Hebrews: A Prayer for Gospel Culture

Pastor Fletcher preaches from Hebrews 13:1-19. Discussion points: Gospel culture includes brotherly “there you are” love for our brothers and sisters in Christ; strong marriages are a hallmark of gospel culture; prioritizing generosity, hospitality, and contentedness will orient our hearts toward gospel culture.

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  Scripture reader: [Hebrews 13:1-19] Let brotherly love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. Remember those who are in prison as though in prison with them and those who are mistreated since you also are in the body. Let marriage be held in honor among all and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous. Keep your life free from love of money and be content with what you have, for he has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you." So we can confidently say, "The Lord is my helper, I will not fear. What can man do to me?"

  Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Do not be led away by diverse and strange teachings, for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods which have not benefited those devoted to them. We have an altar from which those who serve the tent have no right to eat. For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy places by the high priest as a sacrifice for sin are burned outside the camp. So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood. Therefore, let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured, for here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come. Through him, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name.

  Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God. Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you. Pray for us, for we are sure that we have a clear conscience, desiring to act honorably in all things. I urge you the more earnestly to do this in order that I may be restored to you the sooner.

  This is the word of the Lord.

  Preacher: All right. There are generally two things that people look for when they're choosing a church. And I don't know if you were, what you were looking for when you chose this church or what drew you there, whether it was a, a warm welcome or a worship style or a ruggedly handsome pastor. it, it could have been, it could have been a, a, a variety of different things. But, a lot of times what people look for are the worship style and the theology. And when I'm visiting churches, these are often the things that I'm looking for, are worship style and theology. And so what I'll do is I'll get on the website and I'll read the statement of faith, and I'll maybe watch a few minutes of their service online, be like, do I know any of these songs? And that might help me decide which church, or maybe you just look for the one that is closest to you and has people in the same stage of life that you are in.

  And there's lots of different things that we can look for when we think about what it means to join a church. But friends, You can have A church with a lot of people like you. You can have a church with wonderful theology. You can have a church that has exceptional worship music. And you can have a church that has all of those things and could be completely hollow. I tell this story sometimes about that I heard when I was in college, and I promise you that the person who told me believed it to be true. So I, we'll see what happens.

  But, this, this person told a story of this little boy who was in elementary school with him, and his name was Billy. And Billy was picked on by the other kids often. And he did some odd things. So one day, Billy took his shoes and he spray painted them gold on the outside. And so when the kids inevitably started making fun of him, the principal called the school, or the, his, his parents called the principal of the school and said, Could you tell the other children that his shoes are real gold and that they need to stop picking on him? To which the principal made an announcement over the, the intercom. Everyone, Billy's shoes are real gold. If you could stop picking on him, that would be great.

  Which is just a ridiculous story all the way through. Like it's obvious to everyone, but oftentimes our churches can have this veneer of niceness, of this veneer of spiritual life, of looking real, but be. Just dead on the inside, hollow. Nothing worth living there. And so how do you look at a church and you say, does this church have spiritual vitality? Cause don't you wanna be a part of a church that's spiritually alive? Like, isn't that what all of us long for, is to have a community of people who really believe this stuff. And even worse, like if you, or even better, if you get dropped into a culture that's not American culture, what are you looking for? You're not necessarily looking for people that look like you or act like you, not necessarily looking for people that speak the same language as you. Some of you have had this experience. You've been dropped into American culture. You're not necessarily looking for the worship that you grew up with.

  What are you looking for? You're looking for a spiritual vitality. Yes, theology, very important, but the spiritual vitality, the culture of a church, I dare say, is equally important, because all the things that we say in our theology, we can unsay in our culture. Have you ever been a part of a church that says true things, but then the culture just proves it to be not the core belief of who they are? Culture matters. Every business, every family, every church has a culture. And here is what I mean when I, when I say culture. As I say that the culture is the some of the accepted and regularly practiced ways of life, that the culture is the simple sum of behaviors that are allowed and repeated.

  Every family has a culture. My family has a culture. And sometimes I look at my. My family and I was like, I don't like this about our culture, so we're gonna change it. And we have to intentionally shape our culture. A few months ago, Megan and I realized that we have older kids now who are fully capable of doing stuff around the house. And so we took the step to say, we're gonna change the culture of our house. Everyone pitches in. It's not mom and dad doing everything anymore. Everyone pitches in, and it's just a culture. I've heard other, other leaders say something like, you eat, you wash. All right? You eat, you wash the dishes. Everyone pitches in. Our, our family culture has other things that might not be as appealing, especially for our neighbors. We're a loud, a loud family. It's just who we are. We're loud. That comes because Megan and I are probably fairly loud people.

  Every church, every family has believers. Who wants to be a part of a, has, has a culture. Who wants to be a part of a business that has a negative culture? I mean, a lot of us have been in that, have you not? Who's ever been in a toxic workplace environment? Oh, all the hands go up. It's not very fun. In fact, there have been a lot of studies to show that the one thing that can make revenue go up at a company faster than almost anything is culture. That if you have good culture, that it will help. The, the actual workplace to make revenue.

  But what about the church? What does the gospel culture look like? What does the culture look like in the church that's been shaped by the gospel? Ray Ortland, he put it like this, he says, gospel culture is when the vertical glories of the gospel come down upon us, and they spread horizontally. And so when you walk into a church building, and you feel the warm embrace of brothers and sisters. Who have been loved dearly by God. And so therefore they have love to pour out on all of those around them. You are experiencing gospel culture. The culture that we're looking for, it's a vibe, it's an aroma, it's a joy of being together. This is the evidence that what you believe has sunken into your heart. That it changes the way that we interact with one another, and we don't stumble into this. We have to intentionally shape it. We have to cultivate a gentle, loving, affirming, reassuring, relational beauty in our church.

  If you believe in a God who is compassionate and kind, but then you run into someone who says they follow that God and they're cold and stingy, what does that leave you thinking about who that God is? And so we have to intentionally shape who we are to be modeled after who God is. We need a church where the truth of the gospel has pierced the cold hearts of the people, and has caused a collective experience of the gospel. This is Hebrews 13. This is our passage today.

  When you first read this passage, it looks like a, a list of moral imperatives. But that's when it's really important to remember that the Bible was written and given to us in letters in the New Testament, and these letters were usually read in one reading. And so you would read Hebrews 1 through 12, which we're in week 20 of going through, and then you would get to Hebrews 13. And so it wouldn't feel like just another list of moral imperatives, but you would have all the gospel indicatives that come before that. You would have all the truth about who Jesus is.

  Hebrews is this deeply theological book. In the book of Hebrews, we learn who Jesus is. We learn all about how he culminates all the stories of the Old Testament, how he accomplishes all that is left undone in the Old Covenant, and then it all comes together in Jesus, and it's just, I mean, the 1st 12 chapters of Hebrews is just Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. He is what you are longing for. And then you come to Hebrews. 13. And in Hebrews 13, it's basically saying, If you've been listening for the first 12 chapters, this is what your life will look like. So hopefully, I've been able to apply things as we, as we've gone on through Hebrews, you know, week after week. Hopefully, it's been somewhat applicable to you.

  But really, the author of Hebrews saves all the application for today. And today only, next week we're going to the last passage of Hebrews that we're, we're going to be talking about the resurrection, that will be Easter. And so today, as we go through this and look at what it means to be a Christian, gospel culture, how this shapes who we are, I want us to approach it as a prayer. I do not think that we've arrived as a church. I think that we have room to cultivate the culture in our church more and more. And so I'm going to encourage you that if you're looking for ways to pray for us as a church, you can just jot these down as we go.

  This is six ways that we can pray for our gospel culture. Six ways that we can pray for a gospel culture. Number one, the first way that you can pray for us to experience a gospel culture is that our church might overflow with affection. Father, may our church overflow with affection. And just as we go through these, we can pray for them. Verse one says, let brotherly love continue. God Adopts us as his children when we come to Christ. And that means that we are brothers and sisters in the Lord. We love one another in a brotherly kind of way. Brotherly love, you know that word, Philadelphia, right? Now, I don't have any siblings. I'm an only child. Any other only children here? You might be able to relate with me.

  But I have sons. And let me tell you something, from observing the way that brothers love one another, brotherly love is a different kind of love than anything that I've experienced. I mean, these guys. They, they know no boundaries. That one moment, I'll come down on a Saturday, come out, out into the living room on a Saturday morning. They're both sitting on the same small chair watching cartoons, wearing almost nothing under the same blanket, you know, just enjoying themselves, you know, and just having. Bro, like it's nothing to them. And then the next moment they'll be punching one another in the gut. And that's just what it means to be brothers. You just, you just have no boundaries with your brothers.

  When you connect with your church family, it should feel like brotherly love. It should feel this affectionate experience. You should know that you're wanted when you connect with your church family. Now I'm reticent to say that, that, that when you come in, you should have this feeling that you know that you are wanted, that you're loved, that there's affection. There, because I'm afraid that this is what it'll do in our hearts. I'm afraid that it will turn us into "here I am" people, not "there you are" people. A "here I am" person walks in and says, here I am, love me. Won't someone pay attention to me? I'm here. I made it. A "there you are" person walks in and says, there you are. I've been, I've, I've missed you, it's good to see you again. Do you see the difference between that?

  Now, if we want to have a gospel culture, we have to all be "there you are" people. We have no room for "here I am" people. I mean, sometimes if you're hurting or if you're brand new, that's the only way you can come into the space. But if you've been here for more than, I used to say 3 weeks, maybe we'll give it 5 now, OK? If you've been here for more than 1 month, and you're calling this your church home, you're congratulations, you've graduated to there are, there you are people. We need to have this culture where we all embody this understanding of there you are. And something else about sons that I've observed is though they might fight, and if you've seen brothers, brothers will, will fight from time to time. They're stuck with each other. Like, there's no choice. They're, they're gonna go to bed in a couple of hours and their beds are going to be 2 ft from one another, and they have to get along. Like you have to work things out. And siblings, they work out their differences.

  And too often in our church, and, and I'm gonna speak prophetically into our church right now, too often we avoid our problems instead of speaking lovingly, but con confrontationally at times. Too often we avoid our problems. You don't want to say difficult things, and so instead we withdraw. But when you withdraw and go to relationship, you rob a brother or a sister of an opportunity to grow in their walk with Christ. And if we have this humility, we can be known as people of brotherly love. And I pray that when you come into this church building, and when you come into your community group, and when you see brothers and sisters in the street, that you feel a respite from the world. That you feel a peace that transcends understanding, that you know that you are in a community of faith where you can be affirmed and loved.

  The second way that you can pray for our church to grow in gospel culture is this. May our church be exceedingly warm in hospitality. God, would you make us people who are exceedingly warm in hospitality. Verse 2, do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unaware. I'll get to the angels part in a second, OK? That's the interesting part. We're not only to love one another, but the, but the word actually calls us to love the stranger. And sometimes the stranger someone is, the more we need to love them. I, Mike Hong, who's a pastor over at Brookline, back when I worked at Brookline, we used to have this phrase that we would use to help us remember to love people who were difficult to love. And we would just call them Jesus's favorite people. And so if someone was exceptionally difficult or exceptionally weird, we, they became Jesus's favorite people. And we were now called to love them with the love of Jesus.

  This means that we don't just love one another with brotherly love, but we show love to outsiders. We are drawn to those on the periphery. If you look around, you feel different, maybe you feel younger than other people in this room, maybe you feel older than other people, maybe you look around, you don't see many people with the same skin tone that you have. Listen, the thing is, we want to look like heaven and we need you here. If you don't reflect everyone else around here, we want to be a diverse community. We need you here, and we want to welcome you.

  And if you look around, you see a lot of people who look like you, that means you have even more impetus to be the welcoming party for everyone around. And so, at, at, as a church family, if you see someone who doesn't look like they know people, what are you doing? Go be that "there you are" person. Let's show that hospitality.

  Look, as we grow, this has to become more and more intentional, because back when we were a little smaller, it was able to be more casual, where like most of the people in the church knew each other, and if there was someone new, you just go and say hello, right? At least Michael would. And, if you, but now as we continue to get bigger. Or just like there's transience, and we don't know everyone, and we just have to have a more intentional plan. And so actually what I'm praying for is that some of you might help us in making this intentional plan. I have tried. It's not my biggest spiritual gift, and I have other things going on. Sundays, but we really need to have a more intentional plan for welcoming people. So if you're new to our church, I'm glad you've stuck around. I hope that we've been hospitable to you. But I know that we need to grow in our hospitality.

  But look, hospitality can't stop on Sundays. It has to overflow and to people opening up their homes, which I could, I mean, I could just go around and just like note different people who have opened up their homes for extended stays and who have opened up their homes for nights or dinners or lunches or whatever it might be. Praise God. We, we need you all. Thank you for showing hospitality.

  The, the angels part, OK. So this passage says that some people have entertained angels unaware. I used to think that this meant that if you're walking down the street, and you saw a stranger, you don't know if that person's a person or an angel, and so you need to be hospitable to everyone. And I guess in some ways that could be true, like we don't know, but I think that Hebrews is doing what Hebrews does, and it's, it's referencing the Old Testament. That's what Hebrews does all the time. Reference, reference, reference. And so this in particular is referencing Genesis 18, when two men showed up to Abraham, and Abraham showed hospitality to them, made food, set up a tent, and then they turned out to be angels. And so this is just an Old Testament reference. It's one of the ways that Hebrews communicates as we go through.

  The third way that we need to have a prayer for our church is may our church have a heart for the oppressed. Father, may our church have a heart for the forgotten, the oppressed. Verse 3. Remember those who are in prison. As though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you are also in the body. So not only are we to welcome one another, brothers and sisters, not only are we to welcome guests and strangers among us, but we're to not forget about those we don't see. Prison ministry is a is a wonderful thing. It's something that I pray that we can develop more of. just one quick story about prison ministry.

  Several years ago, we had this guy visit our community group named Drew, and, it's none of the Drew's here. And he, he came in and he, we're just like, yeah, so tell me your story, Drew. And he's like, yeah, I'm from Fall River, which that's a good way to start for the rest of the story. I'm from Fall River and about 10 years ago, I robbed a bank. So, sorry, Fall River. The only person I know from Fall River literally robbed a bank. But, which goes with many of the stereotypes, but he, not that you would know, OK. Those of you from Massachusetts, you know what I'm talking about at least. But he is, he said, 10 years ago, I robbed a bank. I was in prison. These people came, they start telling me about Jesus, and I love Jesus. I started reading the Bible with them. And I just got out of jail on parole, and I wanna get baptized. And I was like, well, nice to meet you, Drew. So glad to have you. And we were able to bring him into our church family and baptize him, and then before too long, we were able to help him to find a church family closer to where he was living at the time.

  But prison ministry is so important. Christian love can never be out of sight, out of mind. As Christians, we always have a concern with those who are oppressed because God cared for us when we were oppressed and enslaved in sin. So therefore we care for others, especially those overlooked by society. So this is gonna sound political. And I promise it's just biblical, OK? And hopefully by the end of this statement, you're gonna say, I don't know which political party that is gonna, that sounds political with. And that's, that's the goal. But let me just tell you this. All people Are worthy of dignity and respect. Regardless of race, religion, gender identity, criminal status, immigration status, even birth status in some cases. As a church, we're called to be people of compassion and love. And the reality is you don't have to agree with someone. To treat them with dignity and respect. That's very simple. You don't have to agree with someone. You can disagree strongly with someone and still treat them with dignity and respect, because as an image bearer of God.

  How else are you going to communicate the love of Christ to people that you disagree? It's not by being a jerk. You want to go in and love them into the kingdom, even when you disagree with them. May we be the type of church who cares. For the oppressed in our society, for those who are forgotten and overlooked.

  Next, number four, may marriages flourish in our church. Let marriage be held in high honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous. God may marriages flourish in our church. This is gonna be another strong statement. Are you guys ready? The culture of our church can only be as strong as the marriages in our church. How could we possibly have a gospel culture in our church, when our marriages, those of us who are married, does not reflect that same gospel culture. How could we? Why? Why is it like this? Because marriage is the greatest reflection of the love of God in our world. Jesus loves us with a selfless love, and marriage is meant to be a reflection of the way that God loved us and loves us.

  Listen, I have a lot of responsibilities here at the church. I will not be one of those pastors that deprioritizes his marriage or his family though. And Megan is my number one priority. my number one earthly priority above, the Lord is absolutely number one, but Megan is my number one earthly priority. And above your emergency, above whatever commitments and responsibilities I have here, above even my own children, my wife is my commitment and my biggest responsibility, priority, and love. And about 10 years ago, it wasn't the case. About 10 years ago, Megan was, having a really hard time, and she said, Look, I don't think I can be a pastor's wife anymore. This is, this is really tough. And I said, Well, look, like I've trained to be a pastor. I have multiple degrees, and like, this is all I have experience in. I think I'd have a hard time finding a job somewhere else. And, but I actually think that what you're saying isn't that you have a hard time being a pastor's wife. I think what you're saying is you're having a hard time being my wife in this moment, because I haven't been a very good husband.

  And it was in that moment where I repented, and I truly made that my number one priority and said nothing will get in the way of you flourishing. Not just our relationship, but you flourishing. Like I just need my wife to know that I'm in her corner, that I love her, the way that Christ loves his church, that he says nothing will get in the way of my church flourishing. The gates of hell will not prevail against her. That's how I feel about my wife. I will defend her. And so Our marriages must have a fierce. A fierce love among them. We have to nurture our marriages. If you are married, and your marriage is not healthy, if you are not finishing your fights, if you're not reconciling, if you're not, if you're avoiding one another, if the marriage bed is defiled, or maybe the marriage bed is just vacant. You have work to do. You have work to do. Whatever you plan, scratch it. This is your new number one priority. If you're preparing for marriage, get ready.

  And look, listen, friends, don't do this alone. The first 5 years of our church is 8 years old now, next week. The first 5 years of our church, I was like, hey, this is great. Like no one seems to be having marriage problems. And then over the past 3 years, it's been like, walk, walk, walk, you know, it's like everyone is having marriage problems because guess what? Marriage is hard. It's hard. It's hard. And I would not assume that just because you haven't told me doesn't mean that you don't have marriage issues. And I'm just saying, we need to pay careful attention to this, and don't do it alone, and walk with one another.

  And look, if you're not married, this, this verse also doesn't let you off the hook. Are you honoring the purpose of marriage and your relationships? Are your relationships marked with integrity, especially sexual integrity? Because you can do damage to the cause of Christ by ignoring the purpose of marriage. This is gonna be a focus for us. Our marriages need to be stronger. This summer we're gonna do a short miniseries on marriage, singleness, and parenting. It's gonna be a great time. I also want to do some trainings in marriage, and, and like, I just, we need to be there for each other so our marriages can thrive. Now, as if that wasn't enough application for us, I have just a little bit more, and then we'll land this plane, OK?

  Then the fifth thing that we can be praying for is may we be known for our contentment, our generosity, and simplicity. May we be known for our contentment, our generosity, and our simplicity. Verse 5, keep your life free from the love of money and be content with what you have, for he has said, I will never leave you nor forsake you. So we can confidently say, the Lord is my helper, I will not fear. What can man do to me? If the marriage bed is a window into the health of your marriage, your bank statement is a window into what you value most in life. If you look at your credit card statement, you will very quickly, or your bank statement, whatever, you'll very quickly see what your priorities are, whether they are, comfort, security, self-improvement, status, your own attraction, whatever it might be, your appearance. God has given us so much. Jesus, though he was rich, he became poor so that we might become rich in the kingdom to come. And Jesus was content with a simple life. He didn't have much.

  And so I just want us to consider what would be the the vibe of a church that's generous, that church that's content, saying, I have enough. What would be the vibe? There would be vibes of generosity, there would be vibes of simplicity, of not feeling like you have to keep up with the Joneses, but instead you're able to give generously to those without. And of course, there's nothing wrong with money, but the reality is that everyone in here, from the poorest to the richest, if I offered you money, you would say thank you. Like we all want more money. And the Bible tells us to be content. And I know that's easier said than done. For some of us, it's like we just don't have enough. The Bible still says to be content.

  And for many of us, we have a lot. And the Bible says to be content, and maybe we can grow in generosity along that way. Intentionally living below our means. Maybe you just start with something simple. Maybe if you have means, even if you dedicate, OK, look, I know how your budgets work. You're like, well, I'm dedicating this much to this and dedicating this much to, even if it's already pre-allocated, maybe you just choose generosity and something this week. You say, I'm gonna buy lunch when I would normally split it. I'm gonna buy this person a gift. I'm gonna give as much as I spend on eating out. I'm just gonna figure out ways to be generous, so that our vibe can be more generous. No one wants to be a part of a church that feels stingy all the way around. Amen. Let's just be a generous people. May our culture be one where we're not afraid to talk about money, one where we are abundantly generous.

  And think about, especially with these past two. If you were someone just from the neighborhood who visited our church. And you experienced a church where marriages seem to be thriving. And where people seem to be not worried about money. In fact, they're just like really openly generous. How refreshing. Oh, just like a cold glass of water on a warm day. Sounds amazing for that to happen.

  And the last one, may we be teachable. Father, may our church be teachable. Even as we go through these things, would you give us a heart of teachability? Verse 7, remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way and imitate their faith. Verse 17, obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your soul, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy, not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.

  My favorite verses. Kidding. Some of us really struggle with the idea of being told what to do. And here it's saying, not only listen to what I'm telling you in the Bible, but listen and obey your leaders. And some of us, we hear that word obey, and we're like, I'm absolutely not in on that one. In fact, I'm gonna do the opposite of what this says. And especially if you grew up in a majority culture, that's the case. A lot of times, I used to joke with Mike that it was easier to pastor non-tradition, non-majority traditions, because they respected the role of a pastor easier. And so white people will just ask you why for anything you want to do. Like, hey, I want to do this, and they're just like, well, why is that? But if you tell someone from an ethnic minority who grew up in like a traditional society, they're kind of like, Sounds good, pastor. And I'm like, that's nice, you know. But we need both. We need both. We need both. Not everyone is that way, of course, but.

  Let me know just a few things in this passage. One, the point is to be teachable. Many people come into a church and they act like they have everything figured out, but this reminds, this passage reminds us that we need a leader and that we need to be teachable. Number two, plurality is assumed here. OK? This doesn't say, remember your, your pastor or obey your pastor or your leader. It says, remember your leaders and obey your leaders. There's this aspect of plurality that's assumed. As a church, we believe that I am not leading it myself, but we have a plurality of elders that have joined along with us, that there's two other elders at the moment, Mark and, and Michael. And we're in the pro we have an elder process with 5 guys in it at the moment that we're developing more leaders, and we want to see more and more leaders built up and it doesn't even just say elders or pastors, but we have other leaders such as Alexis and, and all of our deacons who also have much to, to teach us.

  Third, there's an assumption that you can observe the life of your leaders and imitate their faith. And that's intimidating at times. I mean, that's a, that's a heavy burden that I know that you not only are watching, but you're told by scripture to watch my life and imitate my faith. And I just have to say like. When I think about all this gospel culture stuff, I know culture starts with the leader. And when I look at our church, like I like our church, I like all of you, and then I see parts of our culture that just reflect. Parts of myself that reflect traumas from my past, and I'm just like, I'm sorry guys, like I'm trying, you know? And it just brings me reassurance that Jesus is the ultimate lead pastor of our church, and that we have to look to him because I'm just messed up often and will not always exemplify the outcome of the faith that you deserve to see.

  And so, follow me as I only as I follow Christ. And look at me as my heart is soft towards him and wants to follow what he wants for our church. And the fourth thing that you might notice here is that your leaders carry a heavy responsibility, not only should they be imitated, their face should be imitated, but it says that we're keeping watch of your souls and that we will give an account to the Lord. Guys, that's intimidating. Like, if there's anything that keeps me up at night, it's that, like. Like, I sleep very well normally, but I do worry for some of you at times, and I care for you, and I wish that I could be everywhere, and that's why we need a plurality cause I can't be, but I know I'm going to stand before the Lord. And be judged. Based upon how well I watched over your souls.

  And praise God that it's Christ's righteousness and not my own, that he's, he's enough for me. And and that's also why we practice healthy meaningful membership here, because I can't just watch over people who just show up to church on Sunday. I need, we need to know that you're committed, so that we know who we're watching, who we're accountable before the Lord for. And so those of you who call this your church home, like we encourage you that membership process is for our good and for your good, and that's why we do it. You're welcome to come today if you want.

  One thing that it points out here as it talks about, obeying your leaders and following after them is it points out all this stuff about strange teachings, and how, these leaders are trying to give you spiritual food, but there's all kinds of strange teachings out there, and they mention stuff like food. And in the first century, there was like. Some people in the church who said that you need to eat this kind of food, and it'll give you this kind of spiritual vitality and all this type of thing. And that just, you know, sounds like someone I saw on an Instagram reel yesterday, because that's like the type of stuff that's out there.

  And, let me just say that it's easier than ever to fall into strange teachings. And that you have to please like help me watch over your soul by watching over your own soul a little bit and watching over your phone a little bit, because like, I can't control what comes through your reels, and I can't control what pastors show up or what influencers show up and tell you what crazy things that you start believing are true. And like, sometimes I'm watching this stuff and like, I have studied theology my entire life and I'm listening to it and I'm like, that sounds convincing, and then by the end of it, I'm like, wait a second, that's a 1700 year old heresy that that person just espoused. And like, how are you supposed to know what palladianism is? You know, like, not everybody does, but like we have to, we have to watch over that type of thing.

  And I pray that God would create this kind of culture in our church. And imagine how powerful our witness would be if this six, if these six things were true of us, that our church overflowed with affection. In fact, would you just pray this with me, that we might overflow with affection, that our church would be exceedingly warm in hospitality because of the way that God has welcomed us, that our church would have a heart for the oppressed because we were oppressed by sin, that our marriages might flourish in our church because Christ loves us and our marriages reflect his love, that we might be known for our contentment, our generosity, and our simplicity, because God has given us everything we need. And that we might be teachable because we know we don't have it all figured out.

  May we be the type of church where the gospel is not just heard, but experienced. Create in us, oh God, a culture. We're gonna have a moment in just a moment to come to the table, to respond to God's word through a communion meal. And during this time, actually, I'm gonna start showing this slide every week to help guide us through the communion process. As we prepare for communion, we need to seek the Lord, responding to the preached word of God. What does God have for you today? And as he brings any sin to mind that we confess it and we repent of it before we come to the table. And if you'd like, you can pray with someone. There's prayer counselors in the back who would be more than willing to come and help you with that. And then we come to the table as people who are trusting in Christ.

  And so if you call this, so if you are a Christian, if you call yourself a follower in Christ, we encourage you to come and repent of your sin, but come, come to the table and receive this. On the night that he was betrayed, Jesus broke a loaf of bread, and he, and he said, this is my body broken for you. Do this in remembrance of me. And he took a cup and he said, This is my blood shed for you. Would you do this in remembrance of me. And so each week, we take the body and blood, the, the bread and the cup, and we're reminded that Christ's body was broken for us and his blood was shed for us. Would you join me in, in praying for this time.

  God, as we come to your table now, would you create in us a heart that is teachable and ready to hear from you. Would you create in our church a culture that responds and is grateful for what you've done for us. Father, I pray for anyone who sees how they have contributed to an anti-gospel culture, a culture of criticism or of harshness, "here I am" culture, and not a "there you are" culture. And God, would you lead them to experience your grace anew, and that that might overflow in the horizontal relationships around them. Jesus, would, would your love pour down on us? In Christ's name we pray, Amen.