The Recipe for Maintaining Unity in the Church - 1 Corinthians 13:13

[Music] the evening you know i gotta thank him right away i gotta tell her [Music] holy [Music] you up and magnify your name [Music] [Music] you up and magnify your name [Music] [Music] oh as i look around and i see all the things your hands have made i woke up this morning with my mind and stays oh jesus i woke up this morning with my mind my mind stayed stayed on the lord you know i woke up this morning with my mind my mind [Music] jesus hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah i was singing and praying with my mind and stayed oh jesus i was singing and praying with my mind my mind stayed on the lord you know i was singing and praying with my mind says oh jesus hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah [Music] and i was walking and talking with my mind come on leave your voice instead oh jesus i was walking and talking with my mind my mind saved on the lord you know i was walking and talking with my might my mind said oh jesus [Music] hallelujah [Music] hallelujah [Music] good morning to everyone once again god has blessed us to be able to come into this place together that we might offer up our praise and adoration to him god has been merciful to all of us and given us this opportunity to come together once again and we are truly grateful for what god has done now we want to remind you that if you have a response we want you to fill out the cards the ushers will come down the aisles during the invitation time fill out the card and pass it in and for those who desire in baptism or place membership we ask that you come up front during the response time last week was an exciting sunday for us just a glorious day that one will be historical for this congregation and i know that you uh went away wondering what preacher was going to preach first well we got a surprise for you today you're going to hear all three of them amen you're going to hear all three of them today to those of you who are visiting with us we welcome you to our services here at the greenville avenue those who are on our streaming with us today god bless you and thank you for being online with us in our services today shall we together stand at this time and prepare our hearts and minds for worship o sing unto the lord a new song sing unto the lord all the earth sing unto the lord bless his name show forth his salvation from day to day declare his glory among the heathen his wonders among all people for the lord is great and greatly to be praised he is to be feared above all gods let us together pray holy and righteous father our god we once again humbly bow in your presence thanking you for all of your wonderful grace and mercy towards us we thank you for this day of worship an opportunity to praise you collectively and to thank you for your goodness and your love for us we thank you for jesus our redeemer our savior because of his sacrifice we can be called your children we pray dear god that you will forgive us of our sins and our transgressions those things that we've done contribute to your holy will and we pray that this worship may come up to you as a sweet smelling savior to let you know how grateful we are for what you have done for us bless this worship in the name of jesus christ our savior we pray amen the great redeemer we're saying verses number one and three of this song good morning please continue to lift your voices in praise as we give god all the praise that he deserves one third 139 those who are following witness in the back the great redemption how i love the great redeemer who is doing so much for me with what joy i tell the story of the love that makes me dream until my earthly life first ended i was hit jesus and his love he is everything to me to me he gives everything to me and everything shall always i will never cease to raise a song of blindness in his place here and in the world above my soul shall sing of saving love life and lies and joy is he the precious friend who died for me glory be to him forever endless praises to christ the lamb he has filled my life with sunshine he has made me what i am oh that everyone will know him all that all would adore oh then and be his forevermore for his everything to me to me [Music] he has everything to me and everything shall always be i will never cease to raise us song of gladness in his praise here and in the world above my soul shall sing of saving love life and light and door you see the pressure swing to die for me amen and because of that reason i love my savior too i love my savior too following this song will be directed in scripture reading and prayer we sing verses number one and three of the song jesus my heavenly king loves me i know praises to him i sing onwards i go voices will sweetly blend under i love my savior too don't you know that i love my savior and he loves me too [Music] everything i do i am happy to serve my friendly lord his arm for raptor will never be and nothing a lord for our voices will sweetly blend under his home for i love my savior don't you know that i'm love my savior and he loves [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Applause] [Music] i do don't you know that i love my savior and he loves me too oh i seek his favor [Music] good morning gacc good morning good morning it's a blessing to be in the house of the lord if you have your bibles this morning uh turn to first corinthians chapter 13. first corinthians chapter 13. and i will be reading uh verse number 13 from the english standard version first corinthians chapter 13 and verse number 13. the english standard version says so now faith hope and love abide these three but the greatest of these is love that was first corinthians chapter 13 and verse number 13. let us go to our heavenly father in prayer the heavenly father we come to you this morning uh with thanksgiving in our hearts dear lord we are so excited we're blessed uh to be amongst the living uh dear lord you watched over us last night you woke us up this morning you gave us the energy the zeal uh to come out today and worship you uh in spirit and truth and we're so thankful for that uh we're also thankful dear lord of the way that you bless us continuously we will be here all day and all night if we begin to to number them dear lord but we just thank you for food shelter and raiment we thank you for the ability to use our five senses we thank you dear lord for the way that you provide for us dear lord you've blessed us with just people in our lives to allow us to have comfort and to be able to serve and we're thankful for that we thank you dear lord for the gift that you gave to us a gift that's better than any other gift and that is the gift of the holy spirit dear lord just as a down payment um lord to show us how committed that you are for us and we thank you for jesus dear lord who made all of this possible we were in our worst state dear lord and you looked upon us and you sent us your best the lord to lay down his life and we thank you dear lord for his life his example we thank you for his death burial and resurrection and we thank you for his precious blood dear lord which cleansed our sins and also purchased the church and we prayed to the lord this morning that you'll look upon each and every one of us and forgive us for our shortcomings we realized the lord they will let you we let you down all the time dear lord and sometimes this weighs heavy on us but we just pray to the lord that we approach your throne with comfort uh the lord with a clear conscience knowing their lord that that was the purpose for jesus we pray that you bless all of those who've been on the prayer list many have been sick many are suffering uh dear lord many are suffering with mental illness uh we're struggling uh dear lord just trying to make it each and every day but we know dear lord that uh we have hope dear lord and we just pray that our hope continues to remain in you we pray to the lord that we walk by faith and not by sight and we pray to the lord that our love is demonstrated not only verbally dead lord but that we show love to you and also to our brethren bless the men that will be uh preaching the messages uh this morning dear lord we pray that you continue to be with them and their families pray for our leadership here at greenville avenue dear lord that you will continue to give them wisdom that they may make decisions that are pleasing in your sight and for the rest of us the lord the congregation as a whole that we continue to show our uh our love to our community and open up our arms and if there's any visitors here this morning the lord that have not obeyed the gospel of our lord and savior jesus christ we pray to the lord that you remove any obstacles that you will clear out their minds in their hearts so that the word may find good soil dear lord and so that they may ask that question what must i do to be saved and perhaps be baptized this morning we love you so much and we thank you for everything you do for us it's in jesus name and we ask all these things and say and pray let us all say amen [Music] you know that i can tell them to my lord and you my burden [Music] hey [Music] just brings me home through sometimes [Music] [Music] don't you know [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh jesus [Music] oh my precious savior suffered pain in agony he buried hope that i might live he broke the bonds of sin land and said that have to free you oh that i might in his presence live people with all that i might see here shining face freely bore it all i with him might live i stood condemned is [Music] matthew chapter 26 verses 26 through 29 and it reads as follows and as they was eating jesus took bread and blessed it and break it and gave it to his disciples and said take eat this is my body and he took the cup and gave thanks and gave it to them saying drink ye all of it for this is my blood of the new testament which is shed for many for the remission of sin but i say unto you i will not drink henceforth of the fruit of the vine until that day when i drink it new with you in my father's kingdom let us pray dear heavenly father god of abraham isaac and jacob the guy that brought the children to israel out of the land of egypt and our father and our savior jesus christ father we come to you at this time asking you to bless this communion we ask you father to bless the bread that is your son's body and we thank you for it we ask you father the breath bless the feet of the vine which is which is your son's shed of blood and we thank you for it we pray for all those who partake that they would take it with a clear mind and humble heart looking to you father the author and finisher of our faith this is our prayer we ask in jesus christ's name amen they placed a crowd of thorns up on my savior's head he bore his own then i might sleep by cruel man whispers his sight was pierced and bled oh that i might in his presence live he bore it all that i might see here shine the face feeling boring i with him might live i stood condemned to that but jesus my place oh that i might in his presence live of calvary's hill in shame the blessed savior trust he bore his hope that i might live between two things they crucied by the son of god that i might in his presence live he boring door that i might see here shine face feeling bored with all i with him might live i stood condemned to die but jesus took my place that i might express a jersey boring door that i might see in shining faces my place be more real oh that i might express us this if you don't mind i'll ask you to stand with me as he welcome the message for this morning thank you so much for blending your voices as we lift our praises to god he is worthy of our praise amen so we'll sing hallelujah until that day when we reach the city of the new day rules our love say we all see hallelujah sing hallelujah [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] hallelujah [Music] hallelujah [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] we will sing hallelujah [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] hallelujah [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] and [Music] [Applause] hallelujah [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] i don't know about you but i'm glad to be in the house of god david said i was glad when they said unto me let us go to the house of the lord i hope you were glad when you got up this morning and knew that today was the day that the lord amen and you were excited about coming to the house of god and you rejoiced in the fact that you on your way to the house of god i know i'm making a lot of assumptions because i know what happens in life but just know that this is the best place to be this morning we want to thank this congregation and i these brothers are letting me speak on their behalf thank you for your support your prayers and love i said to the first service it was just overwhelming last sunday to participate in the installation service and to be a participant and to have the vote of confidence by your expressions from our leadership and they stood up in unison too to say that we're behind you then the deacons stood then the members do and we just thank you for standing with us and as paul says we are now ready to preach the gospel to you who are in richardson are just so thankful to our leadership and for our resident retired minister and he's not here with us and sister gibbs are not here with us retired folks doing what they would like to he's out working and he's in arkansas and so let's keep him in our prayers as he goes and uh preaches the gospel whenever and wherever he wants to when he gets good and ready to do it so we're just so grateful for that this morning our goal is to preach one sermon three preaching one three in one the three are one so and so so you pray for us as we as we attempt to go into uncharted i can't say it's uncharted because we did it at first service and so uh we're doing the very best we can and we hope that you will be blessed by the message this morning first corinthians the 13th chapter verse number 13. and now abideth faith hope charity these three but the greatest of these is charity god's recipe for maintaining unity in the church god's recipe for maintaining unity in the church how does a church riddled with problems stay together this was the situation at the church at corinth they had problems upon problems and paul wrote to them concerning their problems in chapter one we are arguing about preachers i am of paul i am a cephas i am of christ there were members who were suing one another dragging each other into the court that's in chapter 6. there were issues concerning marriage divorce and remarriage and that's in chapter number seven there was dissension and disagreement with compensation for preachers that's in chapter number nine and they were disputing over spiritual gifts who had the best gift when can i exercise my gift is it my turn now and you did it last week and as i looked at this church i said now this is not far-fetched from from the church today but paul declares in chapter 12 verse number 31 but covet earnestly if there's anything you really won't stop stop bickering over who has the best gift this is what you really need to covet stop stop stop talking about i am of paul and i am of cephas no no no this is what you really need to cover it he says covet earnestly stop looking at whatever we have you have and i have and what you got and i don't have covet earnestly the best gifts he said yet i show you a more excellent way when he dives into chapter 13 this most excellent way is expounded and this most excellent way is god's way it's a divine way when you read chapter 13 on your leisure you'll see all of the descriptions of love the most excellent way and the concluding verse reveals the recipe for unity in the church it reveals the plan of unity or the church if we're going to obtain and maintain and sustain unity we must have these three ingredients faith hope and love if it works in corinth faith hope and love what is it about faith well paul says now abideth faith it abides it remains it lasts there were some things in chapter 13 that would pass he said where there are tongues they'll cease all of these things will pass but there are going to be some things that are bad and they abide even to this day faith hope and love faith is significant because it is the foundation of the christian life hebrews 11 and 1 says but faith now faith is the substance of things hoped for the evidence of things not seen substance means that it sustains it is underneath it is the foundation of the christian second peter chapter one and verse number five i believe says add to your faith is that right giving all diligence add to your faith faith is the foundation and you add to it and he will expound on all of these christian graces there is no structure that can stand without a strong foundation that's why you hear all these commercials on the radio and on tv do you have foundation problems well call this number texas has a problem with foundation but not only does texas have problem the church will have problems with foundation if we don't remember that faith is our foundation and i thought about faith faith comes by hearing we know it and hearing by the word of god god whatever we learn about god and what we know about god becomes the foundation for our faith so when i think about faith faith is the common denominator the common tie that unites all of god's children not just today but from creation for if i was to go to hebrews chapter 11 it would say by faith we understand that the world that's creation faith goes back to creation faith faith faith is in the patriarchs abel the bible says offered a more excellent by faith abel offered a more excellent sacrifice than cain noah built an ark by faith abraham by faith sarah by faith the patriarchal age is connected by faith not only is the patriarchal age but the mosaic age moses a man of faith rahab a woman of faith sampson and samuel all of the judges david a man of faith and then when we come to the christian dispensation i'm connected to peter james and john by faith paul by faith you and i are connected by faith not only at the present but the past is a link we've had some members who have gone on and have been at this congregation and the connection that we've had is not our education it's not where we lived it was not our skin color the connection that brought us all together and continues to bind us together is faith last wednesday they had bible class and after the class all of these people were talking about how they came to god the connection of faith is what binds us together and therefore we ought to walk by faith second corinthians 5 7 we are justified by faith we live by faith we're saved through faith the only way you can please god is through faith we contend for the faith and we are victorious by faith faith is the victory oh glorious victory that overcomes the world faith looks back but the second ingredient hope looks forward faith looks back and hope looks forward [Applause] what a blessing what a blessing it is to go behind um you brother bradshaw if you could put first corinthians 13 verses 13 on the board as he was preaching and i was listening to him i was preaching with him you couldn't hear me preach with him but i was preaching with him and i know brother worthy was preaching with him too and it is just a beautiful thing this this team concept um the bible says and now abideth faith hope charity these three but the greatest of these is cherry what i want to show you this morning is that there is a connection between faith hope and cherish see see see hope is almost the oil that connects those other two principles the greek word there when you look at hope alone comes from a word help us which means expectation can y'all say expectation see faith is fueled let me say it again faith is energized by expectation faith feeds on the desire for something that you currently do not have in genesis chapter 15 god came to abram and he said i want you to look up and he said you see all of the stars you can't even count them but if you could your offspring is going to be as numerous as those stars the bible says that abraham believed god now that's faith right and god counted that faith as righteousness but you want to know what fueled that belief in god you want to know what fueled that confidence in god it was expectation it was the hope that a man that had a barren wife and could not have a family he could look up at the stars and believe that one day amen walls and lights when i think about hope the bible says in hebrews 11 and verse number one which has already been quoted or read faith is the substance of things that are hoped for we have to hope for something amen we have to expect for something as the body of christ it's important that we know what our hope is and we're going to talk about that in just one moment because i only have 11 minutes amen when you think about hope practically speaking when you go to an intersection and there's a person who is panhandling that person is not out there just to be out there there is a hope that that person has there is an expectation that somebody is going to give me a couple of when somebody goes to work and they wake up early and they drive through traffic and work eight hours after a 40-hour week there is a hope there is an expectation that they're going to have something that they did not currently have a paycheck amen hope is the desire for something that you currently don't have if i'm full and i mean full of food i don't hope for dinner if i had my keys in my pocket i don't have hope that i can find my keys why because they're with me but let me lose my keys amen i was at the park one day for soccer and there were 10 fields and there were uh a thousand cars and i had a single key and francine had traveled and and i had linden by myself and you know when i put my seat down to sit in it what i could not find i couldn't find my key and i had i had been through ten fields my key could have been anywhere you know what i hoped for i hoped for what i could not find amen my keys the bible says in romans chapter eight in verse 24 it says for we are saved amen we are saved by what put it on the board please we are saved by what yeah we say by faith too but the three ingredients amen we are saved by what the bible says that we are saved by hope but hope that is seen is not what if you have it if you can see it if you can touch it that's not whole why do we hope for something that we already have my only point is that hope is is for what we don't currently have there are 10 000 haitians under a bridge in south texas they left their homes they left their family their friends there's no roof over their heads they're exposed to the elements risk of death risk of a of assault somebody ought to ask me why are those people here there's an expectation that there's a better life here than where they came from there's an expectation that there is opportunity that was not that did not exist where they came from if they had the opportunity they would not have what they would not have left what is this hope that abides when you look at first corinthians 13 and verse number 13 now now faith hope and love or now abideth faith hope and love what is our hope it's important that we understand our hope that's what unifies us colossians 1 23 put that on the board just real fast there is a hope of the gospel there is a hope of the gospel i know we put our faith in the gospel we put our faith in jesus christ but there is also the hope of the what of the gospel amen walls and lights what are you saying brother gibbs and i shouldn't say that i said it at my old church amen and uh all right uh colossians 1 23 if ye continue in what if you continue in faith you see how these are connected if you continue in what if you continue in faith and you are what grounded in faith if you are what if you are settled in faith amen and be not moved away from the what so you got to be grounded in faith amen is brother brad show talked about you got to be settled in faith but you can't be moved you cannot be moved away from what the hope of what the hope of the gospel there is a hope of the gospel amen have we moved away from the hope of the gospel do we even know what the hope of the gospel is is there something that we desire that we currently do not have are we full this morning colossians one and verse number five actually let's look at verse number four first colossians one and verse number four i'm gonna show you how these are connected since we heard of your what your what your faith in what in christ that's that's the first thing we just we just heard about that amen end of the what and the love which you have for all to say you're going to hear about brother word let me tell you you better stick around brother worthy close this sermon amen and i'm looking forward to it again brother worthy so we see faith and we see love which we have for all the saints verse number five watch what the bible says for or because the hope why do we have faith why do we have love because or for the hope that's why i said it's oil now what is the hope the hope is laid up for us in your house no the hope is laid up for you in your car no do you know what your hope is this morning your hope is not in this world the bible says that our hope is laid up for us where in heaven in heaven and you know what i could put some more bible on it but i won't because that's enough you understand that we are here because we want to go home and we don't preach heaven anymore and it's a shame because expectation of heaven energizes our faith it fuels our love when we know what we hope for amen first corinthians 15 and verse number 19 paul will say if only for this life we have hope in christ if our hope is only limited to right here and right now we are men most miserable think about it if those haitians came all the way over here they left their homes they left their comfort zone they left their families they left their friends to live under a bridge if that's it they are men most miserable no the stopping place is not the bridge the expectation is what is that they don't have opportunity to have a house to have a job to build a career and i'm telling you this morning in church if we don't know why we are here i want to see my savior's face in peace i'm not content with the with 3 000 or 4 000 how many how many thousands of feet you have we can't be content with that why because there's some people that i've lost that i want to see you again there are some eternal rest that i want to have i want to go where there's no more dying no more crying no more stealing no more cancer no more addiction no more guilt no more shame no more penny pension no waiting on a sale and as i take my seat i want to show you that god unifies us through this coming hope before we ever get to chapter 13 chapter 12 first corinthians chapter 12 and verse 27 the bible says now you are the body of christ in other words we on the same team brother worthy is on my team i'm on john's team i'm on your team we all are on the same team you are the body of christ and we are members together we rise and we fall out together i can't go without you you think about a football team a football team has multiple positions but that can't win by himself he's got to have no line to block for him he has to have some receivers to throw it to even if uh what's that what's the i can't think of his name but you know what i'm saying he needs everybody he needs everybody not only are we on the same team but we have a common hope you know what binds us is that we we are on a journey trying to get to the same place it's not about me it's not about you it's about us trying to get to the same place trying to make heaven a home how do i get there i get there by pushing you how do you help me get there by pushing me hermes said to win every player has to be playing for the name on the helmet and not the name on the back of the jersey i know you have gifts but first corinthians 12 31 as was already quoted now eagerly desire the greater gifts what are the greater gifts not just playing your part but knowing that that that that the gifts that we have in common will get us to where we're trying to go first corinthians 13 8 says where there are prophecies they shall fail where there are tongues they will cease where there is knowledge it will vanish away but now abide in faith hope and you about to hear about some love brother worthy i can't wait i can't wait god bless you [Applause] this pulpit is hot now he he he said me setting me up and said brother where are they going to do this brother where are they going to do i'm just going to preach what's in front of me but i can't even begin to express the joy in the unity and the love that exists with these three men we have spent some wonderful times together shared some wonderful thoughts uh encouraged one another been encouraged by each other it's just a wonderful arrangement and i'm thankful and i'm just so inspired by being in the presence of these men as we continue the text note again the words of first corinthians chapter 13. again now by faith hope and now the english version it was charity but the greatest of these is charity i believe the word charity is a very fitting definition of the word love the word is rendered in the text is another word for the original word agape the word is charity the word of charity is appropriate in that it's a word that expresses the love of god god's love is a charitable love when i came through the doors this morning i didn't do god a favor god did me a favor by allowing me to wake up this morning by allowing me to come and to sing songs of praises to him by allowing me the opportunity to remember jesus in his death and his resurrection his love is a charitable love i know it's a charitable love because it's a love that has been extended to me not because of who i am but it's a love that has been extended to me because of who he is when we read in romans chapter 5 and verse number six for when we were yet without strength in due time christ died for the ungodly for scarcely for a righteous man will one even die yet per adventure for a good man with some even dare to die but god commended his love he committed his love toward us while we were yet sinners it's a benevolent love it's a love of good will and it's a love of brotherly affection it's a love that it doesn't consider who i am it it's a love in which god considers who he is and he loves me in spite of me and it's important for us to understand that kind of love because it is that kind of love that must be expressed for each and every one of us to each other and it's the kind of love that that god has extended to all mankind and it's a kind of love again that is spoken of here in first corinthians chapter 13 and why does paul say why does he say the greatest of these three is love i want to suggest some thoughts perhaps he says it because love provides the foundation of god's relationship with man we're looking first john chapter four and verse number seven the bible said beloved let us love one another he said for love is of god and everyone that loveth is born of god and knoweth god and he that loveth not knoweth not god for god is love when i think about this text he said let us love one another he said for love is of god love is a very manifestation of god if i'm going to consider myself a christian i've got to be one that loves i have and i have no option as to who i will love and i must love like god loves i love not because of but i love in spite of look at what he says he said love is of god and everyone that love it is born of god if i want to look like god i need to love my father who died several years ago and many of you never met him but if he walked through this door this morning you would say that's patrick worth his father because i looked just like it and the old i get i looked even more like him but if we want to look like god the identifying marks of the christian is someone who loves he said everyone that loveth is born of god and then it says and know with god how do i know god the only way that i can truly come to a full knowledge and embrace a proper knowledge of god is by being someone who loves if i cannot get to the point to where i love people without taking score without taking count without holding a grudge without remembering something that happened 10 years ago if i can't love people without doing those things i will never ever come to a full and appreciative knowledge of the depths of the love of god look what he says further he that loveth not knoweth not god if i don't love one another if i don't love others around me i can't make a claim to loving god or knowing god that is the essence of who he is the bible says look at what he says further in this was manifested the love of god toward us because that god sent his only begotten son into the world that we might live through it and then here it is he gives a definition hearing is love you want to know what love means you want to know what love looks like here it is love not that we love god but that he loved us and not only did he love us the bible said and he sent his son you see love is not just a feeling love is manifested through action for god so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son greater love had no man than this that one will lay down his life for friend our love is manifested through our actions the bible says and then he closed the text in verse 11. he said beloved if god so loved us there's a challenge if god so loved us we are also to love one another are we in the same way or we're in the same depth we love one another i don't make a choice as to who i love i don't choose what i'm gonna forgive and what i'm gonna hold on to i just gotta love everybody like god loves me and when we love that way in the lord's church that's a recipe for unity not only love provides the foundation of god's relationship with man but love is also the re the foundation for our response to god in john chapter 14 and verse number 15 jesus put it very simply he said if you love me if you love me keep my commandments we're here this morning my commandment but my motivation ought to be love when my motivation is love on any given sunday morning i don't have to be coaxed or i don't come out of guilt or i don't come out of repetition but i come out of a deep abiding love for everything god has done for me i come out of love when it comes time to give even though i might be struggling with some things financially i have no problems giving because i'm not giving out a constraint i'm giving out of love we need to be people that are motivated by love i love the words of paul in second timothy chapter four as he was coming to the end of his life the bible says he says for i'm now ready to be offered and he said in the time of my departure is at hand first timothy chapter four and verse number six i have fought a good fight amen i have finished my course i have kept the faith henceforth there is laid up for me a crowd of righteousness which the lord the righteous judge shall give me on that day and he said and not to me only but look how he is this he said but to all them that love his appearance if i don't love him now if i don't love the saints now if i don't love doing his will now if i don't love giving now if i don't love being a part of ministry and service to the kingdom now i can't claim love then love not only that love is what binds us together as members of the body of christ it's love paul said to the colossians in colossians chapter 2 and verse number 2 his prayer for the church at laodicea and colossae is that their hearts be knit together in love one of my favorite possessions at home is a an afghan quilt that my grandmother knit for me and it's all different colors of yarn in all different textures of yarn but when you bring those different colors and those different textures together they form a beautiful quilt that performs the purpose of keeping you warm on a cold night and it was knit together by love we are knit together in love we're all different we all have differing abilities just like it was there at corinth there were individuals that had different abilities some have the gift of prophecy some have the gift of faith and some have the gift of healing all of them had different gifts but the thing that they needed was to utilize all their gifts and be knit together in love it's not about just me over here and you over there but we need to be knit together we sing the song a common love a common love and i love the words of this song a common love for each other a common gift to the savior a common bond holding us to the lord a common strength when we're weary a common hope for tomorrow a common joy in the truth of god's word is love that brings us and binds us together and you see we're going to have to have this kind of love when i think about this team love will allow and provide a foundation for these men to work together unselfishly sharing ministry and support one for another encourage one another build up one another love will do that and you see this is going to be done because of a love for god a love for his word a love for god's people a love for one another and a love for the church it's a team sheldon talked about team i thought about my own experience i've been on teams i've been on athletic teams i've been on business teams and i'ma tell you as i'm on this team when one of them is up and i'm on the sideline i'm going to be rooting for them hoping the best for them lifting them up there's never going to be i me in this team and i say that because to the rest of this congregation the same love should permeate through every work through every ministry through every action through every reaction so that we are knit together in love and position as the body of christ to do the work that god desires us to do there's no time for in-fighting look around the world look at the tasks that we must do we've got to be united there's no room or time to bring a brother or sister down we gotta build each other up at all times [Applause] when we look around this world and look at the task before us love is going to be the foundation that builds us up and holds us together and as we show one another love it's going to position us to be the church that fulfills the task that god has set before us then i believe it could be argued that love is the greatest because of the lasting nature of love see the love of god transcends into eternity you see there'll come a time where there'll be no further need for faith hebrews chapter 11 and verse one has been quoted several times this morning now faith is a substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen brother brad shaw gave us a beautiful depiction of the role of faith in our lives as christians as we navigate through this life of setbacks challenges disappointments even the travails of this body which will eventually culminate with death but we faithfully endure based on the assurance of things that we have not seen that's why paul was able to say in second timothy chapter 1 and verse number 12 he said for which cause i also suffer these things he said nevertheless i'm not ashamed for i know whom i believed in and i persuaded that he is able to keep that which i've committed unto him against that day that day is coming brother gibbs spoke about that day and when that day comes i'm gonna see it when that day comes i'll see the joy of heaven when that day comes i see a time where there's no more pain or no more suffering no more wrong no more evil i'll see those things and when that day comes there will be no more further need of faith amen no further need you see faith is going to get us there but when that day comes there'll be no further need for faith there'll come a time where there'll be no further need for hope as was read just earlier for we are saved by hope but hope that is seen is not hope would a man see it why did he yet hope for brother gibbs so beautifully showed us hope hope is that blessed anticipation which sustains us and assures us but one day this anticipation is going to be replaced with the realization of those things that god has promised to them that love him oh when you're going through struggles and when you're going through trials in this life maintain your faith maintain your hope because one of these days that day is coming and you see that day is going to be a day that's bought in by love in the end god out of his eternal love for those who have loved him will provide us an eternal home in heaven where his love for his people will continue throughout all eternity and so when i think about love perhaps love is the greatest because it's it's through love that we are going to see the end of the trials on this earth uh it's because of love that we are bound together on this earth it's through love that that god does his best work because when i think about love it was love where god put in place a plan of salvation before the world began it was love that caused jesus to come down to this earth and take on flesh and take on the sins and take on the life that we had to live the troubles and and the pains that we had to live in and now we have a high priest which cannot be touched by the feelings of our infirmities but wasn't always tempted like as we yet without sin it was love where he gave his life on the cruel cross of calvary love but yo when i think about love if there might be someone here this morning that is not a member of the body of christ the love of god is extended to you this morning but here's the thing about it he's not gonna he's a loving god but he's not gonna force his love on anybody you must accept the love of god the love of god how do i accept it hearing what the word of god has to say and i believe that the lesson has been plain and simple this morning that we've attempted to deliver hear the word of god you believe the same repent of your sins confess that jesus christ is a son of god go down to the watery grave of baptism and through the love of god he's going to add you to the body of christ that he loves so much that he sent his son to die for now about faith now about hope and love but the greatest of these is love and i know another reason why it's so great is because as we go into eternity we'll be sitting around the throne of god and god's gonna wipe away every tear from our eyes we'll be in the presence of god forever and ever and ever and i'll be able to exist and experience the love of god throughout all of eternity that ought to make you feel good this morning that ought to make you feel good this morning now by faith hope and love these three but the greatest of these is love and if there's someone here that is a member of the lord's body maybe you've abandoned your first love don't allow yourself to live a guilty or distance away from god stay in the love of god stay faithful to god don't play around with this world if there's something wrong or miss make it right this morning and if you're not a christian as we said just a moment ago we asked you to come forward and give us your hand and be baptized in the watery grave of baptism if there's anyone that has a need this morning we ask there are member men that will be in the aisles to give you cards for those of you that have uh statements that you didn't need to make but if there are those of you that need to be baptized we ask you to come forward as we together stand and sing the song of encouragement oh come on [Music] [Music] way when will we come and hope from for tomorrow come on joy [Music] [Music] each other [Music] holding us to the lord a god must [Music] in the truth of god's word when i look back to the garden and i see the savior for a bond that will make his mean [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] jesus died so that we could sing this song so welcome my love [Music] [Applause] [Music] i [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] joy in the truth of god's word amen you know as elders and shepherds of the congregation one of the responsibilities that we've been charged with is that the church be fed you have died sumptuously this morning god's word has been preached and we are just so grateful for the three men that god has blessed us with they talked about god's recipe for maintaining unity faith hope and love and i believe they covered those three in a marvelous way i want to thank these brothers our new ministers we look forward to many years a preaching of god's word i told the church this morning there was a congregation in another city and a shepherd elder there called me they've been looking for a preacher for over a year now and they said that we've interviewed a lot of them he said they're some of them are on the edge they're not sound uh some of them can't work with a leadership and uh brother we just still looking you pray for us and i just sat down and i closed my eyes and i said thank god he blessed us with three god is good he blessed us with three so you ought to thank god and and pray for these men pray for our congregation as we move higher the goal is to move higher we are not satisfied with what we have done where we have been and what we have accomplished brother greene not going to preach we got to move higher and that's what we're going to do god be our helper god be our helper we have those that have handed in cards this morning we want to read their prayers [Music] you gave [Music] [Music] the sun [Music] since then i have no christ there has been such a change [Music] [Music] you gave me [Music] since then i have no christ there has been such a change in my life [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] since then i have no christ there has been such a change [Music] [Applause] [Music] nothing too hard for my god tonight [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] you are [Music] [Applause] [Music] in your life [Music] you know my jesus do you know my friend have you heard he loves you and that he will abide to the end everyone enforcement of the services of the collection this is where we all have the opportunity to give back a portion of what god has blessed us with the scripture that i'll be using for collection will come from first corinthians chapter 16 and i'll be reading verses one and two and i'll be coming from the king james version of the bible and the scripture reads not concerning the collection for the saints as i have given order to the church of galatia even so do ye on the first day of the week that every one of you laid by him in store as god has prospered him that there be no gatherings when i come let us pray father in heaven once again you've allowed us all to see another day and come here to this place to worship you and to give back a portion of what is already yours we come praying that you give everyone who has decided to give the knowledge wisdom and understanding to know why we give so we all give for the right reason and that is to continue the mission of spreading the gospel all through the earth we submit this prayer in your sons jesus christ name amen there are four different ways to give you can go out to the website the website's addresses gacoc.org1 there click the drop down select general offering or whatever type of offer you want to give and give that way you can also text the word give to 972-440-2335 again if you decide to text the word give please text the word give to 972-440-2335 you can also mail your offering to the church the address here is 1013 south greenville avenue richardson texas 75094 if you decide to mail in your offering we ask that you please do not send cash you can also drop off your offering here at the church thank you jesus is coming soon trouble sometimes are you filling men's hearts with [Music] seeked [Applause] [Music] christians awake for jesus is coming soon morning all night all new many will meet their doom trumpets will sound and all of the dead genres righteous meeting the skies going [Music] just a few announcements before we dismissed this morning we wanted to remember those families who've lost loved ones uh sister donato ramon lost her mother sister sharon reed on the loss of her sister mary english memorial services were held on yesterday sister deborah knowlton lost a cousin and an aunt in louisiana sister lois phillips on the loss of her brother herbert starks services will be at evergreen funeral home on wednesday this coming wednesday at 12 noon we're glad to report that sister lisa sia had surgery at baylor hospital and she is recovering well and thank you for your prayers continue to pray for her full recovery also sister catherine abazar has been hospitalized at doctor's hospital in white rock i want to keep sister catherine in our prayers also we want you to know that sister veronica freeman was released from the hospital she is home and she's continually asking us to keep her in our prayers on yesterday they had the college readiness and career readiness workshop i want to thank all of you who participated in that and for the bowser associated women who put that on every year for our graduating seniors and i think it's for sixth grade up to 12th grade and they do a marvelous job and we want to thank them for that effort keep in mind that our fourth quarter will begin on october the third a ready set show and brother sam bailey at that time will be our guest speaker at this time we're going to ask one of our shepherds to come up to give a special announcement to the congregation after that we'll have our closing song in prayer and we want to ask you to continue to cooperate with us and the ushers as we dismiss you when he says amen we don't want you to get up and run just stay seated and follow the instructions although y'all have done so good y'all have done so good and we appreciate you so very much so just work with the ushers be patient and we'll get everybody out the building amen brother heidelberg good morning afternoon now i want to thank our ministers brother faith brother hope and brother love for this morning on behalf of the elders ministers and deacons we want to thank each and every one of you for your support uh of this transition from his earliest stages up until the culmination on last last sunday it was a beautiful occasion it was a monumental and a milestone occasion for us here at greenville avenue and as we can see it has already taken off to a very good start and so we thank you so much for your support we also want to give a special thank you to everyone that played a part in in on last sunday's induction of our ministers and i don't want to call names because i know that i will forget someone but communications team we want to thank you for for all of the the documents and all of the booklets uh all of the things that we were able to have in our hands and and to read in the gazette and and to see the advertisements throughout this building just thank you so much for that to our stream team and uh on our av team who had to work with our ministers to put up their the different uh videos and things of that nature we want to thank them for the excellent job that they have done and are doing and will continue to do and then everyone that that put together a bag and bought crackers and took pictures everyone that played a part in making uh that induction a success we thank you so much we pray that you'll continue to work uh alongside with us uh so that the future things that we do will be just as glorious so thank you so much and to gl to god be the glory now we have a closing song in prayer troubles will soon be your happy forever when we meet all that you're free from our care rising up in the sky telling this world goodbye only glory to share for my jesus is come coming soon morning or night or noon that many will meet their doom trumpets will sound and all of the dead genres rises meeting the shall we go to god in prayer great god of heaven and master of the universe and creator of everything that we see father i'm not worthy to ever stand before your people as i'm just a forgiving sinner but i do come on behalf of everyone here this morning thanking you for being gracious and merciful to us just one more time father i pray for the three men that you've installed to proclaim the gospel of your dear son we pray that you will strengthen them and give them boldness we pray that you will give them a sane mind we pray that you'll open their eyes to the scripture as they bring more and more glory to your holy righteous and divine name and father so much pain throughout our congregation and not just this congregation but all the sister congregations of the church of christ around the country and father we pray that you'll help us we pray that that you'll stir our desire to work increase our faith father give us hope and help us to have lives that display the love that your son displayed by giving his life for us and father for the leadership of this congregation we pray that you keep them upright and strong and give them wisdom and discernment and help them to lead in a manner that meets your great expectation and father as we leave this place we ask you you to protect us in a world that's gone mad but help us to know that you're always with us and that you will order our steps if only we're obedient to the pattern that you left for us to follow in the scripture these blessings and all blessings we do ask in king jesus name we do solemnly pray amen is [Music] me i shall if is [Music] if [Music] they comfort me [Music] [Music] oil [Music] and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and i'm gonna dwell in the house of the lord forever is is together with me [Music] goodness and mercy shall follow my me and i'm gonna dwell in the house of the lord forever me [Music] yes [Music] [Music] goodness [Music] goodness [Music] i shall foreign [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] goodness [Applause] oh [Music] foreign [Music] [Applause] [Music] of the foreign forever um i have found a love [Music] and i have found [Music] to cover all my sins have you found have you found a love that brought us [Music] and have you found found [Music] have you found a stream for

Channel: Greenville Avenue Church of Christ

Views: 1,662

Rating: 4.9130435 out of 5

Keywords: live stream, streaming, covid19, coc, Church of Christ, Christian, Religion, Jesus, God, Christ, Service, church, bible, sunday school, gacc, gacoc, commentary, swcc, southwestern christian college, greenville avenue, greenville ave, dallas, richardson, texas, plano, garland, mckinney, carrollton, stop six, lawrence & marder, billy washington, wf washington, John Bradshaw, Patrick Worthey, Ben Myers, isaac davis, stw gibbs, shelton gibbs, compassion, Elevating Our Service, did you know?

Id: RMY9ujzdn_k

Length: 112min 28sec (6748 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 19 2021