← ArchiveDeep RootsGospel-Driven CommunityDateApril 18, 2021SpeakerJared MitchellText—Passages in this sermon1 Thessalonians 57:07Romans 732:18TranscriptMachine transcribed. Click any line to jump there.0:00I'll see you next time. Well, good morning once again, church family.0:30If I keep saying that, it's going to be good afternoon soon enough. But it's so good to be together this morning. And as always, and time after time, it is incredibly humbling. And I'm so thankful to be able to be up here to preach the Word of God for us. Last week, we started a new series. And we're in a series right now titled Deep Roots. And week after week, we are looking at some of the basic roots of our faith that unite us as a church, that unite us as a body of believers.0:58And this morning, we are looking at the importance of community. And one thing is for certain this morning, we were created for community. We want community. We want to be connected with other people. That is why you're here today.1:29That's why we have this building so that it can house this community, that it can house this gathering of believers. Now, I don't know if you know it or not, but we talked about this last week. You did not come to a church this morning. You came to a building. And the church just so happens to be meeting here. So for the believers in the room, you are the church. And we are not a building, but rather we are a community of faith that believes this.1:58We believe in God, the Father Almighty, the creator of heaven and earth. We believe in Jesus Christ, his only son, our Lord. We believe that he was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. We believe that he descended into hell, and on the third day, he rose again from the dead.2:28He ascended into heaven, and he sits at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty, and he shall come to judge the living and the dead. We believe in the Holy Spirit. We believe in the church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, and the resurrection of the body and life everlasting. Amen. Wherever we go, if we go together, and if we believe this, that is where the church is.2:56And praise God for his church. That is not a building, but a unified body of believers on one mission, which is to make his name known among all nations and to do it together for God's glory. So that is who we are. And we were created for community.3:25That's why as of February of 2021, a new study came out that said this, that 2.7 billion people all over the world at this time have an active Facebook account. I hear what you're saying. I hear what you're saying. Well, that's not real community. And listen, I agree. But what this does say, what this does mean, is that there is a deep longing inside all of us to be in community with other people.3:55But while we all want community, I think we need to admit that community can be a dangerous thing. There's a reason that some people prefer a Facebook, an online, a virtual community more than an in life, real life, in the flesh connection.4:16Because people are people, people are sinful, people are prideful. And if we can just be honest, people can be mean. And community requires us to be vulnerable. And this can be a scary thing.4:44A lot of us have been hurt by community. What are people saying about me? Why did that person do that to me? I think we need to be truthful and admit this morning that community can be scary and it can also be damaging if it is lived out in the wrong way. But we see that the Bible calls us to community. We see all throughout Paul's letters that he longs to commune with the people that he is writing to.5:13And here at Bethel, we believe in community. That's why a lot of you came into this room from a life group. Because we believe that this Christian life is not meant to be lived alone and we believe that we are better together. And we want you to join into this community and join a life group. If you've never been a part of one, we want you to be a part of one. You can go to our website right now, see all of the life groups that we offer.5:42And Sunday mornings at 9 a.m. our life groups meet. So if we believe, if we believe that community is vital to our Christian lives, then there must be a way that we can live out this idea in such a way that it glorifies God and it lifts each other up. So yes, we admit community calls for vulnerability and we admit that it can be scary.6:07But when it is lived out the way the Bible tells us, then it is an aspect of our lives and it is an aspect of our church that we simply cannot do without and we need it. So I want us to look at the word. We're going to open up to this letter of 1 Thessalonians, specifically chapter 5.6:34And I'll invite you to turn there with me. Now we see that Paul is writing to Thessalonian believers and he's writing about healthy church community. And if we can grab hold of these truths, if we can apply them correctly, then I believe that it will change the way that we live.6:511 Thessalonians chapter 5, we'll all read together starting in verse 12. This is what Paul writes. He says,7:15He says, There's a lot of good things here and it's all worthy of our close attention.7:45If you look back through this letter, you see that Paul is writing to the Thessalonian believers in chapter 4.8:09He's writing about the second coming of Christ, that our hope is not in this world, but our hope is in a future hope that ends with believers being in the presence of Jesus. But here we are in chapter 5 and Paul is bringing them back down to earth. He's bringing them back down to reality. Because yes, Jesus is coming. Yes, our hearts are set on Jesus coming and making all things new and setting all things right.8:38But while we are here, we are not to lose heart. We are not to stray from our mission or our purpose, which is to what? It is to love God and love people in such a way that God is glorified to all ends of the earth. And while we are on earth, us, me, you, we, we've got to get along. So if this is the mission of the church, then I think we need to take a step back and look into the mirror.9:09And Paul knew this. We need to take a look at ourselves and examine how we are living among one another. Because when we look at the Bible, we see that there is a correct biblical way to live this out. And the Bible's prescription for healthy church community is uncommon to the world. You see, the world looks at the biblical community and says, you know what?9:39That just doesn't make any sense to me. Because for me, I'm going to look out for me. And I'm going to get mine. I'm going to get what I want. And I think today we're going to see Paul urge us to do exactly the opposite. Because if our goal is to go as a community of faith with the gospel to all nations, then I think at some point we've got to look inward and we've got to ask ourselves, why would we export this?10:09What are we exporting? How can we properly love and care for a lost world when we can't properly love and care for one another? So as we look at the word together today, we're going to see three practical, ground-level applications, three ways to live out faithful community.10:35And we'll see one overarching reality that should label our lives. And this has been on my heart all week. Like, don't you just love the Bible? That here we are today in the year 2021, we're asking these practical day in and day out questions. And here comes Paul, here comes the word speaking directly into this issue. Like, I'm so thankful that I don't have to stand up here and just give you my opinion.11:02It would be bad. I'm thankful that I don't have to stand up here and just make something up. Because again, that would be bad. But I can be up here, I can open up my Bible, the same one that you have, and together we can walk verse by verse and get exactly what we need. This is solid food that we can trust. Praise God that his word is living and active. Amen? Let's read verse 12 together.11:31It says, Now we ask you, brothers and sisters, to give recognition to those who labor among you and lead you in the Lord and admonish you, and to regard them very highly in love because of their work. Now before we get to the practical applications of living among one another, I want to address verse 12 because, well, it's the first verse. And it's true that in biblical community, in every biblical community, in every church, God has chosen servant leaders.11:56He has chosen people to minister to people. At our church, God has chosen pastors. He's chosen our lead pastor, Pastor Josh, to lead me, to lead you, to lead us. And we can admit that this is not the easiest of jobs. Some would say it's a very hard job because, again, God has chosen messy people to lead and pastor messy people.12:25You know, there is no pastor that is perfect. Just like there is no church that is perfect. And, hey, listen, if you find the perfect church, don't go there because I promise you will ruin it. You see, the only difference is that as pastors, Pastor Josh, Pastor Benny, and myself, we will be held eternally accountable with how we lead you. With what we teach you.12:55You see, the Holy Spirit chooses people to lead the church, to teach sound doctrine, to help believers mature spiritually, and to equip believers to live for Jesus Christ. And as the church, we respond by supporting, following, caring, and praying for our pastors and our leaders. Now, if your pastor is not leading in a biblical way, then he is not to be followed.13:22But if, if your pastor loves Jesus, loves the word, loves you, cares deeply about your soul and your eternal impact in this world, then he needs your support and he needs your prayer. Charles Spurgeon said this about prayer when it comes to preaching and pastoring. He stood in front of his church. He said, may God help me if you ever cease to pray for me.13:48Just let me know the day and I must cease to preach at that very moment. Like Paul, he knew that while one person may water or plant, only God can make things grow. We need to support, care, and pray for our pastors. And if you want to know one of the greatest ways to support your pastor, it comes from verse 13.14:13Paul gets right to it when he says to be at peace among yourselves. Be at peace among yourselves. I believe one of the greatest heartaches that a pastor has is when he looks out and he sees a lack of peace among the flock. So before we go any further in this passage, if we want to see our church community look like the Bible, then we've got to realize that there is a precursor, that there is a place that we must start from, and it is a place of peace.14:44Put yourself in this situation. I don't know if you've ever been there, but I have. Years ago, there was a situation in which I was on the road traveling, playing music, and we came to a church for a weekend event. It was like a Friday, Saturday, Sunday event. And we get there on a Friday night, and there is a family in the church that is going to put us up for the weekend.15:09They're our host home. We're going to stay with them during the duration of the event. And I'll never forget it, that from the second we walked in on Friday night, it seemed like this family had just gotten through some major family argument. And it didn't get resolved, I promise you that, because it kept going Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. And I think one time I looked at my guys thinking, like, should we go get a hotel?15:38I mean, at some point, I really think we would have rather slept in our cars than to hear this constant complaining and arguing and bickering. You know, when you walk into a home in which there is a lack of peace, if you walk into a home and there is no peace, it is incredibly uncomfortable. And it's awkward. It's the same for the church. When there's a lack of peace among us, when there's a lack of peace among the people in this room, it's uncomfortable.16:06It's awkward, and to be honest with you, it is sinful. Thankfully, Paul comes and gives us a prescription here. He gives us a set of applications that bring peace if we can do these things well. And that's what we want, right? Like, we want peace. We long for peace. You know, someone once said that if you could put peace in a package and sell it as a product, then you'd be the richest person in the world.16:36But we can't do that. Thankfully, Paul gives us a few things that we can do. Verse 14, he says this. He says, And we exhort you, brothers and sisters, to warn those who are idle, to comfort the discouraged, and to help the weak. So what do we see here? We see three different groups of people, and they all make up this church.17:07They all make up the same body of believers, which is just like us today, right? Like, I'm not you. You're not me. We're all different. And Paul brings up three groups. We see the idle people. We see the discouraged people. And we see the weak people. Now, here's where we've got to be really careful. We've got to realize this. Like, I see myself in all three of these groups. And at some point, you will find yourself in one of these three groups.17:38The idle people. The discouraged people. The weak people. Because the church is made up of people. And any of us can be in any of these. So as we walk through these groups, don't look to the person on your right or your left and say, yeah, buddy, he's talking about you. Because here's the thing is this could be any of us. And at some point, you're going to need the person beside you to come and pick you up. You're going to need the person beside you to come and walk alongside of you.18:09So Paul highlights three groups. Now, we've got to see that he also gives three different ways to deal with each group. And we need close attention. Because a lot of times, I think we deal with the people around us in the wrong way. And it causes dissension. It divides. And it results in a lack of peace. So let's walk through these groups carefully and humbly, paying attention to what God has to say.18:38Verse 14, we see the first group to warn those who are idle. This first exhortation from Paul, warn the idle. Now, your version may say to warn the irresponsible. The word idle here can be translated to define a soldier. A soldier who has gotten out of line. Or a soldier who is not going the correct way.19:07Or a soldier who has simply gotten lazy. So again, let's look in the mirror. And I know that this isn't a fun thing to do. Like, we wake up in the morning, we look in the mirror, and we're like, I look like that. I get that. But it's necessary. That's why we all have mirrors in our house. Because we need to look at ourselves. I know. Let's do it. Let me ask all of us this question. Let's examine. Is God calling you to do more than you're currently doing?19:36Is God calling you to do more than you're currently doing? Is he calling you to serve in a way that you aren't currently serving? Maybe you've been a member here for years and years, and you've never served anywhere. And I believe that God is calling you to more. And Paul is clear that there's a warning. There's a warning for those of us that are sinning in idle.20:07But why? Why warn the idle? Why does there need to be a warning? Well, has the warning light ever come on in your car? It's a sign. It's a light that comes on that shows that something needs to be examined. Something needs to be modified. Something needs to be changed. You know, for me, when the warning light comes on in my car, I tend to ignore it for months and months and months.20:33Even though my wife says to check it. And I finally go outside one day, and guess what? The car does not crank, and I can't go anywhere. And I'm hitting myself in the head thinking, I wish I would have just paid attention to the warning light. But for the idle Christian, the warning light is on. And we need to pay attention. We need to examine.21:01Because when we are idle, we're not moving. And God is calling us to move. God is calling us to move for the sake of a mission that cannot be ignored. Because when there are people walking around us that do not know Jesus, then the believers in the church, we can't afford to sit in idle. To give you another example, you know, I was never, growing up, I was never good at sports. My dad is here, and he can tell you that, even though he was the coach.21:29I spent a lot of times on the sidelines. And I remember, like, always wanting to go in the game. Like, I felt like I was ready. I just wanted the coach to call my name. I felt like I was ready. And I remember there was this one year that I was on the football team. Surprise, I know. And we got to the end of the game. I think we were in the fourth quarter. I think we were up, like, 300 to nothing or something like that.21:58So I'm sitting there on the sidelines, and you want to know what I heard? I heard my name called. Mitchell, get in there. I hear my name called, and do you want to know what I did? I froze up. I did not go in. You see, my place on the sideline was right next to the heater, and I was incredibly warm and cozy and content. So I didn't go in.22:28So what happened? I didn't go in to play my position. The ref calls a penalty, and our team is penalized because when I hear my name being called, I chose not to go in. I chose to stay behind. Now, as a result, the coach made sure that my name was not called the rest of the season. But to bring this back, ground level, right, that maybe today that you are on the sidelines. Maybe today you are ready, and God is working in your life, but you're sitting on idle.22:55And let me tell you this. Your name has been called. Your name is being called. God is calling you to step out of your comfort zone and to step into what he is doing. And I promise you this. There's a place for you. You raise your hand. We'll find a place. God is calling you. And the warning from Paul is that when we stay in idle, when we ignore what God is calling us to do, the church suffers.23:20Church, let us not stay in idle. Let us join into this mission for the sake of a lost world. Let's continue on in this passage. We see a second group here. Paul writes to comfort the discouraged. Comfort the discouraged. Your version may say to comfort the faint-hearted.23:47Now, again, this is where we have to be careful, because like we mentioned earlier, we see three groups, and we see three different ways to minister to each one. He said to warn the idle, but he says to what? He says to comfort the discouraged. You see, if you come across someone who is down, if you come across someone who is discouraged, then to warn them would be to harm them.24:15They don't need a warning. They want to say, hey, buddy, get it together. Just get your head on straight. They say, I know. I'm trying. Will you pray for me? The reality is, is that we are all, all of us in this room, we are walking through some kind of battle. And we need to walk gently with that in mind. You never know when you get here on a Sunday, who just lost a job, who just got a scary diagnosis.24:44You never know who's at home fighting to keep their family together. Yet here they are showing up week after week, doing their best to serve and to do what God has called them to do, which is to worship, fellowship, and serve. Again, to warn them would be to harm them. We need to be encouragers. If you want to comfort the discouraged, then you need to encourage the discouraged.25:12I love how one person told me long ago, and I've taken this with me everywhere I've been, that we need more cup fillers in the church. We need to be cup fillers. You're probably wondering, what in the world is a cup filler? One of our favorite restaurants in town is Guadalajara, right down the road. You're more than likely going to see us there right after worship today. Every time we're there, we have great service.25:43It's like they bring me a Dr. Pepper, and I get two sips down, and here comes our waitress, ready to fill it up again. It's like they're sitting there watching me. I take one drink, two drinks, here they come, ready to fill it up. By the way, I love that. Again, ground level. There's a lot of people walking around on empty, and in their spirit, their cup is half full at best. Let us be encouragers. If you see someone serving, tell them how great they're doing.26:12They probably really need to hear that. Did someone watch your kids in the nursery today? Tell them thank you and how thankful you are that they're giving up their time to minister to our children. Fill their cup with encouragement. You never know just how much it truly means. You know, I know he's never going to want me to do this. It's actually the guy who just gave me the amen. I've got to give you an example of one of the best cup fillers I know, and he's right down here.26:39It's our student pastor, Benny Bowman. I can't tell you how many times I walk into his office, I sit down, and 30 minutes later, he finally kicks me out. But I finally, I walk out thinking that I can just go and conquer the world. And I bet you that even today, after he's had a long weekend, an awesome weekend, an incredible weekend with our students, where him and Miss Connie poured their lives out for our students.27:07I know they're exhausted. I was there with them. It was a great weekend. Today, this afternoon, he's more than likely going to be the one that sends me a text of encouragement. Now, I'm putting you on the spot, so I need a text this afternoon. And here's the thing, is I bet anybody else that knows him would tell you the same thing. He goes out of his way to be a cup filler. And to be honest, it's something that we could all do more.27:35Warn the idle, but comfort the discouraged. And third, Paul gives us a third group. He says, to help the weak. Help the weak. You know, I think something that we can all agree on is that in today's society, it's like we can't look weak. That we can't be weak. You know, if you only knew how many people I talk to, and I call them, and they're just really, really struggling. And it'll take me by surprise, because I just recently looked at their Facebook account or their Instagram account,28:05and they're posting these incredible pictures, and it just looks like their life is a 10 out of 10. Let me just tell you something. None of us are walking around 10 out of 10. And if you are, I want to hang out with you. And I call them, and they say, you know what, Jared? I know you saw those pictures, but let me tell you what's really going on. Let me tell you what's really going on. You know, today it's a scary thing to look weak, but what's dangerous is that it's so easy to cover it up.28:31We need to realize that when we are at our weakest is when we need each other the most. When we talk about weak in this passage, that we aren't only talking about physically weak, even though that is certainly a part of it. We're talking about emotionally weak, spiritually weak, provisionally weak, financially, in health, and the list goes on and on.28:56And the list is so big that at some point we will all find ourselves in weakness sooner rather than later. And it's time that we lean into each other. We lean into God together, and we trust that he will get us through it. Our pastor says this all the time, my sin is your problem. Sorry about it. Your sin is my problem.29:25When we are weak, we fall into temptation and we sin. We need to come alongside one another and bear each other's burdens. I love this, that the word help here, it means to bind up. It literally means to come along and give a hug. Sometimes to help someone doesn't mean just to come along and offer and provide a solution.29:47You know, when I encounter someone struggling with an abuse of addiction, to help them would not be to tell them to just stop doing it. They know they should stop doing it. They need me to come alongside of them, to pray for them. And sometimes the weak just need you to be there and listen. Again, the prescription here is to help.30:17To help them, not to warn them, not to beat them up. We can't just find someone struggling and say, hey, buddy, you're just weak. You know what? You're just weak. And they say, I know. I know I am, and I need you to help me. We need to come alongside, help, pray, and stand with them. You see, all throughout this passage, we see these three groups that we are familiar with. But a lot of times, we're just applying the wrong medicine. Paul says, warn the idle, comfort the discouraged, and help the weak.30:48And then Paul gives us one overarching theme here that would help us in every aspect. He writes to be patient with everyone. Be patient. And I'm preaching to myself here. You know, I think a lot of times we can walk around with the same job that's titled professional fault finder. Like sometimes we're professional fault finders that we just have this unique gift and this amazing ability to find something wrong with everything.31:18Like we live in this microwave society that we want what we want when we want it. You know, if we treat each other that way, then it will ruin our relationships. God has called us to live differently. To be patient. To be patient. My hope and my prayer is that as time goes on, years down the road, me and you, we can look at each other and we can have a conversation that goes something like this.31:47Thank you for being patient with me all those years. Thank you for not holding my faults against me and my weaknesses, though I have so many. And I know you can see them. Thank you for coming along and helping me. We need patience in our lives.32:16Listen to what Paul says in Romans 7 as we remember just how patient God is with us. He says this in Romans 7. He says, For I do not understand what I am doing. And that's the most relatable line in all scripture. Because I do not practice what I want to do, but I do what I hate. For I do not do the good that I want to do, but I practice the evil that I do not want to do. What a wretched man I am.32:43Who will rescue me from this body of sin and death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord. We are prone to sin, but thanks be to God that he is patient with us. Would we be patient with one another? And to round out this passage, Paul writes, See to it that no one repays evil for evil to anyone, but always pursue what is good for one another and for all.33:06Rejoice always, pray constantly, give thanks in everything, for this is God's will for you in Jesus Christ. As we end, we see these three things. Rejoice always, pray constantly, and give thanks. You see, God is calling us to rejoice in every season. And rejoicing is just the overflow of joy in your life.33:34That's why we call it rejoicing. And Paul writes for us to be at peace with one another. And joy flows from peace. Where you find peace, you find joy. To pray constantly. At church, would we pray for one another? And sometimes I get this question and I've asked, well, how much should we pray? Once a day, twice a day in the morning, in the night, every meal. How much? How much more? Well, how about we just pray more than we're currently doing?34:04Let's just pray more. And lastly, he says, give thanks in all things that we are to live with a thankful heart. Now, listen, I don't want you to mishear this. Now, this doesn't mean that everything in all times is always good. But what this does mean is that if I know God and he knows me, then I can say, you know, I don't know why this is happening.34:28I don't have the answers. And a lot of times I don't even have the questions to ask. But what I do know is that God holds all things together. He works all things out for my good and for his glory. And he is working this out. You know, when I truly believe that, then my gratitude is my attitude. And I can live constantly in thanks.34:57Warn the idle. Comfort the discouraged. Help the weak. Be patient. Rejoice. Pray and give thanks. That sounds like a pretty good family dynamic, doesn't it? Would we strive to this end? Matt and the band, you guys can come on up. I think there's a few ways to respond today. Maybe you're here. And you desire to become a part of the family of God.35:25That you desire to be adopted by God as a son or a daughter. And you need to realize that God is calling. That he sent his son Jesus to die on a cross for you. To die a death in your place. To pay for sins that you can never pay for. So that if you come to faith in God through faith in his son Jesus. Then you are saved by grace through faith. And today you could be made new. Today you could be adopted into the family of God.35:55Maybe you're a believer here. And you've never taken that step into community. And to be honest with you, you're a believer. But you're alone. That's a sad life to live. God's calling you to be in community with other people. We have that available here. You can join a life group and be a part. And maybe you're here and you're a believer.36:24And you're in a life group. You're in community. But you've never taken that next step. Which is to step in and serve. That you're just sitting on idle. And we believe God's calling you to more. And there's a place for you. You come tell us you want to serve. We will put you in a place to serve. Our greeters, our ushers, our student ministry, our kids ministry, our nursery, our worship team. There are places for you. Just let us know. So we're going to worship together. And I'm going to be down here.36:54And I'm going to ask Pastor Benny if he would come down to the front with me as well. And if you want to pray, me and Pastor Benny, we are both here. We would love to pray for you. Let me pray for us. Oh God, we thank you.← Previous in Deep RootsDeep Roots and Torn TapestriesNext in Deep Roots →Jesus Gives You Deep Roots
