The Power of Relationships and Community - Romans 16_1-16

Yes , Jesus be the center of our lives .

May everything revolve around you , Jesus be the center of our church .

May everything we do and say , be a AAA good reflection on who you are and what you've done for us .

There's so many things that go on in this life in this world that draws our attention away .

The evil one is at work trying to divert our attention and focus on things that don't matter , things that will lead us down the wrong path .

But father , we thank you for being the good shepherd .

The one that would come after us and bring us back into the fold and love us and care for us and shape us and mold us into your image .

Father for that we say thank you .

And because of that help us to continue to focus our , our , our , our entire attention on you and who you are .

Let us not make any decisions .

Let us not make uh a decision about a path or what to say or who to be around or whatever it is .

Anything that we have in our lives that we will first bring it to you that we would seek your help , seek your , seek your guidance and seek to do your will .

So that at the end of the day that you might be glorified because you deserve it , father , we love you and thank you for loving us in such a special way .

Father , as we open up your word here this morning , won't you speak to us ?

Not so that we will leave here with more head knowledge , but we would leave here knowing more about you having a relationship that has been strengthened in you , that we would leave here uh uh full of courage because of who you are and what you've done and help us be able to walk in the path that you lay before us and not so that we would keep it to ourselves but would go out and , and share this good news to any and everybody so they too can have hope the same hope that we have in you .

So father hide me behind the cross .

So people might see more of you and less of me may the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight .

My Lord , my strength and my redeemer and whom I trust in Jesus name .

We pray amen .

I want to turn with me in your copy of God's Word this morning .

We're being Romans chapter 16 .

It's been AAA long journey through the , the book of Romans .

Uh lots of lots of things that we've learned and , you know , um so in a couple weeks I'm gonna be taking some time away .

I usually take the last week of October off and to go to a far out place in the midst of the wilderness that I can be alone with the Lord .

And I plan out um the next year and I plan out the , the my preaching calendar and be praying about events and , and what he would have us do at , at the church .

And so uh the preaching calendar for this year was planned last October .

And , and what's interesting about God and showing his sovereignty is uh this , this book has been perfect for us in the time that we're in .

And I didn't know that when , when I was praying and when I was putting this together , but the Lord knew the Lord in his providence , knew exactly what we would need right now at the beginning of , well , all the all year , especially here in October .

And that man that just blows me away .

I , I mean , I know God is good .

I know he's sovereign .

I know he's got this .

But man , it just proves that it's not about me .

God .

God is in control .

God is the one who's working on , on all these things because man , we've been going through it and all the things that Paul is talking about in the book of Romans we've been dealing with as a congregation and individually in the church , there's been some disputes , there's been some discussions , there's been some uh a lack of love , there's been a lack of discipline and as we've been walking through each of these things piece by piece , the Lord has been working on me and I pray he's been working on you as well because I mean , is always apparent to me when I'm preparing a message that uh it , it , I go through it first and believe me , I do .

So when I , when I come and stand before you is not like I , I'm just saying stuff to be saying it .

Uh The Lord has been working on me the entire week that I've been in prayer and been working on this message so that I can give it to you .

Like Paul says , you know , follow me as I , I follow Christ , but I just praise God that he's given us exactly what we need in the time that we need it .

And so um uh again , I'll be taking some time off in a couple weeks doing the same thing .

So I would encourage you to , to be praying for me as I'm meeting with the Lord and , and uh seeing what he , what he has in store for us next year , that's gonna be incredible .

So , Romans 16 , um before we get there , uh I have a question to ask and that question is , when was the last time that you received a letter in the mail .

N no , not a , just a type written letter but one that somebody wrote out by hand , the letter that you got in the mail , got a stamp on it addressed and all that kind of stuff .

Uh You know , this is kind of a lot you have OK , praise God .

This is a lost art .

We have one person , right ?

So people are not trying to , to write letters these days and you know what ?

I don't mind writing birthday cards .

I love to do that .

And I write a short message by hand , but I'm not trying to write a whole letter .

You know what I'm saying ?

My hand cramp up and stuff and my spelling ain't too good .

I don't have the , the red squiggly line under to tell me I misspelled something .

So I don't , I don't , I it's difficult for me personally to , to write out um a , a letter especially to multiple people , but if you receive a handwrit letter or a note , um this person not only thought of me but they put , put , took out some paper .

They , they went through their cup of pens and found the one with the ink in it and wrote me a letter , right ?

Everybody's got that cup at home where you go and you try to this one name and instead of throwing it away , you put it back in the maybe it's just me .

Mm But the , the you know , that the person is taking the time to write out something specifically for you and you feel close , you , you , you kind of see what they're writing about and , and it draws you near to them that they took time out of their day .

You know , our text this morning as we jump into the 16th chapter of Romans , it reminds us that this is an actual letter Paul sat down .

I don't think he wrote by hand , but he asked somebody to write for him , but it was written out that he dictated to somebody else .

And this was written to real ordinary people .

You know , as we read through scripture , the these are not f fictitious people that are just made up in stories , right ?

This is , these are real people do going through real things , having real interactions .

And this is a great reminder for us this morning that Paul is writing to a specific people and , you know , instead of maybe holding a book in your hand , what if we had Paul's actual letter ?

What if we had his letter ?

And we can see the handwrit words on the page ?

And what if you held that up and you were reading that ?

You know , we , we tend to forget this because we have it in book form .

But I imagine we feel that closeness as well .

Like man , this is a piece of history .

It would be more real to us .

And we instead of thinking .

Some people would think it's just stories , but it would remind us like , yeah , these are real people that we're reading about .

These people matter .

These people walk to earth and had real troubles and real challenges and how I'm , I feel like I get a view into what that is and what that looks like .

There will be a much deeper connection if we were able to do that here in , in , in this chapter , Paul is various people that he had contact with these people that he loved and appreciated that he's , he personally met some , uh he didn't meet directly , but I've heard things about them and even though Paul breaks away from , you know , informing us about theology and doctrinal teaching , you know , there's still a lot to learn from this message , even though he goes through and he's giving thanks to these people that he's met , there's tons of us for , for tons of things for us to take away .

And as Christians , you know , many people like to say that uh this is a relationship and not a religion .

We hear that often .

I , I kind of disagree with that .

It is a religion .

Uh But these people are trying to say that um they're trying to communicate that it's not strictly about just dogma and rules .

You know , it's more , it's less , it's less about do this and do that .

It is more about a connection , connection to God and what we'll see here is also a connection with each other .

Uh Instead of uh w what we think about this is also about transformation , you know it because when you do stuff just to be good , you , you , you have the wrong motives .

So there has to be some transformation that takes place and we have to have a relationship in Jesus Christ in order to get that .

So in addition to having a relationship with our creator , it also encompasses our relationship with one another .

I love how Paul gives us the metaphor of a body of believers , right ?

Because we know how bodies can be our own bodies , right ?

Sometimes your body betrays you .

Sometimes you gotta go to the doctor and get some things fixed .

But yeah .

Yeah .

Yeah .

That's right .

But when it's oiled up and working well , how good is that when , when you uh I I I'm getting , I'm getting a little older and I find that when I'm walking down the steps of my body is making noises and cracking and popping and stuff , you know , but when it's well oiled and we working , ok , that's something to be excited about .

Same is true for us as a body of believers , we all are brought together with unique experiences and roles and but we all work together for the good of the entire body , some of your fingers , some of your toes , some of your arms and some of your legs .

But each of you are beneficial .

Each of you are important when we talk about the body as a whole .

So we need to also remember the great commandment , right ?

Hopefully me through Paul have been expressing this to you over and over again .

The great commandment , love God , love others , right ?

John 13 and 34 says a new commandment I give to you that you love one another just as I have loved you , you also love one another .

And by this , all people would know that you are my disciples .

If you have love for one another , it gets gets confusing if we can't get along .

You know , if somebody else comes in here , they don't know anything about God , but they heard this stuff about church and they walk in here and we're at each other's necks that don't line up John 15 and 12 says this is my commandment that you love one another as I have loved you .

Or how about first Corinthians 16 and 14 ?

Let all that you do be done in love or remember Romans 13 and eight owe no one .

Anything except to love each other .

For the one who loves another has fulfilled the law first John four and seven , belove it .

Let us one love one another .

For love is from God and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God .

Anyone who does not love does not know God because God is love .

You think that's important to love one another .

I mean , I could go on and on .

We can spend the rest of our time here today with the references in scripture talking about loving one another .

That's how important it is .

You , when you see things repeated in the Bible , it means God wants you to get that .

I it is , he's not frivolous with his words .

He's like you guys are hardheaded .

So I want you to get this love each other .

You didn't hear me , love each other .

Oh Let me say it another language , love each other .

He wants to be sure that , you know , and understand how important this is .

God's word tells us to honor others above ourselves and love one another .

Paul , he exemplifies this for us when he mentions the relationships that he's built is it goes through and talks about each of these folks .

And I've mentioned um you know , so the leadership has been getting together over the past couple years talking about the , the where we are as a church and the future of our church .

And you know , we , we have been discussing our mission statement .

Our mission statement is to grow thrive and serve as a Christ centered community of faith .

That is our mission statement to grow thrive and serve as a Christ centered community of faith .

Let me , I won't even get into how long it took us to have this conversation about our mission statement you and specifically , we spend a lot of time talking about um Christ centered .

Are , are we a family ?

Are we a community or are we a fellowship ?

We've had lots of the , we knock down , drag out sometimes some weeks have a discussion on these specific words .

Like , what are we , what does God want us to be ?

And while we settled on community , the fact remains that the Bible calls us to have relationships with one another because we were thinking like , you know , hey , we , we are a family and we were bought by the blood of Jesus were grafted into his family and adopted .

So we are brothers and sisters in Christ , but some people got some hang ups on family .

I don't know about you .

I mean , there's some crazy stuff going on in people's families and I mean , there's nothing to be ashamed about .

We , we all got that weird uncle , you know what I'm saying or whatever is going on and some people come through the doors and they're like , well , I , my family is already messed up .

I don't need another family .

Like , what does that mean ?

What does that look like ?

Well , OK , we talk about community was community close enough .

Like what , what does that mean ?

When we were talking about the , when we were talking about Boeing Brook and what does that look like ?

Or a fellowship like we were talking about just getting together .

And so these words are important but as we're thinking about and thinking through all these things , we wanna talk to uh you all as a congregation as well as people who don't know us , maybe not familiar with church .

We wanna get , get away from a lot of the churchy words and the inside code and lingo .

And so that when people come and , and visit and they , they come to hear the word of God that they don't feel left out , they don't feel like an outsider .

So despite all that , what we hope to communicate through what we chose as community is to be communicating , that is , is about a relationship .

You know , one of the many joys in this Christian life is being together .

This is not a lone ranger Christianity .

God didn't call us to come and , and , and spend our time in a corner by ourselves and figure it out .

Jesus himself said , lo I will be with you always even to the end of the age .

And , and again , Paul talks about us being together as a body of believers and the the importance of that .

And as Baptist , we know how to have some fellowship , don't we ?

I mean , we always gather together around a meal and because that's when we feel most uh connected with one another , when we can share a meal together , we come together to laugh , right ?

We come together to , to pray when things aren't going right .

We , we come together to , to weep and to be in sorrow and hold our brothers and sisters up .

We we come together to be on mission and like we are today , we come together for worship .

That's what God wants from us and he's put us together so that we can be an encouragement to one another , right ?

If you uh put yourself to the side and you isolate yourself , then that just leaves an opening for the enemy to come in Instead of having your brothers and sisters around praying and encouraging you , you allow the enemy to come in and things go in the wrong direction .

And this is what fellowship does when we get together .

It's what a community does and it's also what a family does .

So even though we had all these discussions about family community fellowship and to us inside , we just wanted to follow what the scripture says and we wanna go love one another .

That's the goal that is the aim .

And in his final chapel chapter of Romans Paul highlights the fellowships that he had the important connections that he had with other people .

And we see this um this is where he's gone for his strength .

We see him going to these other people for encouragement and making sure that we know that this has all been made possible because of who Jesus Christ is .

He wasn't trying to be Mr congeniality and , and say , well , here's how popular I am because I got all these people that I know and I can network with .

He's like the Lord brought us together .

The Lord is doing this through me .

In his book Life Together , Dietrich Bonhoeffer says it's grace .

Nothing but grace that we are allowed to live in community with Christian brothers and sisters .

And that is so true is nothing but grace .

The culture that I want to have here at our church here at First Baptist Bowling Brook is one where you uh get to know that your Christian friends will always be there and have your back , that we will always be there for one another .

So that when you are uh in , in the the deepest part of your life and things aren't going well that you know , you can go to your brothers and sisters and we won't gossip .

But instead we will pray when you are celebrating some of the highest ties in your life that you will come to your brothers and sisters and we will rejoice with you .

This is the culture that I hope to continue to have uh here at this church and beyond .

I want you to know that the people here would always lift you up that um they will always be on their knees in prayer that they will surround you in your time of grief and sorrow .

And again , be able to celebrate with you during various milestones .

And let me say , we won't always do this perfectly .

Matter of fact , we we probably won't do it well , half the time .

But the point , the goal is where our heart is and we hope that if you're in a situation or scenario that you would give other people grace to know what I mean .

We're all flawed , we're all going to mess up and you will too .

And hopefully , if you extend grace , you would receive that same amount and measure of grace as well .

And I pray that our hearts will be where they should be and that we strive to achieve what God has called us to , to love God and to love each other .

So let's dive into the text .

Morning Romans 16 , starting in verse one .

So I commend to you our sister Phoebe , a servant of the church is sin cry that you may welcome her and the Lord in the way worthy of the saints and help her in whatever way she may need for you .

Uh For she has been a patron of many and of myself as well .

We'll pause there .

So Phoebe is here at the top of Paul's list and she's um likely the one that delivered this very letter to the uh to Rome and the churches there .

So she's described here by Paul as a patron and and patron is trans translated as a benefactor or a helper and other translations .

But the Greek word used to describe here is somebody who gives some financial support .

This is somebody who is , uh , uh , working with Paul , giving him the finances he need in order to do the mission that he's been called for .

So she's already got her bag and she's , uh , going her along her way to support Paul and , and his missionary journey along the way .

And she's also got the funds to make the trip to Rome , you know , so that she can get the letter there as well .

So , you know , there's a lot of things said about money and I , I think sometimes we have a uh a wrong view of it , especially when people accumulate money or wealth or things of that nature , uh that they misuse the , the verse to say , well , the money is , is the , the root of all evil .

And the , the , the actual verse is uh money is the root of all kinds of evil because it , it matters about where your heart is and what you think about money and how you use it .

But I love what the Bible does here and it , um it , it , it shows us people who have a certain amount of riches or , or wealth and it shows us and highlights examples of how wealthy Christians can use their resources for the kingdom .

You know , I often say that the more money you make , the more money you can give .

And especially we have a lot of corruption in this world .

Unfortunately , in churches as well where you , you can't always trust but God gives us all these things , as I mentioned earlier , God had made us stewards of what he's given and so we can build up his kingdom , we can use it for his good .

Now , there's also been some debate about whether Phoebe was a deaconess in Saint Cry or not .

And that can honestly be a sermon all in itself .

But Paul says here that , that she is a servant .

You know that the general term is um is uh translated as sermon uh at , at translated as servant here in the text .

And she's a servant of the church of Synch Chris .

So the Greek word again , um servant is uh diacon , which literally means servant again .

So uh the the text could be talking about a servant in a general sense or um we can see is the same word is being used where other places in the New Testament such as Philippians one and one and first Timothy three and eight and 12 to describe the office of deacon , right ?

It's the same word being used in both places .

So the fact that Paul specifies that she's a ser servant at the church of Syn cry probably means and probably indicates that she has some official position at that church .

But regardless of where you fall on this particular debate is very clear and there is no doubt that she plays an important role and she has the highest respect of the apostle Paul .

So that's what I want us to take away .

Again , we can have various lessons and sermons about um this at a separate time .

Look with me in , in uh verse three says , greet Priska and Aquila .

My fellow workers in Christ Jesus who risk their necks for my life to whom not only I give thanks but uh all the churches of the gentiles give thanks as well .

Greet also the church in their house , greet my beloved Ape , a Penne , a , a Apenas who was their first convert in the church of Asia .

So Priska here um is actually short for Priscilla .

Don't ask me why .

I don't even know why Bill is short for William .

But we see here , Priska is short for Priscilla .

And so we're introduced to Priscilla and Aquila and Acts 18 and we learned that they're , they're a married couple and they were expelled from Rome uh among many other Jews by the emperor and they met with Paul and , and Corinth and he stayed with them for a while .

He got to hang out and stay at their home .

They were both missionaries and the ministry together .

Um not only there but also in , in emphasis as well .

So II I really wish and we're not told any of this , but I really wish I knew how they stuck their next hour for Paul .

But if you have read Paul's letters , you understand , he got himself in a lot of trouble that people were after him all the time and apparently they did something to protect him .

They were there when , when he needed them .

And so he's thanks to them for that .

But man , that would be a good story .

Probably a good movie as well .

How they stuck their necks out for Paul and as many people that are out to get him , I mean , who knows , who knows what could have happened , uh , that they did , but Paul was sure to let them know he hadn't forgotten .

Paul wanted to let them know and it probably not anybody's business .

Probably not our business in choir remind us want to know .

But he's like , thank you .

And I want everybody else who reads this letter to know what they did , the levels that they went through in order to be there for me .

And so he's grateful for that for six says , greet Mary , who has worked hard for you , greet Andronicus and Junia , my kinsman and my fellow prisoners .

They are well known to the apostles and they were in Christ before me , starting with Mary .

We don't know much about her .

And although we've got a bunch of Mary's throughout the New Testament is probably not one that we've encountered earlier .

It's a common name .

And so there's no reason to think that uh this Mary is connected to any of those that have been missed prior .

All we know is that she worked hard .

Is there something uh uh how would you like your name being emblazoned on scripture or any text or somebody else's letter and just known as a hard worker , right ?

Sometimes in , especially in the US context we overwork , but especially when it comes to the Lord , especially when it comes to what God has called us to do , man .

Isn't that , isn't that something you wanna be known for ?

I hope it is as somebody who works hard for the Lord , then we have Andronicus and Junior who are fellow Jews and apparently did some jail time with Paul that Paul is going through and you know , not only exposing , but hey , sharing this is how I know these folks and this is what uh we went down with .

And so there's , there's been some debate also with this verse where some argue that both Andronicus and Junior were apostles in most Bible translations .

They say that um they were well known among the apostles .

Um The ESV says they were known to the apostles .

And when speaking of apostles , it's important for us to know uh the capital a apostles .

When we see that is specifically talking about the 12 men who were called by Jesus .

This is the how we use the term .

This is the office of apostles , the people that uh specifically were called by Jesus .

So again , the title with the capital A is reserved for the 12 alone when we talk about the office and those who were called to walk with him .

And so the Greek word Apostolos is also used in other ways and it simply means a missionary or sent one .

So I think there's some confusion as we try to use these terms today and we try to mix the two people , try to say they're in the office of Apostle and not realize that they're trying to elevate themselves to people who are specifically walked and talked with Jesus and were called by him .

Uh So that's really important .

Now , the Apostle laws being , you know , missionary or sent one that is a different story , but it's not something I will put on my business card .

So we don't know much about these folks .

Um As we read further through verses eight through 15 , but what's important is that the Lord knows them .

Paul goes through again .

He's got all these relationships that he's built over time and , and we know some of these people they were mentioned earlier in the New Testament , which is fantastic .

Some we don't know much about and , and as he continues through the letter , he's like , hey , the , these people might , you might not know these folks but I want you to just so you know who , what they've done for me and who they might be .

And to us , we don't have any context .

We don't know uh many other things about them , plus their names are hard to pronounce .

So I'm not gonna go specifically through all those .

But what again , what's important is that the Lord knows each of them that they are written in the book of life .

So for us as Christ followers , as , as , as people on mission for Him , I hope , I hope we have this in mind .

Not only we be hard workers , but also know that um people might not know us when our time is done here and when we pass on from this life to the next , we will be nameless .

Our family might remember us , but only for a time .

But just know God knows you loves you cares for you .

Your name will be recorded because of who you follow , which that's what's most important .

You know , even me as your pastor .

I , I don't , I don't expect to go through the annals of time and like , oh , remember Pastor Vaughan , you're talking about me in 2050 or , or whatever I that's not happening .

But to know that I've been able to be here and been fortunate enough for the the Lord to use me in any way possible and , and touch even the few people that are here with us today is what ultimately matters .

And I hope it does for you throughout all this .

Even if we flash back to the book of Acts , we , we see the intentionality that Paul has when spending time with people .

Paul is very intentional to build these relationships and be with them .

And as outlined in our text today .

He had a lot of friends , not , not so that he could be popular , but so that he can share the good news that they would know who Jesus Christ is .

That was his goal and aim that everybody know Jesus .

And what we see if , if , if Paul had a , a Facebook profile today , we will see all his friends lists and we would see in that friends list .

He , he had a ethnic diverse set of friends that he had friends who were Jews .

He had friends who were gentiles .

He had friends who were weak in the faith .

He had , he had friends who were very strong in the faith .

Some of his friends were slaves .

Some of them were free .

He was friends with both men and women .

He traveled with his friends , he visited with his friends .

Yeah , he worked with his friends .

He was beaten up with his friends .

He was even in prison with his friends .

So even when he had a falling out with friends , we also see that he made sure to pursue reconciliation with them if I don't know if you remember the story with , with , with him and Mark , you know , wrote the Gospel of Mark .

And uh , they had a falling out .

Mark quit .

Mark said I don't wanna go and do this stuff no more .

And Paul , I forget you quitter .

Well , I don't need you anyway .

Barbas like time out slow down Paul and Barma said that I'm gonna take him under my wing and we're gonna work together .

Then the second Timothy we see they had reconciled .

I don't know , again , another movie I'd love to see .

I don't know how they reconciled or why .

But Timothy , he says to Timothy , hey , bring John Mark .

He's , he's useful .

I miss him .

What an incredible example for us of reconciliation , the importance of friendship and what that looks like .

Brothers and sisters .

We are made for relationships and often say again , like I said earlier , this is not AAA lone ranger Christianity or religion .

You were not meant to go it alone .

And we see this from the very beginning , by the , by the way , as God created Adam , he looked at Adam and said , said this in Genesis two and 18 .

He said , it's not good that man should be alone .

I will make him a helper fit for him .

It's not good for you to be alone .

You might be married and have a spouse , but that's still you , you still need and want people around you as well .

In addition to them , each of you are made to reflect the image of our relational triune , God .

So when your life is coming to an end , you , you won't be thinking about your career accomplishments .

When you're on your deathbed and nearing your last breath , you won't be thinking about your numerous degrees .

You won't be thinking about the trophies that you won .

You won't be asking people to bring you your favorite stapler , your your pen that wrote so well that you always had ink for when you lie on your deathbed , you want to be surrounded with your loved ones .

You want to be surrounded by the people that you walked with , that you care for and that care for you in return .

You wanna be around the friends that you have nearby .

Paul shares the importance of friendship even in the most dire situations in Second Corinthians seven and five , it says for even when we came to Macedonia , our bodies had no rest but we were afflicted at every turn , fighting without uh without and fear within .

But God , I love when you see bug God , you know something good .

I mean , I don't know about you guys , but I've had a lot of Bug God moments when things are like , like Paul is saying here when things are just going horrible and terribly and then , but God , what did God do ?

He ?

He comforts the go downcast .

He comforted us by the coming of Titus and not only by his coming but also by the comfort with which He is comforted by you .

As he told us of your longing , your mourning your zeal for me so that I rejoiced still more God and his sovereignty in his love .

While Paul didn't know what was going on , what he was gonna do just in the depths of everything going wrong .

God sent his friend to come , encourage him when you're at your lowest low and you've pushed everybody away , you're in a bad shape .

But I pray that because we follow God and because he came after us , even when we pushed him away , that we would still come after you , even though you don't want us as your friend , that we will still be there and be steadfast and show our love for you , even though you continue to strike us and bite us and do anything else because that's what God did for us , that we will be there for you in your time of need .

Just like Titus sent was sent to Paul in his time of need and , and even through all these things going on in Paul's life at the time where he said he was afflicted at every turn .

He thought he was about to die and her Titus comes like , let me remind you of who our God is and because God loves us so much and , and all the things that you've done for .

I love you too .

And I wanna be there to help God sent Paul his friend to lift him up .

And again , if , if Paul has closed himself off , if he wasn't intentional about building these relationships and he was harsh to other people and unforgiving , he would have missed his blessing .

It would have been a totally different story .

But God uses His people to bless and lift up others , uh in , in our times of need .

So if you're clouded by anger or fear or mistrust , you just , you won't be able to see this .

And hopefully today you get a glimpse of what that could and should look like for you .

Hebrews three and 12 says take care brothers , at least there be any of you , uh , and evil , unbelieving heart leading you to fall away from the living God .

But extort one another in every way , as long as it is called today that none of you may be hardened by the deceit of sin .

Brothers and sisters left to our own devices .

We will fail .

We need God .

It's the only way we can make it from one day to the next .

I'll speak for myself .

I mean , my flesh wants to do doesn't really wanna do what's right or good , what's in the will of God .

And those are times I need to be on my knees in prayer .

Lord help me because I , I don't wanna be what you want me to be to this person .

They , they're irritating to me .

They're annoying .

They're mean .

And God reminds me if so were you ?

But I still loved you , I still send my son for you so that you can live and you have life , get over yourself and go love them , put them before you in your comfort and show them the manner of love that I've shown to you .

Maybe this is just for me , but sin never sleeps .

Always after you .

First Peter five and eight says be sober minded , be watchful because your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour .

And if he catch you slipping it over , you got to be aware .

You gotta be on watch , you gotta be ready .

And as a people of a body of believers surrounding you , then we're ready for battle .

We put on the army of God together and hey , there's nothing people can do .

There's nothing the evil one can do .

No weapon formed against you shall prosper because of what God has done for us .

As AAA sheep that gets separated from the flock puts itself in danger to wolves and other threats .

And so we need to surround ourselves with fellow believers who are soldiers in the faith that's gonna be there for you .

This is what I want our church to be that we're ready for battle , that we're ready to protect our own , that we remind each other of the God that we serve and the courage that we can have because of who he is and what he's done for us .

Let's pray , Lord guy .

What a great reminder that you have for us today .

Thank you that we are not here alone that we don't have to suffer on our , on our own .

We don't have to figure it out .

On our own .

We don't have to fight these battles on our own .

But um not only do we have you first and foremost , but you surrounded us with people that would love and care for us and be able to encourage us , be hold us up when we don't have any strength like uh in Moses , when he was holding up , the staff and people would come and hold up his arms when he couldn't hold it any longer .

Father , help us to be there for others that we will put ourselves to the side and , and focus our all attention on you and the people that you've called us to love that they might feel that encouragement , they might feel that strength and know that they uh don't have to do it by themselves .

Help this church be a beacon of light to this community .

The people know that this is a sanctuary where they can come and they can feel safe , be able to get to know you and be supported through any and all the things that are happening in their lives that we will be able to speak truth into them .

And most importantly , they would know the name of Jesus .

They would be able to have hope in this hopeless world because of who you are and what you've done .

If there's anybody on the sound of my voice that does not yet know Jesus as savior , I want you just , just compel them convict them to wanna know more about you .

You will put people in their lives that we will be able to share this gospel , this good news , this Yan Gion with them .

So they would know the name of Jesus and trust in him , brother .

I thank you for all these things in Jesus .

Name .

Amen .