WEBVTT 00:00:00.561 --> 00:00:01.243 Thank you, thank you. 00:00:01.243 --> 00:00:04.376 Well, hey, I'm glad to be here this morning. 00:00:04.376 --> 00:00:07.506 I want to give Pastor Nate a thanks for letting me preach with you guys today. 00:00:07.506 --> 00:00:09.271 It's been an exciting year. 00:00:09.271 --> 00:00:17.434 I've been able to preach on Cinco de Mayo, I've been able to preach on Mexican Independence Day and, of course, you guys all know what November 17th is right. 00:00:17.434 --> 00:00:19.341 That's absolutely nothing. 00:00:19.341 --> 00:00:20.983 I had you guys all there for a second right. 00:00:20.983 --> 00:00:21.885 That's right. 00:00:21.905 --> 00:00:24.009 Well, we're going to be in Colossians, chapter number four. 00:00:24.009 --> 00:00:28.021 This morning we're going to be learning about a Bible character that's near and dear to my heart. 00:00:28.021 --> 00:00:29.928 You probably have never heard of him. 00:00:29.928 --> 00:00:36.347 He is very, very fewly mentioned in the Bible, only five times in the scriptures. 00:00:36.347 --> 00:00:40.683 In Colossians, chapter four, we're going to be learning about a guy named Tychicus. 00:00:40.683 --> 00:00:42.768 Well, who is Tychicus? 00:00:42.768 --> 00:00:44.030 What made him tick? 00:00:44.030 --> 00:00:45.920 We're going to be learning all about that today. 00:00:45.920 --> 00:00:53.685 In Colossians, chapter number four, verse number seven, the word of God tells us this Tychicus will tell you about all my activities. 00:00:53.685 --> 00:00:59.643 He's a beloved brother, faithful minister, fellow servant in the Lord. 00:00:59.643 --> 00:01:03.249 These are some powerful descriptions of a man. 00:01:03.249 --> 00:01:15.944 Colossians was penned by the Apostle Paul, a huge man in the faith, and for him to call somebody a beloved brother, a faithful minister and a servant to the Lord. 00:01:15.944 --> 00:01:17.287 That means something. 00:01:17.287 --> 00:01:25.953 This faithfulness like that, and faithfulness through the life of Tychicus that we're going to be learning about here in just a moment, is extraordinary. 00:01:25.953 --> 00:01:31.031 Extraordinary faithfulness is hard to find in today's day and age. 00:01:32.141 --> 00:01:36.471 We hear of a story of a man named Hiro Onoda. 00:01:36.471 --> 00:01:42.513 Hiro Onoda was a Japanese soldier during the waning time of World War II. 00:01:42.513 --> 00:01:55.787 He was stationed in the Filipino island of Lubang in 1945, at the very tail end of the war, and he was sent there to conduct reconnaissance and spy on the Americans, but also to conduct guerrilla warfare. 00:01:55.787 --> 00:02:04.191 He was sent with a specific mission and a specific battalion in mind to hide out in a cavern and to attack anybody who would come near. 00:02:04.191 --> 00:02:27.385 Well, in 1945, if you know history, was the year that the war ended, the bombs were dropped and Japan gave an unconditional surrender, and so what the Americans did is they took leaflets that were in Japanese and they went through all the Japanese-controlled territories that were outside of the native island of Japan and they dropped flyers that saying the war was over. 00:02:27.385 --> 00:02:32.486 Tune your radio to this certain time to hear Emperor Hirohito's unconditional surrender announcement. 00:02:33.750 --> 00:02:37.389 Well, when Hiro Onoda and his squadron got it, they didn't want to believe it. 00:02:37.389 --> 00:02:39.819 I mean, they just were there on the island. 00:02:39.819 --> 00:02:43.705 They just received their mission and they were going to stick with their mission. 00:02:43.705 --> 00:02:45.507 They just received their mission and they were going to stick with their mission. 00:02:45.507 --> 00:02:56.903 Well, days turned into weeks, weeks turned into months, months turned into years and years turned into literal decades. 00:02:56.903 --> 00:02:59.191 One by one, the men started to wander off. 00:02:59.191 --> 00:03:07.546 They didn't want to be there on the island, not hearing anything from Japan for a while, and so, one by one, they all left. 00:03:07.567 --> 00:03:22.932 And it wasn't until 1972, 30 years later, just about that, hiro Noda was there in a cavern by himself, still throwing rocks at the Filipino police that would come by every now and then, and it wasn't until somebody made contact with him and said I'm only going to talk to my commanding officer. 00:03:22.932 --> 00:03:25.240 Well, the Filipinos, they'm only going to talk to my commanding officer. 00:03:25.240 --> 00:03:26.562 Well, the Filipinos. 00:03:26.562 --> 00:03:37.570 They went to Japan and they found the commanding officer now an old man of Hiro Onoda, and they got him to come to the island of Lubang and they said Hiro Onoda is in that island, go talk to him. 00:03:37.570 --> 00:03:46.669 And so the commanding officer went and they waited, and then out of the cavern came Hiro Onoda. 00:03:46.669 --> 00:03:49.413 There he came, surrendering his arms. 00:03:49.413 --> 00:04:00.405 We've got a picture of him right when he left, right there In 1972, 30 years later, he was faithful to his mission. 00:04:01.006 --> 00:04:03.192 Now, this type of faithfulness, like I said, it's extraordinary. 00:04:03.192 --> 00:04:04.742 How can somebody do this, right? 00:04:04.742 --> 00:04:06.627 They wanted to know what made this man tick. 00:04:06.627 --> 00:04:17.903 So later on, when he retired to Japan and went back with what remained of his family, they asked him why, why would you stick with a mission that you heard only one time? 00:04:17.903 --> 00:04:21.612 Why would you stick to it for 30 straight years? 00:04:21.612 --> 00:04:32.413 And he had this to say every Japanese soldier was prepared for death, but as an intelligence officer, I was ordered to conduct guerrilla warfare and not to die. 00:04:32.413 --> 00:04:36.706 I had to follow my orders as I was a soldier. 00:04:36.706 --> 00:04:41.541 Tales like that, tales of faithfulness like that, are extraordinary. 00:04:41.961 --> 00:04:48.411 We don't hear about that type of faithfulness right, and faithfulness is something that is required in all aspects of our lives. 00:04:48.411 --> 00:04:54.250 If you were to go and have a job interview today and they asked you where do you see yourself in five years? 00:04:54.250 --> 00:04:55.521 And you were to say well, you know what? 00:04:55.521 --> 00:05:03.687 To be honest, I don't know about five years, but like two weeks from now, I'm going to see how the managerial skills of you are and I'm going to make a decision based on that if I'm going to stay here. 00:05:03.687 --> 00:05:05.250 You want to get the job right. 00:05:05.250 --> 00:05:21.492 If you were to go on a wedding altar and you were to read your vows and you say you know what, I don't know about this whole sickness and then death, richer or poorer stuff, I kind of just want to test run you, we'll see how it goes and then we'll make a decision in about a week or two. 00:05:21.492 --> 00:05:23.677 You're not going to get married that day, right? 00:05:24.319 --> 00:05:34.925 Faithfulness is something that is required in all aspects of our lives, but faithfulness like Hiro and Noda, faithfulness like we're going to learn Tychicus, are extraordinary. 00:05:34.925 --> 00:05:37.492 What makes people like this tick? 00:05:37.492 --> 00:05:39.380 Why do they do what they do? 00:05:39.380 --> 00:05:47.862 Well, in aspects of our spiritual lives, I believe this that I can be faithful because Jesus has been faithful to me. 00:05:47.862 --> 00:05:51.331 And today we're going to learn all about this guy, tychicus. 00:05:51.331 --> 00:05:56.514 His name is only brought up five times in the entirety of the scripture. 00:05:56.514 --> 00:06:05.966 He's more or less a background character, really, because even if you've read the New Testament, you might've just glossed over his name because he's just kind of a sideline guy. 00:06:05.966 --> 00:06:16.732 But no, even though he was a background character in terms of the New Testament, what he did had significance, what he did had eternal ramifications. 00:06:16.732 --> 00:06:19.463 And so today we're going to learn about Tychicus. 00:06:19.463 --> 00:06:20.326 What was his motivation? 00:06:20.326 --> 00:06:22.641 What made this guy tick, and who exactly was he? 00:06:22.641 --> 00:06:29.591 Well, in a character study I believe that number one we can see who he was through his actions. 00:06:31.012 --> 00:06:38.901 We pick up the story first of all in the first chronological reference of Tychicus, which is in Acts, chapter number 20, verse number four. 00:06:38.901 --> 00:06:40.805 And so the Bible tells us this. 00:06:40.805 --> 00:06:42.470 So Peter, the Varian, son of Pyrrhus, accompanied him, him being the apostle Paul. 00:06:42.470 --> 00:06:46.081 And of the Thessalonarian, the son of Pyrrhus, accompanied him, him being the apostle Paul. 00:06:46.081 --> 00:06:55.286 And of the Thessalonians, aristarchus and Secundus and Gaius, of Derbe and Timothy, and the Asians, tychicus and Shophimus. 00:06:55.286 --> 00:06:58.661 So here we jump smack dab in the middle of a story, right? 00:06:58.661 --> 00:07:07.476 So the background of this is that the apostle Paul is on a missionary journey making Jesus known all over the world, and he is in Ephesus and they kicked him out. 00:07:07.476 --> 00:07:13.372 They didn't like how he was preaching, that all those gods weren't true, that Jesus was the one true God, and they kicked him out. 00:07:13.372 --> 00:07:16.786 Now he was intending to go into Macedonia. 00:07:16.786 --> 00:07:23.045 He was going into Greece to preach to more people and along the way there were people who wanted to support him. 00:07:23.788 --> 00:07:30.451 Now, if I'm being perfectly honest, if you're anything like me, sometimes when you encounter a verse like this, that's just a name and a name and a name. 00:07:30.451 --> 00:07:32.526 Sometimes it's easy to just gloss over it. 00:07:32.526 --> 00:07:34.223 I mean to be perfectly honest with you. 00:07:34.223 --> 00:07:36.771 I don't know if anybody else is like that, but I can be like that. 00:07:36.771 --> 00:07:39.528 I can be guilty of just glossing over names like that. 00:07:39.528 --> 00:07:42.502 But here we see the start of a journey. 00:07:42.502 --> 00:07:43.401 But here we see the start of a journey. 00:07:43.422 --> 00:07:47.846 Here we see the start of a story of a man named Tychicus. 00:07:47.846 --> 00:07:51.627 He was from Asia, which was Asian minor, modern day Turkey. 00:07:51.627 --> 00:07:53.408 And what was he doing? 00:07:53.408 --> 00:07:57.351 We don't see an examination of every character trait that he has. 00:07:57.351 --> 00:07:59.213 We don't know a lot about Tychicus. 00:07:59.213 --> 00:08:01.795 A lot in his bio has a question mark. 00:08:01.795 --> 00:08:04.596 We don't know his age, we don't know his title. 00:08:04.596 --> 00:08:05.437 Was he a pastor? 00:08:05.437 --> 00:08:06.603 Was he a deacon? 00:08:06.603 --> 00:08:07.343 Was he just regular? 00:08:07.343 --> 00:08:07.665 We don't know. 00:08:07.665 --> 00:08:08.266 We don't know. 00:08:08.266 --> 00:08:10.752 We don't know his upbringing. 00:08:10.752 --> 00:08:12.264 We don't know how rich he was. 00:08:12.264 --> 00:08:12.987 We don't know anything. 00:08:12.987 --> 00:08:25.134 But what we do know is this that he was committed to making Jesus known and he was willing to accompany Paul in support of the ministry and he was just doing what he could do to make Jesus known. 00:08:26.035 --> 00:08:31.071 We jump ahead a few years into the story and so the Apostle Paul goes on his missionary journeys. 00:08:31.071 --> 00:08:32.183 Eventually he gets arrested. 00:08:32.183 --> 00:08:32.927 People don't like that. 00:08:32.927 --> 00:08:39.109 He's spreading the word of Jesus and as a Roman citizen he has the right to go to Rome and appeal directly to Caesar. 00:08:39.109 --> 00:08:44.548 Now Caesar is a busy man so he has to be put under house arrest in Rome for a few years. 00:08:44.548 --> 00:08:49.168 So he's there in Rome and the apostle Paul, he's a busy guy so he gets kind of antsy. 00:08:49.168 --> 00:08:49.730 So you know what he does. 00:08:49.730 --> 00:08:54.419 He writes a bunch of letters and he supports and encourages Christians from all over the known world. 00:08:54.419 --> 00:08:57.884 And one of these letters is the book of Colossians. 00:08:58.525 --> 00:09:01.951 And in the book of Colossians we pick up the story of Tychicus. 00:09:01.951 --> 00:09:11.280 The Bible says, as we read in the beginning and we're going to read a little bit more into it now, colossians, chapter 4, verse 7, tychicus will tell you all about my activities. 00:09:11.280 --> 00:09:17.732 He's a beloved brother and a faithful minister and a fellow servant in the Lord. 00:09:17.732 --> 00:09:25.096 I have sent him to you for this very purpose that you may know how we are and how he may encourage your hearts. 00:09:25.096 --> 00:09:30.630 There's a parallel passage to this in Ephesians, chapter number six, that basically says the same thing. 00:09:30.630 --> 00:09:41.677 In fact, if we can go back a slide just so we can zero in on those things in verse seven, how he was a beloved brother, a faithful minister and a fellow servant to the Lord. 00:09:42.961 --> 00:09:49.374 Tychicus had spent a significant time with Paul now and here he was right by Paul's side. 00:09:49.374 --> 00:09:55.302 Even though Paul was under house arrest, even though he was imprisoned, he was right here by his side. 00:09:55.302 --> 00:09:57.927 And even to this degree. 00:09:57.927 --> 00:10:08.033 I've been encouraged by the book of Ephesians, by how God is working and God is declaring things about me and my identity in Christ. 00:10:08.033 --> 00:10:15.181 I have been encouraged by the book of Colossians and how lofty and high God is, how he is, god manifest in the flesh. 00:10:15.181 --> 00:10:21.302 I've been encouraged by the book of Philemon, how God sees us all equally, regardless of social status. 00:10:22.124 --> 00:10:27.033 But all three of those books were hand-delivered by guess who? 00:10:27.033 --> 00:10:34.932 Tychicus, because he was a beloved brother, a faithful minister and a fellow servant in the Lord. 00:10:34.932 --> 00:10:47.436 Paul entrusted the holy scriptures to Tychicus, gave him the scrolls and said deliver these into Christians, be an encouragement to them, as we see in verse 8. 00:10:47.436 --> 00:10:50.341 He had to be a very special guy. 00:10:50.341 --> 00:10:58.870 I had to imagine if Paul took everything that he could and put his heart, soul and energy and God inspired him to write those letters of the scripture. 00:10:58.870 --> 00:11:02.124 And now he gave it to this guy, tychicus. 00:11:02.124 --> 00:11:02.784 Why? 00:11:02.784 --> 00:11:08.534 Because he was a faithful minister, a fellow servant and a beloved brother. 00:11:09.581 --> 00:11:10.503 And it doesn't stop there. 00:11:10.503 --> 00:11:13.991 We keep going into the life of Tychicus, the apostle Paul. 00:11:13.991 --> 00:11:20.903 A few years later, caesar has an appointment with him and he says there's not really anything wrong with this guy, just let him get him out of my sight. 00:11:20.903 --> 00:11:26.807 So the apostle Paul goes on and he goes into another missionary journey, goes all across the world again. 00:11:26.807 --> 00:11:34.546 And it's at this point that Paul writes a letter to his friend Titus. 00:11:34.546 --> 00:11:35.328 We pick it up in Titus, chapter 3. 00:11:35.328 --> 00:11:39.823 When I send Artemis or Tychicus to you, do your best to come at me at the Nicopolis where I've decided to spend the winter there. 00:11:40.384 --> 00:11:46.206 Here he is another couple years later, still by Paul's side, still supporting the work of the ministry. 00:11:46.206 --> 00:11:47.428 Did he write scripture? 00:11:47.428 --> 00:11:48.551 No, did he preach? 00:11:48.551 --> 00:11:49.152 We don't know. 00:11:49.152 --> 00:11:50.374 But what was he doing? 00:11:50.374 --> 00:11:57.258 He was just supporting what he could do, using his gifts, talents and abilities to do whatever he could do to make Jesus known. 00:11:57.258 --> 00:12:01.951 And then we reach the final mention of Tychicus in the scriptures. 00:12:01.951 --> 00:12:07.443 We jump a few years later and again the apostle Paul got arrested, but this time he's not getting out. 00:12:08.384 --> 00:12:13.648 We reach 2 Timothy and in the book of 2 Timothy it's about 67 AD. 00:12:13.648 --> 00:12:16.710 Paul knows that his time on earth is very short. 00:12:16.710 --> 00:12:26.336 Paul knows that within a year of writing these words the Apostle Paul would be beheaded by Caesar or his Christian faith. 00:12:26.336 --> 00:12:35.010 So he's very, very selective with his words in 2 Timothy, and at this point being a Christian is a persecutable offense. 00:12:35.010 --> 00:12:37.023 So a lot of people have abandoned him. 00:12:37.023 --> 00:12:41.115 He says in chapter one all of Asia has abandoned me. 00:12:41.115 --> 00:12:52.129 And he only has a few people by his side, one of which being Luke, who was his physician, who was a guy who was right by his side, who would go on to pen the gospel of Luke and the book of Acts. 00:12:52.129 --> 00:12:53.961 But then guess who else was there? 00:12:53.961 --> 00:12:56.587 If you had to take a guess, I'm willing to bet. 00:12:57.289 --> 00:13:16.215 2 Timothy, chapter 4, verse 12, says this Tychicus I have sent to Ephesus Through the years, through the thick and the thin, even though everybody else even though everybody else, according to the apostle Paul wanted to get away from him with reason, because being associated with an apostle was a capital offense. 00:13:16.215 --> 00:13:20.724 But Luke and Tychicus were with him, right there by his side. 00:13:20.724 --> 00:13:24.509 A fellow servant, a beloved brother, a faithful minister. 00:13:24.509 --> 00:13:25.510 A beloved brother, a faithful minister. 00:13:25.510 --> 00:13:26.032 What a story. 00:13:26.032 --> 00:13:37.956 Faithfulness like that, right, it's so crazy that so often people like Tychicus they don't get any attention, they're thrown by the wayside because they're kind of background characters. 00:13:37.956 --> 00:13:45.666 They're not Peter, they're not Paul, they're not John, he's not going to be probably your one of top five New Testament favorite Bible characters, right, but no matter. 00:13:45.966 --> 00:13:49.741 Even if he gets recognized, he was willing to serve Jesus. 00:13:49.741 --> 00:13:54.259 It didn't matter the title, it didn't matter how long it was, it didn't matter what it was. 00:13:54.259 --> 00:13:59.030 He was just willing to do what he could do to support making Jesus known. 00:13:59.030 --> 00:14:00.620 And it doesn't stop there. 00:14:00.620 --> 00:14:02.388 It doesn't stop in the first century. 00:14:02.388 --> 00:14:07.366 We have people in this room today who are willing to do that and I thank you for that. 00:14:07.366 --> 00:14:12.952 We have people who want to just give of their gifts, talents and abilities to make Jesus known. 00:14:12.952 --> 00:14:17.448 And this church would not operate if it were not for people like those. 00:14:18.831 --> 00:14:21.082 And we give a shout out Three times a year. 00:14:21.082 --> 00:14:23.029 We have an event called Team Night. 00:14:23.029 --> 00:14:25.548 We have our next one coming up on December 15th. 00:14:25.548 --> 00:14:36.551 It's for people who serve or who are interested in serving, and in those events we have a special time where we recognize special volunteers, really, and we recognize two people typically per team night. 00:14:36.551 --> 00:14:38.783 We shout them out and we want to appreciate them. 00:14:38.783 --> 00:15:06.506 They're people that are really near and dear to our hearts, people who serve, people who give sacrificially, people who are either growth group leaders, elders, deacons, sometimes they're just teachers in our elementary ministry right there, but no matter who they are, right, we just want to shout them out, we want to give them thanks for being beloved brothers and sisters, for being faithful ministers, for being fellow servants, right, and what they do is incredible. 00:15:06.506 --> 00:15:09.601 I want to thank them for it and we appreciate them. 00:15:10.144 --> 00:15:21.061 But I remember one time it was somebody that we shouted out and I was talking them right after we gave them the shout out and they're really more of a reserved type of person and I should have known that. 00:15:21.061 --> 00:15:24.044 And they said Edgar, don't do that again. 00:15:24.044 --> 00:15:28.169 I was like, no, no, no, I mean, this is for you, this is to shout you out. 00:15:28.169 --> 00:15:42.544 And I was like, well, I'm sorry, I know you're kind of shy, but they said you know, honestly though, edgar, I appreciate it and I really thank you guys that you guys do recognize it, but I don't really do it for getting on stage. 00:15:42.544 --> 00:15:51.168 And what I'm about to say next, if I heard it from any other person, I would think of them as being hyper-spiritual, I would think of them being like holier-than-thou. 00:15:51.168 --> 00:15:59.767 But because I know them and because I knew their heart, I know they meant it genuinely when they said I don't do it to get on stage, I do it just because I love Jesus. 00:15:59.767 --> 00:16:03.663 That's it, that's the motivation, that's it. 00:16:03.663 --> 00:16:11.410 Right there, that person got it that our motivation isn't to get on stage, our motivation isn't a title, our motivation isn't I'm going to do X amount of things. 00:16:11.410 --> 00:16:16.883 Our motivation because we serve is because we understand the love of Jesus and we just want to show that to other people too. 00:16:20.072 --> 00:16:20.813 And it's astounding. 00:16:20.813 --> 00:16:41.745 It's astounding that people, everyday, people like Tychicus, who don't necessarily need to be a pastor, elder deacon, a teacher, just people who are willing to serve, people who are willing to give of what they can, they can make a difference, because the church is not built on the gifts and talents of a few, but on the sacrifices of many. 00:16:41.745 --> 00:16:54.248 I mean, this church would not operate the way it did if it was just me, pastor Nate, pastor Cody and Mason right, if it was just our four guys running the show, this church would be in shambles, no matter how gifted of a speaker Pastor Nate is. 00:16:54.248 --> 00:16:57.846 If it was just him running the show, it wouldn't be where it's at today. 00:16:57.846 --> 00:17:12.432 But because we have people who are sitting in here today, who are willing to give of what they can, who are willing to serve of what they know how to serve, we're able to make Jesus known in greater ways than ever before, and thank you for that. 00:17:12.432 --> 00:17:15.405 So we see the actions of Tychicus. 00:17:15.886 --> 00:17:19.541 But now let's really get into the motivation, the nitty-gritty, the why of serving. 00:17:19.541 --> 00:17:22.046 Why, why are people like this? 00:17:22.046 --> 00:17:25.290 Why do people wake up early and get here in the cold? 00:17:25.290 --> 00:17:26.092 Why do people? 00:17:26.092 --> 00:17:30.446 They don't get a title, they don't get authority, they don't typically get paid right. 00:17:30.446 --> 00:17:33.768 Why do people do this? 00:17:33.768 --> 00:17:44.291 Well, to put it simply, it's this that people like this exist because they have an understanding of the love of Jesus, of his faithfulness, of his service. 00:17:44.291 --> 00:17:49.661 They understand who he is and it just outflows into the rest of their lives. 00:17:49.661 --> 00:17:53.047 Jesus put it simply in Matthew, chapter 20. 00:17:53.648 --> 00:18:01.516 Jesus says just as the son of man did not come to be served, he didn't want to just be a consumer but to serve. 00:18:01.516 --> 00:18:07.849 He wanted to be a contributor and it's to give his life as a ransom for many. 00:18:07.849 --> 00:18:17.285 And when we understand that Jesus is the example that's literally the whole point of Christianity we follow Jesus, we follow after his example, we follow after his teachings. 00:18:17.285 --> 00:18:26.510 When we see him as saying that I didn't come to be served, I didn't come to sit on a throne and have people wash my feet and have people do exactly what I say. 00:18:26.510 --> 00:18:28.701 But no, he came to serve. 00:18:28.701 --> 00:18:32.508 Jesus listened to people who were social outcasts. 00:18:32.508 --> 00:18:35.814 People hated who were the others. 00:18:35.814 --> 00:18:42.011 Jesus listened to them, jesus loved them, jesus taught them, jesus served them. 00:18:42.011 --> 00:18:45.185 He got down, even though he was God in the flesh. 00:18:45.185 --> 00:18:48.212 Jesus went down and he washed their feet. 00:18:48.212 --> 00:18:50.226 Jesus came to serve. 00:18:50.226 --> 00:18:56.131 And when we understand that Jesus is the example, we're going to do exactly that. 00:18:56.131 --> 00:18:58.767 We're going to want to do exactly the same. 00:18:59.461 --> 00:19:04.605 The whole point of Christianity it's not a set of rules, it's a relationship with a God that loves us. 00:19:04.605 --> 00:19:11.642 And when we digest that love, when we digest that love and let it sink down into our innermost beings. 00:19:11.642 --> 00:19:13.469 It's going to flow out of us. 00:19:13.469 --> 00:19:14.684 It's not going to stop with us. 00:19:14.684 --> 00:19:21.710 It's going to touch the people around us, because following Jesus means serving others. 00:19:21.710 --> 00:19:25.891 When we follow Jesus, that means that it doesn't stop with us. 00:19:25.891 --> 00:19:27.210 It doesn't stop up here. 00:19:27.210 --> 00:19:27.876 It doesn't stop up here. 00:19:27.876 --> 00:19:29.363 It doesn't stop even in our hearts. 00:19:29.363 --> 00:19:33.531 It goes and it flows and it touches the other people around us. 00:19:33.531 --> 00:19:37.826 Part of following Jesus means that we serve and love other people. 00:19:37.826 --> 00:19:40.953 God even commands us to serve. 00:19:40.953 --> 00:19:49.564 He says each of you should use whatever gifts you have to serve others as faithful stewards in God's grace in its various forms. 00:19:49.564 --> 00:19:57.689 If you are a believer today, god has gifted you in a way that he intends for you to serve others, and it's a different way for each and every one of us. 00:19:58.269 --> 00:20:02.710 For me personally, I'm okay with coming up here and I'm okay with public speaking. 00:20:02.710 --> 00:20:11.086 For some people, in typical Americans, public speaking for number one fear is like right up here and death is right underneath it, right? 00:20:11.086 --> 00:20:12.088 Some people, it's just not. 00:20:12.088 --> 00:20:14.324 It's literally not, and that is totally okay. 00:20:14.324 --> 00:20:18.176 That is totally okay because my wife is a great singer. 00:20:18.176 --> 00:20:21.872 I love to hear her sing, but I don't have a musical bone in my body. 00:20:21.872 --> 00:20:24.803 If I joined the worship team, y'all would be running all right. 00:20:24.803 --> 00:20:32.923 Some people are very gifted technologically and I'm very thankful for people back there doing the live stream media and sound in the sound booth. 00:20:32.923 --> 00:20:39.305 Some people are very outgoing and they're great at waving at people, handshaking people, helping people get centered down. 00:20:39.305 --> 00:20:40.808 Some people are great with kids. 00:20:40.808 --> 00:20:43.866 Some people are great behind the scenes working in facilities. 00:20:43.866 --> 00:20:46.897 Some people are great attending at the coffee shop. 00:20:46.897 --> 00:20:54.238 But no matter who they are, what they're doing is not just coming and doing a little bit right. 00:20:54.238 --> 00:20:58.066 What they're doing is serving Jesus and I thank them for that. 00:20:58.968 --> 00:21:02.922 When we digest that, when we get that right, that's going to flow out of our lives. 00:21:02.922 --> 00:21:04.105 That's why we serve. 00:21:04.105 --> 00:21:05.930 And how do we remain faithful? 00:21:05.930 --> 00:21:07.333 Well, it's just more of the same. 00:21:07.333 --> 00:21:08.943 It's just more of the same. 00:21:08.943 --> 00:21:13.902 God says in Lamentations 3, the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases. 00:21:13.902 --> 00:21:15.945 His mercies never come to an end. 00:21:15.945 --> 00:21:17.888 They are new every morning. 00:21:17.888 --> 00:21:20.982 Great is your faithfulness. 00:21:20.982 --> 00:21:38.825 And when we understand the faithfulness of God, when we fully comprehend that even when we walk away, he remains faithful, even when we run away from him, he's just waiting for us in open arms, we're not going to look at that and when we fully comprehend it, we're not going to look at it and say I'm going to take advantage of that. 00:21:38.825 --> 00:21:39.727 No, no, no. 00:21:39.727 --> 00:21:49.305 When we look at that, we're going to say I just want to run back and back into my father's loving arms. 00:21:49.305 --> 00:21:49.987 That's how we remain faithful. 00:21:49.987 --> 00:21:58.490 That's the motivation by understanding who God is, by understanding His attributes and how he feels towards us and how the truths that he speaks towards us, and letting that flow out of our lives. 00:21:58.490 --> 00:22:05.121 That's not just a charitable act, because serving isn't just a charitable act, it's an act of worship. 00:22:05.121 --> 00:22:07.027 It's an act of worship. 00:22:07.027 --> 00:22:08.250 That's literally all it is. 00:22:08.250 --> 00:22:16.627 It can't be anything else other than when we understand God's love and let that digest in our minds and our hearts and let that flow out of our lives. 00:22:16.627 --> 00:22:20.926 It's not just waking up early, an hour early, and coming and filling out a punch card or whatever. 00:22:20.926 --> 00:22:26.527 No, it's an act of worship and I can prove that no other way than this. 00:22:26.626 --> 00:22:31.242 Just to wrap it up, today, guys, there was a story I remember. 00:22:31.242 --> 00:22:41.972 My Bible college professor once told me His name was Dr Goetsch and Dr Goetz, he grew up in Wisconsin and he was a very proud Wisconsinite, very proud Green Bay Packers fan. 00:22:41.972 --> 00:22:43.757 Right, there you go. 00:22:43.757 --> 00:22:45.039 Yeah, woo-boo, yeah, that's right. 00:22:45.039 --> 00:22:55.653 So when he moved to California and started a family, he wanted to take his family back to the Holy Land also known as Lambeau Field, the home of the Green Bay Packers right? 00:22:55.653 --> 00:22:57.777 So when he had a son he had a son named Eric. 00:22:57.777 --> 00:23:02.042 He was about six or seven years old he wanted to take his son back to Wisconsin to know his roots. 00:23:02.042 --> 00:23:05.333 So he took him and he booked a tour at Lambeau Field. 00:23:05.333 --> 00:23:09.240 And he booked a VIP, all-access tour. 00:23:10.122 --> 00:23:25.067 And he said that when he got there to Lambeau Field, he got to the place where he was going to meet the tour guide and to his surprise, it was a guy with a jersey of the Green Bay Packers, with one of those cheese head hats, and it was just, it was an older gentleman. 00:23:25.067 --> 00:23:35.217 It was an older gentleman and they started the tour and he got through all the little places that history was made, all the trophies, all the can you believe? 00:23:35.217 --> 00:23:40.758 That guy got over there and he noticed something that the guy didn't have any sort of cards, he didn't have an iPad. 00:23:40.758 --> 00:23:46.917 He was just saying it, he was literally just pointing and saying in 1984, you know all that stuff and it surprised him. 00:23:46.917 --> 00:23:48.903 So Dr Goetsch started talking with the guy. 00:23:49.910 --> 00:23:54.038 And Dr Goetsch said that he discovered that the man was a retired superfan. 00:23:54.038 --> 00:24:03.324 He didn't have to work anymore, he was completely fine and he volunteered his time showing other people about the Green Bay Packers in Lambeau Field. 00:24:03.324 --> 00:24:12.480 He just loved the Green Bay Packers that much that he just wanted to give of what he could to show other people the wonders of the Green Bay Packers. 00:24:12.480 --> 00:24:26.835 And even to the point of this that at the end of the tour they got down on the field and he asked the tour guide, asked Eric, eric, what do you think about the Green Bay Packers now? 00:24:27.817 --> 00:24:30.717 And Eric, little six, seven-year-old, was just excited about the whole thing. 00:24:30.717 --> 00:24:33.570 He said, oh, I love the Green Bay Packers, I'm going to be a fan forever. 00:24:33.570 --> 00:24:37.999 And that's when he noticed that the man's hand started trembling. 00:24:37.999 --> 00:24:41.164 He kind of got red in the face, kind of got teary-eyed. 00:24:41.164 --> 00:24:47.836 He got down on one knee and grabbed little Eric by the shoulders and said, oh, that's so wonderful, I'm glad. 00:24:47.836 --> 00:24:51.990 And he started to actually get really choked up and started crying. 00:24:51.990 --> 00:24:57.076 He said never give up on the Packers, son, never give up on the Packers. 00:24:57.076 --> 00:25:00.178 And look, look, look, you can laugh about that. 00:25:00.178 --> 00:25:00.779 But you know what? 00:25:00.779 --> 00:25:06.921 I don't doubt that man's dedication to the Green Bay Packers, because he got it. 00:25:06.921 --> 00:25:08.304 He got it. 00:25:09.230 --> 00:25:14.539 The Green Bay Packers was just a team, but he really loved him. 00:25:14.539 --> 00:25:22.980 He was willing to give up his time, he was willing to give up his effort and he was willing to give of his effort and his energy to the Green Bay Packers. 00:25:22.980 --> 00:25:32.221 He didn't get paid, he didn't get a title, he was just a tour guide, but he was willing to give of what he could to something that he thought was very, very important. 00:25:32.221 --> 00:25:39.027 And we can do the exact same thing with Jesus, amen. 00:25:39.027 --> 00:25:47.211 Same thing with Jesus. 00:25:47.211 --> 00:25:48.212 Tychicus was faithful in the work of the Lord. 00:25:48.212 --> 00:25:49.957 He was willing to give up what he could to make Jesus known. 00:25:49.977 --> 00:25:54.092 And so today I just have two real quick take homes for you guys as we wrap up. 00:25:54.092 --> 00:26:01.384 First of all is this I would really ask you to consider if you are not yet part, I would ask you to consider to join a serve team. 00:26:01.384 --> 00:26:04.357 You can come and you can serve. 00:26:04.357 --> 00:26:18.153 Typically our serve teams are just a once a month commitment and if you're willing to come a little earlier to church once a month and just serve in the way that God has gifted you and just serve and give in the way that only you can give. 00:26:18.153 --> 00:26:27.201 You're going to be surprised at what God does in you and through you, and you're going to be a part of what God is doing in this church. 00:26:28.001 --> 00:26:30.104 If you would like to do that, there's a couple ways you can. 00:26:30.104 --> 00:26:37.913 You can scan the QR code that's on the seat back in front of you, take you to a page, fill that out, say I want to join a serve team. 00:26:37.913 --> 00:26:40.057 The green cards that are in the seat backs, typically right in front of you as well. 00:26:40.057 --> 00:26:43.383 You can fill that out Check I want to join a serve team. 00:26:43.383 --> 00:26:45.232 Or you can talk to somebody at the next steps table. 00:26:45.232 --> 00:26:49.971 Personally, as volunteer coordinator, I would love to help you get plugged in. 00:26:49.971 --> 00:26:56.693 I would love to help you grow and see you flourish in the work of the Lord by joining a serve team. 00:26:57.214 --> 00:27:12.278 And then, secondly, is this If you are already on a serve team and there's about 140 people who are already on a serve team, thank you so much for being willing to do that, but take this message and take the word of God as an opportunity to recenter yourself. 00:27:12.278 --> 00:27:17.897 The Bible says in the book of Psalms that David said restore unto me the joy of my salvation. 00:27:17.897 --> 00:27:34.872 He wanted to remember what it was like to know God for the very first time and ask God, right now, to give you that fire, to give you that understanding of you're so faithful to me, you serve me so much and I just want to let that be my motivation. 00:27:34.872 --> 00:27:41.115 God, don't let it be out of compulsion, don't let it be out of guilt, don't let it be out of I've always done it, so now I'm just going to keep doing it. 00:27:41.115 --> 00:27:45.452 Let it be God, you love me so much and I just want to show that love to other people. 00:27:45.452 --> 00:27:47.056 Let's pray.