SPEAKER_00: I know it's short, isn't it?
SPEAKER_00: You're all thinking it, aren't you?
SPEAKER_00: Some of you not.
SPEAKER_00: So I I that's a stomach cut.
SPEAKER_00: You're right, you're right.
SPEAKER_00: But I I I said to him, look, uh, my barber dude, I said, give me a buzz-ish.
SPEAKER_00: And he went more with the buzz than ish.
SPEAKER_00: You know how that is, that's how it works.
SPEAKER_00: So whenever uh my grandkids are all at the age right now, when our grandkids come over, one of the things that they enjoy doing is uh downstairs uh where our couches are, they like to set up forts.
SPEAKER_00: And uh we make forts and the forts are made up of the cushions.
SPEAKER_00: You know, when you get grandkids, you don't care.
SPEAKER_00: So you start taking the couch, cushions, you set it up, and we have poofs.
SPEAKER_00: Does everyone know what a poof is?
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I didn't know until I got them.
SPEAKER_00: Uh so we get these poofs with blankets, and we make a fort, and they get in and they love to play their games.
SPEAKER_00: How many of you enjoyed making forts and clubhouses when you were a kid?
SPEAKER_00: Everybody, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00: I think it's it's kind of a rite of passage.
SPEAKER_00: I I grew up in Zimbabwe, Africa, so I had some unusual opportunities with the forts that I created.
SPEAKER_00: One one group, uh a couple of my buddies and I uh we dug a fort in the ground.
SPEAKER_00: So there was a spot where there was just a lot of sand, and so we dug down into the sand and we had this room and we made these little compartments for us to go into.
SPEAKER_00: And of course, you know, if you're gonna have a fort outside, boys, uh underground, what do you need?
SPEAKER_00: Fire, right?
SPEAKER_00: So we said we're gonna make fire.
SPEAKER_00: We thought we were really clever and put a hole on top for the for it to work as a chimney.
SPEAKER_00: It did not work.
SPEAKER_00: So we crushed up newspapers and sticks, and we were setting this thing on fire, sitting there thinking we were like, yeah, we're doing it, and next thing we know, we're about killed ourselves with smoke and inhalation.
SPEAKER_00: We came out there, it was fun.
SPEAKER_00: Uh I got mad with those two kids.
SPEAKER_00: Um, they were in their fort for some reason, got in an argument, and so I thought, well, that's the thing about a fort that's underneath the ground.
SPEAKER_00: Uh I was on top, they were below, and they were giving me what force.
SPEAKER_00: So I said, Okay, okay, let's do this then.
SPEAKER_00: Boom, boom.
SPEAKER_00: And I crushed the fort on top of their heads.
SPEAKER_00: Um, and we weren't friends for long after that.
SPEAKER_00: Uh so uh a friend of mine, a pastor friend of mine, was telling me about his kids and uh the club they formed.
SPEAKER_00: And uh being in preachers, you preach your kids, you would expect them.
SPEAKER_00: This is no surprise, but uh I was told about the the club they formed with their buddies called the Savior Club, which sounds like a church small group or Bible study group, but you know, preach your kids, they're gonna make the Savior Club.
SPEAKER_00: Call themselves the Savior Club, and this is the sign that they made for their clubhouse.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, you read what it says, it says the Savior Club.
SPEAKER_00: Keep out.
SPEAKER_00: So I'm gonna have to sit down with uh with my friend and talk about what theology he was teaching his children, uh, what kind of Bible teaching was going on there.
SPEAKER_00: Savior Club, keep out! Obviously, obviously, the kids didn't capture exactly what they're saying because uh the Savior, Jesus, the club that he formed, we call the church, wasn't about keep out, although that's something we, his followers, sometimes forget.
SPEAKER_00: And inadvertently we might have that sign on the front of our doors, Savior Club, keep out.
SPEAKER_00: Um, but Jesus came into the world to save the lost.
SPEAKER_00: Uh his instruction to his followers before he returned to heaven was was pretty straightforward, right?
SPEAKER_00: Uh for the the work that they were called to do to form the Savior Club we call the church.
SPEAKER_00: This is what he said.
SPEAKER_00: He said, Go and make disciples of all nations.
SPEAKER_00: All nations, right?
SPEAKER_00: Baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything I've commanded you.
SPEAKER_00: Go and make disciples of all nations.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus came into the world for so that all people may have a way to be made right with God through faith in him.
SPEAKER_00: All people.
SPEAKER_00: No matter who you are, no matter what you've done, no matter where you come from, no matter your your status in life, you can be made right with God through faith in Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: No exceptions.
SPEAKER_00: And the sign for the Savior Club called the Church of Jesus Christ is the Savior Club, all are welcome.
SPEAKER_00: Now, the method that Jesus established to reach all was not through mass gatherings or mass media or mass marketing.
SPEAKER_00: That tends to be a new phenomenon.
SPEAKER_00: You know, Jesus didn't come for the crowds.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, whenever the crowds started to hang around, uh Jesus began to say and do things that really challenged them.
SPEAKER_00: He was trying to kill the crowd.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: He was trying to kill, he was, he was like, look, I'm not about fans, I'm about followers.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not about people coming for the entertainment, I'm about people willing to die to follow me.
SPEAKER_00: And what Jesus did was that though he had crowds, he taught many, he healed many, he he wanted to reach many, his method to reach the many, the method by which he was going to establish the kingdom of God that would go into all the world to make disciples, his method was to share the good news by going small.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, you read the stories of Jesus that we call the gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, first four books of our New Testament.
SPEAKER_00: What do you see?
SPEAKER_00: You see that Jesus spent most of his time, his energy, his focus during the three years of ministry when he was here on earth, he spent most of his investment of who he was by spending time with a small group.
SPEAKER_00: Spending time with twelve.
SPEAKER_00: And in those twelve, he had three Peter, James, and his brother John.
SPEAKER_00: And what we see is that the way of Jesus and the way of the church has always been to go small.
SPEAKER_00: But to go small and go strong.
SPEAKER_00: And to go strong and go slow at the pace of relationship and to reproduce that over and over again.
SPEAKER_00: We win the world by going small, slow, and strong in our neighborhoods and in our communities and in the nations and in the world.
SPEAKER_00: That is the method in which Jesus modeled for us as the church to establish his kingdom.
SPEAKER_00: Now we've been talking about this whole series, Bloom.
SPEAKER_00: We've been talking about how when you begin to follow Jesus, you, according to Peter, you have this promise that when you accept Jesus as Savior, the one who forgives you of your sins, when you accept Jesus as Lord, the one who leads your life, when you submit to him as your leader, Peter says, look, God's divine power, the resources that come from God are provided for you so that you will have everything you need in order to live a life that's godly, to live a life that's characterized by a relationship with God, to live a life that's transformed by the power of God.
SPEAKER_00: But God's way has always been to do this through community.
SPEAKER_00: Through community, by going small.
SPEAKER_00: When God enters into our life by his spirit, it's in order to establish fellowship.
SPEAKER_00: You know, the Spirit of God does not come into you in order to take possession, in order to force you to become something that he wants in your life.
SPEAKER_00: No, the Spirit of God enters in our life to provide access to relationship with God by which you do your part as God does his part.
SPEAKER_00: And so that's why we see in 2 Peter chapter 1, after Peter has just explained that God's divine power gives us everything we need for godliness.
SPEAKER_00: He says this in verse 5.
SPEAKER_00: For this very reason, make every effort, there it is.
SPEAKER_00: What does make every effort mean?
SPEAKER_00: It means that you, as a Jesus follower, need to put in the work.
SPEAKER_00: You need to make the commitment, you need to make it a priority and a focus of your life.
SPEAKER_00: Make every effort to add to your faith.
SPEAKER_00: The starting point is always faith.
SPEAKER_00: We believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of Living God.
SPEAKER_00: We give our life to follow Him.
SPEAKER_00: To add to your faith, goodness.
SPEAKER_00: This was the first quality we talked about.
SPEAKER_00: What is goodness?
SPEAKER_00: Well, simply put, goodness is living consistently with your beliefs, living in such a way that there's no doubt that God is real to you.
SPEAKER_00: Goodness.
SPEAKER_00: And to goodness, knowledge.
SPEAKER_00: We talked about knowledge.
SPEAKER_00: We said knowledge is learning the Bible so you can live biblically.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 6, and to knowledge, self-control.
SPEAKER_00: What is self-control?
SPEAKER_00: It is the self voluntarily submitting to the control of God's Spirit and the life that follows from that.
SPEAKER_00: And to self-control, perseverance.
SPEAKER_00: Perseverance is needed.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because when you stand up to live for Jesus, you will stand out for opposition.
SPEAKER_00: You'll stand out for trouble in this world.
SPEAKER_00: In order to endure the pressure of opposition, you need perseverance.
SPEAKER_00: And to perseverance, godliness.
SPEAKER_00: What is godliness?
SPEAKER_00: Godliness is making everything in your life sacred.
SPEAKER_00: There's no separation between the parts of your life that's dedicated to God and the parts of your life that are secular.
SPEAKER_00: There's no sacred, secular separation in your life.
SPEAKER_00: No, all parts of your life are sacred to God.
SPEAKER_00: And verse 7.
SPEAKER_00: And to godliness, mutual affection.
SPEAKER_00: Now, the word that's translated mutual affection is the word we want to focus on this morning.
SPEAKER_00: Mutual affection.
SPEAKER_00: The word, the original word is actually a word that we may we're pretty familiar with here in the U.S.
SPEAKER_00: I'm going to give you a clue as to what that word is in the original.
SPEAKER_00: It's the name of a football team.
SPEAKER_00: The football team who won Super Bowl 59 lost 2025 Super Bowl winners.
SPEAKER_00: They defeated those Kansas City Chiefs.
SPEAKER_00: Hooray.
SPEAKER_00: No, did I say that out loud?
SPEAKER_00: Who was that?
SPEAKER_00: Can anyone tell me the what?
SPEAKER_00: Philadelphia.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you, Tim.
SPEAKER_00: You beautiful man.
SPEAKER_00: All right.
SPEAKER_00: Philadelphia.
SPEAKER_00: Philadelphia is a Greek Bible word.
SPEAKER_00: And it's the word that's translated mutual affection.
SPEAKER_00: It actually is the word that means love for brothers or brotherly love.
SPEAKER_00: A word that's that's made up of two words for one meaning.
SPEAKER_00: The word philosop means love.
SPEAKER_00: The word Adolphus means brother.
SPEAKER_00: Put them together.
SPEAKER_00: You got Philadelphia, love of brothers, brotherly love.
SPEAKER_00: And the reason why New International Version doesn't translate it, brotherly love, the reason why the New American Standard Bible translated brotherly kindness is because what they're trying to do is help you understand the context of the meaning that what it's referring to is affection that you develop for those who are in your church community.
SPEAKER_00: The brothers to be loved here are the members of the church.
SPEAKER_00: It's a generic term referring to the members of the church that refers to the men, the women, the children, everyone in your church community, your Jesus church community.
SPEAKER_00: Brotherly love.
SPEAKER_00: The brothers are those in your church community.
SPEAKER_00: The word love, the word love is one of the four specific words that the Greeks use to describe love.
SPEAKER_00: You know, they probably took love more seriously than we do.
SPEAKER_00: We have one word for love that that has its meaning that's based on the context.
SPEAKER_00: So, like I can say, I love my wife, and I use the word love, but then I can also say I love soft serve uh ice cream from legendary in Bethel.
SPEAKER_00: I'm hoping they listen because I can get a little promotional piece there.
SPEAKER_00: We know that the love for legendary ice cream is not the same as the love for my wife.
SPEAKER_00: It better not be, right?
SPEAKER_00: So we we we understand the word love from the context.
SPEAKER_00: Well, the Greeks, they were a little more specific.
SPEAKER_00: They used different words to mean different kinds of love.
SPEAKER_00: And the word phylos is a love that refers to affection that you would have with friends and family.
SPEAKER_00: It's that that warmth, that's that we would say it's when you like one another, you you connect with each other, you enjoy the company with one another, affinity.
SPEAKER_00: Is these this word philosophy the word we would say, these are the people I like to hang out with.
SPEAKER_00: And I have warm feelings towards.
SPEAKER_00: And so what he's saying is that Philadelphia, you have fondness for the people of your church community.
SPEAKER_00: This is the family you belong to, and you work at at getting to know them, you work on liking them, friendship with your church family, fellowship with a few members of the congregation that become your brothers and sisters in Christ.
SPEAKER_00: It's the friends at church you hang out with, do life with, go on vacation with, go to the Reds game with.
SPEAKER_00: Now, I want you to recognize this, that this this this encouragement to add mutual affection, brotherly love, is something that comes after when he says, add godliness.
SPEAKER_00: Now, I've I've always wanted to take and think about why Peter uses the sequence he does, because it seems like he puts it in a place intentionally so that one thing builds off to the other.
SPEAKER_00: And I began to think, why would he include godliness and then brotherly love?
SPEAKER_00: What's the connection there?
SPEAKER_00: And I came to realize as I look, God's plan for our lives is that godliness can only happen when we have community.
SPEAKER_00: That if we we can only learn to be like God in life through real relationships.
SPEAKER_00: You cannot study godliness into your life.
SPEAKER_00: You cannot read a manual and say, Oh, I say it says love without having opportunities to love.
SPEAKER_00: You cannot read the manual and say, oh, it says I have to be someone who's forgiving without having people in your life that you have to forgive.
SPEAKER_00: And so if I want everything in my life to be an act of worship, to be sacred, that's what godliness means, then I need community.
SPEAKER_00: I need people in my life that God assigns for me to me so that I might learn this mutual affection that leads that that builds and builds up godliness.
SPEAKER_00: And so I have a statement here that it's important for you to remember.
SPEAKER_00: God's plan for your transformation is through a faith community.
SPEAKER_00: Once again, when you're when you come to the Lord, when you make that decision, when you're baptized, you you don't go in uh you know, totally you're a sinner, and then come out someone you you're on, you're forgiven, yes, but you you're not someone who has no issues or is godly and is perfect in everything.
SPEAKER_00: God doesn't zap you typically with with all these qualities.
SPEAKER_00: No, what God does is it puts you into a family where you are gradually transformed by the power of God, and that family is a community, and in the dynamics of the community is how God works to bring about transformation in your life.
SPEAKER_00: You know, every word in in scripture, particularly in the New Testament, was written for community.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, we read Bible books, there were letters, first, second Timothy, Titus, Philemon, these are these are books that were addressed to individuals.
SPEAKER_00: Realize that those books were written while they were written to individuals, they're not like emails that personally went to that person and all that person only read it.
SPEAKER_00: No, they they were intended to be written to an individual who was a leader within a church community, and the the expectation was that that individual would read that letter to everyone.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because that letter was for community, and the work of God has always been through community.
SPEAKER_00: I remember when I was uh a student and I was learning Greek and I was looking at the Greek on certain New Testament passages, and it just hit me.
SPEAKER_00: I'm like, wow, I can't believe how many times when when I read this this text in Greek, when it says you, you know, there's a command, you do this, or you love that, la, you, you, it's a plural you, not a singular you.
SPEAKER_00: Most of the times it's written with the context of community, and the promises of God for transformation and and and blessing come in the context of community.
SPEAKER_00: God's plan for your transformation is in godliness is through having relationships with others within the church.
SPEAKER_00: And so Peter says, look, the divine power that God gives to you comes to life not just with the Spirit of God within you, but the Spirit of God in others that you're connected with in the church.
SPEAKER_00: So many passages of scripture that I can reference on this, but I'm gonna do a couple.
SPEAKER_00: Romans 12, 10.
SPEAKER_00: Paul says, Be devoted to one another in love.
SPEAKER_00: Who's he talking to?
SPEAKER_00: He's talking to the church at Rome, and he's talking to them as a church.
SPEAKER_00: He's saying, Devote yourself to one another in love, honor one another above yourselves.
SPEAKER_00: Romans 12 is part of a section of teaching in that book where Paul has explained fully, we talked about this in the first few months of this year.
SPEAKER_00: He's explained how it is that God has made a way for us to be right with Him through faith in Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: That's the good news.
SPEAKER_00: And then the second part of that letter, where Romans 12 is located, is about how you're to live when you're right with God.
SPEAKER_00: And to live right with God means that you devote yourself to one another in love.
SPEAKER_00: Who's the one another?
SPEAKER_00: It's the people within your church family.
SPEAKER_00: Honor one another above yourselves.
SPEAKER_00: Who is that?
SPEAKER_00: He's talking about in the church family.
SPEAKER_00: So you have to be connected into a faith community in order to be obedient to this commandment.
SPEAKER_00: So, what does that mean?
SPEAKER_00: Well, it means be engaged in church, it means be in the church, learn to honor others yourself, help others in need, pray for others in trouble, listen to others when they have to share their troubles.
SPEAKER_00: Take the time to be kind and warm.
SPEAKER_00: When someone comes into the church building for church and they want to come in and sit because they can't find a seat and you're at the end, don't be grumpy.
SPEAKER_00: Did I say that out loud?
SPEAKER_00: Oh, that's what it means.
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: Peter's first letter, chapter 1, verse 22, you have the same instruction.
SPEAKER_00: Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth, writing to Christians, now that you've purified yourself, now that you have accepted Jesus, the good news, and are made right with God through faith, that's what he's referring to, obeying the truth, so that you have, here's the concept, here's the result, so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply from the heart.
SPEAKER_00: Philadelphia.
SPEAKER_00: Mutual affection, brotherly kindness.
SPEAKER_00: Have that with the members of the church.
SPEAKER_00: Now, before I go on, I want you to say something.
SPEAKER_00: Now that we have this command, we need to recognize something.
SPEAKER_00: Part of the problem is that a lot of us have this expectation that because it's church, we should have no issues with people.
SPEAKER_00: That because it's church, everyone should be likable and they should like us.
SPEAKER_00: I often tell people, look, if you're searching for the perfect church, you're not going to find it.
SPEAKER_00: And if you do find it, please don't join because you'll mess it up.
SPEAKER_00: If your expectation is to be in church and to have it all unicorns and rainbows, and everyone is great and everyone connects and everyone knows each, it's unrealistic and it's not promised in scripture.
SPEAKER_00: A healthy church, a good church, is a church that has dysfunction.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because we are all growing in our faith and we all are dealing with stuff where we're not necessarily Christ-like.
SPEAKER_00: The other part is that look, some people just don't connect.
SPEAKER_00: Some people just don't, and it's not a spiritual thing, it's not them being clickish or mean, it's not that that something is wrong.
SPEAKER_00: You just don't connect with certain people.
SPEAKER_00: You know what?
SPEAKER_00: And that's okay because you don't connect with certain people, but you connect, definitely connect with some.
SPEAKER_00: That's the church.
SPEAKER_00: Expectation that the church is supposed to be all likable and drives me crazy.
SPEAKER_00: We don't have that expect.
SPEAKER_00: Well, maybe we do, but uh your family.
SPEAKER_00: I love my family.
SPEAKER_00: I really, I love, love, love my family, and I like them.
SPEAKER_00: I like hanging out with them.
SPEAKER_00: If you ask me, hey Dee Dee, uh choose some people to go out on a trip and hang out with, I'm gonna choose my family pretty much every time.
SPEAKER_00: But because I like my family doesn't mean I always like my family.
SPEAKER_00: You know what I'm saying?
SPEAKER_00: I mean, there are moments where I'm like uh they drive me nuts, they irritate me.
SPEAKER_00: And I know for a fact there are times where I'm obnoxious and irritate them.
SPEAKER_00: You know, I got some kids that just do the eye roll.
SPEAKER_00: How many of you had kids that do the eye roll?
SPEAKER_00: You do something and they're like, And you'd be talking to them on the phone, and you can feel the eye roll.
SPEAKER_00: You go and see it, but you feel it.
SPEAKER_00: Oh dad.
SPEAKER_00: Now, just because at that moment we don't like each other or we irritate each other doesn't mean we don't make every effort to do things that are good for families, right?
SPEAKER_00: Doesn't mean we we stop eating together and playing together and helping one another, encouraging one another, being a family.
SPEAKER_00: No.
SPEAKER_00: And it's the same for the church family.
SPEAKER_00: It's the same for the church family, and so make every effort to add.
SPEAKER_00: Friendships to your faith community.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because that's how God works to provide his divine power for everything you need in life and godliness.
SPEAKER_00: And let me just say this: you need a church community for you to grow.
SPEAKER_00: But guess what?
SPEAKER_00: There are people in the church that need you in their church community for them to grow.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, too many times we think about it, it's all about me, but how many times have I said church is not about me, it's about we?
SPEAKER_00: And sometimes being part of a church, you're like, I don't get anything out of it.
SPEAKER_00: Well, maybe someone's going to get something out of what you bring, and that's why you're there.
SPEAKER_00: So I have a pathway that we've developed here at Mount Carmel, a little simple step-by-step that maybe could be helpful for you if you're in this, a reminder, three steps of what we do as a church and what we're committed to, how we add and make every effort to add mutual affection to your life.
SPEAKER_00: First step is to recognize that the addition of mutual affection doesn't happen in a crowd.
SPEAKER_00: It doesn't happen in this context.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, this is a step.
SPEAKER_00: But sitting in a chair in a large group has the purpose of encouragement and celebrating what God is doing in our lives during the week.
SPEAKER_00: We gather together, reminded that we're part of something bigger.
SPEAKER_00: But the real nuts and bolts of God's work happens in the small.
SPEAKER_00: Happens in the small.
SPEAKER_00: And so the first step is make a commitment to go small.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, be in a group.
SPEAKER_00: Be in a group.
SPEAKER_00: We have small groups that meet in people's houses to study the word.
SPEAKER_00: We have Bible studies.
SPEAKER_00: We have women's groups.
SPEAKER_00: We have groups that gather together to do something like hiking or serving or uh or rec some recreational activity.
SPEAKER_00: We have groups that provide opportunity for you to connect with others who are in the faith.
SPEAKER_00: Find a group where you're seen, where you're heard, where you're loved.
SPEAKER_00: And then find a group within the church family.
SPEAKER_00: You know, we have many opportunities.
SPEAKER_00: You know, I was just, we just did a survey and we counted about 60 groups for adults that we have.
SPEAKER_00: Now that number's dropped because a lot of groups have now gone into their summer schedules and taken a break and will be picking things up in the summer.
SPEAKER_00: But I'm saying this because we have an opportunity for you to find a group where you can find the few that can be your friends.
SPEAKER_00: So you can add mutual affection.
SPEAKER_00: And we have a commitment to add more.
SPEAKER_00: We're this is this is where we're at.
SPEAKER_00: This is what we're what we what we do.
SPEAKER_00: And so if you're interested in finding information, uh you can take that card in front of you, fill it out, put your name.
SPEAKER_00: There's a card in front of you.
SPEAKER_00: You can put it in the box, it's a blue box there on the information center.
SPEAKER_00: Uh if you want to talk to someone about it, and Colin talked about the make heaven full wall, the putting your name on your one.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, you can talk to the individual.
SPEAKER_00: Roger Bishop's out there, Colin, you saw him this earlier.
SPEAKER_00: This will be maybe out there.
SPEAKER_00: Aaron Adams, uh discipleship minister, talk to them, talk to the person at the information desk.
SPEAKER_00: Email us, ask questions.
SPEAKER_00: We will seek to try to get back to you by the end of the week to talk about any kind of group that may be available that'd be helpful.
SPEAKER_00: And and and and be tenacious about it.
SPEAKER_00: Give it a try.
SPEAKER_00: If it doesn't work, it's okay.
SPEAKER_00: It's not you, it's not me.
SPEAKER_00: It might be that you're just not a good fit, and so don't be offended.
SPEAKER_00: It's okay.
SPEAKER_00: I know there's there's history there.
SPEAKER_00: I know a lot of folks struggle with rejection.
SPEAKER_00: I I get that, I understand that, but a lot of times it's just it's just not a good fit.
SPEAKER_00: It's just like ice cream.
SPEAKER_00: Some of us like strawberries, some of us don't.
SPEAKER_00: It's okay.
SPEAKER_00: We have chocolate, we have vanilla, we can try other things.
SPEAKER_00: Please give a commitment to that.
SPEAKER_00: You know, it's something I really personally I'm kind of a private person, introvert, and uh there was a time in my ministry a number of years ago where I recognized that I really need community on the level where I need to have community with other Christian leaders.
SPEAKER_00: And I didn't have it.
SPEAKER_00: And uh, you know, we people talk about the American male being lonely.
SPEAKER_00: I'll tell you this, the American pastor is one of the loneliest.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because you know, we live in community, but we don't have community.
SPEAKER_00: And so I was looking for that, and so I just had to decide, Lord, I need help.
SPEAKER_00: And I prayed about it, got a phone call out of the blue, invited me to be a minister's group.
SPEAKER_00: This is one of a minister's group where they just sat around and talked about numbers.
SPEAKER_00: This is a ministry group where they really prayed for each other, encouraged one another.
SPEAKER_00: From that group, I was introduced to another ministry where I was able to get into this program covenant group, I was able to go on a journey, form friendships with four other guys that were in ministry, and it was just a powerful experience that really opened up my heart.
SPEAKER_00: Because what I discovered is when you when you open up to God and you open up to others in a safe community, it makes you an open person.
SPEAKER_00: And you start to be able to connect with others and you're able to find community wherever.
SPEAKER_00: Please commit to it.
SPEAKER_00: I I highly recommend it.
SPEAKER_00: Uh be open to God on this.
SPEAKER_00: And also know this that over time and through the seasons of your life, the groups that you're with are gonna change.
SPEAKER_00: This is the truth of life.
SPEAKER_00: The family you start with is not the family you end with, but they're still family.
SPEAKER_00: And to and to regret that, oh my family.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, I get it, there's hurts and stories there, but but the family you start with is not always the family you end with.
SPEAKER_00: But they're still family, and you need them and they need you.
SPEAKER_00: So go small.
SPEAKER_00: Second thing is go strong.
SPEAKER_00: Go strong.
SPEAKER_00: I I mean get into groups that are committed to learn to live scripture together.
SPEAKER_00: Look for groups that that are committed to to encourage one another to love and good deeds.
SPEAKER_00: Look, I'm all for for fun, I'm all for uh social things, I'm all for enjoying each other's company, that's part of it.
SPEAKER_00: But but we don't have time to mess around with stuff that doesn't matter.
SPEAKER_00: I'm just gonna lay it out there.
SPEAKER_00: And we've got to get into the things that of the heart that are that have eternal consequence because we know better, we know the truth.
SPEAKER_00: And so get into groups, and I think that's why church groups are so important, groups that have an acknowledged purpose of helping one another grow in Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: And it may not be that you sit around studying Bible all day, it's that you help each other learn to live Bible and you encourage one another in living honorably in a way that honors God.
SPEAKER_00: Put in the investments in the things that matter.
SPEAKER_00: Be ready to invest in the heart work.
SPEAKER_00: Find people that you can open up to and spend time with and share life with in your faith.
SPEAKER_00: Interestingly, Paul writes to a church about the importance of community.
SPEAKER_00: He's writing to address a number of false doctrines, and it's interesting that he says this uh in addressing one particular false doctrine that was running through the church.
SPEAKER_00: He points to the source of it as not some kind of teaching of a philosopher.
SPEAKER_00: He points to the problem as bad company.
SPEAKER_00: 1 Corinthians 15, he says, Do not be misled.
SPEAKER_00: He quotes the Greek poet Menander.
SPEAKER_00: He says, Bad company corrupts good character.
SPEAKER_00: He says, Come back to your senses as you ought, stop sinning, for there are some who are ignorant of God.
SPEAKER_00: I say this to your shame.
SPEAKER_00: In other words, you you should be ashamed of the people you're hanging out with and letting them influence you when it comes to your faith walk.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because bad company corrupts good character.
SPEAKER_00: That's the power of your friends, that's the power of your few, that's the power of your small group, that's why you have to go strong and be strong in the word.
SPEAKER_00: Because the opposite is true as well, right?
SPEAKER_00: Good company strengthens good character.
SPEAKER_00: So be strong.
SPEAKER_00: So you go small, go strong, and finally go slow.
SPEAKER_00: By go slow is that you have to recognize that you have to have a group of people that you walk life with through life over time.
SPEAKER_00: We we're such in a rush.
SPEAKER_00: We're such in a rush with everything, and we think that our spiritual development is a matter of studying these courses, taking these steps, b-da bing, bada boom, got my certifications.
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00: I'm a mature Christian because I look what I've done.
SPEAKER_00: That's not how it works.
SPEAKER_00: You go you go small, you go strong, but you gotta go slow.
SPEAKER_00: You've got to walk at the pace of life.
SPEAKER_00: Someone said that the pace of Jesus' ministry was five miles an hour, because that's what the average person, that's how he walks, how fast he walks.
SPEAKER_00: If you're gonna walk with Jesus, you're gonna have to go at a slow, slow, and you have to go slow in the community.
SPEAKER_00: 1999, uh it's 27 years ago.
SPEAKER_00: Uh I was associate minister here at that time, at the beginning of the year, was in charge of small groups, believe it or not.
SPEAKER_00: And uh I asked uh a younger, a young couple who had no idea what I was asking them to do.
SPEAKER_00: I asked them if they would be hosts of a small group.
SPEAKER_00: They said, What's a host?
SPEAKER_00: What do we do?
SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
SPEAKER_00: But anyway, uh Dave and Pam said yes, and I'm so glad they did, because they started a small group in their home.
SPEAKER_00: I think it was led by Pat and Barb, and they started leading that group, and that small group started to become not a small group, because it grew.
SPEAKER_00: Started small, soon began to get bigger and bigger.
SPEAKER_00: And I remember I we put kind of pressure on them, like, hey, you need to expand and split.
SPEAKER_00: And they said to me, Why would we want to do that?
SPEAKER_00: These are my friends.
SPEAKER_00: We like hanging out with them.
SPEAKER_00: We'll make it work.
SPEAKER_00: And I'm so glad they did.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because that's what it's about, doing life together.
SPEAKER_00: And this group has done that.
SPEAKER_00: They they would they would gather in the house of David Pam, and they would have to split into two rooms in order to facilitate all their activities because there's so many of them there.
SPEAKER_00: But why were they there?
SPEAKER_00: Because they went small, they were involved in the connection with each other, they went strong because the Bible was central to the reason why they were meaning, but it was not just the Bible, it was learning to live scripture.
SPEAKER_00: So they served together, they had fun together, they lived life together, they supported one another through the trials and tribulations of life.
SPEAKER_00: Was everything always perfect and hunky-dory?
SPEAKER_00: Did they always like each other?
SPEAKER_00: No.
SPEAKER_00: I know, I know some of the stories, but they worked through it.
SPEAKER_00: They worked through it and they were consistent.
SPEAKER_00: I saw the benefit of this, I saw the power of this just not too long ago.
SPEAKER_00: Two ladies that are part of their group that are now in nursing homes dealing with some significant health issues.
SPEAKER_00: Both those ladies reference the care and love that they've received by their friends in that small group, who regularly come to visit them, who regularly come to take care of them, who bring them treats, who encourage them, who set up uh set up what they need in order to get them to chemo.
SPEAKER_00: They're with them through this time.
SPEAKER_00: And though, though these two ladies are not technically there in their group, they are there in the heart of the love of this group.
SPEAKER_00: And that's how it's meant to be.
SPEAKER_00: And how was that formed?
SPEAKER_00: It was formed through years and years of faithfulness and love and walking life together.
SPEAKER_00: That's how it's supposed to be.
SPEAKER_00: Going slow, not just because they're getting up, they're in age.
SPEAKER_00: That's a little joke there.
SPEAKER_00: You see that?
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
SPEAKER_00: Going slow, going strong, going small.
SPEAKER_00: It's a simple formula.
SPEAKER_00: Meaning regularly, eating together, learning to live scripture together over the long haul.
SPEAKER_00: This is the way of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: This is God's plan for transformation.
SPEAKER_00: This is what you're called to do if you're gonna make every effort to add mutual affection to Philadelphia.
SPEAKER_00: Let's take communion together.
SPEAKER_00: And recognize that if you take communion, we'll ask that you take the piece of bread out the top and then just start working on opening up the cup in readiness.
SPEAKER_00: Be careful it spills out sometimes.
SPEAKER_00: You know, there's a passage in scripture that people reference when it comes to taking communion.
SPEAKER_00: It's from Corinthians, Paul's teaching, and they said, you know, when you take communion, don't take in a way that dishonors.
SPEAKER_00: And typically, when they think that, they apply it to the fact that you have to be in the right mindset, you have to confess your sins individually, you have to think about, meditate on your relationship with God.
SPEAKER_00: And that's helpful, but that's not what Paul was referencing to.
SPEAKER_00: When he says, don't take communion in a way that's dishonorable, what he was referring to is your what was the problem that the Corinthians were having was that they were taking communion that celebrated oneness, but they were in fractions.
SPEAKER_00: They were, they were, they were split up in groups, they were at odds with each other.
SPEAKER_00: And Paul was like, look, some of you are going to sleep, which is a nice way of saying because you're dishonoring God, some of you are dying.
SPEAKER_00: Because you're doing something that is totally against what communion is all about.
SPEAKER_00: Celebrating oneness.
SPEAKER_00: And so today as we take communion, I want you to remember that God's plan for your transformation is that you be part of a church family.
SPEAKER_00: Go small, go strong, go slow.
SPEAKER_00: Let's take the bread together.
SPEAKER_00: Let's drink a cup together.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus said, Do this in remembrance of me.
SPEAKER_00: And it's funny that now we are on Memorial Day weekend.
SPEAKER_00: And I just want to say something about Memorial Day.
SPEAKER_00: You know, it's uh 250 years, American history, our birthday, it's a significant Memorial Day.
SPEAKER_00: The reason why we celebrate Memorial Day is that we are as a nation are asked to remember the sacrifice of those who served in military over our history whose sacrifice provided us the opportunity to live with the benefits and privileges and opportunities that we have here.
SPEAKER_00: I I shared this with you before, but I think it's important to remember.
SPEAKER_00: You know, a person said, you know, when you think about it, we are trust fund kids of freedom.
SPEAKER_00: That freedom was purchased by lives, by individuals that not necessarily were dying for their country.
SPEAKER_00: Actually, when it comes down to it, you hear the stories, people were sacrificing their lives because of the small, because of their friendships, their families, their units, their their the people that they loved within the situations they were in.
SPEAKER_00: You know it's fashionable, it seems like today to to bash on the blessings of our nation.
SPEAKER_00: It's fashionable now to poo-poo uh history and not appreciate it, to to see it as evil and bad.
SPEAKER_00: And and look, I'm not talking about blind patriotism here.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not talking about being uh unaware of the things that have happened that we are not that are not necessarily good.
SPEAKER_00: But what I'm saying is is that part of what I think as we as Jesus followers need to recognize is that um taking on an attitude of being like spoiled trust fund kids of freedom is not appropriate.
SPEAKER_00: We need to take the lead in showing what it means to be grateful for the blessings that we have.
SPEAKER_00: And we need to recognize that that uh that attitude is disrespectful to the lives and families of individuals that paid the ultimate price so that we can enjoy the privilege of being disgruntled with the life we have today.
SPEAKER_00: And so I think it's important that we think about after we want to pray, but also this Memorial Day to just celebrate and give thanks for God's blessings.
SPEAKER_00: You know, Jesus said, No greater love has he who who's willing to lay down his life for his friends.
SPEAKER_00: And and Jesus modeled that for all of us, the whole world, but in many ways, this was modeled in the course of our history as we celebrate Memorial Day.
SPEAKER_00: And so I just ask that this Memorial Day, particularly in 250 years, that we we take the lead in just being grateful and setting a positive tone.
SPEAKER_00: Setting a positive tone to recognize, hey, yeah, we we got our issues.
SPEAKER_00: No one denies that, but I'll tell you what, as one who's seen a lot of the world and knows the histories of a lot of other countries, our problems, some countries wish they would have our issues, that the struggles we have, uh we're blessed.
SPEAKER_00: And we have opportunity now to not not bemoan the problems, but let's appreciate the opportunities and the resources in order to do good, in order to do good first and foremost for Jesus, our King, who gave up his life so that we can have life.
SPEAKER_00: To do good and to set the tone of giving thanks and appreciation and respect and honor over the Memorial Day weekend.
SPEAKER_00: Let's pray.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, we just thank you for the opportunity we have.
SPEAKER_00: Pray that you would help us to uh think about this this challenge that Peter lays out in this word Philadelphia.
SPEAKER_00: How can we develop mutual affection for our brothers and sisters?
SPEAKER_00: Lord, maybe we need to recognize that perhaps we have been um not consistent in the calling that we've been placed, that we have been uh people that have not really worked at or given ourselves or been uh seeking out relationships within the church that are that that are that are fulfilled, this this requirement of developing mutual affection.
SPEAKER_00: That perhaps we've been uh we've been saying keep out, or we've been uh not willing to bear one another's burdens or forgiving or maybe selfish and self-centered.
SPEAKER_00: Help us, Lord, to to recognize that that our godliness is connected to our the being connected in community and and and help those that I know the stories and disappointments and and and frustrations when you've tried and it just hasn't worked out.
SPEAKER_00: I get it.
SPEAKER_00: Help us to overcome and to persist and to to speak out because I know that that everyone here needs a community of faith in order to grow in, but there's a community of faith that that needs everyone here to be part of in order for them to help them grow as well.
SPEAKER_00: Help us to to do that and be in that in Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Rick's here, Dave's here, available to pray with you if you want.
SPEAKER_00: God bless, great to see everyone.
SPEAKER_00: Have a great Memorial Day.