Alright, so the question we're after in this sermon series for God and Godliness is how can I grow as a Christian? So we have many commands like grow in the grace and the knowledge of our Lord and Savior and strive for holiness. and train for godliness. So how can I actually do these things? Like, I want to be godly, I want to be holy, I want to grow in the grace and the knowledge of the Lord. How can I actually, what course of action can I take to accomplish these things? And so that's what we've been talking about. The first week we said the first thing we must do is keep in step with the Holy Spirit. That means mortifying the flesh and vivifying the fruits of the Spirit. Second week we talked about the diligent study and reading of scripture to bring our minds into conformity with God's truth. Last week we spoke about prayer. as active dependents on God, receiving grace and mercy in times of need. This is how we actually strive for holiness and train ourselves for godliness. It's not just through ritual or through some kind of semi-pious recession. It is by actually actively cooperating with the means of grace that God has given us to grow in him. Today, we're talking about another resource that God has given us to grow, and that is the Church, the fellowship of the saints. So read with me Acts chapter 2, verses 41 through 47, and just to add some context here, the Holy Spirit has fallen in Acts chapter 2. The very promise of the new covenant God promised to put his spirit within his people and to write his law within their hearts and that has happened in Acts chapter 2 when the Holy Spirit comes down and begins to not only dwell among but within his people. Not just to rush upon but to dwell in his people. So, this happens, it causes a great uproar in Jerusalem, and Peter has an opportunity to preach the gospel, and those very people who were participating in Christ's crucifixion come to a repentant faith in Jesus Christ. And this is what happened. So those who received the word were baptized. And they were added that day about 3,000 souls. And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number, day by day, those who were being saved." What a fantastic picture of what a church should be and what we are called to be as God's people. In this passage, we see the first Christian church, actually. They responded to Peter's preaching with repentance and faith. They were filled with the Holy Spirit. They were baptized, and they devoted themselves to identifiable practices, such as listening to the apostles' teaching, such as the Lord's Supper, such as prayer, corporate worship, and true fellowship. And the Lord blessed such a church. The Lord added to their number those who were being saved. So the series question today that I'm still asking and answering is how can I grow as a Christian? Today's answer is the main point I want to get across is that the practices of our church and the people within our church are necessary for your spiritual growth. So ask the question, how can I strive for holiness? How can I grow as a Christian? The answer today is that the practices of our church and the people in it are necessary for spiritual growth. So look at your neighbor. Look at the person on your right. Look at the person on your left. Necessary. No one's on Ray's right or left though. You have to look him behind you. These people are necessary for your spiritual growth. Now look at what I'm doing. Preaching the word. It is necessary for your spiritual growth. Not because I'm spouting some wisdom that comes from my own heart, but because God adds his fire to the word preached. So I want to just split this sermon up into two parts, practices and people. That's my outline. First, practices. What should a church be doing? I mean, we have hobbies, we have likes and dislikes. I like playing basketball. I know I'm getting old, but I still like playing basketball. I still like, you know, getting that body-to-body contact, backing someone down, running around. I enjoy basketball. I also enjoy fishing. I love getting out on the smooth water and casting a line and catching fish. What do you like to do, Gary? Hike, right? You like to hike? Bike. Ray's a great cook. Who else has a good hobby that's coming to my mind? Lydia likes to clean. So we have hobbies. The question is, why don't we just break down and play basketball on Sunday mornings? Why are we meeting here and doing these things? Why don't we just go fishing and do what we want to do and do what we like to do? It's still fellowship. The practices of a church are necessary for spiritual growth. And so the point I want to get across to you in this first point is that God builds his church through identifiable and definite practices that he has ordained for them to do when they gather. If you notice in 242, it says they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching. First, the apostles teaching. Jesus Christ, before he ascended, said something to the apostles. Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and doing what? Teaching them to do all I have commanded them. So, the disciples are carrying this out, and you see an actual church being built around the apostles teaching who are themselves teaching what Christ taught them. So when you read the New Testament letters and the epistles, what they're doing is they're handing Christ down. They are expanding upon the teachings of Christ and delivering it to the church in their various situations. When I preach from the epistles or even the Old Testament, we are seeing these things in light of Christ, just like he taught us to. So, they committed themselves to the apostles' teaching, and so do we. They committed themselves to the breaking of bread. That's the Lord's Supper. Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took the bread. He said, do this in remembrance of me. He took the cup. He said, do this as a symbol of the new covenant in my blood. So we do this because it is an ordinance that Christ handed down to his church to do when they gather. And Paul passed on this tradition as well in 1 Corinthians. They committed themselves to prayers. This could be the Lord's Prayer, this could be Psalms, but what they committed themselves to is corporate prayer. So if you can, please come out on Wednesday. It's important that we're a church that gathers in corporate prayer, that God's will be done among us and in the world. Not just praying about our great aunt's hip, although we want to pray about that too, but ultimately we want to pray big, God-centered, mission-minded, church-expanding, elder-raising, men-taking-responsibility kind of prayers. So they committed themselves to corporate prayers, and so should we. And then they worshiped together, attending the temple together and praising God. That's corporate worship. So what I see, what we see in this passage, is a church committed to identifiable practices, teaching the word, the Lord's Supper, corporate worship, and prayer. And what did God do with such a church? Verse 47, And the Lord added to their number those who were being saved. That's the key to church growth. Do what the Lord has commanded you and the Lord might find a church useful. Now God can do whatever he wants with a church. He can do whatever he wants with our church. But the reason at Church of the Vine that we are committed to these practices, word, Lord's Supper, prayer, God-centered worship, holy fellowship, is because Sunday after Sunday, year after year, decade after decade, century after century, These are the means that God has used to build his church and strengthen his people. This is why we commit ourselves to these things. Now, has it become a habit for you to go to church, to wake up in the morning, to get the kids dressed, to get yourself dressed earlier on a Sunday morning, Go to church, sing songs, hear the word preached. Has it become habit? Good. That's a good thing that it's become habit for you. Don't eschew habit, because habits form the person. The practices form habits, and habits form desires for the kingdom of God. This is well known among psychologists now that what you do shapes who you are. And if you do it on a habitual basis, you will become a certain kind of person. This is why cell phone addiction is so prominent today. where we live because we have our phones and then people have become addicted to looking at the phone. So we just flip our phone open, flip it open, look, flip it open, look, flip it open, look. And what we're doing is we are committing ourselves to a practice that has becoming a habit. And now people are addicted to looking at their phones all the time, and they need to touch it and have it with them. One study found that the average American checks their phone 352 times a day, which is about once every three minutes. I don't think that's necessarily by choice, it's by habit. the practice has formed the habit, and the habit has shaped many people to become a kind of person who desires the phone. Practices, habits, desires. So it's a very good thing that you have committed yourself to the mundane practices of rising on Sunday morning, singing to the Lord, gathering with God's people, hearing the word, personally, reading the scriptures, prayer, do you develop these practices and sometimes you feel like you're plodding along, that's not necessarily a bad thing all the time. Now we don't want to be ritualistic about it, we don't want to just have our spiritual life be some kind of box we have to check, that's not the point. But, slowly, your character is being shaped, you are becoming a certain kind of person. Habits train the inner self. So, corporate worship is not just about information, it's about formation of the heart. So when you go to church, you're disrupting your week, you're doing something unique and different. You're prioritizing the gathering of the saints, and that's a good thing. And even if you have to drag screaming kids and crying kids into the car, you are disrupting your week for a holy occasion. When you sing, you are actually joining the angels in heaven, singing the praises of God. So what we're doing now, when we sing to the Lord, we're doing on earth what is being done in heaven. When you hear the word preached, you are constantly introduced to the promises of God, the sacrifice of Christ. And you seek to obey His commands and keep your eyes on Jesus in faith and hope and love. And that constant drip of promises, command, Christ, the gospel, slowly seeps into your heart and soul over time and as the years go on. And as we take the cup and the bread, we do it in remembrance of Him. And we constantly remember month after month the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and what he did for us. In prayer, it reminds us of our dependence on the Lord. And when I give the long prayer, the pastoral prayer, we pray for our country, we pray for heart cry missionary society, we pray for the men, the women in our church, we pray for the gospel. And these prayers constantly remind us and form us to be the kind of people who prioritize those things. When we fellowship together, It reminds us of the sweetness of a redeemed community. And this is only a foretaste of the sweetness of a redeemed community. One day we will be rejoicing together in a new heavens and new earth. So all of these practices form a liturgy. And a liturgy is there to form the person. One philosopher, a Christian philosopher named James K.A. Smith, in his excellent book Desiring the Kingdom, puts it like this. He says, every liturgy constitutes a pedagogy that teaches us in all sorts of precognitive ways to be a certain kind of person. In other words, what you do teaches you at a subconscious level to be a certain kind of person. You are being formed, not just informed, but formed by going to church. So these practices are actually shaping us to desire the kingdom of God. Good? We get that? So it's good that you're going to church. It's good that you rise yourself. It's good that we sing. It's good that it has become habit to you. That doesn't mean we need to be cold to these things, but habit is a good thing. This is this then. Now, if the practices shape the habits and the habits form the desires, now you can see what the problem was with the seeker sensitive movement. 20, 30 years ago, and perhaps still today in some churches. The secret sensitive movement did everything it could to get people in the door of the church, whether it was music, entertainment, fog machines, pastors just getting down and sitting on a chair and just talking, you know, back and forth, just trying to, programs, and it's funny, there's nothing wrong in and of those things themselves. But the effect that that had was it shaped the people. Let me put it this way. Instead of shaping the people with the practices of the church, that movement shaped the church around the desires of the people. You see that? So that what is outside of God's kingdom actually it was shaping the church. And these things ought not to be done. So what we do is when we gather at church, think of it as a formative event. And when someone comes into church, we don't try to just desperately get them into the door by any means. We'll change anything just to get you in the door. No, as a church, churches specifically must be consistent and committed to those practices that God uses to form his people. So, again, that's why we're committed to biblical preaching, prayer, the Lord's Supper, worship, and fellowship, because these are the practices that God has ordained. And these are the practices that actually train the heart for the kingdom of God. They shape the desires and the affection and the mind towards the kingdom of God. So go to church not just to be informed but to be formed. Now that's true that we go to church to be formed. But that was the practices section. And spirituality for the Christian. is not just project self. It's not a private endeavor. Church for a Christian is not just about how can I grow, but how can I help others grow? The church is not just a means of grace where you receive God's grace and are shaped and are formed. The church is an area of responsibility. where you commit yourself to certain brothers and sisters. So this is why Paul refers to the church as a body very often. And when he uses that phrase body, that picture, he is usually communicating the reality that there are different parts in a body and each one is dependent on the other. So if you would turn with me just to illustrate this to 1 Corinthians 12, 14. 1 Corinthians 12 verse 14. Salvation is a community-creating event. Did you know that? It creates a people. Not just a person that's saved. It creates people that are saved. So, from 1 Corinthians 12, verse 14, we read, for the body does not consist of one member, but many. If the foot should say, because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body, that would not make it any less part of the body. And if the ear should say, because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body, that would not make it any less part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, Where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body was an ear, where would be the sense of smelling? But as it is, God has arranged the members of the body, each of them as he has chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body. And the eye cannot say to the hand, I have no need of you. nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you. So, none of us can say to the other, I have no need of you. Khalil, I cannot say to you, I have no need of you. Did you know that? Stephan, you cannot say to Ben, Ben, I have no need of you. We actually need one another to grow as a body. And so what do we move on from that? We will grow as a body if each part works properly in the body. It's one thing to have a hand. It's one thing to have a foot. It's one thing to have an eye, an ear, a head, and so on. But when each part works properly, it makes the body grow. So the Apostle Paul in Ephesians 4 picks up the body metaphor again and says in verse 15, Speaking the truth in love we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head into Christ from whom the whole body Joined and held together by every joint With which it is equipped when each part is working properly It makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love So the body grows when the body is working properly Then we will be built up in love You know, those churches, sometimes you go to a church and it's almost like you're getting some kind of religious good. No one talks to anybody else. You just sit there. You listen to some kind of secularized sermon. You do a traditional kind of worship with no heart in it. It's empty, it's void, you know what? And you know what happens? The church does not build itself up in love because each part is not working properly. So, God has given us the gift of other Christians in this local church, in Church of the Vine, to be integrated in one another's life. To work properly and to build the body up in love. Spiritual progress, godliness, holiness is not just about you and God, believe it or not. It's about you, God, and His body. So, how can each part work properly so as to make the body grow? I want to give you three ways. First, lock arms with this church by seeking membership. Verse 42 of Acts 2 says they devoted themselves to one another. Or they devoted themselves to the fellowship. Notice that phrase, the fellowship. That definite article there suggests an identifiable group of people. It's not they devoted themselves to fellowship, to just hanging out. They devoted themselves to the fellowship, that local body, that identifiable body of Christians. They devoted themselves to the fellowship. Also, they didn't just associate, they devoted themselves to the fellowship. Devoted in the Greek means to persevere together. Isn't that a great word? Persevere together. Or it could mean they bound themselves together. I often think of membership as locking arms with one another. That's what they did. They persevered. They locked arms with one another. I was just rereading Habits of Grace for the Theological Men's Group, and if you read this section yet, in the church, David Mathis makes a great point. He says that the church is not like getting together with friends and watching a football game, although you could do that in a church, but the image of a church is not like getting together and watching a football game. It's more like a football team. on the field, preparing for the next down, and fighting together, pressing forward together in joy and hope. And so Fellowship of the Rings, he also mentions it's correct that Tolkien named his series The Fellowship of the Rings. What were those hobbits and dwarves doing? They weren't just hobnobbing, hanging out together. The Fellowship of the Rings had a mission. That's the church. We have a mission. So when you think of fellowship, part of that is getting together, enjoying the sweetness of one another's fellowship. But the bigger picture there is we're on a mission together. We're going through the desert to the promised land together. We're marching to the kingdom together. And if one falls, we pick them up. We help them strengthen their knees and we keep on going. Peter calls it the brotherhood. I love that picture too. Love the brotherhood, he says. And that's what membership is. So the early church devoted themselves to one another in virtue of their bond to Christ. And in this church, Membership is our effort to maintain a weighty sense of fellowship, a covenantal sense of fellowship, where we actually lock arms, persevere with one another in Christ. So members, or non-members right now, don't think of coming to church and being a consumer Think of coming to church and being part of a covenant body. Not a consumer, but a covenanter. Be a covenanter, someone who locks arm, perseveres with other Christians, who devotes themselves to the lives of other Christians. A consumer is going to come to church and look for friends. Yeah, a consumer is going to look for friends. A covenanter is going to come to church and forge fellowship. You see the difference? Looking for friends is, who do I get along with? Who can I hang out with? A covenanter forges fellowship. A consumer desires me to give a motivational speech. A covenanter wants to hear the promises of God, and wants to obey the commands of God, and wants a fire lit in their soul. A consumer asks, how can I be served by the church? What can the church do for me? A covenanter says, how can I be useful to God's people? So be a covenanter, not a consumer. And the first step to that, I believe, is membership. So, in short, when we come to church, we don't come just for our own souls. We come for the souls of others whom God has united us to. Amen? Second way you can build that you can work properly and build the church up is by serving the people tangibly. The early Christian community that we just read about quite literally treated one another as if they were family. And when I mean literally, I mean that in the most full way I could possibly mean it. If you look at verse 44, we read, and all who believed together had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing to the proceeds to all as any had need. There is a record of a community that brought realism to the idea of family. The early church even supported widows whose husbands have died. They had no opportunity to support themselves. The early church stepped up. I would want to be a church that Say there was a family in need and they just needed to get back up on their feet. We are the kind of church that houses them, raises thousands of dollars for them, gets them back up on their feet. That doesn't mean that we incentivize laziness, but we do love the brotherhood. And we do want the saints to be cared for. So I'm talking about real sacrifice. And many in the church have served one another in tangible ways. Not in intangible, but in tangible ways, and I've seen this. Even in what you can do. For me personally, I've had hats knitted for me. I've had great things baked for me. I've got good bread, and I've had eggs given to me. I've had cars fixed. I've had money given. Those kinds of things. What are you good at? What can you do? Actually, have a listening ear. This is something that some of you are very good at. Have a listening ear. And if you hear a need, maybe be the one who could fill it. What I'm talking about is creating a culture in our church where we are tangibly investing in the lives of other people, serving one another, fellowshipping, sacrificing. That's how the body builds itself up in love, right? That's how we build ourselves up in love. And here's the problem that I think this touches on. Some well-meaning Christians are under the impression that all the action is outside the church. Anything, any good we can do, it's outside the church, it's evangelism. Now, next week I'm going to preach on evangelism. I'll preach on investing in the kingdom. But, I think there's an unhelpful attitude sometimes, well-meaning but unhelpful attitude that says, any action is outside the church. And one of these was just brought to my attention so poignantly when I was on a church's website a few years ago, and I saw one of the core values of this church. I even forget the name of the church, so don't ask me. But one of their core values says we are not inward, but outward, was one of their core values. Not inward, but outward. And they were one of these churches that had a great great evangelistic push, and one of their core vows was not inward, but outward. That is not right. It should be we are inward and outward. Galatians 6.10 says, so then, as we have an opportunity, by the way, to preface this, we should be inward and outward with the emphasis being inward. meaning the fellowship of the saints. Galatians 6.10 says, so then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, there's outward, especially those of the household of faith. There's inward with an emphasis. So the emphasis goes on the brotherhood. What is the distinguishing mark among Christians? By this, Everyone will know that you are my disciples. How? That you love one another. Who is my mother, my brother, my father and sister? The one who does the will of God, my father. So do you want to be useful to God? Star inward. Not just outward, but inward. Again, I am not blasting evangelism here. We need to evangelize and I think our church needs to get on the ball more with that. And by God's grace we will. But I am making the point that if we're going to be useful to the Lord, if people are going to know that we are His disciples, we must love one another. If we are to do good to anyone and everyone, we must do good especially to the household of faith. By the way, if you're a church like this, when someone becomes a Christian, what an amazing community they join. What a fellowship they join. And they realize something different about these people who claim the name of Christ. Some reality has gripped these people. Okay, so that's the second way that you can work properly and build one another up in love. Serving, sacrificing, being a fellowship who serves one another. That is necessary, but it is not sufficient to be a useful fellowship to the Lord. The third way that you can work properly and build one another up is to build one another up spiritually. In order for a church to truly build up one another, it must move beyond surface level association. Each one of us needs to have a concern how the other one's soul is. I've seen many, many liberal churches who do what I just said and point to, that they serve one another tangibly, but the Word of Christ does not dwell among them richly. Colossians 3.16, the Apostle Paul tells us, let the Word of Christ dwell among you richly. teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom. Teaching and admonish one another in wisdom. Singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your heart. So I'm talking about not just associating with one another, enjoying one another's company, making friendships, serving one another tangibly. I'm not just talking about that. I am talking about a deeper conception of the fellowship of the saints, where the word of Christ dwells among us richly and God is glorified by a community. where the message, the gospel, has full reign. And we can actually break through surface level talks with one another. How can we do this? This is not easy. Because I think we are just trained to feel awkward about deep conversation. Americans, maybe other countries, I don't know. I think we are trained to feel awkward, and it is a great hindrance if we give in to that. So what we need to do is create a culture where we actually get past surface-level conversation and association with one another. And we do do that. Our church is getting there. We're moving in the right direction. So how can we do this? I have four ideas. And obviously initiate spiritual conversations when you talk and many of you do this very well. Some and maybe you remember me asking you. I'm sure I've asked every one of you, if not most of you, how are you doing spiritually? I just want to get some kind of spiritual conversation going with you, too. Not just because I'm a pastor and that's what pastors do. I want to break through to a deeper conception of fellowship. Some other questions. This is from Don Whitney. Where have you seen the Lord work lately in your life? What's the Lord been teaching you recently? Have you had any evangelistic opportunities lately? Have you had any answers to prayer recently? What have you been reading? Oh, I like that one. What have you been reading recently? How has it impressed you? Where in the Bible are you reading? What impact has it had on you? How can I pray for you? How would you like to grow right now in your life? Those are some great questions. Just some ideas, but you know what they do? They initiate spiritual conversations. So be an initiator of spiritual conversations. Not just because we're supposed to do that, but actually want to dig deep. Second way. Paul says, let the word of Christ dwell among you richly. What's the first way? Teaching one another. Seek to teach one another. And what I have in mind here is seek discipling relationships in this church, either to be discipled or to disciple or maybe some kind of mutual discipling relationship where you disciple one another. And perhaps I think that's the more clear way to do it, where you disciple one another. Say you're talking about an issue, a theological issue. Wouldn't it be great if you said, you know what? That's a good question. Why don't we read a book on that together? Let's meet for coffee in two weeks. Let's read a book on that, meet for coffee, and discuss that. Or listen to a great podcast. Let me share this with you. Many of you do that. You share things you've read, you've listened to, you've heard. What about being humble? coming up to a brother and say, you know what, I'm just struggling with anger and lust in my life. Could you pray for me? Could you keep me accountable? How about when you're talking about a doctrine, write lengthy emails to one another so you can really hone in on the idea that you're discussing. Teach one another. Develop discipling relationships with one another. Take someone under your wing if you're older in the faith, if you're more mature in the faith. If you're younger in the faith, come under someone's wing. Disciple one another. Another way you could do it, he says, let the word of Christ dwell among you richly, teaching one another. What's the second way? Admonishing one another. By admonishing, I mean giving godly rebuke when you see harmful patterns of behavior in a brother or a sister. We are told in the Proverbs time and time again that this is good and useful and beautiful when A godly man receives or gives godly rebuke or criticism. Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another. Amen? So, I want to be the kind of church where we could actually speak into someone's life and not offend one another. And by God's grace, I have seen that in drips and drabs. I was talking to one elder at a church a few years ago, and he was talking about how the other elders of the church really helped him grow by being brutally honest with him. And one of the elders, after he'd been a member of the church for a while, one of the elders, I'm not sure of the context, but the elders took him aside and said, hey brother, have you considered how prideful you are? Not notices in your life, I see that you're very prideful. And obviously he was taken aback because people just don't speak to one another like that. But that had an impact on him and he realized that he was proud and arrogant at heart. And now he's an elder at that church. So it's those kind of conversations that really develop Real fellowship. How about, hey brother, you know, I think the way you're speaking your language just doesn't glorify God. I think you should clean your language up. Giving godly rebuke is a good thing. And receiving it is a good thing. If you give it, make sure you're able to receive it. because each one of us has an area to grow. And if someone sees somewhere where I need to grow, I need to be open to receiving the Word of God from a saint. So give and receive godly criticism. There's a great article on the Nine Marks website called Giving and Receiving Godly Criticism. It's worth the read. Fourth way you could build the church up, you could work properly, is by encouraging one another. If you see someone living a Christ-like life, tell them. Encourage them. If you see someone serving, giving their time to the Lord, investing in other people, being humble in conversation, encourage them. Shoot them a text and say, hey brother, I saw you doing this the other day. I want you to know, I think that is such a Christ-like example. You just set such a Christ-like tone in your conversation. I have a few of you in mind. I'm not going to say that out loud, but I do see that among many of you. It's such a good thing when humble conversation is had, when someone serves. someone gives their time. Encourage them in that vein. Because, you know, we go through life not exactly knowing, was that the right thing to do, right thing to say? There's so much dissonance in our hearts and minds, but if you see something Christ-like in a brother or sister, give them godly encouragement and say, yes, that's the right direction. Encourage one another in that direction. I think that will build up the Saints because what you're doing is you're taking those truths those virtues and those qualities and You're putting that out in front of a brother and said that's what you're moving towards and that's a good thing Rebuke is the opposite saying these are harmful patterns of life. That's what you're doing. That's a bad thing So what what we're doing in the church, we're creating a culture where Christlike virtue is valued and praised and where non-virtuous, un-Christlike behavior is seen and called out. That's a good thing. I want to be that kind of community. I want to be that kind of person. So, in conclusion, the church is not just a club. It's not just a hangout. But I do want to hang out with you. We do want to fellowship together. We do want to watch a Super Bowl and eat together. But what we need to do is go deeper even than that. A deeper conception of fellowship is fellowship where we spur one another on to love, to good works, to holiness, to faith, encouraging one another in Christ-like direction. That's how we build a strong community. When I was young, I have such memories of playing by my fireplace. For some reason, this is one of the memories that stick out to me. And I would watch the wood burn. And very often, there would be these burning embers that would just be the end of a fire. Now, say you had a clump of burning embers together. And you took your fire poker and you moved one ember away from the others. What would happen to that? Why, it would lose its fire. It would lose its flame. The heat would die down. It would begin to grow cold. If you move that same ember back to the other embers that are glowing and burning with warmth, that ember too will begin to take the heat and the fire of those other embers on. There is Christian fellowship. That's what the communion of saints looks like. It's the fire of God within a community, received and given by one another. So, let us consider, brothers and sisters, Church of the Vine, those who are members, who are thinking about becoming members, who are not yet members, who I'm trying to convince of a few things. Let us consider how to stir one another up to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another. And all the more as you see the day drawing near. Did you know the day is drawing near? Let's press forward to that day together as a real community of saints. Closing a word of prayer.