100 especially you college students, to study theology and do so by the study of old books. It'll serve your 00:22:51.100 --> 00:22:57.340 soul well. So the church is invisible. It's also visible. The church as man sees it, as we can see and touch 00:22:57.339 --> 00:23:03.980 and tangibly understand the church to be. The church is both universal in that it's nationwide, 00:23:03.980 --> 00:23:11.599 people meeting everywhere this day, right? Gathered together in a large reality. And it's also local, 00:23:11.740 --> 00:23:16.819 and that's the form that is most mentioned in the scripture. So it's a people. It's not a property. 00:23:16.959 --> 00:23:25.099 It's not programs. It's a people. So that's what we're to love, right? We're to love the people that we call 00:23:25.099 --> 00:23:36.519 the church. How do we do this? We do it in varying means of fellowship and service. A man named David 00:23:36.519 --> 00:23:43.779 Mathis published a book recently called Habits of Grace, also commended to you. He wrote this concerning 00:23:43.779 --> 00:23:46.799 fellowship. He wrote, 00:23:46.799 --> 00:23:53.599 It's a shame the word fellowship has fallen on hard times in some circles and is dying the death of 00:23:53.599 --> 00:24:00.799 domestication and triviality. It is an electric reality in the New Testament, an indispensable 00:24:00.799 --> 00:24:09.259 ingredient in the Christian faith and one of God's chief means of grace in our lives. The koinonia, 00:24:09.259 --> 00:24:18.539 Greek for commonality, partnership, fellowship, that the first Christian shared, wasn't anchored in a 00:24:18.539 --> 00:24:26.759 common love for pizza, pop, and a nice clean evening of fun among the fellow churchified. Pop is what 00:24:26.759 --> 00:24:35.779 they call Coke up north. I don't want you to get confused in the quote. Its essence was in their common 00:24:35.779 --> 00:24:43.000 Christ and their common life or death mission together in his summons to take the faith worldwide 00:24:43.000 --> 00:24:51.599 in the face of impending persecution. Rightly did Tolkien call his nine the fellowship of the ring. 00:24:52.259 --> 00:25:00.899 This is no chummy hobnob with apps and drinks and a game on the tube. It is an all-in, life-or-death, 00:25:00.900 --> 00:25:07.420 collective venture in the face of great evil and overwhelming opposition. True fellowship is less 00:25:07.420 --> 00:25:12.519 like friends gathered to watch the Super Bowl and more like players on the field in blood, sweat, 00:25:12.640 --> 00:25:19.060 and tears, huddled in the backfield only in preparation for the next down. True fellowship in 00:25:19.060 --> 00:25:25.280 this age is more the invading troops side by side on the beach at Normandy than it is the gleeful 00:25:25.279 --> 00:25:34.339 revelers in the street on VE day, the day after. Right? So, I just realized I made a big commendation 00:25:34.339 --> 00:25:39.200 to you to read old guys and I read a very modern guy who talked about apps and pop in the Super Bowl. 00:25:40.940 --> 00:25:49.079 Contemporary authors are also beneficial to us. But this is that picture of fellowship, right? It's not 00:25:49.079 --> 00:25:56.619 it's not just macaroni and cheese after the service, right? It can include that in it, but it means 00:25:56.619 --> 00:26:04.099 so much more. The idea of fellowship is us gathered together and living our lives together for the sake of 00:26:04.099 --> 00:26:10.939 the gospel of Jesus Christ, right? It's us linking arms together in a battle, not seeking our leisure 00:26:10.939 --> 00:26:18.699 apart from it. We are designed for fellowship, right? If you are saved, God has saved you as an 00:26:18.700 --> 00:26:24.660 individual. But more than that, God has saved a church. He's called a people and he means for you 00:26:24.660 --> 00:26:30.840 to be a part of that people. Now, at this point, I know that I'm kind of preaching to the choir because 00:26:30.840 --> 00:26:36.700 you're here, right? And that's a wonderful thing. And there are people who aren't here who should be 00:26:36.700 --> 00:26:44.360 here and need to hear what I'm saying. And I want to say to you, right, that you need to help spread truth. 00:26:44.359 --> 00:26:49.019 You need to be talking to your friends, members. We need to be connecting with those 00:26:49.019 --> 00:26:54.319 members who aren't here and haven't been here for some time. We need to understand why they haven't 00:26:54.319 --> 00:26:59.339 been. And if it's simply that they've misunderstood, there's been a lack of understanding on their part 00:26:59.339 --> 00:27:06.419 over the need of community, then we need to help them to recognize that because we love them. We are 00:27:06.419 --> 00:27:14.319 designed for fellowship. The more I mature in my Christian walk, the more I recognize my need, 00:27:14.319 --> 00:27:20.200 of Christian fellowship, right? I have always had need of it. It's never not been a need of mine. But 00:27:20.200 --> 00:27:27.220 the more I grow up, the more I recognize my need of it. Across the years of pastoring here, when I take 00:27:27.220 --> 00:27:34.379 a vacation, I miss you guys more. In the beginning days, I was so glad to have a week off. Now, it's like, 00:27:34.399 --> 00:27:40.639 I want to jump back in the car and drive back up here. I miss you guys when I'm not with you, right? 00:27:40.640 --> 00:27:49.080 I'm not outgrowing my need of you. Look at the, in our text, the corporate nature of God's people. 00:27:49.640 --> 00:27:57.320 Just look quickly at the plural pronouns. Verse 19, since we have confidence. Verse 20, that he opened for 00:27:57.320 --> 00:28:09.640 us. Verse 21, since we have a great priest. Verse 22, let us, our hearts, our bodies. Verse 23, let us hold fast 00:28:09.640 --> 00:28:20.300 the confession of our hope. And verse 24, let us consider. The idea of a Christianity devoid of the 00:28:20.300 --> 00:28:27.900 church is entirely foreign to the pages of the New Testament. Now, we sent out a member health survey, 00:28:28.140 --> 00:28:33.340 and I talked about this a bit at length last Sunday. If you'd like to go back and listen to that, 00:28:33.339 --> 00:28:37.799 I would encourage you to do so if you, if you missed it. Some of the, the ways in which we went 00:28:37.799 --> 00:28:43.119 about this. When we asked questions in the areas of these four C's, rightly, I should say we made 00:28:43.119 --> 00:28:49.619 statements and asked people to gauge their agreement or disagreement with these statements. And I am, 00:28:49.699 --> 00:28:56.839 I am encouraged by the response. We scored best in the area of gospel community. I think that our 00:28:56.839 --> 00:29:04.819 church generally gets this more than many others do. Does not mean that we have arrived. It does not 00:29:04.819 --> 00:29:12.079 mean that there's not room for improvement. But we've done well, and my exhortation to you is that we 00:29:12.079 --> 00:29:20.839 can do better. I think generally as a people, we do well, but there are those who still lack the right 00:29:20.839 --> 00:29:24.879 and proper commitment to a local congregation that they need. College students, if you're here and 00:29:24.880 --> 00:29:31.480 your visitors, this is all entirely new to you, I want you to be involved in a biblically faithful, 00:29:31.960 --> 00:29:38.020 Christ-centered local congregation. We want to be that for you. We labor to do it well. We're not 00:29:38.020 --> 00:29:42.520 perfect. There's no such thing as a perfect church. We sure are trying. We'd love for you to be here. 00:29:42.600 --> 00:29:47.980 If it's not here, do it somewhere. Like, please don't spend your college years church hopping and 00:29:47.980 --> 00:29:52.660 bouncing and bouncing and bouncing and bouncing. Your soul will suffer for it, and I'm telling you that 00:29:52.660 --> 00:29:58.240 from experience. Get involved. Get yourself entrenched as quickly as you can with the people 00:29:58.240 --> 00:30:06.740 who are going to agitate you to love and to good works. John MacArthur once shared a story, which I'm 00:30:06.740 --> 00:30:10.660 pretty sure I've read to you before, but it's good, so I'm going to read it again. 00:30:12.540 --> 00:30:13.200 He wrote, 00:30:13.200 --> 00:30:41.620 A pastor made himself comfortable but said nothing. In the grave silence, he contemplated the play of the flames 00:30:41.619 --> 00:30:47.219 around the burning logs. After some minutes, the pastor took the fire tongs, carefully picked up 00:30:47.219 --> 00:30:53.500 a brightly burning ember, and placed it to one side of the hearth all alone. Then he sat back in his chair, 00:30:54.279 --> 00:31:02.119 still silent. The host watched all this in quiet fascination. As the one lone ember's flame diminished, 00:31:02.519 --> 00:31:09.199 there was a momentary glow, and then its fire was no more. Soon it was cold and extinguished. 00:31:09.200 --> 00:31:15.039 Not a word had been spoken since the initial greeting. Just before the pastor was ready to 00:31:15.039 --> 00:31:20.680 leave, he picked up the cold, dead ember and placed it back in the middle of the fire. Immediately began 00:31:20.680 --> 00:31:26.299 to glow once more with the light and warmth of the burning coals around it. As the pastor reached the 00:31:26.299 --> 00:31:33.059 door to leave, his host said, Thank you so much for your visit, and especially for the fiery sermon. 00:31:33.059 --> 00:31:44.759 I shall be back in church next Sunday. And I could account to you many, many stories of people who have 00:31:44.759 --> 00:31:52.220 withdrawn themselves from the fellowship of our church and from other local congregations, and they have 00:31:52.220 --> 00:32:00.859 always suffered for it. We have this strange notion that we have to be all put together when we come to church. 00:32:00.859 --> 00:32:07.939 And so often when people don't feel put together, they don't want to be here. Beloved, this is the place 00:32:07.939 --> 00:32:14.879 you need to be when you're not put together, which we ever are really put together. This is the place 00:32:14.879 --> 00:32:19.059 you should come in times of hardship. You should want to be with God's people who are going to lift 00:32:19.059 --> 00:32:26.759 your hopes beyond the trivial things of this world. We're going to point you to Christ. That's why I miss 00:32:26.759 --> 00:32:32.980 fellowship with our body. I don't have to be preaching. I'm not concerned about the details of 00:32:32.980 --> 00:32:38.259 the service and how they're going to work out. I know you guys do fine in my absence. The reason I 00:32:38.259 --> 00:32:47.599 miss you is because I need my heart warmed at the hearth of Christ. I need to experience him afresh, 00:32:47.599 --> 00:32:54.559 and I experience him in part in you, in your lives, right, in your exuberance, your desire 00:32:54.559 --> 00:33:00.199 to be here. You just sitting in a seat is an encouragement to me on a Sunday morning. Glad 00:33:00.199 --> 00:33:06.639 to have you. We need one another. Let me do share with you a positive engagement, though, in the life 00:33:06.639 --> 00:33:14.199 of our church that I admired immensely. A lot of you know who the Zwimpies are. If you don't, I hope that 00:33:14.200 --> 00:33:18.039 at some point you get to know them. I think they're going to be returning to us from Germany 00:33:18.039 --> 00:33:24.180 this summer for some time. A precious family, Ryan and Kathleen and their five daughters. They're 00:33:24.180 --> 00:33:31.279 now serving at a school in Germany, and as we are prepared to send them off, we raise support for 00:33:31.279 --> 00:33:37.059 them. Many people rallied around them in that. Our church rallied around them in that. I was so impressed 00:33:37.059 --> 00:33:43.279 that they never disengaged from the life of our church. What an obvious time, right, to get all of 00:33:43.279 --> 00:33:49.039 the details put together to move to another country. And it was a massive amount of details that they 00:33:49.039 --> 00:33:55.160 were having to work out to not just say, well, Sunday mornings are not as important anymore, right? 00:33:55.160 --> 00:34:01.660 We're transitioning out, and we can go through a transitionary time. They came two days before they 00:34:01.660 --> 00:34:07.519 got on a plane and left and helped me with work on the church property, right? I wanted just to go, 00:34:07.519 --> 00:34:14.679 go home. What are you doing here, right? They were in constant fellowship. In fact, it may have even 00:34:14.679 --> 00:34:19.980 got more fervent before they left out of a desperation to be with you a little bit longer 00:34:19.980 --> 00:34:24.880 before they took off. I think I would have disengaged. I have to be honest with you. I think 00:34:24.880 --> 00:34:29.059 I would have said, what's the point, right? Why put more energy into this now? I'm leaving. I've 00:34:29.059 --> 00:34:34.320 gone for years. I won't be able to connect and know these people the same way anymore. They were a 00:34:34.320 --> 00:34:43.640 precious example of the way in which you should love the local church. Now, if you were a guest here, 00:34:44.280 --> 00:34:48.460 you're off the hook for a little while. My encouragement to you would be to get involved 00:34:48.460 --> 00:34:52.300 with the local church and to become a member of the local church, to commit to a local congregation 00:34:52.300 --> 00:34:56.220 in that way. We've got a members class next Sunday. You're welcome to come to. I'd love to 00:34:56.219 --> 00:35:05.579 have you at it. Members, we signed a covenant together. We made promises to one another in that 00:35:05.579 --> 00:35:11.879 covenant. And I want to remind you of a few of them. I've got a copy here of the prospective new 00:35:11.879 --> 00:35:22.599 members packets. We committed to each other to love the church with the gospel of Jesus Christ. 00:35:22.599 --> 00:35:29.940 Christ. We committed to each other to promote the edification and sanctification of the church. 00:35:31.179 --> 00:35:39.880 We committed to hold ourselves and the brethren, the church, to the standard of Scripture. And we 00:35:39.880 --> 00:35:47.839 committed to contribute to the work of the church with our talents, with our time, and with our finances. 00:35:47.840 --> 00:35:55.559 And some of you fall short in this regard. And I know that life is crazy. I know it's busy. And I 00:35:55.559 --> 00:35:59.400 know that it's difficult for me to say all this because some of you may think, well, it's your job. 00:35:59.820 --> 00:36:03.000 And I've got to tell you honestly that I'm really thankful that it's my job sometimes because it 00:36:03.000 --> 00:36:09.280 makes sure I do it. I have to be here. I can't just flake out. It's impossible for me to do that. 00:36:09.360 --> 00:36:15.420 And I have to tell you honestly, I might flake out sometimes if that wasn't the case. I don't want you to 00:36:15.420 --> 00:36:25.280 be flaky. The balance of life and all of the many things that are going on in it is crazy. I'm there 00:36:25.280 --> 00:36:32.320 with you. I have three children and a wife at home and many, many responsibilities on my plate. We have 00:36:32.320 --> 00:36:38.980 got to quit trying to balance everything. We've got to start prioritizing things. And because I love you 00:36:38.980 --> 00:36:46.659 incredibly, I want you to put first and foremost above everything else, your soul. And because I'm 00:36:46.659 --> 00:36:52.519 so convinced that the grace of the church is necessary for you, I want you to prioritize being 00:36:52.519 --> 00:36:59.760 part of the church, being part of the fellowship. Boy, we work at making every time together we have 00:36:59.760 --> 00:37:04.360 valuable for you. I don't want to just waste your time. I want us to come together, right? If we don't 00:37:04.360 --> 00:37:09.940 come together and have your heart warmed toward Christ to the best of our ability, then you might 00:37:09.940 --> 00:37:14.780 as well go hiking on Sunday mornings and be contemplative, right? Come here and experience 00:37:14.780 --> 00:37:21.740 Christ. This is our great hope. And we want to draw you together in greater and higher degree. The 00:37:21.740 --> 00:37:27.720 picture of the early church was a church devoted to one another in all components of life and are 00:37:27.720 --> 00:37:33.860 very compartmentalized, very industrialized lives now make that really hard. I'm going to tell you 00:37:33.860 --> 00:37:39.460 honestly, I'd love to have your whole Sunday. I'd love to return to an idea of keeping the Sabbath 00:37:39.460 --> 00:37:45.019 and just have you all day long, right? And we could pack it in on a wonderful day of resting in the 00:37:45.019 --> 00:37:50.579 Lord. I think we might be kicking too hard against the culture if we tried to accomplish such a thing. 00:37:51.460 --> 00:37:57.680 And so we've tried to break out times of meeting together around specific activities and to help you 00:37:57.680 --> 00:38:02.960 grasp the breadth of what we ought to be doing together as the church. But even those times aren't 00:38:02.960 --> 00:38:06.860 completely sufficient for that, we need to be seeking out each other in the in-between times 00:38:06.860 --> 00:38:15.220 as well. We need to be knowing each other across our lives. But as we've made commitments to each 00:38:15.220 --> 00:38:19.360 other and as we're pressing at what we're going to be doing together, we're going to up the 00:38:19.360 --> 00:38:24.159 expectations around here on members, right? And I don't believe that we're actually changing anything. 00:38:24.159 --> 00:38:27.300 I don't think we're giving any new directives out. I think we're simply 00:38:27.300 --> 00:38:33.740 more carefully defining what the covenant means. And I share these with you. If you're a member of 00:38:33.740 --> 00:38:39.140 this church and you're just not willing to commit to these things, you have my permission to bow out, 00:38:40.280 --> 00:38:49.760 okay? Because I want to love you well. I'm tired of letting people go on nominally and not thrive 00:38:49.760 --> 00:38:56.360 in their Christian walk because I'm being soft, right? I'm going to agitate you to love and good works, 00:38:56.360 --> 00:39:03.380 right? Because I care about you, right? Because I love you immensely. I want you engaged for your 00:39:03.380 --> 00:39:12.800 sake and for ours. There's risk in all of this of becoming legalistic. I think that anytime a high 00:39:12.800 --> 00:39:18.660 expectation is put on anybody, it gets quickly branded as legalism. Legalism says that I want you to look 00:39:18.660 --> 00:39:22.800 like me. I don't want you to look like me. I want you to look like Christ. There's ways we got to get 00:39:22.800 --> 00:39:30.519 that in. So, if you're a member of Christ Family Church or becoming, and I hope you are, 00:39:31.460 --> 00:39:36.280 there are three meetings that we want you to be a part of consistently. And this will begin to be 00:39:36.280 --> 00:39:42.320 expected of you in this year. Number one is our congregational meetings, gathering here on Sundays 00:39:42.320 --> 00:39:47.920 that we can be together. In all of these things, if you are throwing up or you have a fever, please 00:39:47.920 --> 00:39:53.740 stay home. Feel free to take a vacation. That's okay. I'm not saying you have to be here every single 00:39:53.740 --> 00:39:57.320 Sunday, but there should be a reason that you're not here. There should be a reason that you can't 00:39:57.320 --> 00:40:01.940 come and fellowship with us. And someone should know why, right? Don't let the reason be that you're 00:40:01.940 --> 00:40:06.940 flaky, right? That you woke up and you're a little groggy from staying out late the night before, right? 00:40:06.940 --> 00:40:13.539 You need to be with God's people on Sunday mornings as we meet together. I wonder if we've ever had 00:40:13.539 --> 00:40:19.079 every member of Christ Family Church here on a Sunday. And I would guess we haven't. That's sad. 00:40:20.219 --> 00:40:25.619 Congregational meetings. Secondly, community group. There are sign-up sheets out in the hallway. If 00:40:25.619 --> 00:40:28.920 you're a member of this church and you're not currently part of a community group, go out there 00:40:28.920 --> 00:40:33.139 and look at the times that they meet. We have a meeting on Sunday afternoons now, Monday night, 00:40:33.300 --> 00:40:37.739 Tuesday night, and Wednesday night. I hope that one of those times is convenient for you. If it's not, 00:40:37.860 --> 00:40:43.179 come talk to me. And I've said that before, and people have complained behind my back 00:40:43.179 --> 00:40:47.639 that there wasn't a time available for them, and they never came and talked to me. Just come talk 00:40:47.639 --> 00:40:53.460 to me. Like, I want to be accommodating. We want to help you be part of this community of faith. Come 00:40:53.460 --> 00:41:00.239 tell me why you're unable to do so, and we'll make it possible for you to do so. Be part of a 00:41:00.239 --> 00:41:06.139 community group, that smaller sphere coming in tighter, of people that can know you more and that 00:41:06.139 --> 00:41:09.639 you can know. It's not really reasonable for us to all know each other super well in this setting, 00:41:09.639 --> 00:41:14.119 but a community group, you can. And then down beyond that, and because we've got to keep the 00:41:14.119 --> 00:41:25.839 alliteration going. There it is. Wes made you a picture so the name made sense. A core group, 00:41:26.079 --> 00:41:32.359 and what we're going to call these, and I know core groups used in other contexts. Sorry. This is 00:41:32.360 --> 00:41:40.340 small group discipleship. So this is one-to-one, one-to-some, or some-to-some discipleship. You getting 00:41:40.340 --> 00:41:46.320 in with at least one other person, or a small group of people, three, four, five people, and 00:41:46.320 --> 00:41:50.160 studying together. Addressing these areas of Christian living, right? This conviction areas, 00:41:50.240 --> 00:41:54.300 and community areas, and character, and the commission areas, right? It's getting down to that 00:41:54.300 --> 00:42:01.720 place together, which we need, right? You need to have, Clay and I like to call bro time. 00:42:02.719 --> 00:42:07.939 You've got to get it in in that way. You have to have a place of deep confession, and encouragement, 00:42:08.199 --> 00:42:12.500 and accountability, right? We need those kinds of things to be happening. We're going to talk 00:42:12.500 --> 00:42:19.039 more about the necessity of these things, and what should be happening in those to make it 00:42:19.039 --> 00:42:26.379 a discipleship process, but you're going to be part of these three things, okay? We're not going to 00:42:26.379 --> 00:42:29.899 try to program this thing like crazy core groups. We're just going to start talking about it. Hey, 00:42:29.900 --> 00:42:33.500 who are you getting it in with? It's got to be with somebody. It doesn't have to be for a year. You 00:42:33.500 --> 00:42:38.079 could go through a book together and move on to somebody else. Who are you meeting with and being 00:42:38.079 --> 00:42:46.599 intimate with? Investing in and being invested in. Clay has very graciously agreed to give some 00:42:46.599 --> 00:42:53.660 leadership to this. We hope to have some trainings for it, so if you're going, we got to do what? 00:42:53.659 --> 00:43:00.579 We want to help you and give you leadership and service in this direction, but I want on your radar 00:43:00.579 --> 00:43:04.219 right now, if you're going to be a member of Christ Family Church, you're going to be involved in 00:43:04.219 --> 00:43:08.960 these three things. Not in a legalistic way, right? Not with perfection, right? But you need to be 00:43:08.960 --> 00:43:16.519 engaged, and we want you to be because we love you. So various means of fellowship, right? Meeting 00:43:16.519 --> 00:43:21.759 together. You got a note that in our text, we're going to consider how to show one another up to love and good 00:43:21.760 --> 00:43:28.560 works, right? Which verse 24 has necessitated on us being together, right? Because verse 25, the writer 00:43:28.560 --> 00:43:33.980 of Hebrews states it in the negative, right? Which we can then assume the positive. He says, not neglecting 00:43:33.980 --> 00:43:38.840 to meet together, as is the habit of some. Like first century church, it was already an issue, 00:43:39.260 --> 00:43:43.940 right? Still an issue today. So if we're to not neglect meeting together, then we must meet together 00:43:43.940 --> 00:43:51.720 in order to incite one another affectionately through fellowship and through service. Galatians 00:43:51.719 --> 00:43:56.579 6, 9, and 10, and let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap if we do not 00:43:56.579 --> 00:44:03.459 give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are the 00:44:03.459 --> 00:44:16.319 household of faith. Romans 12, 10, Paul says, outdo one another in showing honor. Now, I, as a pastor 00:44:16.320 --> 00:44:23.440 here at Christ Family Church, have read things like this, outdo one another in showing honor, and I've 00:44:23.440 --> 00:44:30.220 taken it on myself to make it like a service competition. Paul writes in one of the letters 00:44:30.220 --> 00:44:36.340 to the Corinthians, I would most gladly spend and be spent for your souls. And I've wanted this to be 00:44:36.340 --> 00:44:44.180 a characteristic of me, that if it's going to get done, I'll get it done. But in doing that, in an effort, 00:44:44.280 --> 00:44:51.500 I think a well-intentioned effort, I have just taken on too much. And in an elder meeting not all that 00:44:51.500 --> 00:44:57.260 long ago, I was really sinfully venting a little bit about how much I had going on. 00:44:57.260 --> 00:45:03.980 And Doug Hitchcock, in his very mellow way, said, you know you created that culture. 00:45:06.420 --> 00:45:14.680 And so, I've called it the Nathan's got it culture. The assumption that things will get done, 00:45:14.740 --> 00:45:18.180 because they have been getting done. There's been a way. And I'm not negating that other people don't 00:45:18.180 --> 00:45:22.900 do things around here either. Please don't hear me saying that. But I've taken on too much. I've 00:45:22.900 --> 00:45:27.140 overloaded myself. It's made me have to neglect some other things that I should be doing better. 00:45:27.260 --> 00:45:35.500 than I am. It's denied you of service opportunities. There's so many lessons to be learned in humbly 00:45:35.500 --> 00:45:43.300 serving the life of a congregation. Charles Spurgeon, this is on your bulletin. He said, 00:45:43.380 --> 00:45:46.800 there's always a set of grumblers about who think they could preach better and manage better than 00:45:46.800 --> 00:45:52.760 anybody else. They're the people who generally do nothing at all. And we have found that to be true. 00:45:52.760 --> 00:45:57.180 It's very interesting how people who typically have the most complaints are the least involved. 00:45:57.260 --> 00:46:05.320 in the typical, ongoing, day-to-day life of a church. So, there are things that need doing. And as I said, 00:46:05.420 --> 00:46:12.200 I don't want you to serve property. But you can serve me and you can serve others here by being 00:46:12.200 --> 00:46:18.200 engaged in just service stuff here on the property. There's a lot of stuff that goes into putting on 00:46:18.199 --> 00:46:26.059 our gathering together. So, as such, if you are a member of Christ Family Church, you're going to serve on a service team. 00:46:26.559 --> 00:46:33.139 You're going to be part of getting in together, right? Time, talents. You're going to offer your gifting 00:46:33.139 --> 00:46:41.279 and your service to us. Sometimes, to my chagrin, ministry apprentices this afternoon, we're going to be going through some 00:46:41.279 --> 00:46:47.159 spiritual gifting. And I've just heard people not serve, not physically serve, because that's not their gift. 00:46:47.699 --> 00:46:55.319 Too bad. You've got arms and legs. You can push a vacuum cleaner, right? It's possible that you can do these things. 00:46:55.320 --> 00:47:02.400 And it'll be good for you, especially if you have the inclination in you not to do it, to get in and do it. 00:47:03.500 --> 00:47:08.820 If you are over 60, we're not going to make you serve on a service team. 00:47:09.900 --> 00:47:17.880 But your service is valuable and it's important. And there's probably some more spiritually applicable 00:47:17.880 --> 00:47:23.700 ways that you can serve that would serve us better than vacuuming. Open up some time for you, 00:47:23.699 --> 00:47:30.679 for some of these young people that desperately need your wisdom. We want you to engage all the same. 00:47:31.199 --> 00:47:35.839 We're not going to ask that you sign a sheet today. But, members, there's some teams and you need to get on one of these. 00:47:35.899 --> 00:47:39.980 And we're going to be following up on this kind of stuff. We want you serving in some capacity. 00:47:40.559 --> 00:47:47.199 Members, a lot of our non-members, regular non-members, out-serve you. And I find that shameful. 00:47:47.939 --> 00:47:51.339 I think that's a sad thing, that you're getting out-served by the non-members. 00:47:51.340 --> 00:47:55.559 We should be hosting them, not the other way around. 00:47:56.700 --> 00:47:58.620 Those teams are the hospitality team. 00:47:59.460 --> 00:48:02.700 Matt Sossman and Jake Risner have kind of teamed up to give us leadership that. 00:48:02.780 --> 00:48:05.059 We're kind of changing what that looks like. 00:48:05.120 --> 00:48:07.820 But they're basically, I told, this is the analogy I gave them. 00:48:07.900 --> 00:48:11.460 I said, look, on Sunday mornings, we're throwing a huge party at the church building. 00:48:12.000 --> 00:48:13.800 And I got the entertainment part covered. 00:48:14.039 --> 00:48:15.400 But you've got to do everything else. 00:48:15.600 --> 00:48:17.160 People are showing up to your house, right? 00:48:17.159 --> 00:48:18.739 So the coffee has to be made. 00:48:18.799 --> 00:48:20.319 We've got to make sure things are picked up and clean. 00:48:20.599 --> 00:48:21.879 We've got the Lord's Supper supplies. 00:48:21.960 --> 00:48:22.940 We've got offering things. 00:48:23.799 --> 00:48:28.719 There may come a day where we have to start making you park differently, tighter together. 00:48:30.159 --> 00:48:34.819 These guys might run out and put an umbrella over your head when you're getting out of the car on a rainy day. 00:48:35.679 --> 00:48:42.039 Hospitality team is important because it just says to people, whether they're part of our church or guests to our church, that we love you and we care. 00:48:42.039 --> 00:48:44.679 Weekly cleaning. 00:48:44.920 --> 00:48:46.779 Abby Mewson is giving leadership to this. 00:48:47.219 --> 00:48:49.360 It has to get done every single week. 00:48:49.559 --> 00:48:52.699 You'll be surprised when you walk out of here how dirty this building is. 00:48:52.779 --> 00:48:54.139 And it has to be tidied up. 00:48:54.480 --> 00:48:57.079 It's a major undertaking, and she needs help. 00:48:58.500 --> 00:48:59.699 Building and grounds maintenance. 00:49:00.340 --> 00:49:02.759 Doug and Lisa Shelnut have been giving leadership to that. 00:49:03.300 --> 00:49:04.400 There's always a project. 00:49:04.739 --> 00:49:08.000 There's never not a project on this property to be done. 00:49:08.179 --> 00:49:09.159 And we certainly could use your help. 00:49:10.400 --> 00:49:10.840 Childcare. 00:49:10.840 --> 00:49:14.240 My mom, Julie Rayner, is heading that up. 00:49:15.039 --> 00:49:17.140 She's not had to do a whole lot as of late. 00:49:17.519 --> 00:49:22.820 We have the prayer meeting on Sunday mornings, and she's been organizing people to care for the children during that. 00:49:23.120 --> 00:49:26.920 We're going to expand when childcare is offered a little bit. 00:49:27.440 --> 00:49:30.539 As you all know, we do family-integrated worship. 00:49:30.720 --> 00:49:35.240 We like to call it multi-generational worship and have the kids in the service with us. 00:49:35.239 --> 00:49:41.299 We provide other areas for parents to go if they need to, an overflow space across the hall, a nursing room. 00:49:41.599 --> 00:49:46.359 In addition to that, we're going to begin providing care for little, little ones, little guys. 00:49:46.599 --> 00:49:51.699 And it's not our intention that we change who we are, but that we help people become who we are. 00:49:51.699 --> 00:49:57.779 So as people are coming into the life of our church, they just have some assistance in the process of doing that. 00:49:57.879 --> 00:49:59.460 So we're going to have care downstairs. 00:49:59.679 --> 00:50:05.539 We're going to be encouraging children to be in the service with us, welcoming them, happy that they're here with us. 00:50:05.539 --> 00:50:17.239 But when that family is having a tough time, they're falling apart on a Sunday morning, we want to be there to love and serve and encourage and disciple them in the process of helping their children sit in the services with us. 00:50:17.300 --> 00:50:19.719 So we're going to expand that a little bit. 00:50:21.300 --> 00:50:23.699 Member care, Barbara Hitchcock heads that up. 00:50:23.800 --> 00:50:30.860 So when we have someone in the hospital, when someone has a baby, we plan and organize meals and get all that taken care of. 00:50:31.219 --> 00:50:34.300 Barbara handles all that, and she could use some help with it. 00:50:34.300 --> 00:50:40.320 And we're going to be shifting oversight of all these positions off of me and to Doug Hitchcock. 00:50:40.440 --> 00:50:44.580 So Doug's going to start overseeing all of this and giving some orchestration to it. 00:50:44.960 --> 00:50:52.600 It'll be a little bit of a process, those of you who are in those leadership roles, but we're going to be doing that so that it's not my primary or secondary or third concern. 00:50:53.680 --> 00:50:55.539 We have an audio-visual team. 00:50:55.860 --> 00:50:56.600 It takes a lot. 00:50:56.600 --> 00:51:03.400 There's people sitting back in the back right now that are on that that are pushing buttons and making sure that stuff works on a Sunday morning. 00:51:03.400 --> 00:51:06.639 And John Sheatham heads that up and, again, could use some help. 00:51:06.840 --> 00:51:10.760 I think we lost some of our trained people to CFC Oakwood when we planted that this summer. 00:51:10.860 --> 00:51:15.940 And so we could use some more folks that could be trained on how to use that stuff back there. 00:51:16.039 --> 00:51:21.740 And then finally, we've formed a new team called the communication team, which Andy Truitt is going to head up to help us. 00:51:22.079 --> 00:51:23.280 We're rebuilding a website. 00:51:23.280 --> 00:51:26.440 Just help us more consistently and clearly communicate. 00:51:26.640 --> 00:51:29.320 So you won't contact me anymore for an announcement. 00:51:29.640 --> 00:51:33.540 You'll contact Andy for an announcement, and he'll get that together. 00:51:33.940 --> 00:51:37.660 And Wes Shelnut is going to be giving oversight to those two things. 00:51:37.900 --> 00:51:43.460 So, again, out in the hallway on that table, there are forms for this. 00:51:43.460 --> 00:51:46.560 If you're a member of our church, you really need to be prayerfully considering where you can serve. 00:51:46.740 --> 00:51:47.660 Serve in multiple places. 00:51:47.780 --> 00:51:48.240 That's great. 00:51:48.420 --> 00:51:52.220 Sign up on every single one of them as long as you're not spreading yourself too thin. 00:51:52.219 --> 00:52:01.339 But we need to get people on these places, and we will come and recruit you if you don't sign up to serve in some regard. 00:52:02.019 --> 00:52:09.480 So the exhortation to us is to consider how to stir up one another to love and good works. 00:52:09.919 --> 00:52:11.659 And I hope that you're feeling agitated. 00:52:12.239 --> 00:52:16.859 I hope that you're seeing that you have an important part to play in the life of a local congregation. 00:52:16.859 --> 00:52:21.099 I hope that those of you who have already committed to being part of a local congregation 00:52:21.099 --> 00:52:27.539 are maybe finding some space and some ways that you can give a bit more of yourself to the life of this church. 00:52:27.920 --> 00:52:30.860 None of this is about preserving a piece of property. 00:52:31.360 --> 00:52:34.259 None of it is about being social. 00:52:34.539 --> 00:52:39.319 All of this is about taking the gospel of Jesus Christ to our community and to the ends of the earth. 00:52:39.440 --> 00:52:40.880 It takes all of us pitching in. 00:52:40.940 --> 00:52:43.039 We're the body of Christ. 00:52:43.039 --> 00:52:44.059 Let's pray together. 00:52:44.059 --> 00:52:44.079 Let's pray together.