WEBVTT 00:00:00.240 --> 00:00:04.780 Boy, didn't they do an awesome job, our combined youth and adult choirs this morning. 00:00:07.679 --> 00:00:11.419 Brother Greg, Miss Jessica did an amazing job working with them. 00:00:11.580 --> 00:00:15.880 Would you take your Bibles with me and go to 1 Thessalonians? 00:00:17.679 --> 00:00:26.260 This is our final Sunday in 1 Thessalonians as part of this series, and we are in the 00:00:26.260 --> 00:00:33.179 last chapter, chapter 5, finishing up. I want to draw your attention back. By the way, I've never 00:00:33.179 --> 00:00:38.939 introduced myself. My name is Sam Bunnell, fairly new pastor of this church here, and church has been 00:00:38.939 --> 00:00:45.560 around 140 plus years, and I've been here not quite three months of that. So my family and I are new to 00:00:45.560 --> 00:00:50.620 the area, but we're loving it here and grateful to get to know so many of you. If I haven't met you or 00:00:50.620 --> 00:00:55.880 started to get to know you personally, I'd love to do that. So my family and I will be in the back and 00:00:55.880 --> 00:01:01.760 the lobby area right here, right after the service, before we head back to the lunch area, and love to 00:01:01.760 --> 00:01:06.200 talk to you, meet you, get to know you a little bit better. And if you're visiting with us, I definitely 00:01:06.200 --> 00:01:10.939 would like to get to know you as well. 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, I want to draw your attention. 00:01:12.060 --> 00:01:17.920 You don't have to turn there, it's on the screens, but I want to draw your attention back to the very 00:01:17.920 --> 00:01:24.040 beginning of the book. And the theme of our first two messages here, my first two messages at this 00:01:24.040 --> 00:01:32.120 church as pastor, were about being a model church, the marks of a model church, the message of a model 00:01:32.120 --> 00:01:39.120 church. And we drew that concept from the scriptures in the very first chapter of Paul's letter, first 00:01:39.120 --> 00:01:47.880 letter to the church at Thessalonica. And he charged them that he recognized they had become an example to 00:01:47.879 --> 00:01:55.819 all the believers. And in verse 8 chapter 1, for the word of the Lord rang out from you in every place 00:01:55.819 --> 00:02:03.259 that your faith in God has gone out. So this church, even though they were new Christians, Paul had only 00:02:03.259 --> 00:02:10.740 recently come to that large bustling trade port city of Thessalonica and had shared the gospel with 00:02:10.740 --> 00:02:18.939 these people and they had established a new church there. Even though they were brand new, they had 00:02:18.939 --> 00:02:28.460 already become an example or a model church to many believers in every place that your faith in God has 00:02:28.460 --> 00:02:36.860 gone out. They became an example. We can draw from this letter that our God chose to include 00:02:36.860 --> 00:02:47.940 in the Holy Bible, both letters from Paul to Thessalonica. We can include ourselves in this idea that we 00:02:47.940 --> 00:02:58.240 should be an example to the believers. Every place that our faith in God would go out. So the title of the 00:02:58.240 --> 00:03:06.340 sermon this morning is The Responsibility of a Model Church. The Responsibility of a Model Church. Let's get into 00:03:06.340 --> 00:03:11.539 our text for this morning, 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 and verse 12. 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, 00:03:11.939 --> 00:03:14.879 beginning in verse 12. We'll read down through the end of the chapter. 00:03:15.420 --> 00:03:21.480 Now, we ask you, brothers and sisters, to give recognition to those who labor among you and lead 00:03:21.480 --> 00:03:29.319 you in the Lord and admonish you, and to regard them very highly in love because of their work. 00:03:29.740 --> 00:03:35.759 Be at peace among yourselves. And we exhort you, brothers and sisters, warn those who are idle, 00:03:35.759 --> 00:03:45.159 comfort the discouraged, help the weak, be patient with everyone. See to it that no one repays evil 00:03:45.159 --> 00:03:54.739 for evil to anyone, but always pursue what is good for one another and for all. Rejoice always. Pray 00:03:54.739 --> 00:04:04.340 constantly. Give thanks in everything, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. Don't stifle the 00:04:04.340 --> 00:04:14.640 spirit. Don't despise prophecies, but test all things. Hold on to what is good. Stay away from 00:04:14.640 --> 00:04:22.920 every kind of evil. Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit, 00:04:23.480 --> 00:04:31.560 soul, and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is 00:04:31.560 --> 00:04:39.759 faithful. He will do it. Brothers and sisters, pray for us also. Greet all the brothers and sisters with a 00:04:39.759 --> 00:04:47.740 holy kiss. Teenagers that said a holy kiss, all right? So don't get any ideas. I charge you by the Lord that 00:04:47.740 --> 00:04:56.439 this letter be read to all the brothers and sisters. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen. 00:04:56.439 --> 00:05:05.399 Amen. And so ends Paul's letter to the church in Thessalonica. We can draw much from this. This is a 00:05:05.399 --> 00:05:13.000 rich passage. We could spend all day here and still not really get a hold of everything that Paul left 00:05:13.000 --> 00:05:19.779 in this final charge to this church. But I want us to draw attention to a few things. And number one, 00:05:19.779 --> 00:05:29.779 the big takeaway from today is my responsibility is to love God by loving others, even when it's difficult. 00:05:31.139 --> 00:05:39.779 Throughout the latter part of chapter five, we see all kinds of admonishments, all kinds of commands 00:05:39.779 --> 00:05:48.759 that Paul leaves by the divine inspiration of God that Paul leaves to this church. Throughout all of 00:05:48.759 --> 00:05:55.699 these commands, there is a theme. There is an undercurrent. And that is love. That is love. 00:05:56.839 --> 00:06:04.039 And so our responsibility is to, number one, love God. But how do we show our love to God? We show it by 00:06:04.039 --> 00:06:09.779 loving the ones Jesus loves, which is our neighbor, which is others, which is those here in the church. 00:06:10.120 --> 00:06:15.360 It's our leadership. It's those around us. It's those in our community. It's everyone we come across, 00:06:15.360 --> 00:06:24.080 we show the love of God too, even when it's difficult. And he even paints out some scenarios 00:06:24.080 --> 00:06:30.379 that would make it difficult. Some of the relationships that he talks about are not easy 00:06:30.379 --> 00:06:38.040 to show love, but that is our responsibility. So that's my responsibility to love God by loving others, 00:06:38.040 --> 00:06:46.920 even when it's difficult. Number one, back in verse 12 and 13, it talks about loving our leaders. 00:06:48.040 --> 00:06:51.379 So if you're taking notes this morning, point number one, love your leaders. 00:06:53.020 --> 00:06:58.439 Specifically your pastor. I've been waiting the entire series to get to this part right here. 00:06:58.800 --> 00:07:04.040 It's the only reason I picked this book. I'm just kidding. Totally kidding. Listen, it is important. 00:07:04.040 --> 00:07:09.680 Love your pastor. Love your teachers. Love all those that God has chosen to put in leadership in 00:07:09.680 --> 00:07:14.819 your life. We've got leadership all throughout this church, in different ministries of this church. 00:07:15.200 --> 00:07:21.240 And there is some different challenges that leaders face than those that God has not appointed to those 00:07:21.240 --> 00:07:26.680 leadership positions for that time. The Bible puts it this way in verse 12, those who labor among you 00:07:26.680 --> 00:07:32.540 and lead you in the Lord and admonish you. So think through those people in your life. 00:07:33.420 --> 00:07:38.259 Yeah, sure. Then the preacher gets up on Sundays. Lord willing, he should be doing those things. 00:07:38.699 --> 00:07:44.960 But there are so many other people in your life who, Lord willing, would be filling those roles for you. 00:07:45.379 --> 00:07:52.079 So who are the people who labor among you, who lead you in your faith in Christ and who admonish you? 00:07:52.079 --> 00:07:58.779 Love those people. The Bible says, give them recognition, give them honor, give them respect. 00:08:00.039 --> 00:08:07.699 To regard them very highly in love, verse 13, regard them very highly in love because of their work. 00:08:08.740 --> 00:08:15.719 That's the work that God called them to do. And so when we love our leaders, we're showing love to God. 00:08:15.720 --> 00:08:22.500 You don't love your leaders because they're the greatest among you. You don't love your leaders 00:08:22.500 --> 00:08:27.640 and lift them up on a pedestal and say they're better than we are. That's not showing biblical love. 00:08:28.640 --> 00:08:33.440 You regard them highly because of the work that God called them to do that they're faithfully giving 00:08:33.440 --> 00:08:38.899 their lives to do. So love our leaders. Over in Hebrews chapter 13, it kind of gives 00:08:38.899 --> 00:08:44.659 some elaboration on this. It says, have confidence in your leaders and submit to their authority 00:08:44.659 --> 00:08:50.500 because they keep watch over you as those who must give an account. Did you catch that part? 00:08:50.939 --> 00:08:56.059 There's a responsibility that leaders carry and that's why leadership is not something that should 00:08:56.059 --> 00:09:02.740 be rushed into quickly or hastily without great prayer and deliberation because it should be a 00:09:02.740 --> 00:09:08.079 calling that God has put on your life. We've got people who lead in the church. We've got people who 00:09:08.080 --> 00:09:12.840 lead in the school. We've got people who lead in their place of employment. All kinds of people 00:09:12.840 --> 00:09:21.000 represented in this building right now who are leaders. God has given you that role, that calling 00:09:21.000 --> 00:09:27.940 for this season of your life and you've got to give an account for it. You've got to give an account for it. 00:09:28.660 --> 00:09:35.680 God will hold you accountable to whom much is given, much is what? Expected, required, etc. 00:09:38.080 --> 00:09:45.000 So if God has given you this role, you're going to have to give an account for the time and what you 00:09:45.000 --> 00:09:51.220 did with that leadership. So then have confidence in the leaders that God gives you. Submit to their 00:09:51.220 --> 00:09:55.520 authority because they do keep watch over you as those who must give an account. And then it says, 00:09:55.519 --> 00:10:04.199 do this so their work will be a joy, not a burden. Because you're not going to benefit if their work 00:10:04.199 --> 00:10:12.679 is a burden. Their work is for you. It is done for God, but God called them to work for you, for your 00:10:12.679 --> 00:10:21.299 behalf, for our behalf. So we must not give our leaders unnecessary grief. That doesn't mean you can't 00:10:21.299 --> 00:10:26.679 ever bring them a problem. They want to deal with the problems. That's what God called them to do. 00:10:28.099 --> 00:10:37.159 But don't be an unnecessary burden to them. Don't give them so much grief 00:10:37.159 --> 00:10:44.419 that then their work is no benefit to you. That's what we learn from the scriptures. So 00:10:44.419 --> 00:10:47.579 just thought I'd share this with you real quick. 00:10:51.219 --> 00:10:56.039 Pastoring a church is not stressful, okay? I got about four years and then that's what I'm going 00:10:56.039 --> 00:11:05.539 to look like. Do the math. Anyway, it is, it is stressful. Well, before we jump to the next thing, 00:11:05.599 --> 00:11:10.959 it is stressful sometimes, folks. And anyone who's been in leadership, so many of you have in this room, 00:11:10.960 --> 00:11:15.259 you know that there can be sometimes seasons of stress and sometimes season of like, 00:11:15.960 --> 00:11:22.820 why did I do this again? Or am I sure that God called me to do this? But absolutely, it's so worth 00:11:22.820 --> 00:11:28.340 it. You know, I was dealing with a few things over the last couple weeks and I told my wife, you know, 00:11:29.780 --> 00:11:34.840 yeah, it's difficult to deal with problems and sure you'd wish that everything was perfect all the time, 00:11:34.840 --> 00:11:41.259 but look, I'm so glad and honored that God decided that I was the one who's going to help deal with 00:11:41.259 --> 00:11:46.660 this, you know? And whatever it is, whatever problem comes along the way, it's like, you know, 00:11:46.700 --> 00:11:51.920 it could have been somebody else that had to deal with this. I'm just grateful that God, now, am I 00:11:51.920 --> 00:11:57.780 fully equipped to do it? Man, I don't feel like it all the time. But apparently God said, yeah, you're the one. 00:11:57.779 --> 00:12:08.659 So leaders, just a side note, leaders take joy and take just an awesome gratefulness to God that he 00:12:08.659 --> 00:12:18.539 would allow you to be the one to, by his spirit, deal with the problems that come up. That's part of 00:12:18.539 --> 00:12:24.459 the joy of the work that God calls us to do. So that's point number one, love your leaders. Point 00:12:24.460 --> 00:12:28.960 number two, love each other. Love each other. Let's look back at the text again, verse 13. 00:12:30.580 --> 00:12:37.560 Be at peace among yourselves. We exhort you, brothers and sisters. It kind of spells out how 00:12:37.560 --> 00:12:42.980 do you do this? How do you love each other? You warn those who are idle. What's it talking about? 00:12:43.860 --> 00:12:49.759 Those who don't work. Apparently back in the church in Thessalonica, there was some 00:12:49.759 --> 00:12:56.779 uprising against Christians and in the community, some negative sentiment toward those who became 00:12:56.779 --> 00:13:02.039 newfound followers of Christ. And so often it was hard for them to get jobs, et cetera. So some people 00:13:02.039 --> 00:13:09.580 just decided to become lazy and not work and depend on others to support them. And so he said, warn those 00:13:09.580 --> 00:13:17.080 who are like this. You can't do that forever. You have to be an honest, upright, contributing member of 00:13:17.080 --> 00:13:23.720 our society. And so it says, warn those who are idle, comfort the discouraged, help the weak, be patient 00:13:23.720 --> 00:13:31.879 with everyone. That's how we show love to each other. And then down in verse 15, always pursue what is good 00:13:31.879 --> 00:13:40.980 for one another, for each other. Who do we always pursue what is good for? Ourselves. That's what we do. 00:13:40.980 --> 00:13:47.580 We spend our lives pursuing what is good for us. That's what everybody does. So if we're going to 00:13:47.580 --> 00:13:53.220 be different, I'm going to use my son Austin's testimony again this morning. He said, you know, 00:13:53.320 --> 00:13:57.960 it's important that the world around us sees that we're different. So if we're going to be different, 00:13:58.420 --> 00:14:05.700 then we have to pursue what is good for one another, not just for us, for ourselves. John chapter 13. 00:14:05.700 --> 00:14:14.259 John chapter 13. I give you a new command. Jesus said, this is what we call the great commandment. 00:14:14.820 --> 00:14:21.759 I give you a new command. Love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 00:14:21.879 --> 00:14:28.100 By this, everyone will know that you are my disciples if you love one another. And that's what 00:14:28.100 --> 00:14:32.720 we were just talking about. That's what makes us different. Everybody else, they love themselves. 00:14:32.720 --> 00:14:37.460 And then if they're going to love somebody else, they're going to love who makes them feel good. 00:14:38.360 --> 00:14:43.180 They're going to love the people that it's easy to love. When we love the people it's hard to love. 00:14:43.580 --> 00:14:49.720 When we love the people who it does us no good to show them love, no personal advantage financially 00:14:49.720 --> 00:14:55.500 or anything else, that we don't get anything out of it, but we just love them because Jesus loves them. 00:14:55.779 --> 00:15:01.800 That is when people know that we are his disciples. That's when people know that there's something 00:15:01.799 --> 00:15:08.099 different about you and me when we love one another. So that's what we're commanded to do. 00:15:08.379 --> 00:15:14.979 Love our leaders. Love each other. I love this quote by Francis Schaeffer, one of the all-time great 00:15:14.979 --> 00:15:20.359 apologists or defenders of the Christian faith, wrote a lot of great books. If you read something by 00:15:20.359 --> 00:15:23.979 Francis Schaeffer, you'll probably get blessed by it. But he said, our relationship with each other 00:15:23.980 --> 00:15:29.720 is the criterion that the world uses to judge whether our message is truthful. 00:15:30.519 --> 00:15:36.379 Christian community is the final apologetic. Do you know that the world is paying attention to us? 00:15:38.139 --> 00:15:45.500 When people find out that you go to First Baptist Church, they're going to be expecting something 00:15:45.500 --> 00:15:51.580 from you. That might be good, that might be bad, depending on their experience and how they view 00:15:51.580 --> 00:15:58.920 our church. But regardless, there's going to be an expectation. There's going to be something that 00:15:58.920 --> 00:16:03.940 they're watching to see. And then they're going to judge, right or wrong, they're going to judge 00:16:03.940 --> 00:16:12.540 not only you, not only our church, but God himself based on what they see. And that's why we are supposed 00:16:12.539 --> 00:16:21.740 to be here in community with one another, loving one another, supporting one another, encouraging one 00:16:21.740 --> 00:16:29.419 another in the faith so that we are not completely isolated, we're not completely on our own, and we're 00:16:29.419 --> 00:16:38.339 not all off seeking our own gain. We're seeking the good of those around us. Then they see, 00:16:38.340 --> 00:16:46.540 wow, that's a very loving community out there. I'd like to be a part of that. And our attitude 00:16:46.540 --> 00:16:56.240 about that community is not close the ranks, circle the wagons, you can't sit with us. 00:16:57.060 --> 00:17:03.120 That's not the attitude. The attitude is wide open arms saying, please come into our community. 00:17:03.120 --> 00:17:10.859 They welcomed me in, we'll welcome you in. If you grew up here, you'll be right at home here. 00:17:11.140 --> 00:17:16.839 If you're brand new in town, got here last week, you'll be right at home here. We're not going to 00:17:16.839 --> 00:17:23.019 judge you. We'll call sin, sin, but we're not going to judge you. We're not going to say, 00:17:23.259 --> 00:17:29.240 we're better than you are. You don't belong in our assembly. We will welcome you with wide open arms to 00:17:29.240 --> 00:17:38.279 be a part of our community. So that's what we do. Christian community is the final apologetic 00:17:38.279 --> 00:17:46.759 or defense of the faith. We can say all the words of scripture. We can preach the gospel. 00:17:47.640 --> 00:17:56.240 We can go out and speak the truth. But when they see us sniping at each other, running each other down, 00:17:56.240 --> 00:18:04.500 gossiping about each other, not getting along, that undermines all the truth of the message that 00:18:04.500 --> 00:18:12.019 we just preached. It is vital that we obey our Lord's command. That's why he gave it to us, 00:18:12.019 --> 00:18:19.519 because it is essential. It is vital that we love one another. And finally, we love our God. Love your 00:18:19.519 --> 00:18:28.440 leaders, love each other, and love our God. Verse 18, this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. 00:18:29.980 --> 00:18:34.980 So how do we do that? How do we love our God? There's all kinds of ways right here. It gives us 00:18:34.980 --> 00:18:42.240 kind of an ingredient list. Number one, rejoice always. Pray constantly. Give thanks in everything. 00:18:42.500 --> 00:18:47.859 Don't stifle the Spirit. Don't reject biblical prophesying. Let's park here for just a second. 00:18:47.859 --> 00:18:53.519 When we say prophesying, we're not talking about Old Testament prophecy that Christ fulfilled. 00:18:54.039 --> 00:19:00.419 We're talking about there's two meanings to the word prophesy when you see it in scripture. 00:19:00.959 --> 00:19:07.199 And it's either forth telling, talking about proclaiming or preaching, or foretelling, 00:19:07.939 --> 00:19:15.459 which is prophesying about the future, predicting the future. God gave special gifts of foretelling 00:19:15.460 --> 00:19:22.980 to Old Testament prophets. And Christ Jesus, the Son of God, is the embodiment, the fulfillment of all 00:19:22.980 --> 00:19:28.819 the prophecies. And so we don't reject biblical prophesying, which we're talking about proclaiming, 00:19:29.200 --> 00:19:37.059 forth telling, preaching. And then we stay away from every kind of evil. So this is how we love our God. 00:19:37.059 --> 00:19:43.700 So let's go through each one. One, rejoice always. How do you do that? 00:19:46.440 --> 00:19:53.819 How do you rejoice when a family member dies? How do you rejoice when you lose a job that you 00:19:53.819 --> 00:19:59.619 desperately needed? How do you rejoice when something very traumatic happens to you, 00:20:00.079 --> 00:20:06.200 something potentially devastating happens to you? Or we don't have to go so extreme. How do you rejoice 00:20:06.200 --> 00:20:11.019 when you rejoice when you're just having a really bad day? And it seems like everybody's out to get 00:20:11.019 --> 00:20:17.259 you. Everybody's picking on you. Things are just not going as you want them to. Maybe you're sick. 00:20:17.360 --> 00:20:23.920 Maybe you're not feeling well. How do you rejoice then? How do you rejoice when there's been a season 00:20:23.920 --> 00:20:33.200 of trials and they just never seem to let up? I think we jump down to the next one. Pray constantly. 00:20:33.200 --> 00:20:37.100 We got to stay in communication with our life source. 00:20:39.580 --> 00:20:44.980 Usually, if you feel like you're spiritually starving, it's because you are. 00:20:46.660 --> 00:20:53.720 Usually, it's because you've cut off that communication with the one who loves you most, 00:20:54.240 --> 00:21:01.259 the one who is most faithful to you, most dependable. Say, oh no, I open my Bible and I read 00:21:01.259 --> 00:21:06.920 it every morning. That's great. We're not just called to read the Bible. We're called to meditate 00:21:06.920 --> 00:21:14.720 on the Bible. Let it speak to us. Somebody said, you can read the Bible, but you really need to let 00:21:14.720 --> 00:21:24.099 the Bible read you. I think there's some truth to that. God's words are alive. The old King James 00:21:24.099 --> 00:21:31.759 version says they're quick and powerful. That word quick or quicken means alive. They are alive and 00:21:31.759 --> 00:21:41.659 powerful. They don't return ineffective. God's words will make a difference if we meditate on them. 00:21:42.519 --> 00:21:49.599 Joshua 1.8 commands us to meditate on the words of God. Then it says, you will have good success 00:21:49.599 --> 00:21:57.119 in the things that God has for you. So how do we rejoice always? We pray without ceasing. We pray 00:21:57.119 --> 00:22:03.240 constantly. Does that mean you walk around with your eyes closed? Of course not, right? But it means 00:22:03.240 --> 00:22:10.179 you maintain a constant attitude of prayer, staying in communication with the God who loves you most. 00:22:11.699 --> 00:22:15.779 And then when you keep, I almost like to say you just don't hang up the phone with God, 00:22:15.779 --> 00:22:22.460 you know. Just get him on the line and don't hang up the phone. It's okay. He wants to be with you as 00:22:22.460 --> 00:22:26.920 you go throughout your day. And silently in your own head or sometimes if you're by yourself and 00:22:26.920 --> 00:22:33.180 people won't think you're crazy, you can talk out loud to God. Tell him about things that are going on. 00:22:33.980 --> 00:22:40.359 He gives peace that surpasses all of our understanding. He gives peace that is inexplainable, 00:22:40.359 --> 00:22:47.259 inexplicable. So we pray constantly. And then we're able to give thanks in everything. It doesn't 00:22:47.259 --> 00:22:54.059 necessarily mean you give thanks for every trial. Now maybe you can get to the point where you can 00:22:54.059 --> 00:23:00.500 do that. But in the midst of every storm, you give thanks to God. You give thanks that He is faithful. 00:23:01.179 --> 00:23:06.740 You give thanks that you don't have to go through it alone. You give thanks that somehow we know that 00:23:06.740 --> 00:23:15.880 all things work together for what? For good for those who love God and are called for His purpose. 00:23:17.539 --> 00:23:25.359 God works all things together for our good, most of all for His glory. And so that's what we can give 00:23:25.359 --> 00:23:34.480 thanks for in the midst of our storm. All of this shows our love to God. This is how we practically do it. 00:23:34.480 --> 00:23:40.579 You can tell your wife or your husband that you love them all day long, but if you never show it, 00:23:40.980 --> 00:23:48.039 do they believe it? Of course not. Our words ring hollow over time. Actions speak louder than words. 00:23:49.880 --> 00:23:57.360 And obviously God knows our heart. And so when we, out of a heart of love that He has transformed, 00:23:57.359 --> 00:24:08.759 then we show our love to God by rejoicing, by praying, by giving thanks, by not stifling the 00:24:08.759 --> 00:24:14.879 Spirit in us. How do we stifle the Spirit? Anybody want to take a guess on that one? What stifles the 00:24:14.879 --> 00:24:26.799 Holy Spirit of God in our lives? Life, life can, circumstances. Anything else? What stifles the Holy Spirit? 00:24:27.359 --> 00:24:35.519 Death cannot, actually. Death cannot kill the Holy Spirit of God. He's got you to take you right to 00:24:35.519 --> 00:24:43.500 heaven. Somebody else said something. Yes, disobedience, sin, that's good. Pride, all those things. 00:24:43.939 --> 00:24:52.299 Selfishness, just call it sin. Sin can stifle the Spirit. Don't quench the Spirit of God, 00:24:52.299 --> 00:24:54.039 another translation of that verse we'll read. 00:24:56.779 --> 00:25:01.059 When the fire is burning and the fire is a Holy Spirit, is a picture of the Holy Spirit 00:25:01.059 --> 00:25:05.659 throughout the New Testament, we see the Holy Spirit mentioned as a fire at Pentecost, etc. 00:25:05.919 --> 00:25:12.720 And so when we pour cold water on that fire, we can quench the Holy Spirit's fire. Now, 00:25:12.759 --> 00:25:19.299 does that remove His presence from us? No, you cannot remove the Holy Spirit from you if you're a child 00:25:19.299 --> 00:25:25.700 of God. Neither can you manufacture the Holy Spirit's presence in your life if you're not a 00:25:25.700 --> 00:25:30.259 child of God. And plenty of people try to do that. I guarantee you there's people sitting in this room 00:25:30.259 --> 00:25:35.899 this morning that are pretending to be a child of God, and they're not. You can't manufacture the Holy 00:25:35.899 --> 00:25:41.779 Spirit's presence in your life, and those who have Him cannot remove Him. But you can quench Him. 00:25:41.779 --> 00:25:48.220 You can limit His effectiveness in your life. You can stop listening, put in earplugs, nope, 00:25:48.599 --> 00:25:52.960 not having it today. I'm going to live my life how I'm going to live it today. I'm not going to listen 00:25:52.960 --> 00:25:59.220 to you. Oftentimes, we'll do that. We may not say those words, but that's what we're communicating 00:25:59.220 --> 00:26:04.500 with how we live. So don't stifle the Spirit through sin. Don't reject biblical preaching. 00:26:04.500 --> 00:26:10.920 Now, if I'm ever not biblical, you come to me, let me know, and I will sit down. Others have 00:26:10.920 --> 00:26:15.400 caught certain things I said, and usually it was just kind of a mistake, you know. And somebody 00:26:15.400 --> 00:26:21.599 recently came and said, you keep saying Jesus was in the grave three days and three nights, 00:26:21.720 --> 00:26:25.660 and He was only in there two nights. I said, you know what? You're right. For some reason, I think 00:26:25.660 --> 00:26:30.839 I heard that when I was a kid, and it just stuck. And He rose again on the third day. He didn't make it 00:26:30.839 --> 00:26:35.879 to that third night. So that was unbiblical, and somebody caught it, and I'm glad they did. 00:26:36.439 --> 00:26:41.819 But the bulk of what I tried to do by the power of the Holy Spirit is biblical preaching. Don't reject 00:26:41.819 --> 00:26:50.559 that. And then stay away from every kind of evil. That is what can get in and mess it up. That doesn't 00:26:50.559 --> 00:26:56.659 mean that you're going to live a perfect life or be a perfect person, but don't go running toward it. 00:26:56.660 --> 00:27:04.320 When you stumble, when you fall, don't stay there. Get up and try again. God is faithful. God forgives. 00:27:06.640 --> 00:27:13.019 God can help you get back up on the high road that He wants you to walk on and walk with you 00:27:13.019 --> 00:27:19.320 on that road. So that's how we show our love to God. Real quickly before we're done, Deuteronomy 6, 00:27:19.720 --> 00:27:24.560 love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. Let's read 00:27:24.559 --> 00:27:30.859 that together. Could you with me? It's on the screen. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, 00:27:31.139 --> 00:27:40.059 with all your soul, and with all your strength. All right? That's how we love God. Now, do we love 00:27:40.059 --> 00:27:46.460 God that way? Usually not, but that's what we should be striving for. Every day we should wake up and say, 00:27:46.460 --> 00:27:53.500 God, let me love you today with all my heart, with all my soul, and with all my strength. Help me. 00:27:54.180 --> 00:28:01.220 He knows we're weak. He knows we struggle, but let's ask Him to help me show my love to you that way. 00:28:01.579 --> 00:28:09.319 And then 1 John chapter 5, this is what love for God is. To do what? Keep His commands, 00:28:09.319 --> 00:28:15.419 commands, and His commands are not a burden. His commands are not a burden. Sometimes it feels like 00:28:15.419 --> 00:28:20.639 it. Man, He won't let me go out and get drunk, and He won't let me go out and do what I used to do. 00:28:20.859 --> 00:28:27.240 That's such a burden. Is it? Is it really? Is it really to have a better marriage, to be a better 00:28:27.240 --> 00:28:34.720 father or mother, to be a better employee, to be a better friend, to make a difference really in 00:28:34.720 --> 00:28:41.559 somebody else's life? Is that a burden? No. His burden is light. His yoke is easy. 00:28:43.279 --> 00:28:49.960 So that's what love for God is, to keep His commands. So recap, the responsibility of a model 00:28:49.960 --> 00:28:53.160 church. Let's say it together. We're doing a lot of interactive today. All right, here we go. Ready? 00:28:53.799 --> 00:29:01.900 Love your leaders. Number two, love each other. Number three, love your God. Let's make it personal now. 00:29:01.900 --> 00:29:08.220 Love my leaders. Love each other and love your God. Ready? Here we go. One, love my leaders. 00:29:09.080 --> 00:29:15.620 Love each other. And number three, love my God. Amen. That's what we're going to do. As a church, 00:29:15.740 --> 00:29:20.720 we'll bond together and strive for that. A reminder, the takeaway is my responsibility 00:29:20.720 --> 00:29:25.780 is to love God by loving others, even when it's difficult. It's difficult to love your leaders 00:29:25.779 --> 00:29:32.740 sometimes. Leaders will let you down. God did not call leaders to your life to be perfect examples to 00:29:32.740 --> 00:29:41.500 you, but He called them to be faithfully pursuing Jesus and be an example of that. Help you to try to 00:29:41.500 --> 00:29:48.879 do the same. So we are supposed to love our leaders even when it's difficult. Loving each other, that's not 00:29:48.879 --> 00:29:54.519 always easy, is it? People will let you down. Your neighbor will let you down. Your friends will let you 00:29:54.519 --> 00:29:58.639 down. Your family will even let you down. Guess what? You'll even let yourself down sometimes. 00:29:59.700 --> 00:30:06.139 And you'll let others down too. We all let each other down, but God still calls us to love each 00:30:06.139 --> 00:30:11.579 other even when it's difficult. That's how people know we're different. And then finally, loving our God. 00:30:12.420 --> 00:30:19.740 First Thessalonians 1, you became an example to all the believers. The word of the Lord rang out 00:30:19.740 --> 00:30:26.380 in every place that your faith has gone. That is how we can be an example. That's how we can be the 00:30:26.380 --> 00:30:32.339 church that God called us to be. For the next several weeks, we're going to be starting a series 00:30:32.339 --> 00:30:43.059 called We Are the Church. We Are the Church. Notice there's a personification there. We. This building is 00:30:43.059 --> 00:30:51.099 not the church. This is where we gather together and we are so grateful for it. But we are the church. 00:30:51.559 --> 00:30:55.759 So we're going to look biblically at what the word of God has to say about the doctrine of 00:30:55.759 --> 00:31:02.399 ecclesiology, which is the doctrine of the church. So that's what we're going to talk about. What it 00:31:02.399 --> 00:31:08.559 looks like, what our responsibilities are. And so we kind of had that First Thessalonians prepare us for 00:31:08.559 --> 00:31:13.159 that and lead us into this study of the church. I'm grateful you're here with us this morning. Would 00:31:13.159 --> 00:31:17.139 you bow your heads with me quickly and just have a couple of questions before we're gone today? 00:31:19.440 --> 00:31:26.759 With our heads bowed, kind of alluded to it earlier, if there's anyone here who doesn't know for sure 00:31:26.759 --> 00:31:31.980 that you have put your faith in Jesus at a specific moment in your life, 00:31:32.720 --> 00:31:38.039 not talking about coming to church for a long time or believing you're a Christian for a long time, 00:31:38.039 --> 00:31:42.819 do you know of a time when you have put your faith in Jesus? You've made that decision. 00:31:43.740 --> 00:31:48.000 Would you slip your hand up today if you say, I've never done that. Say, I've never put my hand, 00:31:48.099 --> 00:31:53.299 my faith in Jesus. Nobody else is looking, but I'd like to pray for you. 00:31:55.500 --> 00:32:02.079 Put your hands down. Let me ask this question. Is there somebody in here today who says, 00:32:02.079 --> 00:32:08.679 I need to be more like Jesus and I need to show love? Whether it's more love to God, more love to 00:32:08.679 --> 00:32:14.799 my leaders, more love to my brother or sister in Christ, more love to somebody else. Would you slip 00:32:14.799 --> 00:32:23.179 your hands up? It's all around the room. Thank you guys. You can put your hands down. God, every person 00:32:23.180 --> 00:32:32.060 that raised their hand has a specific person or people in mind. And I just ask that you would 00:32:32.060 --> 00:32:38.320 intervene in that situation. Whatever has been difficult about showing love, I pray that you 00:32:38.320 --> 00:32:46.000 would, by your Holy Spirit, transform that situation. That you would let your power become very real. 00:32:46.000 --> 00:32:51.400 Even if the other person doesn't change, that's hard to show love to. I pray that you would empower 00:32:51.400 --> 00:33:00.859 your child to show love anyway and be a wonderful testimony of the grace and love of God in their life. 00:33:02.240 --> 00:33:09.140 I thank you for your goodness to us. I thank you for calling us to this place to worship you, 00:33:09.200 --> 00:33:12.579 to hear from your word. I ask that you would go with every teacher, every student 00:33:12.579 --> 00:33:20.919 as they start a new semester, every member of our church, everyone who attends, every visitor, 00:33:21.599 --> 00:33:29.439 let them go from this place, equipped by your spirit, to make a transforming difference 00:33:29.439 --> 00:33:35.259 in this community by showing your love. We'll thank you for it. It's in Jesus' name we pray.