These next two things are means of doing that.
Okay?
So, redeem the time for knowing Christ.
You know, college students, a lot of you are just now figuring out what a lot of you believe.
Was this what my parents taught me?
Is this what I believe?
It's a great time to grow.
So, redeem that kairos to really know Christ.
But number two, redeem the time for growing in relationship with God's people.
In other words, the church.
The covenant fellowship of believers.
The Bible has some really great metaphors for the church.
It's called a body.
In 1 Corinthians 12.
So, to be a part of a body means to belong to a living, functioning, you know, community.
A flock, which can sound degrading because you don't ever want to be compared to a sheep.
But, belonging to a flock means belonging to a community dependent on Christ for food and protection and direction.
A temple, Ephesians 2.
To be a stone in His temple means to belong to a worshiping community.
And then a household, a family.
That's 1 Timothy 3.15.
Like we have a common fatherhood.
And we will be together for eternity.
So, this is a rehearsal for what is to come.
So, understand.
I don't think most of us in here would be guilty of this.
Maybe at some point in our lives we were.
But there's a lot of people who say, yeah, I love Christ.
I'm all about Jesus.
But I can't stand the church.
You've heard people say that before.
Me and Jesus.
That's like all I need.
The last place, I think.
Yeah, no.
Just kidding.
Just write it down or log it away in your head.
I had to preach on it yesterday at this wedding.
Ephesians 5.
It talks about the love that Christ has for His church.
And it gives us an example.
It says, husbands, love your wives just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her.
So, then it goes down in verse 29.
Christ loves His church.
He nourishes and cherishes His church.
Because we are members of His body.
So, you can observe that.
Christ loves His church and died for it.
He cares for the purity of His church.
And He is one with His church.
So much so that if you attack the church, you're attacking Christ.
Any good done to the church is a good done to Christ.
So, the church, in one of those images, is called the Bride of Christ.
So, how many of you husbands would get it on if someone called your wife ugly and deplorable?
Jesus could take some people to the cleaners if He wanted to.
Don't insult His bride.
If you love Christ, then you will love what Christ loves.
Christ loves His church.
With all its problems, He loves His church.
And He died for the sake of His bride, the church.
And so, we are to redeem the time by growing in relationship with God's people.
Amazingly, for some reason, God has determined that so much of what we need as believers comes through.
This is just His design.
It comes through the fellowship of the body.
We need our brothers and sisters.
There are rich deposits of Christ in every single believer.
That's 2 Corinthians 4-7.
The treasure of treasures is hidden inside the believer.
Christ takes up residence inside the believer.
And if that's true, there are things that we can learn about God and know Him by,
by getting to know the body of Christ better.
By getting to know and understand our brothers and sisters better.
And God has designed for us not to face all the crud and trials of this world alone.
But to be there for one another.
To help each other along as we go.
But we've been saved.
We belong to the body.
We belong to Jesus.
Jesus suffered and died, it says in the Scripture.
The church of God.
That He had pained with His own blood.
He died for His wife, the church.
And so, I pray that as time goes by, we are known here, first and foremost, we are known.
I won't mess with other churches.
I'm just going to really talk about ours.
Like, I hope we are known as a people who love God, who worship Him with fear and reverence and joy,
in spirit and in truth.
So, what are one of the first things people talk about when they're asked about their church?
What pops out of their mouth?
Will it be something other than Christ?
What is the gathering component of a local church?
That's a good litmus test.
Why do certain churches gather and why does ours gather?
And often you'll see an age demographic.
We like being with old people, so we're with old people.
We like being with young people, so we're with a bunch of young people.
It could be affinity-driven.
There's a bunch of singles at this church.
There's a bunch of married people at this church.
But more than likely, it's program-driven.
This church has a great children's ministry.
This church has a great youth ministry.
This church has incredible music.
And that's what people talk about, right?
When you ask them about their church,
Oh, we just love our music.
We just love our worship service.
We have both a traditional and a contemporary service,
so we can fit everybody in.
And that just feeds the consumer mindset the opposite of what Christ would have us do,
which is to unite around Him, right?
I heard on a local Christian radio station several years ago,
and it's not a bad station.
I won't hate on it.
It's not a bad station at all.
But for 20 minutes, I had people call in and explain,
answer the question,
How do you do church?
But that whole time, no one said,
What does Jesus say about the church?
Isn't He the head of the church?
Didn't He die for the church?
That was the whole point.
And a lot of well-meaning people just sort of missed that.
So what is our church going to be known for?
We do a lot of good things here.
We're about a lot of good things.
So these aren't bad things when I say this,
but we don't want to be known as the homeschool church.
We plan on homeschooling our kids, Lord willing.
So you know I'm not hating on that,
but we don't want to be known for that.
We don't want to be known as a church
that each family has to have X number of kids.
We don't want to be known for that either.
We do want to be known for the fact that we love children.
But is Christ the gathering component of our church,
or does it become something else?
Here's how you know.
If that one component is removed,
sometimes that church falls apart.
There's nothing else there.
If it's a pastor personality or a certain style of music,
it just vanishes.
When that is gone, that church falls apart.
And that happens with a lot of megachurches out there,
with a cool pastor.
When he's gone, like, no one knows what to do
because they haven't been functioning.
But I pray that our church is known for its love for Christ
and love for one another
and not allow good things to become the main thing.
So the Scripture teaches us that we have unity already in Christ.
We don't have to create unity.
We don't have to make it up out of thin air
and unify over some, you know, worldly thing
like this ministry or that program or this style of music.
We are united in Christ.
And so we need each other in discipleship.
We need each other for accountability and discipline,
encouragement and prayer and leadership.
I could go on and on.
So that's why this is really more of a bigger thing,
but you'll just have to maybe talk to me later
if you can handle any more.
But we're all gifted, too.
When you are saved, you are given gifts by the Holy Spirit.
We just read that, which is so cool.
You are given gifts.
And just because you can't stand up here and do something,
it doesn't matter.
There are tons of ways that you can serve the body
that are special and that have eternal value.
So, quick word to students, you know,
campus ministries are amazing.
I was a part of one, campus outreach,
for a little over three years.
Loved it.
It's not in North Georgia anymore, unfortunately.
But understand, as cool as campus ministries are,
they don't replace the church.
They just don't.
And a good one, in fact, will point you to the church.
They'll say, we're just here to kind of help serve the body.
And we see sort of a movement in that now,
which I'm thankful for.
So just to kind of remember,
just come and be a part of a fellowship.
We hope it's here, but it's not.
There's some other healthy churches out there.
And then lastly,
whew, man, maybe a few more minutes here.
That water looks really good to me right now.
But lastly, number three,
to redeem the time,
to redeem the Kairos,
redeem it for obedience to God's mission.
Obedience to God's mission.
We are called by Jesus in Matthew 28
to go and to make disciples of all nations.
And what is the goal of that?
Read in Revelation.
The large myriad of myriad and thousands of thousands
from every nation, tribe, and tongue
worshiping Christ at His throne
at the end of time.
And that's only going to happen if we go.
Most of the men who heard Jesus say that
didn't even make it out of Judea.
So we know that that wasn't the plan.
It was meant for the disciples that they made
to continue that good work,
to go to the ends of the earth.
And so Paul says,
walk in wisdom toward outsiders,
making the best use of the time.
That's Colossians 4, same word.
Walk in wisdom toward outsiders.
So we all have neighbors,
coworkers, family members
that are still walking in darkness.
And it's hard.
It hurts to watch.
But we have the message.
We can't save them,
but we know the one who can.
All right?
And students,
you will never have,
probably most of you,
some of you going to the army
may have as much opportunity,
but you'll never have as many chances
to connect with unbelievers as you do now.
Like just the relationships,
it's just a sea of relationships,
of needy people.
It's that depressed guy
that never leaves his room,
who just plays video games
and sits on his phone
because he's scared to go
and like face the world.
Right?
It's that person
in the gym
just trying to always exercise
like crazy
because they want people
to give them glory
for how they look.
It's that girl
that spends two hours
putting makeup on
because she's afraid
to go out
and afraid that people
will think that she's unattractive.
She's being evaluated
by the people
that are around her.
And a special heart
for these guys,
the ones who just got hammered
and partied
and went crazy.
They need the Lord too.
You've got to find ways
to get them through their life
safely, of course.
And so,
redeem the time.
Make the best use of it.
The scripture says,
rescue those
who are being taken away to death.
Hold back
those who are stumbling
to slaughter.
Understand that
as we bear witness to Christ,
he's going to use you
to reach those
who are around you.
And in closing,
a couple things.
I thought it was worth mentioning.
There's some good clips
on YouTube
if you want to go watch this.
I thought,
wouldn't that be a shocker
if I played a video here
on Sunday morning?
I've done that here
in probably 100 years.
But,
the movie,
Schindler's List,
is a movie
I just can't watch.
Like,
I watched it a long time ago.
I can't turn it back on.
But,
it's about
the Nazi death camps,
the Holocaust.
A true story,
though,
of a German
named
Oskar Schindler.
And he was
broken
over what
Germany was doing.
And he
took it personally
to, like,
work.
And he ended up
saving about
the lives
of 1,100 Jews
from the Nazi
death camps.
And at the very
end of the movie,
this is what you can
actually go and watch.
It's,
after all his
sacrifice,
all the stuff he did,
all his labor,
he's there
with all those
people that
he was able
to deliver
and save.
And he's with
his really close
Jewish friend,
Stern.
And,
he's looking around
at all of them.
He says,
he looks at his body
and says,
I could have gotten
more out.
I could have
gotten more out.
If I had just
done this,
I could have
done more.
And his friend
is so gracious.
He's like,
look,
you did so much.
There will be
generations of
people because
of what you did.
And he looks
at his car
and he goes,
what about this
car?
This car could
have been 10
more people.
Why did I keep
this car?
And then he said,
I had so much
money.
If I just had
a little bit
more money,
I could have
gotten more
people out.
And he says,
I wasted
so much money.
And he just
breaks down
crying unconsolably
like in front
of all these
people.
And his friend
picks him up
and he's like,
hey,
you did this.
Look at their
faces.
Like,
they're here.
He pulls
off his Nazi
party pen.
Like,
this is gold.
And he gives
it to him.
Like,
this could be
two more
people.
Use this
to get
them out.
But he was
so,
you know,
as you know,
in that time,
Germans were
taught not to
show emotion,
but he just
loses it.
And he kept
just saying,
I haven't done
enough.
I didn't do
enough.
And I'm not
trying to
produce some
form of
ungodly
guilt on
you,
ungodly
conviction.
ungodly
but none
of us
want to
get to
the
finish
line
before
the
throne
and
just
say,
look at
all my
stuff.
And look at
all my
possessions.
You'll just
say,
why didn't I
do more?
Sort of a,
I think John
Piper calls it a
heavenly regret.
So not a
sinful regret,
a heavenly
regret of like,
ah,
like,
if I knew
that this was
where things
were going,
like,
I just
would not
have
squandered
so much.
But Jesus
says,
do not lay
for yourselves
treasures on
the earth
where moth
and dust
destroy
and where
thieves break
in and steal,
but lay up
for yourselves
treasures that
are in heaven.
That is the
goal.
But then he
says,
where your
treasure is,
there your
heart's going
to be also.
You're going
to see it
on display.
So,
as I said
last week
from that one
missionary,
he said,
only one
life,
and it
will soon
be passed
and only
what's done
for Christ
will last.
And then
lastly,
in application
of this,
we can rest
bringing it
all into
Christ,
okay?
We see
in the
Gospels
that Jesus
was very
aware of
the providential
time that
he was here
on earth.
He was
aware of
the Kairos.
He said,
there were
times that
people wanted
to kill
him and
he said,
my hour
has not
yet come.
My Kairos,
my time
has not
yet come.
And then
eventually,
when he
had died
and breathed
his last,
he said,
it is
finished.
It is
done.
And like
this one
verse in
John 17
is one
that I,
man,
I really
hope on
my deathbed,
if I make it
to a deathbed
and don't
die in some
crazy other
way,
that I think
this verse
haunts me
just about
more than
any.
But Jesus
says,
Father,
he's praying
like the
hour has
come,
glorify your
son,
the son
may glorify
you,
having
accomplished
the work
that you
gave me
to do.
He was
done so
he could
go and
rest,
right?
So even
though we
have squandered
so much
time,
ridiculous
things that
we do
with our
time,
me too,
our cell
phones don't
help.
So if
you drop
it in
the
commode,
just rejoice
for the
30 minutes
that you're
going to
have before
you fix
it with
rice.
The good
news is
that all
the time
we've
wasted is
not going
to bear
witness against
us on
the judgment
day if
we have
Christ,
because he
was faithful.
He saved
us.
We don't
have to pay
him back
for what
he did,
but if we
do belong
to Christ,
it's going
to create
a holy
desire in
us to
want,
to redeem
the time
for eternity.
We're going
to desire
that.
Make the
best use
of the
time and
strive for
that daily.
It's not
about the
here and
now.
So just
prepare
yourself
for the
bigger picture,
for us
going to
be in
the Father's
presence
forever.
I'll stop
there.
Yeah.
So much
more to say
on all that.
Each one of
those could
be its own
thing,
but let's
pray together
and then
we'll respond
in song.
Let's pray
together and
respond in song.