Church, how good it is, how good it is to serve a risen Savior. I sure am glad this morning that God's in control. Would you agree with me right there? This morning, the 16th chapter of the book of Romans, this morning, the 16th chapter, and we want to read five verses this morning. but the 16th chapter of the book of Romans in verse one, the Bible says, I commend unto you, Phoebe, our sister, which is a servant of the church, which is at Centuria, that ye receive her in the Lord as the coming saints, and that ye assist her in whatsoever business, she hath need of you, for she hath been a securer of many, that's a helper, and of myself also. Greet Priscilla and Aquila, my helpers in Christ Jesus, who have for my life laid down their own nets, and to whom not only I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles. Likewise, greet ye, or greet the Lord, I'm sorry, likewise greet the church that is in their house. Salute my well-beloved Epontius. who is the firstfruits of Atiyah unto Christ. You may be seated, Father, we come to you and we pray this morning for your blessing upon this reading of thy word. I pray, God, you cleanse our minds and empty us of self. Fill us with your Spirit. I pray, holy God of heaven, that you would sit down in our laps today and help us, Father, to be thankful. Help us, Father, to be grateful. Help us, Father, to be a servant of yours. Father, help us to be a brother unto those that are in the family of God. Encourage your people. Father, we love you. Save the sinner, reclaim the backslider, and encourage the child of God. We thank you and love you in Jesus' name. Amen. This morning, for a few minutes of time, we'd like to preach around this thought, the thankful, be thankful for the church. Amen. We opened this up about a month ago that we, this morning, started a series preaching on the church and how we're not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together as a like manner as some is, but so much more as we see the day approaching. I think we all need church. Would you agree with me right there? I listened to an article on the news last night and it was on One America News Network, if I'm not mistaken, and the article was talking about the effects of the pandemic, psychologically speaking, that the rate of suicide has increased in some areas 100% because people are locked in and they are quarantined in their homes and not able to have fellowship. And you know, that's what we need is fellowship. And there is being signed right now by a group of doctors. It is a letter or a statute begging the government not to lock our country down. They believe that it is being more detrimental whenever that it is locking families in. The divorce rate is skyrocketing. The suicide rate is skyrocketing. because of the depression and because of the mental illness. But can I tell you this morning that we need church. We need to be able to gather together. We need to be able to fellowship together. And I'd like to make an appeal unto you this morning that may be here, maybe you're home, listening by way of social media. We're thankful for that opportunity and we're thankful for that avenue. But I'd like to tell you this morning as an appeal, We need one another. We need to join together with one another. I need to see your face. I need to hear your voice. I need to feel your presence. You say, Preacher, I'd love to be able to get out and hug one another. Well, I would too, but we can't do that just yet. I want you to understand this morning that what we have this morning, thank you, Brother Jeff, what we have this morning is we have a car lot full of people where they are in their automobiles and we're broadcasting on FM 88.7. Is that right, Brother Ricky? We're broadcasting this morning on the radio on 88.7 if you're in your automobiles. Maybe your windows are up, I'm not sure. But I would just like to tell you this morning, I mean that God's people ought to be the most thankful people on the face of the earth. And this morning I want you to understand how that we ought to be thankful for the church. I'd like to this morning look at just a few points and we'll get out of this and we'll get out of your way. I want you to understand this morning as we go into the Thanksgiving week and generally here in Indian Valley, that on a Wednesday before Thanksgiving, we gather inside of the church and we have a candlelight service. We are able to gather together in a dark church and everyone has a candle and men and women will stand up and testify in the darkness about what we're thankful for. We might not be able to do that again this year, but let me just say this. That service means so much to me. I thank God for those memories. And I remember, oh glory, Brother Jeff and Electus Scarberry here this morning. I remember their son, Brother Jordan. I'm not sure I've seen his truck somewhere, but I remember him standing one Wednesday night, holding up his candle and giving the heartfelt testimony. Pastor John, do you remember that? Whenever that, thank God. Brother Jordan stood, and he was crying, and he was thanking God for one another. He was thanking God for his friends, for his youth pastor. He was thanking God for his mom and dad. Then when he got done, he went to the altar, and ladies came to him to the altar. and God would save them. I'd like to say they're here and they're saved. This morning you understand we need one another. We need to help one another. We need to encourage one another. We may be going through the valley right now. Oh, but we're in Pilgrim. Hold on. We're just about home. We may weep through the night. Lord and realize today we ought to be thankful for one another and thankful for the house of God. I talked to an elder this week. That elder broke my heart, said that this will be the first Thanksgiving in 63 years, that they're not able to gather together as a family because of the pandemic. You don't think the devil came to steal to destroy. That's exactly what that boogerman is trying to do. And he's doing it right here in our own backyard. He's doing it right here in our own churches. He's absolutely a weak and hatted preacher. That ain't got nothing to do with being thankful. Oh yes it does. Look with me this morning in chapter 16 of the book of Romans, verse one. We see this morning as the apostle Paul is writing to the church of Rome and understand this morning that Paul points out Three things here, I want you to look at it with me this morning. I want you to realize Paul is thankful for the servants of the church. Pastor, where do you see that? He says, I command unto you, Phoebe, Our sister, which is a servant of the church, which is at centuria. Well, pastor, what does that have to do with anything? You understand this morning, honey, that if it wasn't for Phoebe, Honey, that the church of Rome would have never received this letter from the apostle Paul. You think, well, pastor, how do you get that? Understand this morning, honey, that according to the word of God, honey, that we find, honey, that Paul, he's gathered here and he's gathered at the church of Centuria and we find this morning that he's writing to the church of Rome The centuria is just west of Athens. It is south of Corinth. And I want you to know it's about an 800 mile journey unto Rome. And you understand this morning, honey, that whenever we see the servants of God, some of them don't go around. And I don't think any of us ought to. patting ourselves on the shoulders, huffing ourselves up. Honey, we ought to be humble servants. Would you agree with me right there? We ought to be meek. As Brother Ricky was teaching this morning, we ought this morning to have a servant's heart. You realize, oh preacher, what are you getting at this morning? I want you to know, time in, time after time, day in and day out. Honey, just before service, Brother Ricky, I'm not trying to embarrass you. Honey, but I thank God for a servant like Brother Ricky, honey, that'll show up before every service and will be able to spearhead getting everything set up. I thank God for Brother Denny and many of you, honey, that are out right here trying to help get everything set up. And Brother Denny and Sister Mary heading up this food drive. You understand this morning, honey, these servants are not doing it for man glory. But they're doing it for the glory of God. And that is exactly what being meek in spirit is about. We don't want to be seen. We don't even want to be heard. But when we want God, when we want people to hear what we're saying, We want people to hear what God's saying. We want people to see God. Oh preacher, what are you getting at? We ought to be thankful for the servants of God in the church. We say this morning in verse number 2, we ought to be thankful for our brothers and sisters. Now let me say this. I want you to understand you can be a brother or a sister and not be a servant. Let me explain. There are many that are brothers and sisters in the family of God, but sadly only about 20% of the people do about 90% of the work. Oh, I got caught by that preacher on pastor. You understand this morning, you may not have a job. You may not be able to come up here and teach Sunday school. You might not be able to get out and physically set up the music and to be able to set up the instruments. Oh, but you are still our brothers and our sisters, and we're thankful for you, but you have a job. What is that job, preacher? It is to pray. It is to be instant in prayer. It is to lift up the man of God. It is to lift up the woman of God. It is to build that wall of prayer around one another. Look in verse 2, the apostle Paul said, he said that ye receive her in the Lord as becometh a saint, becometh a saint. Let ye assist her in whatsoever business she hath need of you. for she hath been a securer of many, and of myself also. Well, pastor, what are you getting at this morning? I want you to understand, honey, the context of this scripture, honey, that Phoebe, honey, that she was such a servant as she left the church, and wherever that centuria, wherever Paul was pinning this down at, as she set out, going 800 miles, hunting to roam. She walked through the storms. She might even went through the flood. Honey, but you understand, honey, that an 800-mile journey, it might be from here to Atlanta, Georgia. And you understand, she didn't have an interstate system. She didn't have the KRT. She didn't have the Greyhound. You understand the walk. and the journey that she would have went. And she had to protect the letter that the Apostle Paul penned down. She might have wrapped it in parchment, and she might have held it close to her heart. She might have been able to transport this letter. and to a church that needed some encouragement, and to a church that it might have been down, they might have been out, but they were longing for the man of God to give them some encouragement and some comfort. And can you just imagine, Sister Phoebe as she's traveling, how hungry she might have been, How thirsty she might have been from time to time. She might not have had no money to be able to get her there. But she kept on walking. And keep in mind, church, we need our brothers and sisters in Christ. He said, Pastor, what do you mean? I want you to know, honey, that many of you, brothers and sisters, have donated money to the food baskets and brought in food upon food upon food for our food baskets. You realize it might not be your name, it might not be your face, honey, that many women see, but that's part of your ministry. That's part of your work. I mean, whenever we think about 25 countries and 49 states being touched by Sermonatio last month, it might not have been your message that was heard, but it's your ministry that you support. Honey, don't we see in verse 2, honey, the Apostle Paul, he's heading down into the church in Rome. He says, receive her in the Lord. And then he went on to say that he assists her in whatsoever business she have need of. You understand, like in Acts chapter 6, honey, the Grecian widows. Honey, they were starting to be able, and they were starting to suffer a little bit. But the men of God called together. They called together some deacons, thank God. Honey, seven men, devout in the Word of God, fervent in prayer and according to the Word of God, Brother Stephen. The martyr was one of them. And these men of God took care of the elders. They took care of the shut-ins. And you might not be able to get out and do this. You might not be able to go out and deliver the food. Oh, but if you're contributing in prayer, if you're bringing the food, if you're supporting with your tithes, you're part of the ministry of God, and I'm thankful for our brothers and our sisters. I'm thankful for the church at Union Valley. I want you to look at one last point. Paul says in verse number four that he's thankful for the church who have, for my life, laid down their own nets. Aquila and Priscilla. We find in verse number four that he made this statement. Unto whom not only I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles. Well, pastor, what's it got to do with anything? You understand this morning that Union Valley's not the only church on the globe. There are other churches out in our communities and in our state and in our country and in our world. There are other churches that are preaching the Word of God. I listen quite a bit. I listen to a lot of preaching. I listen to a lot of different churches that I subscribe to, hear the messages that are preached from the pulpits. And I'm thankful for those churches, but just maybe this morning, the Apostle Paul, is referring to the church of Corinth. In 1 Corinthians 16 and 19, Paul said the churches of Asia salute you. Aquila and Priscilla salute you in the Lord. with the church that is in their house. You know this morning, honey, that we gathered together in a parking lot, we gathered together under a tent, and this is still the church of God. And we still ought to be thankful for the church. He might have even been thankful for the church at Ephesus. In Ephesians 6 and 21 and 22, he said, but that ye also may know my affairs, and how I do, Titius, a beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord, shall make known unto you all things whom I have sent unto you for the same purpose. You know what the apostle was saying? I'm thankful for the man of God at the church in Ephesus. I'm thankful for the church at Ephesus. I'm thankful for the church at Corinth, no doubt. He was thankful for the church at Philippi. for the Philippian church. We are thankful this morning for those that support. In Philippians chapter 4 verse 15, he said, Now you Philippians know also that in the beginning of the gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, no church communicated with me as concerning any and receiving, but ye only. Well, preacher, what are you getting at this morning? I want you to know this morning, Union Valley, we've got several missionaries. Hey, but I want you to know, thank God this morning, of those missionaries. We've got a local missionary here at the Union Mission. We've got missionaries on other soil. We've got Brother Jason Frazier down in Honduras. We've got this morning the Lanois this morning, and we've got Sister Christine Strong down in Mexico. Whenever they receive their monthly offering from the church at Union Baptist Church, directly from the pastor. They're not rescinding it from the deacon board. They're not rescinding it from this one or that one. But they're rescinding it from the church as a whole. And can I tell you today, we need the church. And we need to be thankful for the church. I know that sometimes it's easy to get discouraged. I know that sometimes it's easy to get down, but we need the church, and we need this morning to gather together in the eyes of the Lord and assemble as the church. If I can appeal unto you this morning as your pastor, some have gotten lazy. Some have gotten a little relaxed in their spiritual walk. Church, it's not time to ease up. It's not time to quit. It's not time to throw in the towel. It ain't over till God says it's over. My heart hurts for those that used to adorn the walls of Union Valley. My heart hurts for those that used to sit in our pews that no longer attend the services. My heart hurts for those that started out faithful watching the services on Facebook and on YouTube. Used to be making comment during the services, but are no longer making those comments. Church, be careful. We need to be thankful for the church. We're only one generation away from losing the freedom of the church. In China this morning, there may be some gathering together in a house church in secret. I've told this story before about the 10-year-old child in China that would not recant their testimony in the Lord Jesus Christ and the social government there, the dictator leadership there in China, they took that 10-year-old child and they nailed that child's leg to a board because that child would not recant his testimony in the Lord Jesus Christ. Can I tell you this morning, we've come too far to look back now. We've fought too long to surrender now. We've dug too deep to quit digging now. Can I tell you today, church, we ought to be thankful that we've got the privilege to gather together and worship the Lord and see one another at the house of God. We need the church. Jesus said, thou art Simon Bar-Jonah, and upon this rock shall I build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against me. I've heard some say that the Lord built his church on Peter. That's a lie straight out of hell. Amen, whether you like it or not, maybe that's a lie. But what he did do is he allowed Peter to be in the first church. the first development of the church. How do you get that passage through? Acts chapter 2, verse 1. Whenever the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were gathered together in the upper room in one mind and in one accord. And thank God the Holy Ghost of God came upon them Thank God this morning, and Peter lifting up his voice, you know what he did? He preached about Jesus. And I'd like to tell you this morning, we need some more preaching about Jesus. We need some more gospel singing about Jesus. We need some more fellowship about Jesus. We need some more soul winning about Jesus. It ain't about Union Valley. It ain't about Pastor Rob. It's about Jesus. It ain't about Brother Ricky. It's about Jesus. It ain't about Brian and Wendy. It's about Jesus. It ain't about the deacon lord. It's about Jesus. It ain't about Pastor John. It's about Jesus. It ain't about Brother Andrew. It's about Jesus. It ain't about Sister Nikki singing. It's about Jesus. It ain't about Sister Kelly singing. It's about Jesus. an opportunity to be faithful for the house of God.