Hi, my name is Rick Bloodworth, this is the Common Sense Christian channel, and today is Sunday, so we're going to do a sermon Sunday, but it's going to be a little bit different type of a sermon than we typically do, because I want to focus on one particular age group, and in fact, one particular stage of life. for one particular age group, and that's our graduating seniors. I'm from Happy, Texas, and in Happy, Texas, it seems like the whole community really is more of a family than it is anything else. It's not just a bunch of disjointed citizens who Sometimes overlap and sometimes come into each other's lives. But in Happy being a town of, Oh, somewhere between six and 700 people, we really do get to know one another. And for those people who have been here for a number of years, you get to know one another pretty well. And. It's this that I believe makes small towns unique. Whether you're from Happy or whether you're from another town that's similar to it, if you're from a small community, then you'll understand. And if you're not, well, you've missed out. I grew up in large parts Places just on the outskirts of Denver and Seattle and Houston the smallest place I ever lived before coming here was a place called Casper, Wyoming. And there was about 50, 000 people there. And I believe my graduating class was about 500 people. And so it was much bigger. There's our, our our high school was about probably two to three times as big as the town itself, and our graduating class was nearly as big as the town I live in right now. And so, there's just a different feel to small towns. We know one another. And it's that that I want to talk about. In 1 Peter chapter 1 and verse 22, it says this. Now that you've purified yourselves by obeying the truth, in other words he's talking to Christians, see that you have a sincere love for your brothers. Love one another deeply from the heart. For those of you who are graduating this year, and especially those of you who are graduating from smaller schools and smaller communities, You know, it's different. And if you had the privilege of growing up in the same town you're graduating in, then you really have experienced something very few people get to experience. In our little community, we're going to be having high school graduation in probably, oh, I would, I think a little less than two weeks now, but before that, they're going to have another graduation. And that's going to be for the kindergarten class. And I can remember when our youngest, because we moved here a little bit later, our two oldest ones had already been through kindergarten. But when we moved here, our youngest one was not even in school yet. And so when she got to kindergarten they had a, a graduation ceremony at the end of the year. And I realized that may seem a little bit silly to some but it speaks more. To the affection that people have for one another than it does some sort of an attempt just to have, have a reason to have a ceremony of some kind. And so the kindergarten graduation comes complete with the So I'm going to talk a little bit about the school. The school has a lot of caps and gowns. They keep those each year so the kids don't have to buy these things. And I don't even think they're available to purchase. But the school has these and I can remember all these little boys and girls, mainly girls, because she was in a girl dominated class. But, but all these little, little boys and girls in there, in there. graduation gowns and in their, their caps. And they did the same thing with the tassel when they got through. And of course the crowd went wild. But that was just the beginning for them. Each, each stage of life for those who are in school here very much involves the community. So many of the kids get involved with athletics at a very early age and a lot of the community, whether they're related or not, will come out and watch their, their ball games and they'll watch the different performances that they have. It's a time for the community to get together and to socialize and to enjoy the little ones. We had something for a number of years here called champions. It was just a a little group of, of our grade school kids. I say a little group. It was usually about 50 to 60 in number, and they would just learn dribbling skills and, and then they would come in. come out at the basketball games at halftime of the basketball home games, and they would they would perform for the crowd. As a matter of fact, there were some years where they actually went to a different college or two, and they performed for the big college crowds, and so much of the community would show up for that as well. But it didn't matter how the kids did. They tried to do their best and the crowd would go wild and they would cheer for them and, and they would, they would show their affection for them. And then as they got older and into junior high and high school, again, the crowds would come out and they'd watch their football games and they'd watch their basketball games and cheer at their track meets. And some of these games, you'd think that the people who are coming and attending had money. bet on the game the way they were cheering. They, I don't think they did, but they just cheered and rooted with, with all their heart for the kids. And sometimes it'd be kind of hard on the referees, which they shouldn't have been, but, but this was more of a reaction to them thinking that they're kids that they were rooting for weren't being treated right. If you've ever been around small towns, and especially small towns in which they have athletics as part of the central focus of the community during the school year, you'll understand. Parents townspeople, they take it way too seriously. And they, they, they, they live and die on every shot and live and die on every touchdown. And, and why is that? I was pointing out to, to our graduating class the other day when I had an opportunity to speak to them. I was having them just kind of think back during during their school days and how people would come and cheer for them at their band concerts. And they would come and actually pay money to come watch them in their one act plays and, and other school functions. And they would certainly come and, and cheer like mad at the basketball games and the football games. And, and again, they seem to sometimes take it very seriously. And they rooted really sincerely for the kids. Why? And it's like I was telling the kids it's because this is one acceptable form of affection that we can show for one another. You remember Louis Armstrong? For those of you who do, he he was a, He was a trumpet player from old times and he'd sing a little bit too. Had a real deep and, and unique voice. And, and, and you'll recall some of the songs that he sang. The main one that probably will resonate with you. And if you haven't heard this before, if you haven't heard it in a long time, get on YouTube and listen to it again. It's called What a Wonderful World. And in that song, he has one line where he says, I see friends shaking hands saying, how do you do? But what they're really saying is I love you. And I was telling the kids, this is really what the community is doing when they come out to cheer for you. It wouldn't sound right if we were up in the stands screaming, I love you, especially if it was our children. And you know, I love you, baby. That's it. It just never goes over very well with, with junior high and high school kids, does it? But it is acceptable to cheer like mad and root like, like crazy and, and when a basket's made to scream way to go and at a boy and at a girl and, and things like that. And the reason I believe that adults treat these sports in the way that they do so often is not because it means so much to them necessarily as far as the outcome of the game, but it means a lot to them for the kids to do well and for the kids to feel accomplished. In what they're doing and and for for them to have approval. And and while we don't just wander up and tell him I love you all the time. This is our opportunity to let them know how we feel about him. And so in a few days the the community will gather. They'll gather a week from this coming Wednesday for baccalaureate. And, and they'll have, they'll have a talk with a religious theme at baccalaureate time. But, but the parents will come and, and the family will come and the community members will come because they're wanting to see these kids as often as they can before And the whole town just about will come. At least those that can fit into the auditorium for graduation. And then when those kids go across stage, they will applaud for the kids. When the kids different awards are, are, are made. that night and the different scholarships are announced. The crowd will just go crazy. They'll, they'll applaud like mad and they'll have their way to goes and they're out of boys and they're out of girls. But what they're really saying is I love you. And this is appropriate. That's, that's why Peter told us that we needed to love one another deeply from the heart. And of course he wasn't telling us to get carried away at, at athletic events or, or whatever social function that we find ourselves at where we can cheer for our kids. He wasn't talking about that at all. He was talking about the support that we give to one another. In our town, if, if there's a tragedy, the people reach out. At funerals, you're overwhelmed with people coming by and dropping off food and, and asking you if there's anything they can do and just letting you know how, how sad they are for you and, and how, how sorry they are to see this person that they loved go on. And it's not that we're sorry to see those go on to, to heaven, that, that we feel like are, are, are, have, have lived a good life. And of course, that's not our call. We don't get to judge that anyway, but we're sad at the loss. We're, we're, we're sad at the, at the end of, of the time we have to get to be with them. And that's true at this time for our graduating seniors, because so many of them are going to go off and some of them we might not ever see again. They'll go off to college or they'll go off for this job or that job. And while they may come back a time or two we may not see them when they do. And it won't be the same. But for 18 years, We got to watch these little ones go from being a baby and, and watching them come to church with their parents, come to the worship in the Bible classes with their parents. And, and we got to see them at the school functions. And, and we got to root for him at the different athletic events. We just had an elementary track meet the other day. And, and there must have been well over a hundred kids participating in this, and probably one Well, over 200 people to come out and watch them on a work day, cheering for them. They wanted to see these kids. They wanted to see how they were progressing. They wanted to root for these kids. Obviously, many of them were their own kids, but, but many people just came to watch and, and exult in the joy of the accomplishments of the kids. And now our seniors, our, our 17 and 18 year olds. They're about to have a commencement ceremony. And of course, commencement means beginning, not end. But it will feel like an end for a lot of us because we've, we've watched them grow. We've raised them from pups and, and now here they are. They're like the little, little fledgling birds that we see. And, and now they're about to spread their wings and fly. And we're rooting for them to do well. We're excited for their opportunities. But it's also a bittersweet time because we know that they've got to go somewhere else, usually, other than our little community, to be able to accomplish the things that they want to accomplish. And, and so there will be a separation, at least for a time, but, but maybe for a lifetime. And so in just a little over a week, the community is going to have a time to come together for a graduation ceremony. And we're going to have one last time to applaud and to cheer and to let these young people know. how proud we are of them, and how much we love them. And while instead of screaming, we love you, we'll probably be saying, way to go, atta boy, atta girl. That's what we mean, is that we love them deeply, from the heart. It's a privilege. to live with such a support group. Small communities have, have a rare thing in that. And, and, and I hope our, our seniors will appreciate that. I know the ones that come back who have been gone for, for a few years or many years often talk about not realizing what they had until they were gone. And so, for those that, that may be about to graduate, whether in happy Texas, or way off in Timbuktu, or somewhere in between, let me encourage you to do something. For those of you who had a really good teacher, or really good teachers, or maybe you had an administrator that meant a lot to you, a, a principal, or a vice principal, or, or, or, or someone like that, Or, or a coach that really encouraged you. Or maybe it was, it was one of the custodians that was just always really friendly to you as, as you went through school. Before you leave, you take the opportunity to go up to them and to shake their hand or give them a hug. That's still okay in small towns. I guess it's probably not in a lot of places. And let them know how much you appreciate what they've done for you. And that'll mean so much to them. And it'll mean so much if you go up to those in the town that meant a lot to you, those that came out and rooted at your games, or those who supported you when you were at church. Tell them how much you appreciate it. Because just as surely as they've loved you deeply from the heart, now it's your turn to love them. to be able to express your deep love and your great affection for them. And, and as we do that, as we go through life and we go through all the different stages of life, whether we're talking about grade school and, and kindergarten graduation, or whether we're talking about high school graduation or whatever part of life that we're at. If we'll learn to savor the moments, to appreciate what we have, but to especially appreciate the people whom God has blessed our lives so generously with. If we'll love one another deeply from the heart, I believe it'll make all the difference. And if we'll love God in that way, and if we'll be appreciative to him for what he's done by allowing us to be around so many beautiful people in our lives. And if we can start living for Him as we should, if we're not already, and encouraging others to do the same. Well, maybe that'll be the best display of our deep love for others, is by helping them come into the relationship that they need with God, and with Christ. Because there's a lot of people out there that are not Christians, and they need to be. There's a lot of people out there who, who are Christians in name only, and they need to stop being that. They need to start living for Christ and living for God. But one of the ways that it's going to be easier to do that is just by thinking about the blessings that you have been given in life with the many relationships that you've had. And for you who are graduating this year, and especially if you're graduating from a close knit community, You've been given a lot. Now, do something to return a little bit of what you've been given. And for sure, go on to great things, but primarily go on to great things for God. And by doing so, you're going to be able to return a lot of that affection to other people in a very good way. Because by loving God deeply from the heart, it just seems to expand out and ripple out to where we love one another deeply from the heart. And when Peter, by inspiration, talks to Christians and points out the gifts that they've been given, purified by obeying the truth, now we can have that sincere love and that deep affection. And again, I want to say one more time, it will make all the difference in your life. And for those of you who are graduating, congratulations. But now do something really good with your life, and that really good certainly, surely will begin with returning that deep love that others have shown you to where now you can focus more on loving one another deeply from the heart. That's all for today. I appreciate your tuning in appreciate your support. If this is something that helps you and you think it might help somebody else, be sure and pass it along. Hopefully this is a, a happier thought, a little melancholy, maybe, maybe. but maybe, maybe a happier thought. And isn't it true that we all need some happier thoughts in this world that we live in today? Appreciate your, your watching today. Pray that God will richly bless you as you seek to serve Him.