First Thessalonians chapter number four, if you will. First Thessalonians chapter four. Perhaps when you were driving up, you saw the big inflatables out in the parking lot. And that's for all of you to enjoy after the service. And no, no, our kids, our children's ministry are going to be out there. In fact, they're probably out there right now and enjoying that. Of course, they got to learn the lesson. They'll be enjoying that. I think the nursery got to go out as well. And we are so thankful for our children here at Grandview Baptist Church. We're so thankful for you parents who are faithful in being here. And maybe this is your first time. Thank you for coming to Grandview Baptist Church. Maybe it's your second or third time. We don't take it lightly. And maybe you're visiting from out of town or you're visiting family. Thank you for coming as well. And the seat back in front of you is a little connect card. It looks like this. And if you would just take a minute and maybe fill that out. That helps us know how to serve you better. We want to connect with you. We have a little gift card we want to give you as well. If it's your second or third time, second time as well, fill that out. And we have a gift card for you. And I know some of you came to the early service for the children for the bounce houses. And you found out they are doing it during this service. So you're getting a double dose here. And hopefully, it's not too much for you. But we're glad you're here. And thank you for coming. And we had a great, I say we, the ladies had a great conference yesterday. And I don't see my wife in here so I can say this. She came home yesterday, and she was all straightened out. And so it was great. Oh wait, there she is. Oh no. And it was a delightful time babysitting, no, watching, no, spending time with my children. And I'm glad it was only two days though, because I hit all my meals, I knew how to cook for them. But anyways, we had a great time together. No, in all seriousness, I'm thankful the ladies got to get together and have some time together. I appreciate Ms. Vicki and Mrs. Vestal and my wife and all those who served in that. And it is exciting that Pastor and Miss Vicki celebrate 47 years tomorrow. My wife and I are gonna be celebrating 10 years this summer, so we're just young children, all right, compared to 47, but praise the Lord for that. And I echo Brother Vestal. It's great to see them not only pastor for all these years, but live it in their home and their marriage, and what a blessing that is. And if you found 1 Thessalonians chapter four, if you'll stand to your feet this morning, one last time to get you an opportunity to stretch. stand for the reading of God's Word as well and get right into the message. I want to get you out right on time this morning. But I do feel like this is a truth we all need to hear from God's Word that He has for us. The Bible says there in 1 Thessalonians chapter number 4, as touching brotherly love, ye need not that I write unto you, for ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another. And indeed ye do it toward all the brethren which are in all Macedonia. But we beseech you, brethren, that ye increase more and more And that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you, that ye may walk honestly toward them that are without, and that ye may have lack of nothing. Lord, we sure do love you. Thank you so much for loving us. It is certainly good to be in your house this morning. I've been blessed by the music. I've been blessed by the fellowship. I've been blessed by the connection group time. I've been blessed by the warm handshakes, the smiles on everyone's faces. And I am so glad I came to church this morning. Lord, I know people have come from all over. They've come for different reasons. But at the root of it, I believe each one of us have a desire and a want to know you more, whether we know it or not. You've put that inside of us. Our conscience have that. And we want to, we need you, we've got to have you. So be with those this morning who for the first time maybe are searching for you. May they find you this morning. Be with some who have searched for you and found you, but have kind of went wayward a little bit and are coming back to you again. Help them to find you once again. Be with those who have been faithful to you all these years. May they be strengthened today and encouraged and grow closer to you. Lord, if there's someone that does not know you as their personal Savior, in the children's department, in the teen, or even in here, may they come to know you as their Savior. Be with those who are bearing loads and carrying burdens. May they be challenged, encouraged, and helped this morning. May not one of us walk away without deciding in our hearts to do what your word teaches us today. We sure do love you, Lord. In Jesus' name, amen. You may be seated. Years ago, there was a father and son who went fishing one day. After a couple hours on the boat, the boy suddenly became curious about the world around him. And he asked his father, Father, how does this boat float? The father thought for a moment and replied, I don't rightly know, son. The boy then turned to his contemplation, then turned back to his father and says, Father, how do fish swim underwater? How do they breathe when they swim underwater? His father once again replied, don't rightly know, son. A little later, the boy asked his father, why is the sky blue? Again, the father replied, don't rightly know, son. Worried that he was going to annoy his father, he said, Dad, do you mind my asking you all of these questions? Of course not, son, he said. If you don't ask questions, you'll never learn anything. And you know, isn't that the case with children? They always have a question to ask. And usually it's a question we don't quite know how to answer. And that's what's happening in this passage. The Bible starts off in verse number five and says, but as touching. That phrase is used several times in the Corinthians. And oftentimes throughout the epistles, Paul receives questions of why things are done or what should we do or what's our next step in our Christian life. And Paul, as he often did patiently, carefully, lovingly, he answered those questions. And three of those questions are given to him either by Timothy or maybe Timothy shared with him some needs. We don't exactly know, but Paul recognizes the fact that this church in Thessalonica had some questions. Last week, Pastor Mutchler shared with us the first question about moral living and all that. And today we'll get into the second issue that Paul addresses. And next week, Pastor will share the third issue as we finish up this chapter. I want us to see first of all, if you're writing, and Paul gives the explanation of this topic that we're going to look at today. We talked about several weeks ago faith, how faith is an agreement of the mind or understanding to the truth of what God has revealed already. Hope is expected confidence. We learned a few weeks ago the hope that's set before us and the hope that we have an eternal life and that Jesus Christ is coming again. It could be today, it could be tomorrow. Today we're going to look at the third thing that this church was strong in. 1 Thessalonians 1 verse 3. Hope, faith, and love. Charity. The word love means to regard with affection. We love whatever gives us pleasure and delight. And we're going to talk about brotherly love this morning. I want us to see, number one, the explanation of brotherly love the explanation of brotherly love the word brotherly love there is mentioned in verse number nine it says but as touching brotherly love now paul doesn't get into what brotherly love is here but he does several other times in scripture in the new testament and we see him referring not to physical brothers i have two brothers nathan who is six foot three and way larger than me. And then Caleb, my younger brother, is still 6'3", and I somehow got the short end of the stick. Wouldn't it be nice to be 6'3", unless you're flying in low class in the plane. I'm not talking about blood brothers, I'm talking about the spiritual brothers, our brothers and sisters in Christ. And if you've accepted Christ as your Savior, praise the Lord, we all have the same Heavenly Father. And God the Father and Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior. But Paul writes in Romans chapter number 12, verse number 10, what brotherly love kind of is. And he says there, be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love, in honor, preferring one another, preferring someone above you. We see he also addresses in Hebrews 13 verse 1, let brotherly love continue. In other words, do not pretend to love your fellow believers. It's not something that happens one time. Reminds you of the story of the couple who was having some marriage problems and so they went to the pastor and said, pastor, we need a counsel with you. And he says, okay, what's the problem? The wife says, well, he hasn't told me he's loved me for 25 years. And he pipes up and says, well, Gertrude, I told you on the wedding day, I loved you and I thought that was good enough. I still mean it today. Now how many would agree that we like to hear I love you more often than every 25 years? It shouldn't be something that happens once, but it is a continued, something we strive after. It should be a genuine love, not a backstabbing love. 2 Peter 1 verse 22 says, It should be something we should grow in. We shouldn't love and stay there. Our love should grow and As I mentioned this morning, my wife and I, when we said, I do, on the marriage altar, I thought I loved her. But now I have such a greater love for her than I've ever dreamed of having that day. Our love grows and our love for each other should grow. 2 Peter 1, verse 7 says, into godliness, brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness, charity. We're supposed to add these things and grow these things. our life. And Paul says, hey, you have this, but you should do even more of this. So we see that he explains this love through precept, as we see through his scriptures, the scriptures that God allowed him to author. But second of all, through their practice, We see this isn't a practical explanation of His love. The Bible says in verse number 9, but it's touching brotherly love, ye need not that I write unto you. Wouldn't that be great if it was said of you? Hey, you need to love more. By the way, I don't really need to write this to you because you do love. The Bible says in 1 Thessalonians 1 verse 3 that they had a love and a faith and a hope. Timothy reported their love to Paul and Silas. In 1 Thessalonians 3 verse 6, when Timotheus came from you unto us and brought us good tidings of your faith and charity, Timothy had just come back and said, hey, these people have great faith and great In chapter 3, verse 12, Paul leaves off by saying, "...and the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another." It shows us that we can never arrive in this area of love. We should always be growing and cultivating our love for God and others. It reminds me of the story of a lady in Spain. She made the news when she chose a unique way to test her husband's love. With the help of a friend, she manipulated her own kidnapping and sent a ransom note to her husband. When the police discovered the kidnapping was a hoax, they asked the lady why she did it. She responded, I wanted to find out what my husband would do for me. Now that is not a good way to show your love for each other. But these dear people, they practiced their love. They loved each other, as we'll see here in a little bit. We see through the precept, through their practice, and we see the explanation of this love. But second of all, I want us to see where this love came from and where does it come from for you and for me. Perhaps you do want to increase in your love and I do want to grow in my love towards my spouse and to my children and to my brothers and sisters in Christ. I want to grow my love. How does that happen? Well, number two, I want us to see the entry of brotherly love, the entry of brotherly love. So we see the explanation and the entry. The Bible says in continuing in verse number nine, for ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another. I see first of all the entry of love is through God's, what I call God's portal. This term is translated into English as taught of God. It literally means God taught isaiah 54 verse 13 isaiah holds out hope for the nation of israel and he says and all thy children shall be taught of the lord and great shall be the peace of thy children and jesus picks up on this in john 6 verse 45 he says it is written in the prophets and they shall be all taught of god so what does that mean How am I taught of God? Well, I think it's important to understand in Galatians 5 22, the Bible says, but the fruit of the Spirit is love. You see, Jesus has, and God has amazing qualities that none of us could ever have. He's omnipotent, he's all powerful, he's omnipresent, he's everywhere at once, he's omniscient, he's all-knowing, he's sovereign, he never changes. But some of those things he wants to, communable attributes he wants in us, and that is, he wants to allow the fruit of the spirit to bring love, joy, and peace, things that we can't humanly bring out of ourselves he wants to bring those out in us the best way i can illustrate this and how god does this is really years ago we were having vacation bible school at our church in turlock and a church from Maryland wanted to bring our youth group out and kind of help us with the education of Bible school. So I said, you know, that'd be great. There was 25 of them. And so we grabbed a bunch of flyers and we started going throughout the city. And Turlock was about 75,000 people and our community was about 120,000. And so we were hitting all these areas that we could get as many flyers out as we could. One particular street, there was an apartment complex that I had never gone into because it was gated, there was signs, no trespassing, no solicitation of any kind. I thought, well, instead of going in there and climbing the fence, why don't I just save that for another day? Well, two of the boys, the gate was left open and they walked in there and they flyer that neighborhood. And they came out, and I picked him up, and I thought, praise the Lord. If anybody calls, I'm going to say the Church of Maryland went there. And I said, guys, you know, well, we had good visits. I said, well, praise the Lord. Well, that night, a family showed up to Bible school, and they started coming to our church. And I went by and visited with them, because they said they wanted to grow and know more about the Lord. I shared the gospel with him, and Orlando was sitting there in his chair. He was a brick mason, big old guy, just strong muscles, and it just looked like he had everything under control. And I'll never forget that day when I shared the gospel with him, tears started running down his face. And he gloriously accepted Christ as his Savior, and he says, hey, I want this in my life. He had been a part of gangs. He had been in prison. He had done some pretty bad things. He grew up in the south side of Modesto, which was a very rough area. And I thought, man, I'm glad you have Jesus in your heart now. And he started growing, and God started doing a work in his life so much so that his wife said, you know what? I used to be the spiritual person in our house, and now if we don't go, he gets us going. God just started working in his life. Well, several months passed and he sent me a text one morning and said, will you pray for me? He said, some refugee in my apartment complex just kind of went crazy at two in the morning and just knocked my windows into my truck and cracked my windshield. And I thought, oh man, what's Orlando gonna do? I mean, if that happened to me, I know what I would want to do, but I probably wouldn't do anything. But I'm a mature, seasoned Christian. I'm a pastor. So I can't imagine what this new Christian is going to do. Do you have that picture? Can you put that up there? You may not be able to see it very well, but all the windows aren't down. They're knocked out. The windshield looks like someone took a baseball bat to it, or a sledgehammer. And I saw that picture and I thought, Lord have mercy, please. Orlando, don't do anything stupid. And I said, well, how's it going? Can we help you? He says, well, I already got the windows fixed. He says, and I have a guy coming out to change the windshield out. And I said, well, let me come over. So I come over and I said, now, don't do anything foolish. He says, Pastor. He says, let me tell you something. He says, the old Orlando would be grabbing at this guy's throat right now. He says, but something happened to me in the New Orlando, I've already forgiven him. I'll never forget sitting there and he said, Pastor, he goes, did I do the right thing? And I said, well, yes. You're a better man than me. I'm simply saying God can do something in lives that we can never do. And God can do something in your life that you don't know is possible, but he can cause you to love like you're supposed to love. Are you allowing the blown out windows experiences in your life to teach you how to love other people? Are you fighting it? God, why are you doing this to me? Maybe God's doing it to you to teach you how to love more. God taught. But not only through his portal, but I want us to see through God's process. through God's process. God actually shows us, and while he was here on earth, he taught his disciples how to have brotherly love. And I believe we can learn from this. The Bible says, in John 13, verse 34, Jesus tells the disciples, I wanna give you a new commandment. The Bible says, a new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another, as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. This is also mentioned in verses 15, chapter 15, 12, and verse 27 as well. Jesus says, hey, I want to teach you something. As I have loved you, you need to love others. By the way, you'll be known as my disciple in verse 35. The Bible says there, By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another. By the way, to do this is to fulfill the whole law. Romans 13 verse 8, O no man anything but to love one another. For he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. This is our debt to others. This is what God's called you to do. And if you appreciate the forgiveness and the love of God in your life, may you be willing to give that to others. Galatians 5 verse 13, For brethren, ye have been called into liberty, only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh. but by love serve one another." This means we, instead of fulfilling our own lusts and our own flesh, we must say no and be willing to love other people. None of this news was to anyone who has been walking with Christ. 1 John 3.11, this is the message that you heard from the beginning. We should love one another. And John goes on to say in his epistle to us in 1 John 3.23, there's two things that Jesus requires from us. The first, the Bible says, and this is his commandment, that we should believe on the name of the Son of Jesus Christ. The first thing is to believe on Jesus. The second thing, the Bible says, and love one another. as he has given us commandment. And God was teaching these dear people that they were doing a great job receiving and practicing this love. So we see the explanation of love this morning. We see the entry of love this morning. We see number three, the example of brotherly love. The example of brotherly love. We look on in verse number 10 the Bible says, and indeed ye do it toward all the brethren which are in Macedonia. And not only were these Thessalonians taught by God to love, but they were actually doing it. And he says, hey, their influence was expanding. The Macedonia region there was kind of like the Portland metro area. It was more than just one city. Thessalonica was the capital of the area, but you had Berea, and you had Philippi, and you had other churches, other areas there. And they were sounding forth. They were loving and being a blessing to all of them. We see they were growing in 1 Thessalonians chapter 1, verse 7, so that you were in samples to all that believe. in Macedonia. We see they were going, the Bible says in verse number 8, for from you sounded out the word of the Lord not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith to God was spread. Everybody was hearing about their love for God and God's love for them. Let me ask you a question this morning. If every single one of us were to talk about our faith and about Jesus Christ and His love this week, how many people would be impacted in this region? Hundreds. Well, that's what was happening. They were telling, it was spreading. They were declaring the gospel. They were going, they were growing. One Sunday, a lady was inviting children to come to Sunday school when she met a boy and asked him why he went so far. He went past many other Sunday schools along the way and she said, there are plenty of others that are just as good as ours. Why do you come to ours? He said, they may be so good, but they are not so good for me. Why not, she asked. Because they love a fellow over there, he answered, and I can tell they love me. And I wanna tell you a difference today in people's lives is when they know you truly love them. I thank God for our children's ministry, as I mentioned, the 830 service, even our nursery. Those kids know they're loved at Grandview Baptist Church. Every day we bring our kids around the, every Sunday we bring our kids around the table and I say, how was church today? It was awesome. Miss so-and-so, brother so-and-so, they were so great. Wait a minute here, what about us? I mean, we invest in you every day of our lives. They're loved. Why? They can tell. They know. They look forward to Sundays. Even Jackson, our three-year-old. Is my class today? For the sixth time, no. On Sunday is your class. Why? Because he knows he's loved. He's cared for. Even the mother or nursery worker who changed that stinky diaper. Think, oh man, this is awful. Why am I doing this? Well, can I tell you, I'm glad you're doing it. and might tell you this morning that those little kids, maybe they don't know now, but one day they're gonna look back and thank you for what you did for them. we see a growing church. But then we see a giving church. Paul talks about this dear church several times and it's evidence of their love. The Bible says in Romans 15 and verse number 26, "...for I have pleased them of Macedonia and Achaia to make a certain contribution for the poor saints which are at Jerusalem." Paul boasted to the church in Corinth in 2nd Corinthians 8 verse 1, Moreover brethren, we do you to wit of the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia. Paul was helped personally in verse number 9 for that which was lacking to me the brethren which came from Macedonia supplied. This church was known for its financial contributions and its willingness to give for the cause of Christ. pastor mentioned earlier before we had our giving time what we are doing how we're impacting our region our region and this world for christ and may i encourage you to not give because you're being persuaded to but give because you have the heart to want to see god's love and god's word be spread all over the world for christ so we see first of all the explanation of brotherly love through the precept and through their practice. We see the entry of brotherly love through God's portal, how God taught them, how God was working in their life, and through God's process and how he has commanded us to love and to become disciples, fulfill the law. And then number three, the example of brotherly love. And then number four this morning, I want us to see the exhortation of brotherly love, the exhortation. He then goes to this church and it's interesting what he writes and at first when I read this I thought why would he say this in verse number 10, but we beseech you brethren that you increase more and more Now, why is he getting on this church for their love? Because he just bribed on them for it. I don't even need to write to you about this. But then he says, you need to increase it more and more. And I just came to the conclusion after studying this, that even though you're going, even though you're growing, and even though you're giving, there are still times when your love gets put to the test. I don't know about you, but oftentimes I feel like I've checked all the boxes in my Christian life. But yet I still sometimes have an aught with a brother or sister in Christ, and I have to go and resolve that. Why? Because in a growing ministry, an exciting ministry like Grandview Baptist Church, there's always going to be someone that's going to challenge our love, is it not? But let me encourage you this morning that we are supposed to increase and abound more and more. 1 John 4, in verse number 20, the Bible says, if a man say, I love God and hateth his brother, he is a liar. For he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? And this commandment have we from him, that he who loveth God loveth his brother also. And if we can't get along with each other as Christians, do you think maybe the world thinks there's something funky going on? You know, you're trying to say God is love, but yet you can't even get along with your Christian brother. Well, you don't know what he did to me. I know. It's not easy. But we have to be willing to go and talk to that person and get it right. If we can't love our brothers and sister, how are we going to love those without the love of Jesus Christ? Many years ago, there was a teacher who asked a boy this question. Suppose your mother baked a pie and there were seven of you, your parents and five children. What part of the pie would you get? A sixth, replied the boy. I'm afraid you don't know your fraction, said the teacher. Remember, there are seven of you total. Yes, teacher, said the boy, but you don't know my mother. Mother would say she didn't want any pie. Yesterday, my wife came home from the ladies' conference. I told you, all better. No, I'm kidding. And she went to a baby shower, and we're so excited for Holly and Stephen and their new baby coming. But she brought me this cookie. from Crumble. Now how many know what Crumble cookies are? The rest of you need to be introduced to it on the way home, okay? It is one of the most amazing, I've had great cookies, but there's just something about a Crumble cookie. And this one was a churro with churro icing, and it had a little teddy bear on it with some honey on it, a little graham cracker teddy bear. And she says, babe, this is for you. And then she added that line, I thought of you. I'm thinking, you thought of me? How sweet. And so I took that cookie, and my mouth, taste buds started salivating. I said that wrong. Cello. Cello. Anyways. That salivating. Salivating. All right. Thank you. I just wanted to see if you were awake. Does that work? Anyways, I saw that cookie and I thought, man, I'm going to enjoy that cookie. My four little munchkins came in. And the oldest, Brian, said, ooh, what is this? I said, none of your business. Little Eric came in. Ooh, daddy, I love you. I said, I bet you do. Get off my cookie. Brittany came in. She's hard to say no to, my one girl. No, no, no, this is daddy's. But then Jackson came in, my three-year-old. Daddy, what is that? Is that a teddy bear? You can have my teddy bear, but you cannot have my cookie. But my mind started thinking. Should I give it to him? And my sweet wife came to my rescue, and she says, no, that is for you. I said, I knew I loved you. We gave him popsicles later, OK? So don't think we didn't give him something, all right? Isn't it interesting how brotherly love is willing to sacrifice and give and to put self aside and to just truly love someone and help someone? So Paul gave them an exhortation, he gave them an example, he gave them an entry, and he gave them an explanation. But last of all, I want us to see the evidence of brotherly love. And this is why I believe that this question was brought up. This is why Paul went to answer this question and started off with what brotherly love was. You see, there was a rift going on in this church, as great as it was, as loving as it was, there was a rift starting to happen, there was a separating starting to happen, and there was some strife coming. And we see in verse number 11, the Bible says, and that you study to be quiet. Now, why would he shift from brotherly love, and that you need to increase more and more, and then go into, you need to study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands? Why would he shift like that? Well, what was happening in this church, if you remember, several weeks ago now when we preached in Acts and how this whole church started, we saw the Jews who had given their life to Christ and then the Greeks, which were called God-fearers, who wanted to know the God of the Jews, but didn't necessarily want the circumcision and all the The legalistic tape that went with it. And when Paul says, no, no, no, you just simply put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ and Him alone. It's not what you can do. It's not your works of righteousness. It's nothing you can do. It's what Jesus Christ did in Him and Him alone. The Greeks says, hey, I'm all about that. And they accepted Christ as their Savior. But the funny thing about the Greeks and the Jews, the Greeks were more philosophers. They were more talking about the work, but they didn't like to work. And Plutarch said this, labor to the Greek culture was as counterintuitive as morality was, as we talked about earlier last week. And it didn't make sense to them to live a moral life. They thought they need to live immoral, and that's just what was accepted. And Paul says, hey, you need to learn to work with your own hands, to be quiet, and to do your own business. You see, the Jews were the workers, if you will. They had followed the trade routes and they had landed in Thessalonica for a reason. Thessalonica was the road on the Ignatian Way that connected Rome with Asia. It was a very first page road. It was a very successful area and the Jews knew if they went there they would be successful. And so even though they loved the Lord they also knew how to prosper. And so they were the workers and the Greeks were talking about the work but never getting involved. Does that sound familiar? Some people are all about the work and other people are all about talking about how the work should be done. And oftentimes those who are doing the work are being criticized by the ones who aren't doing the work. If I were to do it, you do it that way. You know what the great answer is? Well, go ahead and show me how to do it then. And can you imagine the strife that was starting to happen? And if we're not careful, church, we can have the same thing creep in here. Well, I served 25 hours this month and they didn't serve at all. So I must be a better church member. Now I am all for serving the Lord. And if you know anything about my family, we'll give it 120%. But that is no way to treat your brothers and sisters in Christ. We're just glad they're here. Now God can work in their heart, praise the Lord. But I'm just going to keep serving the Lord, whether A or B does it or not, because I love God and I want to please Him. But it's interesting how Paul addresses this to your church and saying, hey, the Jews keep on serving me, not me, serving the Lord. And keep loving on those Greeks and keep teaching them, keep encouraging them, keep coming alongside of them, but learn to work together. And we have got to learn, as we have, how to continue to work together to reach this area for Christ. And may I encourage you, if you are more on the lax side, the lazy side, and don't really want to do much for God, let me encourage you to just keep growing. And if you are a hard worker, praise the Lord, but keep being patient, loving, and keep encouraging others to go along with you. My dad always said, you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink. So instead of managing people's lives, I've decided to be a strong leader that encourages people to get involved in the work. So we see Paul writes about this and he says your labor, but then he also says your lifestyle in verse number 12. He says that you may walk honestly toward them that are without. The word walk honestly there means decently, unchangeable. To them who are without are the outsiders. They are without Christ. They're without hope. They're without faith. They're without love. In other words, those who are without Christ, without faith, without hope, without love, without what we have in Christ, we need to walk honestly toward them. So when they see us, they not only hear the gospel, but they see our testimony matches up with the gospel. And they say, hey, we want that in our lives. The long history of con artist George C. Parker holds a special place of dishonor. He is remembered as one of the most successful and daring swindlers in American history. He set up his office in New York City and sold some of the city's most famous attractions to tourists. This is a true story. He literally sold the Brooklyn Bridge to somebody. He sold the Statue of Liberty, the Madison Square Garden, where the Knicks play, and Grant's tomb. He sold them all to several different people, several times. He produced elaborately forged documents and deeds, and convinced his targets that they were the rightful owner of the landmarks he was selling. Parker was so persuasive, one particular time, he sold the Brooklyn Bridge to someone, and they installed toll roads on their own dime, and when people came through, they tried to charge a toll. The police officers had to come and say, no, no, no, you don't really own this. You were swindled. Parker, on his third conviction for fraud, was finally sentenced to life in Sing Sing Prison. He spent the last eight years of his life there. He dishonestly made a fortune preying on people who foolishly believed his empty words. He not only was an expert salesman, but he realized that many people were gullible and he could use that to his advantage. And may I encourage us this morning, may we be a Christian and act like a Christian in our business dealings. It's easy sometimes to say things a certain way or paint a certain picture. May I encourage us to be honest. People are watching us. If you're afraid to tell someone you go to church somewhere or you're a Christian when you're dealing with business because you don't want them to think odd of you, maybe you're not doing business right. But we see this morning, Paul says, hey, in your labor and in your lifestyle, may you be showing brotherly love and kindness and growing in your walk with God. The walk here means a way pleasing to Christ. And the way we respond to trials show how our testimony and Christ is. So Paul deals with three things in this chapter. He deals last week, as Pastor mentioned, on a moral life and abstaining from fortification. This week he talks about a love of believers and living an honorable life. And the application here is, are you growing? and your walk with God and your purity and your love for him and holy life, are you shrinking? And do you encourage your brothers and sister in Christ? Are you trying to manage them? Well, if they could just be a certain way, then I would accept them. No, no, no, no. Love them where they're at and lead them closer to the Lord. By the way, the word of God tells us how we should be. Jesus Christ will work in our life. And then are you seeking to please God and live a good and godly testimony? But maybe there's someone this morning who's fallen. Maybe you're here and you're trying to get back in again. May I say you are glad you're here. This is the best place. We are a spiritual hospital and we want to love people where they're at and help get them closer to the Lord. Micah chapter number seven gives us a great verse to help those who have fallen. Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy, when I fall, I shall arise. When I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light unto me. You know, when you fall, let me encourage you to get back up again. And when you're in a dark place, search for the light, and that is Jesus Christ. John Piper said, faith will fight anything that gets between it and Christ. I want to encourage you this morning, if there's something between you and God, do something about it today. Get it right with Him. We see this morning several things as I conclude. Paul writes to this church on how to grow a strong love. He gives an explanation through precept and through practice. He gives the entry of brotherly love was through God's portal and through God's process of working in our life. He gives the example of brotherly love and how they were a growing church, a going church, and a giving church. But even though they did all this, they still needed to abound more and more in love. And he gives the exhortation to continue in that area. And then he gives the evidence of a brotherly love. It will show in your labor for the Lord, and it will show in your lifestyle for Christ and others. We encourage you this morning to grow in your love, not just for your spouse, even though we should be, not just for your children, even though we should be, but in our brothers and sisters in Christ and then to those who are without as well. And we continue to love people that are different than us. I'll be honest with you, sometimes it's hard to know how to work with someone who's different than you. I learned this when I was in California where it was such an ethnically diverse area. And I didn't know, I felt like I was all thumbs sometimes. But you know what I found every time? It's people responded to love. And they wanted to know about Jesus Christ. And may I encourage you to keep loving people and telling them about Jesus. Every head bowed, every eye closed this morning. Maybe there's someone here today that does not know Christ as their personal Savior. Do you realize that Jesus wants a relationship with you? This brotherly love that we were talking about really comes from Jesus Christ, and what he did for us on Calvary, he came for you, he created you, he comes for you, he was crucified for you, and one day he wants to come again for you. All you must do is give your life to Christ. I'll never forget the day when I realized I was a sinner, and that sin was keeping me from Jesus. For all have sinned, the Bible says. But God commended his love toward us. Why did he have to give his love? Because the wages of sin is death. We had no hope. The only way to pay for our sin was death and hell. But Jesus Christ said, hey, I will die on the cross for you. I'll never forget the day when I gave my life to Christ as a 10-year-old boy. And that can be you this morning. With heads bowed and eyes closed, no one's looking around. We don't want to embarrass anyone. But we do want to give you an opportunity How many would say, you know what, Pastor Justin, that's me. I do not know for sure I'm going to heaven, and I desperately want to begin a relationship with Jesus today. Would you pray for me that you would slow up your hand? Anybody this morning? I don't see any hands, but maybe someone, there, I see that hand. God bless you. Just say something like this in your heart. Say, dear Jesus, I know I'm a sinner. I deserve to go to hell, but I don't want to go there. I believe and trust in you as the only way to salvation. Not anything I can do, but what you've done for me. Please come to my heart and save me and take away my sins so I can go to heaven when I die. I believe and trust in you, Jesus. Amen. With heads bowed and eyes closed, if you prayed that prayer, will you slip up your hand? I want to rejoice with you. Heads bowed, eyes closed. Anybody? God bless you. Thank you for that. Maybe there's someone this morning that would say, you know, I know for sure I'm going to heaven, but quite honestly, my love hasn't been abounding lately. And I've been finding it a hard, hard way to get along with some people. And the Lord just touched my life, especially in this area of Christian brothers and sister. And Pastor Justin, will you pray for me that I will be the kind of church member and Christian I need to be to others? If that's you, please lift up your hand. God bless you. I see those hands. Maybe there's someone this morning that would say I'm struggling more with those who are without I sure do love my Grandview family But there's some people that God's put in my life at my workplace my neighborhood around this area that all honestly God's been putting them on my heart, but I've been pushing back because I've been dealing with them and it's been hard But God has challenged my heart this morning to be more loving to those who are without of that shoe We slip up your hand. God bless you. I see those hands all over Lord You saw the hands, you know the hearts. I know there's probably someone here, if I ask, who's carrying a burden right now. It's just overwhelming them. May they give it to you, and may you help them. Wrap your arms around them, hold them close. Lord, some, Lord, the one that raised their hand for salvation, thank you for that, Lord. I pray that we'll get closer to you and grow in you. Lord, those who raised their hand about loving those within, those within our church, and may they have a stronger love, and may you help them grow in their love, may you do a work in their life, may they pursue you, may they love people, may they do their part as well. And Lord, those who raise their hand about, Lord, those without. I know it's hard, Lord. I know it's not easy, but may we love those who need you. Lord, thank you so much for loving us. I pray you'll bless this invitation in Jesus' name, amen. If you'd be so kind to stand to your feet, if you're physically able to, we usually just take a minute or two for our guests. And for those who are here, if God's spoken to your heart You'd like to come forward and maybe talk to one of our pastors or maybe have one of them pray for you. Maybe you'd like to take the next step of Christian growth. Maybe you'd like to join the church or maybe you'd like to get baptized or maybe you'd like to just pray with someone about accepting Christ as your Savior. They would love to pray with you. Maybe there's someone who is just struggling today and you're carrying a burden, our pastors would love to pray with you this morning. But the altar's open and available if you'd like to come forward and just take a minute or two, but maybe you'd like to stay in your pew. Would you just take a minute and get alone with God this morning as the piano plays? God bless you. Thank you so much for being here today. Guests, we're so glad you're here. You can be seated. And in just a minute, we'll be dismissed. Let me encourage you to go find the Welcome Center. We'd love to chat with you, get to know you, and then returning guests. At this time, we're going to show a video, just a few quick announcements, and then we'll be on our way. Good morning and welcome to our service. We hope this morning's sermon from Pastor Justin Layman was a blessing to you. Join us back here tonight at five for the Where Dreams Come True production put on by our members and staff. Grandview Men's Softball is back this summer and you can sign up at the welcome desk today. This year we are playing our games at Wesley Lynn Park. The cost would be $40 to cover the field rental, team jerseys, hat, and several weeks of games. For questions or more information, please see Paul Potter. Join us for the Iwana Awards Night Wednesday, June 1st at 7 p.m. Children will say their verses and will be given awards based on their accomplishments in the program. Don't miss out on this chance to see how much God is working in the lives of the children here at Grandview. Mark your calendars for the churchwide outreach Saturday, June 4th at 1015 a.m. Join us for a delicious breakfast and an opportunity to share your faith in our community. Our Young Adult Conference will be held Friday and Saturday, June 10-11 with Dr. Jim Shetler. The conference cost is only $15 and starts on Friday at 5 with Saturday sessions beginning at 9am and ending by 2. If you or someone you know is interested in attending, you can learn more information from the cards on the welcome desk or by going to our website, grandviewcares.com forward slash events. If this is your first or second time here, we want to answer your questions and get to know you. Please fill out the connect card in the pew in front of you and bring it to guest services as you exit the auditorium. We would love to meet you and you will receive the gift card. Have a great afternoon and we'll see you tonight at five. Yes, I hope you can join us for the play tonight. God bless you. You are dismissed.