Keep Growing Pt. 2 // Don't Grow Weary of Doing Good

Visit our website
Follow us on Facebook
Follow us on Instagram

Transcript

Copy Transcript Copied

SPEAKER_01 0:01

Hi, welcome to the Divine Life Church podcast. We're in Boulder, Colorado, and we're following Jesus by staying rooted in his presence, growing in his family, and living on his mission so that hearts are awakened with his awe-inspiring love. And if we can help you in any way, reach out to us at VineLife.com. For now, here's a short sermon from last week in Vine Life. Again, thanks for joining us.

SPEAKER_00 0:34

Alright, happy Sunday, everybody. Round two. Intermissions over. Sit down. We got to open the word of God today. But I am excited because what's coming in the fall is exciting. I can tell you a little bit more about that as we end the service today. But today we are going to continue a journey, a little mini-series that was started last week that Pastor Jeanette started last few weeks. He was here last week for Pastor Jeanette's message. Come on. It was awesome. And she started this little mini-series we're on called Keep Growing. And we're still working through our journey through the scriptures, through the New Testament. If you haven't been with us on this journey, you can always jump on. If you started on the journey and somehow fell off the train in the middle of summer or the busyness, you can always get back on the train, little children. Vinelife.com slash Bible has everything you need. VineLife.com slash Bible. You can see Monday through Friday. We're just reading about a chapter a day, sometimes maybe a chapter, a couple chapters. But we have been in this little section of the New Testament, Paul's epistles to the churches. We finished 1 Thessalonians last week. Today we are diving into 2 Thessalonians. But the reason we're going through scripture is so that we get the broad brush strokes of what God was doing as the church was being strengthened and multiplying throughout the first century. And we're tapping into passages we don't normally tap into. So that's what's fun about this thing. So last week Jeanette kicked off this walk through 1 Thessalonians, talking about keep growing, and it was really this invitation, this direct invitation to not sit back, to not let yourself sell out, but to keep going specifically as it relates to relationship, to growing in your faith, growing with those around you, to not allow the enemy to rob you through busyness of the people God is trying to knit into your life. And that theme will continue as we journey together over this next month. So we're going to open up to 2 Thessalonians. I'm going to give you a little extra time to find it because it's probably been a while since you've been there. 2 Thessalonians, it comes right after 1 Thessalonians, if that's helpful. I just want to ask, when's the last time you read 2 Thessalonians? Just honest. Come on. Okay. This week, of course, you're in the Bible reading plan. Yeah, if I'm honest, I read, I read it about as much as I floss, right? So about once or twice a day, right? 2 Thessalonians, though, it's three chapters, but there is a lot going on in these three chapters. I'm going to hit a few broad brush strokes, and we're going to really drill into what I believe is the word. But yeah, 2 Thessalonians, there's a lot that's going on here. Paul is encouraging a church that has been suffering under persecution. He then has to try to redirect some of their energy as they think that they have missed the coming of Jesus and they're freaking out, as you would. And then he has some very strong, very strong commands, instructions. Oh, what's going out right now? This is going to come, uh, just hold this for a second. We're going to reference this later in the service. But what you're getting right now is something we're going to talk about a little bit later in the morning. But so he's covering a lot of ground in chat in three chapters. So, like right, he says, I feel like a mosquito at a nudist colony. I know what I'm here to do, but I just don't know where to begin. So, but opening with a question here, have you ever started something? Have you ever started something and then later found yourself tired or fatigued? Have you started something and then grown tired? This is a core question that we're getting at. A couple weeks ago, some of you saw that I uh I was able to run a half marathon uh around Boulder Res. Um this is me, just as evidence that I actually did it. I just want to send you a photo in case you don't believe me. This is me. I got my earbuds in, and I'm just totally dialed in uh to the zone. And I love that it was Boulder Rez uh because every time when we worship, um you can say, God, you're worthy, you're worthy of it all, but man, I see Boulderz. I'm pretty awesome too. You know, I dominated that thing. And so I ran two laps around Boulder Res, and uh I uh it was an interesting thing. It was the first half marathon I had done. I did some training for it. Um and I did pretty good all the way around. But I did notice it's interesting how about first eight miles, I, you know, I did all right. Like I was just a steady pace, just kind of just keep at it. Steady goes it. About eight, about eight miles in, my body starts to send me warning signs like you're running out of gas. And uh, and so after that, the rest of the race was kind of turned into this walk-run thing where I'm just like just trying to psych myself out as I'm walking and running, and just kind of you can only make it spurts, then you have to walk again and then run again and then walk again. I just noticed about halfway through, just everything changed because I had been at it and just the exhaustion caught up. Fortunately, uh was able to finish and uh and brag about it this morning that I finished a half marathon, so you guys are impressed with me. Um I worked it into I did it just so I could work it into a sermon uh two weeks later. Uh I'm joking. Um but but you know, I just noticed myself getting tired towards the end, as you would in any race, right? But it's so true in life though, too. We start things that uh it's easy. It's easy for us to get fatigued as we go. And some of for some of you, um maybe that's a job that you started, you you were excited about when you started, you thought it was gonna be awesome, or it has been awesome, but over time it's caught up with you, and it just and you just feel yourself, the friction just slowing you down. Uh maybe for some of you that's in your marriage, right? Um, the the long journey together in marriage, which is a beautiful journey, but it but there's there's things that get worked out as as each person is maturing into the likeness of Jesus at different paces and different levels, and we're sometimes we're taking two steps forward, three steps back, and that's just how it is. But sometimes even in these relational journeys together, um, it's easy to grow tired at a certain point of time. And uh, and some of us, even in our faith, um you know, this last season has challenged us relationally, it's challenged us in our faith. Some of you have been deeply challenged. Theology is being reworked in your mind. You're not sure what to do with new questions that you're asking. And that's a lot of people. And maybe you're even here today and you're here, and he's saying, I don't even know where I'm at with all this stuff. I don't even know. Maybe you started the journey, maybe you haven't started the journey, and you're just still like, ah, I'm not sure where all this is going. And um, and that's a lot of people right now. That's that's a lot of us. And I would say something, I would say this too: these these this experience of starting something and then stalling out or slowing down, uh, it's something we all will have to experience if we haven't already. It's actually an important part of following Jesus if you look at the long arc of your life. Moving through times where it feels disorienting or you have to reconnect with the passion and purpose of why you started, these are really important things that Jesus actually leads us into. And even when we in seasons where it feels things feel a little confusing, or maybe we're stalling out in some of these places, um, we think that we're far from God. I just want to encourage you guys here today. You are not far from God in those times, those seasons. If that's where you're at right now, if you're having some challenges in any part of your life where you feel like it's just kind of there's a lot of friction and you've had to pull back, listen, it does not make you less spiritual. God is just highlighting places He's wanting to meet you in a new way. The revelation of Jesus is inexhaustible. And we have to get exhausted so that we ask new questions and discover parts of Jesus we haven't yet tapped into before. So God lets us get exhausted. I just want to encourage you real quick. He lets you get exhausted. That might not sound encouraging, but it's actually really encouraging. God will let you get tired so that you run out of your own strength and you ask new questions that lead you to turn your eyes back to Him. His love, His goodness, His being, His person is inexhaustible. And He always wants to reveal to us something for the season that we're in. So these seasons of stalling out aren't really the issue. It's when we stay out. Some of us stall out and then stay out. We stall out, then we check out. Instead of stalling out and saying, hey, something's happening here in my marriage, something's happening in my faith, something's happening in my life, we need to talk about this. Surround yourself with people that can not just fix you, but like be with you as God is maturing you and as God is revealing himself to you. So the the big idea this morning is that while sometimes we saw out, we cannot stay out. And this is what Paul is touching on in 2 Thessalonians. We're gonna start in chapter one, even in his encouragement to the Thessalonians, and uh verse three. He says, We it we ought always to give thanks to God for you brothers, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of uh every one of you for one another is increasing. Therefore, we ourselves boast about you in the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith in all your persecutions and in the affections that you are, afflictions that you are enduring. So get the context here. Um this particular church is facing some hardships, facing some persecutions, and yet Paul, as he's addressing them, these things that have the potential to pull them back, to create the friction and the resistance needed to pull back in their faith, he says, he uh he says he gives thanks to God because their faith is growing abundantly. One, right? Their faith is growing abundantly, too. What did he say? The love of every one of you for one another is what? Is the verse up there? Just all you have to do is read, just fill in the blank. The love of every one of you for one another is increasing. It just left right before you said it. The love for every one of you for one another is increasing. And so, and so hardship is settling in, yet there's a converse effect. Faith is growing, and their love for one another is increasing, as it should, right? So in the church, we as we come into Christ, we're actually given a new genetic. We're given the genetic of the Father, Son, and Spirit. He comes and indwells in us and rewires uh how we operate in this world. And in the genetic of the kingdom of God, our DNA is to is growing in affection for one another. It's impossible to be a follower of Jesus and lose affection for people in your life. Sometimes it feels like that. Maybe if you're an introvert, you have to work harder than others to be excited about people in your life, right? But in the kingdom of God, there is this longing that starts to happen when we see each other, especially brothers and sisters in the household of God. We see each other, there's something that starts to well up like, I cannot wait to see you face to face again. And that's what we hear from Paul all over. I cannot wait. I cannot wait until the next, I've been praying for you night and day until the next time I see you. And even here, I am rejoicing because your love, I'm hearing reports that your love for each other is only increasing. Is the same happening with us? Is our love for one another increasing? Do we feel it boiling? Right? If it's not, then we have to ask ourselves the question: are we connected into the vine? Are we abiding with the one, the source of life and love, right? Because when when love starts to drain in our life, it's the first time, it's the first signal that maybe we're not being we're not being filled with the love of God. We're not spending time in the presence of Jesus. It's impossible, it's impossible to follow Jesus without the trajectory of increasing in our love for one another. You guys good? So even in persecution, they're increasing in their love for one another. But there is some concerns happening in this church. I'm gonna take a little bit of a sidestep here from the topic at hand. Just follow me here. It's gonna take about seven minutes, alright? Follow me for seven, we're gonna get we're gonna connect right back into the loop, alright? We're gonna take, we're just gonna take this trail, just right around, and then bloop, right back into the loop. All right? Just give me a second. Chapter two, Paul has to recorrect some things having to do with their understanding of the coming of the Lord. He had talked to them about that before. They misunderstood and they're kind of freaking out. So, chap uh verse one. So, 2 Thanians chapter 2, verse 1, says this. Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we ask you, brothers, not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or a spoken word or a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. Let no one deceive you in any way, for that day will not come unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called God or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God. Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? Okay, so at some point earlier, Paul had talked to them about there's there's things that are happening. There is gonna be a coming of the Lord again. Before that happens, there's this man of lawlessness who's going to come, this son of destruction. He's gonna set up uh, you know, a um he's gonna come into the temple and take his seat in the temple and become an object of worship. And so, Paul, in in several of the letters all throughout the New Testament, there is this theme of this idea of what we're we're referring to is this figure of the Antichrist. And uh, and and even more so for the church in Thessalonica, they were freaking out because they thought they had missed it. And uh, and so that was creating, you know, so that was creating a little stirring within them. So Paul has to remind them, first of all, brothers, do not be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed. In other words, take a chill pill, don't freak out. It's gonna be okay. All right, there's things that have to happen before he comes back, okay. Now, what I'm about to offer is not a full uh full uh treatment of the topic of what do we think about the Antichrist, how do we do this? I'm just offer a couple thoughts. This is a much bigger thing, okay? Um, but in this particular passage, um, the scholars speculate, the man of lawlessness, this man of lawlessness, they speculate whether Paul was referring to something that was already happening or was about to happen. Uh, one of the Roman emperors, Caligula, just before Paul had actually written this, he actually set up a shrine for himself in the temple. And uh and so there was stuff that was actually happening in the Roman Empire at this at this particular time. Um, but it I don't know that we can totally toss it out as something that happened in the past because there's themes of in the scriptures of a time where a figure will come and uh and and and they're gonna precede, it's gonna precede the coming of the Lord Jesus, right? And so uh I get a lot of questions about the Antichrist, I get uh handed books as well. It's a topic that some people wonder why we don't talk more about the Antichrist. And I'll just admit um I'm a really bad end times guy. I always have been. Um uh and I I don't mean to be dismissive about this. Um, I I I believe this is an important issue. It's important that we get clear on this, but I'll just summarize where I'm at like this. Uh I've always believed the best way to recognize the antichrist is to be consumed with the actual Christ. Um I I know people that know more about the Antichrist than they do the actual Christ, it seems like. They can tell me more about the antichrist, and it's always a little concerning to me. I'm gonna show you this quote I I just read recently, um, Dr. Michael Figel. He says, Theology 101, no passage of scripture directs directs Christians to prep for the Antichrist, but numerous passages instruct them to await Christ's return. It's a real problem if your end times expectations are antichrist-centered fear rather than Christ-centered hope. And uh and again, I want to I want to be clear here. I'm not saying that the topic of the Antichrist doesn't matter. It does matter, okay? I don't want to be dismissive towards that. I just want to encourage us as a church. There's a lot happening in the world, there's a lot going on. It's easy to start pointing fingers here or there. I do believe that the invitation for us as the church is to prepare our lamps and prepare our oil for the coming of Jesus, the Messiah. My affection and my energy will be to prepare in holiness and to prepare in righteousness and to prepare a life and a world that is ready to receive Jesus. You can be prepared for the Antichrist and still not be prepared for the Christ. Let's prepare for the Christ. Let's become familiar and intimate with who he is and what he sounds like is what his voice sounds like. You will not recognize, I'm I'm sure of this, you will not recognize the Antichrist unless you know the voice of Jesus Christ. And so that's my encouragement to us here today. Now, that being said, one of the things that Paul gets into in verse 7 here, he does say that the mystery of, he talks about this figure, um, the a particular figure who will oppose the things of God, and he recognized this is the spirit of the Antichrist. But he says that it's already present. Verse 7, he says, the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Now, I think this is this is probably helpful for us. Whether the Antichrist is whoever, whatever world leader you want to point to, it's usually every president, every every American president we think is the Antichrist or whoever. Bill Gates, um, you know, just pick your world leader. Um Mark Zuckerberg, um, that regardless of who it is, there is a spirit of lawlessness that we are in. There's a spirit of lawlessness that it says will accompany this figure, but it is a culture we're living in. I can say very certainly, uh, I feel a growing lawlessness in our world, a time where men are no longer submitting to any particular direction, but choosing what is right in their own mind. And we're defining reality by what feels right, what seems right. This is happening all around the world, and I'm telling you, it only leads to destruction. The spirit of lawlessness actually takes us away from, especially specifically within the body of Christ. We have to remember that our allegiance is to a Lord. We have a king and we abide by his rules and his laws. His law is love, right? And so we're not bound in shackles to an old covenant, but we are bound into a new covenant. Paul talks later. He says we are slaves to righteousness, right? And so we are, we are given into a way that God has specific things. We must become obedient to Jesus Christ. Every thought we must take captive to the obedience of Jesus Christ. It's not a you do you thing. Not for us who follow Jesus. You do what Jesus is doing. Not you do you, you do Jesus. You do Holy Spirit, you do Father. That's what you do, right? And you do Him, that you you follow Jesus with your unique makeup. And yes, we have important questions to answer. I'm telling you, lawlessness. As that continues to enter into our world. I'm telling you, that that is a sign that it's a brewing, it's a brewing of the things to come. But I'm not worried about it because the things to come are Jesus. Jesus is what's to come. My heart is set on Jesus. Jesus is what we're after. We're not preparing for anything else. We're preparing for the return of Jesus who will make all things new. All right. But it is a good segue into this next section of chapter three because this was a friction point for this church. This is actually stalling them out from being on mission. They were so concerned about missing God that they forgot to stay on mission. It happens all the time. And so in chapter three, starting in verse six, we're gonna pick up. And this is the most specific thing Paul has to say in Second Thessalonians. It's almost as if this is the real reason he wrote the letter. He added some of the other things just to correct some other misunderstandings. But we're going to lean into this for the rest of our time. Says, now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from any brother who is walking in idleness and not in accord with the tradition that you received from us. For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us, because we were not idle when we were with you, nor did we eat anyone's bread without paying for it. But with toil and labor we worked night and day, that we may might not be a burden to any of you. It was not because we do not have that right, but to give you in ourselves an example to imitate. For when we were with you, we would give you this command if anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat. For we hear that some among you walk in idleness, not busy at work, but busy bodies. Okay. So as you can see, part of the context here was that there were some in the community that were not working, yet consuming bread, food, other resources from the community. And Paul took great offense at this because with all the churches, he made it a point to add more value to them than he was taking from them. He always did this. He's like, I could, I have the right to ask anything I want from you. He said that in several letters. I have the right as an apostle to request anything, but I'm not going to, he would say. I have the right to receive these things from you, but I choose not to. Because he wanted to be an example of Jesus, because always Jesus always gives more than he requires. You think following Jesus is hard? It's like, no. Jesus always gives the gospel, is an overflow of love that you can never repay. There's always more in the Godhead given to you than you could ever give to him, than it's ever required, even your very life. He has more, his life overwhelms our life. And so, Paul, when he ever he would go anywhere, he would try to not be a burden on others. And essentially, the to just to summarize this little section here, he says, keep away from any brother who is walking in idleness. So idleness is an issue, not idle like worshiping idols, but idle like you've stopped. And so this Greek word idol is this word argos, which means idle. It means lazy, it means thoughtless, injurious, and unprofitable. No, I get that our context is a little bit different here. It's not quite the same for us. We're not all living in community, most of us. We're not freeloading meals and food from each other, unless you have teenagers living at your house, and that's probably happening. So not so you're probably not worried about bread in your refrigerator, and I guess uh again, unless you have uh teenagers or 20-somethings who haven't quite caught on yet. Um but what he's getting at, just just kind of br just just elevate just here for a second, what he's getting at is idea of in the household of faith, um, do not tolerate an environment where brothers and sisters are able to come idle, lazy, thoughtless, unprofitable. Basically meaning um in a gospel-centered community, do not live beneath your ability to add value. Do not live beneath that. And what he's saying is everybody has been given, everybody has been given the ability to add value, to bring something to the table, to share. And this isn't just the household of faith, and this, I think this applies really in a couple of different places. Uh again, if you're a marketplace leader, if you are, if you if you're working nine to five, if you have a job that you're getting paid for, if you have work that God has entrusted to you, you need to be reminded that your work is holy, your work is good, your work is in the kingdom. And you need to take your work seriously. You need to take your work very seriously. This is your witness. This is how you show up to your workplace. It's not only how you uh add value to your boss and to the company that you work for or the company that you're building, but it's your witness. This is what we've been given to do. All of us, the the the purpose of the church is to exist in such a way that the overflow of our lives creates a flourishing in our world so that we can join Jesus in the restoration and renewal of all things. Our presence ought to cause the entire city, the entire county to flourish. Come on. Don't you want your presence? Don't you want the people in your life that every time they're with you, you're like, oh my gosh, I feel like I've received so much more just being in their presence. I've I've received an overflow of something in their life. So if you're in the marketplace, I just want to encourage you. It's not peripheral to the kingdom of God, it's right in the center in, and I bless you in the name of Jesus to take your work seriously. Do good work. Do good work, make it happen. Pray before you go to work. Go to work as an assignment by God. You are being sent on mission by God. You are not given a spirit of idleness, you were given a spirit to add value, to bring a profit to the people that you work with. You guys with me here? We alright? All right, I you guys gotta talk back. You guys gotta hear something. But the second part here is within our church community, everybody has something to contribute. Does your presence add more value than you're receiving, than you're consuming? And that's why consumerism never works in the church. It never works. Because the gospel is contrary to that, right? The gospel is contrary to a spirit of consumerism because the gospel always is asking the question what is it's not what is here for me, but what is the overflow of what God has done in my life that I have to bring to the people in my life? Um, do you ever, let me just ask this question, we'll just ask the reverse side. Do you ever have people in your life that when you're with them, it feels really draining? Okay. Just don't stare at the person next to you, just look at me right now, and I'll know that's you. Um just do a little nod, just do that. You don't have to say anything. And you, but you know, there's certain people that just honestly it it's easy to get drained from, and it's not it's not bad. God gives us grace, right? But um uh it's for people in all different seasons. It's not it's not about value. I'm just saying sometimes we're with people and it feels like there's more, like there more is taken, maybe spiritually, emotionally, mentally, physically, even, than is brought to the relationship. Um and then you feel bad because you know you're supposed to love them, but you really don't want to, but you know you're supposed to, right? Um but the caveat is this uh I I want you to know this, we all go through times, even long seasons, where we do need help and support. That's what the church is for as well. We need the resources of one another. That's not a shameful thing to need each other. Uh we must be humble enough to receive, right? That's the other, that's the flip side of this. Some of you never want help from anybody. And that's that's just as much of a problem, but we're not talking about that right now. I think what we're talking about is the fact that we are designed, even in the household of faith, to operate and to live in such a way that we're always asking the question: how can my presence today with the people I'm with go one step beyond what they expected? Go one step beyond what I'm giving, and how can I show up with the life of God, with the words of God, with with the energy of the Spirit to add value to every place I go, both in the church, in your neighborhood, at your workplace. Any of the places that God has entrusted to you, He's entrusting to you so that you can work well, do good work. Just do it and do it well. That's what Paul's talking about. Work is good. You were to rest one day a week and work six. Sabbath is important, you all need to be Sabbathing, but that six days, you work unto the flourishing of those that God has called you to be with. All right. So the question is, what is the work that you have been given to do in this season? What is the work for this season? And maybe some of you just checked out of that. Maybe you know what that is. Hey there, Eleanor. You're so cute. I can't compete with you because you're so cute. What is the work that you've been given to do? Are you moving forward or are you are you stalled out? Are you are you waking up each day with that little jump in your step? Or is this is idleness kind of pulling you back? It's a question, guys. And the reason it's a good question is because human beings are the only species that can order our lives according to purpose and meaning. And humans are the only species that can consciously live beneath our potential as well. For instance, there isn't a beaver in the mountains that woke up this morning and said, ah, you know, just not feeling it today. I don't know. Gosh, my life. I just don't know. I don't know my life is going anywhere. You're not gonna hear a beaver at like a self-talk, like, man, I'm just really unhappy with my relationships right now. Um, I'm just not really settled with just all I could do this or I could do that, or I don't know. I just need some help. I need a life plan. I need to go see my counselor again. I'm not bashing counselors, I see a counselor. You should see a counselor too. But it's it's it's funny, like that you don't you don't see wildlife or animals waking up in the morning, either either trying to psych themselves out with inspirational podcasts, or or just getting deflated, just feeling discouraged, like, why even bother? Nobody even notices, anyways. You know, that's just not happening, it's just not how they're wired. I mean, it's just amazing. The beaver wakes up and says, I have one thing to do today. I'm going to collect wood and build a dam. That's what I'm doing today. I don't care what people think of me. I don't care, I don't care, uh, I don't care how my life has has been, I don't care what cards I've been dealt. I'm going to build this dam today because that's what I've been given today. It's just wired intrinsically. It's funny with humans, we are wired to worship God. We are wired to live unto something greater than us. But because we are we have been given agency by God to live lives of great purpose and great meaning, we're also given agency to live beneath our potential and beneath our purpose. You can actually choose to do less than what you've created for, and that's a choice, oftentimes. Or you can choose to align yourself with this is what God is doing, and this is what I'm I'm going to participate in the work he has given to me right now. I could come up with excuses to not do it, but the but the the bottom line is here, every one of us we have the ability to choose today to lean into the work that God has given to you. You can also choose to settle back, you can choose to pull back, you can choose to stall out. We must intentionally keep moving towards the work God has called us to with the people He's called us to. That's the big idea. That's what I want to leave with you. You must, we must, guys, in an age that I think there's a lot of idleness happening, there's a lot of fatigue happening, there's a lot of tiredness happening, all for a variety of different reasons. I'm I'm pleading with you. You must intentionally stay focused on the work that God has called you to do in this season with the people he's called you to do it with. I love what Eugene Peterson says. I love everything he says. Uh but here's a particular quote intentions must mature into commitments if we are to become persons with definition, with character, and with substance. So it's more than just being intentional, it's actually making commitments that this is the work I'm gonna do. These are the people I'm going to run with. So there's a couple of real applications here at the end that I want to talk about. First of all, um some of you got handed these these flyers on the top it says growth groups. Just pull that out real quick. If you've been a part of church world for any point in time, you know that we go through seasons where we launch opportunities to connect, to build relationships, to do these types of things. And usually what happens is it's filtered through this thing of, we'll see if I have time for that, or you know, let's try to work this out. Um, I really believe, I believe in the season, guys. I believe in the season in the church. It's not a let me see if I can work it out. It's who are you going to commit to? It's it's pick an avenue, pick a lane, and dial yourself in. Unless an intention becomes a commitment, it will always just be a good idea. And we have too many good ideas already. What we need is people that are committed in to what God is doing. I want to walk you through a couple opportunities this fall. We know that church life is very seasonal. Summer, there's not a lot going on. Fall, there's kind of a push, and then it kind of lags again in the winter. So, what we're gonna do is what we're experimenting with for the fall, and then again in the spring, is a way ways that you can intentionally press in for three months at a time and build relationships. And these are all these all of these opportunities have starting points and stopping points. And so I'm gonna walk you through a couple of them, but they're not like lifelong commitment. It's not like, hey, commit to this, you're in for the rest of your life. You know, that's not fun. But they're they're starting points and they're stopping points. And I want to walk you through a couple of these things because I think these are gonna be critical to the life flow moving through us this season, this fall. Uh, Jeanette uh quickly ran through this list last week. We're gonna have a more uh extensive descriptions over the next couple weeks, and over the course of September, there's gonna be an invitation of where is God calling you to lean into? What is it for this fall season? How is this looking for you? And now, if you're not part of Vine Life or you're from another church, you work this out with your people. You work this out. The idea is obedience to the Lord. One of the things that we'll be uh showing you over the next couple weeks is um we have this kind of this new kind of group called a triad, which is a group of three people or three couples. And the idea is over the course of September through late November to agree to meet together six times with these kind of structured um uh dialogue points. The theme this fall is gonna be around the presence of God and really what it means to live into the presence of God, to live out of the presence of God, and stirring one another up into maturity, that our lives are marked by the Father and the Son and Spirit. It's gonna be fantastic. These are self-organized groups. We're not gonna go put you in a group. You're gonna have to go find your own group and uh and find the people that you want to be in your group, find somebody around the church and ask them if they want to be in a triad. We will give you the materials you need to get started. Very lightweight, very uh just enough structure to get you moving. I believe it's gonna be uh a really powerful way to start practicing this thing together. Second thing is this these midweek prayer groups. I just want to continue to hold before you um that we have slots of prayer happening all week. I think there needs to be more. Some of you are maybe even called to have weekly times of prayer that aren't even listed here. And if that's you, you come talk to me, all right? You come talk to one of the leaders here, and we want to get you connected. But right now, we have a few different places during the week that in this room and eventually in other rooms in the church, we're going to have uh places where believers are meeting together to join in heart together. These are critical groups. I just want to encourage you. This is a part of intentionally pressing in for the season. And then we have several equipping groups. Uh, I already talked to you earlier about emotionally healthy relationships. It's a course that you will build into uh these tables together. Um, tables of people with skills, and uh it's it's a fantastic way to, if you don't know anybody here, to actually meet some people. Um, and it's a great course. There is a fee associated with that. Freedom Ministries is about to uh start start moving. At the end of September, um we actually uh are gonna be starting to set up a tent on Sunday mornings, even out on the road, and we're gonna be putting uh uh these huge banners. It's a healing and dream interpretation, and some of our teams are gonna be there for cars that pull in and just want help, either for healing prayer, dream interpretation, and uh and it's gonna be fantastic. We're gonna be posting it on all the next door sites and all the neighborhoods around here and really trying to spread the word for people that just need some help with those things. But Freedom Ministries is a group that's going to be practicing what it's like to hear from God and actually move out in evangelism to do these things well, right? And then Jeanette, um, Jeanette is really carrying the water this this fall as it relates to training through the gift of prophecy and just understanding what the prophecy is and practicing it. Some of you that is still so intimidating, and you're like, there's no chance in heck, I'm gonna sign up for this thing. I'm telling you, you need to. We all need to. God has given us. He Paul Paul urges all believers to prophesy. We have been given a spirit that knows the mind and heart of God so that we can announce the things of God to the people in our life. And we have to grow in that. We have to not be, you know, crazies, right? We got to actually know what we're doing and practice and actually be rooted in the word, but we want to fan that flame. And then finally, um, School of Worship, Piper is gonna be hosting a regional school of worship. Several churches across Colorado are gonna have campuses. And if if you are here and you want to grow in what it means to be a musician, worship leader, that kind of thing, it's gonna happen Sunday nights here this fall, and then it will continue through next year as well. So these groups are just a few groups. You might already be in a group. That's great too. You might be in a group. The question is: do you have an avenue? Do you have a lane that keeps you from pulling back into a spirit of idleness and stalling out? But are you with people in such a way that you can spur one another on to love and to good works, to stay on mission with Jesus, right? This is something we're given to do. Growth doesn't just happen. That's what Jeanette said last week. Growth doesn't just happen. It's something that we have to commit ourselves into, we have to set our minds to, we have to actually participate in it in a direct way rather than just hoping by osmosis, growth happens. It's not how it happens. Any of you know, you don't just hang out in a gym and hope that you get strong, right? Let's get to hang out here and dress in the clothes and hope that I just get shredded. You gotta get all the equipment, you gotta get a trainer, you gotta, you gotta start doing the stuff, right? And so uh I hope that you hear my heart here, guys. We're in a time where you know we're we're moving out of a time of, I believe this is happening in the West, it's happening all over the world. I think we're on the last, we're just catching up with where the rest of the world's been. Uh we're we're continuing to move out of just consumer preferential Christianity into a Christianity where every opportunity is an honor to follow Jesus with the saints that he's put into our lives so that we can stay on mission so that the whole world can see and experience the love of God. And that's my preach for this morning, guys. That's my preach. Paul caps the whole thing off. Paul caps this whole thing off in chapter 3. Verse 13. He says, As for you, brothers, do not grow weary in doing good. And I want to leave you with this, guys. Some of you have grown weary. I've grown weary at times. I get it. Just don't. Just stop. Just stop growing weary and doing good. I mean, I he doesn't say how, he just says stop doing it. Just don't grow weary and doing good. Just don't grow weary. You're you're you're you're running your race towards Jesus. And you have a lot of good reasons to tap out. I don't even know all the reasons in your life. Some of you have great reasons to tap out. I'm just saying you don't. Don't do it. Keep going. Stand up, stand firm, keep growing, keep pressing into the things of Jesus. Pull people around you to pray for you, to lean into what God is doing, and we will continue to mature into the bride who is ready for Jesus. Amen? Come on, everybody stand up. Thank you, Jesus. All right, let's put your hands in the air. We're just gonna do that thing for a second. I uh I was gripped by this thought earlier this week. Just keep your hands in the air. I was gripped by this thought from Ray Hughes. And he said, you know, there's coming a time where the greatest persecution is gonna come from within the church. It's not even outside the church, it's it's what's happening in the church and the divisiveness in it. It's brother and sister turned against one another. He said, but that's why houses of worship are so important, because you can't throw rocks at each other when your hands are raised to heaven open-handed and they're not full of the weapons and rocks to throw at each other. This is why house of worship matters. This is why raising our hands to Jesus matters. Because when our hands are raised to Jesus, when we're arrested by his love and his goodness, we don't have time. We don't have the capacity to hold up weapons or rocks to direct at each other. So, Jesus, as we end this time, God, with open hands, I just believe, God, even prophetically now, God, as we open our hands, we're saying, whatever you want to do, would you do it with us, Lord God? I thank you, Father, that the promise in Isaiah 40 that he who waits on the Lord, you will renew his strength. He will run and not grow weary, and we will rise on wings of eagles. I pray for the brothers and sisters in Jesus today, that they are not growing weary and doing good, but their eyes are set on you. I pray for full strength and the energy of the Holy Spirit to send us out in the name of Jesus Christ. And everybody said together. Amen. Come on, come on. We love you guys.