SPEAKER_01: Romans chapter 12 today for the message.
SPEAKER_01: Romans chapter number 12.
SPEAKER_01: And how many of you know somebody that if you were honest you would say I love them, but I don't really like them.
SPEAKER_01: Some of y'all, yeah.
SPEAKER_01: Some of y'all are scared to raise your hands, and you are lying in the house of God.
SPEAKER_01: You know exactly who I'm talking about.
SPEAKER_01: You got that coworker.
SPEAKER_01: Somebody was saying yeah, you know.
SPEAKER_01: They just know how to get under your skin.
SPEAKER_01: Or maybe you have that family member that is an expert at knowing exactly the right button to push.
SPEAKER_01: And and you just think, man, that person, I I I love them, at least I'm supposed to.
SPEAKER_01: I don't know if I really like them.
SPEAKER_01: And here's a question Is it possible to love somebody if you don't really like them?
SPEAKER_01: How many of you would say, yes, it's possible?
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
SPEAKER_01: How many of you would say, no, it's not possible?
SPEAKER_01: How many of you would say, stop asking me questions on Time Change Sunday, Pastor Naher?
SPEAKER_01: Here's something that we're gonna wrestle with today is that the gospel gives us the power to love people even if we don't always like them.
SPEAKER_01: When it comes to loving people, whether it's people we we like or don't like, if we've trusted Christ our Lord and Savior and the Holy Spirit's working in us, we are gonna have a desire at some level to actually love people well.
SPEAKER_01: But sometimes I don't think we know how to love people well.
SPEAKER_01: We don't struggle knowing that love matters, we struggle knowing how to love.
SPEAKER_01: Maybe because, well, we haven't been loved well ourselves.
SPEAKER_01: And when we try to muster up the strength to say, I'm gonna be more loving, our patience runs out.
SPEAKER_01: They do it again for the hundredth time.
SPEAKER_01: And we probably felt that at one time or another.
SPEAKER_01: And if you felt that, can I just say, you are human.
SPEAKER_01: One of our values here, like Dennis was saying, is the gospel.
SPEAKER_01: The gospel doesn't just save us, it shapes us, strengthens us, and guides us.
SPEAKER_01: And in the gospel, we can love others well because we have been loved.
SPEAKER_01: Like this is where Christianity is radically different than every other worldview.
SPEAKER_01: We go to a text of scripture, Romans chapter 12, where Paul just spent 11 chapters, 11 chapters talking about all that God has done for us in the gospel.
SPEAKER_01: Then he gets to chapter 12 and he says, Hey, hey, because all this has been has been done for you, this is how it, this is how your life should look like now.
SPEAKER_01: All this has been done for you, this is what your life should look like.
SPEAKER_01: And I'm gonna show you how and what it means and what it looks like to actually love people well.
SPEAKER_01: Because in our world, let's be honest, we don't have a lot of demonstrations of people that love people well.
SPEAKER_01: And today, the message is entitled this: A Culture of Honor.
SPEAKER_01: A culture of honor.
SPEAKER_01: Because Paul is gonna give us a new vision, a powerful vision for what does it look like to love people well, and what does it look like in the body of Christ?
SPEAKER_01: So let's pick it up in Romans chapter number 12.
SPEAKER_01: And if you're ready for it on time change Sunday and you're still awake, would you say amen?
SPEAKER_01: Let's go, Romans 12, verse number 10.
SPEAKER_01: It says, Love one another deeply.
SPEAKER_01: Now, how many would say, sometimes it's hard to love one another deeply?
SPEAKER_01: Come on, you know why?
SPEAKER_01: Because people, sometimes people.
SPEAKER_01: Yes, I use that as a noun and a verb.
SPEAKER_01: Don't think about it too long, but if you do, you'll realize people always people.
SPEAKER_01: And it can be hard to love others deeply, as brothers and sisters, and he tells us what it looks like when we do love others deeply.
SPEAKER_01: He says we're going to outdo one another in putting them in their place.
SPEAKER_01: Outdo one another in letting them know what their mistakes are.
SPEAKER_01: Outdo one another.
SPEAKER_01: What are those last two words in showing honor?
SPEAKER_01: This is what this does here.
SPEAKER_00: This gives us a glimpse of what does it look like to love people well.
SPEAKER_01: To outdo somebody in showing them honor.
SPEAKER_00: Now, when we think about the church, in this context here is the church.
SPEAKER_00: The church can be a lot of things.
SPEAKER_01: The church can look like a lot of things.
SPEAKER_01: In fact, a lot of people have a lot of different definitions in their minds of what the church is, but the church wasn't invented by a man, the church was actually invented by God.
SPEAKER_01: And because God invented the church, God gets to define the church.
SPEAKER_01: It's only fair.
SPEAKER_01: And God defines the church as this He says the church is an ecclesia, a called-out assembly of Jesus followers.
SPEAKER_01: People that are called out from the world to live for God's purposes and to do that in community with other people.
SPEAKER_01: So, by God's definition of the church, there can be a church without a building.
SPEAKER_01: There can be a church without a parking lot.
SPEAKER_01: There can be a church without coffee.
SPEAKER_01: Maybe.
SPEAKER_01: Some of you just had your theology tested this morning and you failed, okay?
SPEAKER_01: Just kidding.
SPEAKER_01: But you can't have an ecclesia without a group of people that are committed to each other with the common purpose of knowing Jesus, making Jesus known, and glorifying God, because that's an ecclesia.
SPEAKER_01: And when we let God define what the church is, and when we let the gospel shape the church, what will happen is there will be a movement in the church.
SPEAKER_01: Here's what the movement will be: it'll be a movement towards honor.
SPEAKER_01: A movement towards honor.
SPEAKER_01: A movement that goes away from looking at me to looking at others.
SPEAKER_01: And you might say, What is honor?
SPEAKER_01: Here's what honor is.
SPEAKER_01: Showing honor is to recognize and acknowledge the value that someone has.
SPEAKER_01: That's what showing honor is.
SPEAKER_01: Now you think about this passage, it was in Romans.
SPEAKER_01: Does anybody have any guesses where the people that Paul wrote this book to, the book of Romans, like Romans?
SPEAKER_01: Anybody have any idea where they lived?
SPEAKER_01: Fairfield, they didn't live in Fairfield.
SPEAKER_01: It was actually Vacavel.
SPEAKER_01: I'm just kidding, they lived in Rome, right?
SPEAKER_01: They lived in Rome.
SPEAKER_01: Now here's the thing, you gotta understand the culture here.
SPEAKER_01: In Rome, there were very clear distinctions between who got honored and who didn't get honored.
SPEAKER_01: In fact, Rome honored power.
SPEAKER_01: If you were powerful, if you had achievements, if you had a certain name, you got honored in Rome.
SPEAKER_01: Rome honored people at the top.
SPEAKER_01: Now you think about it, in that way, our world is kind of similar to Rome.
SPEAKER_01: Think about growing up in school.
SPEAKER_01: If you got a high enough GPA, what did you make?
SPEAKER_01: You made the honor role.
SPEAKER_01: And then your parents put that little bumper sticker on your car.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, right?
SPEAKER_01: You go to a you go to an event or a party.
SPEAKER_01: Sometimes they have honored guests.
SPEAKER_01: We have our honored guests today.
SPEAKER_01: They did this, did that.
SPEAKER_01: This is their role.
SPEAKER_01: This blah blah blah.
SPEAKER_01: They've done this, so now they get honored.
SPEAKER_01: But in the kingdom of God, it's not just certain people that get honored and other people don't get honored.
SPEAKER_01: It's not just certain people that earn honor.
SPEAKER_01: See, in God's family, honor isn't earned, it's freely given.
SPEAKER_01: Honor isn't earned, it's freely given.
SPEAKER_01: It's not like, oh, oh, in the family of God, this is what we do.
SPEAKER_01: We just honor the pastor because he preaches.
SPEAKER_01: We honor the people on stage.
SPEAKER_01: No, no, no.
SPEAKER_01: In God's family, in this new vision, there's a movement towards honoring all people because all people are made in the image of God.
SPEAKER_01: And every single person matters.
SPEAKER_01: Now you said, Pastor, you're not supposed to honor all people.
SPEAKER_01: What about the person that doesn't even smile at me?
SPEAKER_01: It's like I walk by them in a lobby and I'm like, are you mad at me, bro?
SPEAKER_01: Yes, and here's why.
SPEAKER_01: Because you are a citizen if you put your faith in Christ.
SPEAKER_01: You are a citizen of the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of God, and in the kingdom of God, we honor everybody.
SPEAKER_01: We honor people no matter what they look like, no matter where they're from, no matter what they're struggling with.
SPEAKER_01: And honor does something really powerful that you may have never realized.
SPEAKER_01: In fact, it makes something visible.
SPEAKER_01: Honor is love made visible.
SPEAKER_01: So when you and I, when we choose to honor somebody, we are making love visible to them.
SPEAKER_01: I heard of a high school years ago that decided to do something very different at graduation.
SPEAKER_01: We've all been to the high school graduation and they honor certain people.
SPEAKER_01: They honor the valedictorian and the salutatorian, and you know, and then half of us are like falling asleep, like, come on, let's get through.
SPEAKER_01: This high school decided to do something different.
SPEAKER_01: They asked the students to nominate a staff member that's had the biggest impact in their life, and they were gonna honor them.
SPEAKER_01: So everybody thought, well, it's gonna be the most popular teacher or the most popular coach.
SPEAKER_01: And as they started reading the names of the people that were nominated, one name kept popping up.
SPEAKER_00: It surprised everybody.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, it was downright shocking.
SPEAKER_00: The name that kept popping up was one of the janitors.
SPEAKER_01: And they thought, how can this be?
SPEAKER_01: We must call him and double check to make sure this is accurate.
SPEAKER_01: And actually called the man, the janitor, up on the stage at the high school graduation, and he's dressed in his janitor clothes, and he walked up there confused.
SPEAKER_01: Like, did somebody have a spill or something?
SPEAKER_01: Like, how come This is a man that spent his days seemingly unnoticed, cleaning hallways, cleaning bathrooms.
SPEAKER_01: And then the principal started reading what the students wrote about this janitor.
SPEAKER_01: And eyes in the gym started tearing up.
SPEAKER_01: One student said this.
SPEAKER_01: He noticed me when I was having a bad day, and he checked in on me.
SPEAKER_01: Another student wrote, I came to school early to escape problems at home.
SPEAKER_00: And he sat with me so I wouldn't feel alone.
SPEAKER_00: Another said, He told me I mattered when I didn't believe that I did.
SPEAKER_01: And the entire graduating class had been impacted by a janitor that simply chose to show people honor and dignity.
SPEAKER_01: Because honor does something powerful, it makes love visible.
SPEAKER_01: It tells people that they matter, it tells people that their life counts.
SPEAKER_01: Maybe you haven't felt that.
SPEAKER_01: Can I just remind you that you mattered so much to Jesus that he stepped into this broken world?
SPEAKER_01: He saw the parts of your life that nobody else sees, the parts you don't want anybody to see.
SPEAKER_01: And he still chose to come and die on the cross for you.
SPEAKER_01: And because of that reality, you are loved so you can love others.
SPEAKER_01: And I wonder what kind of impact you would have if you made the choice to consistently and intentionally honor others.
SPEAKER_01: I wonder the person that right now is hanging on by a thread that if you choose to honor them, you can impact them.
SPEAKER_01: I wonder the person that feels like they are not enough and they'll never measure up that if you'll choose to honor them, how you can lift their load.
SPEAKER_01: I'm talking about the person that's overwhelmed with the burdens of life right now.
SPEAKER_01: You don't you don't see the cuts on their arms because they were long sleeve shirts.
SPEAKER_01: You don't see the challenges they had last week, but if you will choose to honor them, the impact you can make on them.
SPEAKER_01: A movement towards honor, a movement towards I see you, you matter, and I value you.
SPEAKER_01: This is a movement that the gospel causes the church to have, a movement towards honor.
SPEAKER_01: In verse 11, he says this we shouldn't lack diligence and zeal.
SPEAKER_01: We should be fervent in spirit, we should serve the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: We should, verse 12, rejoice in hope, be patient in affliction, be persistent in prayer.
SPEAKER_01: Paul gives this vision for a church that has a movement not just towards honor, but a movement towards passion and perseverance.
SPEAKER_01: We should rejoice, it says, in hope.
SPEAKER_01: We should rejoice with each other because we have a confident expectation.
SPEAKER_01: We should be patient with each other when other people are going through stuff.
SPEAKER_01: We should pray for each other and be persistent in prayer.
SPEAKER_01: This is one reason why we have people available at the prayer banners, our prayer team.
SPEAKER_01: Why they want to pray with you?
SPEAKER_01: This is why we have ministry coordinators and ministry leaders and serve teams and groups.
SPEAKER_01: Why?
SPEAKER_01: So we can be a group of people that pray with and for each other.
SPEAKER_01: It's a movement towards passion, a movement towards perseverance.
SPEAKER_01: And verse 13, it says, share with the saints in their needs, pursue hospitality.
SPEAKER_01: You realize that people have needs.
SPEAKER_01: We have needs.
SPEAKER_01: Now, a lot of times when it comes to needs, the first thing we think about is we think about financial needs.
SPEAKER_01: And those are real.
SPEAKER_01: I'm really thankful that as a church this past December, because of your financial giving, we were able to help about a dozen families in our church have Christmas, and we're able to bless them financially because of your financial giving.
SPEAKER_01: Another need we think about, we think about the need for food.
SPEAKER_01: We have a community group in our church.
SPEAKER_01: Here's what they are: they are a food pantry to help families in our church that have a food shortage.
SPEAKER_01: That's an amazing thing.
SPEAKER_01: Sometimes people have financial needs, sometimes people have food needs, but sometimes the needs are different than that.
SPEAKER_01: Sometimes the needs are they need your presence, they need your emotional support, they need your availability.
SPEAKER_01: And for us to be present with people, there needs to be a movement in the church towards a shared life together.
SPEAKER_01: The Christian life is to be lived in communion with other people.
SPEAKER_01: And when other people in the body have needs, we want to look for opportunity to meet those needs.
SPEAKER_01: See, church will change for you on Sundays when you show up on Sundays, not thinking just what can I get from church, but thinking who can I serve at our church gatherings.
SPEAKER_01: I was talking with some dudes in my leadership brotherhood, my growth group, and we talked about how church changes when we view church not as an event that we attend, but as an opportunity to serve other people.
SPEAKER_01: Who's sitting by themselves?
SPEAKER_01: Like, how can I encourage them?
SPEAKER_01: Who's going through a difficult time?
SPEAKER_01: How can I build them up?
SPEAKER_01: We need to, it says, share with the saints and their needs.
SPEAKER_01: And then we need to pursue hospitality.
SPEAKER_01: Here's what hospitality is: it's just love and openness with the outsider.
SPEAKER_01: So somebody that may not yet be a part of the church, somebody that may not yet know Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: We want to open our lives to them.
SPEAKER_01: We want to talk to them.
SPEAKER_01: We want to get to know their names.
SPEAKER_01: Now, some of y'all, y'all are really shy and y'all are scared of people.
SPEAKER_01: You see somebody and you're like, I don't know them.
SPEAKER_01: Like, who I don't know.
SPEAKER_01: You think, man, they might have the cooties.
SPEAKER_01: Here's a secret: they're just as scared of you as you are of them.
SPEAKER_01: And some of you think, man, you think, man, you think, man, well, here's the thing, Pastor Nate.
SPEAKER_01: The thing I like about FCC is we have a great welcome team and hospitality team.
SPEAKER_01: Which, by the way, don't we have a great welcome team and hospitality team?
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, they do.
SPEAKER_01: They do.
SPEAKER_01: Dan Dyle leads them.
SPEAKER_01: They were here at 8 15 and they were so happy.
SPEAKER_01: I'm like, it is unspiritual how happy some of you are right now, okay?
SPEAKER_01: But this text isn't just written to the welcome team and hospitality team at First Christian Church.
SPEAKER_01: It's written to the entire church to pursue hospitality, to show love to other people.
SPEAKER_01: This is what the church is supposed to be.
SPEAKER_01: And when you look at this text and you look at this vision for a church where there's a movement towards honoring people, where there's a movement towards perseverance, where there's a movement towards doing life together, deep down, this is something that all of us desire.
SPEAKER_01: We don't desire a community that's consumeristic, that's like, what can I get?
SPEAKER_01: I just want to get, get, get.
SPEAKER_01: We don't desire a community that's transactional, like I do this for you, you do this for me, I'm keeping score.
SPEAKER_01: We don't desire that.
SPEAKER_01: No, we desire a Romans 12 vision for community, a place where you're seen, where you matter, where you outdo each other in showing honor.
SPEAKER_01: But this kind of community doesn't happen accidentally.
SPEAKER_01: I'll tell you what happens accidentally in a church: division, clickiness.
SPEAKER_01: And this only happens when we decide to live our lives in response to the gospel and what God's done for us.
SPEAKER_01: And this, what's being described in Romans chapter 12, is not just like a good idea if the church feels like it.
SPEAKER_01: No, like this is what the church is supposed to be.
SPEAKER_01: This isn't like, hey, uh, Paul isn't like, hey, uh first Christian church.
SPEAKER_01: If you guys if you guys like want to like love each other deeply because you like each other, that's cool.
SPEAKER_01: If you don't, no big deal.
SPEAKER_01: He's not like, if if you guys want to like share with each other and your needs, that'd be great.
SPEAKER_01: But if not, it's okay.
SPEAKER_01: Just show up every now and again on Sunday.
SPEAKER_01: No, no, no.
SPEAKER_01: This is what the church has to be.
SPEAKER_01: We don't let other churches, we don't let our experience define what the church should be.
SPEAKER_01: We let the word of God define what the church should be.
SPEAKER_01: Like there has to be an urgency in us to say, I'm going to be what God wants our church to be.
SPEAKER_01: And the community that we long for is the church we help create.
SPEAKER_01: The only way that we can have this kind of community is.
SPEAKER_01: Is if we help create it.
SPEAKER_01: Somebody is sitting in this room right now that is going through it and they're wondering if they can make it.
SPEAKER_01: Somebody walks through the building every Sunday.
SPEAKER_01: We have guests come here every week, which is awesome.
SPEAKER_01: And they feel nervous.
SPEAKER_01: They're like, man, am I going to get struck by lightning walking in this church building?
SPEAKER_01: Am I going to get judged by people?
SPEAKER_01: But underneath that, I think is the question does anybody gonna care about me there?
SPEAKER_01: Like, is anybody gonna see me?
SPEAKER_01: And it's through your honor that those people experience the love of Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: And Jesus says something powerful happens when we love and we show honor.
SPEAKER_01: It says in John 13, he says, By this everyone will know that you are my disciples.
SPEAKER_00: If you love one another, you know how people are gonna know that we're Jesus followers?
SPEAKER_00: It's not our hype, it's not our buildings, it's not our activities, and it sure as heck isn't the pastor.
SPEAKER_00: It's love.
SPEAKER_00: And we can love because we've been loved.
SPEAKER_00: So here's the challenge this week.
SPEAKER_00: It's very simple.
SPEAKER_00: Outdo someone in showing honor.
SPEAKER_00: Encourage someone intentionally and welcome someone personally.
SPEAKER_00: And if each of us will do this, watch what will happen.
SPEAKER_01: The watching world and others won't just see nice people.
SPEAKER_01: What they'll see is Jesus in us.
SPEAKER_01: And that's what all of this is about.
SPEAKER_01: So this week, that's your challenge.
SPEAKER_01: Let's all bow our heads and let's close our.