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Out there. Yeah. We're I think we're you know, a lot of us are late this morning. We'll but, yeah, let's let's go ahead and stand up, and we'll we're gonna sing this morning. We're gonna start by singing a song called mediator.
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Comes from first Timothy two five. For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, and that's Christ Jesus. So let's sing. I want to get my capo on.
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He takes our place and stands in front of God on high He speaks on our behalf since we don't have the right. He pleads before our God who judges hearts of men. To ir the fall. Our mediator was the ransom for us all. There is only one God.
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There is only one mediator standing between God and man is the only way
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you We're going to go through some announcements real quick and actually before we start, our first announcement, I'm going to have Casey McCooey come up and give that one. About Operation Christmas Child.
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Thank
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you, guys. We have had such an awesome outpouring of support for the Christmas boxes. We're up to about a 135 boxes that are packed. We have them all in the fellowship hall. Our one request is we have 87 boxes that have no shipping paid for them to go out.
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The shipping is $7 a box. I have a basket with envelopes right next to the, boxes. If you would like to pay for one, two, however many boxes, just put your check or cash in this envelope and mark how many boxes you paid for and just leave it in the basket for me if you would. I have kind of everything all separated and ready to go. We're delivering them on Monday, but I cannot tell you how awesome the support was of everybody bringing their supplies to put in those boxes.
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I don't even know how many people we had here on Wednesday wrapping and packing. And then Thursday, all the youth fine tuned all the boxes, made sure they were nice and beefy and full, and, you know, went through, make sure everything was wrapped properly. So we've had, a lot of love and support. I also have bookmarks. If anybody wants a bookmark, they're just a little remember to pray for these boxes and who's receiving them.
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So thank you.
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Alright. Thanks, KC. That's fine. Alright. So tomorrow night, Monday night, we've got our pre Thanksgiving potluck.
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So if you normally go to that Monday night service, that's gonna be down in the hall. That's a turkey with a mouth on it. I don't get it. But it's something. So Monday night, 06:00PM down in the fellowship hall.
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There is there is there Awana tomorrow night? And there's Awana. So same as our normal Mondays here. Bring food. It's going to be a potluck.
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The turkeys are all being cooked by different people. So, the turkeys are going to show up. Bring like a Thanksgiving side. Is that what we like? This is going be a great time of fellowship and being thankful.
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We've got no solid rock this week. Thursday, obviously, is Thanksgiving and then Friday, I would never expect people to come the day after Thanksgiving for breakfast. So no solid rock this this week but there is the girls and guys studies today. Girls, if you're high school or middle school, they are starting now right away so they have enough time to get through everything they're trying to do for that study class. So, if you wanna head downstairs to that, they meet in the library downstairs.
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So, you're welcome to take off at this point. Guys, I don't think you get to leave until after the worship session. Sorry. Then, we also have come let us adore him. This is the ladies luncheon and they are doing that at Snow King.
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I'm going to just read this right here. First B Women's Ministry quarterly invites you to attend a ladies Christmas lunch on Wednesday, December 16, eleven: 3zero am until 01:30PM at the Grand Ballroom at Snow King. All are welcome. RSVP here at First Baptist and the number is in your bulletin as well as the website But that's gonna be their big culmination of their ladies study. It's up at Snow King and there is childcare provided.
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That's gonna be here at First Baptist though. So drop your kids off here then head up there for the get together. Deborah's gonna be speaking and it's free of charge. You can give a love gift if you like but the day is free of charge. It's gonna be a good time.
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And it's open to any ladies in the community. If you have two x chromosomes, you should go. No y's are welcome except for me because I have to do sound. If you wanna be on the sound team, you can come. Alright.
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So let's see what else we have here. We've got all church Sundays. So we usually do these once a quarter where we try to combine both services together and we are doing this December 13 which is the day that we're going to do the Christmas play. So, for one showing here, First Baptist Church is going to be the Christmas play. It is called the greatest love.
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So don't come at nine that Sunday. You'll be too early. If you come at eleven, you'll be too late. 10AM, all church Sunday, and it's the same one as the Christmas for the service. It is gonna one service.
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And then we've got, this is our pre angel tree. You guys might have noticed these when you walked in. There's some deer heads of a moose and a buck it looks like. And they have little tags on them. And they're the first six families that we're supporting here at First Baptist.
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We're gonna do 12 altogether, but the first six are up there in case you're one of those folks that like to get a jump on things and you like to do your Christmas shopping around Thanksgiving break. We wanna make that available for you but altogether, we're going to be helping out with 12 families and this is the first six. So, grab one of those tags out there. If you plan to to help out with that ministry but they're right outside the door and they're hanging on those they're hanging on those antlers and the pegboards behind and a lot of times, this is the only Christmas that these families will get. So, we wanna make sure that as a church we can help support that.
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So if you feel led, grab one of those tags on your way out. Anything I'm forgetting on that, Tanya? If you have any questions, check with Chris Nethercott and Tanya Mcdonald's. They can point you in the right direction. And then, let's see here.
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Do we have John Micus, Kevin Olson in the house? One or two, both? I've got two mics.
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Well, good morning everybody. My name is Kevin Olson. This is John Micus and together we're Kevin and John. We work on, we don't work. We have the honor to serve on the church's board of trustees.
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And as you're aware, the board of trustees handles the financial and facilities matters for the church and we're honored to serve alongside Sherry Turpin and Diana Vaughn, the relentless Mark Hull, John and I, and our moderator Martin and we have just a couple of quick announcements to encourage you as you guys think about the holidays and your year end gifts and ties. John.
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Thank you Kev. Yeah, I don't know if you guys, I cannot miss this opportunity. First I asked Nick to lay hands on me for the gift of improv, which he did. I stopped into the news and he was up in his office. He doesn't know I'm saying this.
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I stopped into his office on Friday. He was typing about ninety minutes words a minute, not minutes a word. And amazing. And then Saturday I called him what he up to and he'd just taken his family. They were getting their ski passes and then he was gonna work on two hours of budgeting on Saturday afternoon on a sunny day.
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The man is amazing. I love Kevin. It's so fun to work with this board. But anyway, what I really wanted to say is Martin Murphy is about to send out a letter like we do every year. We have a tradition at First Bee that's just wonderful.
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It's it's blessing our staff and our and our pastors with a year end gift and and I guess I wanted to relate a quick story with with our retail business we have on the town square. Every year about this time, we do our bonuses to our staff and it's always hard to give this time of year because there's so many other things but God has so blessed us in giving to those and and every year our business keeps growing and and and it's just amazing. So, I I just really wanted to say thank you guys for for receiving the letter from Martin looking at it, praying about it, and and our staff and pastors here are just, they're just so full of love and we're blessed.
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Thank you. And then lastly, I just wanted to offer you guys something to think about as you consider your year end giving. The church has been incredibly blessed by your faithfulness and gifts and tithes throughout the year and the great news is our income coming in from those gifts and tithes is up and our exuberance and enthusiasm to spend those gifts and tithes is also up a little bit. So, as you consider your year end giving, please think about First Baptist Church. Just a gift in the general fund offering and the the plates that are passed around over the next several weeks will go a long ways to ensuring that we've got solid financials and start out the New Year with a great budget which we'll introduce to you guys in January at our congregational meeting.
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So, thank you guys very much for thinking of the church as you give during this holiday season.
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Happy Thanksgiving.
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Alright. Thanks, gentlemen. And put it in a memo line or something like that if there's anything special. Nope. Okay.
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Just put it in the tray. Perfect. Except for the love That's
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in
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the memo line. Okay. And then just put Renzi next to that. Just just an idea. Just an idea.
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No. That's a joke. Don't do that. Yeah. So that's it.
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Check your bulletins for the rest of the announcements. And once you get up and greet one another and we'll bring you back in song.
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Let's sing. Your name, the mountains shake and crumble. At your name the oceans roar and tumble at your name angels will bow the earth will rejoice your people cry out of all the earth oh Lord at your name the morning breaks in glory at your name creation sings your story We shout your name, shout your name, filling up the skies with endless praise, endless praise. Yahweh, Yahweh, we love to shout your name, oh Lord. There is no one like our God.
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Holy holy holy is the Lord God almighty and I will adore you. Holy holy holy holy it's the Lord God almighty who was and is who needs
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We're gonna sing Jesus paid it all. And in Romans four twenty five, he says, the word says, he was handed over to die because of our sins and he was raised to life to make us right with God.
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He washed it white as snow.
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Dan, could you lead us in a a prayer? Father
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God, we love you this morning, and we're so thankful for so many things. You've blessed us beyond measure, and and we owe it all to you, Jesus, who who paid our debt. And this morning, we have open hands. We wanna give back to you. We know that only you can multiply what we give the way that you can, and you know where it will go.
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And we ask that you would multiply it in powerful ways and do powerful things with what we give today. In Jesus name, amen.
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I had a real busy job in business consulting demanding high expectations and definitely felt like work was kind of my world. I started to experience my success, got big raises, got lots of props at work and it definitely lured me in. It was fun to have money to spend and enjoy those privileges. I trusted Christ as my savior at a young age, but kind of growing up in high school and college, it was like a sittin' soak. Was kind of like I made church about me and kind of a consumer mentality.
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So it's like the Lord captured my heart. Like, wait, you have a lot more to give. So I was teaching a Bible study for women, came across a verse in Galatians that said remember the poor, and it's like a distinct kind of mark where I kind of sat and was like, remember the poor? Am I doing that? I don't know any poor people.
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And then a few months into that, something at church was about this kitchen in South Dallas that serves the homeless twice a week. So it serves about 180 folks. I actually, the first time, went with my now husband. It's amazing. It's less than, like, 10 miles from our home.
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And I thought, wow, there's a different world down here. I remember kind of probably being wide eyed, you know, just I can kind of see if humanity was really frankly so close to home, but so far from my reality. Any little act of kindness really caused them to respond. And so I felt like asking their name kind of created a you care response. Was like, I can do This isn't about giving them a meal.
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It's about serving and respecting them. I was down in the kitchen serving about once a week for probably almost a year. Then one of the girls in the kitchen, she said, Hey, why don't you come to Bible study with us? And so now eighteen months later, I spend my Thursdays in Bible study with these inner city, often past incarcerated, mostly homeless, also women. It's like crazy different than most Bible studies I've been in.
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Some have walked as much as an hour, others need a ride, and we just forget about basic resources. They don't have cars to get there. They don't come showered, and they come hungry. Frankly, it's tough relationally because honestly someone won't show up for two weeks, we can ask someone where they are and they might be on a drinking binge again. But it's a real fun place to just tell them, look, the door's always open no matter where you've been or what you've done.
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Come back. We love you and we welcome you. Like their pain is such on a survival level and it feels like my pain is more kind of on the realm of desires, not basic needs in life. I think of Diane. Just last week, Diane stood up sweating and exhausted and tired, and she's been in an abusive relationship, and so just to have her broken and saying, I don't wanna go back, I need help.
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With Sarah May, it's often taking her after Bible study to get her medicine. Know, when she's 55 and it's 100 plus degrees in August, a ride to Walgreens is a huge gift. Or Bonita, think, if her mom died last year, but getting to Parkland to visit her mom in the hospital. Just ministering to them in those different ways, it seems like a one-sided relationship in the world's eyes, but if you really make it about loving them as Christ loved us, then you can stay down there indefinitely and not grow weary and doing good. I feel like we're sisters in Christ sitting at the same table, studying the word of God, and we're coming to the word of God with very different issues and heartaches and heartbreaks, but same God is Lord of all.
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I really tried to make some choices at work, which may meant at times not kind of being the superstar at work to set some boundaries to be available for other things. I call it my, less money, more life campaign. And that takes some sacrifices and a smaller house and an 11 year old car. That's sweet work of the Lord, because at heart I'm crazy materialistic and I really like nice stuff. So the Lord's done a sweet work to trade in some of those things that I once held high.
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It really is fun to develop the relationships with these women over a period of time and excited to share life with them. One of fun things for Scott and I is we started living life down there and started thinking about our friends in South Dallas as truly our friends and not just kind of we step in to South Dallas and we go back to our comfortable life. Scott proposed on the steps of the White House, the White House is an old, actually, kind colonial house, we have Bible study. And so some of the first people to know, were the girls in the neighborhood, and one of them walked several blocks over, and I was like, Sarah, how'd you know? She said, Word travels fast in the hood.
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I want to be the first to congratulate you. The Lord really burdened our heart with Luke 14 and just the passage of invite those who can't pay you back. So we had a Luke 14 wedding and even the venue for a wedding wouldn't be a place that would be welcoming and inviting for them. And so it's been fun to truly share our lives and let them bless us and Lord willing be a blessing to them.
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Philippians two verses three and four, be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don't look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others too. You know, Jennifer's story there, it really captures the the heart of those verses, doesn't it? That as she was experiencing that financial success as a business consultant, there was still that missing piece in her life. And through that study in small group and hearing from the Holy Spirit, she really came to the conclusion that she had more to give.
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She had more to give, and that life isn't just about sitting and soaking. It is so much more about going and serving. And, if I may, can I can I just remind us of those? Can I allow the scriptures to remind us of that truth once again? Philippians two is very much about having the attitude of Christ by serving others.
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Why? Because Christ has served us. Because Christ has served us. Simply put, we ought to serve others because Christ has served us. So if you're walking away with anything today, would you walk away with that right there?
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And let me say right out of the gate, my goal is never to guilt us. My goal is never to guilt us into serving. That's not my style. That's never my intent. Like Ray mentioned last Sunday, everything that we do, like everything that we do as a church, whether it's to love, to serve, to give, to forgive, it all comes as a response for what God has already done for us.
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It really has. And my hope that as a church that we see the tender mercies of Christ, and it would spur us on to serve one another because we're grateful, that we serve out of gratitude, that we serve because we are have been served. Does this make sense? And this passage that we're looking at really, brings out how Christ has served us and why we ought to serve one another. So let me encourage you to be listening for how Christ has served us, why we ought to serve one another as it's being read.
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And then I'll just break it down a little bit more into bite sized pieces here, and we'll take it one verse at a time. Sound good? So we're at Philippians two, and it's verses one through 11. It'll be on the screen there, but I just invite you to to to to look at it, take it in as it's being read. Okay?
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Having the attitude of Christ, is there any encouragement from belonging to Christ? Any comfort from his love? Any fellowship together in the spirit? Are your hearts tender and compassionate? Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one mind and purpose.
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Don't be selfish. Don't try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don't look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others too. You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.
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Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to claim to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges. He took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal's death on a cross. Therefore, God elevated him to the highest to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names that the name of Jesus, every knee should bow in heaven, on earth, and under the earth, and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is lord to the glory of God the father.
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Can we pray on that before we go any further? God, this is your word to us, and I pray that we would receive it with open hearts and open minds. You have truly set the greatest example of love and service by looking out for our interests, giving up your divine privileges, taking the position of a slave, humbling yourself in obedience to God, turning your will over to him, and ultimately dying a criminal's death on a cross even though you did nothing wrong so that we sinners could be reconciled to you. So with this in mind, would you help us to look to your example, to soften up, and to serve one another without reservation? But here's the thing, God, we need your help.
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These things don't always come naturally, And we need your steer your spirit to prompt us, your example to remind us, and then to lead us into a life of services. Uncomfortable as it may be, it is so rewarding. And we ask this in the gracious and loving name of our savior. Amen. So, again, we got a lot to chew on here, but I I this opening passage, it really sets the tone for us.
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Is there any encouragement from belonging to Christ?
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Church,
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I would ask the same. Is there any encouragement to belonging to Christ? Is there? I know I'm encouraged by it. It it baffles me.
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It it really does That God would draw us wayward sinners to himself, and he adopts us into his family. We're sons and daughters in in his kingdom forever. A perfect savior giving up his perfect life for our imperfect ones. That's amazing to me that while we're still sinners while we're still sinners, Christ died for us, that we are children of God through what? Through faith.
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This is simply by faith in Jesus' work that God in Christ reconciled, brought us into his fold, brought the world to himself, no longer counting our sins against us. If you haven't considered it lately, be reminded of it. Like, take comfort in the fact that by faith, God has brought us in. He has brought us in. It's simply faith trusting in his perfect life, his sacrificial death, his resurrection.
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And then when we trust in that, that's when we pass from eternal death, eternal separation to eternal life, eternal reconciliation with God. This is huge. That's encouraging to me. So I wanna share that with you. Alright?
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Is there any comfort in his love? Again, I would have to say, yes. Nothing can ever separate us from the love of God. Death, life, angels, demons, fears, worries, powers of hell, earth, sky. I think that pretty much covers it.
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You know, I I can't really think of anything that that doesn't cover. Nothing in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that's revealed in Christ Jesus our lord. God loves you. Amen. And God loves us in spite of us.
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Deal with it. Nothing can separate you from God's love. Comfort. Comforting. Is there any fellowship together in the spirit?
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Oh, wow. Can I share with you one of one of the things that I love about being a part of the church is the fellowship that we share together in the spirit? Even though we're different, that God still draws us together, and then we share the same spirit? That is amazing to me. Whether we're singing together or or we're praying together or we're taking on the word together, we're eating together, we're sharing each other's burdens, sharing in communion.
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The spirit bonds us together like nothing I've I've ever experienced in my life. And you know when I when I experience it the most is when I don't have it. And what I mean by that is, like, when I'm outside the fellowship of the church and wanting desperately to share in that spirit with unbelievers, and I can't. Have you been there before? Because we don't share that that common bond in Christ.
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I long for it. I really do. Like, I I I really want that because I wanna have that spirit that the connection that that that connection that the spirit gives us because of God's grace, because of his peace, because of his love, you know, because of his forgiveness, because of his kindness, and that bond that we could share in his spirit. So can I encourage us not to take this for granted? I was just on the phone last night with, Rick.
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Rick was in the wheelchair. He had a a stroke, and he had to transfer to Casper. And and as just as we're talking and sharing on the phone, he said, Carl, would you would you just please tell the church that I I I wish that I could be there with him and that I long for that fellowship that we have together in the spirit? Like, he gets it. He really gets it.
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And when he doesn't have it, he is missing it. You know? And I'm there. I am so there. I I take for granted that we get to have this, and we get to share in the spirit together.
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So, please, let's not take that for granted. Fellowship in the spirit is such a sweet thing, and it and it bonds us together. Are your hearts tender and compassionate by God's grace extended to us? I sure hope that we're going in that direction. I really do.
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So that we're a living example of this right here, agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one mind and purpose. You know that purpose is mentioned a a few verses back in Philippians two. It's fighting together for the faith, which is the good news. It's about working together to make Christ known. It's not just me.
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It is we. It is a team effort. So when you think of faith, don't think of it as just an individual thing. Think of it as this is a team effort. We are a body with many moving and working parts together.
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Right? And verses three through eight, they're gonna show us how to work together as a team, and I love this. This is so good, but I've gotta warn you. A like minded team is a powerful thing. It really is.
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A like minded team is a powerful thing. If we wholeheartedly agree to serve one another as Christ served us, we are not gonna have enough space in this building to fit everyone. And I'm not kidding you. We're already kinda maxed out as it is. So this is fair warning.
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We'll have to start thinking about how to facilitate all the growth that's gonna happen because Jesus' example is so compelling that there's no reason not to serve one another, and serving is attractive. It draws people toward Jesus because they can see, oh, life isn't just about him. Everybody knows when a life is just about that person. Right? You're like, oh, life's about you.
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You know what I mean? That's that's the norm. The norm isn't to make life about loving God and loving other people. And when a person does make life about loving God and loving people, that's attractive. That draws people in.
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Would you agree with this? Yes. Because I I I think it's true. When I see it, I'm like, oh, boy. There it is.
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And it's a I'm drawn to people like that. Here's where it starts. Don't be selfish. Don't try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves.
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Don't look out only for your own interests. We're all good at that, but take an interest in others too. Rick Warren's first line of the book, The Purpose Driven Life, it's not about you. That's the first line of his book. It's not about you.
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That's like the best opening ever for a book. And he's right. He says, we must begin with God. We typically begin at the wrong starting point ourselves. We ask we ask self centered questions.
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Well, what do I wanna be? What should I do with my life? What are my goals? My ambitions for my future? But it really is the wrong starting point.
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It begins with God. It's always began with God. Genesis one, in the beginning, what? God. God created Evans and it's it starts with him.
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It really does. And here's the deal. God sent Jesus to show us how to make it about God. He sent Jesus to show us how to make it about God rather than to make it about us. So look at this.
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Verse six, though he was God, my mind just exploded right there. Though he was God, Jesus is God. He did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. He said, I'm not going to cling to this. I'm not going to cling to this.
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The one person who lived a perfect life, he could have bragged, boasted, truly made everything about him. I'm God. I'm God. I'm God. Didn't.
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He didn't. Instead, he made his life on Earth about loving God and loving other people by serving them. Right here. Does this look familiar? This isn't just a clever saying we pulled out of thin air.
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This is what Jesus is about. This is what we strive to be about with all we are, loving God, loving others through Christ. Verse seven, he gave up his divine privileges. He took the humble position of a slave and was born a human being. Consider that, that Jesus set aside his equality with God.
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He didn't cling to it. He stepped down to live with us in human form as a person. That's huge. The God of the universe as a person took the position of a bond slave. That's a person without any ownership rights of their own.
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They completely lay themselves down for the service of other people. That's what a bond servant does or bond slave. Have you ever asked yourself, why would God do that? Have you ever asked that? Why would God do this?
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Yes.
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For God so loved the world that he gave his only son in spite of us. Not to judge the world, but to save the world so that everyone who believes in him would have eternal life. And he saved us by serving us. He really did. Here's a great example in John 13.
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It was Passover time. And even though Jesus knew, he already knew this. He knew that he would be betrayed. He knew that he would be denied by these disciples of his, his friends, his buddies. And look what he does.
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Verse 13. He loved his disciples during his ministry on earth, and he loved him to the very end. So he got up from the table. He took off his robe. He wrapped a towel around the his waist, poured water in a basin.
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He began to wash the disciples' feet, drying them with a doll he had around him. Does that passage throw entitlement out the window or what? It just does. Like, when I when I look at that right there, it takes my feelings of entitlement, my feelings of being above anybody, and it just it smashes it to the ground. It totally does because if the God of the universe could step down while still being God, take the position of a slave and watch watch the dirty feet of regular ordinary men who would betray him and deny him, what's my excuse?
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What possibly could be my excuse for not serving when Jesus did this? Believe me, I tried to think of what I couldn't. I could not think of a reason not to serve anyone. Because Jesus used his free will to humble himself in obedience to God. And ultimately, where did it take him?
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He took him to the cross. And if Jesus could humble himself and die for us when he did nothing wrong, then honestly, church, like the very least that we could do is look to the interests of others and think of others as better than ourselves. I mean, isn't that just like logical? Doesn't
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that
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just make sense? If Jesus could do this for us, then wouldn't we go, okay. If God can do this and he didn't do anything wrong, he was perfect, then I think probably I could set aside my preferences for a week. Again, Jesus' example is compelling. It's persuasive.
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It's motivating. It doesn't guilt us into serving. It lovingly draws us into service. And as I thought of us and I thought about our church body this week, my head was just spinning because there are so many opportunities to serve one another in our homes, in our workplaces, in the church, and I wanna commend you. K?
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I really do because you are serving people here in Jackson. You're doing it. You're serving people in Jackson and to the ends of the earth. You really are. But may I encourage you to keep on?
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Can I just encourage you to keep going with this in mind with what everything that Jesus has done? To keep doing it? Keep an ear to the ground. Pray on it. Continue to ask God, hey, where can you use me today?
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How can I serve? On this side of heaven, there's always gonna be needs that have to be met. Would you agree? There are so many. It can be overwhelming sometimes.
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But I promise you, if you truly ask, watch out because he's gonna put something on your heart. He's gonna put something on your mind, and it may not be comfortable. It may not. And you might go, oh, man. Do I gotta give up a I gotta give up one of my weekend weekend?
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My days off to to help? Shit. Guys, it's so rewarding. Haven't you always just felt better when you're thinking about other people? Isn't it one isn't it rich?
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I think so. I do. This week, our family, we sat around the table. We talked about these verses, and and then I just said, well, let's give some examples. Let's let's kinda go around.
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And I've got three kids. And my youngest daughter, Addie, she goes, you could you know, in her world, this is how service looks. She said, you could you could give up your swing for somebody on the playground. That's a big deal for her. It really is.
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What does service look like for you? What's it looking like? I'm looking around. Oh my we have we're in so many different places during the week. What does it look like for you?
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You know, at the small at the just at that basic level, what what is it? You know? Are you getting the door for somebody? You know? Are you just maybe leading off in conversation with, how are you?
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Like, really, how are you? And then you really listen because you don't wanna just talk about you. You know? What does service look like for you? I wanna encourage you and me to think of those ways.
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What's it look like in your setting? Imagine with me just for a moment. Seriously, if every one of us, even before our feet hit the floor in the morning, that we clothe ourselves with Christ, that we consciously decide, hey, today today is just not gonna be about me. What if we said that to ourselves? What if we did that?
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What if we said, you know what? Today today is gonna be a first and foremost, I I just I want to really please God. I I wanna do my best for God, and I wanna love I wanna love his people. I wanna love people. You know?
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And we started our our family at home, we started at home because that can be often the hardest place because, you know, everybody knows who you are at home. They know your good side and your bad side. Right? And he said, alright. Today, I'm just I'm gonna help out.
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I'm not good at doing dishes. I'm terrible at it. But what if what if I said, I'm I'm just I'm gonna do this. I'm gonna help out. I'm gonna start scrubbing.
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You know? Resolving not to make life just about us. Can you imagine though what a compelling case it would make for faith in Christ? To see followers of Jesus serving one another by doing all those things listed there, humbling ourselves, looking out for each other's interests. Like Jennifer saying, given up some of our privileges, laying aside our preferences.
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What if we decided I just I'm not gonna argue this. I'm not gonna I'm not gonna make it my goal just to be right all the time. Loving one another, agreeing wholeheartedly with each other rather than just disagreeing because I am insisting on my own way all the time. Working together with one mind and purpose. Friends, this is how the gospel dances.
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This is how the gospel advances when we're working together as a team. That's what draws people to the Lord. Here's the deal. This doesn't have to be something we just imagined. It does not have to be something we just imagined.
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It can be our reality. But like Jesus submitted his will to God, it requires us to do the same. But remember, check this out. You have, we have, as believers in Christ, we've got the spirit of God living inside of us. Greater is he who lives in us than he who lives in the world.
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You know? This is what we have. You know what else? We've got the example of Jesus. Like, did the work.
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He he reminds us how it's done. So the when we think to ourselves, no. I I couldn't possibly serve that person. I couldn't possibly serve in that way. Jesus' example says, yeah, you can.
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Because as God, he stepped down, he did it.
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Amen. And
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then we have the encouragement of one another. Let's not forget that too. You know? That's why Hebrews ten twenty four says, hey, think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. Like, we can do this.
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It can be our reality. Again, whole point of the message. We ought to serve others because Christ has served us. And I'm telling you, as I was looking at this example once again this week, I I can't see it as anything other than persuasive, as compelling, as motivating. I I don't see one shred of guilt in it.
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I I see Jesus lovingly drawing us into service because he did it for us first. Amen, guys? So that is the message today. Keep on serving. Keep on serving one another.
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Test it. See what happens when you do. See how much richer your life is. See how it brings the body together in unity. See how it draws other people in when we do not demand our own preferences and we are looking out for others' interests.
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Just check it out because it is very compelling. It's pretty cool to see. Is there any encouragement from belonging to Christ? What do you think? Is there any comfort from his love?
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Is there fellowship together in the spirit? Are you happy to be here? Are your hearts tender and compassionate? I'll let you answer that one. Then let's keep serving together, drawing people toward Jesus.
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Why? Because we're grateful. We're thankful people, seriously. Thanksgiving this week should not just be like, oh, this is the one time of year we give thanks. Should be giving thanks all the time for all things, really, and grateful for how Christ served us.
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Amen? Amen. So as we wrap up, I'll ask the band. We're we're we're closing one more song. But, while they're coming up, may I give you just a moment to pray on this on what you've heard?
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May I give you a moment just in silence? What whatever it is, to thank God for his service, to ask the Lord to give us a spirit of service, whatever it is, whatever struck you today. I'm praying that something did, to pray on it and ask God how he can use you this week, and then we'll sing one more song.
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Alright. Let's sing about it. We're gonna sing, they will know we are Christians by by our love. Actually, let's stand up. Thanks.
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We will walk with each other we will walk each other we we will work with each other we will work side by side we will work with each other we will work side by side and we'll guard each one's dignity and save
1:01:39
Hey, man. Think one more slide here. It's a little ben benediction of going out. Dear brothers and sisters, be strong and immovable. Always work enthusiastically for the Lord for you know that nothing that you do real really, nothing that you the ways that you serve, it is not in vain.
1:01:56
It is not useless. Amen? Amen.
