1 00:00:04,160 --> 00:00:09,120 All right, so yeah, our church is 13 years old and yeah, we're 2 00:00:09,120 --> 00:00:11,760 just celebrating and the sermon is just normal sermon. 3 00:00:12,040 --> 00:00:15,040 But maybe I bring up stories of, of, of, you know, of our church 4 00:00:15,040 --> 00:00:18,760 a little bit. But yeah, it's more for just 5 00:00:19,000 --> 00:00:21,400 looking back and, and, and thanking God for his 6 00:00:21,400 --> 00:00:24,360 faithfulness and also for eating tacos. 7 00:00:24,360 --> 00:00:31,240 After today, we're starting a new series. 8 00:00:31,680 --> 00:00:36,600 I was kind of just to this week, but I was very intrigued that as 9 00:00:36,600 --> 00:00:40,240 I was studying First Thessalonians, you know, some of 10 00:00:40,240 --> 00:00:46,480 the books pointed out how often Paul talks about thanking God 11 00:00:46,480 --> 00:00:49,880 for this church. I thank God for you. 12 00:00:50,320 --> 00:00:52,160 He repeats it over and over again. 13 00:00:53,080 --> 00:00:56,160 So I was very intrigued by that. So I said, you know what, I'm 14 00:00:56,160 --> 00:00:59,200 going to pick out the passages where Paul's thanking God for 15 00:00:59,200 --> 00:01:02,120 the church and let's just do a series on that. 16 00:01:02,520 --> 00:01:05,519 So we're going to do like a mini series just five weeks on that. 17 00:01:06,800 --> 00:01:10,200 And after that we will go to a Old Testament passage. 18 00:01:15,520 --> 00:01:18,320 I think many of us, like Paul, like Paul is thankful for that. 19 00:01:18,320 --> 00:01:20,800 That's only a church. I think many of us here are 20 00:01:20,800 --> 00:01:23,520 thankful for the church that you go to. 21 00:01:24,440 --> 00:01:26,800 Certainly the longer you have been here, perhaps the more 22 00:01:26,800 --> 00:01:28,000 thankful you are for this church. 23 00:01:28,280 --> 00:01:34,440 If you're new, you know, maybe not many of us are thankful for. 24 00:01:34,520 --> 00:01:37,320 I personally are thankful, like when I see all these kids. 25 00:01:38,560 --> 00:01:41,480 By the way, Annie and Ed gave birth today. 26 00:01:41,480 --> 00:01:42,760 Everyone's healthy. Good news. 27 00:01:42,880 --> 00:01:47,320 Yeah. No, no pictures because this 28 00:01:47,320 --> 00:01:50,920 happened 10:45 AM, so 45 minutes ago. 29 00:01:51,880 --> 00:01:54,600 I'm thankful for all that. I'm thankful like we have kids 30 00:01:54,600 --> 00:01:59,040 from like, day one, like the zero is 1 year, one day old or 31 00:01:59,080 --> 00:02:02,360 zero, OK, One day old to, you know, to high school. 32 00:02:02,360 --> 00:02:05,200 We have kids of all ages. When we first started, it was 33 00:02:05,200 --> 00:02:09,759 just one child, my baby, right? My child was the only baby, one 34 00:02:09,759 --> 00:02:12,680 singular baby in our church. And now there are kids 35 00:02:12,680 --> 00:02:14,040 everywhere. So I'm thankful for that. 36 00:02:14,360 --> 00:02:17,200 We will have our first High School graduate this year. 37 00:02:17,200 --> 00:02:19,760 Nikki, say hi. Yeah. 38 00:02:25,120 --> 00:02:28,200 I'm thankful. Many of us are thankful for 39 00:02:28,880 --> 00:02:32,400 maybe your CGS, maybe you met your, you know, husband or wife 40 00:02:32,400 --> 00:02:35,360 here. Maybe you just love tacos. 41 00:02:35,360 --> 00:02:39,560 You know that we have every once in a while there might be 50 42 00:02:39,560 --> 00:02:42,440 different reasons why we might be thankful for SPMC. 43 00:02:43,320 --> 00:02:46,760 But Paul doesn't mention any of those reasons. 44 00:02:47,880 --> 00:02:51,160 He doesn't say I am thankful for you because all these new kids. 45 00:02:51,160 --> 00:02:53,760 I'm thankful for you because of the food, this and that. 46 00:02:55,200 --> 00:03:00,360 And today or with the entire series, let's find out what Paul 47 00:03:00,360 --> 00:03:04,240 is thankful for. And we could infer based on that 48 00:03:04,560 --> 00:03:06,120 because Paul is thanking God for it. 49 00:03:06,640 --> 00:03:09,320 Perhaps those are some of the goals that we could have. 50 00:03:09,720 --> 00:03:12,360 Those are some of the characteristics that we could 51 00:03:12,360 --> 00:03:19,560 strive for as a church. So, so my prayer is that SPMCA 52 00:03:19,560 --> 00:03:23,440 also will have the same marks of a church to be thankful for. 53 00:03:23,800 --> 00:03:25,360 So that's the question we want to answer today. 54 00:03:25,840 --> 00:03:29,120 What kind of church is Paul thankful for? 55 00:03:29,520 --> 00:03:31,520 What kind of church is Paul thankful for? 56 00:03:31,760 --> 00:03:33,920 And really, that is the entire series. 57 00:03:34,320 --> 00:03:36,880 But today we will be, it will be based on the passage that we'll 58 00:03:36,880 --> 00:03:40,160 be covering today. All right, so if you have 59 00:03:40,160 --> 00:03:44,120 Bibles, let's turn to 1st Thessalonians. 60 00:03:46,760 --> 00:03:50,120 I'll be covering one to 10 before the first point. 61 00:03:50,120 --> 00:03:51,680 I'll be reading just one through 8. 62 00:03:53,160 --> 00:03:57,640 As we read this passage, I want you to take note of three words, 63 00:03:58,080 --> 00:04:02,200 Faith, hope, and love. Paul's going to base on what he 64 00:04:02,200 --> 00:04:06,040 thinks based on those 3 words. He's talked about those 3 words 65 00:04:06,040 --> 00:04:10,000 before in First Corinthians. He talks about the spiritual 66 00:04:10,000 --> 00:04:12,960 gifts and he says all those spiritual gifts will fade away. 67 00:04:13,480 --> 00:04:15,880 Tongues and prophecy and all that will fade away. 68 00:04:16,839 --> 00:04:20,440 But these three will remain forever, even in heaven, all 69 00:04:20,440 --> 00:04:24,000 eternity, these three gifts will remain forever. 70 00:04:24,160 --> 00:04:28,240 Faith, hope and love. OK, so those are the main things 71 00:04:28,240 --> 00:04:29,360 that we'll be talking about today. 72 00:04:29,600 --> 00:04:36,640 So take note of those words, OK? Paul, Sylvanus and Timothy. 73 00:04:36,720 --> 00:04:40,800 Oh, I'm sorry, there's three authors in this letter. 74 00:04:40,800 --> 00:04:43,840 Paul, Sylvanus, also in Silas and Timothy. 75 00:04:44,160 --> 00:04:47,560 For the sake of a sermon, I'm just going to say Paul, I am 76 00:04:47,560 --> 00:04:51,560 sorry the other two, but for the sake of the sermon, I don't want 77 00:04:51,560 --> 00:04:55,080 to say all three people's names. So when I say Paul, just know 78 00:04:55,080 --> 00:04:59,240 that I mean these three. To the Church of the 79 00:04:59,280 --> 00:05:03,480 Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, grace 80 00:05:03,480 --> 00:05:08,040 to you and peace. We always thank God for all of 81 00:05:08,040 --> 00:05:11,800 you making mention of you constantly in our prayers. 82 00:05:12,840 --> 00:05:16,400 We recall in the presence of our God and Father, your work 83 00:05:16,640 --> 00:05:23,440 produced by faith, your labor motivated by love, and your 84 00:05:23,440 --> 00:05:28,640 endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. 85 00:05:29,480 --> 00:05:32,480 Faith, love, hope. For we know, brothers and 86 00:05:32,480 --> 00:05:36,440 sister, loved by God, that He has chosen you because our 87 00:05:36,440 --> 00:05:41,480 gospel did not come to you in Word only, but also in power, in 88 00:05:41,480 --> 00:05:43,720 the Holy Spirit and with full assurance. 89 00:05:44,480 --> 00:05:47,360 You know how we live among you for a bet for your benefit. 90 00:05:47,640 --> 00:05:50,920 And you yourself became imitators of us and of the Lord, 91 00:05:50,920 --> 00:05:55,080 when, in spite of severe persecution, you welcome the 92 00:05:55,080 --> 00:05:57,600 message with joy from the Holy Spirit. 93 00:05:58,480 --> 00:06:00,920 As a result, you became an example to all the believers. 94 00:06:00,920 --> 00:06:04,520 Macedonia and IKEA. The Lord of the Lord rang out 95 00:06:04,520 --> 00:06:08,280 from you, not only Macedonia and IKEA, but in every place that 96 00:06:08,280 --> 00:06:12,280 your faith in God has gone out. Therefore, we don't need to say 97 00:06:12,360 --> 00:06:14,280 anything. Stop there. 98 00:06:17,760 --> 00:06:23,640 Paul is thankful that this church is marked by works 99 00:06:23,680 --> 00:06:28,480 produced by faith, labor motivated by love and endurance, 100 00:06:28,480 --> 00:06:36,560 inspire by hope. What kind of church is Paul 101 00:06:36,560 --> 00:06:39,800 thankful for? He's essentially thankful for a 102 00:06:39,800 --> 00:06:42,680 church that has love, faith, and hope. 103 00:06:44,320 --> 00:06:48,720 Now before I go on to the actual point, I think some of you might 104 00:06:48,720 --> 00:06:52,560 have noticed that these pairings of words might not go together. 105 00:06:52,560 --> 00:06:57,960 Usually he pairs the words faith and works together, and often 106 00:06:58,120 --> 00:07:01,200 they are on opposite sides. People have debates. 107 00:07:01,200 --> 00:07:03,120 Are you saved by works? Are you saved by faith? 108 00:07:03,800 --> 00:07:05,360 These words are usually far apart. 109 00:07:05,920 --> 00:07:09,840 Paul puts them together. He puts the word love and labour 110 00:07:09,840 --> 00:07:12,320 together. Those words don't go together. 111 00:07:12,520 --> 00:07:16,240 You can't say to your wife baby loving you is labourist and you 112 00:07:16,240 --> 00:07:18,560 can't say that yet he puts it together. 113 00:07:20,160 --> 00:07:21,880 He puts hope and endurance together. 114 00:07:22,040 --> 00:07:27,560 Hope seems like a happy feely word and endurance seems hard 115 00:07:27,560 --> 00:07:32,960 and serious. Like endurance sports is like 116 00:07:33,000 --> 00:07:37,760 marathons and triathons and long distance swimming. 117 00:07:38,080 --> 00:07:41,440 It's just hard work. Hope and endurance doesn't seem 118 00:07:41,440 --> 00:07:47,480 to go together. But what what Paul is saying is 119 00:07:47,480 --> 00:07:53,280 1 produces the other. Faith produces works. 120 00:07:54,560 --> 00:07:57,760 Works is hard, but faith produces it. 121 00:07:59,480 --> 00:08:02,920 Laboring to love others is hard, but love produces labor. 122 00:08:04,280 --> 00:08:07,680 Endurance is hard, but hope produces endurance. 123 00:08:10,920 --> 00:08:12,960 So we have to understand that like what? 124 00:08:12,960 --> 00:08:15,640 What is labor? It's it's it's work. 125 00:08:15,640 --> 00:08:20,400 It's no these things, these three gifts from God will 126 00:08:20,400 --> 00:08:24,560 produce these difficult things like labor, works and endurance. 127 00:08:26,600 --> 00:08:29,040 OK, So what kind of church is Paul thankful for? 128 00:08:29,040 --> 00:08:32,679 Let's start with the first one, a church with works produced by 129 00:08:32,679 --> 00:08:38,720 faith. Start with faith, A church that 130 00:08:38,720 --> 00:08:44,800 has works, Not just works alone, but a works that is produced by 131 00:08:45,360 --> 00:08:49,240 faith. Of course labor and work are 132 00:08:49,240 --> 00:08:51,160 essentially the same words, right? 133 00:08:51,160 --> 00:08:56,080 Labor of love and work and labor and work are the same. 134 00:08:56,360 --> 00:09:00,560 So is Paul saying basically faith produces works and love 135 00:09:00,560 --> 00:09:02,120 produces works is the same thing? 136 00:09:02,400 --> 00:09:03,960 Faith and love produce the same thing. 137 00:09:04,880 --> 00:09:08,080 But here Paul is actually applying the work of faith. 138 00:09:09,240 --> 00:09:11,240 He's applying the very specific way. 139 00:09:12,160 --> 00:09:17,880 So it's it's it's applied in terms of the word coming to us 140 00:09:17,920 --> 00:09:22,000 and how we respond to it. So verse 5, it says here that 141 00:09:23,360 --> 00:09:26,800 the gospel did not come to you in Word only, but in power. 142 00:09:27,080 --> 00:09:30,720 So the gospel came to you verse 6. 143 00:09:31,400 --> 00:09:34,320 And then he said, you welcome the message with joy. 144 00:09:35,880 --> 00:09:39,320 And then in verse 8, it says the word of the Lord rang out from 145 00:09:39,320 --> 00:09:42,680 you, not only here, but every place that your faith in God has 146 00:09:42,680 --> 00:09:47,000 gone out. So the word came and they 147 00:09:47,000 --> 00:09:51,280 received it with eagerness. And then they respond by having 148 00:09:51,280 --> 00:09:54,280 that word come back out wherever they are. 149 00:09:55,880 --> 00:09:58,480 And in the verses that we didn't read, the two verses that talks 150 00:09:58,520 --> 00:10:01,280 also talks about how they are turning away from idols and then 151 00:10:01,280 --> 00:10:04,520 they're turning to the Lord. So it's the Word of God coming 152 00:10:04,680 --> 00:10:09,280 and all the actions that follow after it is works kind of 153 00:10:09,280 --> 00:10:17,920 limited to the spiritual aspect. How can we be a church that is 154 00:10:17,920 --> 00:10:23,040 full of works? We have to take the Word of God 155 00:10:23,040 --> 00:10:27,320 seriously. From reading about this church, 156 00:10:27,760 --> 00:10:30,480 it seems like they have eagerness in receiving the Word. 157 00:10:30,760 --> 00:10:33,720 The gospel came to you in power of the Holy Spirit, and they 158 00:10:33,720 --> 00:10:36,920 welcomed them with joy. There's a sense that when the 159 00:10:36,920 --> 00:10:41,200 Word was preached, when it was shared, that they had open 160 00:10:41,200 --> 00:10:43,360 hearts and they received them eagerly. 161 00:10:44,960 --> 00:10:47,480 I'm wondering how many of us have that eagerness in receiving 162 00:10:47,480 --> 00:10:52,720 the Word? Far, many, far too many of us. 163 00:10:52,720 --> 00:10:55,200 So sermons are like a spiritual Ted talk. 164 00:10:56,880 --> 00:11:02,760 It's a speech, it's a lesson. And we're very picky about who 165 00:11:03,000 --> 00:11:08,320 gives us that word. In over the 13 years of our 166 00:11:08,320 --> 00:11:12,320 church, we've had our church always had a lot of preachers, 167 00:11:12,440 --> 00:11:13,920 right? It's just not me, not me. 168 00:11:13,920 --> 00:11:18,000 I'm, I'm, I'm only here about 3035 times and 20 other times of 169 00:11:18,000 --> 00:11:23,000 someone else preaching. And people have complained. 170 00:11:23,240 --> 00:11:25,400 Oh, I like that preacher. I like this preacher. 171 00:11:26,600 --> 00:11:29,040 There was somebody who came after hearing Pastor Esther's 172 00:11:29,040 --> 00:11:32,240 sermon and when she found out that she only preached 5 * a 173 00:11:32,240 --> 00:11:33,840 year and she laughed immediately. 174 00:11:37,480 --> 00:11:41,120 There were, there were people in the past where I mean, I'm 175 00:11:41,120 --> 00:11:45,120 thankful they're like Pastor Tim, we only like our pastor's 176 00:11:45,120 --> 00:11:47,960 sermons. So when we have guest speakers, 177 00:11:47,960 --> 00:11:52,160 they wouldn't show up. I'm like, hmm, are you like 178 00:11:52,160 --> 00:11:53,880 looking for excuses not show up because it's not like our 179 00:11:53,880 --> 00:11:56,440 treasure, our sermons aren't that much better or that that, 180 00:11:56,520 --> 00:12:00,240 you know, anything special. We just preach the word, you 181 00:12:00,240 --> 00:12:03,360 know, just study and re preach it. 182 00:12:05,000 --> 00:12:06,640 But there is this like pickiness. 183 00:12:06,640 --> 00:12:09,840 I like this person. I like this, this type of 184 00:12:09,840 --> 00:12:12,280 sermon. And there's been a lot of people 185 00:12:12,280 --> 00:12:13,800 who've completed on my preaching too. 186 00:12:14,800 --> 00:12:18,120 I remember there was this couple people that really didn't like 187 00:12:18,120 --> 00:12:21,480 my sermons, and then the middle of my sermon I could see them 188 00:12:21,480 --> 00:12:28,400 like I was like, sit in the back, man, like I can hear you. 189 00:12:32,880 --> 00:12:39,360 But even in the Christmas story, the people who saw, you know, 190 00:12:39,600 --> 00:12:44,280 Jesus born very first people to really preach the gospel, like a 191 00:12:44,280 --> 00:12:48,600 Savior's come, Messiah's come. They were not trained preachers. 192 00:12:49,000 --> 00:12:53,200 They were shepherds. They were not people who knew 193 00:12:53,200 --> 00:12:55,240 the Bible. They were not trained in any 194 00:12:55,680 --> 00:12:59,840 oratory skills. It was just ordinary people who 195 00:12:59,840 --> 00:13:06,200 said, hey, Messiah came. Doesn't matter who speaks. 196 00:13:06,240 --> 00:13:09,560 It doesn't matter if we read it. Oh, I don't like that quiet time 197 00:13:09,560 --> 00:13:11,720 book. Oh, I like this authors, you 198 00:13:11,720 --> 00:13:15,240 know, devotional. I don't like that translation. 199 00:13:15,960 --> 00:13:20,760 We're so picky. I wonder how much of a 200 00:13:20,760 --> 00:13:24,920 difference it will make if we are we focus more about the 201 00:13:24,920 --> 00:13:30,000 content that the word of God is preached and then we receive it 202 00:13:30,000 --> 00:13:34,520 eagerly. And then Paul talks about 203 00:13:34,600 --> 00:13:38,520 wherever they went, the word of the Lord went out from them, 204 00:13:40,080 --> 00:13:42,400 meaning they accept the word and it was part of them. 205 00:13:42,400 --> 00:13:45,560 They digested it, they thought about it, they applied it, So 206 00:13:45,560 --> 00:13:50,080 wherever they went, the Word of God just kind of oozed out of 207 00:13:50,080 --> 00:13:53,840 them. And that's exactly the church 208 00:13:53,840 --> 00:13:56,800 Paul's talking about. I'm thankful for you guys 209 00:13:57,600 --> 00:14:00,960 because you guys receive the gospel and it comes back out. 210 00:14:01,320 --> 00:14:03,440 You guys preach it, you guys share, you guys talk about it, 211 00:14:03,440 --> 00:14:09,160 you guys apply it. And I hope that's something our 212 00:14:09,160 --> 00:14:12,080 church becomes the gospel should be. 213 00:14:12,680 --> 00:14:15,440 It's not just evangelism, right? Evangelism part of it, of 214 00:14:15,440 --> 00:14:21,400 course. The gospel should be talked 215 00:14:21,400 --> 00:14:25,320 about and shared everywhere needs to be talked about in our 216 00:14:25,320 --> 00:14:29,120 community groups, in the classes that we teach, in the meetings 217 00:14:29,120 --> 00:14:33,880 that we have. The gospel needs to be part of 218 00:14:33,880 --> 00:14:36,160 the that should be the main point of discussion. 219 00:14:38,560 --> 00:14:41,280 The gospel needs to be shared in people's living rooms, hospital 220 00:14:41,280 --> 00:14:45,680 beds, coffee shops, just one-on-one situations. 221 00:14:47,200 --> 00:14:49,960 Gospel needs to be talked about. Let me give you an example. 222 00:14:51,440 --> 00:14:54,760 Often times when a married couple asked me to come and 223 00:14:54,760 --> 00:14:56,040 like, hey, pastor, can we talk to you? 224 00:14:56,040 --> 00:14:59,040 And we're struggling with this. And one of the things that I say 225 00:14:59,040 --> 00:15:02,920 to really most couples is do you have another couple that you 226 00:15:02,920 --> 00:15:07,360 could talk to? A lot of times people are like, 227 00:15:07,360 --> 00:15:09,520 no, not really. We don't want to, you know, air 228 00:15:09,520 --> 00:15:10,840 our dirty laundry with other people. 229 00:15:10,840 --> 00:15:12,920 It's kind of embarrassing. And a lot of couples don't. 230 00:15:12,920 --> 00:15:17,200 Some couples do, but this is this is my advice, fight another 231 00:15:17,200 --> 00:15:20,360 couple and say, Hey, this is what we're fighting about. 232 00:15:20,360 --> 00:15:25,280 What do you guys think? And the point is not to like 233 00:15:25,520 --> 00:15:28,440 take sides, right? The husband takes the, the guy 234 00:15:28,440 --> 00:15:30,360 side and the wife. You know, it's not, it's not 235 00:15:30,360 --> 00:15:33,560 suddenly you're, you're dividing teams and it's not a group fight 236 00:15:33,560 --> 00:15:38,920 suddenly, but it's an opportunity to share the gospel. 237 00:15:41,480 --> 00:15:45,640 Oh, you guys are fighting. This is just a random example, 238 00:15:45,640 --> 00:15:48,920 right? Many times newlyweds, they have 239 00:15:48,920 --> 00:15:51,680 their habits and routines and they get married and they want 240 00:15:51,680 --> 00:15:54,880 to keep it. Let's say a guy right comes home 241 00:15:55,200 --> 00:15:57,880 and like for the last 10 years, they were either like, Oh, I 242 00:15:57,880 --> 00:16:00,920 like to unwind and you know, watch Netflix for an hour or 243 00:16:00,920 --> 00:16:03,560 video games for, you know, 9 hours or whatever. 244 00:16:03,880 --> 00:16:05,560 They're used to their a lifestyle. 245 00:16:06,080 --> 00:16:09,800 And then, you know, the wife has, you know, the her routine 246 00:16:10,120 --> 00:16:13,240 and it doesn't match and they're fighting over it. 247 00:16:16,000 --> 00:16:19,040 When they share that with another couple, that's the time 248 00:16:19,040 --> 00:16:22,600 to preach the gospel, meaning, hey, our faith. 249 00:16:24,200 --> 00:16:28,760 The gospel is about God sacrificing, right, his Son for 250 00:16:28,760 --> 00:16:31,320 us. The gospel is about Jesus 251 00:16:31,320 --> 00:16:37,040 sacrificing his his God powers, right God's side to die for us 252 00:16:37,040 --> 00:16:38,720 on the cross so he could save us. 253 00:16:40,160 --> 00:16:45,280 The gospel is all about sacrificial love, and the person 254 00:16:45,280 --> 00:16:48,960 could say, the couple could say, hey, we go through that too. 255 00:16:49,400 --> 00:16:53,880 But let me just say, like you guys are fighting to have more 256 00:16:53,880 --> 00:16:56,640 of what you want, your rights and your privileges. 257 00:16:58,040 --> 00:17:02,760 But I think in our marriage, what's helped is when we gave up 258 00:17:02,760 --> 00:17:04,640 our rights and privileges for one another. 259 00:17:05,280 --> 00:17:09,839 It's really helped things out. It doesn't sound like much, but 260 00:17:09,839 --> 00:17:11,599 you just preach the gospel right there. 261 00:17:14,520 --> 00:17:17,800 Gospel needs to be part of everything that we talk about. 262 00:17:22,359 --> 00:17:27,160 So when Paul says work produced by faith, he means receiving the 263 00:17:27,160 --> 00:17:32,400 Word and living it out both in words and actions. 264 00:17:33,560 --> 00:17:35,960 When somebody asks you a question, help me, then the 265 00:17:35,960 --> 00:17:40,320 gospel comes out. That's the works Paul's talking 266 00:17:40,320 --> 00:17:52,040 about #2 what kind of church is Paul thankful for #2A church 267 00:17:52,040 --> 00:17:57,440 with labor produced by love. If you're new to the church, I 268 00:17:57,440 --> 00:18:00,200 know you. You think, oh, there's three 269 00:18:00,200 --> 00:18:04,040 things, Faith, hope, love. They must be one point each 3 270 00:18:04,040 --> 00:18:06,280 point sermon. You're wrong. 271 00:18:07,200 --> 00:18:09,880 I have not preached a three-point in five years and 272 00:18:09,880 --> 00:18:13,280 I'm not going to start today in my anniversary, so this is only 273 00:18:13,280 --> 00:18:15,320 a second point. I'll be closing with hope for a 274 00:18:15,320 --> 00:18:20,800 little bit, but I want to focus mainly on this, a church with 275 00:18:20,800 --> 00:18:27,600 labor produced by love. Let's reread verse four and 276 00:18:27,600 --> 00:18:33,840 seven. Four talks about how love could 277 00:18:33,840 --> 00:18:36,280 produce labor. For we know brothers and sisters 278 00:18:36,600 --> 00:18:39,600 loved by God, that he has chosen you. 279 00:18:40,760 --> 00:18:44,480 And seven, as a result, you become an example to all the 280 00:18:44,480 --> 00:18:48,160 believers. So how does love produce labor? 281 00:18:50,960 --> 00:18:53,200 Well, loving people is hard, right? 282 00:18:54,080 --> 00:18:59,080 It could become laborious. But what Paul saying is, you 283 00:18:59,080 --> 00:19:07,840 know what, what inspires love, what produces love, what 284 00:19:07,840 --> 00:19:12,960 motivates love is the fact that God loved us first. 285 00:19:13,520 --> 00:19:17,120 That's verse 4, loved by God and he has chosen you. 286 00:19:18,720 --> 00:19:23,280 When we know that we are God's beloved, that love, the 287 00:19:23,280 --> 00:19:27,200 understanding of God's love for us produces something in us, The 288 00:19:27,200 --> 00:19:34,200 ability to labor in love. When we know that God loves us, 289 00:19:34,200 --> 00:19:38,440 we are able to labor for others, pray for others, serve one 290 00:19:38,440 --> 00:19:44,720 another meals and liver tears shared forgiveness extended, not 291 00:19:44,720 --> 00:19:52,000 quitting on relationships and that love from one another, if 292 00:19:52,000 --> 00:19:54,680 it's not motivated by God's love for us, then it's you're going 293 00:19:54,720 --> 00:19:56,560 to hit, hit a wall. It's tiring. 294 00:19:56,880 --> 00:20:01,000 It truly will be laborers. But what is motivated by God 295 00:20:01,000 --> 00:20:06,200 loving us first is if that is the source we get, the source we 296 00:20:06,200 --> 00:20:09,920 draw from, then we could powerfully love one another. 297 00:20:10,680 --> 00:20:12,880 You could powerfully be there for each other. 298 00:20:15,560 --> 00:20:18,680 I could honestly say that the love people have from one 299 00:20:18,680 --> 00:20:24,000 another is what allowed us to exist after 13 years when we 300 00:20:24,000 --> 00:20:29,360 started the church, long before I started the church. 301 00:20:30,720 --> 00:20:35,080 I read, you know, I've already graduated seminary and and I, I 302 00:20:35,080 --> 00:20:37,720 read books. Even though I graduated, I went 303 00:20:37,720 --> 00:20:39,840 back to take classes on church planting. 304 00:20:41,520 --> 00:20:44,360 And as I was studying, although experts, you know what experts 305 00:20:44,360 --> 00:20:47,240 have to say about church planning, they all were saying 306 00:20:47,240 --> 00:20:48,760 that I shouldn't start the church. 307 00:20:49,840 --> 00:20:52,880 I even took this exhaustive like test. 308 00:20:53,400 --> 00:20:56,080 It was for the church planner. It was supposed to tell me that 309 00:20:56,920 --> 00:21:00,200 if I was ready or not ready to start a church, I had to pay 310 00:21:00,200 --> 00:21:02,400 money for that and it took hours. 311 00:21:02,400 --> 00:21:05,280 It was it was a very exhaustive test. 312 00:21:07,320 --> 00:21:10,200 Test. You guys think what? 313 00:21:10,200 --> 00:21:12,120 And give me a thumbs up, thumbs down. 314 00:21:13,200 --> 00:21:18,560 The test came out inconclusive. That should have been a sign. 315 00:21:19,880 --> 00:21:21,920 And I was like, yes, the test didn't say no. 316 00:21:24,080 --> 00:21:26,600 I talked to the professor. He said don't start. 317 00:21:27,280 --> 00:21:31,080 He said you need at least 30 to 40 people to start, like ideally 318 00:21:31,080 --> 00:21:33,360 about 100. He said how many people do you 319 00:21:33,360 --> 00:21:35,840 have? I was like, well, 12 when my 320 00:21:36,080 --> 00:21:42,840 wife's pregnant, so 13 almost. I was personally not ready. 321 00:21:42,840 --> 00:21:47,200 We didn't have the money they said you got. 322 00:21:47,200 --> 00:21:50,200 You need money for like at least six months of salary for the and 323 00:21:50,200 --> 00:21:51,640 rent, you know, in the bank account. 324 00:21:52,320 --> 00:21:56,360 We had $20,000. And then my praise reader said, 325 00:21:56,360 --> 00:21:58,920 oh, we got to buy speakers. I said here it's $20.20 thousand 326 00:21:59,200 --> 00:22:00,760 buy speakers. And I didn't know that he was 327 00:22:00,760 --> 00:22:03,200 going to spend most of it. He gave me like 3000 back. 328 00:22:04,440 --> 00:22:08,480 Those are the speakers. I will never get rid of these 329 00:22:08,480 --> 00:22:12,120 speakers. Like someday we get like new 330 00:22:12,120 --> 00:22:14,120 speakers, like better. It doesn't matter. 331 00:22:14,120 --> 00:22:16,480 I will hang those up. Like I'll frame it and hang it 332 00:22:16,480 --> 00:22:21,520 up right. With $20,000 you can start a 333 00:22:21,520 --> 00:22:23,480 church guys. No, I don't recommend it. 334 00:22:24,720 --> 00:22:28,160 Oh gosh, I mean, every anniversary I share some aspects 335 00:22:28,160 --> 00:22:29,720 of it and I don't want to share all of it. 336 00:22:29,720 --> 00:22:33,960 But it was that was just me not being ready. 337 00:22:34,040 --> 00:22:38,560 And imagine, you know, a 32 year old just not ready, immature 338 00:22:38,560 --> 00:22:42,360 trying to start a church. How many things will go wrong 339 00:22:42,360 --> 00:22:47,200 and everything went wrong. So how do we get to year 14? 340 00:22:50,240 --> 00:22:52,560 Well, the first reason is God's faithfulness, but that's not 341 00:22:52,560 --> 00:22:55,520 today's sermon. But I really think the second 342 00:22:55,640 --> 00:23:00,560 reason is labor of love. People who labored with love, 343 00:23:02,640 --> 00:23:08,880 people who love the church. And even now I see the evidence 344 00:23:09,880 --> 00:23:11,920 of people who love the church everywhere. 345 00:23:13,640 --> 00:23:20,360 So many of us drive 3040 fifty minutes to come to church 346 00:23:20,360 --> 00:23:24,360 weekly. For over 10 years, we worshipped 347 00:23:24,360 --> 00:23:27,200 that 1:30 PM. What a terrible time. 348 00:23:28,720 --> 00:23:31,600 If I was not a pastor, I'm sorry, I'm not going to 1:00 PM 349 00:23:31,600 --> 00:23:34,200 church. I'm going to a 10 AM or 11:00 350 00:23:34,200 --> 00:23:40,800 AM. At First worship sanctuary. 351 00:23:41,160 --> 00:23:43,280 It's about this size, a little bit wider. 352 00:23:44,160 --> 00:23:46,960 It's so hot. We had like 12 fans going 353 00:23:46,960 --> 00:23:54,760 around, just rotating hot air. We had one little window and 354 00:23:54,760 --> 00:23:59,000 sometimes like like a, a girl who gets like cold easily would 355 00:23:59,000 --> 00:24:01,120 sit next to the window and then she'll be like, can we close the 356 00:24:01,120 --> 00:24:02,680 window? You know, it's like 85°. 357 00:24:06,440 --> 00:24:09,640 I posted a picture of our service once and somebody asked 358 00:24:09,640 --> 00:24:13,560 me if I was, if I was missions, Like no, that's just no, that's 359 00:24:13,560 --> 00:24:14,840 just my church. I work there. 360 00:24:17,280 --> 00:24:19,520 So how, how did a church not fail? 361 00:24:21,400 --> 00:24:24,040 Yes, God's faithfulness, God gave us some miracles, yes. 362 00:24:25,200 --> 00:24:28,360 But I think really it's countless stories and 363 00:24:28,360 --> 00:24:30,920 testimonies where I've heard where people said, you know 364 00:24:30,920 --> 00:24:32,760 what? My community made a difference. 365 00:24:32,760 --> 00:24:38,280 This person made a difference. I witnessed people's hearts 366 00:24:38,280 --> 00:24:41,720 changing because someone poured out their heart for another 367 00:24:41,720 --> 00:24:45,200 person. I've seen relationships healed. 368 00:24:46,240 --> 00:24:50,040 I've seen people being uplifted, going through hard times and 369 00:24:50,040 --> 00:24:58,800 uplifted by others. For whatever reason, God sent a 370 00:24:58,800 --> 00:25:01,280 lot of people to our church that truly love the church. 371 00:25:04,880 --> 00:25:06,400 Just this week, I was having a pastor. 372 00:25:06,400 --> 00:25:11,640 It was like a pastor's lunch and somebody asked a question to the 373 00:25:11,800 --> 00:25:14,160 pastor next to me. It was like, oh, how long have 374 00:25:14,160 --> 00:25:17,120 you been serving there? And the guy next to me said 08 375 00:25:17,120 --> 00:25:19,320 years. I've been there eight years and 376 00:25:19,320 --> 00:25:21,480 the pastor goes 08 years. That's so long. 377 00:25:21,480 --> 00:25:25,080 How do you guys do it? And I guess he like, the longest 378 00:25:25,080 --> 00:25:26,920 he's ever stayed in one church is five years. 379 00:25:27,400 --> 00:25:29,840 So he was asking the guy next to me like 8 years and how do you 380 00:25:29,840 --> 00:25:34,000 do it? I was like 13, bro, like, but 381 00:25:34,000 --> 00:25:35,400 you know, I'm humble, so I didn't say anything. 382 00:25:37,080 --> 00:25:41,640 And the guy next to me said, you know, when so many people love 383 00:25:41,640 --> 00:25:46,320 the church, it's easy. And I didn't say anything 384 00:25:47,200 --> 00:25:50,400 because my answer would have been exactly the same as the guy 385 00:25:50,400 --> 00:25:55,960 next to me. A lot of things are possible. 386 00:25:56,640 --> 00:26:02,800 Difficult times get easier, and God's people labor with love. 387 00:26:04,040 --> 00:26:07,880 When our love for one another grows, everything becomes 388 00:26:07,880 --> 00:26:11,720 better. The hard times, it just becomes 389 00:26:11,720 --> 00:26:15,040 a little bit easier. The good times become a little 390 00:26:15,040 --> 00:26:20,960 bit more joyful. That is all because of the love 391 00:26:21,400 --> 00:26:26,480 we have for one another. How do you keep that going you 392 00:26:26,480 --> 00:26:31,120 got daily go back to the Lord. Remember it starts with verse 4. 393 00:26:32,680 --> 00:26:37,760 Love by God, brothers and sisters, love by God that He has 394 00:26:37,760 --> 00:26:40,520 chosen. Knowing that you are chosen to 395 00:26:40,520 --> 00:26:44,760 be sons and daughters of God, that is your motivation. 396 00:26:44,760 --> 00:26:48,760 That is the source of love. Without that, it does become too 397 00:26:48,760 --> 00:26:56,300 hard. I want to close with this. 398 00:26:58,260 --> 00:26:59,780 Of course, Paul talks about hope, right? 399 00:27:02,020 --> 00:27:10,540 Endurance produced by hope. Hope is what allows us to look 400 00:27:10,540 --> 00:27:14,300 forward and keep going. You know, so far in the sermon, 401 00:27:14,300 --> 00:27:17,440 I talked a lot of things that happened in the past, recalling 402 00:27:17,440 --> 00:27:20,160 what happened 13 years ago, 10 years ago and all of that. 403 00:27:20,680 --> 00:27:24,400 LA being the, you know, the CG that started 13 years, the only 404 00:27:24,400 --> 00:27:26,440 one that still exists. And we're thankful for that and 405 00:27:26,440 --> 00:27:33,320 all of that. But I want us to not be 406 00:27:33,320 --> 00:27:35,400 satisfied with what God has done in the past. 407 00:27:37,120 --> 00:27:42,560 I want us to be encouraged by it, be reminded how faithful God 408 00:27:42,560 --> 00:27:46,800 is. But we got to move forward and 409 00:27:46,800 --> 00:27:53,920 keep loving, keep the word needs to keep coming out, and that 410 00:27:53,920 --> 00:28:03,520 takes hope in verse 6 pauses this you became imitators of us 411 00:28:03,520 --> 00:28:09,480 and of the Lord when in spite of severe persecution, you welcomed 412 00:28:09,480 --> 00:28:12,400 the message with joy. So this church was going through 413 00:28:12,400 --> 00:28:18,720 a severe persecution and I love one of the commentators said 414 00:28:18,720 --> 00:28:22,800 about this. He said the author said the 415 00:28:22,800 --> 00:28:28,800 severe persecution became a megaphone of their testimony. 416 00:28:31,240 --> 00:28:34,160 Meaning these people going through hard times, they're 417 00:28:34,320 --> 00:28:37,720 literally their lives are on the line and they're able to love, 418 00:28:39,200 --> 00:28:41,440 they're able to serve, they're able to preach the gospel. 419 00:28:42,360 --> 00:28:45,600 And people are like, wait, why are you still loving when your 420 00:28:45,600 --> 00:28:48,160 life is in danger? Your life's not that great. 421 00:28:48,240 --> 00:28:51,480 How are you caring for others? It seems like you barely have 422 00:28:51,480 --> 00:28:55,240 enough time to talk, think about your own problems, yet you're 423 00:28:55,240 --> 00:29:01,040 pouring out for others. So where did I get this? 424 00:29:01,040 --> 00:29:04,520 Hope it's verse 10. I didn't read it yet. 425 00:29:04,560 --> 00:29:10,760 I read it for you. And to wait for his Son from 426 00:29:10,760 --> 00:29:12,960 heaven, whom he raised from the dead. 427 00:29:14,040 --> 00:29:15,920 Jesus will rescue us from the coming wrath. 428 00:29:17,200 --> 00:29:21,680 Their hope comes from heaven. Their hope comes knowing that 429 00:29:21,680 --> 00:29:24,600 Jesus returned. Their hope comes from knowing 430 00:29:24,720 --> 00:29:28,480 that this world is just temporary and our eternal life 431 00:29:28,480 --> 00:29:32,680 is with God. So the Thessalonians are saying, 432 00:29:32,680 --> 00:29:34,320 who cares? What we go through here is 433 00:29:34,320 --> 00:29:36,800 temporary. I want to still preach the 434 00:29:36,800 --> 00:29:42,160 gospel because that is eternity. So how can we move forward? 435 00:29:42,160 --> 00:29:45,920 How can we keep loving? How can we not so be like be 436 00:29:45,920 --> 00:29:49,160 satisfied what we did in the past and keep doing God's work? 437 00:29:50,200 --> 00:29:53,920 Hope, hope in the Kingdom of God. 438 00:29:55,560 --> 00:29:58,200 Otherwise, it's too discouraging. 439 00:30:00,320 --> 00:30:04,840 You know, at least in my marriage, having young children 440 00:30:04,840 --> 00:30:08,880 was the hardest time. And I, I, I think many of you 441 00:30:08,960 --> 00:30:10,840 can say, hey, this is the hardest time of a marriage. 442 00:30:11,600 --> 00:30:15,960 Having young children is a hard time in our life in our church. 443 00:30:16,000 --> 00:30:18,920 Unfortunately, if that's true, well, then half our church is 444 00:30:18,920 --> 00:30:28,640 having a hard time in a worldly perspective, like we, we 445 00:30:28,680 --> 00:30:30,440 shouldn't be able to do anything. 446 00:30:30,480 --> 00:30:32,960 We should just barely survive next five years. 447 00:30:35,480 --> 00:30:37,120 But I don't think that's what God has in mind. 448 00:30:39,000 --> 00:30:44,240 Your hardships provide a bigger way to glorify God. 449 00:30:44,240 --> 00:30:47,920 It is now a megaphone. I'm tired. 450 00:30:49,080 --> 00:30:52,680 Two kids, they're crazy. They're beautiful and I love 451 00:30:52,680 --> 00:30:57,680 them, but they're crazy. And yet I have hope. 452 00:30:59,520 --> 00:31:03,000 I am strengthened by the Lord, and I'm going to care for other 453 00:31:03,000 --> 00:31:04,200 couples. I'm going to care for that 454 00:31:04,200 --> 00:31:08,120 newcomer. I'm going to do my best at work. 455 00:31:08,120 --> 00:31:11,040 I'm going to love my wife, I'm going to love my husband. 456 00:31:13,000 --> 00:31:16,920 I'm going to do this. But the power of God gives me 457 00:31:16,920 --> 00:31:23,360 knowing that God loves me and that just doing that is a 458 00:31:23,360 --> 00:31:27,640 megaphone. The world will see you and say 459 00:31:27,640 --> 00:31:32,120 man, you should be barely surviving, but you have time to 460 00:31:32,120 --> 00:31:35,360 pray for others. You have time to take out that 461 00:31:35,360 --> 00:31:39,080 newcomer out to lunch, You have time to go to mission. 462 00:31:39,120 --> 00:31:40,360 You have time to do this and that. 463 00:31:40,760 --> 00:31:48,160 You have time to be happy. That is all possible because of 464 00:31:48,160 --> 00:31:54,320 the hope in Jesus Christ. Main point, a church to be 465 00:31:54,320 --> 00:31:59,800 thankful for is marked by faith that works, love that laborers, 466 00:32:00,560 --> 00:32:03,480 and hope that endures. Let's take time to pray.