WEBVTT 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:00.959 Uh well again, yeah. 00:00:01.040 --> 00:00:05.679 If you have your Bibles, we will be camped out in 1 Thessalonians 3, so y'all can flip there. 00:00:05.919 --> 00:00:09.839 We're gonna be bouncing a little bit back to chapter 2, kind of like we did last week. 00:00:10.000 --> 00:00:16.719 Um, when I was in seventh grade, my dad took me to a Dave Matthews band concert. 00:00:16.800 --> 00:00:20.800 Uh and if you know anything about Dave Matthews, he has like 48 concerts a year. 00:00:20.879 --> 00:00:24.079 Uh, so it's like very common to go to a Dave Matthews concert. 00:00:24.239 --> 00:00:31.359 But it was at Lakewood Amphitheater, which, you know, down by the airport, and it was a weird group of people at that concert. 00:00:31.440 --> 00:00:36.320 Uh if you've been to a Dave Matthews concert, you know like that's a that's a culture of people uh at that concert. 00:00:36.399 --> 00:00:40.000 It's a funky uh group of Atlanteans uh that we were all around. 00:00:40.159 --> 00:00:45.200 And so you know, Dave Matthews comes out and there were like 47 people in his band. 00:00:45.280 --> 00:00:46.479 Okay, so here's a picture. 00:00:46.560 --> 00:00:48.320 This is like the best I could find on Google. 00:00:48.479 --> 00:00:57.840 You can see from left stage to stage left to stage right, I mean there's like every inch is a person, uh, you know, instrument, uh, yeah, uh microphone, everything. 00:00:58.000 --> 00:01:07.200 So there's a you know, a 15 guitarist, uh, you know, a saxophone guy, piano guy, a brass section uh at this concert that I went to, there was a section of brass. 00:01:07.359 --> 00:01:11.519 Um, and then you know, like 15 percussionists, each one with a different instrument. 00:01:11.599 --> 00:01:15.599 I don't know, there were 15 percussion instruments in the world, but each one had a different instrument. 00:01:15.680 --> 00:01:20.719 And what one of my favorite things, I couldn't find a picture of this, so forgive me, but y'all know what bar chimes are? 00:01:20.799 --> 00:01:25.920 It's like, you know, a bar with like chimes that you kind of like, you know, tinkle with like a little metal thing. 00:01:26.000 --> 00:01:26.640 You know what I'm talking about? 00:01:26.879 --> 00:01:29.359 So there's this one guy who he was the chime guy, okay? 00:01:29.439 --> 00:01:31.840 And it was my favorite, it was like my favorite thing of the whole concert. 00:01:32.000 --> 00:01:39.040 Like every sixth measure, this brother would take his little metal stick and just all the way across the chime. 00:01:39.120 --> 00:01:43.040 And it was like, man, every sixth measure, I was like, I'm about to be taken on a journey right here, right? 00:01:43.120 --> 00:01:44.879 Like it was that was my favorite. 00:01:44.959 --> 00:01:52.719 Um but one of the weird parts about a Dave Matthews concert, and if you've seen him, you know this, he only plays like two songs that you know, right? 00:01:52.799 --> 00:01:56.879 Like when you go see somebody in concert, you're like, man, they're playing the new album, they're gonna play all the hits. 00:01:57.120 --> 00:02:00.959 Brother Dave plays like two songs that you've heard of, right? 00:02:01.040 --> 00:02:06.159 And the rest of the time, him and his 47 uh band members are up there, they're just vibing. 00:02:06.319 --> 00:02:12.319 Like they go, you don't know when the song starts, you don't know when the song ends, each song's pushing 12, 15 minutes, right? 00:02:12.479 --> 00:02:16.479 So all of a sudden he's playing eight songs, you're there for three hours, and you haven't heard a song that you know yet, right? 00:02:16.560 --> 00:02:19.120 Like that's what a Dave Matthews band concert looks like. 00:02:19.199 --> 00:02:23.759 And the weird thing is, it worked somehow, right? 00:02:23.919 --> 00:02:27.599 Like for those three hours, like I was on a journey with Dave, right? 00:02:27.680 --> 00:02:30.560 He he was taking me places I'd never been before musically. 00:02:30.719 --> 00:02:32.000 I I was there for the ride. 00:02:32.080 --> 00:02:39.680 And the thing is, is this concert was like weirdly chaotic, but also like really organized. 00:02:39.840 --> 00:02:40.319 You know what I mean? 00:02:40.560 --> 00:02:41.520 Y'all hear what I'm saying there? 00:02:41.599 --> 00:02:46.479 Like it was really chaotic, but at the same time, really foundationally organized, right? 00:02:46.560 --> 00:02:52.400 Because they all were playing different instruments, all on different kinds of beats and measures and paths. 00:02:52.560 --> 00:02:54.879 Chime guy, you know, throws himself in there every now and then. 00:02:55.039 --> 00:02:58.319 But you know, like they're all in that thing together, right? 00:02:58.479 --> 00:03:03.680 Like they had the same goal, which was to play good music under their fearless leader Dave Matthews, right? 00:03:03.759 --> 00:03:07.520 Like that was their whole goal to make good music. 00:03:07.759 --> 00:03:12.800 Now, last week we looked at the planting, the origins of the Thessalonian church. 00:03:12.879 --> 00:03:28.479 We're on this series through this book, and we saw that last week this church was planted in the middle of persecution, like planted while persecution was knocking on their door, how Paul and Silas were literally dragged out of, like physically dragged out of the city right after planting it. 00:03:28.639 --> 00:03:38.319 And then lastly, how this church received the word of God as not just the words of Paul and Silas, but as what it really is, the word of God that's alive and active among his church. 00:03:38.560 --> 00:03:47.039 And last week, my my goal was one thing, which was to instill courage and confidence in you and that God is at work in his church, right? 00:03:47.360 --> 00:03:52.560 Now, this morning, we have a little bit different of a goal, but similar to last week. 00:03:52.639 --> 00:03:54.879 It's gonna kind of build on last week. 00:03:55.120 --> 00:03:56.719 And this is this is where we're going. 00:03:56.800 --> 00:04:00.479 So for my type Aer people in here, that this is where we're going, okay? 00:04:00.719 --> 00:04:20.639 How in the outer chaos of the world and through the inner chaos of the church body, with our brokenness, our sin, the staff, the elders, all of you guys, the spirit of the living God will promote unity in the church, strengthen the church through trials, and lead the church to stand in victory as we await the coming of Jesus. 00:04:20.879 --> 00:04:21.279 Alright? 00:04:21.439 --> 00:04:22.399 That's where we're going today. 00:04:22.480 --> 00:04:23.920 So with that said, let's dive in. 00:04:24.079 --> 00:04:28.480 Point number one the church is knit together by love. 00:04:29.040 --> 00:04:31.199 Knit together by love. 00:04:32.079 --> 00:04:43.040 The letter to the Thessalonian church was permeated with Paul's love for the church and his desperate desire to see them face to face again after he was dragged away from them. 00:04:43.199 --> 00:04:50.079 And he makes it clear that even though he was separated from them physically, as he says, Satan pulled me from you, he says, I'm still with you in heart. 00:04:50.240 --> 00:04:53.120 So he had left physically, but he was still there in heart. 00:04:53.199 --> 00:04:54.319 He loved them. 00:04:55.040 --> 00:04:58.160 And we can assume also that he's praying for them constantly. 00:04:58.319 --> 00:05:03.120 And in John 17, Jesus prays something which is known as the high priestly prayer. 00:05:03.360 --> 00:05:09.199 And it's known as that because uh he is the high priest in uh our faith, and also because he's praying. 00:05:09.439 --> 00:05:11.360 And so it's called the high priestly prayer. 00:05:11.680 --> 00:05:17.360 And this is his last prayer before going off to be crucified, that is recorded in the scriptures. 00:05:17.519 --> 00:05:29.279 Um, and in this, he's praying, one, for God to be glorified, for the Father to be glorified through him in his ministry, in his closing moments of his life, and lastly, he's praying for the church today. 00:05:29.519 --> 00:05:32.959 Like, not just vaguely, but he is praying for you and I specifically. 00:05:33.199 --> 00:05:35.600 I have to believe by name today. 00:05:35.920 --> 00:05:43.279 And there's one thing that he prays, and these are just like some of the most powerful words I think Jesus ever says about the church specifically. 00:05:43.360 --> 00:05:45.279 And he says, these five words. 00:05:45.600 --> 00:05:48.399 He prays that they may be one. 00:05:48.959 --> 00:05:50.160 Talking about us. 00:05:50.319 --> 00:05:52.480 He's saying that they may be one. 00:05:52.560 --> 00:06:05.600 And then he finishes that with as we are one, talking about him and the Father and the Spirit, saying, Man, like I want unity in my church to the same level that me and my Father and the Holy Spirit have. 00:06:05.680 --> 00:06:08.959 And y'all, that's like tight-knit unity. 00:06:09.360 --> 00:06:19.279 So, in other words, Jesus is praying again for us to be unified, to the same character, the same ways, the same uh culture as the Trinity. 00:06:19.519 --> 00:06:26.480 Now, the question I think we have to ask is what does it look like for the church to be knit together by love? 00:06:26.720 --> 00:06:32.319 To have this kind of unity, to have this kind of oneness that Jesus asks for and prays for. 00:06:32.879 --> 00:06:41.519 See, I think the scriptures are very clear that there is an enemy working to destroy the church, to kill the church, and to split it end by end. 00:06:42.000 --> 00:06:47.600 And this enemy wants to lead the church specifically away from Jesus and towards destruction. 00:06:47.839 --> 00:06:54.560 That the powers and principalities of the darkness are seeking to, again, destroy the church as we know it. 00:06:55.279 --> 00:07:07.920 And so this enemy of ours, I have to believe, is going to do whatever he can to stir within his church and globally uh bitterness, frustration, anger, envy, jealousy in us. 00:07:08.560 --> 00:07:11.600 I have to believe that that is a scheme that he's going for. 00:07:12.079 --> 00:07:18.480 And so my plea for us is to believe that people are not the enemy. 00:07:18.800 --> 00:07:27.839 As hard as that is to believe, that that person, no matter how mean or gross or vile or upsetting they might be to you, that person is not the enemy. 00:07:28.160 --> 00:07:41.839 And so I think for us, what what my plea is from the word is that, man, we we would see again that we don't have a human enemy, but that we have a spiritual enemy who is trying to disrupt and disarm our church. 00:07:42.160 --> 00:07:43.600 That is what he's going for. 00:07:43.759 --> 00:08:02.480 And I think that when we recognize this, that when there's not a human with a name that's our enemy, that we actually have an enemy who is uh spiritual, when we see that, I think the Lord is going to invite us into greater freedom to be able to love people better, to be able to speak kindly about one another, to love one another, to forgive one another freer. 00:08:02.800 --> 00:08:04.879 And I think that's what the Lord is inviting us into. 00:08:04.959 --> 00:08:11.439 So I think for a church to be knit together by love, we have to recognize one, who our enemy is, and then two, who our enemy's not, right? 00:08:11.759 --> 00:08:16.800 Alright, point number two the church is strengthened by faith. 00:08:17.199 --> 00:08:22.000 Now, if you remember, this is a personal letter that Paul is writing to this church, right? 00:08:22.079 --> 00:08:28.720 I think that we learned that it's just even a couple months, if that, after he planted it, that he wrote this letter back to them. 00:08:28.879 --> 00:08:35.600 And it's written to them at this point in time, in their context, and in light of their specific situation. 00:08:35.919 --> 00:08:44.000 Now, if you remember from Acts 17 last week, Paul was literally torn by his ankles from them, right? 00:08:44.159 --> 00:08:50.639 Maybe not by his ankles, but he was torn out of town from this church almost immediately after planting it. 00:08:50.879 --> 00:08:52.320 So let's talk for a second, all right? 00:08:52.399 --> 00:08:56.399 Let's let's be human and let's let's bring this into our context for just one minute, right? 00:08:56.559 --> 00:09:00.639 So our church, Redeemer, was planted seven-ish years ago, right? 00:09:00.799 --> 00:09:02.240 Uh in a dentist office. 00:09:02.320 --> 00:09:04.480 Like it was small at the beginning, right? 00:09:04.559 --> 00:09:05.759 Like that's that's where we were from. 00:09:05.919 --> 00:09:10.000 And our desire was to be a grace-filled Christ-preaching church. 00:09:10.559 --> 00:09:19.120 So, our senior pastor, Russ, wife, Christy, right, and several other couples began meeting together to pray and see what the mission of this church was going to look like. 00:09:19.440 --> 00:09:21.759 Now, let's just imagine this, all right, for a second. 00:09:22.000 --> 00:09:25.039 Let's put our shoes in the Thessalonian church for one second. 00:09:25.120 --> 00:09:28.080 Let's imagine that Redeemer gets planted. 00:09:28.240 --> 00:09:31.759 We meet, we've met a couple weeks at the dentist's office, right? 00:09:32.320 --> 00:09:35.759 And then all of a sudden, you get a text from Brian Robinson. 00:09:35.840 --> 00:09:37.200 All right, y'all just imagine this with me. 00:09:37.279 --> 00:09:40.960 So I pull this up, uh, saying, you know, this is a fake text from Brian. 00:09:41.039 --> 00:09:54.000 So it says this Hey, Thunder Tumblin and Keisha Bottoms, who is the mayor of Atlanta, as we speak, are dragging Russ by his ankles through the Merida Square along with hundreds of angry people, and are about to send him in an Uber to Delonaga. 00:09:54.399 --> 00:10:00.240 They say they're tired of him blaspheming our gods and committing treason against Joe Biden by saying Jesus is Lord. 00:10:00.399 --> 00:10:00.879 Amen? 00:10:01.120 --> 00:10:01.840 Kind of weird, right? 00:10:02.000 --> 00:10:03.279 Kind of funny in our context. 00:10:03.360 --> 00:10:04.240 So forgive me. 00:10:04.399 --> 00:10:08.080 Um, but let's just think about this for a second, okay? 00:10:08.480 --> 00:10:13.440 There's gotta be a few things running through your mind if you get a text like that, right? 00:10:13.919 --> 00:10:17.519 First of all, I just gave a lot of tithing money to that building fund, right? 00:10:17.600 --> 00:10:18.240 Where's that going? 00:10:18.320 --> 00:10:21.200 If Brother Paul just got ripped out of the city. 00:10:21.440 --> 00:10:23.600 Number two, what's gonna happen to Russ? 00:10:23.840 --> 00:10:24.159 Right? 00:10:24.320 --> 00:10:27.759 Our fearless leader, what's gonna happen to him after planting our church? 00:10:27.840 --> 00:10:35.759 And then number three, if you're like me, I need to get the heck out of this church, or I'm gonna be looking like Russ in a couple days, right? 00:10:35.840 --> 00:10:41.360 If they find out that I'm under Russ's leadership, and then, man, I'm gonna be dragging out by the ankles too. 00:10:41.600 --> 00:10:45.039 And then for Paul, all right, let's let's let's put ourselves in Paul's shoes, right? 00:10:45.200 --> 00:10:48.240 Because he wrote this letter to this church, he loved them, he cared for them. 00:10:48.399 --> 00:10:50.000 So let's think about him, right? 00:10:50.240 --> 00:10:53.360 So, Paul, let's think about some of his prayers. 00:10:53.600 --> 00:10:57.679 Like right after he gets dragged out of Thessalonica, planting this church. 00:10:57.759 --> 00:10:59.360 He's saying, like, God, really? 00:10:59.679 --> 00:11:00.559 Really, God? 00:11:00.720 --> 00:11:09.120 You're gonna you're gonna call me to Thessalonica to plant this church, to reason with the Jewish leaders in the synagogue, and then lead to conversions and planting this church, right? 00:11:09.200 --> 00:11:12.639 And then, as soon as I plant it, you're gonna get me run out of town. 00:11:12.879 --> 00:11:15.679 That's that's what Paul's prayer journal probably sounded like. 00:11:15.840 --> 00:11:18.799 And then, man, like, is this church gonna die? 00:11:19.120 --> 00:11:22.559 That's that's a reasonable question for Paul to be thinking and asking. 00:11:22.720 --> 00:11:23.759 Is this church going to die? 00:11:23.919 --> 00:11:30.399 And then lastly, are these people gonna just fall right back into the hands of the Jewish and pagan leaders of their culture? 00:11:30.559 --> 00:11:32.879 Like, is that where this church is gonna head? 00:11:33.120 --> 00:11:50.399 And so that's why, in chapter 2, verses 17 through 20, Paul writes this But since we were torn away from you brothers for a short time, in person not in heart, we endeavored the more eagerly and with great desire to see you face to face, because we wanted to come to you. 00:11:50.559 --> 00:11:53.679 I, Paul, again and again, but Satan hindered us. 00:11:53.919 --> 00:11:59.039 For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming? 00:11:59.279 --> 00:12:00.399 Is it not you? 00:12:00.720 --> 00:12:03.360 For you are our glory and our joy. 00:12:04.399 --> 00:12:06.799 He was worried about this church. 00:12:07.039 --> 00:12:11.440 Like in the depths of his gut, he was worried about this church. 00:12:11.519 --> 00:12:21.519 And so, as their pastor, he sent Timothy, who was another brother, another laborer in the gospel movement in the book of Acts, he sent Timothy to go be kind of like their interim pastor. 00:12:21.600 --> 00:12:22.480 You know what I'm talking about? 00:12:22.639 --> 00:12:28.320 And so what he would simothy to do was to establish and exhort them in their faith. 00:12:28.559 --> 00:12:30.080 That's what the scriptures lay out for us. 00:12:30.159 --> 00:12:51.679 So when he says he sent Timothy to establish the church, he's basically saying that he sent Timothy back to make sure this church was standing on solid ground, that they were still believing in the gospel and the truth of it in its fullness, and they weren't sliding back into the pagan and Roman uh practices or beliefs in that culture. 00:12:52.639 --> 00:13:04.720 Because I think Paul would believe, and what we believe as a church, is that a church that sacrifices primary gospel issues will slowly stray away from what they have called, been called to be. 00:13:05.200 --> 00:13:07.600 It might look strong and exciting, right? 00:13:07.679 --> 00:13:17.440 Like a church that's strong and exciting on the outside, it might look like it's growing, but when primary doctrinal issues are sacrificed, the church will stray and will ultimately die. 00:13:17.600 --> 00:13:21.519 And I think that's what Paul would conclude from this. 00:13:21.840 --> 00:13:26.799 And so we as a church will not be a church that sacrifices gospel truth. 00:13:27.039 --> 00:13:32.320 I want to encourage you all in that, that we will hold fast to what the word preaches. 00:13:32.559 --> 00:13:34.159 And hear me when I say this. 00:13:34.399 --> 00:13:36.080 This is gonna get harder. 00:13:36.240 --> 00:13:44.159 In the direction our world and our culture and our country are moving, it's gonna get harder to continue to preach the whole counsel of God's word. 00:13:44.559 --> 00:13:48.399 It's gonna just get more tricky, more challenging, more polarizing. 00:13:48.960 --> 00:13:53.519 But we have to believe that there is actually life to be found in the gospel. 00:13:53.840 --> 00:13:59.279 There's actually fullness of life to be found in the scriptures systematically from Genesis to Revelation. 00:13:59.519 --> 00:14:03.440 And that's where Timothy's exhortation comes to play. 00:14:04.159 --> 00:14:21.279 This word exhortation, especially in this context, specifically means that Timothy was coming to encourage the church and also to strengthen the church, to grow them, to further the ministry, to raise up elders in the church and to lead them in what it looks like to be a church. 00:14:22.080 --> 00:14:28.320 And in verse 3, right after Paul explains why Timothy came, he says that no one would be moved by these afflictions. 00:14:28.559 --> 00:14:31.919 Right again, Paul was worried that they would stray. 00:14:32.159 --> 00:14:39.279 And so that's why he sent Timothy was to strengthen, strengthen and encourage them and exhort them and uh establish them. 00:14:39.919 --> 00:14:50.320 And one more thing, I just want to say if you ever hear us from this pulpit preaching something that you do not see in the Bible, I'm just begging you to come to us and hold us accountable to that. 00:14:50.399 --> 00:14:55.600 Because if we want to be a church that preaches the whole counsel of God's word and we ever don't, please come to us. 00:14:55.759 --> 00:14:58.559 You are the church, not just the pastors and the staff. 00:14:58.639 --> 00:15:00.639 Uh so we just want to invite you into that. 00:15:01.120 --> 00:15:05.840 Now we've we've used this phrase at Redeemer before, going back into the afflictions. 00:15:06.159 --> 00:15:13.600 And a lot of theologians throughout history have used this phrase as well, but it's this phrase that we are living in the already, but the not yet. 00:15:13.759 --> 00:15:17.200 So if you've been around this church, you you've probably heard that phrase before. 00:15:17.440 --> 00:15:23.279 And now when we say this, we mean that Christ has already defeated sin once and for all. 00:15:23.600 --> 00:15:31.759 That all Christian, your past, present, and future sin is all fully forgiven, fully paid the price for of all times by Jesus. 00:15:31.919 --> 00:15:34.320 You are now white as snow, you have been given a new heart. 00:15:34.480 --> 00:15:36.080 That is already done. 00:15:36.399 --> 00:15:42.480 But if you've been around, you know that it doesn't always feel like resurrection Sunday, does it? 00:15:42.720 --> 00:15:47.919 You know that Easter doesn't always uh give you the feeling like it does every day, right? 00:15:48.159 --> 00:15:51.440 You know that suffering is all around us, and here's the story. 00:15:51.759 --> 00:15:56.559 The sad but the true story is that every human under the sun will suffer. 00:15:57.200 --> 00:16:02.159 Matthew chapter 8 says that the rain falls on the just and the unjust, right? 00:16:02.320 --> 00:16:06.960 Every single human will go through hardships, will suffer, will go through pain. 00:16:07.279 --> 00:16:13.200 But the question is for us as a church, and for you, is what are you standing on? 00:16:13.519 --> 00:16:15.679 What is it that we are standing on? 00:16:16.080 --> 00:16:17.600 And we live in the South, right? 00:16:17.840 --> 00:16:18.399 Let's be honest. 00:16:18.639 --> 00:16:25.039 We live in the South, so I think all of us growing up be like, oh yeah, brother, I'm I'm standing on the rock of Christ, praise his name, right? 00:16:25.120 --> 00:16:27.120 Like that that's that's what we would say, right? 00:16:27.200 --> 00:16:28.879 That's the easy Christian answer, right? 00:16:29.120 --> 00:16:31.600 But let's talk for a second, okay? 00:16:32.720 --> 00:16:35.679 I think most of us would say on paper, yeah, yeah. 00:16:36.480 --> 00:16:37.360 I believe that. 00:16:37.600 --> 00:16:41.519 I believe that when the storm comes, I'll I'll be solid, I'll be on all on solid ground. 00:16:41.759 --> 00:16:45.679 But what I'm talking about right now is like deep in your gut. 00:16:46.080 --> 00:16:47.679 Like deep in your gut. 00:16:48.720 --> 00:16:54.720 When the floor you're standing on falls out from under you, like what will you grab onto? 00:16:55.440 --> 00:16:58.000 Like deep in your gut when you think about that. 00:16:58.320 --> 00:17:04.000 I was just listening to this sermon from Matt Chandler, and if you've heard me preach, I probably talk about him every sermon, so I'm sorry. 00:17:04.079 --> 00:17:08.240 Uh so I'm I'm only 23, I ain't got that much life yet, so I got Matt Chandler. 00:17:08.400 --> 00:17:09.200 That's all I got, alright? 00:17:09.279 --> 00:17:11.279 So I'm gonna keep hitting on Matt Chandler, alright? 00:17:11.359 --> 00:17:17.759 So what he says, he was talking about this idea of suffering uh and this idea of going through pain and afflictions, right? 00:17:17.920 --> 00:17:25.279 And so what he says is there isn't one person in this room whose life wouldn't be flipped upside down by a phone call. 00:17:25.839 --> 00:17:27.279 Now let's be honest. 00:17:27.920 --> 00:17:35.759 Any of us in this room, right now, our phone could start buzzing, and then everything in our world would be shaken. 00:17:36.160 --> 00:17:39.119 Like that's how fragile our life is. 00:17:39.519 --> 00:17:42.480 That's how uncertain our life is. 00:17:42.880 --> 00:17:47.440 And at any moment, any one of us right now could get a phone call that would change everything. 00:17:48.640 --> 00:17:52.079 So I just want to plead with you guys. 00:17:52.480 --> 00:17:55.519 To search the scriptures and to be ready. 00:17:55.839 --> 00:18:02.720 To be ready for this pain that's coming, for suffering that will happen, for death that will happen, for cancer that will come, for all these things. 00:18:02.799 --> 00:18:04.559 I just want to plead with you all to be ready. 00:18:04.880 --> 00:18:11.119 And that doesn't mean that you have to do more, that you have to read your Bible more or be a better Christian and white knuckle your way through. 00:18:11.279 --> 00:18:19.039 But what that does mean is I think God is just asking us to surrender and fall back in his arms, leaving control to him. 00:18:19.440 --> 00:18:20.000 Right? 00:18:20.240 --> 00:18:23.359 And if you're anything like me, if you're a human, uh, that's hard, right? 00:18:23.599 --> 00:18:24.079 Amen. 00:18:24.240 --> 00:18:25.519 Alright, point number three. 00:18:25.759 --> 00:18:28.640 The church stands together in victory. 00:18:29.359 --> 00:18:34.400 Last week, we talked briefly about why Paul was so frustrating, right? 00:18:35.119 --> 00:18:40.480 He would rejoice and praise the Lord if you threw him in jail, beat him, or threatened to kill him, right? 00:18:40.640 --> 00:18:43.680 Like that's that brother was frustrating to the Roman world. 00:18:43.920 --> 00:18:46.000 You could literally never win with Paul. 00:18:46.160 --> 00:18:47.519 You could never win with Paul. 00:18:47.680 --> 00:18:54.640 And the reason Paul was unbeatable is because he had such a strong grasp on what the ultimate reality was in his life, right? 00:18:54.720 --> 00:19:01.839 Like he had little realities that he could see, but he knew what the ultimate eternal reality was in his life. 00:19:02.160 --> 00:19:08.880 The ultimate reality for Paul and for the Christian in this room for us is that our citizenship is in heaven. 00:19:09.039 --> 00:19:14.960 We have an eternal home with Jesus, our Savior, and that nothing, nothing can take that from us. 00:19:15.200 --> 00:19:17.039 That's the ultimate reality. 00:19:17.519 --> 00:19:22.079 And Paul had experienced this, he had tasted this goodness. 00:19:22.720 --> 00:19:31.200 And he had so much security in this ultimate reality that he could go about his mission work with threats to kill him confidently and boldly. 00:19:31.920 --> 00:19:35.039 But let's let's be human for a second. 00:19:36.319 --> 00:19:37.920 Paul was a human. 00:19:39.200 --> 00:19:44.240 If we think that, you know, does that mean, you know, Paul was perfect? 00:19:44.559 --> 00:19:49.680 That he never felt anxiety, that he never was a little nervous, right, going into the synagogue? 00:19:51.440 --> 00:19:53.519 He was definitely insecure sometimes. 00:19:53.680 --> 00:19:58.000 If you want to know about Paul's brokenness, I just encourage you to go read Romans 7. 00:19:58.240 --> 00:20:01.200 Paul makes it very clear that he is a brother that sins still. 00:20:01.920 --> 00:20:09.200 But even though he was imperfect, still wrestling with sin, Paul was standing on solid ground. 00:20:09.440 --> 00:20:18.240 He knew what his ultimate reality was, and that's why his mission, that God's call on his life could be carried out, because he knew what he was standing on. 00:20:18.559 --> 00:20:26.880 And this solid ground that we stand on is what will lead us to be a church that Paul envisions here in 1 Thessalonians chapter 3. 00:20:27.359 --> 00:20:34.240 One that is knit together by love, knit together by selfless, sacrificial, sometimes hurting love. 00:20:34.720 --> 00:20:50.640 One that is strengthened by faith through afflictions, and then lastly, one that can lead us to stand together in victory, knowing that Jesus is coming back, that this not yet that we live in is not going to be like this forever, that the pain and the suffering you're going through is not what it's meant to be like forever. 00:20:50.880 --> 00:20:56.480 And that all your tears, Jesus in heaven is counting and ready to make right with you in heaven. 00:20:56.720 --> 00:21:02.079 That is what the ultimate reality is, and that's what we're standing on, waiting for as a church. 00:21:02.480 --> 00:21:11.200 Now, again, what this doesn't mean is that our calling as a church is to be perfect and to pretend on the outside like we've got it all together. 00:21:12.000 --> 00:21:21.039 Like we said last week, the church should be full of people who are most aware of their brokenness, yet at the same time most secure in who they are as a son or daughter in Jesus. 00:21:21.359 --> 00:21:21.839 Right? 00:21:22.799 --> 00:21:26.559 Now, let's just let's again just be human. 00:21:26.880 --> 00:21:32.240 We're gonna fall into gossip, we're gonna let each other down and upset each other, we're gonna blow it. 00:21:32.880 --> 00:21:34.079 We are going to blow it. 00:21:34.400 --> 00:21:35.680 So just take a breath. 00:21:36.400 --> 00:21:37.279 It's okay. 00:21:37.599 --> 00:21:38.559 We're gonna blow it. 00:21:38.880 --> 00:21:44.799 But the good news is that our church doesn't stand on a pastor, it doesn't stand on the back of any pastor or human. 00:21:45.039 --> 00:21:50.640 Our church stands on the back of King Jesus who is on the throne and does not scoot over for anyone. 00:21:50.960 --> 00:21:52.160 And that's our hope. 00:21:52.319 --> 00:21:53.440 That's where we're going. 00:21:53.519 --> 00:21:55.920 Uh, and so I just want to invite you in this morning. 00:21:56.079 --> 00:22:09.519 That you have a call on your life to be a part of a body, whether it's not it's this church or another church, you are called to be a part of a body that preaches the Bible, that holds you accountable, that pushes you towards Christ-likeness, and leads you in the mission of the gospel. 00:22:09.680 --> 00:22:10.880 And that's where we're going. 00:22:10.960 --> 00:22:18.799 Uh, but I want to close with a quote from this guy named Charles Spurgeon, who, like Matt Chandler, is my faith hero, except Spurgeon's dead. 00:22:18.880 --> 00:22:22.480 And so he's uh he's uh one of my dead guys that I really look up to a lot. 00:22:22.559 --> 00:22:24.640 Um but he says this about the church. 00:22:24.880 --> 00:22:30.240 If I had never joined a church till I found one that was perfect, I should never have joined one at all. 00:22:30.480 --> 00:22:37.839 And the moment I did join it, if I found one, I should have spoiled it, for it would not have been a perfect church after I had become a member of it. 00:22:38.000 --> 00:22:38.559 Amen. 00:22:38.799 --> 00:22:44.000 Still, imperfect as it is, it is the dearest place on earth to us. 00:22:45.039 --> 00:22:47.599 Church, let's pray together. 00:22:49.359 --> 00:22:56.559 Father, thank you, uh, Lord, for the gospel of Christ and that it is what it is, because you are who you say you are. 00:22:56.640 --> 00:23:02.079 Um, Father, thank you for leading us each here to sit under your word this morning. 00:23:02.240 --> 00:23:12.880 Um, Lord, I pray for each of our hearts that they would be healed and strengthened by the gospel, not by any security that we curate for ourselves. 00:23:13.039 --> 00:23:25.359 Um Lord, I just pray, um, Lord, for the person in here who is going through a hard season, who is suffering right now, that you would strengthen them, that you would bring loving brothers and sisters around them to encourage them. 00:23:25.680 --> 00:23:31.920 I pray for us as a church, Lord, that you would strengthen us, that you would lead us to wherever you are to be found. 00:23:32.079 --> 00:23:43.599 Uh, Lord, and I lastly just pray that in all of us, Lord, you would stir our affections for Jesus and that, Lord, wherever uh you are to be found, that in our lives you would lead us there. 00:23:43.920 --> 00:23:48.079 That you would lead us to the river that always satisfies and never runs dry. 00:23:48.640 --> 00:24:00.880 So Lord, I pray that in these closing moments of worship that you would just stir our hearts for you, that we would fall more in love with the gospel, um, and that Jesus, you would just gosh, just come speak. 00:24:01.519 --> 00:24:03.920 Uh Lord, we love you, we ask all this in Jesus' name.