Living in Christian Community, Part 1

[0:00] Philippians chapter 1 verses 3 through 11.

[0:30] And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

[0:41] It is right for me to feel this way about you all because I hold you in my heart. For you are all partakers with me of grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel.

[0:53] For God is my witness, how I yearn for you with all the affection of Christ Jesus. And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more with knowledge and all discernment.

[1:06] So that you may approve what is excellent and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ. Filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Christ Jesus to the glory and praise of God.

[1:20] May God add a blessing to the reading of his word and will you please be seated. We found out this past week that we will be closing on our house this week on Tuesday, which is ahead of schedule.

[1:34] And we're thrilled and excited about that. And we put in the offer on the house about a month ago. So we're really happy that Tuesday is going to be here.

[1:44] I'm not looking forward to moving things, but I'm looking forward to being moved in, if you know what I mean. And really establishing ourselves here in this community. And so we've been watching a lot of shows on HGTV.

[1:59] You know, kind of getting ready for decorating the inside of the house. And I'm not afraid to admit that, men. You know, nobody take away my man card. It's okay to watch that. Because one of the shows that I do like to watch is Fixer Upper.

[2:12] You guys watch Fixer Upper? And what I like about that show is I like a lot of the old houses that they bring new life to. And what's interesting is that those old houses have these big front porches.

[2:30] And if you remember, they built these big front porches because it used to be that a lot of people would spend a lot of their time and their day on the front porch.

[2:40] And there was a lot of interaction within the community. But if you look at newer houses and how newer houses are built, you see that that front porch isn't there. But where has it moved?

[2:51] To the back of the house. Our houses aren't nearly as inviting as they once used to be. And that resembles a change in our community.

[3:02] That our houses aren't nearly as welcoming and as inviting as they once were. Almost as if we're telling people, don't bother us unless we invite you in and then you can come to the back and we can hang out, right?

[3:14] But here's the thing. As much as things have changed, we still, as people, have a need and desire for community.

[3:26] Even though we may not express that. Look at Starbucks. I was in there this past week. And what's interesting is that when you go into Starbucks, the way that they have it on the inside, it looks a lot like a living room or a family room in your house, doesn't it?

[3:44] They have couches. They have comfy chairs. They are encouraging you and inviting you to stay and be a part of the community. But this is what's bizarre is that you don't talk to anybody when you're in there.

[3:54] And it's almost as if how dare you try to sit down by me or talk to me if you're not in my little group that I came with. We want community. We desire community. You can even look at Facebook.

[4:05] We want people to know what's going on in our lives. We want to know what's going on in the lives of other people. When it comes to actually talking to one another, we have a bit of an issue these days. But we want community.

[4:18] Last week, we saw that the Bible defines the good life in a way that is much different from how the world defines the good life. If you remember, I showed you that the world defines the good life as being experienced as a result of living a self-centered lifestyle.

[4:36] It's what you want, do what makes you happy, and it's all about you. Whereas the Bible defines the good life in a different way. It says it's not a self-centered life, but a Christ-centered life.

[4:47] That if you live a Christ-centered life, you will experience the abundant life that Jesus talked about. So we define the good life in this way. Living the good life means living for Christ instead of yourself.

[5:02] That's what the Bible says. Living the good life means living for Christ instead of yourself. Living the good life means that you seek to serve God instead of seeking God to serve you.

[5:16] Living the good life entails becoming a saint. If you remember, we went over that last week. And it also requires that you be in Christ to experience this kind of life.

[5:27] This morning, we are going to take it to the next step, understanding what the Bible defines as living the good life. What does it mean? Well, again, as we saw last week, it begins with salvation.

[5:38] Through the gospel, we were reconciled to God through Jesus Christ. You will never be able to live a Christ-centered life until you have understood the severity of your sin and your need to be saved from it.

[5:55] So it begins with knowing Christ as Lord and Savior. And the amazing thing about the gospel is that it creates reconciliation not just between us and God, but between us and others.

[6:10] When our relationship with God is right, it puts our relationship with others in a right place as well. That's the amazing thing about the gospel and what it does for us.

[6:21] And again, we can look back and see that the original division between humanity was brought as a result of the fall of Adam and Eve in Genesis chapter 3. And a part of that curse, the curse of their disobedience, it also affected their relationships.

[6:38] And as a result of that sin, now we have conflict with each other instead of harmony. And this sets us up, excuse me, the dilemma of living a self-centered life.

[6:51] It causes the division that we have with our neighbors, with even our family, even our spouse. And not long after this, we see that this division in relationship as a result of sin leads one brother to murder his brother, his own family.

[7:12] And then when God confronts him about it, he flippantly says, well, who am I? My brother's keeper? Our relationships are divided as a result of our sin.

[7:26] Now look at what Jesus said. This is important in Matthew 22. Someone asked him, teacher, which is the great commandment of the law? And Jesus answered, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, right?

[7:39] Getting us in right relationship with God and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And then he adds to it, and a second is like it. You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

[7:53] On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets. So we see that as a result of living the good life, we have been put in right relationship with God, which then in turn results with us having right relationship with each other as brothers and sisters in Christ.

[8:11] Jared C. Wilson is one of my favorite authors. He works up at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, and he's written many books, and I'm reading one. It's called The Imperfect Disciple. It's a great book.

[8:21] If you like to read, I recommend it. But I want to read this quote to you from that book. He said, The gospel presupposes and prescribes reconciliation.

[8:33] It announces salvation for individuals and a community of salvation. We need each other. The Christian life must be walked within the encouragement, edification, and accountability of Christian community.

[8:48] We need teachers to teach us how to do it. Encouragers to inspire and sustain us. Givers to remind us to give. Helpers to help us embrace servitude.

[9:01] Prophets to speak truth to us, and so forth. The gospel is a family meal. It is meant to be enjoyed regularly and intentionally in the presence of others and for the benefit of others.

[9:15] And so we will see from our scripture today that this is exactly what the apostle Paul is describing. He's describing and telling us that living the good life is experienced by living in community with other believers.

[9:33] Living the good life is experienced by living in community with other believers. If you remember, Paul is writing. And he is going to talk a lot about joy.

[9:46] And you wouldn't think that he would be someone to write about joy considering that he is writing about joy in the Christian life while he is awaiting trial in prison.

[9:58] And he could be killed. And what is his crime? If you remember, well, because he shared the gospel. His crime is that he was in Christ.

[10:11] He was being identified with Jesus Christ. And instead of being upset about his situation and the circumstances that led him there, this man is filled with joy.

[10:25] That seems crazy. And again, you wouldn't think that the recipients of this letter would be in a place where they themselves would also be feeling joyful. The Philippian church, if you remember, was a pretty poor church.

[10:40] They didn't have a lot. And so you wouldn't think that they would be in a situation where they would really be a joyful, cheerful group. But in fact, they were. And here's the thing as well. They were also under attack from outside the church by false teachers who were challenging the gospel that they had believed.

[10:57] And not only were they being attacked from outside, they were being attacked from within. We'll find out later on that there are two prominent women within the church who are having an issue with one another. So this church was by no means perfect.

[11:08] And you'd think that all that was going on, that they wouldn't have much to be joyful about. But in fact, they too are joyful as well. How could this be? How do we experience this kind of joy?

[11:23] Well, as we've seen, it begins by you being in Christ. That's how you begin to experience this joy. When you and I are living Christ, we are living in Christ, and we are living as a result of that Christ-centered lives instead of self-centered lives, we will embrace each other in the body of Christ.

[11:47] And you and I, we will experience the kind of community that God has planned, ordained, and commanded for Christians to live in. This is important.

[12:00] Because living the Christ-centered life, the good life, becomes easier to experience when we are living it alongside one another in Christian community and fellowship.

[12:16] Scripture testifies to this. We can just look at the Trinity and see that there is community there. Can we not? God, three in one, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

[12:28] There is community within the Trinity. And again, we see that when God created Adam, He realized not too long after that it was not good for Him to be alone. And so He gave him Eve.

[12:40] And they established community. Jesus, when He came and began His ministry, He recruited His 12 disciples. And if you remember, He sent the 70 out in groups of two.

[12:52] And then as the gospel was being spread by Paul, He would go out himself with companions. And together, in community, they would share the good news of Jesus Christ.

[13:06] Living the good life is experienced by living in community with other believers. And as a result of that, the Bible says, we share the good life together.

[13:19] When we experience life in this authentic Christian community, the result will be joy. Joy for you. Joy for me. Joy for your brothers and sisters in Christ.

[13:31] Joy for you. Joy for you. Joy for you. Joy for you. I'm telling you that it will overflow us and pour out into our community. And if we get this right, it means joy for them too.

[13:44] Now, this doesn't mean that we sell all of our houses and all of our possessions and move in here. I think right now, the size of group we have, we could probably accomplish that. But that's not what I'm getting at.

[13:56] That's not necessary. But what does it mean for us to live in community this way? Paul shows us, and he begins by showing us in verse 3, that living in community means being thankful for one another.

[14:12] Being thankful for one another. Verse 3, he says, I thank my God and all my remembrances of you. And the literal translation of this could be this.

[14:23] All my remembrances of you cause me to thank God. When I think of you, it makes me thank God. Paul had been through a lot to this point.

[14:37] And he had been through a lot with these people. He had experienced a lot of memories with them that brought him joy. So as he's writing, he's remembering that it was him, right, who went to Philippi with Silas.

[14:52] They planted and began this church on his second missionary journey. And if you remember, the beginnings of that church was on a Sabbath day. Paul went down and he saw Lydia and a group of devout women, and they were worshiping outside of the city limits.

[15:08] And so it was that group of women that really the church began or started out of. And Lydia was so enthralled with them. She impressed it upon them that they stay and live with her in her house.

[15:22] And if you remember, it wasn't too much later that Paul and Silas were encountered by a demon-possessed slave girl who brought her owners much money because she could tell people's fortunes.

[15:36] And if you remember, she followed them around and saying, Listen to these guys. They speak words of truth, right? They're sent from God. But she was a distraction. So Paul spun around on her and turned on her, and he cast that demon out of her.

[15:48] And her owners were so upset by this that they created a mob to imprison. And eventually what happened is they threw Paul and Silas in prison.

[15:59] And you'd think that maybe they'd be lacking joy at that point. But the Bible says that they were singing hymns while they were in chains. And you remember what happened? And then the prison doors flew open.

[16:12] The chains fell off. The Philippian jailer was about to take his sword and plunge it through his heart and take his life. And they stop him. And they share the gospel with him.

[16:23] And he is saved. And his family is saved as a result. So all of these things, Paul is remembering where he's at. And these memories are bringing him a sense of great joy.

[16:37] Because he's thankful for them. He knows these people. And he loves them. Are you thankful for the people that God has put into community with you?

[16:49] Are you thankful for the people who are in your church? Are you glad for them?

[17:01] How can we show that we are thankful for one another? Well, it begins by simply knowing somebody's name. Know their name.

[17:12] We need to know each other's names. How can you have a relationship with somebody when you can't even identify who they are? You don't even know their name. Know and get to know their names.

[17:24] And then once you've done that, know their story. Hear their testimony. Ask questions. Find out what's going on in their life. And then help them feel included.

[17:37] That's how you make people feel that you are thankful for them. Include them in what is going on in your life. What's going on here at the church.

[17:47] Because memories are created through experiences that we have by serving the Lord alongside one another. And it shows that we're thankful for each other.

[17:59] And here's the other thing. This should not have to be faked. You shouldn't have to fake this. You shouldn't have to fake being thankful for your brother or sister in Christ.

[18:11] When Christ is the center of your life, you will automatically start thinking less about yourself and more about other people. And when you are walking closely with the Lord, you will think less of yourself.

[18:25] You will think more of Him and that will cause you to think more of other people. The problem, though, is that we aren't truly as thankful for one another as the Bible says that we ought to be if we're being honest.

[18:39] And when I was thinking about the demon-possessed girl that Paul encountered, it made me start thinking about years ago my middle schoolers that I had in youth group.

[18:51] My middle school boys, you know, thinking of demon-possessed children. And automatically I was thinking of these middle school boys. They were wild animals. And if you were a visitor coming in, you would think that these guys hated each other by the things that they said to each other, the things that they would do to one another.

[19:12] I mean, this is the type of group that we would come into the sanctuary, right, and I would have my place to sit and they would sit behind me. And it was in the back of the sanctuary. And you could always see people coming looking back and looking at the kids and then looking at me.

[19:28] You know, like, what are you going to do about these ruffians in the back of this church? This is your job. Get them under control. But they seemed to hate one another.

[19:39] And they were just being middle school boys. That's what middle school boys do. That's what high school boys do. And sometimes that's what old boys do as well. And so I thought, I've got to do something to change this.

[19:51] And so I tried an exercise with them. I had them go in groups of two. And I had one person was going to give directions and the other person was blindfolded.

[20:02] And so the church was two stories and we started at the top. And I had a little maze to walk them through. And so the job of the person who could see, who wasn't blindfolded, was to give verbal instructions to the one who was blindfolded and get them safely downstairs.

[20:17] Well, you know what? Nobody made it downstairs. Because we had a major accident before we could even get there. One of our kids wasn't even paying attention to what the other one was doing. And he walked smack dab right into a door sill and knocked himself out.

[20:30] He had this huge nod on his head. And I remember the expression, I can't forget, of his father whenever he came and picked him up. What were you doing? Blindfolded? And I think that, you know, I share that because a lot of times that's the way we are with one another, right?

[20:47] We should be giving each other guidance and direction, but we're letting each other just run blind. And we need each other's help. So I tried a different technique with them. I had them memorize Ephesians chapter 4 verse 32.

[21:00] You can read it with me. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another as God in Christ forgave you. And you know what happened? It worked. These kids who were hating each other and saying terrible things to one another, we remembered it.

[21:14] We recited it. We'd go over and over and over it again in youth group, and it worked. And whenever somebody started to act like they hated the other, we would bring up this verse, and it became kind of fun as a matter of fact.

[21:27] And here's the thing. If we aren't thankful for one another, there will be divisions as a result. And when the unbelieving world looks at the church and sees how divided a church can be, that ruins the testimony and the witness that we have for Jesus Christ.

[21:47] The one thing that everyone in this building this morning, I hope, the one thing that we all share in common, is the gospel. We've heard it. We've believed it.

[21:59] And we all share that in common. So let's be thankful for what the gospel has done, not only for us, but what it has done for each other. My prayer is that we will all get to the point where we are so thankful for each other that we literally cannot wait until Sunday to see each other again.

[22:19] That's my prayer. And we have, we experienced that, I think, already to a degree, but we could experience it more. That I've got to see, I've got to see people on Monday night when we have our groups. I've got to come here on Wednesday.

[22:30] And I've got to be, I have to be with my church family. I can't wait until next week. And so I hope that you will join me in praying like that for our church. So it begins with us.

[22:40] Living in community means that we are thankful for one another. And it continues with this. Living in community means praying for one another. In verse 4, Paul says, Always in every prayer of mine for you, all making my prayer with joy.

[22:57] Always in every prayer of mine for you all, making my prayer with joy. You know, Jesus spent a lot of time in prayer. A lot of time. And if Jesus, the Son of God, needed to pray, how much more so do you and I need to pray as well?

[23:15] And so it's important that we pray for our church. It's important that we pray for the church, for our local church, and for the church, the whole entire body of Christ.

[23:28] And so Paul was praying often, and he says that he was always praying for the Philippian believers. And so now another question I want to ask you is, how often do you pray for our church?

[23:43] How often do you pray for the people who make up this local body of believers? Is it even once a week?

[23:59] Paul says that he prays for you all. And this is significant. Like I mentioned, there is an issue in this church. There were two people, prominent members, two women in the church.

[24:11] They were having a disagreement. We don't know what it was about. People in church can disagree over really petty things. I once, in fact, true story heard that a church had a disagreement over whether or not they should serve deviled eggs at a potluck.

[24:25] Right? That's crazy. And I love deviled eggs, so bring them on. The devil has been defeated. Amen? Amen. But we disagree over petty things.

[24:35] Yes. And Paul is saying, and Paul knows what's going on. And he doesn't say this, you know what, I'm praying for you all. I'm thankful for those of you who are doing it right. But let me tell you, there's a couple, and I'm going to get to them in a second, and I'm withholding my prayer from those two because I don't like them.

[24:52] He doesn't say that. He says, I'm praying for you all. I am thankful for you all, even the ones who are in conflict. Paul prayed for them, and he was thankful for them.

[25:09] Here's the thing. We can't control who God will bring into our church, and we can't control who God will save. But we do have a biblical, God-given responsibility to pray for them, and to pray for the people in our churches who we may not want to pray for.

[25:32] James 5.16 says, And so, I really hope that you'll listen to this.

[25:51] The church has to be a place where it is okay to not be okay. You hear me? The church has to be a place where it is okay for you to not be okay.

[26:06] The church has to be a place where you feel like you can tell the truth. The church has to be a place where you feel like you can come, and when somebody asks you, how are you doing, you don't feel like you have to give the generic response, well, I'm fine, things are good.

[26:24] No, but you can tell them the truth. This is what's going on. These are my fears. These are the things that are causing me to stay up at night. These are the things that I'm anxious about. These are the things that I'm happy about and joyful for.

[26:36] And then you, as the one who asks, needs to be in a place where you are looking forward to hearing what they have to say, and that you can be trusted, because that person knows that you are somebody who prays for them.

[26:48] And, you know, I will say that I've been very encouraged to see that happening here. I loved last Sunday. I got pulled into a prayer huddle down here afterwards, and that was awesome to me.

[27:00] You know, church is a place where we ought to be able to share our burdens with one another and receive the help that we need from our brothers and sisters in Christ to bear those burdens, where we pray together, where we're not afraid to confess our sins to one another, that somebody's not going to use that for gossip or slander us behind our backs, but that they will truly and deeply care and love us, and we can trust them.

[27:28] Paul said that he was making his prayers with joy. And we realize, again, what an astonishing statement this is when we consider that Paul is saying all of this while he's in prison.

[27:39] And again, this epistle is called the epistle of joy because of how many times joy is mentioned. But the source of Paul's joy is Jesus Christ. And he, the Lord, is our source of joy.

[27:54] And he brings life to believers. And we've got to pray for one another. And it's an amazing thing. When you pray with somebody else in your church for something that is on their heart, and you pray with them about that consistently, and you see God answer that prayer, that is a great experience.

[28:14] I have a friend who experienced that in his life. He has a similar testimony to me. He grew up in the church, but then when he got older, he ran away from the church.

[28:25] He got involved with some really bad things. He was making a mess of his life. Sin was wreaking havoc, not only on him, but on everybody else around him. And his grandmother went to our church.

[28:37] And his grandmother belonged to a group of other ladies within the church. And they would have Bible study. And then at the end, they'd spend a lot of time praying for one another. And so they prayed for him for years.

[28:50] For years they prayed for him. And every group meeting, the grandma would come back and give an update, good or bad, on what was going on in her grandson's life. And so finally, after years of them praying, something happened.

[29:04] God got a hold of his attention, like the prodigal son, right? He came to his senses, and he came back to the Lord. And then he came back to that church. And this is what he said. I was scared to come into the church, to walk through those doors, because I knew that people in there knew what I had done.

[29:20] And when I came into those doors, I had maybe made it like five or ten feet within the building, and I was surrounded and swarmed by little old ladies that I had no idea who they were.

[29:33] And they were hugging me. And they were crying. And they were so glad that I was there. These women had been praying for him for years. And they got to experience the joy of seeing God answering their prayers.

[29:49] Isn't this a picture of what the gospel is and what the gospel does? Isn't this what it means to live Christ-centered lives? That we pray for our church family, who we are thankful for?

[30:01] That we are praying for people that we don't even know? Hoping and praying that God will answer those prayers for other people that we might experience a piece of that joy.

[30:17] And that's what Paul is saying. And then Paul leads us on to this. Living in community means being thankful for one another, praying for one another, and it means participating in the advancement of the gospel together.

[30:28] Verse 5, Because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. And so he's explaining. You know, again, why I'm so thankful is that you have been participating with me, with the church, in this great gospel endeavor.

[30:43] Partnership in the Greek is koinonia. Many of you are familiar probably with that word because it's a popular word that we use to describe our time before Sunday school when we eat donuts and drink coffee.

[30:55] Right? It's koinonia time. And I love coffee and I love donuts, but koinonia means much, much more than that. The first reference of it is in Acts 2, verse 42, where it says, they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, the koinonia, to the breaking of bread and of prayer.

[31:15] In order to experience the good life that the Bible talks about, we must be experiencing this kind of fellowship with other believers. The essence of koinonia is believers in Christ coming together in love, in faith, and encouragement.

[31:34] A powerful example of what koinonia should look like can be found in a study of all the one another phrases that are found in the Bible. And there are many. Look with me at 2 Corinthians, chapter 13, verses 11 through 12.

[31:48] Finally, brothers, rejoice, aim for restoration, comfort one another, agree with one another, live in peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you.

[31:59] Greet one another with a holy kiss. Now in our culture, a handshake would suffice, right? Keep the kisses for your spouses and for your children, but a holy handshake is welcome.

[32:14] Amen? But Scripture says a lot about what it means for us to be in fellowship with one another. In fact, Scripture commands that we be in fellowship with one another.

[32:27] Let me read a few for you. Romans 12, 10 says, there it commands us to be devoted to one another and to honor one another. Romans 12, 16 and 1 Peter 3, 8 commands us to live in harmony with one another.

[32:40] Galatians 5, 13 commands us to serve one another. Ephesians 4, 32, as we've gone over, commands us to be compassionate with one another. Colossians 3, 16 commands us to admonish or rebuke one another when we've sinned.

[32:56] 1 Thessalonians 5, 11 and Hebrews 3, 13 command us to encourage one another. 1 Peter 4, 9 commands us to be hospitable towards one another.

[33:07] And 1 Peter 1, 22 and 1 John 3, 11 command us to love one another. And there are many, many others. And the point is this, we are commanded to be in fellowship with one another so that we can advance the kingdom of God here on this earth and spread and share the gospel.

[33:30] This is what true biblical koinonia looks like. God is commanding us to live our lives together.

[33:44] The church isn't some kind of a social club, but what it is is a supernatural community. A community that has been brought together by Jesus Christ.

[33:58] And so we are to support one another. Be thankful for one another. Pray for one another. Participate in what's going on in our church with one another so that we will together advance the kingdom of God.

[34:12] Together. If we are living self-centered lives, this will not happen. But if we are living Christ-centered lives, it will.

[34:23] But it's going to require all of us doing so. I want to read another quote to you from Jared Wilson from the same book. It's a little bit lengthy, but he says this, the very presence of the church should be a constant living proclamation like a lighthouse of the benefits and blessing of community.

[34:47] Today, this must mean embodying the biblically prescribed counterculture of the kingdom, challenging everyone who lives in the world to not live as those who are of it. Instead, our churches often reflect and emulate their cultures rather than challenge them.

[35:03] We have opted for being a mirror rather than a light. And he continues, abandoning the reflection of culture and adopting the challenge of culture will require our churches to think of their ministries less and less as a place where religious goods and services are provided and more and more as a training center where the community is inspired and empowered by the regular preaching of the gospel to fellow Christians and where we learn how to serve our neighbors and each other in the name of the Lord.

[35:38] This is what we should be praying for. And I'm telling you, there are going to be opportunities for us to do this. As a matter of fact, we have something going on on the 28th, do we not?

[35:53] We're about to have a lot of people. We're not even going. They are coming. What a wonderful blessing we have. They're going to be here. And we have this tremendous opportunity to live out before their eyes what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ, to be thankful for the people who have also been brought into the body of Christ.

[36:14] We have an opportunity to share that with them. We have an opportunity to show that with them. And so I encourage you to come and participate and be a part of that. This is a great opportunity for us as a church to show our community this is who we are.

[36:27] And this is what we believe as a result of our faith in Jesus Christ. And then in a while, sometime next year, we're going to do something that we did, I did in Kansas.

[36:41] It's called Engage. Where we are going to purposely and intentionally create opportunities for us to be out in our community so that we can do just this. Advance the kingdom of God so that people can see that you know what?

[36:55] Christians are different. Christians are weird because they're so different from one another. Different ages, different races, right?

[37:05] Different backgrounds, economically and socially, yet they love each other. In a day and age where there is so much hate and hostility and division and community, we have a wonderful opportunity to provide witness for Jesus Christ.

[37:20] And so my challenge to you is this, get involved. Start being a part of this community if you're not already. And with that challenge, I give you a promise. Not based upon what I say, but based upon what God's word says.

[37:34] You'll be blessed by that. We need this. We've got to have it. We live life together. There are no lone wolves in the church. Amen?

[37:45] If you're here this morning and you're hearing this for the first time and you think, yeah, Pastor Mike, I agree with what God's word says. I want to be in community, but you know what? I'm not even in Christ.

[37:58] You can't experience this until you are. And this is tremendous great news that we have to share. All of us, every single one of us in here, fall short of the glory of God because of our sin.

[38:12] And the great news is that though our sin separates us from God, God has made a way for us to be with Him. God has made a way for our sins to be forgiven.

[38:24] God has made a way for us to be declared righteous. Not based on our good deeds, but based solely upon Jesus Christ and what He has done and what He has accomplished for us on the cross, dying in our place for our sins.

[38:43] That we might have eternal life. And that's not the end of the story. Because three days later, He arose from the dead. Proving that He was who He said He was.

[38:56] Proving that He had accomplished all that He said that He would do. And as a result of you putting your faith in Him, you are now declared a righteous person by God and you have eternal life.

[39:08] And I love in Christ alone. No fear in life. No guilt in life. This is the power of Christ in me. Amen? And you can experience that today.

[39:19] Thank you.