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Empowering multimedia ministry for bold Christian living: Weekend Messages, Deep End Podcast, Deep Dive Bible Study. Tim Hatch, Lead Pastor, Waters Church, 26 years of pastoral ministry, book author.
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0:00 And we are gonna start a series of messages today about a little church that started very, subversively, very nonchalantly, if you will, and and0:12 has taken root in a city that is still around in in Greece. And I am excited about this series, and I think that the Lord has directed me to this series, by his hand. It's a strange name, like I said, but0:23 it's gonna make sense in a few moments. And here's what we've gotta do. This is for this is for black belt level bible readers. Yeah. Okay. We got 1. I like it.0:35 Amen. And she's sitting in the front row where they belong. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Black belt level bible readers, are any of you in the house?0:46 Not so confident. Okay. How about brown belt level? Red, yellow, white? Lord help you. What we've0:58 gotta do is we've gotta go to first Thessalonians like this. And here's what you gotta do. You gotta go to 2 portions of scripture today. That's why I say black belt. So on my bible, and most bibles come with these1:10 things installed. See that thing right there? That is called a stringy dingy. The Greek term is stringos delos. And what you do is you1:22 take that and you put that at first Thessalonians just like I have done there, and then you take your fingers and you flip to Acts chapter 17. Is this too much for you? Am I going too fast? So string1:33 stringy dingies at first Thessalonians, fingers or bibles open to acts 17. Because these 2 chapters go together. As we start a1:45 series, what happened in Thessalonica? Part 1, title of the message, I'm in. I'm in. Are you in? Yes.1:57 Somebody say, I'm in. I'm in. And we're gonna look at 1 verse as we start a series on the on the book. First Thessalonians on a book, it's actually a letter. It's a letter from2:09 Paul the Apostle. Some of you are very familiar with the Bible. Some of you are brand new to Bible. Let me explain it for everybody. When Christianity started, Jesus rose again and the Holy Spirit fell in the church 402:20 days later 50 days later, actually. And the church began to spread across the Mediterranean world, the Middle East starting in what what is now Israel and what was then Israel, and spread2:32 around the Mediterranean through a guy named Paul. But Paul, before he was Paul, was named Saul. Saul was an avid opponent of Christianity. Jesus came down,2:44 blinded him, and turned him around, opened his eyes, and sent him on a gospel, God ordained, Holy Spirit filled mission to spread the message of Jesus. The very3:08 word of God all over the world. And 1 around and started spreading the word of God all over the world. And 1 of the places that he comes to is a little church little little town, not a little town, actually a big3:13 metropolitan city. The capital of the formerly known empire Macedonia, Thessalonica. Thessalonica was a free city in the Roman empire. That meant that they did not have to pay Roman empire taxes. The3:24 reason why they don't have to pay Roman empire taxes because they sided with Octavian. When Octavian and Julius Caesar and all that thing was going down, they sided with the guy who actually won. And how many know that3:34 taxation is a matter of what political side wins? You know what I'm talking about? So they were on the right side at the right time, so they got tax exemption and they were a free city. But they were in a moral city and3:42 Paul goes to that city because it had a great influence over the entire region of Macedonia and he starts the church in that city called Thessalonica. And what happened there is significant for what's3:54 happening here. Believe it or not. What happened 2000 years ago there is significant what's happening here. And a little while later after he leaves Thessalonica, he decides to write a letter to this little fledgling4:06 church and it wasn't actually fledgling. Actually it was thriving. And he's writing to the church, not to correct things, not to rebuke them or talk4:18 down to them or lecture them. He's writing to them to thank them. He's encouraged by what God is doing in their lives. And I think that's why the Lord led me to Thessalonians4:31 now. Because I wanna say that what they're going through or what they went through, we're kind of going through. And I want you to hear me say this as your pastor in every location, lean in right here. I4:43 wanna say, I am so thankful for you. I really appreciate being your pastor. And I don't mean this lightly and I'm not just puffing you4:55 up. I have been through some tough seasons in this church. This is not 1 of them. This is 1 of the best seasons5:07 we've ever experienced as a church. We've got growth at every location. We got salvations at every baptisms at every location. And God is moving in miraculous5:18 ways. I got some news for you, some stats for you. In 20 22, we saw 1000 people saved and 100 people baptized. That's not what you're supposed to clap at right5:30 now. Here here's where we're updated now. Updated numbers for 20 23. Only in 20 23 so far we are only 2 and a half months in and we have5:42 361 salvations and check this out 50 baptisms at all locations. Praise God for you. And to those of you who have gone through the Wiser5:53 baptism all I got to say is amen. And if those of you are on the fence about it stop getting fence divided in your mind. Okay? Hop it.6:05 Yeah. Jump off the fence. It's gotta hurt after a while. Get through the waters of baptism. You say, I don't know if I'm ready. You're never ready. If you're waiting till you're ready, you're gonna wait until Jesus comes6:16 again or you die. So don't wait. Do it by faith. Amen? Anyway, 50 baptisms that we're on track for 200 plus baptisms this year.6:28 God is moving. We also started something called fast Monday. Some of you are aware of this. Some of you do it with us, and some of you say you do it and then don't do it. And then some of6:40 you don't even try. And I wanna talk to the people who are not trying because God is showing up at what we we call first Tuesday. First Tuesday happens after fast Monday. First Tuesday of every month,6:52 we have a service on Tuesday night here and in Apollo Beach, Florida. We've had 2 so far this year, and we have fasted before both. And we're gonna do this several more times this year fasting all day Monday before first7:04 Tuesday. Showing up, God is showing up. We're we're going after God this year in a really powerful way. We don't fast to earn things from God, we fast to experience his presence. And7:16 so I got some reports from this past first Tuesday after our first second first Monday. And all these names are so confusing, but just stay with me. God is showing up and healing people.7:30 Here in the North Attleboro location, we had a lady come down for healing at the end because the message was about signs and wonders and miracles, and that was the theme for that night. And she prayed for God to heal7:41 her. I said at the end of the service, pray. Ask God to heal you. She did. She lifted her hands. She said she felt heat go through her body. She was then scheduled for a a hip replacement surgery. She was scheduled for a7:51 hip replacement surgery. And at the altar right here, right here, she prayed and she felt heat go right through her body and felt like a lightning power strike go right down to the bottoms of her feet. And she got a8:01 brand new hip, not from the doctor from but for from her father. Amen, somebody. Not from the doctor, but from her father. Praise the Lord. No hip surgery required. In Apollo Beach, we've got a guy. He's been there8:13 almost since the beginning. He and his lovely wife, they're cowboy fans. We'll forgive them for that. But nonetheless, he was, diagnosed with cancer, and he was scheduled for a doctor's appointment on Thursday8:25 after first Tuesday. Came to first Tuesday in Apollo Beach, came to the altar, got totally healed, went back to the doctor. The doctor did a scan, said, I don't know what to say. It's gone. No surgery. No treatment8:36 required. That's happening now. This is and we're gonna put videos together to have them tell their story because I want you to understand that God is moving at8:48 Waters Church like we've never seen before. God is saving people like we've never seen before. People are stepping up and serving like we've never seen before. And I I wanna just say some of you still, you're8:59 you're just watching it. It's time to jump onto the field and participate in it because you might miss the best year we've ever had as a church. And I wanna just say that9:11 I'm thankful for the move of God at our church. My son even said it. My son's 18. He's leading Apollo Beach's youth ministry. He's the youth director at9:23 Apollo Beach, 18 years old. I'm so thrilled about that. But even he said it to me on Thursday, we're in a conversation, he said Tim, Tim. He said, dad. He said, dad. If you said, Tim, I'd be like, anyway, dad.9:36 Dad, I could see it on the screen when I watch from Apollo Beach. I could see it. There's a spirit alive in our church. Man, that is the best the best words I've ever heard from an 18 year old boy, to see the holy spirit9:48 at work in the church. Amen? So this is so good. Cheryl was here for the women's breakfast. I heard it went really well. Yeah. I10:00 got some guys clapping for that. Alright. You might have gotten a better wife back. She was really blown away by all the young women that had shown up, and that's really great. A lot of young people at10:12 Waters Church. And we aim our church for you, by the way. Our church is for you, thus the hoodie. Okay? Come as you are, relax, don't dress up, it's fine. Right? The10:24 music is for you. The style is for you young people. Old people who put up with the young style, thank you Because we need your money to pay10:35 for this. Okay? And I just wanna say thank you. Thank you. And this is why we're at first Thessalonians because it's a letter of thanks. Paul is he is10:47 overwhelmed by the reports that he's heard from Thessalonica. Let me tell you why he needed this to happen in his life. Thessalonica, ancient city in ancient Greece,10:59 Still around. We'll get there. It was a very pagan city. It was an immoral city. They have done archaeological digs up to this day in modern day, what is now Thessalonica. They changed11:11 the a for the a for the I. They found that the homes in this city had in the ancient city had no windows. And the reason why is because the crime rate was through the roof11:23 in ancient Thessalonica. By the way, when a country or a city gets more pagan, you get more crime. And so they also have done a lot of11:35 digging, and they found on the walls of the city, both in the public and private spaces, they found pornographic writings and drawings in ancient ways on the walls of the homes and the city streets. And so11:47 pornography, sexual immorality flooded this city. And you look at these just those 2 facts alone and you say, yep, we can relate. It was a11:59 hostile city. Somebody say hostile. Hostile. It was a hostile, hateful city. Was filled with anger. And yet it was a very important city in the ancient12:10 world. People had a lot of free time. They didn't have to pay, like I said, Roman taxes, so they had a lot of free time. So obviously, this place was, you know, bored. And so wherever this boredom and there's no, you12:21 know, real responsibility, people cast off restraint and they go crazy. That's what's happening right now in America. So what's happening right now in the world in many respects, our cities are very unsafe.12:34 Pornography is flooding our homes and our private spaces and our public spaces. And there's crime and there's craziness and and we look at it we say what's going on and what's going on is the people need Jesus.12:46 People need Christ and this is why Paul goes to the city to bring Christ. And I wanna look at the narrative of Acts chapter 17 because this is what tells us the story of what happened in Thessalonica. What happened was12:57 amazing. It says this in chapter 1 if you're there Acts 17 but there'll be up on the screen as well. It says now when they had passed through and Piphanes and Apollonia they came to Thessalonica where there was a13:08 synagogue of the Jews. Now just back up in the text just 1 second for me if you would. Chapter 16 in acts Paul is in Philippi. In Philippi, he reaches a woman named Lydia with the gospel.13:19 She's a dealer of purple. She's a very wealthy woman and she opens her house to hit Paul and the, the the his associates, and they have a church there. Then he goes out into the streets to to tell people about Jesus, and13:30 he casts the demon out of a young girl who's a slave to her masters. And she's a fortune teller, and when she loses the power of fortune telling because the demon has been cast out of her, the authorities arrest Paul and13:39 Silas, throw them in prison. Some of you know this story. It's a great Sunday school story. Paul and Silas are in the bellows of the prison. They are their feet are in the stocks. They are suffering. They have all they13:49 have also been whipped with rods and then put in the prison. And they're not whining about their problems or crying about their problems, they're singing to God. When they sing an earthquake happens and the chains fall13:59 off and the stocks break open and every prisoner is set free and the Philippian jailer gets saved, it's a powerful story, but Paul has to leave this the city and he goes from that city where he was rejected in and14:10 hostilely treated to the city of Thessalonica and and this is 100 miles away and this is 3 days later and I just want you to see something here before we go any further. Paul has been terribly14:22 treated at Philippi and and and and miraculously delivered from prison and then goes to Thessalonica 100 miles away over a 3 day journey. In the ancient world you travel about 30 hour14:34 30 miles a day and he's not giving up after all of his hostility and all of his hardship. This is an amazing testimony to the power of God in somebody's14:46 life. This is why you want the Holy Spirit to fill you because when the enemy comes at you, you won't give up if God is in you. Some of14:58 you give up on a lease on the things. The Dunkin Donuts lady gets your order wrong. You're like, oh, there's no God. Somebody says something about your hair. You you you leave church for a month. Somebody says15:09 something nasty about you at church. Like, that's it. I'm done with Christianity. Men, you gotta press on in spite of what you're going through. In Christianity 20 23, we gotta put our big boy15:21 pants on and walk strong forwardly instead of giving up so easily. Anyway, he went in, verse 2, as was his custom. And on 3 Sabbath days, he reasoned with them from the scriptures15:33 explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and rise from the dead and saying, this Jesus whom I proclaim to you is the Christ. So Paul was there for how long? Was it on the15:45 screen? Do you have your Bibles open? 3 Sabbath days, which makes about how long? 3 weeks. Paul was there for? 3 weeks. Oh, this is a talk back15:56 church. Come on. Give it to me now. 1, 2, 3. Paul was there for? 3 weeks. There we go. Okay. 3 weeks. And then look what happens in 3 weeks' time. Verse 4, and some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas as did16:08 a great many. How many? A great many of devout Greeks and not a few of the leading women. So a church is born in how16:20 long? 3 This is what happened in Thessalonica. Verse 5, but the Jews were jealous and taking some of wicked men of the16:31 rabble. I find this funny. They go out to the streets and find some Antifa members. That's what they did. They're like, okay. You can riot. Come with us. We wanna get this guy out of16:43 here. They formed him up. I love what the King James version says here. It says, lewd fellows of a baser sort. Lewd fellows of a baser sort. And they formed a mob, and they set the city in an uproar and16:55 attacked the house of Jason, that's where Paul was staying, to bring them out to the crowd. So a riot happens. A mob forms. They are attacked. For17:06 what? Being Christians. Following Jesus. Preaching Christ. And then it says, it gets worse. Verse 6, and when they could not find them, they dragged17:17 Jason and some of the brothers before the city authorities shouting, these men who have turned the world upside down have come here also. Now I always love that little statement right there. They have turned the world17:26 upside down. Wrong. The world already is upside down. Christianity and God and the truth of Jesus turn it right side up. But when you're so used to17:38 being upside down, right side up feels funny. That's where we are. That's where we are right now. Up is down. Back is white. Left is right. Males become females.17:51 Nuts. Crazy. Right? The world is upside down. And it says this, and Jason has received them, and they are all acting against Caesar, saying there's another king Jesus. The charge, ridiculous.18:03 They're attacked. They're brought through before the authorities, riot, all this stuff. Paul mean, eventually, Jason just pays a bond. He pays the bond to get out of jail or get away from this riot, and he's released.18:14 And then it says this in Acts chapter 17 verse 10, the brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived they went into the Jewish synagogue. So so he has to leave the city because18:23 Paul realizes something. If I stay here any longer it's gonna be danger for the church that just started. In how long? 3 So he leaves and he goes to an off beaten, off the beat off the main18:35 highway, the Via Ignatius that went through the Roman Empire. He went off that, highway about 30 miles in to a place called Berea. And when he gets to Berea, Paul does what Paul always does. He goes and he preaches in18:46 the gospel about Jesus. And people get saved again because whenever you preach the gospel of Jesus, people's hearts get changed. So so he's got people getting saved in now Berea, off18:58 the beaten path, backwards kind of town. But look what happens just 3 verses later in verse 13. But when the Jews from where? Thessalonica learned that the word of God was19:10 proclaimed by Paul in Berea also they came there too agitating and stirring up the crowds. How many know Antifa likes to travel? So they go 30 miles off to be in bed to19:22 chase down Paul in another town. You know your town is filled with hate when they don't just cast people out of their town, they cast people out of other towns. It's a hostile19:33 environment. And Paul has to leave now, and I want you to count with me. He left Philippi because of a false imprisonment and beating. He's had to leave Thessalonica because of19:45 a a riotous mob has chased him out of the town, and now he has to leave Berea. That's number 3. And he and he goes from Berea to a place called Athens, and I'm gonna summarize now if you don't mind. Acts chapter 17 and19:56 18. He goes to Athens. This is a very intellectual city, a very philosophical city. And he goes to this place called the Areopagus, where everybody just likes to philosophize all day. And he tells them about Jesus, and20:07 he talks about this altar to an unknown God. And he says, the unknown God that you're worshiping is the the God who made heaven and earth. And he tells him and the Bible says that in Athens, they just kind of laugh at20:16 Paul. They scorn. They call him a babbler. They they mock and ridicule him. So that's city number 4 in a row that he's been reviled and mocked and ridiculed, and he has to leave Athens. But before he leaves Athens,20:27 here's what he does. He takes Timothy and Silas, his associates, Silas who was in prison with him in Philippi, and he sends them back to Thessalonica to check on the church and how it's going there. Because again, he was20:38 only there for 3 weeks. So he leaves Athens. They go back to Thessalonica, and Paul shows up in Corinth. Now Corinth is significant because in your Bibles, you just flip back a couple of pages, you'll see there's20:50 2 books to the to the Corinthians. Because Paul spent a year and a half there. And he says in first Corinthians chapter 2 verse 3, he says, when I arrived to you, when I arrived in Corinth, I came, and this is what21:02 he says. These are his words, in weakness, in fear, and trembling. Why? Well, you get chased out of 4 straight towns. That's how you derive too at the21:14 fifth 1. And he's done kinda. He he's spent. His mind is fried. He's tired of looking over his shoulder and wondering where so come next. And he preaches in Corinth, and21:25 and here's what it says. Acts chapter 18 verse 6. When they in Corinth opposed and reviled him, look at this, he shook out his garments and said to them, your blood be on your own21:37 heads. I am going now only to the Gentiles. And the reason why is because Paul was tired of getting chased and hated and21:49 ridiculed for preaching truth. And I can say this as a pastor that I've been there. It gets tough, it gets hard.22:01 There are moments where you just wanna give up, throw in a towel, and I'm sure some of you have been there with your own Christian faith. You're trying to do the right thing, you're trying to right walk with Jesus,22:12 you're trying to be obedient to him, and you get flack, and you get hate, and you get hostility in return, and sometimes he's like, I've had enough. You wanna just shake off your gums and listen, this is what Jesus said22:23 actually when people don't listen you just do this, just brush the dust off your feet and move on. The boss says, I am done and then you gotta feel here that after being ridiculed, mocked, and22:35 chased out of 5 straight towns, you'd probably be there too. But how many know that God shows up22:47 in our most needful places. And that's exactly what happens to Paul in Acts chapter 18. 2 things happen when he's about ready to give up. Look what it says in Acts chapter 18 verse 9. The22:59 Lord said to Paul 1 night in a vision, I love this, do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent for I am with you, and no 1 will attack you to23:11 harm you for I have many in this city who are my people. Oh, I love when God shows up in the dark moments, don't you? Paul is like, I'm sick and tired of doing23:23 this. I am really, really sick of being chased and hated and all this. And God just comes and says, don't worry. I got you, and I got people for you to reach with the gospel. That's the first thing that he23:34 gets to get comforted in the midst of his hardship. Look at what happens though. Secondly, Timothy and Silas, who he sent to Thessalonica to check on them, come back with a report of what's happened in Thessalonica23:46 since he left after being there for only 3 weeks. And he says this in first Thessalonians 3 6 and 7. But now that Timothy has come to us from you and has brought us23:58 the good news of your faith and love and reported that you always remember us kindly and long to see us as we long to see you. For this reason, brothers, in all our distress and affliction, we have been comforted about24:09 you through your faith. And what I think is amazing about this moment is that Paul is saying to the Thessalonians, I didn't expect this.24:22 I did not expect that you would have so much faith and so much concern for me and so much love for me and be thinking about me because after all I was only there for24:34 3 weeks and a church was born in 3 weeks and the reason why I bring all this up is because that my friends is a testimony to the power of the gospel of Jesus24:46 Christ. Paul the apostle preaches for 3 Sabbaths. A church is planted and it lasts not just until Paul is in Corinth. It has lasted to this very day,24:57 2000 years later. And the modern city in Greece called Thessalonica is 80 to 90 percent Christian. 2000 years later. Now, know, know.25:09 Qualifier, maybe a lot of that is culturally Christian. I get it. But the pagan revelry and all that kind of nonsense and the riot is living and the hate and hostility is gone and25:21 hasn't been there since Paul planted the gospel there. And I believe that what happened in Thessalonica has the potential to happen anywhere when we preach the name of Jesus,25:34 even in the midst of hostility. Some of you are there, some of you see it, some of you can watch what's going on in our country and say, yeah, that's where we are pastor. We're in that place where25:45 hostility is ramping up against Christianity. Some of you have had been forced. You've been forced to go to indoctrination programming at your job to25:57 learn how to think like the machine wants you to think. Some of you are wondering, how come every belief on the planet is acceptable and included except mine?26:09 How many know that the term inclusivity is actually not very inclusive of faith in Christ, of your ideas, of what God26:21 has done in your life. You gotta toe the line, you gotta wear the ribbon, you gotta be in lock step with the mantras of our age or you will be castigated and vilified26:33 and hated on. And right now, we need a faith that lasts in the midst of the hostility. It's gotten so bad that even Dwight Schrute is taking notice.26:45 Rainn Wilson, who played Dwight Schrute on The Office. He put out a tweet, kinda went viral this past week. Here was the tweet that he put. He said, I do think there is an anti Christian bias in Hollywood. As soon as the26:53 David character in The Last of Us started reading from the Bible, I knew he was going to be a horrific villain. Could there be a bible reading preacher on a show who's actually loving and kind? Kind of amazing when27:05 Dwight sees it. And he is no Christian. Rainn Wilson, not a Christian at all. But even he can see why is it always that the bad guy has to be a bible thumper? Who's the27:16 warden in The Shawshank Redemption? He's a bible thumper. I mean, could give you case after case after case of all these evil villains in Hollywood and27:28 entertainment that have been have been, you know, caricatured as Christians. It's game on. It's fine. Open season. And you know what? Let me just play a little bit of the other side. Maybe, and this I will27:40 concede this. Maybe that's because these people have met a lot of bad Christians. Maybe we have something to do with that. You know? We we could be awful,27:52 but we're awful because we know we need Jesus. I mean, that's what brought us to Jesus. Right? Because we found out we were awful. And so sometimes I'm saying people say Christians are so awful.28:04 It's like, yep. That's why the g that's why they came to Jesus. But anyway, the hostility, they're amped up animosity. This is what Thessalonica had. This is what happened in their28:16 lives. And I believe that it doesn't matter what is happening in the world and what they're saying about us. I believe all that matters is that we know who we are as28:28 God's people in our day because we are on his side and he is with us. And it's not us versus the world, it's us for the world in the name of Jesus.28:40 And so how are we gonna have faith in a hostile world? I got 3 points and then we're done. Number 1, I want you to write it down. I am in the church. Write this down. I am in the church.28:52 I'm in what? The church. Now this brings me to our first text in Thessalonians, and we're only covering 1 verse29:05 in the first part of this series, which means that this series will end somewhere around 20 29. So Paul, it says this. This is how he opens the book. He says, Paul,29:16 Sylvanus, and Timothy, to the church, underline church, to the church of the Thessalonians or Thessalonians. This is significant for a couple of reasons.29:28 Number 1, every other letter that Paul writes, and he writes about a third of the New Testament. He writes Philippians, Colossians, Ephesians, Galatians. He writes to Timothy, Titus. He writes all these letters. Every29:38 other time he writes to a church, when he opens his greeting, he says, to the saints in wherever, in Philippi, in Ephesus, in the the saints in the saints in Corinth, the29:49 saints in here he says to the church. Why? Because if you're going to maintain faith in a hostile culture, you're gonna have to be part of a church. You gotta get away from individualized30:01 Christianity. You gotta get away from isolated Christianity. You need to be in the church. The church is a community. The church is a30:13 body. It's a family. It's it's a group of people who are connected to Christ together. And I'm gonna just say as clearly as I can, you are30:24 on your own if you don't connect to a church and it's not a good place to be. You're gonna fail. You are gonna struggle, you are gonna feel miserable and lonely. And I just wanna30:36 let you know, the reason why is because that's not how God programmed it to work. You gotta be a part of the church. The body of believers, the family of God, the people that he has30:48 called out by his own name. I'm in the church. And Christians who like to play it this way,31:00 I'm I can do church on my own. I could do church in my house. Baloney. I met a guy a couple of weeks ago. I was inviting him31:12 to our church. He's like, you know, I'm a born again Christian. I'm like, okay. Where's your church? Oh, no. I don't have 1. What? You you you should have 1. No. No. We do church. I do. I said, okay. Let me ask you this31:22 question. Who other than you benefits from your Christianity? And he said, got a point there. But the hostility that's the attitude is I could do it on my own. I got I got31:34 podcasts and I've got worship music on my iPhone. I do I church. There's no such thing as I church. The church is a body, it's a family. And31:46 some of you have come to Waters church and this is what you do, you just dip your toes in. Is it cold? Is it warm? I don't know if I wanna jump in all the way. And you'll never experience the fullness of the Lord if you31:57 do that for the rest of your life. You gotta jump in. I owe everything that I have to this church. I started working at this church in 19 98. I found my wife at this church.32:09 I've gotten my kids raised up in this church. My best friends belong to this church. Some of you gotta stop the church hopping church shopping. I'm gonna go to this church because it's got a great youth program and32:21 then I'm gonna go to this church because it's got a great kids program and then I'm gonna go to this church because I got a great singles program and I'm gonna go to this church because I got to forest care and I'm gonna32:27 go to this church because I got some pressure care and I'm gonna go to this church. It's like stop it. You are a consumer Christian. You're looking for spiritual BJ's. Spiritual Sorry.32:39 Costco. Sam's Club. Because that doesn't resonate with Florida. They don't know what BJ's is. It's a it's Sam's Club for New Englanders. Okay.32:51 It's a So you're you're just shopping here. It's Walmart. The church is not a dispenser of religious goods to help you. You are the church and you are33:02 here for the world. Spiritual consumerism has33:14 got to go. It doesn't help you. It's selfish. And it's not what God programmed you for. What the words to, to the33:26 church, and and these are the the first words of first Thessalonians, and they're significant for a second reason. Almost every Bible commentator says that first Thessalonians was the first33:38 book of the New Testament ever written. What's the first book in the New Testament? Matthew, but it wasn't written first. Matthew was written about 60 AD.33:50 First Thessalonians was written about 50 AD. Almost every Bible commentator and scholar believes that this was the first penned text of the New Testament. Oh, side note, interesting note, maybe this is34:02 interesting, I don't know. The first book in the Old Testament is? Genesis. Not the first book written. The first book written was Job. Anyway, there's food for34:14 that. Next Jeopardy question, you'll nail it. First Thessalonians. So what this means is, these are the first words that the Holy Spirit inspired to be34:26 written for God's new covenant people. And when he addresses his new covenant people, the first words are to the church. Before there was, I can do all things through Christ who gives me34:37 strength. Before there was, God works all things together for good. Before there was God so loved the world that he gave before there was any of that written, there was to the church. First34:49 things first, you're part of a family. In fact, of your favorite life verses, if you would, you know, from the epistles of Paul, many of them from the epistles35:01 of Paul, you understand that the you, y o u, in the in the verse is actually plural, not singular. Let me give you an example. Philippians chapter 1 verse 6, and35:13 I am confident of this that he who began a good work in you will be faithful to bring it to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. We love that. That's a life verse. That's a coffee cup verse. That's my promise from35:23 God. He started a work in me, and me's gonna be done when Jesus comes. K. Wait. The you is plural because he's not writing to an individual, he's writing35:35 to a church. So here's how you apply that verse. Are you ready? To the extent that I belong to a church, God is gonna complete the work that he began in my church until35:46 Jesus comes again. God's got a work to complete in you, and you're never gonna experience it if you don't sink yourself and jump into the pool of the church. You35:59 gotta look at how it reads, because it's not Jesus did not call Peter only. He called Peter and Andrew, James and John and other disciples. He creates a community. By the word36:11 by the way, the word church in the Bible in in Greek is. That's the Greek word for church. It's a 2 part word. Ek meaning out and kaleo meaning called. You are called out ones. That's36:23 what you are. It is also a political term. Now this is interesting. It is a political term. And what it was in the Greek world, the ancient world, an ekklesia was a group of people in the in the city would36:34 realize that the city was going poorly. Things were going poorly in the city. So they would call for an ecclesia, and they would call out certain members of the community, and they would go to a private place and meet36:44 about the problems of the city, and they would address those problems. They would come back and apply the application to solve the problems. That's what an ecclesia was. So the the church is absolutely a political36:54 movement meant to instill political truth into political places. I say that because I mean, don't get political. Everything is political. Don't get political37:06 is a euphemism for please shut up. We don't wanna hear truth. That's what that means. So anyway, ecclesia, called out ones. That's what the church is. The church is called out by37:17 Jesus from the world. And I want you to write this down so I know you're getting it. The church ecclesia is an assembly of people. God is called out of the world to change the world. By the way, the New Testament also37:29 translates ekklesia, the the word for church, as assembly on a regular basis. So a church is not a building. A church, this building, and all of our buildings are not churches.37:41 They're just buildings. This right now is the church because we are assembled. Marvels assemble. No. Avengers. Avengers assemble.37:54 But we are spiritual Avengers, and we are assembled as the church, which means that if we do not assemble, hello, we are38:06 not the church. To all of the morons who thought they could have church in their homes during COVID lockdowns, wrong. You're38:18 not the church unless you're assembled. And yes, God absolutely requires us to assemble. Never38:29 ever again. We're not the church if we don't get in the church. We gotta come together. You have my permission to struggle with your faith and depression and sicknessShow more
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