¤
00:00:02.56\00:00:10.27
¤
00:00:10.37\00:00:17.28
¤
00:12:17.13\00:12:25.37
>> ¤ God is our refuge
00:12:25.47\00:12:26.88
and strength ¤
00:12:26.98\00:12:29.14
¤ A present help
00:12:29.24\00:12:30.38
in times of trouble ¤
00:12:30.48\00:12:33.15
¤ Though the mountains shake
00:12:33.25\00:12:35.22
in the heart of the sea ¤
00:12:35.32\00:12:37.25
¤ Though the waters roar and
00:12:37.35\00:12:39.19
foam, we will not fear ¤
00:12:39.29\00:12:43.49
¤
00:12:43.59\00:12:51.60
¤ Come and behold
00:12:51.70\00:12:53.74
the works of the Lord ¤
00:12:53.84\00:12:55.64
¤ The awesome acts of God
00:12:55.74\00:12:59.74
¤ He is in the midst of
00:12:59.84\00:13:01.98
His people, in all the earth ¤
00:13:02.08\00:13:08.32
¤ He's the word, we are His
00:13:10.55\00:13:12.35
hands, He will lead us ¤
00:13:12.45\00:13:16.79
¤ He is the air,
00:13:16.89\00:13:18.16
we are His soul ¤
00:13:18.26\00:13:19.59
¤ We will celebrate His presence
00:13:19.69\00:13:23.77
all the day long ¤
00:13:23.87\00:13:27.34
¤
00:13:27.44\00:13:33.34
¤ God is our refuge
00:13:33.44\00:13:34.61
and strength ¤
00:13:34.71\00:13:36.75
¤ A present help
00:13:36.85\00:13:38.18
in times of trouble ¤
00:13:38.28\00:13:40.85
¤ Though the mountains shake
00:13:40.95\00:13:42.82
in the heart of the sea ¤
00:13:42.92\00:13:44.79
¤ Though the waters roar
00:13:44.89\00:13:46.59
and foam, we will not fear ¤
00:13:46.69\00:13:50.76
¤
00:13:50.86\00:13:58.87
¤ Come and behold
00:13:58.97\00:14:00.70
the work of the Lord ¤
00:14:00.80\00:14:03.14
¤ The awesome acts of God
00:14:03.24\00:14:05.57
>> ¤ He is our God
00:14:05.67\00:14:07.41
>> ¤ He is in the midst
00:14:07.51\00:14:08.41
of His people ¤
00:14:08.51\00:14:09.64
>> ¤ He is our God
00:14:09.74\00:14:11.68
>> ¤ In all the earth
00:14:11.78\00:14:15.12
¤ He is the rains,
00:14:17.29\00:14:18.22
we are the stones ¤
00:14:18.32\00:14:19.69
¤ He will cleanse us
00:14:19.79\00:14:23.16
¤ He is the air,
00:14:23.26\00:14:24.49
we are His song ¤
00:14:24.59\00:14:26.09
¤ We will celebrate His presence
00:14:26.19\00:14:30.20
all the day long ¤
00:14:30.30\00:14:33.37
¤
00:14:33.47\00:14:39.51
¤ God is our refuge
00:14:39.61\00:14:40.81
and strength ¤
00:14:40.91\00:14:43.28
¤ A present help
00:14:43.38\00:14:44.31
in time of trouble ¤
00:14:44.41\00:14:47.05
¤ Though the mountains shake
00:14:47.15\00:14:48.95
in the heart of the sea ¤
00:14:49.05\00:14:50.89
¤ Though the waters roar
00:14:50.99\00:14:52.39
and foam, we will not fear ¤
00:14:52.49\00:14:56.19
¤ We will not fear
00:14:58.03\00:15:01.66
¤ We will not fear
00:15:01.76\00:15:05.10
¤ We will not
00:15:05.20\00:15:09.14
¤ Fear
00:15:09.24\00:15:14.71
>> Have you ever had a craving?
00:15:18.95\00:15:22.88
Well, my daughter did
00:15:26.35\00:15:27.09
about 20 years ago.
00:15:27.19\00:15:28.99
And I'd like to show you
00:15:29.09\00:15:30.03
a little bit about what
00:15:30.13\00:15:31.49
that craving was like.
00:15:31.59\00:15:33.56
[ Laughter ]
00:15:42.97\00:15:48.34
>> [ Chuckles ]
00:15:48.44\00:15:53.62
What'd you get?
00:15:53.72\00:15:54.78
>> [ Chuckles ]
00:15:57.42\00:15:58.95
[ Laughter ]
00:16:02.86\00:16:04.46
>> So that's Ellie
00:16:07.83\00:16:08.63
about 20 years ago,
00:16:08.73\00:16:10.27
and she had a crave.
00:16:10.37\00:16:12.67
I thought it was for the camera
00:16:12.77\00:16:13.94
that I had set on the floor to
00:16:14.04\00:16:15.24
video her there, but it was not.
00:16:15.34\00:16:16.71
It was for that thing
00:16:16.81\00:16:17.27
in her mouth.
00:16:17.37\00:16:18.24
That's a cello rock stop, for
00:16:18.34\00:16:19.44
those of you that don't know.
00:16:19.54\00:16:20.01
It spends a lot
00:16:20.11\00:16:20.78
of time on the floor.
00:16:20.88\00:16:21.61
So this was an immunity-building
00:16:21.71\00:16:23.55
exercise on Ellie's part here.
00:16:23.65\00:16:26.48
Ellie had a crave,
00:16:26.58\00:16:27.98
and by baby standards,
00:16:28.08\00:16:29.78
she she kind of turned over
00:16:29.88\00:16:30.59
heaven and Earth.
00:16:30.69\00:16:31.42
I mean, that's a long ways.
00:16:31.52\00:16:32.42
When you're a toddler,
00:16:32.52\00:16:33.12
you're just getting
00:16:33.22\00:16:33.82
used to moving around.
00:16:33.92\00:16:34.69
She saw what she wanted.
00:16:34.79\00:16:36.19
She had this crave,
00:16:36.29\00:16:37.86
she crossed over heaven and
00:16:37.96\00:16:39.26
Earth, the hallway,
00:16:39.36\00:16:40.73
to satisfy it, and indeed,
00:16:40.83\00:16:42.56
the crave was fulfilled.
00:16:42.66\00:16:45.03
I wonder
00:16:48.14\00:16:50.54
if the church is
00:16:50.64\00:16:52.57
as motivated as she was.
00:16:52.67\00:16:57.91
I wonder if the church is
00:16:58.01\00:16:59.65
as motivated
00:16:59.75\00:17:00.72
for much higher craves
00:17:00.82\00:17:02.18
to be fulfilled as she was
00:17:02.28\00:17:03.75
for this rather
00:17:03.85\00:17:04.82
earthly craving to be fulfilled.
00:17:04.92\00:17:06.65
I wonder if we are as motivated.
00:17:06.76\00:17:11.79
Because, you see,
00:17:11.89\00:17:12.49
there is a crave.
00:17:12.59\00:17:13.86
Not for a rock stop
00:17:13.96\00:17:14.66
in one's mouth.
00:17:14.76\00:17:16.13
A crave for something
00:17:16.23\00:17:17.07
far more important,
00:17:17.17\00:17:18.30
a crave that is -- practically
00:17:18.40\00:17:19.97
runs around the world.
00:17:20.07\00:17:21.34
It is essentially
00:17:21.44\00:17:22.14
global in its nature.
00:17:22.24\00:17:23.71
It is a craving
00:17:23.81\00:17:25.41
that has been inside of us
00:17:25.51\00:17:26.88
literally since creation,
00:17:26.98\00:17:30.35
and the satisfaction
00:17:30.45\00:17:32.28
of this craving
00:17:32.38\00:17:34.35
was one of the main things
00:17:34.45\00:17:35.45
that fueled
00:17:35.55\00:17:36.42
the New Testament church.
00:17:36.52\00:17:37.65
The satisfaction of this craving
00:17:37.75\00:17:39.72
is what fueled early Adventism,
00:17:39.82\00:17:41.76
and I am convinced
00:17:41.86\00:17:42.89
that the satisfaction
00:17:42.99\00:17:43.83
of this craving
00:17:43.93\00:17:45.36
will provide ample fuel
00:17:45.46\00:17:46.73
for the church
00:17:46.83\00:17:47.76
today to finish the work
00:17:47.86\00:17:49.43
of sharing Jesus Christ
00:17:49.53\00:17:50.77
and the three angels'
00:17:50.87\00:17:51.53
messages with the world.
00:17:51.63\00:17:53.77
Would you like to know
00:17:53.87\00:17:54.74
what that craving is?
00:17:54.84\00:17:58.47
Good, because I was afraid we
00:17:58.57\00:17:59.34
were going to have to stop right
00:17:59.44\00:18:00.11
there and have the benediction
00:18:00.21\00:18:00.98
and go to Nikki's and have
00:18:01.08\00:18:01.48
lunch.
00:18:01.58\00:18:02.34
Yes. That's it.
00:18:02.44\00:18:03.75
Turn in your Bibles,
00:18:03.85\00:18:04.58
please, to Genesis 1:26.
00:18:04.68\00:18:07.28
It's on page one
00:18:07.38\00:18:09.12
in your red pew Bible, page one,
00:18:09.22\00:18:11.92
Genesis 1 verses 26 and 27.
00:18:12.02\00:18:15.32
This is, of course,
00:18:15.42\00:18:15.99
the creation story.
00:18:16.09\00:18:17.63
The Bible does
00:18:17.73\00:18:18.39
not posit evolution.
00:18:18.49\00:18:20.20
Instead it says,
00:18:20.30\00:18:21.23
"God spoke and it was."
00:18:21.33\00:18:22.26
God created
00:18:22.36\00:18:23.83
the heavens and the Earth.
00:18:23.93\00:18:24.73
This is the creation week.
00:18:24.83\00:18:25.93
At this point in the story,
00:18:26.03\00:18:26.97
five days of creation
00:18:27.07\00:18:28.57
have been completed.
00:18:28.67\00:18:30.37
God is now going to move on
00:18:30.47\00:18:32.34
to a sixth day and
00:18:32.44\00:18:34.14
have the pinnacle -- at least
00:18:34.24\00:18:36.04
as far as living creatures are
00:18:36.14\00:18:37.25
concerned, the pinnacle
00:18:37.35\00:18:38.25
of creation,
00:18:38.35\00:18:39.31
the creation of humanity,
00:18:39.41\00:18:41.15
and this is how it's described.
00:18:41.25\00:18:41.88
Verse 26.
00:18:41.98\00:18:43.39
"Then God said,
00:18:43.49\00:18:44.75
let us make man,"
00:18:44.85\00:18:46.35
and the Hebrew word there
00:18:46.45\00:18:47.22
for "man" means humanity,
00:18:47.32\00:18:48.49
mankind, humanity, humanity,
00:18:48.59\00:18:50.06
"in our image, in our likeness,
00:18:50.16\00:18:53.40
and let them rule over the fish
00:18:53.50\00:18:54.40
of the sea
00:18:54.50\00:18:55.46
and the birds of the air,
00:18:55.56\00:18:56.56
over the livestock,
00:18:56.67\00:18:57.87
over all the Earth,
00:18:57.97\00:18:58.83
and over all the creatures
00:18:58.93\00:18:59.93
that move along the ground.
00:19:00.10\00:19:01.40
So God created man," mankind,
00:19:01.50\00:19:04.74
"in His own image.
00:19:04.84\00:19:05.97
In the image of God,
00:19:06.07\00:19:07.04
He created him.
00:19:07.14\00:19:08.08
Male and female,
00:19:08.18\00:19:10.55
He created them."
00:19:10.65\00:19:11.78
[ Clears throat ]
00:19:13.38\00:19:14.42
Did you see the crave?
00:19:14.52\00:19:19.69
Perhaps not.
00:19:19.79\00:19:20.52
So let me elucidate.
00:19:20.62\00:19:24.03
This word "image" comes from the
00:19:24.13\00:19:25.63
Hebrew word "selem," and image
00:19:25.73\00:19:28.16
is a good translation, means
00:19:28.26\00:19:29.16
image or likeness.
00:19:29.26\00:19:30.17
We're made in the image
00:19:30.27\00:19:31.13
of the likeness of God.
00:19:31.23\00:19:32.97
But what does it mean to be made
00:19:33.07\00:19:35.30
in the image of God?
00:19:35.40\00:19:38.41
Now, I know what some
00:19:38.51\00:19:39.07
of you are thinking.
00:19:39.17\00:19:39.91
Some of you look in the mirror
00:19:40.01\00:19:40.54
and you think, "Ah,
00:19:40.64\00:19:41.34
this must be how God looks."
00:19:41.44\00:19:42.88
Okay, so so you're thinking
00:19:42.98\00:19:44.38
about this physical similarity
00:19:44.48\00:19:47.22
between yourself and the divine.
00:19:47.32\00:19:48.65
I understand.
00:19:48.75\00:19:49.75
I'm not quite as optimistic
00:19:49.85\00:19:50.99
when I look in the mirror,
00:19:51.09\00:19:51.69
but there's
00:19:51.79\00:19:52.85
actually good evidence
00:19:52.95\00:19:53.86
in this text
00:19:53.96\00:19:55.56
that while it could be
00:19:55.66\00:19:56.56
physical resemblance,
00:19:56.66\00:19:57.69
it's actually something
00:19:57.79\00:19:58.89
far deeper
00:19:58.99\00:20:01.20
than mere physical appearance.
00:20:01.30\00:20:03.03
That's what it means to be made
00:20:03.13\00:20:04.13
in the image of God.
00:20:04.23\00:20:06.30
There is something
00:20:06.40\00:20:07.10
even more basic to it.
00:20:07.20\00:20:09.14
There is something
00:20:09.24\00:20:09.77
which explains
00:20:09.87\00:20:10.81
a substantial portion
00:20:10.91\00:20:12.34
of the essence of who God is.
00:20:12.44\00:20:16.21
And because we're made in
00:20:16.31\00:20:16.98
His image, by extension,
00:20:17.08\00:20:18.11
who we are,
00:20:18.21\00:20:21.52
it's found in the very opening
00:20:21.62\00:20:22.38
lines of verse 26
00:20:22.48\00:20:23.35
where it says,
00:20:23.45\00:20:24.82
"Let us make man in our image."
00:20:24.92\00:20:30.73
It's plural, right?
00:20:30.83\00:20:33.40
And if you didn't know any
00:20:33.50\00:20:34.30
better, if this was your first
00:20:34.40\00:20:34.86
time in the Bible,
00:20:34.96\00:20:35.90
you might expect it to say,
00:20:36.00\00:20:36.73
well, "Let
00:20:36.83\00:20:37.97
me make man in my image,"
00:20:38.07\00:20:40.30
but it doesn't say that.
00:20:40.40\00:20:41.60
It's very clear.
00:20:41.70\00:20:42.60
In the original language,
00:20:42.70\00:20:43.54
it is very clear.
00:20:43.64\00:20:44.44
"Let us make man in our image."
00:20:44.54\00:20:47.11
In other words,
00:20:47.21\00:20:47.98
God has community
00:20:48.08\00:20:49.64
in himself by definition.
00:20:49.74\00:20:51.65
And note further verse 27, "Male
00:20:54.68\00:20:56.99
and female, He created them."
00:20:57.09\00:20:59.39
In other words,
00:20:59.49\00:21:00.86
in order for the image of God
00:21:00.96\00:21:02.69
to be complete in humanity,
00:21:02.79\00:21:04.63
one was not enough.
00:21:04.73\00:21:08.10
It instead took two.
00:21:08.20\00:21:11.63
No wonder, therefore,
00:21:11.73\00:21:12.50
if we were to keep reading
00:21:12.60\00:21:13.44
in 2:18, it says there,
00:21:13.54\00:21:15.30
after all kinds
00:21:15.40\00:21:16.40
of good things have happened,
00:21:16.50\00:21:17.34
God says, "This is good.
00:21:17.44\00:21:18.24
And behold, it was good,
00:21:18.34\00:21:18.97
and behold, it was good,
00:21:19.07\00:21:19.71
and behold, it was good."
00:21:19.81\00:21:20.94
Then He comes, and He says,
00:21:21.04\00:21:22.18
"It is not good
00:21:22.28\00:21:23.91
for the man to be alone,"
00:21:24.01\00:21:26.61
as many a seminarian has said
00:21:26.72\00:21:27.92
since then, right?
00:21:28.02\00:21:28.45
Okay.
00:21:28.55\00:21:29.35
It is not good
00:21:29.45\00:21:30.12
for man to be alone.
00:21:30.22\00:21:30.95
This idea of community.
00:21:31.05\00:21:32.45
Now, let's be clear here.
00:21:32.55\00:21:33.89
The Bible here is not saying
00:21:33.99\00:21:35.96
that it is a sin to be single.
00:21:36.06\00:21:38.79
Jesus was single.
00:21:38.89\00:21:40.10
Paul was single.
00:21:40.20\00:21:40.93
Et cetera, et cetera.
00:21:41.00\00:21:42.50
But the Bible is saying
00:21:42.60\00:21:44.40
that to be in community,
00:21:44.50\00:21:46.80
whether with one's spouse
00:21:46.90\00:21:48.17
or with other Christians,
00:21:48.27\00:21:49.24
is a profound part
00:21:49.34\00:21:50.71
of what it means to be made
00:21:50.81\00:21:52.07
in the image of God.
00:21:52.17\00:21:53.34
Do you see the math here?
00:21:53.44\00:21:54.54
We are made in His image.
00:21:54.64\00:21:56.08
He, by definition,
00:21:56.18\00:21:57.35
is in community.
00:21:57.45\00:21:58.71
It takes an "us" to define Him.
00:21:58.81\00:22:01.02
Therefore, to be made
00:22:01.12\00:22:01.92
in His image
00:22:02.02\00:22:03.05
is to also recognize
00:22:03.15\00:22:04.62
that we were made for community
00:22:04.72\00:22:06.42
as well, and consequently,
00:22:06.52\00:22:09.36
to crave fellowship with others
00:22:09.46\00:22:12.06
is not a sign of weakness
00:22:12.16\00:22:13.29
or a lack of maturity
00:22:13.40\00:22:14.20
or any such thing.
00:22:14.30\00:22:15.63
Instead, this hardwired craving
00:22:15.73\00:22:17.60
of the human heart, a craving
00:22:17.70\00:22:19.83
that God Himself put within us,
00:22:19.93\00:22:22.14
it is to be
00:22:22.24\00:22:23.24
in genuine community,
00:22:23.34\00:22:24.81
with others, with God, yes,
00:22:24.91\00:22:26.31
and with other people.
00:22:26.41\00:22:28.08
And notice carefully
00:22:28.18\00:22:29.21
what this means is to place
00:22:29.31\00:22:32.11
ourselves in genuine community
00:22:32.21\00:22:33.62
with others is,
00:22:33.72\00:22:35.22
in a very real sense,
00:22:35.32\00:22:36.42
to fulfill what
00:22:36.52\00:22:37.95
we were created for.
00:22:38.05\00:22:40.19
Small wonder, then,
00:22:43.56\00:22:45.03
that after sin enters the world,
00:22:45.13\00:22:46.19
Genesis 3,
00:22:46.29\00:22:47.60
and repeatedly shatters
00:22:47.73\00:22:49.50
community for generation after
00:22:49.60\00:22:50.90
generation after generation.
00:22:51.00\00:22:52.30
When Jesus does come,
00:22:52.40\00:22:53.67
He has His ministry,
00:22:53.77\00:22:54.64
He dies on the cross,
00:22:54.74\00:22:55.50
He's raised from the grave,
00:22:55.60\00:22:56.44
the church is established when
00:22:56.54\00:22:58.14
we read in the book of Acts.
00:22:58.24\00:22:59.37
One of the most shocking
00:22:59.47\00:23:00.64
characteristics of the church
00:23:00.74\00:23:02.38
is that it had
00:23:02.48\00:23:03.65
genuine community.
00:23:03.75\00:23:05.91
What was lost
00:23:06.01\00:23:07.12
at Eden is now beginning
00:23:07.22\00:23:09.52
to be restored in the church.
00:23:09.62\00:23:13.19
Let me show you.
00:23:13.29\00:23:15.22
Again, Acts 2, verse 42 to 47.
00:23:15.32\00:23:16.76
If the word is yellow
00:23:16.86\00:23:18.19
in the screen, would
00:23:18.29\00:23:19.19
you please say it out loud?
00:23:19.29\00:23:21.06
"They devoted themselves --"
00:23:21.16\00:23:22.33
This is the new Christians in
00:23:22.43\00:23:24.43
that first Christian church.
00:23:24.53\00:23:25.27
"They devoted themselves
00:23:25.37\00:23:26.30
to the apostles' teaching
00:23:26.40\00:23:27.27
and to the..."
00:23:27.37\00:23:28.37
>> Fellowship.
00:23:28.47\00:23:29.20
>> "...to the breaking
00:23:29.30\00:23:30.01
of bread and to prayer.
00:23:30.11\00:23:31.31
Everyone was filled with awe,
00:23:31.41\00:23:32.51
and many wonders
00:23:32.61\00:23:33.34
and miraculous signs
00:23:33.44\00:23:34.38
were done by the apostles.
00:23:34.48\00:23:35.78
All the believers were..."
00:23:35.88\00:23:37.05
>> Together.
00:23:37.15\00:23:37.98
>> "...and had everything in
00:23:38.08\00:23:38.75
common.
00:23:38.85\00:23:39.78
Selling their possessions and
00:23:39.88\00:23:40.32
goods, they gave
00:23:40.42\00:23:41.28
to anyone as he had need.
00:23:41.38\00:23:42.55
Every day they continued
00:23:42.65\00:23:43.28
to meet..."
00:23:43.39\00:23:43.99
>> Together.
00:23:44.09\00:23:45.12
>> "...in the temple courts.
00:23:45.22\00:23:46.12
They broke bread in their homes
00:23:46.22\00:23:46.99
and ate..."
00:23:47.09\00:23:47.89
>> Together.
00:23:47.99\00:23:48.96
>> "...with glad and sincere
00:23:49.06\00:23:49.82
hearts, praising God
00:23:49.92\00:23:51.03
and enjoying the favor
00:23:51.13\00:23:51.93
of all the people.
00:23:52.03\00:23:52.79
And the Lord added to
00:23:52.89\00:23:53.96
their number daily those
00:23:54.03\00:23:55.46
who were being saved."
00:23:55.56\00:23:58.17
Isn't it interesting
00:23:58.27\00:23:59.10
that last phrase,
00:23:59.20\00:24:00.10
"And the Lord added to
00:24:00.20\00:24:01.04
their number daily"?
00:24:01.14\00:24:01.87
It comes right
00:24:01.97\00:24:02.97
after he describes --
00:24:03.07\00:24:04.44
that Luke describes in the book
00:24:04.54\00:24:06.04
of Acts here, this tremendous
00:24:06.14\00:24:07.94
community that they had.
00:24:08.04\00:24:10.91
Ladies and gentlemen,
00:24:11.01\00:24:11.65
this was astonishing.
00:24:11.75\00:24:13.31
Sometimes I think we forget
00:24:13.42\00:24:13.98
this.
00:24:14.08\00:24:15.38
By the standards of that day,
00:24:15.48\00:24:16.69
and even by the standards of
00:24:16.79\00:24:18.02
today, this was astonishing,
00:24:18.12\00:24:19.09
because here were people
00:24:19.19\00:24:20.16
from all over the world
00:24:20.26\00:24:21.49
in this Christian church.
00:24:21.59\00:24:22.19
Remember, 3,000 people had
00:24:22.29\00:24:23.19
just been baptized.
00:24:23.29\00:24:24.29
I mean, talk about jump-starting
00:24:24.39\00:24:25.16
your church plant.
00:24:25.26\00:24:26.66
There's a ton of people here,
00:24:26.76\00:24:28.06
and they are from all over
00:24:28.16\00:24:29.53
the world because they all
00:24:29.63\00:24:30.40
came up for the festival.
00:24:30.50\00:24:31.63
And even if, back home,
00:24:31.73\00:24:33.20
they might have been at
00:24:33.30\00:24:33.84
each other's throats
00:24:33.94\00:24:34.60
or disagreeing about this,
00:24:34.70\00:24:35.44
that, or the other,
00:24:35.54\00:24:36.54
in the Christian church,
00:24:36.64\00:24:38.11
all of that is gone.
00:24:38.21\00:24:40.54
There is this deep
00:24:40.64\00:24:41.81
and profound sense of community,
00:24:41.91\00:24:44.31
and in fact,
00:24:44.41\00:24:45.78
genuine Christian community
00:24:45.88\00:24:47.25
became one of the most powerful
00:24:47.35\00:24:48.72
calling cards of the church had.
00:24:48.82\00:24:50.52
It was astonishing evidence
00:24:50.62\00:24:52.52
that something, that someone,
00:24:52.62\00:24:55.12
something, and someone new
00:24:55.22\00:24:57.06
and radical and transformative
00:24:57.16\00:24:58.86
had landed on planet Earth,
00:24:58.96\00:25:00.36
the likes of which
00:25:00.46\00:25:01.40
the world had never seen.
00:25:01.50\00:25:04.13
All of which
00:25:04.23\00:25:06.20
makes me want to ask you
00:25:06.30\00:25:07.07
some questions.
00:25:07.17\00:25:09.14
Just in the quietness
00:25:09.24\00:25:10.01
of your own cranium,
00:25:10.11\00:25:11.51
you can answer this.
00:25:11.61\00:25:14.41
Is this your experience?
00:25:14.51\00:25:16.01
Have you experienced
00:25:20.25\00:25:21.75
genuine Christian community?
00:25:21.85\00:25:23.65
This borderline miracle,
00:25:26.45\00:25:27.96
this joyful exclamation point
00:25:28.06\00:25:29.52
of the Kingdom of God?
00:25:29.62\00:25:30.73
Have you experienced this
00:25:30.83\00:25:31.76
yourself?
00:25:31.86\00:25:34.46
As I asked you
00:25:34.56\00:25:35.23
a couple of weeks ago.
00:25:35.33\00:25:36.46
Acts 2:42 to 47,
00:25:36.56\00:25:38.63
it says they, the new believers,
00:25:38.73\00:25:40.10
the church, devoted themselves
00:25:40.20\00:25:41.17
to the apostles' teaching
00:25:41.27\00:25:42.20
and to the what?
00:25:42.30\00:25:44.14
To the fellowship.
00:25:44.24\00:25:44.74
That's right.
00:25:44.84\00:25:45.44
In other words,
00:25:45.54\00:25:46.31
they're given equal billing.
00:25:46.41\00:25:47.98
Are you as devoted
00:25:48.08\00:25:49.21
to the fellowship of believers
00:25:49.31\00:25:50.61
as you are to correct doctrine?
00:25:50.71\00:25:54.78
And perhaps most importantly,
00:25:54.88\00:25:56.55
are you experiencing
00:25:56.65\00:25:57.82
genuine Christian community
00:25:57.92\00:26:00.62
right now, today?
00:26:00.72\00:26:03.76
You know,
00:26:07.86\00:26:08.66
as good as revival and
00:26:08.76\00:26:10.50
reformation are personally,
00:26:10.60\00:26:11.53
and they are good,
00:26:11.63\00:26:13.37
there's still -- I can still say
00:26:13.47\00:26:14.37
this weeks later.
00:26:14.47\00:26:15.20
There's incredible things
00:26:15.30\00:26:16.17
happening in our midst here.
00:26:16.27\00:26:17.07
People are are renewed
00:26:17.17\00:26:18.91
in their love of the Lord
00:26:19.01\00:26:20.04
and ministry for Him.
00:26:20.14\00:26:20.84
There's great things
00:26:20.94\00:26:21.68
that are happening here.
00:26:21.78\00:26:22.88
And as good as that is,
00:26:22.98\00:26:24.65
it's even better in the context
00:26:24.75\00:26:26.28
of genuine Christian community.
00:26:26.38\00:26:28.48
I mean, the New Testament
00:26:28.58\00:26:29.65
church had this community.
00:26:29.75\00:26:31.55
Contrary to what some believe,
00:26:31.65\00:26:32.72
early Adventism had it, as well.
00:26:32.82\00:26:34.52
We need it today, and God
00:26:34.62\00:26:36.02
knows we need it so badly He
00:26:36.12\00:26:37.59
actually commands us to form it.
00:26:37.69\00:26:41.76
So let's get to it by answering
00:26:41.86\00:26:44.27
at least two questions.
00:26:44.37\00:26:45.47
Number one,
00:26:45.57\00:26:46.20
what is genuine
00:26:46.30\00:26:47.44
Christian community?
00:26:47.54\00:26:50.01
What sets it apart
00:26:50.11\00:26:50.97
from other communities?
00:26:51.07\00:26:51.81
There's all kinds of communities
00:26:51.91\00:26:52.57
in the world out there.
00:26:52.67\00:26:53.31
What sets genuine Christian
00:26:53.41\00:26:54.71
community apart from the others?
00:26:54.81\00:26:55.98
And question number two
00:26:56.08\00:26:57.05
how do we get it?
00:26:57.15\00:26:58.65
How do we get it?
00:26:58.75\00:27:01.38
So let's get started.
00:27:01.48\00:27:03.89
Biblically speaking,
00:27:03.99\00:27:06.05
there are at least four
00:27:06.15\00:27:07.22
characteristics
00:27:07.32\00:27:08.79
of genuine Christian community.
00:27:08.89\00:27:11.26
Let me put the first one up here
00:27:11.36\00:27:12.06
on the screen for you.
00:27:12.16\00:27:13.73
"Genuine Christian community has
00:27:13.83\00:27:15.50
Christ as its center."
00:27:15.60\00:27:18.73
"Genuine Christian community has
00:27:18.83\00:27:19.97
Christ as its center."
00:27:20.07\00:27:22.84
Not a human being,
00:27:22.94\00:27:23.87
not a polished speaker,
00:27:23.97\00:27:25.31
a great leader,
00:27:25.41\00:27:26.24
a great idea or great cause
00:27:26.34\00:27:27.51
or, you know,
00:27:27.61\00:27:28.41
whatever it might be.
00:27:28.51\00:27:29.64
Jesus Christ is the center
00:27:29.74\00:27:31.88
of genuine Christian community.
00:27:31.98\00:27:34.92
And it may surprise you
00:27:35.02\00:27:36.72
how this developed
00:27:36.82\00:27:37.59
in salvation history.
00:27:37.69\00:27:38.59
If you've never heard this
00:27:38.69\00:27:39.22
before, this is
00:27:39.32\00:27:40.86
an amazing thing that Jesus did.
00:27:40.96\00:27:43.73
I want to refer you to
00:27:43.83\00:27:44.79
to something called the Mishnah.
00:27:44.89\00:27:45.79
Now, some of you
00:27:45.89\00:27:46.63
know what the Mishnah is.
00:27:46.73\00:27:47.46
We're in an academic setting.
00:27:47.56\00:27:47.96
I'm sure some
00:27:48.03\00:27:48.76
of you know about this.
00:27:48.86\00:27:49.50
For those of you that don't,
00:27:49.60\00:27:51.17
the Mishnah was collected, oh,
00:27:51.27\00:27:52.67
probably about A.D. 200.
00:27:52.77\00:27:55.04
So after the time of Christ.
00:27:55.14\00:27:56.64
But what it collected
00:27:56.74\00:27:58.74
actually dated back well before
00:27:58.84\00:28:00.41
the ministry of Christ.
00:28:00.51\00:28:01.91
You see, there was an oral
00:28:02.01\00:28:02.54
tradition, you know,
00:28:02.64\00:28:03.45
teachings of the religious
00:28:03.55\00:28:04.35
leaders amongst the Jews,
00:28:04.45\00:28:05.78
and the Jews became concerned
00:28:05.88\00:28:07.42
that this oral tradition
00:28:07.52\00:28:08.28
would be forgotten.
00:28:08.38\00:28:09.42
So they wrote it down
00:28:09.52\00:28:10.39
in something called the Mishnah.
00:28:10.49\00:28:11.95
And in that Mishnah,
00:28:12.05\00:28:13.22
again, the same -- predates
00:28:13.32\00:28:14.72
the ministry of Jesus.
00:28:14.82\00:28:16.56
This is what it says
00:28:16.66\00:28:17.23
here in the Mishnah.
00:28:17.33\00:28:18.79
"But when two sit together
00:28:18.89\00:28:21.23
and there are words of Torah
00:28:21.33\00:28:23.13
spoken," so words of the law,
00:28:23.23\00:28:24.57
first five books of the Bible,
00:28:24.67\00:28:25.40
"words of Torah spoken
00:28:25.50\00:28:26.57
between them, the
00:28:26.67\00:28:27.74
Shechinah abides among them."
00:28:27.84\00:28:31.27
Does that sound
00:28:31.37\00:28:32.04
familiar to anybody?
00:28:32.14\00:28:33.98
We'll get back to
00:28:34.08\00:28:34.78
that just a moment.
00:28:34.88\00:28:35.61
"But when two sit together
00:28:35.71\00:28:36.95
and there are words of Torah
00:28:37.05\00:28:38.08
spoken between them, the
00:28:38.18\00:28:39.08
Shechinah abides among them."
00:28:39.18\00:28:42.68
Now, although the word is
00:28:42.78\00:28:44.35
not used in the Old Testament,
00:28:44.45\00:28:45.99
Jewish rabbis for millennia
00:28:46.09\00:28:47.62
referred to the special
00:28:47.72\00:28:48.86
presence of God among His people
00:28:48.96\00:28:50.36
as being the Shechinah,
00:28:50.46\00:28:52.36
the Shechinah glory.
00:28:52.46\00:28:53.43
Sometimes it's referred to.
00:28:53.53\00:28:54.46
For instance,
00:28:54.56\00:28:55.26
the Book of Exodus has
00:28:55.36\00:28:56.16
a number of occurrences
00:28:56.26\00:28:57.80
of this -- the burning bush,
00:28:57.90\00:28:58.87
Exodus 3.
00:28:58.97\00:29:00.17
That was the Shechinah
00:29:00.27\00:29:01.14
presence of God,
00:29:01.24\00:29:02.10
the presence of God
00:29:02.20\00:29:02.94
in the pillar of fire --
00:29:03.04\00:29:04.17
Exodus 13.
00:29:04.27\00:29:05.27
The Ark of the Covenant.
00:29:05.37\00:29:06.47
You know, there -- the glory
00:29:06.57\00:29:07.24
of the Lord
00:29:07.34\00:29:08.24
is hovering over the Ark
00:29:08.34\00:29:09.48
of the Covenant there.
00:29:09.58\00:29:10.41
That's referred to as
00:29:10.51\00:29:11.25
the Shechinah glory.
00:29:11.35\00:29:12.75
God showing Himself to Moses --
00:29:12.85\00:29:13.88
Exodus 34.
00:29:13.98\00:29:15.38
All of these were considered
00:29:15.48\00:29:16.55
to be examples
00:29:16.65\00:29:17.89
of the special appearing
00:29:17.99\00:29:19.42
of God's presence to His people.
00:29:19.52\00:29:21.96
But then get this. Get this.
00:29:22.06\00:29:23.93
Jesus shows up.
00:29:24.03\00:29:25.13
He's born, He grows,
00:29:25.23\00:29:26.46
He begins His public ministry.
00:29:26.56\00:29:28.06
And this is what Jesus says.
00:29:28.16\00:29:29.33
Matthew 18,
00:29:29.43\00:29:30.37
verses 19 and 20, "Again,
00:29:30.47\00:29:32.30
truly I tell you,"
00:29:32.40\00:29:33.50
Jesus says, "that if two of you
00:29:33.60\00:29:35.24
on Earth agree about anything
00:29:35.34\00:29:36.30
they ask for,
00:29:36.40\00:29:37.17
it will be done for them
00:29:37.27\00:29:38.07
by my Father in heaven.
00:29:38.17\00:29:39.37
For where two or
00:29:39.47\00:29:40.28
three gather in my name,
00:29:40.38\00:29:42.18
there I am with them."
00:29:42.28\00:29:46.11
Jesus is the new Shechinah.
00:29:46.21\00:29:48.65
He is the embodiment
00:29:48.75\00:29:49.92
of the pillar of fire
00:29:50.02\00:29:51.19
out in the desert
00:29:51.29\00:29:51.95
and the glory hovering
00:29:52.05\00:29:52.99
over the Ark of the Covenant
00:29:53.09\00:29:53.72
in the sanctuary,
00:29:53.82\00:29:54.52
this blessed appearance
00:29:54.62\00:29:55.59
to Abraham, I mean all of these.
00:29:55.69\00:29:57.19
Jesus is now the encapsulation
00:29:57.29\00:29:59.06
of these things.
00:29:59.16\00:30:01.06
And did you notice?
00:30:01.16\00:30:03.13
This Shechinah glory
00:30:03.23\00:30:05.07
happens explicitly
00:30:05.17\00:30:07.67
in the context of community.
00:30:07.77\00:30:11.47
Jesus is with us
00:30:11.57\00:30:12.94
all by ourselves.
00:30:13.04\00:30:13.88
Amen? Amen?
00:30:13.98\00:30:15.64
We've talked about this.
00:30:15.74\00:30:16.58
The Holy Spirit can fill us
00:30:16.68\00:30:17.51
as individuals,
00:30:17.61\00:30:18.41
no question about that.
00:30:18.51\00:30:19.05
Not taking away
00:30:19.15\00:30:19.81
from that at all.
00:30:19.91\00:30:21.05
And yet there is
00:30:21.15\00:30:22.28
still something more.
00:30:22.38\00:30:23.45
There is something special
00:30:23.55\00:30:24.95
when people gather in the name
00:30:25.05\00:30:26.52
of Jesus Christ
00:30:26.62\00:30:28.09
And He says that when "two
00:30:28.19\00:30:29.76
or three gather in my name,"
00:30:29.86\00:30:31.66
when the church gathers,
00:30:31.76\00:30:33.26
"there I am."
00:30:33.36\00:30:36.63
Jesus Christ is the center
00:30:36.73\00:30:39.33
of genuine Christian community,
00:30:39.43\00:30:41.40
and He is the only
00:30:41.50\00:30:42.40
one that will do.
00:30:42.50\00:30:44.51
Only Jesus is a glue strong
00:30:44.61\00:30:46.27
enough to keep our community
00:30:46.37\00:30:47.21
together in Jesus.
00:30:47.31\00:30:48.78
Communities that are centered
00:30:48.88\00:30:49.71
on common interests or
00:30:49.81\00:30:51.38
geography or race or occupation
00:30:51.48\00:30:53.42
or culture all have their place.
00:30:53.52\00:30:55.62
But only Jesus is strong enough
00:30:55.72\00:30:58.29
to keep our community strong
00:30:58.39\00:31:00.26
enough to weather
00:31:00.36\00:31:01.42
the end time headwinds
00:31:01.52\00:31:02.96
that are coming our way faster
00:31:03.06\00:31:04.49
and furiouser as we get closer
00:31:04.59\00:31:05.89
to the second coming of Jesus.
00:31:05.99\00:31:07.30
So make sure
00:31:07.40\00:31:11.53
that Jesus is the center
00:31:11.63\00:31:14.24
of your fellowship
00:31:14.34\00:31:15.30
with other believers.
00:31:15.40\00:31:17.61
You may do other activities
00:31:17.71\00:31:18.84
and other things,
00:31:18.94\00:31:19.84
other important and good things,
00:31:19.94\00:31:20.84
et cetera, et cetera,
00:31:20.94\00:31:22.21
but make sure that the center,
00:31:22.31\00:31:25.25
the glue is Jesus.
00:31:25.35\00:31:28.98
Because He's the great center,
00:31:29.08\00:31:30.45
the reason and power
00:31:30.55\00:31:32.79
and adhesion for our fellowship.
00:31:32.89\00:31:35.26
Nothing and no one else will do.
00:31:35.36\00:31:38.73
That's the first characteristic
00:31:38.83\00:31:40.70
of genuine Christian community.
00:31:40.80\00:31:43.20
There's a second.
00:31:43.30\00:31:45.87
"Genuine Christian community is
00:31:45.97\00:31:47.60
where members sacrificially
00:31:47.70\00:31:49.34
care for one another."
00:31:49.44\00:31:51.84
"Genuine Christian community is
00:31:51.94\00:31:52.97
where members sacrificially
00:31:53.07\00:31:54.74
care for one another."
00:31:54.84\00:31:57.25
Now, there's literally dozens
00:31:57.35\00:31:58.01
of texts in the Bible,
00:31:58.11\00:31:58.65
the New Testament
00:31:58.75\00:31:59.41
that talk about this.
00:31:59.51\00:31:59.95
Let's look at
00:32:00.12\00:32:00.78
just a handful here.
00:32:00.88\00:32:01.88
Acts 2:45 again,
00:32:01.98\00:32:03.22
and then 4:34 and 35.
00:32:03.32\00:32:05.19
"Selling their possessions
00:32:05.29\00:32:06.05
and goods, they gave
00:32:06.15\00:32:07.56
to anyone as he had need."
00:32:07.66\00:32:09.62
That sounds like sacrificial,
00:32:09.72\00:32:10.36
doesn't it?
00:32:10.46\00:32:11.26
They give to others there.
00:32:11.36\00:32:13.19
"There were
00:32:13.29\00:32:14.20
no needy persons among them."
00:32:14.30\00:32:16.33
How many needy persons were
00:32:16.43\00:32:17.03
among them?
00:32:17.13\00:32:18.50
Not a bit. Zero. Zilch. Nada.
00:32:18.60\00:32:19.90
Nothing. That's astonishing.
00:32:20.00\00:32:21.67
I mean,
00:32:21.77\00:32:22.60
can you think of another
00:32:22.70\00:32:23.67
fellowship like that today?
00:32:23.77\00:32:25.94
This is amazing.
00:32:26.04\00:32:26.91
There were
00:32:27.01\00:32:27.88
no needy persons among them.
00:32:27.98\00:32:29.58
"For from time to time
00:32:29.68\00:32:31.08
those who owned lands or houses
00:32:31.18\00:32:31.95
sold them,
00:32:32.05\00:32:33.05
brought the money from the sales
00:32:33.15\00:32:34.22
and put it at the apostles feet,
00:32:34.32\00:32:35.22
and it was distributed
00:32:35.32\00:32:36.18
to anyone as he had need."
00:32:36.28\00:32:38.22
There was sacrificial
00:32:38.32\00:32:39.42
care for one another.
00:32:39.52\00:32:41.76
How about this?
00:32:41.86\00:32:42.76
Galatians 5:13 and 6:2.
00:32:42.86\00:32:44.63
"Serve one another in love,"
00:32:44.73\00:32:45.86
speaking to those
00:32:45.96\00:32:46.56
inside the church.
00:32:46.66\00:32:47.86
"Carry each other's burdens,
00:32:47.96\00:32:49.30
and in this way you will fulfill
00:32:49.40\00:32:50.83
the law of Christ."
00:32:50.93\00:32:51.90
Carry each other's burdens.
00:32:52.00\00:32:52.80
Serve one another.
00:32:52.90\00:32:55.50
Ephesians 4:29, 31, and 32
00:32:55.60\00:32:57.74
takes this to another level.
00:32:57.84\00:32:59.21
"Do not let any unwholesome talk
00:32:59.31\00:33:00.78
come out of your mouths,
00:33:00.88\00:33:01.84
but only what is helpful
00:33:01.94\00:33:03.08
for building others up according
00:33:03.18\00:33:04.11
to their needs,
00:33:04.21\00:33:05.21
that it may benefit
00:33:05.31\00:33:06.11
those who listen...
00:33:06.21\00:33:07.65
Get rid of all bitterness,
00:33:07.75\00:33:08.58
rage and anger,
00:33:08.68\00:33:09.48
brawling and slander
00:33:09.58\00:33:10.72
along with every form of malice.
00:33:10.82\00:33:12.52
Be kind and compassionate
00:33:12.62\00:33:13.82
to one another,
00:33:13.92\00:33:14.69
forgiving each other,"
00:33:14.79\00:33:15.46
and then notice
00:33:15.56\00:33:16.26
this last line, "just as
00:33:16.36\00:33:17.99
in Christ God forgave you."
00:33:18.09\00:33:21.06
In other words,
00:33:21.16\00:33:21.83
this is what makes
00:33:21.93\00:33:23.06
the Christian church different.
00:33:23.16\00:33:24.53
It's supposed to make
00:33:24.63\00:33:25.07
it different,
00:33:25.17\00:33:26.03
at least because our standard is
00:33:26.13\00:33:27.50
not a human standard.
00:33:27.60\00:33:29.37
Our standard is
00:33:29.47\00:33:30.34
how Jesus has served us.
00:33:30.44\00:33:33.27
That's how we are to serve
00:33:33.38\00:33:34.68
others inside of the church.
00:33:34.78\00:33:37.45
Now, this is so pivotal
00:33:37.55\00:33:40.45
that it's actually addressed
00:33:40.55\00:33:41.05
a number of times
00:33:41.15\00:33:41.78
in the New Testament.
00:33:41.88\00:33:42.32
Look at this.
00:33:42.42\00:33:43.12
Philippians 2:5 to 7
00:33:43.22\00:33:45.12
says, "In your relationship
00:33:45.22\00:33:46.09
with one another,"
00:33:46.19\00:33:46.76
so this is within
00:33:46.86\00:33:47.62
the church now, "have
00:33:47.72\00:33:49.09
the same mindset as," here
00:33:49.19\00:33:50.59
it is again, "Christ Jesus:
00:33:50.69\00:33:52.39
Who, being in very nature God,
00:33:52.49\00:33:53.73
did not consider equality
00:33:53.83\00:33:54.83
with God something
00:33:54.93\00:33:56.00
to be used to His own advantage.
00:33:56.10\00:33:57.77
Rather, He made himself nothing
00:33:57.87\00:33:59.57
by taking the very nature
00:33:59.67\00:34:01.24
of a servant being made
00:34:01.34\00:34:04.24
in human likeness."
00:34:04.34\00:34:05.04
There it is again.
00:34:05.14\00:34:06.57
This is the secret
00:34:06.68\00:34:07.64
to the church's success
00:34:07.74\00:34:08.41
when it comes
00:34:08.51\00:34:09.28
to this idea of community.
00:34:09.38\00:34:10.75
Jesus is our standard.
00:34:10.85\00:34:12.15
We serve others
00:34:12.25\00:34:13.05
as He has served us.
00:34:13.15\00:34:15.48
Colossians 3:13 -- "Bear
00:34:15.58\00:34:17.12
with each other and forgive
00:34:17.22\00:34:18.12
whatever grievances you may have
00:34:18.22\00:34:19.25
against one another.
00:34:19.35\00:34:20.22
Forgive as the Lord
00:34:20.32\00:34:21.36
forgave you."
00:34:21.46\00:34:22.22
Forgiveness in the church
00:34:22.32\00:34:23.39
is one of the greatest ways
00:34:23.49\00:34:24.43
you can serve somebody else.
00:34:24.53\00:34:25.63
How can you claim
00:34:25.73\00:34:26.43
that you're sacrificially
00:34:26.53\00:34:27.56
serving somebody else
00:34:27.66\00:34:28.40
if you hate their guts?
00:34:28.50\00:34:30.43
That's pretty tough to do,
00:34:30.53\00:34:31.03
isn't it?
00:34:31.13\00:34:32.17
So forgiveness here.
00:34:32.27\00:34:33.07
This is part of service --
00:34:33.17\00:34:34.14
of the service that we are
00:34:34.24\00:34:35.07
to do to one another,
00:34:35.17\00:34:36.20
just as Christ Jesus forgave us.
00:34:36.30\00:34:39.54
And how about this?
00:34:39.64\00:34:40.74
This takes it to the pinnacle.
00:34:40.84\00:34:41.71
John 15:13 -- Jesus says,
00:34:41.81\00:34:43.81
"Greater love has no one
00:34:43.91\00:34:44.78
than this,
00:34:44.88\00:34:45.55
that He lay down
00:34:45.65\00:34:46.48
His life for His friends."
00:34:46.58\00:34:49.88
Now, obviously, Jesus here
00:34:49.98\00:34:51.02
is foreshadowing the cross,
00:34:51.12\00:34:52.19
which at this point is just
00:34:52.29\00:34:53.22
a little ways away in His story.
00:34:53.32\00:34:55.72
And the odds of you
00:34:55.82\00:34:56.89
or I being asked
00:34:56.99\00:34:59.53
to lay down our life physically,
00:34:59.63\00:35:01.33
to die for somebody else,
00:35:01.43\00:35:02.56
probably are relatively low.
00:35:02.66\00:35:06.60
But if the opportunity were
00:35:06.70\00:35:08.84
to come to us,
00:35:08.94\00:35:11.27
it would be completely
00:35:11.37\00:35:12.17
in keeping
00:35:12.27\00:35:14.01
with the sacrificial service
00:35:14.11\00:35:16.68
that Jesus did for us.
00:35:16.78\00:35:18.55
Ladies and gentlemen,
00:35:22.92\00:35:25.25
the rest of the world will
00:35:25.35\00:35:28.16
sometimes sacrificially serve
00:35:28.26\00:35:30.03
those that are closest to them.
00:35:30.13\00:35:31.56
You know, maybe a close family
00:35:31.66\00:35:32.39
or close friend or something.
00:35:32.49\00:35:33.33
They may do that.
00:35:33.43\00:35:35.76
But Christians,
00:35:35.86\00:35:36.83
we are called to care for
00:35:36.93\00:35:37.67
one another,
00:35:37.77\00:35:38.60
whether we are close friends
00:35:38.70\00:35:40.00
with that Christian or not.
00:35:40.10\00:35:42.30
Christians serve one another
00:35:42.40\00:35:44.47
because of the common bond
00:35:44.57\00:35:45.67
that they have in Christ.
00:35:45.77\00:35:47.58
And this kind of care
00:35:47.68\00:35:48.64
still to this day
00:35:48.74\00:35:49.81
can astonish the outside world.
00:35:49.91\00:35:51.45
And here
00:35:51.55\00:35:52.41
we must admit a reality.
00:35:52.51\00:35:53.72
This is a miracle.
00:35:53.82\00:35:55.22
You cannot,
00:35:55.32\00:35:56.52
I cannot, we cannot of ourselves
00:35:56.62\00:35:59.09
have this kind of sacrificial
00:35:59.19\00:36:00.42
service for one another.
00:36:00.52\00:36:01.59
We are too selfish.
00:36:01.69\00:36:02.82
We are too far down the scale.
00:36:02.92\00:36:04.46
It is only by the renewing power
00:36:04.56\00:36:05.99
of Jesus Christ in the heart
00:36:06.09\00:36:07.10
that this is possible.
00:36:07.20\00:36:08.90
So if you're sitting there
00:36:09.00\00:36:09.56
trying to white knuckle
00:36:09.66\00:36:10.07
your way, "I'm
00:36:10.17\00:36:10.97
going to sacrificially serve
00:36:11.07\00:36:12.27
this jerk next to me.
00:36:12.37\00:36:13.07
I'm going to sacrifi--"
00:36:13.17\00:36:14.84
No, no, no, just stop.
00:36:14.94\00:36:16.07
Let Jesus come in.
00:36:16.17\00:36:18.04
Have Him take away the heart
00:36:18.14\00:36:18.71
of stone
00:36:18.81\00:36:19.74
and give you a heart of flesh.
00:36:19.84\00:36:21.31
The new life in Jesus Christ
00:36:21.41\00:36:22.41
makes this possible.
00:36:22.51\00:36:23.45
This is why the rest
00:36:23.55\00:36:24.41
of the world,
00:36:24.51\00:36:25.28
when they see this inside
00:36:25.38\00:36:26.38
of the church,
00:36:26.48\00:36:27.25
so many of them look
00:36:27.35\00:36:28.25
and they are astonished,
00:36:28.35\00:36:28.82
they're amazed,
00:36:28.92\00:36:29.65
and they study it because
00:36:29.75\00:36:30.85
you cannot find this kind of
00:36:30.95\00:36:32.29
sacrificial love in a community
00:36:32.39\00:36:33.52
outside of Jesus Christ.
00:36:33.62\00:36:35.76
It's a miracle of God.
00:36:35.86\00:36:37.23
"Genuine Christian community is
00:36:40.00\00:36:41.96
where members sacrificially
00:36:42.06\00:36:43.77
care for one another."
00:36:43.87\00:36:46.94
So I need to ask you, and,
00:36:47.04\00:36:48.67
again, just in the quietness
00:36:48.77\00:36:49.90
of your own mind,
00:36:50.01\00:36:50.54
you can answer,
00:36:50.64\00:36:52.41
is this your reality?
00:36:52.51\00:36:55.88
Are there people in the church
00:36:55.98\00:36:56.75
right now that
00:36:56.85\00:36:59.41
you resent,
00:36:59.51\00:37:01.35
you have not forgiven,
00:37:01.45\00:37:03.65
and it's stopping
00:37:03.75\00:37:04.49
any service from happening?
00:37:04.59\00:37:07.22
Are you willing
00:37:07.32\00:37:08.09
to sacrificially serve those
00:37:08.19\00:37:09.39
that are that are inside
00:37:09.49\00:37:10.59
of the fellowship of believers?
00:37:10.69\00:37:14.36
If the answer is no,
00:37:14.46\00:37:16.60
don't let another day go by.
00:37:16.70\00:37:18.57
Jesus specializes
00:37:18.67\00:37:19.57
in heart surgery.
00:37:19.67\00:37:20.70
He knows
00:37:20.80\00:37:21.67
how to give us a new mind,
00:37:21.77\00:37:22.84
a new heart, a new spirit.
00:37:22.94\00:37:25.07
And I tell you what,
00:37:25.17\00:37:25.77
ladies and gentlemen,
00:37:25.87\00:37:26.51
when this becomes the norm
00:37:26.61\00:37:29.98
in the church,
00:37:30.08\00:37:31.18
when this kind of
00:37:31.28\00:37:31.95
sacrificial care for one
00:37:32.05\00:37:33.11
another becomes the norm,
00:37:33.21\00:37:34.58
great things will happen.
00:37:34.68\00:37:36.22
Great things will happen.
00:37:36.32\00:37:37.52
We will be that close
00:37:37.62\00:37:38.72
to the work being finished
00:37:38.82\00:37:39.79
because at last the groundwork
00:37:39.89\00:37:41.52
will have been laid.
00:37:41.62\00:37:43.19
Jesus will see himself
00:37:43.29\00:37:44.56
being reflected in His people.
00:37:44.66\00:37:46.09
Great things will happen.
00:37:46.19\00:37:47.76
A third characteristic
00:37:51.23\00:37:52.67
of genuine Christian community
00:37:52.77\00:37:54.14
is this.
00:37:54.24\00:37:56.04
"Genuine Christian community is
00:37:56.14\00:37:58.21
where disciples thrive through
00:37:58.31\00:38:00.64
appropriate accountability."
00:38:00.74\00:38:03.18
It's "where disciples
00:38:03.28\00:38:03.91
thrive through
00:38:04.01\00:38:05.45
appropriate accountability."
00:38:05.55\00:38:07.08
Now, if I were in the South
00:38:07.18\00:38:08.62
preaching this, as I spent
00:38:08.72\00:38:09.48
many years down there,
00:38:09.58\00:38:10.59
some people might say to me
00:38:10.69\00:38:12.45
that I have gone just now
00:38:12.55\00:38:13.76
from preaching to meddling.
00:38:13.86\00:38:15.12
[ Laughter ]
00:38:15.22\00:38:16.16
Okay? Yeah.
00:38:16.26\00:38:17.73
"Jesus as the center.
00:38:17.83\00:38:18.66
We're okay with that.
00:38:18.76\00:38:20.06
You know, serving one another.
00:38:20.16\00:38:21.03
We're okay with that.
00:38:21.13\00:38:21.93
Ah, but this idea
00:38:22.03\00:38:23.43
of accountability,
00:38:23.53\00:38:24.70
you know, I was with you
00:38:24.80\00:38:25.43
until then, right?"
00:38:25.53\00:38:28.44
Isn't accountability taking
00:38:28.54\00:38:29.50
things just a shade too far?
00:38:29.60\00:38:32.14
Well, let's see what
00:38:32.24\00:38:33.44
the Bible has to say.
00:38:33.54\00:38:35.04
Ephesians 5:21 --
00:38:35.14\00:38:36.38
"Submit to one another
00:38:36.48\00:38:37.68
out of reverence for Christ."
00:38:37.78\00:38:39.68
Hm.
00:38:39.78\00:38:40.72
That's kind of sounds like
00:38:40.82\00:38:41.55
accountability, doesn't it,
00:38:41.65\00:38:42.18
right?
00:38:42.28\00:38:43.45
And by the way, some of you that
00:38:43.55\00:38:44.25
are familiar with Ephesians,
00:38:44.35\00:38:45.69
particularly chapter five,
00:38:45.79\00:38:46.76
this is just before the council
00:38:46.86\00:38:48.62
with the husbands and wives.
00:38:48.72\00:38:50.29
So in other words,
00:38:50.39\00:38:51.06
this verse, verse 21,
00:38:51.16\00:38:52.49
this is to everybody,
00:38:52.59\00:38:53.60
married or not.
00:38:53.70\00:38:54.56
This is to all the people that
00:38:54.63\00:38:55.50
are part of the church there,
00:38:55.60\00:38:56.36
the church plant in Ephesus.
00:38:56.46\00:38:57.90
"Submit to one another
00:38:58.00\00:38:59.37
out of reverence for Christ."
00:38:59.47\00:39:01.87
Wow.
00:39:01.97\00:39:02.60
I mean,
00:39:02.70\00:39:03.44
that sounds like
00:39:03.54\00:39:04.27
some accountability there.
00:39:04.37\00:39:05.41
Your agenda, my agenda,
00:39:05.51\00:39:06.51
we are submitting
00:39:06.61\00:39:08.38
that to one another.
00:39:08.48\00:39:10.45
Hm.
00:39:10.55\00:39:12.21
Colossians 3:16.
00:39:12.31\00:39:13.52
"Let the word of Christ
00:39:13.62\00:39:14.72
dwell in you richly as
00:39:14.82\00:39:16.42
you teach and admonish one
00:39:16.52\00:39:18.05
another with all wisdom."
00:39:18.15\00:39:19.12
What does admonish mean?
00:39:19.22\00:39:21.99
What's that word mean?
00:39:22.09\00:39:24.76
To kind of urge somebody
00:39:24.86\00:39:25.99
to do the right thing.
00:39:26.09\00:39:27.13
Isn't that fair to say?
00:39:27.23\00:39:28.36
It has some connotation
00:39:28.46\00:39:30.03
of correction, right?
00:39:30.13\00:39:31.03
Okay.
00:39:31.13\00:39:32.07
It may be even some moderate
00:39:32.17\00:39:33.70
rebuke is implied in that term
00:39:33.80\00:39:35.17
"admonish," right?
00:39:35.27\00:39:37.01
And it's not to be admonishing
00:39:37.11\00:39:38.74
what I want or what you want.
00:39:38.84\00:39:39.84
It's very clear about that.
00:39:39.94\00:39:40.48
"Let the word
00:39:40.58\00:39:41.44
of Christ dwell in you,"
00:39:41.54\00:39:43.65
So the word of God here,
00:39:43.75\00:39:45.21
"dwell in you richly
00:39:45.31\00:39:46.21
as you teach and admonish."
00:39:46.31\00:39:47.68
So it's God's agenda, not ours,
00:39:47.78\00:39:49.55
that we are to admonish one
00:39:49.65\00:39:50.35
another about
00:39:50.45\00:39:51.42
and to do it with all wisdom,
00:39:51.52\00:39:52.72
not willy-nilly, not hackneyed,
00:39:52.82\00:39:54.22
not being cruel or anything,
00:39:54.32\00:39:55.86
but with all wisdom.
00:39:55.96\00:39:57.39
Admonish one another.
00:39:57.49\00:39:57.99
That sounds
00:39:58.09\00:39:58.89
like accountability to me.
00:39:58.99\00:40:01.90
How about this -- Galatians 6:1.
00:40:02.00\00:40:03.87
"Brothers, if someone is caught
00:40:03.97\00:40:04.90
in a sin," oh, here we go,
00:40:05.00\00:40:06.40
"you who are spiritual,"
00:40:06.50\00:40:07.44
that's you that are
00:40:07.54\00:40:08.10
in the church,
00:40:08.20\00:40:09.24
"should restore him gently."
00:40:09.34\00:40:12.51
And if we had time,
00:40:12.61\00:40:13.41
we could read Matthew 18:15
00:40:13.51\00:40:14.44
to 17, 1 Corinthians 5,
00:40:14.54\00:40:16.11
and there's other places,
00:40:16.21\00:40:16.95
too, that make it very clear
00:40:17.05\00:40:18.35
that in the Christian church
00:40:18.45\00:40:19.41
there is to be
00:40:19.51\00:40:20.45
appropriate accountability
00:40:20.55\00:40:22.25
if it is to be
00:40:22.35\00:40:23.32
a genuine community of Christ.
00:40:23.42\00:40:27.22
Now it is very true. I get it.
00:40:27.32\00:40:30.36
I understand we live
00:40:30.46\00:40:31.63
in a day and age
00:40:31.73\00:40:32.43
where accountability is
00:40:32.53\00:40:33.26
not real popular.
00:40:33.36\00:40:34.66
It's not something a lot
00:40:34.76\00:40:35.60
of people are clamoring to have.
00:40:35.70\00:40:37.10
Sometimes I get it.
00:40:37.20\00:40:38.10
Sometimes I get
00:40:38.20\00:40:38.93
why people don't like
00:40:39.03\00:40:39.47
accountability
00:40:39.57\00:40:40.27
because they have seen
00:40:40.37\00:40:40.94
accountability abused.
00:40:41.04\00:40:42.30
Okay, I understand that.
00:40:42.40\00:40:43.77
But far more often,
00:40:43.87\00:40:45.17
in my experience,
00:40:45.27\00:40:45.81
the reason
00:40:45.91\00:40:46.68
why people don't like
00:40:46.78\00:40:47.34
accountability is
00:40:47.44\00:40:48.81
because apart from Jesus Christ,
00:40:48.91\00:40:50.28
we humans are selfish, stubborn,
00:40:50.38\00:40:51.38
and bullheaded,
00:40:51.48\00:40:52.18
and we don't want anyone
00:40:52.28\00:40:53.05
telling us what to do.
00:40:53.15\00:40:55.55
I mean, that's kind of
00:40:55.65\00:40:56.28
the bottom line, isn't it?
00:40:56.38\00:40:57.69
And yet done appropriately,
00:40:57.79\00:41:01.12
the Bible is clear
00:41:01.22\00:41:02.46
that accountability is one
00:41:02.56\00:41:03.66
of the most fruitful attributes
00:41:03.76\00:41:05.13
of genuine Christian community,
00:41:05.23\00:41:07.60
because it's in the context
00:41:07.66\00:41:08.93
of appropriate
00:41:09.03\00:41:09.83
biblical accountability
00:41:09.93\00:41:11.17
that we learn to see
00:41:11.27\00:41:12.47
beyond ourselves.
00:41:12.57\00:41:14.54
We learn best
00:41:14.64\00:41:15.47
from the experience
00:41:15.57\00:41:16.34
of other Christians,
00:41:16.44\00:41:17.71
and we find additional strength
00:41:17.81\00:41:19.17
to keep the course that
00:41:19.27\00:41:20.08
Jesus has called us to keep.
00:41:20.18\00:41:21.44
And by the way, this brings up
00:41:21.54\00:41:22.28
a very important point.
00:41:22.38\00:41:23.58
I don't know where
00:41:23.68\00:41:25.45
this phrase originated,
00:41:25.55\00:41:26.72
so if I'm -- I don't know who to
00:41:26.82\00:41:28.38
give attribution for.
00:41:28.48\00:41:29.28
I heard it once
00:41:29.38\00:41:30.05
and, man, is it true.
00:41:30.15\00:41:30.95
I've seen it to be so true
00:41:31.05\00:41:32.09
on so many occasions.
00:41:32.19\00:41:32.99
It's this.
00:41:33.09\00:41:34.32
"90% of accountability
00:41:34.42\00:41:35.62
is encouragement."
00:41:35.72\00:41:38.66
90% of accountability
00:41:38.76\00:41:40.03
is encouragement.
00:41:40.13\00:41:41.83
You know, it's true.
00:41:41.93\00:41:42.43
There's 10%,
00:41:42.53\00:41:44.13
you know, that is messy.
00:41:44.23\00:41:45.73
There are sometimes churches
00:41:45.83\00:41:46.63
that have to do discipline.
00:41:46.74\00:41:47.97
You know, the community,
00:41:48.07\00:41:48.67
sometimes there's gross,
00:41:48.77\00:41:50.07
high-handed sin in its midst,
00:41:50.17\00:41:51.47
and things have to
00:41:51.57\00:41:52.41
be taken care of.
00:41:52.51\00:41:53.01
It's not fun,
00:41:53.11\00:41:53.81
but the Bible says
00:41:53.91\00:41:54.51
it has to be done.
00:41:54.61\00:41:55.68
The vast majority of the time,
00:41:55.78\00:41:57.45
accountability is not that.
00:41:57.55\00:41:59.35
It's encouragement.
00:41:59.45\00:42:01.42
It's encouraging one another.
00:42:01.52\00:42:04.39
The Bible speaks directly about
00:42:04.49\00:42:05.39
this -- 1 Thessalonians 5:14.
00:42:05.49\00:42:07.29
"And we urge you, brothers,
00:42:07.39\00:42:08.09
warn those who are idle,
00:42:08.19\00:42:09.32
encourage the timid,
00:42:09.42\00:42:11.06
help the weak, be patient with,"
00:42:11.16\00:42:12.36
how many people?
00:42:12.46\00:42:13.46
Everyone.
00:42:13.56\00:42:14.50
Okay, so encourage one another.
00:42:14.60\00:42:15.93
Have this environment of
00:42:16.03\00:42:16.87
patient, we're lifting one
00:42:16.97\00:42:17.60
another up.
00:42:17.70\00:42:18.70
A few verses earlier,
00:42:18.80\00:42:19.73
verse 11.
00:42:19.83\00:42:20.77
"Therefore encourage one another
00:42:20.87\00:42:22.84
and build each other up,
00:42:22.94\00:42:24.17
just as in fact you are doing."
00:42:24.27\00:42:28.14
I could tell you dozens
00:42:28.24\00:42:29.01
of stories about this.
00:42:29.11\00:42:30.28
Let me just tell you
00:42:30.38\00:42:30.91
two very briefly.
00:42:31.01\00:42:31.81
I know a man
00:42:31.91\00:42:33.08
who joined a men's group
00:42:33.18\00:42:34.35
at a church to overcome
00:42:34.45\00:42:36.02
an addiction to pornography.
00:42:36.12\00:42:37.55
It was very difficult,
00:42:37.65\00:42:38.52
but by the power
00:42:38.62\00:42:39.22
of the Holy Spirit
00:42:39.32\00:42:40.16
and through some sweat and
00:42:40.26\00:42:41.22
tears, he did it in large part
00:42:41.32\00:42:43.59
because of the men there
00:42:43.69\00:42:45.39
that neither condoned
00:42:45.49\00:42:46.39
His behavior
00:42:46.49\00:42:47.40
nor condemned him for it.
00:42:47.50\00:42:48.66
They didn't condone
00:42:48.76\00:42:50.17
and they didn't condemn,
00:42:50.27\00:42:51.83
but rather they encouraged him.
00:42:51.93\00:42:53.80
And that encouragement is
00:42:53.90\00:42:54.74
what kept him accountable
00:42:54.84\00:42:55.97
and coming back to the group,
00:42:56.07\00:42:57.21
enabling him to find victory in
00:42:57.31\00:42:58.44
Christ that lasts to this day.
00:42:58.54\00:43:02.18
I know a woman once who was
00:43:02.28\00:43:03.78
struggling with angry outbursts
00:43:03.88\00:43:05.11
towards her children.
00:43:05.21\00:43:06.78
She was single.
00:43:06.88\00:43:07.68
It was a difficult situation.
00:43:07.78\00:43:09.08
She knew this was a problem.
00:43:09.18\00:43:10.12
She joined a Bible study
00:43:10.22\00:43:11.42
comprised of women
00:43:11.52\00:43:12.55
who encouraged her
00:43:12.65\00:43:13.72
even when she messed up.
00:43:13.82\00:43:15.42
She was able to become
00:43:15.52\00:43:16.26
a better mom
00:43:16.36\00:43:17.09
and a better person,
00:43:17.19\00:43:18.09
and her children greatly
00:43:18.19\00:43:19.06
benefited from it
00:43:19.16\00:43:20.20
because of that appropriate
00:43:20.30\00:43:21.33
accountability,
00:43:21.43\00:43:22.60
because of the encouragement
00:43:22.70\00:43:24.00
her sisters in Christ gave her.
00:43:24.10\00:43:26.60
You know,
00:43:26.70\00:43:27.57
there's only been a handful
00:43:27.67\00:43:29.24
of years in my adult life
00:43:29.34\00:43:30.51
where I have not been
00:43:30.61\00:43:31.81
in an accountability
00:43:31.91\00:43:32.67
relationship,
00:43:32.77\00:43:33.51
either with another man
00:43:33.61\00:43:34.41
or with a group of men.
00:43:34.51\00:43:36.78
There's only been a handful
00:43:36.88\00:43:37.25
of years,
00:43:37.35\00:43:37.98
mostly because
00:43:38.08\00:43:39.61
the biggest gap was when one
00:43:39.71\00:43:40.65
of my accountability partners
00:43:40.75\00:43:41.98
passed away, and it took a while
00:43:42.08\00:43:43.12
to find somebody else.
00:43:43.22\00:43:45.22
And the reason
00:43:45.32\00:43:46.15
why is because I know
00:43:46.25\00:43:47.52
that when I look in the mirror,
00:43:47.62\00:43:48.56
I don't necessarily see myself
00:43:48.66\00:43:49.96
as I should be seen.
00:43:50.06\00:43:51.66
I don't grasp what's
00:43:51.76\00:43:53.23
actually going on in my life.
00:43:53.33\00:43:54.46
So I need somebody outside of me
00:43:54.56\00:43:56.43
that is looking at me,
00:43:56.53\00:43:57.27
that loves Jesus
00:43:57.37\00:43:58.50
and that cares about me,
00:43:58.60\00:44:00.24
that can help me to become
00:44:00.34\00:44:01.57
a better person in Christ
00:44:01.67\00:44:02.94
through that observation,
00:44:03.04\00:44:04.31
through that viewpoint,
00:44:04.41\00:44:06.61
you see something happens.
00:44:06.71\00:44:08.41
Something happens
00:44:08.51\00:44:09.74
when we and the Body of Christ
00:44:09.84\00:44:11.11
encourage one another.
00:44:11.21\00:44:12.55
You know,
00:44:12.65\00:44:13.35
if somebody comes
00:44:13.45\00:44:14.12
to Sabbath school class
00:44:14.22\00:44:15.35
and they share that, "Oh,
00:44:15.45\00:44:16.08
man, you know,
00:44:16.18\00:44:16.92
this happened this week
00:44:17.02\00:44:17.55
and I said something
00:44:17.65\00:44:18.25
I shouldn't have said.
00:44:18.35\00:44:18.75
Now there's
00:44:18.85\00:44:19.62
a broken relationship."
00:44:19.72\00:44:20.66
When the Sabbath school class
00:44:20.76\00:44:21.92
gathers around and says,
00:44:22.02\00:44:22.46
"You know what?
00:44:22.56\00:44:23.22
We've been there, too.
00:44:23.32\00:44:23.83
We've been there.
00:44:23.93\00:44:25.06
And the Lord will
00:44:25.16\00:44:27.73
help you to do better.
00:44:27.83\00:44:28.33
We're going to pray
00:44:28.43\00:44:28.96
for you right now.
00:44:29.06\00:44:29.76
We're going to be praying
00:44:29.86\00:44:30.53
for you over this next week.
00:44:30.63\00:44:31.57
We want to encourage you
00:44:31.67\00:44:32.80
to follow after,
00:44:32.90\00:44:34.07
to become the person that
00:44:34.17\00:44:35.07
Christ has called you to be."
00:44:35.17\00:44:36.71
When you do that,
00:44:36.81\00:44:37.94
there is a bond that is created,
00:44:38.04\00:44:40.14
and in that encouragement,
00:44:40.24\00:44:41.71
accountability springs up.
00:44:41.81\00:44:44.11
You want to come back
00:44:44.21\00:44:45.55
to that kind of encouragement.
00:44:45.65\00:44:47.82
90% of accountability
00:44:47.92\00:44:50.25
is encouragement.
00:44:50.35\00:44:52.95
Churches that have appropriate
00:44:53.05\00:44:55.29
biblical accountability,
00:44:55.39\00:44:56.46
in my experience,
00:44:56.56\00:44:57.09
are the ones
00:44:57.19\00:44:57.93
where members really,
00:44:58.03\00:44:58.79
really grow in Christ.
00:44:58.89\00:45:00.96
These churches,
00:45:01.06\00:45:01.76
they're not nitpicking.
00:45:01.86\00:45:02.70
They're not on witch hunts,
00:45:02.80\00:45:03.53
but they do hold
00:45:03.63\00:45:04.47
one another accountable
00:45:04.57\00:45:05.77
in Biblically appropriate ways.
00:45:05.87\00:45:07.14
And it works. It really does.
00:45:07.24\00:45:09.37
By the power of
00:45:09.47\00:45:10.27
the indwelling Christ,
00:45:10.37\00:45:11.51
it creates a night-and-day
00:45:11.61\00:45:12.64
difference compared
00:45:12.74\00:45:13.54
to those churches that have poor
00:45:13.64\00:45:14.71
or no accountability.
00:45:14.81\00:45:16.34
We really do need one
00:45:16.44\00:45:18.21
another in Christ.
00:45:18.31\00:45:20.02
No one gets all the pieces
00:45:20.12\00:45:21.02
of the puzzle in their box.
00:45:21.12\00:45:22.45
We need each other,
00:45:22.55\00:45:24.65
and it's in this environment
00:45:24.75\00:45:25.95
of Christ-centered encouragement
00:45:26.05\00:45:27.09
that we spur one
00:45:27.19\00:45:28.16
another on to greater heights
00:45:28.26\00:45:29.49
of love and of power
00:45:29.59\00:45:30.69
and of mercy and of holiness.
00:45:30.79\00:45:32.06
That is why
00:45:32.16\00:45:33.36
genuine Christian community
00:45:33.46\00:45:34.73
is where disciples thrive
00:45:34.83\00:45:35.96
through appropriate
00:45:36.06\00:45:36.83
accountability to one another.
00:45:36.93\00:45:38.83
Which brings us
00:45:41.40\00:45:42.20
to characteristic number four.
00:45:42.30\00:45:45.37
"Genuine Christian
00:45:45.47\00:45:46.11
community is home --
00:45:46.21\00:45:49.08
a taste of Heaven."
00:45:49.18\00:45:53.11
It's home.
00:45:53.21\00:45:54.38
It's our spiritual home
00:45:54.48\00:45:56.38
and a foretaste
00:45:56.48\00:45:57.29
of what is to come in
00:45:57.39\00:45:58.12
the kingdom of heaven.
00:45:58.22\00:46:00.46
It's not just me that says this.
00:46:00.56\00:46:01.26
Would you turn in
00:46:01.36\00:46:01.92
your Bibles here?
00:46:02.02\00:46:02.66
A final text for you
00:46:02.76\00:46:03.22
this morning.
00:46:03.32\00:46:04.03
1 Thessalonians 2:17.
00:46:04.13\00:46:05.66
So on page 795,
00:46:05.76\00:46:07.46
in your red pew Bible, page 795,
00:46:07.56\00:46:09.70
1 Thessalonians 2:17,
00:46:09.80\00:46:12.30
then we're going to also skip
00:46:12.40\00:46:12.97
down to chapter three
00:46:13.07\00:46:13.80
for some reading there.
00:46:13.90\00:46:15.14
Uh, Paul here is speaking to the
00:46:15.24\00:46:16.44
church plant at Thessalonica.
00:46:16.54\00:46:17.67
He wrote
00:46:17.77\00:46:18.77
at least three letters to them.
00:46:18.87\00:46:19.64
We have two that are extant.
00:46:19.74\00:46:21.31
In 1 Thessalonians 2:17,
00:46:21.41\00:46:23.98
Paul makes a profound statement
00:46:24.08\00:46:25.31
about genuine
00:46:25.41\00:46:26.15
Christian community.
00:46:26.25\00:46:26.95
Here's what he says.
00:46:27.05\00:46:29.02
It says, "But, brothers, when
00:46:29.12\00:46:30.89
we were torn away from you --"
00:46:30.99\00:46:32.52
quite the verb there, isn't it?
00:46:32.62\00:46:33.42
"We were torn away
00:46:33.52\00:46:34.56
from you for a short time
00:46:34.66\00:46:35.92
in person, not in thought,
00:46:36.02\00:46:37.49
out of our intense longing,
00:46:37.59\00:46:38.89
we made every effort to see you,
00:46:38.99\00:46:41.00
for we wanted to come to you.
00:46:41.10\00:46:41.90
Certainly I, Paul,
00:46:42.00\00:46:42.80
did again and again.
00:46:42.90\00:46:43.70
But Satan stopped us.
00:46:43.80\00:46:45.33
For what is our hope, our joy,
00:46:45.43\00:46:48.10
or the crown
00:46:48.20\00:46:49.20
in which we will glory
00:46:49.30\00:46:50.37
in the presence of
00:46:50.47\00:46:51.44
our Lord Jesus when He comes?"
00:46:51.54\00:46:52.74
So looking forward to
00:46:52.84\00:46:54.04
the heaven that is to come,
00:46:54.14\00:46:55.01
thinking of that kingdom.
00:46:55.11\00:46:56.01
who does He put there?
00:46:56.11\00:46:57.31
Or His hope? His joy? His glory?
00:46:57.41\00:46:58.98
"Is it not you,"
00:46:59.08\00:47:01.28
the fellowship in the church.
00:47:01.38\00:47:02.42
"Indeed, you are
00:47:02.52\00:47:03.62
our glory and joy."
00:47:03.72\00:47:05.65
3:6.
00:47:05.75\00:47:07.69
"But Timothy has just now come
00:47:07.79\00:47:08.56
to us from you
00:47:08.66\00:47:09.42
and has brought good news
00:47:09.52\00:47:10.29
about your faith and love.
00:47:10.39\00:47:11.46
He has told us
00:47:11.56\00:47:12.23
that you always have
00:47:12.33\00:47:13.06
pleasant memories of us,
00:47:13.16\00:47:14.13
and that you long to see us,
00:47:14.23\00:47:15.60
just as we also long to see you.
00:47:15.70\00:47:17.57
Therefore, brothers,
00:47:17.67\00:47:18.57
in all our distress and
00:47:18.67\00:47:19.50
persecution,
00:47:19.60\00:47:20.57
we were encouraged about you
00:47:20.67\00:47:21.84
because of your faith.
00:47:21.94\00:47:23.51
For now we really live.
00:47:23.61\00:47:25.17
Since you are standing
00:47:25.27\00:47:26.04
firm in the Lord,
00:47:26.14\00:47:27.34
how can we thank God enough
00:47:27.44\00:47:29.44
for you
00:47:29.54\00:47:30.48
in return for all the joy
00:47:30.58\00:47:31.78
we have in the presence of
00:47:31.88\00:47:32.95
our God because of you?
00:47:33.05\00:47:34.02
Night and day
00:47:34.12\00:47:34.92
we pray most earnestly
00:47:35.02\00:47:36.45
that we may see you again
00:47:36.55\00:47:38.35
and supply what
00:47:38.45\00:47:39.42
is lacking in your faith."
00:47:39.52\00:47:42.59
I mean, that's amazing.
00:47:42.69\00:47:44.06
In other words, Paul
00:47:44.16\00:47:44.86
is saying, "You are the ones
00:47:44.96\00:47:46.43
we want to come back to.
00:47:46.53\00:47:47.73
You are our spiritual home.
00:47:47.83\00:47:49.43
The fellowship is so sweet,"
00:47:49.53\00:47:51.13
he says, "it's a foretaste of
00:47:51.23\00:47:52.77
when Jesus comes of heaven."
00:47:52.87\00:47:55.90
And lest we think this is
00:47:56.00\00:47:56.74
just kind of a flourish
00:47:56.84\00:47:58.31
of the Apostle Paul,
00:47:58.41\00:47:59.87
I invite you to keep your Bibles
00:48:00.04\00:48:01.01
closed and to listen
00:48:01.11\00:48:01.84
as I read to you from
00:48:01.94\00:48:02.61
Matthew 12:46.
00:48:02.71\00:48:05.55
"While Jesus was still talking
00:48:05.65\00:48:06.98
to the crowd,
00:48:07.08\00:48:07.92
His mother and brothers stood
00:48:08.02\00:48:09.18
outside wanting to speak to Him.
00:48:09.28\00:48:10.85
Someone told Him,
00:48:10.95\00:48:11.89
'Your mother and brothers
00:48:11.99\00:48:12.55
are standing outside
00:48:12.65\00:48:13.42
wanting to speak to you.'
00:48:13.52\00:48:14.49
He replied to Him,
00:48:14.59\00:48:15.99
'Who is my mother
00:48:16.09\00:48:18.39
and who are my brothers?'
00:48:18.49\00:48:21.03
Then, pointing to His disciples,
00:48:21.13\00:48:22.40
the church, He said,
00:48:22.50\00:48:24.43
'Here are
00:48:24.53\00:48:25.53
my mother and my brothers.
00:48:25.63\00:48:27.44
For whoever does the will
00:48:27.54\00:48:28.34
of my Father
00:48:28.44\00:48:29.37
in heaven is my brother and
00:48:29.47\00:48:31.11
sister and mother.'"
00:48:31.21\00:48:33.61
[ Chuckles ]
00:48:33.71\00:48:35.74
That's amazing. That is amazing.
00:48:35.84\00:48:38.05
I mean,
00:48:38.15\00:48:39.01
this is phenomenal stuff.
00:48:39.11\00:48:39.88
Can you see the revolutionary
00:48:39.98\00:48:41.25
nature of what Jesus
00:48:41.35\00:48:42.22
is describing here?
00:48:42.32\00:48:43.05
Jesus here
00:48:43.15\00:48:44.12
places faith-based family
00:48:44.22\00:48:46.52
on an actually higher plane
00:48:46.62\00:48:47.96
than blood-based family.
00:48:48.06\00:48:50.53
Now, He's
00:48:50.63\00:48:51.46
not dissing blood family.
00:48:51.56\00:48:52.16
I mean, there's lots
00:48:52.26\00:48:52.99
of other stuff in the Bible --
00:48:53.09\00:48:53.46
talks about
00:48:53.56\00:48:54.20
how we're supposed
00:48:54.30\00:48:54.96
to respect and take care
00:48:55.06\00:48:55.60
of our blood family.
00:48:55.70\00:48:56.40
No doubt about that.
00:48:56.50\00:48:57.47
But according to Jesus,
00:48:57.57\00:48:59.03
faith is thicker than blood.
00:48:59.13\00:49:02.14
Jesus and our fellowship
00:49:02.24\00:49:03.67
in the church
00:49:03.77\00:49:04.47
is our spiritual home.
00:49:04.57\00:49:06.04
It is to be our spiritual home.
00:49:06.14\00:49:07.81
It is to be a taste of heaven.
00:49:07.91\00:49:10.31
All of which leads us
00:49:13.08\00:49:13.88
to an important conclusion.
00:49:13.98\00:49:16.85
"Genuine Christian community is
00:49:16.95\00:49:19.15
essential if genuine,
00:49:19.25\00:49:21.09
mature disciples of Christ
00:49:21.19\00:49:22.42
are to be made."
00:49:22.52\00:49:25.19
"Genuine Christian community is
00:49:25.29\00:49:26.70
essential if genuine, mature
00:49:26.80\00:49:28.06
disciples of Christ
00:49:28.16\00:49:28.90
are to be made."
00:49:29.00\00:49:29.83
Some churches think
00:49:29.93\00:49:30.90
they can skip this.
00:49:31.00\00:49:33.07
Some churches think, "Well,
00:49:33.17\00:49:33.70
if we just preach
00:49:33.80\00:49:34.40
the right stuff,
00:49:34.50\00:49:36.07
then even though we can't stand
00:49:36.17\00:49:37.27
each other at church,
00:49:37.37\00:49:38.24
everything's going to be okay."
00:49:38.34\00:49:40.14
This is not so.
00:49:40.24\00:49:41.18
How do I know?
00:49:41.28\00:49:41.94
Because genuine
00:49:42.04\00:49:43.95
Christian community has some
00:49:44.05\00:49:45.11
very important characteristics.
00:49:45.21\00:49:46.92
"Genuine Christian community is
00:49:47.02\00:49:48.15
where Christ's presence is
00:49:48.25\00:49:49.18
most fully revealed."
00:49:49.28\00:49:51.55
The Shechinah glory -- Jesus
00:49:51.65\00:49:52.42
now dwells
00:49:52.52\00:49:53.36
in this special revelation
00:49:53.46\00:49:54.39
from God
00:49:54.49\00:49:55.49
in the presence of His church,
00:49:55.59\00:49:56.99
where two or three
00:49:57.09\00:49:57.96
are gathered in His name.
00:49:58.06\00:49:59.36
"Genuine Christian community is
00:49:59.46\00:50:00.63
how evangelism happens best."
00:50:00.73\00:50:02.16
How do I know?
00:50:02.26\00:50:03.26
Jesus sent His disciples
00:50:03.37\00:50:04.60
out two by two, not one by one.
00:50:04.70\00:50:06.74
Nearly all of the apostles
00:50:06.84\00:50:07.84
traveled in groups
00:50:07.94\00:50:08.84
of other believers.
00:50:08.94\00:50:10.27
2,000 years of Christian history
00:50:10.37\00:50:12.04
make it clear evangelism happens
00:50:12.14\00:50:13.81
best when based in the company
00:50:13.91\00:50:15.51
of fellow believers.
00:50:15.61\00:50:17.65
And number three,
00:50:17.75\00:50:19.05
"Genuine Christian community is
00:50:19.15\00:50:20.15
where maturity in Christ
00:50:20.25\00:50:21.58
is developed best."
00:50:21.68\00:50:23.08
Follow me carefully here
00:50:23.18\00:50:24.95
in Ephesians 4:11 to 13,
00:50:25.05\00:50:26.92
revisiting this verse again,
00:50:27.02\00:50:28.42
"So Christ himself
00:50:28.52\00:50:29.59
gave the apostles, the prophets,
00:50:29.69\00:50:30.73
the evangelists,
00:50:30.83\00:50:31.66
the pastors and teachers
00:50:31.76\00:50:32.96
to equip His people for works
00:50:33.06\00:50:34.03
of service
00:50:34.13\00:50:35.23
so that the Body of Christ
00:50:35.33\00:50:37.87
may be built up until we all
00:50:37.97\00:50:40.37
reach unity in the faith
00:50:40.47\00:50:41.70
and in the knowledge of the Son
00:50:41.80\00:50:42.60
of God and become,"
00:50:42.70\00:50:43.77
here's that word again, "mature,
00:50:43.87\00:50:45.87
attaining to the whole measure
00:50:45.97\00:50:47.01
of the fullness of Christ."
00:50:47.11\00:50:48.94
This metaphor of the Body
00:50:49.04\00:50:51.35
is very, very important.
00:50:51.45\00:50:53.15
What more intimate connection
00:50:53.25\00:50:54.55
could He show for the church?
00:50:54.65\00:50:56.99
You know, the body has
00:50:57.09\00:50:57.55
many parts.
00:50:57.65\00:50:58.52
Listen, if your body is lying
00:50:58.62\00:50:59.89
in 50 pieces on the floor
00:51:00.06\00:51:01.26
somewhere, you're in bad shape.
00:51:01.36\00:51:02.12
You're having a bad day.
00:51:02.22\00:51:03.19
Okay? That shouldn't be.
00:51:03.29\00:51:04.69
That's abnormal. Okay?
00:51:04.79\00:51:05.49
We don't refer to
00:51:05.59\00:51:06.33
that even as a body.
00:51:06.43\00:51:07.66
Jesus said, "This is my body,"
00:51:07.76\00:51:09.23
and His body is unified
00:51:09.33\00:51:10.33
together.
00:51:10.43\00:51:11.33
There may be different parts,
00:51:11.43\00:51:12.00
and they look different.
00:51:12.10\00:51:12.80
They have different functions,
00:51:12.90\00:51:13.27
et cetera.
00:51:13.37\00:51:14.04
but they are all
00:51:14.14\00:51:14.74
part of one body.
00:51:14.84\00:51:16.34
And it's in the context
00:51:16.44\00:51:17.91
of that Christian community
00:51:18.01\00:51:19.61
that the Body of Christ
00:51:19.71\00:51:20.74
is to be built up.
00:51:20.84\00:51:22.91
That's discipleship.
00:51:23.01\00:51:25.61
"Genuine Christian community is
00:51:25.71\00:51:26.98
essential if
00:51:27.08\00:51:28.12
genuine, mature disciples
00:51:28.22\00:51:29.52
of Christ are to be made."
00:51:29.62\00:51:32.72
And get this.
00:51:32.82\00:51:34.72
Early Adventism --
00:51:34.82\00:51:36.12
you were wondering
00:51:36.22\00:51:37.03
what I was going to get back to
00:51:37.13\00:51:37.63
this, didn't you?
00:51:37.73\00:51:38.76
Early Adventism found
00:51:38.86\00:51:40.40
a way to have this.
00:51:40.50\00:51:44.20
Early Adventism found a way
00:51:44.30\00:51:46.00
to have genuine
00:51:46.10\00:51:46.87
Christian community
00:51:46.97\00:51:48.04
that is where Christ's
00:51:48.14\00:51:49.14
presence is most fully revealed,
00:51:49.24\00:51:50.97
that is where evangelism happens
00:51:51.07\00:51:52.44
best, and that where maturity
00:51:52.54\00:51:53.41
in Christ is developed.
00:51:53.51\00:51:54.94
They found a way to do it
00:51:55.04\00:51:56.64
and it was a crucial factor,
00:51:56.75\00:51:58.48
this method, in making us
00:51:58.58\00:52:00.18
the fastest-growing
00:52:00.28\00:52:01.05
Protestant movement
00:52:01.15\00:52:02.08
that the world had ever seen.
00:52:02.18\00:52:04.39
In fact, do
00:52:04.49\00:52:05.29
you remember the question
00:52:05.39\00:52:06.15
that I left you with last time?
00:52:06.25\00:52:07.52
The question was this.
00:52:07.62\00:52:08.22
In the absence
00:52:08.32\00:52:09.16
of settled pastors,
00:52:09.26\00:52:10.59
how did local Adventist
00:52:10.69\00:52:11.86
churches manage to not only
00:52:11.96\00:52:13.03
survive but thrive?
00:52:13.13\00:52:15.46
The answer is simple.
00:52:15.56\00:52:17.90
They learned
00:52:18.00\00:52:19.70
how to have a genuine
00:52:19.80\00:52:21.80
Christian community
00:52:21.90\00:52:22.97
where this existed.
00:52:23.07\00:52:25.37
They learned how to do it.
00:52:25.47\00:52:26.54
And you say, "Well, how?
00:52:26.64\00:52:27.31
How did they do that?"
00:52:27.41\00:52:29.28
Well, do you remember
00:52:29.38\00:52:31.05
characteristics here?
00:52:31.15\00:52:32.01
They said,
00:52:32.11\00:52:33.05
"We're going to have a community
00:52:33.15\00:52:33.88
that has Christ at its center.
00:52:33.98\00:52:35.25
We're going to have
00:52:35.35\00:52:35.88
a community that's
00:52:35.98\00:52:36.72
where members sacrificially
00:52:36.82\00:52:37.75
care for one another."
00:52:37.85\00:52:38.65
They're going to have a
00:52:38.75\00:52:39.65
community where members thrive
00:52:39.75\00:52:40.86
through appropriate
00:52:40.96\00:52:41.66
accountability,
00:52:41.76\00:52:42.52
and that was spiritual home.
00:52:42.62\00:52:43.76
It was to be a taste of heaven.
00:52:43.86\00:52:44.99
They did all
00:52:45.09\00:52:46.46
of this so successfully.
00:52:46.56\00:52:47.83
Do you want to know
00:52:47.93\00:52:48.40
how they did it?
00:52:48.50\00:52:49.16
[ Clicks tongue ]
00:52:52.60\00:52:53.60
[ Sighs ]
00:52:53.70\00:52:54.50
I'm sorry.
00:52:54.60\00:52:55.47
You're going to have to come
00:52:55.57\00:52:56.24
back two weeks from now...
00:52:56.34\00:52:56.97
[ Laughter ]
00:52:57.07\00:52:58.17
...for part six
00:52:58.27\00:52:59.47
of "ChurchWorks."
00:52:59.57\00:53:01.34
And I'm not going to leave you
00:53:01.44\00:53:02.48
hanging on a cliff at that time.
00:53:02.58\00:53:03.28
I'm going to tell you what
00:53:03.38\00:53:03.78
it is.
00:53:03.88\00:53:04.85
The simple method
00:53:04.95\00:53:05.88
that they used
00:53:05.98\00:53:07.48
was -- it was
00:53:07.58\00:53:08.48
phenomenally effective.
00:53:08.58\00:53:10.52
And I'm going to say
00:53:10.62\00:53:11.85
for this one
00:53:11.95\00:53:12.85
what I said a couple of weeks
00:53:12.95\00:53:13.76
ago, because it's just as true.
00:53:13.86\00:53:14.79
If you had your socks
00:53:14.89\00:53:15.36
knocked off,
00:53:15.46\00:53:16.16
what you heard about
00:53:16.26\00:53:16.99
settled pastors, come back
00:53:17.09\00:53:17.73
for this one,
00:53:17.83\00:53:18.63
because what early Adventist
00:53:18.73\00:53:19.66
congregations did,
00:53:19.76\00:53:20.60
it was so simple
00:53:20.70\00:53:21.70
and it worked so well.
00:53:21.80\00:53:23.06
It is one of the main factors
00:53:23.16\00:53:25.00
that the Holy Spirit used,
00:53:25.10\00:53:26.30
again, to make us one
00:53:26.40\00:53:27.90
of the -- the fastest growing
00:53:28.00\00:53:29.90
Protestant movement
00:53:30.01\00:53:31.31
that the world had ever seen.
00:53:31.41\00:53:32.94
So I hope that you can be
00:53:33.04\00:53:33.71
here for part six.
00:53:33.81\00:53:35.81
Those of you
00:53:35.91\00:53:36.68
that are graduating now,
00:53:36.78\00:53:37.58
there's this thing
00:53:37.68\00:53:38.28
called the internet.
00:53:38.38\00:53:38.98
It works well, right?
00:53:39.08\00:53:40.38
Al Gore created it so that
00:53:40.48\00:53:41.58
you can watch part six, okay?
00:53:41.68\00:53:43.12
So please tune in for that.
00:53:43.22\00:53:44.59
You don't want to miss it.
00:53:44.69\00:53:45.69
Until then, a simple question.
00:53:45.79\00:53:48.99
You can answer this one out loud
00:53:49.09\00:53:50.13
if you would prefer,
00:53:50.23\00:53:51.83
wouldn't you like
00:53:51.93\00:53:52.73
to be part of a genuine
00:53:52.83\00:53:53.86
Christian community
00:53:53.96\00:53:54.83
that was a foretaste of heaven?
00:53:54.93\00:53:55.86
>> Yes.
00:53:55.96\00:53:56.73
>> Yeah. Amen. Amen.
00:53:56.83\00:53:58.30
Of course,
00:53:58.40\00:53:59.17
we crave that far more
00:53:59.27\00:54:00.84
than any baby crawling
00:54:00.94\00:54:02.47
vast distances to satisfy
00:54:02.57\00:54:04.24
a very temporary craving.
00:54:04.34\00:54:06.31
We crave to fulfill a purpose
00:54:06.41\00:54:08.51
for which we were created.
00:54:08.61\00:54:11.01
And may we not stop.
00:54:11.11\00:54:13.82
May we be every bit as motivated
00:54:13.92\00:54:15.32
as little baby
00:54:15.42\00:54:16.12
Ellie coming across
00:54:16.22\00:54:17.12
to fulfill her craving.
00:54:17.22\00:54:18.02
May we not stop
00:54:18.12\00:54:19.55
until this craving is satisfied.
00:54:19.65\00:54:22.46
May God's Holy Spirit guide us
00:54:22.56\00:54:24.26
as we find out
00:54:24.36\00:54:25.16
how to make genuine
00:54:25.26\00:54:26.23
Christian community a reality
00:54:26.33\00:54:27.73
as we seek
00:54:27.83\00:54:28.86
this God-given taste of heaven.
00:54:28.96\00:54:33.17
Amen.
00:54:33.27\00:54:34.17
>> Jesus, what a day that will
00:56:25.15\00:56:26.18
be.
00:56:26.28\00:56:27.82
And Lord indeed, may this --
00:56:27.92\00:56:29.38
may this song be our reality
00:56:29.48\00:56:31.45
when we all get to heaven.
00:56:31.55\00:56:33.56
Lord, this is our great desire.
00:56:33.66\00:56:35.52
Lord, teach us
00:56:35.62\00:56:36.39
to build a community
00:56:36.49\00:56:37.79
that is suitable for that task.
00:56:37.89\00:56:39.56
Help us, Lord,
00:56:39.66\00:56:40.56
to overcome the barriers
00:56:40.66\00:56:41.66
and the boundaries, Lord.
00:56:41.76\00:56:42.76
Help us to be
00:56:42.86\00:56:43.77
able to be one in you.
00:56:43.87\00:56:46.87
This is our prayer,
00:56:46.97\00:56:47.94
and we ask it in your name.
00:56:48.04\00:56:49.40
Amen.
00:56:49.50\00:56:50.07
>> I'm Shane Anderson,
00:56:53.38\00:56:54.14
the lead pastor here
00:56:54.24\00:56:55.38
at Pioneer Memorial Church.
00:56:55.48\00:56:57.55
At Pioneer Media,
00:56:57.65\00:56:58.68
we have been blessed
00:56:58.78\00:56:59.65
by the financial support
00:56:59.75\00:57:01.28
that comes from our viewers
00:57:01.38\00:57:02.52
like you that enable us
00:57:02.62\00:57:04.22
to continue this ministry.
00:57:04.32\00:57:06.72
We've made a conscious decision
00:57:06.82\00:57:08.12
not to continually appeal to you
00:57:08.22\00:57:09.62
for that support.
00:57:09.72\00:57:11.26
However, keeping this ministry
00:57:11.36\00:57:12.43
going takes money
00:57:12.53\00:57:13.63
to support our staff and
00:57:13.73\00:57:15.06
technology needs.
00:57:15.16\00:57:16.87
If God has blessed you
00:57:16.97\00:57:18.50
and you would like to further
00:57:18.60\00:57:19.47
the work of this ministry,
00:57:19.57\00:57:20.87
we invite you
00:57:20.97\00:57:21.77
to partner with us.
00:57:21.87\00:57:23.51
You can donate on
00:57:23.61\00:57:24.47
our website, pmchurch.org,
00:57:24.57\00:57:27.51
then click "giving" at the top,
00:57:27.61\00:57:29.78
then select "media ministry"
00:57:29.88\00:57:32.85
or call the number 877-HIS-WILL.
00:57:32.95\00:57:36.62
Again, that number is
00:57:36.72\00:57:37.79
877, the two words, HIS-WILL.
00:57:37.89\00:57:41.59
My prayer is that the God
00:57:41.69\00:57:43.26
who has blessed
00:57:43.36\00:57:44.13
you will continue to pour
00:57:44.23\00:57:45.83
into your life the gifts
00:57:45.93\00:57:46.86
of His joy and His hope.
00:57:46.96\00:57:49.20
Thank you, and
00:57:49.30\00:57:50.73
I'm looking forward to seeing
00:57:50.83\00:57:51.83
you right here again next time.
00:57:51.93\00:57:54.40
¤
00:58:00.14\00:58:08.85
¤
00:58:08.95\00:58:17.93
¤
00:58:18.03\00:58:26.80