Entrenched In Love

[Music] [Music] remember conect heart mind [Music] while [Music] [Music] to [Music] wind [Music] you [Music] [Music] to for [Music] et [Music] here well good morning welcome to Valley Bible Church let's stand and sing and Worship the Lord [Music] together Amazing Grace how sweet the sound that save the like [Music] me I once was lost but now and found was blind but now I [Music] see was that t My Heart To Fear and my fears how preious did that Grace appear we I first oh god of Grace who cleanses me of s your strong Embrace will keep me till the end the Lord has prised good to me his word My Hope SEC he will my shield and por me as long as life end oh god of Grace who cleanses me of sin your strong Embrace will keep me till the end the Earth shall soon disolve like snow the Sun forbear to [Music] shine but God who called me here below will be forever oh god of Grace who cleanses me of s your strong in brace will keep me till the end oh god of Grace who cleanses me of [Music] s you're strong inra will keep me the end when we been there 10, years bright shining as the sun we've no days to sing God's praise when we first be amen well let's take a minute and greet each other warmly maybe meet someone you haven't met before [Music] d [Music] hey guys welcome welcome welcome Hey guys so um there's this thing called up dog have you heard about it yeah uh so this thing called up dog um is really important and I've already done that joke hey there you go all right hey everybody welcome welcome welcome my name is Nico trimmings and I'm one of the resident interns here and I feel like a lot of you guys I haven't saw since last year um yeah I haven't been to the 9:00 service since last year this crazy it's packed in here now with that being said I want to welcome you guys because one it's good to do so like you're in the house of the Lord You're In The Fellowship of brothers and sisters and and look regardless of how you're coming in I want to take time to really slow down and just help kind of paint this picture for you for some of you guys you had an argument with your husband and your wife coming in about something for some of you guys you came in excited and pumped about going to church and worshiping God for some of you guys it's been a really great week for others you've been dealing with sickness and it's just kind of sucked regardless of where you're at in this space we want to welcome you into the house of God because Christ has done it all and he's risen I wanted to do that since last week guys it's so cool it's so cool all right so with that being said guys I want to help you guys to understand something one as Believers we are people that live on Mission and when we live on Mission here BBC we do that in a very particular way under the gospel and that is that we are a gospel Community making Christ known in the valley and so regardless if you're a blue collar White Collar whether your mom stay at home or you go to work every day regardless of if you're doing something absolutely School related or if you're just at home trying to deal with life and do it in a way that honors Christ we make the gospel known as we go and so you guys are part of that mission now look I don't want to keep it because I was told I have six minutes I've used about a minute and a half we're going to see how this goes but with that said I have two announcements and I also have something that I really want to share with you that's something special okay um so the special thing we're going to save till the end so my two announcements on February 23rd what day oh from 5: to 8:00 p.m. what time oh you guys are awake right now y'all must have had that coffee out there was it fogers today been hearing those complaints uh so with that being said uh on February 23rd from 5:00 to 8:00 pm we are having parents night out for all of you guys who are parents regardless if you are like really new at this thing or if you've been in the game for a little while you got a little bit of skin in it look we want to be able to provide as a church a way for you guys as parents to break away from your kids to tend to your Covenant and to really begin to be a healthy functioning married couple look when you guys are healthy your kids benefit from that health so register online if you need child care you can drop your kids off here we want to make sure we have the right amount of volunteers and then you guys go out hang out be in community do all the fun things the couples do I'm going to leave that there because the joke was made last week and then from there you guys pick up your kids at 8m second announcement so we are stepping into Linton season and with that being said again we are remembering the triumphal entry of Jesus Christ into Jerusalem that what we have is a living hope not one that's perishable but one that is going forth it is changing lives and so with Linton season this Wednesday from uh it's not from it's at 6:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. yeah it really would be I mean hey that's heav right Eternal worship uh so from 6:30 now I get it again 6:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. there are two Services you can come to one of those two and be a part of it um it's a really cool way it Mark you with the Ashen oil and that's a way of just being a very striking witness about who God is and the hope you have so come be a part of that again this Wednesday now the special thing so to do this I actually have to take us back a few days um because this past weekend we had here at vbc our men's Retreat and you'll probably see behind me some pictures that I got to take during the men's Retreat of just little ways that we got to live in community but what this men's retreat was about it wasn't just a moment in time where we just got away and tried to play golf or something like that I promise wives we did what we said we were going to do we took time to hang out in the secret place of God and to be reminded that our work and our worth is not based upon our worth sorry or work our worth is not based upon our work but it is based upon our identity in Christ and we got to sit around with other men at tables and we got to pour out our heart whether that was a little bit or a lot and we got to see the grace of God reach each and every one of us I don't know about you guys in the room but it's so easy to slip into this performance-based mindset to think that everything that I do in life has to go it has to it has to multiply so much but but Christ has done so much so what I want to do yeah what I want to do is I want to wrap up this time um with three simple testimonies of what happened at Men's treat and I hope that this is able to show you guys a little bit of how God moved so number one God met me by removing the burden of titles expectations and the need to perform he's also working on the guilt I feel when I don't meet per when I don't perform the way I think I should it can be hard to take a moment to retreat and focus on God but praise God for a community of Believers that is committed to me meeting together to build up and encourage one another God has used this Retreat to convict me of my performative life I've been living I've have headed for disaster for how I've been overworking myself and trying to fulfill others expectations of my life but God has shown me during this Retreat how to trust in his plan that I don't have to perform rather I need to trust in his promises and his goodness and what Christ has done the ultimate performance and that he holds the world in his hands Lord I believe help my unbelief I am yours I am not the main character in your story I can find rest and the last one that this is a reminder that at any point in time God can take away and shatter any expectations I have for work family health and fitness if I like job were stripped to dust with the of my being radiate an identity in Christ I don't think that's just for this person I think that's a question that we can pose as we worship today that if everything was Stripped Away would your life be sufficient in Christ or would you still try to find your worth in your Works leave your works at the table today come to the table and feast on the free meal that Christ has for you and with that being said I'm going pass it back over to worship and let's uh spend time getting to know him yeah let's let's let's stand and sing and this next song is actually one that we sang quite a bit at the retreat and it's uh it's been doing uh it's been working on me um so many times I I do try to do things in my own strength and I do find myself performing or or rushing ahead and so um let's sing this song over ourselves and over each other and um and and let this also just be a prayer of how how we want to be towards the [Music] Lord Lord I don't want to rush on to In My Own Strength when you're right here Lord I don't want to rush on ahead and My Own Strength when you're right here I'm not in a hurry when it comes to your spirit when it comes to your presence when it comes to your voice I'm learning to just to rest in your nearness I'm starting to notice you are [Music] speaking [Music] Lord I want to love like you want to feel what you feel I want to see what you see Lord I want to love like you I want to feel what you feel I want to see what you see I'm not in a hurry when it comes to your spirit when it comes to your presence when it comes to your voice I'm learning to listen just to rest in your nearness I'm starting to notice you are speaking I'm not in a hurry when it comes to your spirit when it comes to your presence when it comes to your voice I'm learning to listen just to rest in your nearness I'm starting to notice you are speaking [Music] open my eyes I want to see you open my ears I want to hear you speak tell me your thoughts what on your mind I'll be your friend I want to see through your eyes open my eyes I want to see you clearly open my ears I want to hear you speak you are speaking tell me your thoughts what's on your mind I'll be your friend I want to see through your eyes I want to see through your eyes see through your [Music] eyes I'm not in a hurry when it comes to your spirit when it comes to your presence when it comes to your voice I'm learning to L just to rest in your I'm starting to no you are speaking I'm not in a hurry when it comes to your spirit when it comes to your presence when it comes to your voice I'm learning to list just to rest in your knes I'm starting toce you are speaking Lord we believe that you are speaking right now even and I I would even be so bold to say that you are speaking to some of us very specifically even even before the sermon happens before anything else and um whatever you're saying give us those ears to hear give us your heart speak to us in a way that we can listen and hold on to what you're saying we are listening we're listening Lord amen amen go ahead and grab a seat welcome again to vbc and uh my name is Brett Johnson I'm lead Pastor here and actually we have a unique treat today um we have Pastor Charles who is with us from the Hill Church in Ron Oak yeah those of you who've been here a while you know you know Pastor Charles he's preached for us before dear dear friend in the ministry you hear us talk about Partnerships you hear us talk about friendship as churches and so it's always a joy for us when we can have our brother pastors come and preach uh for us um so Charles if you want to come on up I'm do a little uh Q&A with him I want to get you to get you guys to know Charles a little bit because the you know it's ronoke right it's right down the street um from us about 45 minutes and so Charles how long have you been in ronoke not not the church but how long have you personally been in ronoke this year will be seven years seven years yeah so seven years ago is when y'all you know you and I met y um I called him and he was unloading the moving truck and he was like who is this why are you calling me I was like I heard you're in Rono we should hang out and he was like I don't know so we we've been hanging out since then and how old now is the Hill Church April 21st will be five years five years yeah amen so a lot of y'all don't know this but before we were in this building Charles and I would be hanging out here and Charles and and I'd be painting and rolling things and have paint all over us and before the church got rolling he was down here loving on us and walking with us as we were trying to figure out our own space issues and praying through things so um so Charles give us just a little snippet if you can a vision of the Hill Church like what are y'all doing what's God doing in Northwest uh wow so seven six years ago in here painting uh Al I I was assigned over here on the scaffolding that's right SCA and I don't do Heights at all yeah Charles was rolling the walls and it was somewhere around here somewhere where I really just kind of surrendered to the Lord um feel felt called for us to plant in the Northwest part of Ron um after wrestling through Church Plant strategy what's best and it felt like the opposite of what we were trained to do right and just kind of surrendered there I remember driving home going all right we're going to we're going to go for the hard thing yeah and um so the Northwest part of ronok if you're not familiar is one of the more challenging larger sections economically poverty crime food desert you name it um there's not a lot of people going there to plant churches there's not a lot of things happening over there and so we just have been going for it for the last five years and it's been pretty fun yeah it's been beautiful as Charles is kind of taking me around the neighborhood to see this beautiful old part of the city where life is kind of coming back in and and and meeting and seeing the faces of the of what God's doing through the hill has been a beautiful thing they were donated this really old really dilapidated old building that they've been in the process which I'm going to talk to you more about that at post sermon but um it's been a beautiful thing to watch the Hill Church which is now a whole community of people you know from all kind of walks of life that are in this community being on mission for the gospel seeing the you know seeing the children's ministry bustling over when we go up there I been able to preach up there it's been a beautiful thing let me pray for Charles um but those of you who are from Rowan Oak who who have a heart for the gospel especially I want you to just enjoy as we get to hear the word he's gonna he's jumping into our Corinthians series uh so he's going to finish out first Corinthians we're going to start second Corinthians next week but I want you to be thinking about and kind of haunted by man what H how should I be a part of what's going on in Northwest r Oak there's numerous ways to do that some of y'all need to you know move up you might graduate and go be a part of the Hill uh and then I'm going to I'm going to provide a specific opportunity post sermon let me pray for you Charles and then love to you know hear the word when I first came here and you made calls like that I was like yes please come no crazy people though so we're not doing as bad as we were so you can stay here yeah but those of you who want to go on mission for Jesus you are more than welcome to so yes if you're crazy don't go yeah just stay here just stay here we'll sort it out go to Vine we'll sort it out yeah you guys have other churches see he can say those things yeah that's right so oh let me pray for you oh you got me Lord just thank you for my brother fill him with your spirit Lord open our ears open our hearts just to hear from your word uh Lord your servants are listening and uh yes speak through Charles as we come expectant to encounter you to hear your words to have your way in us we pray in Jesus name amen hold on don't leave have a seat so wonder about the bag I I knew you were wondering about the bag and I know you're nosy so I bought a bag with flowers on it because I assumed you wouldn't go into it intentionally I got this one um seven years ago we moved here and I got the weird phone call from the high energy guy who who I didn't know um was like you know hey man we need to hang out and I'm like I don't even know who you are if this is real if you're weird um some of those things are true uh wait wait can you get the things on so you don't have to so is the warning against weird people is that inspired by me oh you were the lead pass yeah there you go yeah you attract you know whatever anyway um but Valley Bible especially early in for me and my wife has been such a great encouragement to us um we definitely did pick a very hard assignment and there are days where I'm reminded of how how hard that assignment is and I just you know I complain a little bit and the Lord's like well you know you signed up for a hard assignment so you know you can't brag on a hard assignment and complain about a hard assignment it's like you're right um but I know like we we did receive um some graduates that have come up to help with us some families from here um this church has supported us since we started and as a church plant that has never raised support before we had no idea how to raise support and um but this church has been behind us from day one not only this church but many individuals here have supported us um and still support us from this church um Mel and so many other people here but Brett and Katie also um as a separate family has supported us since we've started this church um I have a gift for you today but it has nothing to do with your support it has to do with just your swag and I've been we've been talking about this we've been talking about this for a few years he makes fun of my boots I don't make fun of his boots um he makes fun of his own boots um but this is a gift from TR and I um but not it doesn't it's not necessarily because I want you to have Tims because you're probably going to look goofy in them but Jesse will show you how to do the the to do the things right but being that you guys have been finishing up First Corinthians um I just wanted to use this as a moment to bless you and also um pray over you um as a reminder just from the end of this wonderful book Paul takes a lot of time to make sure that he's lifting up the leaders that the Corinthian Church should be paying attention to like he has this sense that this church is trying to disrupt the leadership and trying to one against another and being uh leading a church as a lead Pastor for five years now um I've had to go through a few things yeah amen and so I'm not here but I just know that um things you know it's a it's a long road you guys are about 12 years in yeah 14 it be 14 this year 14 years and I know when I've had hard times you guys have come and prayed with me and been there to support me and so amen I want to we want to bless you with these as a reminder yeah um is the Lord is with you um Beau the beautiful to feed is it when when those days you're shaking in your boots These are nicer than mine actually I should swap out as as I'm looking at them um but I want to pray for you and I want to pray for your team here um and just say I love you I receed that love you too Lord I Thank you so much for my brother Lord I Thank you that um you use him u in a mighty way here with all that he is and Lord I know that um the road is hard and the challenges are many and um trying to sift through and and be human be a godly man um is is a a trick that many people don't understand um what it's like Lord there are times I know his wife wants to um help support him and um some of the wives of the elders want to help support their husbands when things happen and and not many people understand the tears that come from the eyes onto the pillows of the leaders that you have placed in your church but Lord I Thank you so much um that they are still serving and they have great hearts and they're have soft hearts and um there's Great Fellowship around this team and um that you are using Valley Bible in such an amazing way that you've sought even before uh they assembled and had their first service the type of church this would be for this community um for the churches that would come out of here and the blessings that would be because this place exists and so Lord I just ask right now that this moment be a reminder that you see us all every mom that is struggling every father that is trying to figure it out everyone who's been called to stand in front of others and act like they know everything Lord I pray that we can rest in you this is your church these are your leaders protect them I pray for Unity of the Saints I pray father that you will continue to just breathe on this place for many years to come have your way let so many men women and children come to know who Jesus is because of Valley Bible in Jesus name amen take your Tims in your little girly bag oh do I get to keep the bag yes it's all you I'm not taking at home all right if you have your Bibles uh please turn with me to 1 Corinthians 16 I'm just going to read a few verses from there and then we will get right into it beginning in verse one it says now concerning the collection for the Saints as I directed the churches in galatia so you also are to do on the first day of the week each of you is to point is to put something aside and store it up as he may Prosper so that you so that there will be no collection when I come and when I arrive I will send those Those whom you accredited by letter to carry your gift to Jerusalem if it seems advisable that I should go also they will accompany me I will visit you after passing through Macedonia for I intend to pass through Macedonia and perhaps I will stay with you or even spend the winter so that you may help me on my journey wherever I go for I do not want to see I don't do not want to see you now just in passing I hope to spend some time with you with you if the Lord permits but if I stay in Ephesus until Pentecost for a wide door of for Effective work has open for me and there are many adversaries when Timothy comes see that you put him at ease among you for he is doing the work of the Lord as I also as I am so let no one despise him help him on his way in peace that he may return to me for I am expecting him with the brother now concerning our brother Apollos I strongly urged him to visit you with the other brothers but it was not at his in in at all his will to come now he will come when he has opportunity Be watchful stand firm in the faith act like men be strong let all that you do be done in love may the Lord have the blessing to the reading of his word Lord in these next few moments as by way of cap of this book I pray that you will help me as I as I stand to be faithful to you I ask all this in Jesus name amen amen I am super excited about what's happening here in chapter 16 of First Corinthians um not that we've been going through it but because you guys were going through it I went and did a refresher to make sure that I was in step with what was happening here um which means um I need to make sure I have some illustrations of Lord of the Rings so that's appropriate um for the church that I am I contextualize wherever I go and so I want to make sure I've read from the ESV I've done all the things that is required here at this church um last the last few weeks you guys uh were going through 15 um where Paul is taking the church to the highest Ascent really of the book he's been dealing with problems in the beginning of the book where they are pitting the leaders against one another saying Apollos is the dopest influencer in our area and then Peter Paul and it's causing all this Division and then he gets into sexuality he says y'all are whing out and you're acting worse than the people in these streets y'all need to chill you're supposed to be the Church of Jesus how are these things mentioned among you then he talks about some of the issues of the meat eating the meat and then the Gathering and then the resurrection um which is just this beautiful height of saying hey guys listen like if Jesus wasn't ra rais from the grave like really what are we even doing and then 16 he moves into the most practical portion of the letter it isn't even like this heavy lofty theological view it it is the it is the anchor in my opinion and you'll see why when I get a little further in I don't have a lot of time so Paul goes listen now that he he's transitioned like this multiple times throughout this letter he says now concerning in chapter 12 he says now concerning spiritual gifts 20 verse 25 earlier he says now concerning um the betov uh in verse one of chapter 7 he says now concerning the matter in which I wrote to you about sexual relationships and now in this letter he says listen um we need to deal with the offering remember the thing that we were talking about we we need to deal with that and he goes into it in a very practical manner I love that because sometimes we get into the very uh complicated things and some things that we need to deal with can be very practical and Paul moves us right there with a very practical issue the collection for Paul was a matter of importance he devotes two chapters in second Corinthians when you get there you'll see that and he also deals with a section in Romans about giving um he says listen guys uh in verse 26 in Romans he says um for Macedonia and Aradia have been pleased to make some contribution to the poor among among the saints at Jerusalem for they were pleased to do it and indeed they owe it to them Paul is saying you owe it to Jerusalem to help them that is the because of the church in Jerusalem that left from there to plant these churches we need to turn back and help the mother Church you owe it to them I like that that Paul is saying we have a responsibility to one another sometimes I think we think we're like the only church though we use the language of the universal church but man what about the other churches around us I I mean the one down the Street where they do some weird things where where they they claim the name of Christ I think sometimes we think they're almost like our enemies because they're off imagine if we won them to Orthodoxy for if the Gentiles have come to share in their spiritual blessings they ought to also be of service to them in material blessings you owe it to them this is what the church does we always rally and come around our brothers and sisters to support them and Paul is pointing this church back to the mother church I love that but I spent a little more time with this it seems very practical but I tried to put myself in Paul's Tims for a few moments and think through his relationship with this church and when I thought about it for a while I said why is the Jerusalem Church so important to Paul I see the Practical implications this is the mother Church what does this church mean to the Apostle Paul and if you think back to Paul's origin story he he began doing some things as Saul in Jerusalem in fact it was this very church that he was in opposition of trying to destroy when you think of the mother church for Paul it is a place where he started off going in the wrong direction this is Ground Zero for him this is where he met Christ and he was confronted in his sin and his error against the church in Acts it says that Paul was holding the coats of the people who were stoning Stephen like he was a he was trying to make sure that they can get maximum throw range so that they weren't getting him with light throws but if I take your coat you can actually get the full swing and hurt Stephen he was throwing people in prison he went and got the permits to actually hurt the church this is Ground Zero for Paul I'm pretty sure Paul's had a lot of opportunities a lot of Tears in his eyes as he thought through Jerusalem in the eyes of the people he hurt the the pain he caused the church in Jerusalem I'm going slow there because I want to kind of carry over into your Jerusalem the places of pain before you knew Jesus where you may have inflicted harm or said some harsh things or contributed in sin before you knew Jesus I have many of places before I knew Jesus that I had done and said some things that I'm not proud of my heart still breaks a lot for my hometown that I never got to go back to do ministry in my hometown it is the place where I first heard the gospel I first started doing a little bit of ministry but God had led me to Dallas and then now led me to Rome open in the middle of Virginia West somewhere which I didn't even know existed and I never really got to go back home a piece of my heart is breaks a little bit because my hometown could really use some more gospel it is the play pin where where I sinned and and did some things and led people in the wrong direction where's your Jerusalem not just the place where you get refreshed but the place that you mourn a little bit where is the place in Radford that we all know is there we don't spend a lot of efforts in that area I think Paul is a little bit of just trying to like man I I I just want to do this and gather this and help the church because I remember who I was when I was thinking of this I tried to find an example and this example came uh to my attention his brother named elen Wilson one day in 2009 he sends a letter to John Lewis in Washington DC he was a former member of The Klutz Clan and he had confessed to be part of the mob that bloodied Lewis one day when he was a freedom writer in South Carolina over 40 years prior he sends this letter to him and this is what he says later why he sends this letter to him he says all I can say is that it bothered me for many years all the bad stuff I had done and I found out there is no way I can be saved and get to heaven and still not like blacks and so he jumps in the car he drives down to meet with Lewis he sits with him and he confesses and this is what Lewis says he says without hesitation I looked at him and said I accept your apology and that was a great Testament to the power of love to overcome hatred now Lewis says he was informed by his Christian upbringing he was trained in the basement of a Nashville Methodist Church of nonv um responses but he also remembers and reflected upon his Christian training to make sure he forgave that brother I thought that was very beautiful I didn't see that on the news but for these brothers to sit down with each other for Lewis to forgive for brother Wilson to say I just didn't want to go in my personal private prayer closet and ask the Lord for forgiveness I wanted to ask the man who I had harmed for forgiveness that's a whole different level in Acts chapter 16 the Apostle is on his way to do what he usually does the Lord disrupts him sends him uh to Philippi and Philippi he shares the gospel with Lydia her whole house gets saved the next day he's walking down the street there's a woman who's being trafficked she hears the gospel the the the demon leaves her and Paul gets thrown in prison for doing this while he was in prison the Bible says that they were singing hymns at midnight at the the middle of the night they're singing worship songs to the Lord as they are chained and locked in the center of the prison prior to that verse it says that they were beaten and they were fogged so before they got to the worship songs they were beaten flogged thrown into the middle of the prison and they chose at that moment to sing worship songs this is a beautiful story of their faithfulness but the beauty isn't justed in their faithfulness a few moments later an earthquake comes their chains are loosened the doors are open they are free this is the power of our God the Jailer is getting ready to kill himself and Paul says don't do any harm to yourself we are all here I don't know about you but in my flesh I would have hesitated I don't know if my first response was hey the guy and the people who just beat me for no reason please don't hurt yourself I I would have been flossing on the earthquake and the chains coming off and saying this is the God I serve and Paul says whoa whoa whoa whoa we are all here we know if you lose us that you would be sentenced to death we want you to know it's okay we're here the guy rushes in the lights come on Paul shares the gospel with them they're all saved by grace through faith his entire household is saved that ain't the most powerful part of the passage to me Bible says that very hour they began to wash their wounds I don't know how fast you run through the scriptures but if you have ever been in a situation where someone has hurt you has harmed you and you allow them to be a part of the healing process where where where you stick your arm out and allow them to menend your wound you know the tears that would have been flowing in that prison that very hour as the people who realize that God has forgiven them and the people who already knew God has forgiven them but he was using their pain to draw them to the master this was a beautiful picture of reconciliation are you really saved are you really changed or are you using this opportunity to set me up this is the picture of Paul when he first came to Christ they were like is this the guy that was just trying to kill us Paul knows exactly how it feels to be in these moments and now he's on the other side once again extremely powerful man is blinded and has to be taken around then he receives his sight again this is the Paul who's writing this letter this is the location of his heart this is the conflict going on this is him realizing that God's love is far deeper than my love if there was a title for this I would say it's in entrenched in love because this letter is coming out of this frustration of correcting the church but I also want you to know that I love you very much I'm frustrated because you are not acting right if you a parent you understand this I'm frustrated because you were being silly but I love you so much and I don't want you to confuse the two and Paul is saying I am frustrated because you guys aren't acting right but I want you to know that I love you he uses this language of helping me on the way he is still involving them in the work of ministry as if they were significant because they were I would have been like man I don't want nothing to do with y'all I'm never coming back to Corinth I'm gonna stay here in Ephesus Paul says because he's entrenched in love like listen there's a a couple other business things we need to go through the first thing is I want you to understand you guys are are rough on pastors y'all are rough down here Apollo don't want to come back Timothy the only reason he's coming back cuz he's my young boy and he ain't got no choice but when he get there y'all better treat my boy right like y'all better not frustrate him he's coming because he's a faithful man of he's got my heart he is's a faithful man of God young boy is a Northeast Philly slang thing it's b l if if I use it in a sentence it would be someone I'm probably discipling that I care about that I see is probably going to be a great young man in the faith and so right now uh David Brink is the first person will'll probably ordain in our church he's my young boy I care about him I also know church people can be rough on young boyss because they could be rough on old boyss and so I want to make sure that I offer and I provide a level of protection for my young boy because I want him to be a great Pastor one day and Paul is saying y'all better be careful careful with my young boy Apollo he's like bro I ain't going back there right now I'll go back when I'm ready I mean he that's literally what he said he's like it ain't I ain't feeling it right now I didn't even know you could do that it's like Paul's like hey Apollos can you go back to Corinthians like nah not right now you you remember what you wrote them in the early chapters they bugging down there I'll go back when I'm Ready the next thing entrenched in love because he's showing this deep level of love for the leaders and and the people who are Faithfully planing the gospel and then he's like fussing with the actual church and like they're because they're coming at him also like it Paul's got a lot going on but he still manages to have a great level of love for this church it's tough Paul says I love you now writing this from this high level of conflict he has this interesting section here where he says this there there's an Open Door you guys know what doors are of opportunity there's this great opportunity in Ephesus right now and there are many Ops there there's a great opportunity and there are many Ops in Acts 19 Paul's in Ephesus I think this is what he's talking about in 18 is when the church in Corinth is started you see Apollos is there but in 19 you see Paul there things pop off there's this guy Demetrius the silver smith he's upset they the whole town starts chanting um because of this woman they're worshiping it's crazy and this the scripture says that Paul is watching this whole area go crazy and he's standing there like yeah let me outside and people who were with him was like Paul stay inside and Paul's like nah this is it this is where I want to be Paul is different different different cuz we well let me say me I don't know what y'all doing rapper me I've I've lived in this wonderful country for a long time and I've served Jesus in some very great places in some great churches with resources and things and I begin to start interpreting God's favor in a very Prosperity View that if things that the door is open and things are good this is God's will but if the door opens and there's a monster behind the door this is obviously not something he's inviting me into this is pretty easy for me because it it it actually sooes my comfort level and Paul is saying if there's a monster behind the door then there are some people who are probably being threatened by that monster let's go you careful if you interpret God's will for your life it's based upon ease and your pleasure and what's good for you because Paul keeps saying over and over and over it's it's not about me and it's not about you it's about these people and and there's some great things happening here in Ephesus there are people coming to Christ and and yes there are people upset but but but the darkness is being pushed back let's go I'm going to stay a little longer and this is the posture he's writing this letter from he is not in a recliner uh taking a nap waking up and just doing this he is thinking through the location of where he is the frustration of this church the issues that's going on managing other leaders and he is still able to say guys stop doing that and by the way I love you greatly his posture is entrenched in love it makes all the difference it makes all the difference when someone corrects me that if they're able to see me and say brother you you're not a terrible person you did a bad thing but let me love you a little bit right where you are by correcting you redirecting you and encouraging you all at the same time only my granny has been able to master that to be able to just pop my hand correct me and ask me if I want something to eat at the same time I'm like oh what just happened and Paul is doing this I have here in my notes are you built for opposition and quickly you can interpret that as if are you built for a fight but that's not what Paul is saying it's not necessarily that I'm that I'm built for a fight but it's the love of Christ and the lostness of this of these people that causes me to stay in the fight so that we can win them to Christ I'm not asking if you're able to fight it's really I'm asking if you're able to love people through Paul he's different 1 Corinthians he says I urge you then be imitators of me in chapter four and that is why I sent Timothy my beloved and faithful child in the Lord to remind you of my ways in Christ as I teach them everywhere in every Church some are arrogant as though I were not coming to you but I will come to you soon if the Lord wills and I will find out not the talk of those arrogant people but their power for the kingdom of God does not consist in talk but in power what do you wish shall I come to you with a rod or with love in the spirit of gentleness Paul is different this sounds like such strong words but then he just throws love in there just like confuse me but I get it we are grandson last time I was here was five years ago and so our oldest was in his first year of college now he's married we have our first grandson he's 11 months old he's awesome I wish we could have skipped kids and went straight to grandchildren now I get it I didn't realize how awesome it is like it's it's better um I I don't even know why it's like we changed overnight I have a billion pictures you want to see some that Grandpa I'm already there with it and then our other son will be graduating from college this year uh I've learned over time this attitude that Paul has where he's like listen I we we can fuss and we can have issues but how I treat you and how I see you is pretty different than how the world does it like I have a personal philosophy now I don't beef with anyone that I've burped like it's just like if I burped you and changed your diaper it's just like I'll correct you and love you but we're but we're that that that actually requires me to elevate you to a place that you're really not there my little brother is mad at me right now he's he's 14 years younger than me I told him some good truth I told him some things he needed to hear and he's upset with me but I burped him right I like I like I went and got milk from the store to feed him we used to keep the the dog food in the kitchen and he used to try to crawl over there and eat it he doesn't even remember this but but I but I stopped him from eating dog food that there's a level of love that he's received from me that he doesn't quite even understand the depths of it yet when I'm 127 and I get a little weaker and I'm sitting in a chair and I need someone to feed me cream of weed and he comes over and he feeds me cream of weed and he helps me um down the hallway then he'll begin to understand the dep of love that I've shown him but right now we can't beef because I burped you not like that I I I changed your dier I got snot out your nose Paul's saying to this church I burped you I I I loved you like like the things that we went through so that the Lord can be here so that you can be saved by grace through faith is different I can't just run you off because I love you and and we need you and this church is important and so I'm coming um I'm not coming right now because I'm doing a good work over here I tried to send Apollos but y'all are crazy Timothy's on his way I'll be there soon as soon as I hand these things over here because I am entrenched in love and this chapter shows us how we love the places we used to come from and the things we used to be in and how we continue to serve and how we keep on the mind of the churches you are not the only church don't just think about yourself it is not just about you it's about all of Jesus's church and by the way please be careful how you treat God's leaders because these are the people God has called to serve and go before you and by the way after all of this frustration of how you're treating one another and how you're pitting leaders against each other and how you're sleeping around and being sinful and and how you're doing this and being disruptive in the church I and Jesus Loves You Paul's entrenched in love and I pray for you to remain entrenched in love Jesus I easily can get in my flesh and pop out of the patience the type of love that grandma would show sometimes it seems like I just can pick one I could just be frustrated and push people away and that's not the way that Paul is demonstrating to this church so Lord maybe there's a person in our life a neighbor a coworker or maybe it's someone we burped Lord wherever they are it seems like you like to use some of our hardships as opportunities to remind people of the Gospel simple way to put this book is Paul is saying to the church you are not acting like you should as Believers just doesn't match up father if there's any area in our life that is not matching up it's easy to match up when we come to church it's hard in the rubber meets the road bring to our minds and our hearts anything we need to ask for forgiveness for so that we can remain entrenched in love in Jesus name all right we're doing something different this morning so we're going to do a little opportunity to apply right now we're a church entrenched in love and we see Paul unashamedly ask for a collection this is money he's asking for money for the for the for the Saints and so the Hill Church is you know there's a phrase that Charles said in there you know this is pushing back the darkness God has planted this church in this neighborhood to bring the gospel to bear and so one of the reasons we had Charles come down is because of the fact that there's a collection being asked so we're asking this morning unashamedly straightfor it there's going be a QR code go put it up there I'm gonna I'm gonna say a number and I'm and I'm and it's kind of crazy but I I want us to try and push and really wrestle out can we get on entrenched in love to love the hill church because listen we're hoping that decades from now you as Charles and I Walk The Halls me and Jesse and Charles Walk The Halls of this old building with all the the needs and watching it slowly come back to life filled with gospel noise we want to be able to be a church that is entrenched in love and is taking a collection we we give as a church on a regular basis but we're asking y'all this morning that you would pray through huh man how how can I how can I join in with what God is doing my my heart is that for you guys in prayer and in and in money you will see like hey I I'm a part of what's going on over there so there's a Breezeway that needs to go between the two buildings they got over there it's $23,000 that's right and I'm my prayer is is that we can get that this morning I know like Whoa We want to be a church that's not just about Radford we want to be a church where we see the gospel going forth as we stand and lock arms so I want you to do is I want you to kind of prayerfully think about we're going to do communion and all that there's a QR code up there the hillchurch theill church.com am I getting that right the hill church.com and you can go on there if you want to hop on your phone QR code will do it too and go donate and go to building campaign because listen what what we're looking forward to is many many more years of seeing the gospel advance in ronoke that we want to be a part of this work we want you to be a part of this work that we would be a church that locks arms and does this this is the first way we can respond as we think about man how do we take a collection for the Saints so that we can see the gospel take root in Rono it's the sister Valley to us we got the New River Valley and the Ron Oak Valley and man to see because listen they're they've gone into a neighborhood that uh a lot of the churches that are booming are not going into those neighborhoods because money's tight it's a little bit harder work and yet and that this church has gone in there and said hey this this is this is g to be our neighborhood and we want to be with him in that financially actually so prayerfully think about how you can financially contribute give this morning let's Worship in that way so that's first thing we can do second thing we're going to do so we talk about giving and receiving so we come and we eat at this table we're going to take communion right we're going to come and take communion we're going to take from the hand of our King who gave gener generously to us though we were his enemies and so as we take communion I want you even think about huh the Lord has given to me and how can I be a part of what he's doing and to wrestle through that in new ways we want to we want to be a church that worships not just in the receiving right we've received all the things he's given but we also are those who give so communion is this picture of like huh I'm I'm receiving from him how also can I worship that's part of why we have this communion box the boxes on the community table it's kind of a weird picture people like hey why are these boxes on here it's kind of a metaphor right a lot of us don't actually give in paper we give digitally but we want these boxes here as a reminder say right we receive and we give this is the part of the rhythms of the life of the church so so what we do here at vbc is we come up here we grab the elements we break the bread we grab the juice and then you're going to go back to your seats and I'm going to kind of lead us once you guys all have the elements now there's one other little kind of Quirk to this this table actually is not for everyone it's for for those who believe Upon Jesus so if you don't believe Upon Jesus we're saying don't partake you can come and kind of walk the line if you want to or stay seated however you want to do it and what we're saying is is behold the people of God as they receive gospel celebration and then one day our hope if you haven't believed on Christ please come talk to me talk to the person that invited you because we want to give you the gospel the good news of Jesus so that way you can take communion with us in the future but this is table it's called it's a fenced table meaning you have to believe upon Christ in order to partake and man do we want you to partake this appetizer of what's ahead in Eternity for us so they're going to start playing come up and get your elements and then I will lead us in the taking of the elements together let's worship [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] and on the night he was betrayed he took the bread and he broke it he said this is my body take and eat in the same way he took the cup he said this is the cup of the New Covenant in my blood take and drink the blood of Christ now let's continue to worship as we stand and [Music] sing [Music] child of we watch and find me all and Jesus it all all to him I ow he [Music] was and alone Chang My Le spot th heart of soul Jesus made it all oh [Music] I GM [Music] he [Music] Before the Throne I stand in Hime I Lay My trophies down all down at Jesus Jesus PA it all to him I S Crimson St [Music] heus it [Music] all to him I S had left Theon [Music] he [Music] he [Music] [Music] he praise the one praise [Music] the the oh praise the one my raised his life up from the dead oh praise the one my dead and ra this life up from the dead oh praise the one who paid my debt and raised this life up from the to I [Music] sson he as he [Music] as as you hear God's word spoken over you let your heart respond with praise and proclaim the underlying portions with us Philippians 2 5-1 have this mind among yourselves which is yours in Christ Jesus who though he was in the form of God did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped but emptied himself by taking the form of a servant being born in the likeness of men and being found in human form he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death even death on a cross therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on Earth and under the Earth and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God God the Father Matthew 16 says then Jesus said to his disciples if any of you wants to be my follower you must give up your own way take up your cross and follow me if you try to hang on to your life you will lose it but if you give up your life for my sake you will save it and what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul is anything worth more than your soul psalm 27 says one thing have I asked of the Lord that will I seek after then I might dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his Temple for he will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble he will conceal me under the cover of his tent and he will lift me high upon [Music] you're worthy of all the praise could worthy of every bre we could ever we live for you [Music] above the only could worthy of every breath we could ever Brea we live for you live for youly there is no one like you there isone beside you open up my eyes in show me who you are and fill me with your heart andad me in your love to [Music] around of all the praise could worthy of every breath we could ever Brea live you jusus name [Music] above Jus the only who [Music] could worthy of every bre we could ever Brea we live for you live for you andly andly there is like isone beside up my eyes in Wonder show me who you are and F me with your heart and Me in Your Love To Know around [Music] me and I will build my life upon your love is a firm foundation and I will put my trust in you alone and I will not be Shak and I will put my life all your love it is a firm foundation I will put my trust in you alone and I will not be Shen holy there is no one like you there is none beside you open up my eyes in Wonder show me who you are and fill me with your heart and Lead Me In Your Love To [Music] those holy there is no like you there is none beside you open up my eyes in show me who you are and fill me with your heart and Lead Me In Your Love to those around you give life you are love you bring light to the darkness you give you restore every heart that is broken great are you it's your breath in our lungs so we pour out our praise we pour out our praise it's your breath in our lungs so we pour out our praise to you are [Music] you you give you are you bring light to the darkness you give you restore every heart that is [Music] brok great are you it's your breath in our lives so we pour out our praise we pour out our praise it's your breath in our lungs so we pour out our praise to you oh [Music] all the Earth Will shout your praise our hearts will cry these bones will s great are you Lord all the Earth Will shout your praise our hearts will cry these bones will sing great are you [Music] Lord It's your breath in our lungs so we pour out our praise pour out our praise it's your breath in our lungs so we pour out our praise to you only it's your breath in our lungs so we pour out our praise we pour out our praise it's your breath in our so we pour out our praise to you sing My Soul then sings my [Music] soul myor God to [Music] thee how great [Music] th how great [Music] th sings my soul myor God to how great thou are how great thou how great [Music] thou how great thou how great [Music] thou how great thou yes Lord you truly are great wonderful and Powerful God thank you for the example of love that you gave us through your son Jesus who died for us father would we be rooted and grounded in him and his love this week amen amen good remain standing for our benediction as we go out this week right being those who unashamedly right are on mission for the gospel and asking others to join in as Paul did in this collection for the saints that we would be those entrenched in love going even back into those places where we've been wounded where we've been sinned against where we even in our own sin sinned against others to see the gospel do its restorative work right that we would look even those that we have sinned against in the face and show up with the words of the Gospel right the generosity of Christ would we be those who go back into these places go this week know knowing that your great king entrenched in love invited you to also be entrenched in love to live on Mission inviting even those you have sinned against to taste of the Beauty and the Wonder and the glory of the grace of the Gospel that we would be those who lock arms with other churches with other believers that we would give our money and our time and our worship for the advance of the Gospel go this week as those who lock arms with other brothers and sisters across Southwest Virginia in particular on mission for the gospel have a good [Music] week [Music] [Music]

Channel: Valley Bible Church Radford

Views: 54

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Id: Zwhowxtd76E

Length: 95min 12sec (5712 seconds)

Published: Mon Feb 12 2024