Well, we've got a great section through, you know, the last number of weeks we've kind of been looking at the negative side of things. Don't do this, don't do this, don't grumble, don't slander one another. Well, today we want to turn and look at the positive side. how it is that we can support one another. And let me tell you this, next Sunday will be our last Sunday. And so what I want to do next Sunday is just kind of an overview of everything that we've done, and I really want to mainly hear from you. What's been helpful? You know, what areas has you know, has this really challenged you? In what ways has God, you know, changed your life or shaped you in this? And so I really like to be, have this a dialogue. So, you know, think about that and we'll do that. And then I also will put together a little evaluation sheet. I always like to get feedback at the end of a class. You can put your name on there or you don't have to put your name on there. If you have really ugly things to say and you don't want to write your name down, then I won't track you down. I don't send it to a handwriting specialist to figure out who actually sent this, but it helps me. to get the feedback, to know what's good and bad. And, again, I'm not looking for accolades. I'm looking for genuine feedback. You know, this was, you know, I remember the last time I did a class, I said, well, the material was overwhelming. There was too much to absorb. You know, that's helpful for me to know, you know, because, again, there's always more than we can cover. But I want to cover enough, you know, that it's going to be challenging, but not so much that people get swamped. Think about that, and I really value your feedback on that. Well, let's begin this morning with a word of prayer. Let's bow and just take a moment and realize we're really dependent on God to open our hearts and our ears to what he has to say to us today. So let's pray together. Father, we bow before you today, and we are grateful for your goodness and your mercy. I thank you, Father, for the wedding that we had yesterday with Jordan and Grace and just pray, Father, that you will bless them with years of life together and one another in the way you set out in your word. Lord, we pray that you'll be with us today as we open your word and we look at these areas that we are both responsible to support one another. and that we get to support one another. It's not just an obligation, it's a joy. So Father, we pray that you'll unite our hearts together as we hear from you. We pray in Jesus' name, amen. Just a reminder again, we've started out the series with the verse from Romans 15. I hope that gets really engraved in your mind and heart where he prays, may the God of endurance and encouragement Great statement of who God is. May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another. That's what we've been talking about throughout. Living in such harmony with one another in accord with Jesus Christ. You see the connection? Not just a connection with each other. A connection we have with each other is through Christ. We're connected to him and by that we're connected to one another. in accord with Jesus Christ, now I love what it says, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you for the glory of God. And so far we have looked at how we connect to one another, how we are one as a body of Christ, Then we talked about how we build up one another, the various things that we do to strengthen one another and build up one another. Ephesians is very clear on that, how the body builds itself up till we all reach the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. You're not there yet. I'm not there yet. None of us are there. That's why we need each other. You know, one day we're going to be like Christ. You know, and we get to be a part of that, you know, in one another's lives. That's a great privilege. We talked about how we confront one another. We tend to not do well with that part. We tend to skip that part because it's a little tougher than just encouraging somebody. And yet, the scripture, I still am struck by the verse in Proverbs. I think I had the wrong reference when I printed the sheets out, but it says, You know, whoever hates correction is stupid. Now, that's not hard to figure out. That's pretty good. The fact is we all need correction, you know, at points along the way. And we talked about how we protect one another, you know, and largely how we protect one another from some of the struggles in our own heart, you know, that we're not slandering one another, grumbling with one another or about one another. Well, today we want to look at how do we support one another? You know, and we can't look at all of the things that are there, but I want to walk through some text of Scripture today, and just, we've said this along, but I want to say it again, that the Christian community really is a family of believers that are designed by God to live together in fellowship. You know, nothing in Scripture sees Christians as lone rangers out there, the lone wolf just doing it on their own. You know, we're much more like the honeybee hive that we need everybody for this hive to work. You don't have the drones. You don't have the queen. You don't have all the different parts of that. Gary Jr. here, he'd tell you all about honeybees. He's big on bees. And you know how that, I think he got interested in that when he was about four years old. We were mowing the grass. I had a big tractor, not a long tractor, but a little bigger tractor. He was riding there, and as we went by, at the bottom of our property, there was a bee tree. And they swarmed us, and he had bees just on his, you know, and one crawled in his ear. We couldn't get it out. We had to take him to the doctor, you know, and it's like having a semi, you know, idling inside your head. That's what it sounded like. We went to the doctor, and the doctor said, there's no bee in there. I said, yes, there is, because I already pulled part of it out, you know, but I was afraid to go. It got so deep, I didn't want to damage that. You know, if you talk to Gary Jr. and ask him about honeybees, be ready to spend a half an hour or so. He's going to tell you everything about them. So anyhow, I don't know how we got off on that. But we want to protect one another. Today, we want to talk about how we support one another. And the reality is we live in a hostile world. We have a world that is increasingly hostile to the Christian faith. They hate those that love Christ. You know, Jesus told us that in the Gospel of John. It's a world that is animated by Satan and his demonic hordes. We don't understand exactly how that works, but we know know that Ephesians says it's not we're not wrestling against flesh and blood but against principalities powers these rulers and high places and and so what Satan wants to do what the world wants to do is is to silence anyone that has the convictions of, you know, of being a Christian. How do we live this out? And I really believe the future for us as believers in America is pretty uncertain. You know, and I think there's some very real possibilities than our current cultural mood and direction that there may come some times that we are going to face pressures that we have never seen. Other Christians in our world have gone through that. They've gone through some horrible things. You know, you can read about some of those. They've been, you know, brutally persecuted for their faith. And gladly, we haven't reached that point, but for me it's impossible to deny the trend toward disrespecting and denouncing Expression of Christian faith is bigotry and you've heard all of that So it seems wise to me to think about I remember reading a book and it talked about the little platoons, you know during times of persecution and that people would get together in groups of 8 or 10, and they were kind of anonymous. It wasn't published, but they would kind of band together to help each other. Somebody needed some food. Somebody needed some medical attention. You had another group around you. And I think now might be a good time to say, okay, let's put together some little platoons like that for whatever may be ahead for us as believers. I think as our public institutions grow ever more hostile, that's something we ought to think about. So again, I'm not proposing a plan today. That's kind of in the background. But what I do want you to do is to look with me at some of these texts of Scripture. So we're going to be going to these texts. Let's go to Galatians chapter 6. Galatians chapter 6 is a great passage of Scripture. Galatians chapter 6 verse 1 he says brothers if someone is caught in a sin You who are spiritual should restore him gently, but watch yourself Or you may also be tempted Now here's the verse whoever he kind of looked at that before but I want to look at verse the next verse carry each other's burdens and in this way you'll fulfill the law of Christ and Okay, what is she saying there? What does that mean? Not a rhetorical question, real question. Well, when you are able to share what's weighing on your heart with someone. Okay. In an intimate way, where you know that they are receiving what you're saying and hearing you. and also are willing to be lifting you up to the Father in prayer, then you feel like you have shared that burden, that somebody else is carrying that with you. Yeah. Yeah. I know one of the things, I think, I don't know that this is a gender thing. I, by the way, I still believe there are two genders. I know I'm really out of step with our culture today, but men tend to be fix it. You know, we, when somebody tells us something, when my wife would tell me something, I had advice for her. Well, you ought to do this and that. And I remember sometimes she said, I'm not looking for advice. I just want you to understand. I want you to feel what I'm feeling. You know, and my tendency is to fix it. Okay, if you tell me there's a problem, and she didn't want me to fix it, she wanted me to feel it. You know, because there was something about that, that a person, you don't know how that impacts a person when you validate the reality of what they're feeling. You know, and that supports them. And there's nothing that is more hurtful than, oh, nothing to that, forget that, you know, you don't understand. And that is so hurtful. And when we can do that very thing, it really bears a person up. And it helps support them saying, There's somebody that understands me. I am not crazy. I am not an idiot. I'm not from outer space. I'm a real human being. I have these struggles. Here's somebody that's validating that. They're listening to me. They're feeling what I'm feeling. Does it fix the problem? No. But guess what? Sometimes the problems aren't fixable. Or not easily fixable. They're not looking for you to they just need that and do you notice what it says when you do that? What are you doing? Notice the connection in this verse. What does he say? You're gonna fulfill what? the law of Christ You know, that's what Christ did number the woman at the well. I You know, and his reception of her, Mary Magdalene, she comes in to anoint him with the oil and, you know, all of the critics are standing in the background, all super pious. Does this man know that she's got a bad reputation if he knew this? Well, no. Carrying one another's burdens. You know, it's not, some of those things you can't get rid of. but you can help somebody carry those along. And when you do that, you're doing exactly what Christ did, and you're doing exactly what the law of Christ requires. That's what he's saying here. Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you'll fulfill the law of Christ. If anyone thinks he is something when he's nothing, now we would never do that, right? What does it say? He deceives himself. Remember that song, it's hard to be humble when you're perfect in every way? You know, that is some people's theme song. He says, if you're thinking that way, you're missing it. You deceive yourself. Now, I like what he says. Each one should test his own actions. Then he can take pride in himself without comparing himself to somebody else. For each one should carry his own load. Now, you know what I like about this? It balances. Carry one another's burden. Now, listen. You know, if, I'll pick on Mike again. He's kind of my target, and I know that he won't get even with me. So, Mike needs to carry some of his things. I don't need to carry everything for him, okay? And he's saying, don't dump all your stuff on other people. You know, we have to carry our own load But there will be points in time that Mike may really be struggling with something, and together we can encourage each other. That's what he's talking about. And when you do that, it's not like another person is going to have everything they have on you. No. It's not that. It's the fact that this one area, they really need somebody to put their arm around them and just resonate with what they're saying and validate the struggle and come along beside them to encourage them, to pray for them. And so, you know, this idea about carry one another's burden doesn't mean, hey, you know, you got to do everything for me. No, that's not what he's saying. Do everything that you can for yourself, but at those times that you need somebody that's going to come along and build you up, listen to you, encourage you. Boy, that's so important. Well, let me go on. We can't go through the whole thing, but a couple more things I want you to see. Anyone who receives instruction in the Word must share good things with his instructor, okay? So I've been doing the instruction. You ought to be bringing blueberry cobbler, blackberry pie, you know. I remember one time actually in the church at Kent and Gretchen. Kent's home church was in South Carolina. I became his pastor years ago there. And sometime in the fall, I said something about loving chocolate-covered cherries. That Christmas, I bet I got 25 boxes of chocolate-covered cherries from the congregation. And again, understand I'm saying, no, I'm not saying it tongue-in-cheek. I really wish you'd do that. But I can't say that out loud. But the fact is, think about this, that when you have that kind of heart you know, to respond. It's meaningful, you know, that your pastors that you support, you know, the people that are serving you, to recognize them. That's a real help to them because very often those involved in public ministry, they get very little affirmation. You know, everybody's thinking about what a good message that was, but rarely do you ever tell the pastor that. Rarely do you just send him a gift card to Panera's to go have breakfast with his wife. But those are things that he's saying, that's how we support one another. We're going to look at that another way in a minute, but let's go on. Do not be deceived, God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction. The one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. There's a whole month on that, you know, if we open that up. Now watch this. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we'll reap a harvest if we do not give up. You ever feel like it's not worth it? I'm giving and giving, nobody's giving back to me. Listen to this verse. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, but especially, what does he say? To the household, to the family of God. We have an opportunity to do that. to bear one another's burdens. Let's turn to another passage. Again, I realize we're not covering all that's there. That always bothers me, but our clock is against us. So let's go to Colossians chapter 2. I love the way that Paul does this in Colossians. You know, he is writing to these people. Let's begin at verse 1. He says, I want you to know how much I'm struggling for you and for those in Laodicea. and for all who have not met me personally." So he's talking to people he doesn't know. Now, listen to his words. I want you to know how much I'm struggling for you. What does that sound like? It's the very thing that we're talking about. There's a concern and an interest in them. You know, and he says, I just want you to know, even though you don't know me, we don't know each other, I'm struggling for you and with you. My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love so they may have the full riches of complete understanding in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely Christ. I love what he says. Do you get that? My purpose is, you know, through this process, they're going to be encouraged so they're going to know Christ more. You know, that's what he says in Philippians, you know, so that through my being with you, you'll progress in your joy and faith, and through my being with you, you're going to come to enjoy Christ more. You know, that's the kind of support we need. Not somebody always whacking you, you know, because you're not living up to the standard that they've set, but this kind of thing that says, I just want you to know how I'm struggling in my heart for you. And the purpose is that you might know Christ. And he says, I tell you this, that no one may deceive you with fine-sounding arguments, for though I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit, and delight to see how orderly you are, and how firm your faith in Christ. So then, just as you receive Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him. Now, we don't have time to go through the rest of the passage. It gets even more poignant later on. And he's saying, don't let these people take their ideologies and press them into your life and force you into that. You're in Christ. So don't let the misrepresentations, both from other Christians and the world around you, don't let them press you into their mold. Remember Paul in Galatians, I mean in Romans 12, I beseech you therefore brethren by the mercies of God that you present your bodies as a living sacrifice wholly acceptable. And what does he say? Don't what? Don't let the world press you into their mold, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind so that you'll be able to understand what God's perfect will is. That's what he's doing here. You know, these are people rooted and built up in Christ. He wants them to come alive in Christ and to know that. That's one of the ways that we support each other. And listen, every day I don't get up just, you know, eager to know God, to serve Him. Sometimes I get up and it's kind of, you know, Rain, actually, a lot of people, they get that way on rainy days. With me, the rain, I like the rain. I like, you know, when that comes, you know. So it's other things that will, you know, kind of get me just kind of blah. And a word from somebody, a call from somebody. There was a guy, I may have said this before, a man in Georgia named Dick Barton. Every day, without fail, I'd get a 15-second, a two-minute call from him. He had a verse. He had a quote from a book that he was reading, but he would just call for just a minute or two, and sure, I've never had anybody else like that. And again, I'm not expecting each of you to do that, so this is not an assignment. I expect you to call every day with a verse of scripture. But I want you to think about the people in your life that you could bless. I'll never forget that man. He had such an impact in my life again and again. You have that opportunity. That's how you can build up one another. And Paul is modeling that for us in Colossians chapter 2. Let's take a minute and go to Revelation. I would love to do a series through Revelation 2 and 3. I'd love to do a series through Revelation, the whole book. But 2 and 3 are the letters to the seven churches. We all know those. We remember the one, the church at Ephesus, what are they known for? Yeah, they lost their first love, you know. And you come to the last one. You remember the last one is Laodicea. What are they known for? Lukewarm. You know, I want to spit you out of my mouth. You know, but as you go through here, these are directions, you know, that are given. And you're going to see this sense of supporting one another. I want you to look at Chapter 2 and To the church at Smyrna I want you to look at verse 8 To the angel of the church of Smyrna, right? These are the words of him who is the first and the last who died and came to life again Now listen, I know your afflictions and your poverty Yet you're rich. I know the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not but are the synagogue of Satan and Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you'll suffer persecution for 10 days. Be faithful even to the point of death, and I'll give you the crown of life. Now what's he doing there? How does that fit what we're talking about? He's encouraging them. OK. You see how he's encouraging them? And what is he saying? You know, God has great plans for you. You're going to be blessed richly in the days ahead. What's he saying? You're going to suffer. Persecution is coming. They're going to put you in prison. They're going to test you. Some of you are going to seal your testimony with your life. And what is he doing? He's coming along beside them to prepare them for that. And he says, but be faithful even to the point of death. and I'll give you the crown of life. He who has ears to hear, let him hear. You see, and here again is a way they're coming along beside them to bear that burden and to support them. Go to chapter 3, verse 7. To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write, these are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the keys of David. What he opens, no one can shut. What he shuts, no one can open. I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. I will make those who are of the synagogue of Satan who claim to be Jews, though they are not, but are liars, I will make them come and fall down at your feet and acknowledge that I have loved you, since you have kept my command to endure patiently. I'll keep you from the hour of trial that's coming upon you, upon the whole world, to test those who live on the earth." Now here is Jesus. I mean, He's the one speaking. What's He doing? Remember the picture, the seven churches, the seven candlesticks, and Jesus walking among them? And He's saying, I'm going to come along, and I love what He says at the end, you know, when He just makes it clear that I'm going to be there with you. You know, I'm going to support you in the midst of this. And friends, when we fulfill the law of Christ, we're doing the very same thing in Christ's place. You know, so he puts us there in order that we can come along and we can do that. I love what it says. I'll keep you from the hour trial. I'll write on him my new name. I'm not suggesting you write their name on their arm, you know, so they'll know that you did it. But there's something about this. I'm going to write my name on them. He's going to own them. He's going to come along beside them. Go to 2 Corinthians. Again, I probably will only frustrate you by just jumping into some of these passages and not developing them. But my point is, we could take all day on each one of these sections, but I want you to get the comprehensive sense of what it means to support one another. 2 Corinthians chapter 1, let's pick up at verse 8. We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the hardship that we suffered in the province of Asia. Remember Paul and his missionary team Things didn't always go well. It's not like they're writing letters back to the supporting church and tell them, you know, thousands of people came to Christ and we were blessed with this and this. Listen to what he says. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. You know how sometimes people will, you know, magnify things and make things so much worse than they are? You say, oh, well, he's exaggerating. No, no, no. It was to the point, they didn't think they were going to survive this. We don't know exactly what it was. But it says, we had really given up. We were not going to survive this. Indeed, in our hearts, we felt the sentence of death. You know, we're preparing ourselves for this. I love what he says. This happened that we might not rely on ourselves, but on God who raises the dead. You know, he's recognizing the things that are happening are not just random things that nobody's in control of. God has a purpose in this. He wants to teach you not to depend on yourself, but on Him. He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and He will deliver us. God did that, and He says, I'm convinced He's going to do that. What's the means He's going to use? Look at this. On Him, we've set our hope that He will continue to deliver us as what? As you help us by your prayers. then many will give thanks on our behalf. You see, you see that? I love what he says there. God delivered us. But he did that through your prayers. And we're going to continue to trust that you're going to be supporting us that way. You know, supporting a person is not just listening to them. That's an important part. You know, not just giving them encouragement, but here it's praying for them. you know, that they're going to be able to go through this, that they are going to be able to honor God in the things that they do. Again, so much in this passage, we're actually going to come back to this in a second, and in fact stay right there, because I want to look at the second thing that we have set out, and that is not just bearing one another's burdens, but comforting one another. The world we live in, isn't going to give you a lot of, you know, comfort. There are stresses, there are problems, there are things that are going to oppose you. Earlier in this chapter, 2 Corinthians chapter 1, I want to pick up at verse 3. Love this passage. Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Okay, so the focus is on God the Father. You know, it was It was common 50 years ago for liberals to picture God as the big meanie, that all he wants to do is to beat on you, and Jesus comes to persuade the Father to go lenient on you. See, that was the picture. You know, God's the Old Testament God who's just constantly zapping people. Jesus comes along and persuades his dad to be kind. What does this passage say? Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of wrath, the Father of, you know, the lightning bolts of judgment. What does he say? The Father of compassion and the God of all comfort. Boy, if there's anything that's wrong, it's that picture of our Father as an angry, wrathful, Old Testament deity that's now balanced by the kind, gentle Jesus. Now, that's a total misrepresentation. Our God is the God of all comfort. Now, it's not just that he's the God of all comfort in an abstract way. We say, okay, yeah, the God of all comfort. We know that. What does he say? He actually comforts us in all of our troubles. This God of comfort actually comes and brings comfort to us. Why? Well, partly to relieve what we're suffering, but what does He say in this passage? What does He comfort us? Yeah, do you see that? so that we can comfort others with the same comfort that we've received from God. You know, when we go through a hard time and God ministers to us, we're able to share that with other people. You know, one of the things I loved about being a pastor for 50 years is going through all of the struggles that people went through and being able to comfort them with the comfort that God had given me, the comfort that He had given to other people who are going through the same situation. You know, as you go through these things, I used to tell people that, you know, I was about 104 years old because every year as a pastor counts as 3.7 years of real life, you know. And you think about this, you'll go through two or three real crises in your life, a tragic accident that takes the life of a loved one or a cancer diagnosis or, you know, you lose your home or whatever. As a pastor, I'll go through two or three of those things every week, but with different people. And while you say, well, it's not the same thing, you're not losing your house. But you know what? When you're connected with somebody, you're there. You're part of that. You're feeling it. You're in the hospital. I remember a lady that had a stroke, and she was incapacitated for six or eight months. I would go there a couple of times a week, sit with her husband. She was completely incommunicado. What are you going to say? Oh, she's going to get better. You know, everything is fine. She's not going to get better. It's not fine. And you just sit there. And there is a ministry of presence, you know, that you're not able to say anything is going to fix it, but just being there. In fact, you know, the scripture says, well, let me ask you, does the scripture say rejoice for those who rejoice and weep for those who weep? Is that what it says? What does it say? Rejoice with those. Weep with those. There has to be the sense of being there with them, just being there. And again, I made thousands of hospital visits through the years. Sometimes it was just kind of perfunctory. You go in, you talk to somebody, read a verse, pray for them. They're really, because of what they're going through, You know, physically they're not able to visit. You know, other times I might be there for an hour. You know, and so you never know what to expect when you go in. But there's something about being there. Well, a little girl in Georgia, when I was pastor there, that was born without an artery from her heart to her lung. And she lived three years and then died. And I would go down to the hospital. That was about an hour away. And sometimes Ann would go with me. And one time we left and she said, I don't know how you do this. That is so hard. I said, Anne, today was a good day. You know, you saw a good day. You know, and again, when you have a child with this complication, she never walked, she never ate. You know, a bite of food, everything. You know, I could tell you the whole long story and we'll take our whole lesson, but you know what? There was something about just being there with Melvin and Teresa, the mom and dad. You know, and I remember when I left that church in Georgia, she hugged me and said, no one else will ever know what that was like and just being able to be there and share. That was such a blessing to me, you know, that God gave me the opportunity. Didn't have a lot to say. but could just be there. And if we would recognize how important it is, you know, when there's a serious illness, a loss, a tragedy, we stay away because we don't know what to say. And we're afraid, you know, how am I going to put this in words? Don't worry about what you're going to say. Remember what it says, don't worry about it. God's going to tell you, you know, put in your mouth, the Spirit's going to direct you. Just be there. Just be there. And God will use that presence to touch people's lives. That's how we support one another. The God of all comfort who comforts us so we can comfort others with the same comfort that we ourselves have received from God. Just as the sufferings of Christ flow over, into our lives. So also, listen to this now, so just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ, our comfort overflows. We have an opportunity to take the comfort, the joy that God brings in our heart, and for that to flow out to other people. Now, what a wonderful opportunity God gives us to do that. We're not going to turn to Philemon. Philemon is a great example of this. You know the story of Philemon and Anesimus, the runaway slave. And as Paul is writing to him, he's saying that he knows that he is going to do even more than he asked. And What you read in that passage is that God's comfort for us provides that foundation for others. And you see that, the very word she says, your love has given me great joy and comfort because you brothers have refreshed the saints. You see that? We have an opportunity again to refresh, to encourage, to comfort, to bless other people. You know, bearing one another's burdens, that's a good thing. Comforting one another. It's a hard world. A lot of things that are so painful and discouraging. We need comforters. You know, we need people that are going to come along and going to support us in that. Let's look at the next part, supplying the needs of one another. Again, our time's against us here, so I'm only going to refer to one of these. Philippians 4 is the passage where Paul says, you help me again and again, the Macedonian churches. 1st John 3, James, you know, let us not love in words but in action. What good is it going to be if you say, be blessed, but you don't give them anything? But I want to go to the 2nd Corinthians 8 and 9. Again, we don't have time to read that, so let me give you the overview of this. the church in Jerusalem is suffering big time. And so Paul is collecting, trying to get a collection going, and the church of Corinth was the first ones that promised. They were like, Corinth was like the city church that had big resources. So he's talking to them about giving this, and then he goes to the churches in Macedonia. Okay, these are the country cousins. And it says two things about them. They were desperately poor, and they were going through unsurpassed trials. We don't know exactly what it was, but these are not the fat cats that are going to be able to write a $100,000 check. These are people struggling. And you remember what he says? And he says, in fact, this is the passage in the King James Version that I've only had one person that know what it means. Anybody have the King James Version? today. Read what verse 1 says of 2 Corinthians 8. Yes, 2 Corinthians 8 verse 1. That's a King James version. Oh That's a new King James. Okay, the King James says I do you to wit I Do you to wit of the grace of God, what does that mean? What's wit? Somebody's witty they know something and he's simply saying I want you to know that But the old English is, I do you to wit. I don't even know why we're talking about this. It has nothing to do with the lesson. But it's just kind of an interesting thing to me. And that's why the new King James actually changes that from the King James version. And that's not wrong. It's just we don't use the word that way. But what he's doing in this passage is he's saying, I want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian people out of their desperate poverty. They begged for the opportunity to give to this offering, and they didn't just give what they could afford, they gave over and above because they first of all gave themselves to the Lord. And then I love the way he does this, and then he says, okay, you fat cats here in Corinth, You remember the promise that you made? Now make sure you complete that so when these Macedonians come, and Paul used the example of the Corinthians, their promise to give, what if they come and find out, you haven't followed through on this, we're gonna look like idiots. So he uses Corinth to encourage Macedonia, Then he uses the Macedonian freedom to give their liberality as an encouragement to the Corinthians to follow through and do what they said. And at the end of this, I'll give you this as your assignment. Gretchen and I read this passage the other day in 2 Corinthians 9 verse 12. If you want to see what impact that gift made What a beautiful expression, how it brings praise to God, and how they connected their hearts together. And that's what happens when you supply the needs of another person. Not only is it thanksgiving to God, but there's a sense of, wow, you're really special to me because you thought about me. in this situation. And again, so much there. I just encourage you to look at it. Meeting the needs of another person is not just a burden that you have to bear. It's an opportunity that we get to live out and to obey the law of Christ, to put that in place. You see that? And I love what he says there. Paul says to the Corinthians, we're not asking you to give what you don't have. but only what you do have. And that's the context in which it says, if you sow sparingly, you're going to reap sparingly. But if you show generously, you're going to reap generously. What a great passage. Well, we have two other things, and we've got two minutes to talk about it. So we're going to go through this quickly. Showing hospitality to one another. How do we support one another? How do we connect with them? You've got to spend some time with each other. One of the things, if you read the New Testament, daily they were meeting together breaking bread. Now this is once a week, we see each other for an hour, and then we're gone. There has to be some time that we can actually sit down and spend together. No, a few weeks ago, I was invited to a home. I won't point out who they are. They're sitting here. They know that. And I sat there for two or three hours and just had the most wonderful time getting to know them, getting to things I wouldn't know about them. See, the reality is when I stand up here every week, you get to know things about me. You know, I tell you about my family, about my life, what kind of blueberry treats I like and so forth. But guess what? You don't say anything about you. So I don't get to know anything about you. So it becomes lopsided. And so what it treated is, when I get to be on the other side of this, instead of you learning about me, me learning about you. That was a great highlight, to be able to spend the afternoon doing that. Guess what? That's better than Sunday afternoon football, watching a baseball game. You know, being connecting with one another. Hospitality is a lost art today. There was a lady, a pastor of, pastored Maines. I forget, Randy Maines. But his wife, Karen Burton Maines, wrote a book, Open Heart, Open Home. And she said, you know, one of the problems that we have is that we think that we have to entertain guests and impress them. So we close our home off. I remember a lady in Georgia, she wanted to have me over, but they needed to get their carpet and stuff replaced. I was there 15 years, never got there, you know. And this idea that we have to impress you and entertain you. And she said, that's not what it's all about. It's about opening your heart. And it doesn't matter if the carpet is worn. But opening your home where you can share the love of Christ and you can connect with one another. There's something wonderful about that. And again, in our culture, we tend to use our home as a castle and we close people out. We don't want to be bothered with that. But let me tell you, it doesn't become a bother. What does Hebrew say? Some have entertained who? Angels. Now, I'm not sure all that that means, but I know that there's something about that. In fact, Romans doesn't say just show hospitality. It uses the Greek word dioko, which means to pursue. Actually, it's a word that means persecute. It's something radical, you know, and the hospitality provides a context where we can share our heart. We can listen to one another's stories, and we can begin to connect with one another. Well, that brings us to the last one. Having fellowship with one another. Many of you are familiar with the word koinonia. You know, in fact, the Greek New Testament is koine Greek, which means common Greek. That's the way the people talk, as opposed to classical Greek, you know, the kind of high style of writing. And koinonia is just, listen, we're family. We're connected. There's a commonality that we have in Christ. And so communication, communion, all of those are connected to koine, you know, to this sense of the community that we have together. And so that's something, again, that needs to be nurtured. You know, we have fellowship with the God of light. We have fellowship with one another. We have fellowship with Christ. You read 1 John, that's going to jump out at you. I think of the passage in Acts 2. They devoted themselves to fellowship, to bringing bread, to prayers, and so forth. And they did that continually. So friends, listen. Here are the things. This is not what I'm telling you you should do to make people like you more. Okay? to make you more popular. Now I'm saying these are the things that Jesus Christ wants you to do. And by fulfilling the law of Christ, I'll tell you three things are going to happen. God's going to be glorified in that. I love the fact, serving as a pastor, that I know that God was glorified in that. But I tell you, there were people that were blessed in the midst of that. And you know what? There was a deep sense in my own heart, a feeling, a sense that I was doing something that mattered. You know, something that mattered to God, mattered to other people. And you know what? I wouldn't change anything with my life. To be able to speak to the lives of people when they were hurting, what a blessing that has been to me. So I don't want you to hear this like, man, he's hammering us again of all the things we've got to do. These are the things you get to do for the glory of God, for the blessing of other people, for a sense of something inside. That's what God designed me to do. That's what God designed each one of you to do. to shape you and to mold you so that you're one that's going to come along and support the brothers and sisters in Christ. Well, report me to the elders. I'm way over time today, but they can't do much. We only got one more week, so the penalty won't be too stiff. Let's bow together in prayer. Fathers, we bow before you today. How do we begin to thank you enough that you put us together as a family of believers? to encourage, to nurture, to support, to be there to pray, to listen, to just feel what they're feeling. And Lord, we thank you that this is not just a raw obligation that you impose on us, but it's a wonderful opportunity that you present to us to glorify you, to bless others, and to feel the sense of satisfaction that we're doing something that pleases you. So Father, as we've gone through these series, there are so many things that have been left unsaid. And yet, there's so much that we've seen here. We want to honor you in one anothering and recognizing the great privilege that you've given to us, as well as the great responsibility. So enable us to do that with joy for your glory. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen.