WEBVTT 00:00:03.439 --> 00:00:09.439 Hi, it's Pastor Jonathan, and thanks for downloading the FBC El Dorado Sermon Podcast. 00:00:09.599 --> 00:00:14.240 In today's sermon, we begin a new series called We the Church. 00:00:14.640 --> 00:00:21.199 In week one, we look at Revelation chapter 21, verses 1 through 3 as we find our identity. 00:00:21.519 --> 00:00:23.920 We are the bride of Christ. 00:00:26.559 --> 00:00:28.480 Watch your words. 00:00:29.920 --> 00:00:33.520 You'll save yourself a lot of grief. 00:00:34.880 --> 00:00:38.320 Watch your words, you'll save yourself a lot of grief. 00:00:38.479 --> 00:00:43.119 That, my friends, is a 24-carat nugget of wisdom. 00:00:43.600 --> 00:00:47.759 It's found in Proverbs chapter 21, verse 23. 00:00:48.719 --> 00:00:59.439 One of the griefs that we can save ourselves, if we'll just take a minute and watch our words, is the grief of embarrassment. 00:01:00.640 --> 00:01:08.879 Specifically, the embarrassment that comes when the word I just said doesn't mean what I think that it means. 00:01:09.040 --> 00:01:13.760 Like I use a word incorrectly in my speech. 00:01:15.280 --> 00:01:16.079 Consider this. 00:01:16.319 --> 00:01:17.840 Consider the word can. 00:01:19.040 --> 00:01:28.640 So one day a student approaches his English teacher and asks, can I go to the bathroom? 00:01:29.920 --> 00:01:35.040 The student thinks can means what is permissible. 00:01:35.359 --> 00:01:39.760 Is it permissible for me to go to the bathroom at this moment? 00:01:40.719 --> 00:01:48.079 The teacher hears the question, gets a smirk on her face, and says, I don't know. 00:01:48.400 --> 00:01:49.359 Can you? 00:01:51.840 --> 00:01:54.159 Why would she reply that way? 00:01:55.359 --> 00:02:02.560 Well, it's because can doesn't mean what that student thinks that it means. 00:02:03.519 --> 00:02:07.280 Can really means what is possible. 00:02:07.760 --> 00:02:14.960 In other words, the student asked his English teacher, is it physically possible for me to go to the bathroom? 00:02:15.199 --> 00:02:19.039 Do I possess the physical capacity to go to the bathroom? 00:02:19.120 --> 00:02:24.000 And the teacher's like, that's a question you and only you can answer. 00:02:26.080 --> 00:02:29.840 And let's be honest, that student better figure it out real quick. 00:02:30.000 --> 00:02:33.840 Or using that word incorrectly, it could get really embarrassing. 00:02:34.639 --> 00:02:37.439 Or consider the word literally. 00:02:39.280 --> 00:02:40.080 Literally. 00:02:40.319 --> 00:02:44.879 People think the word literally means to emphasize. 00:02:45.759 --> 00:02:51.360 So people say things like, my head literally exploded. 00:02:51.919 --> 00:02:58.400 Here's the problem: literally actually means something that's uh real, true, or exact. 00:02:59.280 --> 00:03:07.759 So if you say my head literally exploded, not only is it an embarrassment, it's an absolute mess. 00:03:08.960 --> 00:03:11.520 Your head is like all over the place now. 00:03:12.879 --> 00:03:16.319 Or consider the word irregardless. 00:03:17.439 --> 00:03:26.879 You think that it means without regard, but what it really means is nothing. 00:03:27.759 --> 00:03:29.759 It's actually not a word. 00:03:31.280 --> 00:03:35.039 What you meant to say is the word regardless. 00:03:36.240 --> 00:03:46.080 So misusing a word like can or literally or irregardless, it can bring embarrassment to our lives. 00:03:46.159 --> 00:03:48.319 So it's best that we get it right. 00:03:48.639 --> 00:03:57.520 But the next word I want us to think about, um, if we misuse and misunderstand that word, the consequences are far greater. 00:03:57.680 --> 00:04:03.280 So the last and final word that we need to consider this morning is the word church. 00:04:06.159 --> 00:04:09.680 What we think it means is a place. 00:04:11.280 --> 00:04:17.120 It's why we go to it, it's why we get ready for it. 00:04:17.680 --> 00:04:28.399 It's the place we go on Sunday morning, it's the place we go on Wednesday nights, it's the place with stained glass windows and a pipe organ. 00:04:29.920 --> 00:04:34.079 It's the place I go to grow in my faith. 00:04:34.319 --> 00:04:38.879 It's the place I go to be spiritually fed. 00:04:39.279 --> 00:04:45.439 It's just another place that I go in an already jam-packed calendar. 00:04:46.399 --> 00:04:47.519 But here's the problem. 00:04:47.680 --> 00:04:56.000 We keep using the word church, and the Bible says it doesn't mean what you think that it means. 00:04:57.680 --> 00:04:59.839 What church actually means? 00:05:01.120 --> 00:05:01.759 A people. 00:05:03.360 --> 00:05:08.399 According to the Bible, according to God's word, church is a people. 00:05:08.720 --> 00:05:14.800 In the New Testament, the word that is most often translated as church is the word ecclesia. 00:05:15.120 --> 00:05:21.600 And ecclesia in the ancient world was a community, it was a gathering of people, it was a congregation of people. 00:05:22.319 --> 00:05:26.879 Now, in your mind, you may be thinking, does it even matter? 00:05:27.040 --> 00:05:29.759 Like, aren't you just kind of splitting hairs? 00:05:30.480 --> 00:05:34.720 Say it's wrong to think that church is a place and not a people? 00:05:34.879 --> 00:05:37.680 Like, you're you're making a mountain out of a molehill. 00:05:39.839 --> 00:05:49.040 But I actually think it's quite important to differentiate between let's go to church and let's gather with the church. 00:05:51.199 --> 00:06:00.639 Because how we define church sets certain expectations in our mind and it sets the standard. 00:06:01.759 --> 00:06:09.839 If church is a place, then it's just as easy to go to the place as it is to not go to the place. 00:06:10.399 --> 00:06:15.439 It's easy to go to the place when it's convenient and fits into the calendar. 00:06:16.000 --> 00:06:22.720 And it's easy not to go to the place when you have something else on the schedule, when you have a better offer at hand. 00:06:24.240 --> 00:06:44.800 Or if church is a place and you go to that place focusing on uh strengthening your faith or having your spiritual needs met, then if there's a season in life when you don't feel like your spiritual needs are being met, it's really easy to go and look somewhere else. 00:06:45.600 --> 00:06:48.000 Start shopping around. 00:06:49.920 --> 00:06:55.360 If church is a place, then our standard is simply this attendance. 00:06:56.399 --> 00:06:57.600 Showing up. 00:06:58.160 --> 00:07:08.800 You maybe you would attend out of compulsion, you attend out of habit, you attend out of guilt, you attend, well, you're not sure why you attend, you just show up every single week. 00:07:09.040 --> 00:07:10.800 Someone drug you here. 00:07:12.000 --> 00:07:17.279 But here's the thing: if attendance is the standard, then once you leave that place, do you know what you're able to do? 00:07:18.000 --> 00:07:21.439 You're able just to go about the rest of your life. 00:07:22.000 --> 00:07:26.800 One hour a week, two hours a week, I go to church. 00:07:27.439 --> 00:07:31.600 The rest of the week, the rest of my life, it's mine. 00:07:33.439 --> 00:07:42.079 But if church is a people, then the expectation and the standards are radically different. 00:07:43.680 --> 00:07:52.959 If church is a people, then the reason I gather, listen, isn't out of convenience, it's the result of a commitment. 00:07:53.360 --> 00:07:54.959 A commitment to other people. 00:07:55.120 --> 00:08:00.639 Romans chapter 12, verse 10 says, be devoted to one another. 00:08:01.199 --> 00:08:05.680 You can't be devoted to one another if you don't see one another. 00:08:07.040 --> 00:08:15.839 If the church is a people, then when I gather with the church, the focus isn't on self, the focus is on service. 00:08:16.959 --> 00:08:26.720 Galatians chapter 6, verse 10 says, Let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers. 00:08:27.920 --> 00:08:34.240 And if church is a people, listen, friends, if church is a people, then the standard isn't attendance. 00:08:35.759 --> 00:08:38.799 Attendance sets the bar way too low. 00:08:39.679 --> 00:08:50.960 If church is a people, then the standard is engagement, it's involvement, it's participation in the life of the church. 00:08:51.200 --> 00:09:00.559 Because if the church is operating as God intended and God planned, then our lives become interwoven with one another. 00:09:02.080 --> 00:09:12.080 And you see, even when you leave that place, the people you leave behind, the people you'll see again, they still have an important part in your life. 00:09:15.600 --> 00:09:22.159 And here's the thing it's important to realize church is a people and not a place. 00:09:22.639 --> 00:09:28.639 Because that's what it enables us to say, we the church. 00:09:30.879 --> 00:09:34.799 Or you could say this way, we are church. 00:09:35.279 --> 00:09:37.600 We will you say that with me? 00:09:37.919 --> 00:09:40.399 We are church. 00:09:44.879 --> 00:09:51.360 It's not architecture, it's not adornment, it's not buildings, it's not bricks. 00:09:53.759 --> 00:09:57.519 We the church. 00:09:59.919 --> 00:10:06.399 Today we're starting a series with that very statement. 00:10:07.039 --> 00:10:23.600 We the church, with hopes that this local church, this gathering of people, can reclaim God's biblical vision for his church as the people of God. 00:10:25.039 --> 00:10:46.720 And we reclaim this biblical vision, and it's my prayer that every individual and every family in this room would recommit themselves to the gathering of God's people, to engaging in the life of the local church, to involving themselves in the life of God's local church. 00:10:49.519 --> 00:10:58.960 Because our lives are interwoven with one another, because we love each other, because when I say the word church, I see your face. 00:11:00.799 --> 00:11:05.679 I don't see this building, I don't see the columns outside, I don't see the stained glass. 00:11:05.840 --> 00:11:12.320 When I say church, when I say I am a part of First Baptist Church, I see your face. 00:11:13.840 --> 00:11:20.320 And I count it a blessing to see your face when I say the word church. 00:11:22.799 --> 00:11:41.759 And we want to be involved and we want to participate in the life of the local church because God has given the local church a mission which nothing else, no other institution, no other gathering or group of people in the world can accomplish to make disciples of all nations. 00:11:41.919 --> 00:11:49.919 And listen, not even the forces of hell can stop the advance of the church. 00:11:50.879 --> 00:11:54.639 The forces of hell can stop all sorts of other things. 00:12:00.080 --> 00:12:04.639 Because the church is God's plan in the world. 00:12:06.559 --> 00:12:09.600 We, the church. 00:12:11.519 --> 00:12:24.559 So in week one, in today's message, we're gonna begin by giving our attention to a passage that's gonna help clarify the identity of this local church. 00:12:25.840 --> 00:12:29.840 Clarify the identity of this local church as the people of God. 00:12:30.559 --> 00:12:36.559 So if you have your Bibles, join me in Revelation chapter 21, verses 1 through 3. 00:12:36.799 --> 00:12:42.000 And in these few verses, here's what we learn: we are the bride of Christ. 00:12:42.320 --> 00:12:45.360 We are the bride of Christ. 00:12:46.159 --> 00:12:49.360 John writes these words, beginning in verse 1. 00:12:49.919 --> 00:12:54.639 He says, Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth. 00:12:55.519 --> 00:13:01.919 For the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 00:13:02.639 --> 00:13:13.519 I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride, beautifully dressed for her husband. 00:13:13.759 --> 00:13:23.919 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, Look, God's dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. 00:13:24.159 --> 00:13:30.879 They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 00:13:33.759 --> 00:13:45.279 Revelation twenty-one describes this glorious vision of God's good future. 00:13:46.480 --> 00:13:52.240 In God's good future there will be a new heaven and a new earth. 00:13:52.639 --> 00:13:55.600 Praise God, hallelujah, and amen. 00:13:57.200 --> 00:14:01.519 The first heaven and the first earth will have passed away. 00:14:02.720 --> 00:14:09.600 Because sin and death and decay were a part of the first heaven and the first earth. 00:14:09.919 --> 00:14:16.559 And sin and death and decay have no part in God's good future. 00:14:18.240 --> 00:14:23.679 At the center of this vision of God's good future, well, is God. 00:14:24.799 --> 00:14:30.639 God will finally, and God will fully dwell among his people. 00:14:31.519 --> 00:14:47.600 And the way that John describes, the image that John uses to describe the relationship between God and the people he will dwell with, the people he will live with, is that of a groom and his bride. 00:14:48.240 --> 00:14:56.240 God, of course, is the groom, and the bride, we are told, is the new Jerusalem, the new city that comes down. 00:14:56.879 --> 00:15:04.720 The bride, the new Jerusalem, that's the city in which God's people will dwell for all of eternity. 00:15:05.600 --> 00:15:10.720 God's church will dwell, inhabit that new Jerusalem. 00:15:11.039 --> 00:15:17.759 And as future residents of that holy city, we take on the identity of that city. 00:15:17.919 --> 00:15:21.759 We share in the identity of that city that is to come. 00:15:22.080 --> 00:15:26.399 So we know we are the bride of Christ. 00:15:27.600 --> 00:15:31.919 We live in anticipation of the future that is to come. 00:15:32.080 --> 00:15:35.519 We claim that identity in the here and now. 00:15:36.720 --> 00:15:43.039 And like any groom, listen, Jesus loves his bride. 00:15:44.879 --> 00:15:48.399 Jesus loves the church. 00:15:50.480 --> 00:15:54.799 Jesus loves First Baptist El Dorado. 00:15:58.000 --> 00:16:00.240 May 21st of 2005. 00:16:00.960 --> 00:16:03.440 That was the day Lauren and I got married. 00:16:04.080 --> 00:16:07.679 And I remember my anxious excitement before the ceremony. 00:16:07.840 --> 00:16:11.759 I remember when I first caught a glimpse of her walking down the aisle. 00:16:12.080 --> 00:16:14.399 I still remember saying I do. 00:16:15.279 --> 00:16:21.120 And I keep a picture on my desk to remember that day of Lauren before our wedding. 00:16:21.360 --> 00:16:24.559 Just a really candid shot one of her friends took. 00:16:38.639 --> 00:16:41.360 Some of those arguments weren't very Christian. 00:16:42.320 --> 00:16:47.120 We're real people who both can get kind of angry sometimes. 00:16:47.919 --> 00:16:54.080 But even in the heat of the argument, you know what has always been totally unacceptable? 00:16:54.559 --> 00:17:04.319 It's unacceptable for a person I know, including our kids, to say something that is hurtful or disparaging against my bride. 00:17:05.359 --> 00:17:11.200 She always and forever will be my bride, my wife. 00:17:12.480 --> 00:17:19.119 In fact, I truly believe that if a person would just get to know Lauren, they would love her. 00:17:20.160 --> 00:17:27.279 They would love her for her humor, they would love her for her storytelling, they would love her for her immense gifts that she shares. 00:17:27.759 --> 00:17:32.400 And if they got to know her, and if you get to know someone well enough, do you know what you're able to do? 00:17:32.559 --> 00:17:36.720 You're able to love them in spite of their faults. 00:17:39.839 --> 00:17:41.599 In much the same way. 00:17:42.160 --> 00:17:47.200 Jesus is the groom and the church is his bride. 00:17:47.519 --> 00:18:02.240 And I wonder if Jesus keeps a picture of his bride on his desk because he wants to remember them in all that's beauty and glory and splendor every single day. 00:18:02.720 --> 00:18:07.759 Of course, that doesn't mean that Jesus doesn't have arguments with his bride, right? 00:18:09.119 --> 00:18:21.359 Jesus, like if you read earlier on in Revelation, or if you read passages in the Gospels, Jesus has some pretty tough words that he shares with his church. 00:18:22.640 --> 00:18:24.559 But he shares them out of love. 00:18:25.039 --> 00:18:27.039 He shares them out of a relationship. 00:18:27.279 --> 00:18:39.200 He shares them because he sees the beauty, the potential beauty that lies within the church, that exists within the church, and he wants that beauty to shine for the world to see. 00:18:41.119 --> 00:18:44.720 And Jesus, he's gonna defend his church to the very end. 00:18:45.839 --> 00:18:48.640 So be careful what you say about the church. 00:18:49.440 --> 00:18:54.240 It's not perfect, never will be. 00:18:54.799 --> 00:19:00.079 It's filled with imperfect people who've got brokenness and baggage in their life. 00:19:00.559 --> 00:19:02.799 People who don't have it all together. 00:19:04.079 --> 00:19:09.359 People who think they have answers when really they just need to ask more questions. 00:19:10.000 --> 00:19:12.640 People have opinions that are uninformed. 00:19:15.200 --> 00:19:18.720 But there's something so beautifully broken about the church. 00:19:19.359 --> 00:19:23.279 Because it is a gathering of people who have been what? 00:19:24.079 --> 00:19:26.720 Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. 00:19:27.519 --> 00:19:32.079 Who are united by the power of the Holy Spirit. 00:19:34.480 --> 00:19:39.039 And it is Jesus' desire. 00:19:39.759 --> 00:19:40.400 Listen. 00:19:41.599 --> 00:19:49.920 Jesus' desire that his closest friends, his disciples, would love the church just as he loved the church. 00:19:51.759 --> 00:19:56.640 When Lauren and I began dating, one of the first people I told was my college roommate. 00:19:56.799 --> 00:19:57.920 His name was Clint. 00:19:58.079 --> 00:19:59.759 Clint was my best friend. 00:20:00.160 --> 00:20:01.519 I wanted his approval. 00:20:01.680 --> 00:20:04.400 I wanted him to say, yeah, that's a great idea. 00:20:05.119 --> 00:20:06.720 Yeah, good for you. 00:20:08.000 --> 00:20:13.599 And then when Lauren and I took the next step in our relationship again, one of the first people I called was Clint. 00:20:13.839 --> 00:20:15.119 Yeah, man, that sounds awesome. 00:20:15.200 --> 00:20:23.200 I'm so glad y'all are happy and like serious, like you're gonna move across the country and she's gonna stay in Arkansas, but yeah, go for it. 00:20:23.440 --> 00:20:24.400 Sounds good. 00:20:25.039 --> 00:20:28.319 I don't recommend it, but God worked it out. 00:20:29.680 --> 00:20:33.519 And then when I told him, I was like, man, yeah, we're gonna get engaged and we're gonna get married. 00:20:33.599 --> 00:20:36.079 He's like, yeah, that is awesome. 00:20:36.720 --> 00:20:42.400 And then on the day we were married, May 21st, 2005, Clint stood beside me. 00:20:42.559 --> 00:20:44.000 He was my best man. 00:20:45.680 --> 00:20:47.680 And in that moment, what's he doing? 00:20:47.759 --> 00:20:50.319 He's giving his blessing on our marriage, right? 00:20:50.559 --> 00:20:54.559 He's saying, I love Jonathan and I love his bride. 00:20:55.440 --> 00:21:05.759 And listen, if you are a friend of Jesus, then I think Jesus wants you to be able to say, Not only do I love Jesus, not only do I love you, I love your bride. 00:21:06.079 --> 00:21:08.240 I love your church. 00:21:08.880 --> 00:21:10.880 I love this church. 00:21:11.119 --> 00:21:14.000 I love First Baptist Church of El Dorado. 00:21:15.440 --> 00:21:31.359 Jesus desires his closest friends and followers, his closest disciples, people who have been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb, people have been empowered by the Holy Spirit to love the bride as he loves the bride. 00:21:31.759 --> 00:21:34.240 Listen to what he says in John chapter 13. 00:21:34.400 --> 00:21:44.160 Jesus says, A new command I give you, love one another, as I have loved you, so you must love one another. 00:21:44.480 --> 00:21:51.440 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples if you love one another. 00:21:53.200 --> 00:21:59.839 This two verses they they set the standard for the church that is to come, the church that's come to come. 00:22:00.079 --> 00:22:02.240 That will be established in the book of Acts. 00:22:02.480 --> 00:22:04.960 And the standard is love. 00:22:08.000 --> 00:22:11.440 If you are a disciple of Jesus, you will love one another. 00:22:11.599 --> 00:22:13.599 You will love the church. 00:22:13.839 --> 00:22:23.200 You will love the people who have been saved by Jesus Christ, who God has brought you into a relationship with through the power of the Holy Spirit. 00:22:25.200 --> 00:22:29.279 That's the standard by which God's people will be known. 00:22:30.319 --> 00:22:30.880 Love. 00:22:31.039 --> 00:22:34.079 And they won't love a place, they'll love a people. 00:22:37.599 --> 00:22:50.079 Of course, there are moments in people's lives when the church and even this church have unintentionally and intentionally hurt and wounded people. 00:22:51.519 --> 00:22:54.000 For that we're so sorry. 00:22:55.119 --> 00:22:57.920 Like, we messed up. 00:22:59.920 --> 00:23:04.480 And what you felt is inexcusable. 00:23:05.680 --> 00:23:10.160 And what you experienced was never God's plan. 00:23:10.640 --> 00:23:19.200 It was not the church at its best, it was the church at its worst, where people hurt each other carelessly and intentionally. 00:23:21.279 --> 00:23:23.680 And we just ask for you to forgive us. 00:23:25.359 --> 00:23:27.599 We're still getting dressed for our wedding day. 00:23:28.480 --> 00:23:32.720 We still have hurts and pains we're working through, and we took it out on you. 00:23:35.279 --> 00:23:36.559 We're sorry. 00:23:38.480 --> 00:23:46.960 We're still just a group of imperfect people who found a family that knows a perfect Savior. 00:23:49.599 --> 00:23:52.480 And here's the the great glory of this all. 00:23:55.519 --> 00:24:02.160 Even in our imperfection, Jesus still loves his bride. 00:24:04.079 --> 00:24:09.680 And because Jesus loves his bride, imperfections and all, we can love his bride. 00:24:09.839 --> 00:24:15.200 We can love this church, this group of people, warts and all. 00:24:17.599 --> 00:24:22.160 Just a couple ideas on how you can love First Baptist Church. 00:24:22.640 --> 00:24:28.400 Not the architecture or the adornments, not the building and the bricks, how you can love the faces in the room. 00:24:29.440 --> 00:24:30.720 That's what it's all about, right? 00:24:30.880 --> 00:24:37.279 Church is not a place, it's a people, it's God's people in the world, the called-out ones by the Father. 00:24:38.559 --> 00:24:43.440 One way we love the faces in the room is by connecting with the faces in the room. 00:24:43.759 --> 00:24:51.759 Listen, if church is a place, and that's all it is, you can come and you can go. 00:24:52.799 --> 00:24:55.200 And you can live in anonymity. 00:24:57.039 --> 00:25:01.680 If church is a place, then it can kind of operate like a waiting room, right? 00:25:02.960 --> 00:25:11.359 A place where you can come and keep to yourself, have your needs met, and always remain anonymous. 00:25:14.480 --> 00:25:19.839 But church, listen, church isn't a waiting room. 00:25:20.799 --> 00:25:22.799 And this is gonna get me in trouble. 00:25:23.200 --> 00:25:24.960 Church is more like cheers. 00:25:28.559 --> 00:25:30.160 What do we know about cheers? 00:25:30.400 --> 00:25:32.319 Everybody knows your name. 00:25:33.359 --> 00:25:33.839 Right? 00:25:34.000 --> 00:25:36.400 No one's anonymous at cheers. 00:25:37.200 --> 00:25:40.880 It's a very old television show for the young ones in the room. 00:25:44.079 --> 00:25:48.960 Everybody knows your name because it's all about the people who gather together. 00:25:50.240 --> 00:25:55.759 It's a people who, through the power of the Holy Spirit, live in relationship with one another. 00:25:56.480 --> 00:25:58.319 So don't come and go. 00:25:59.119 --> 00:26:00.559 Get involved. 00:26:01.039 --> 00:26:03.039 Get to know someone. 00:26:04.960 --> 00:26:06.160 Call the church office. 00:26:06.240 --> 00:26:09.599 We want to help you find a life group, help you find a Bible study. 00:26:09.839 --> 00:26:14.400 Or if you're a member of a life group, you're a member of a Bible study, take that next step. 00:26:14.640 --> 00:26:22.079 Have coffee or lunch or dinner or just get together with someone you're already in a group with. 00:26:22.799 --> 00:26:25.839 And try to make it a regular occurrence. 00:26:26.160 --> 00:26:28.960 Get to know them, connect with them. 00:26:30.079 --> 00:26:37.519 You love the church when you develop these deep, meaningful relationships within the church. 00:26:39.039 --> 00:26:41.599 Second, you can love by serving. 00:26:44.000 --> 00:26:56.319 If you know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, then through the power of the Holy Spirit, you've been given some supernatural abilities to serve God, those spiritual gifts. 00:26:57.759 --> 00:27:01.279 Find a place to use your spiritual gifts in the church. 00:27:01.440 --> 00:27:10.000 Later on in our series, we're going to think through how to identify what your spiritual gift is so you can put it into action. 00:27:11.039 --> 00:27:16.000 And the third would be this: love by sharing. 00:27:17.359 --> 00:27:28.319 Listen, the love that Jesus Christ that we experience when this group of people comes together, it's something that should not be contained within these walls. 00:27:28.480 --> 00:27:31.200 It cannot be contained within these walls. 00:27:31.440 --> 00:27:35.759 It's a love we're meant to share with our community. 00:27:36.400 --> 00:27:44.400 And if we aren't, listen, sharing the love of God through our words and deeds, then we aren't truly loving, right? 00:27:44.720 --> 00:28:01.440 If we don't want to open the doors of our relationships with one another and say there's room for more, there's room for more people to hear the gospel, there's room for more people to experience the love of God, then we don't truly understand the love of God. 00:28:04.079 --> 00:28:05.039 You can share. 00:28:05.200 --> 00:28:09.039 Opportunities coming up, scare them the square, opportunity to share the love. 00:28:10.240 --> 00:28:17.119 You can volunteer when we go and uh give out free hot dogs during youth soccer season here coming up in a couple weeks. 00:28:18.559 --> 00:28:20.799 There's other opportunities as well. 00:28:21.119 --> 00:28:23.200 Our team getting back at Mermill. 00:28:26.640 --> 00:28:35.519 But if you truly love the church, then you will want to share the love you find in this place, you experience with these people when we come together. 00:28:36.160 --> 00:28:39.359 So here's what scripture reminded us of this morning. 00:28:40.079 --> 00:28:42.160 We are the bride of Christ. 00:28:43.119 --> 00:28:50.480 And we are called to love the bride of Christ because we are church. 00:28:50.960 --> 00:28:56.799 So many years ago, Philip Yancey published a book with this kind of provocative title. 00:28:56.880 --> 00:28:59.920 It said, Church, why bother? 00:29:00.319 --> 00:29:02.000 Church, why bother? 00:29:03.359 --> 00:29:11.920 It was a story, that book, uh Yancey tells the story of his own like pilgrimage and kind of a conflicted relationship with the church. 00:29:13.599 --> 00:29:19.440 The title is, you know, a question that at times I have asked myself. 00:29:19.839 --> 00:29:22.400 Church, why bother? 00:29:23.359 --> 00:29:26.720 And let me tell you why I bother with the church. 00:29:27.680 --> 00:29:29.839 It's not because of this building. 00:29:31.279 --> 00:29:32.720 It's really pretty. 00:29:32.880 --> 00:29:34.400 It's historic. 00:29:35.599 --> 00:29:39.200 But it's old and requires a lot of maintenance and upkeep. 00:29:42.400 --> 00:29:44.960 It's not because it's my job either. 00:29:46.400 --> 00:29:48.400 I'm a pastor, yeah. 00:29:48.960 --> 00:29:51.920 But there are other lines of work that I could pursue. 00:29:53.279 --> 00:29:54.480 I could look into. 00:29:56.559 --> 00:29:59.200 So why do I bother with the church? 00:29:59.759 --> 00:30:01.759 I bother with the church. 00:30:02.079 --> 00:30:04.160 And it can be a bother some days. 00:30:04.400 --> 00:30:05.680 It really can be. 00:30:06.160 --> 00:30:16.880 It's none of you in the room, but I bother with the church because of the faces I see today. 00:30:18.240 --> 00:30:23.599 I bother with the church because the church is God's people. 00:30:24.240 --> 00:30:26.160 We are church. 00:30:26.559 --> 00:30:37.039 We the church have received, listen, the greatest gift the world has ever seen salvation through Jesus Christ. 00:30:38.559 --> 00:30:48.880 And it's now our calling to come together in, to gather together so that we can see something beautiful. 00:30:49.680 --> 00:30:55.680 Listen, it's really cool to stand here every week and open God's word. 00:30:56.880 --> 00:31:00.400 And it's inspiring to see how the Holy Spirit is at work. 00:31:00.559 --> 00:31:08.480 But one of the things that God reminds me of is how each of you have a unique story. 00:31:09.920 --> 00:31:17.039 Each of you, like, and your story is not all mountaintop peaks where everything was going great. 00:31:18.799 --> 00:31:25.039 You have your own brokenness in your own baggage, but you know Jesus. 00:31:25.279 --> 00:31:29.119 And I have my own brokenness in my own baggage, and I know Jesus. 00:31:29.680 --> 00:31:52.079 And God can take each of our messed up lives and all the things we don't have together, and He can say, Y'all need to gather together, and I'm gonna put my spirit in the middle of it all, and you're gonna be unified around a common vision and a common mission to fulfill the Great Commission, to honor the great commandment in the world, and I can do something great through you. 00:31:52.240 --> 00:31:59.519 The church is this beautiful broken mess in the world, but God says, I can do something great through it. 00:32:00.880 --> 00:32:06.240 Because you have been redeemed by the blood of Jesus. 00:32:08.960 --> 00:32:23.440 So, guys, let's be that sort of church in our community for the sake of the gospel of Jesus Christ. 00:32:24.640 --> 00:32:25.680 How will they know? 00:32:25.920 --> 00:32:31.440 Scripture asks, how will they know unless someone tells them? 00:32:33.039 --> 00:32:39.440 How will they know unless the church is the church in the world? 00:32:41.359 --> 00:32:46.160 Unless the bride tells the world about the groom who is to come. 00:32:50.160 --> 00:32:51.839 Let's pray together. 00:32:54.079 --> 00:32:58.880 I want you just to take a moment where you're seated right now to thank God for the people. 00:33:00.640 --> 00:33:08.720 For the people on your pew, for the people around you, for the people who compose First Baptist Church. 00:33:26.960 --> 00:33:29.839 Is your standard that just of attendance? 00:33:31.519 --> 00:33:35.839 Are you willing to engage, be involved, and participate? 00:33:37.039 --> 00:33:40.400 To say yes to opportunities to serve. 00:34:06.799 --> 00:34:11.199 Almighty God, always faithful Father. 00:34:14.559 --> 00:34:16.639 We are your church. 00:34:22.559 --> 00:34:37.760 In your sovereignty, you have called us together, called us out to gather together for your glory and for the movement of the gospel in the world. 00:34:38.480 --> 00:34:40.079 Let us lay claim to that. 00:34:40.239 --> 00:34:41.599 We say thank you. 00:34:44.079 --> 00:34:49.760 God, I just pray you would rekindle within each of us a love for your people. 00:34:53.599 --> 00:35:00.719 That we want to be involved in one another's lives, we want to serve together, come alongside one another. 00:35:04.239 --> 00:35:07.760 The church, or there's nothing like it in the world. 00:35:08.800 --> 00:35:23.039 It is this grace-filled experiment of what happens when really broken people work together for something so much greater than they are by themselves. 00:35:27.280 --> 00:35:28.960 In Christ's name we pray. 00:35:29.199 --> 00:35:29.840 Amen.