Latest / HBCWestminster / Realignment 8.25.19

Transcript

Realignment 8.25.19 · HBCWestminster

• 0:00
  You know, it's hard to convey the privilege that I feel in pastoring this church and the privilege that I feel, honestly, in preaching the Word of God. And I think so many say so often that they feel inadequate to the task that my feeble effort at describing my personal feelings seems as though it may get drowned out. In the proclamation of the truths of Scripture, I honestly feel the pleasure of God. And this is, I believe, the purpose for which I've been made. So I want to start.
• 0:33
  This morning, our realignment sermon by thanking all of you again for allowing me this great privilege every week. Every year at the end of the summer, we push pause on our sermon series. And as you know, if you've been around, we've been going through the book of Proverbs. We've finished the first three chapters and at this point now are systematizing or preaching through kind of the Proverbs topically as I think they've been arranged and I think is appropriate for that book. Last Sunday, we looked at the Proverbs on speech.
• 1:04
  the value of soft speech and sage speech. But this week, we push pause to ensure that our direction as a church is in line with our mission and our vision. We call it Realignment Sunday, and this is now, as hard as it is to believe, my fourth realignment sermon. George Mueller said, the Word of God is the bread of life, and the prayer of faith is the breath of life.
• 1:34
  And so let's begin this morning by eating God's Word together and by breathing in prayer together. You have your Bibles open to Romans chapter 12. I would invite you to stand in honor of God's Word as we read, and then we'll pray and begin. I'm going to read verses 9 through 18. It says, Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil. Hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection.
• 2:09
  Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal. Be fervent in spirit. Serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope. Be patient in tribulation. Be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality. Bless those who persecute you. Bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice. Weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly.
• 2:40
  Never be wise in your own sight. Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Would you pray with me, Lord? Today we remember again your faithfulness, your faithfulness in the sending of your Son, your faithfulness in the establishing of the early church, your faithfulness to each generation all the way down.
• 3:12
  to Highland Baptist Church in 2019. Thank you for your presence, God, here with us this morning. We thank you for your grace in allowing us to come before your throne. And God, we lay this church body at your feet. Do with it what you will for your glory and God, for our joy. And it's in the name of Jesus we pray. Amen. Amen. You can be seated. Thank you for standing. Do you ever wonder how people find a church?
• 3:45
  There are all kinds of books written, all kinds of blog posts written, all kinds of theories and articles published about how it is that people find a church and what it is that people look for in a church. But do you ever wonder how people find us? Highland Baptist Church. All of us at one point were brand new. All of us had a very first Sunday here at Highland. We at one point were all visitors here at Highland. How did you find us?
• 4:19
  answers that people give to that question as I ask, and I typically do ask, you know, is this your first Sunday with it? How did you find us? And I get a lot of responses back, some of which are something like, you know, I was driving by, or I drive by 92nd every day on my way to work, and I've seen your sign, or I've seen the church, or I've driven by on Wednesday nights, and the parking lot's always packed, and I've always wondered what you guys do, so I decided to stop in. Others, and a lot of them in the last couple of years have said,
• 4:44
  Well, I Google searched churches in my area, and I found Highland Baptist Church. Saw your website, and so I decided to stop in. But number one on that list, regardless of how many other responses there may be, and we rejoice in them all, number one on the list still is somebody invited me here. Found out about it from a friend or a family member. My cousin goes to church here. My brother-in-law attends here. And so they invited me, and I came. You ever wonder?
• 5:17
  Which people from Highland invite the most people to Highland? Can you imagine how many people are here because of Allegra? Allegra is just faithful. Honestly, I think she has the gift of evangelism. I do. I don't even think she's here with us this morning. She's working. She gets scheduled twice a Sunday at Lowe's out there. And so she's working. But man, so many people are here because of her.
• 5:45
  Or here because of somebody she invited that then went and invited somebody else? Pearl Martinez? Where are you? There she is. Man, the gift of evangelism. Do you know how many people are here because of Pearl Martinez? If she moves into your neighborhood, get ready for revival. Honestly, because that's what she does. She just unashamedly, unabashedly invites people to come and know the Lord. And she's not always...
• 6:15
  gentle even about it. I mean, she will put her hand around you, and she will drag you in here if that's what she needs to do, but you're going to find your way to Highland because of Pearl Martinez. Chris Jordan has the same gift. He will eventually evangelize every single person at that Chick-fil-A over there on 104th and Federal. They will all eventually find their way here. Stephanie Anderson is another one.
• 6:42
  She doesn't even know that this is happening, but she invites a friend, and then she invites this friend, and then she invites this friend, and she just faithfully walks in that gift. I've told you before, I believe one of my sons has the same gift. He's nine years old, and he just unashamedly asks people to come. Yesterday, it was a Saturday morning, and it was a nice weather, which means the garage sailors were out in force, right? And so,
• 7:12
  And Chase and my middle son, Zach, who was 14, enjoy garage sales. I don't. I don't like having them. I don't like going to them. I just don't. But those two boys do. And so they, on Saturday mornings, jump on their bikes. And they do this pretty frequently, actually. They'll jump on their bikes and they'll go check out all of the garage sales in the neighborhood. And so just a few houses down from us, Chase found that our neighbors, whom we had never met, we didn't know who they were. In fact, I'd never even seen them before. We're having a garage sale. And so he walked down there.
• 7:42
  unbeknownst to me, and was checking out the garage sale. But when I showed up yesterday, I had some stuff to do here in the morning. And so when I showed up yesterday, later in the morning, there was this boy that I didn't recognize playing in our front yard. And so I walked over and introduced myself to him. His name is Arthur. And I said, Chase, where did you meet Arthur? Oh, his family's the one having the garage sale down the street. I said, all right. How did he get here?
• 8:12
  Well, I went to the garage sale. I saw him and I was like, hey, do you want to come to my house and hang out? And he said, yes. So here we are. And so Arthur spent most of the day in our home yesterday. In fact, when lunchtime came around, Arthur's still standing there. Hallie was gone. Hallie said, hey, I'm going to stop at Chipotle for lunch. What do you guys want? And I said, well, Zach wants this and Chase wants this and Arthur wants this. Who's Arthur?
• 8:39
  He's the kid. His family's having a garage sale down the street. You know, Arthur, do you want lunch? Yeah, that sounds pretty good. I'll take a quesadilla and whatever else. All right. Arthur left for a few minutes after lunch and came back with his younger brother, Lincoln. And for the next few hours, Arthur and Lincoln spent time at our house. In fact, they're planning on coming back this afternoon to play with our son. I'm telling you, he just is unafraid.
• 9:10
  When people come to Highland, how do they find their way here? For the most part, it's through the invitation of others. I asked Chase one time, not that long ago actually, I said, Chase, when you're talking to people about our church, and I'm telling you, he talks to everybody about our church. When you invite them, when you describe our church, how do you describe us? I was curious, you know, when he says, hey, you should come to church with me. What is it? Like, how does he do it? And he said, well, I usually say this.
• 9:40
  The thing about Highland Baptist Church, and this is a direct quote, the thing about Highland Baptist Church is that it's small on the outside, but on the inside, it's big. I thought that is a pretty great compliment. What a great metaphor even. On the outside, it's small, but on the inside, it's big. Have you ever experienced the opposite? You know, there are plenty of big churches in our area.
• 10:14
  In fact, some of the largest and fastest growing churches in the country are in and around the city of Denver. And I'm not saying any of this to criticize any one of them. The Lord knows how I feel about His bride, the church. I have no desire to blacken her eye this morning. But I have experienced churches with wonderful facilities, sprawling campuses, and tens of thousands of people. Churches that are huge on the outside.
• 10:45
  but whose preaching is small, whose worship is small, whose engagement with God and others is small, tremendously talented musicians who can't lead worship, talented speakers who don't know how to rightly divide the word of truth, big on the outside, but on the inside small. The goal of this morning's message is to answer some simple questions about our church, the same questions that most people ask when they visit for the first time.
• 11:18
  Questions like, who are we? What is our mission? How do we see it playing out day to day? If I were to boil Highland down to the few most important things about us, what would they be? I'll begin with a brief history of Highland, explaining the goals with which we were originally planted and how we believe the Lord is guiding and directing our church into the future. You know, Highland is actually a pretty old church.
• 11:42
  It began as a church plant of Northwest Baptist Church in 1965, which if you do the math means that we're more than 50 years old. In fact, Highland predates any attendees this morning. Highland existed before Dale and Kathy started attending. Highland existed before Nadine started attending. Highland existed before the Madsen family found their way here, before Jim and Blanche Gifford.
• 12:12
  before Paul and Carol McClure. I one time had a conversation with my good friend, Paul, who has since graduated to be with the Lord. And he could recall the groundbreaking ceremony for this building. Now, not this building, because this building's only about a dozen years old, but the one that we're connected to, our fellowship hall, was our original sanctuary. And he could recall the groundbreaking ceremony that day. Here is a picture of it. There it is. That is the corner.
• 12:43
  of 92nd and Utica in the 1960s, future home of Highland Baptist Church. They began over there at Shaw Heights Elementary School. As you can see, the elementary school was here. But if you look at that picture, nothing else was. Nothing else was. There were no houses. There was no City Hall. There was no Barnes & Noble. There was nothing. In fact, 92nd Avenue was a dirt road. It was dirt. There was no Boulder Turnpike.
• 13:16
  He said that not even he attended when the church first opened because he was a member of another church down the road, but he could remember the first shovel full of dirt. Highland was planted with the vision to evangelize and eventually make disciples of what was then, and still kind of is, the up-and-coming northwest quadrant of Denver. As they projected forward in the 1960s, there was really almost nothing between
• 13:47
  Nothing major between Denver and Boulder. They knew that all of these little towns, Westminster and Broomfield and Arvada and Thornton and North Glen, none of whose boundaries touched at the time, they anticipated growth. And man, were they right. Still growing like crazy in this corner of our city. The founding members' hope was that God would bless this body to the point that they would themselves, perchance, plant another church.
• 14:17
  someday, and that is still our hope. Our mission is this. I've got it written up there. I've shared it with you before. It's in our constitution. Highland Baptist Church exists.
• 14:31
  to communicate the life-changing message of the Lord Jesus Christ by equipping the saints for the work of ministry through the preaching of God's Word and the empowering of the Holy Spirit. Our job is to get the gospel out. How do we do it? By equipping all of you to get the gospel out. I've told you before, it is not my job to evangelize your friends. It's your job to evangelize your friends. My job is to make sure you're prepared and equipped to do it. That is our mission. Our vision...
• 15:00
  is to train Christ followers whose goal it would be to plant and support churches when and where the Lord allows in order to replicate this mission. Now, what we must understand is that although the wording is new, only because no original mission or vision was ever articulated, the same mission and vision exist here at Highland as have always existed. This is not a new mission. This is not a new vision. For those of you guys who have been around the church for a long time,
• 15:29
  long before I was ever here. You would agree that was why we were planted. We want to get the gospel out. We want a church presence where there is no church presence. And it has always been our goal to plant additional churches. That's what we want to do. Our desire is to preach the gospel where it is not preached. We desire to raise up new disciples of Christ. We desire to strengthen and train them. And then our desire is to plant.
• 15:59
  and establish new churches where the church's presence may be weak. And there are areas in and around our northwest quadrant of Denver where the church presence and the gospel presence is weak. Every year, our realignment sermon centers around three words that help define who we are and what we do. We place them prominently here in our sanctuary. Worship, connect, and thrive. And so I'm just going to go through those, each of those quickly.
• 16:29
  and why they matter to our church, beginning with worship. If you guys would turn in your Bibles to the right with me to Philippians. Philippians chapter 3. Philippians chapter 3, beginning in verse 1, and we'll go through verse 3. It says, Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you is no trouble to me and is safe for you. Look out for the dogs. Look out for the evildoers. Look out for those who mutilate the flesh.
• 17:04
  We'll talk about what that means. For we are the circumcision. What are the next two words? Who worship. We are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh. Now, this is kind of a strange place to begin. A realignment sermon, a verse that has circumcision in it. It's probably not where you anticipate going when you think about the mission statement and the mission of a church.
• 17:38
  But if someone were to ask you what makes you a Christian, what would you say first? There are a lot of things that make us distinct and different from the world, but what would be the first thing out of your mouth? If you were to ask any non-believer today what separates Christians from the rest of the world, some would say kindness, maybe charity, honesty, loyalty. Others who have had bad experiences with Christians would say they're condescending, judgmental.
• 18:09
  hypercritical, hypocritical, brainless? The reality is that it should be none of these. Why should it not be said first that Christians are madly, desperately, uncontrollably in love with God? We're God lovers. The single greatest distinguishing mark of any genuine Christian is their love for God. Christians are in love.
• 18:39
  with God, and it's a love that first and foremost manifests itself in worship. Now, circumcision is what the Old Testament Jew would have said made them distinct, different, or separate. It would have been the very first thing they said if somebody were to ask them what made them Jewish. In fact, just a few verses later in the text, look at verse 4. Though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh, if anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more.
• 19:09
  Very first thing out of his mouth, what does he say? Circumcised on the eighth day. Not even circumcised as an adult. Circumcised on the eighth day, which means not only was Paul faithful, my parents, he says, were even faithful. I, as an eight-day-old baby, was circumcised out of the gate. A faithful Jew. It's the first thing out of their mouths. Now, the context of Philippians 3 sounds complex, and yet it's really quite simple. There were some.
• 19:40
  whose sole intention was to stir up trouble for the Apostle Paul, and by extension, the spread of the gospel. Now, these Judaizers, as they became known, dogmatically followed the Apostle, throwing his small and newly planted congregations into turmoil, as we see at the church at Philippi. Their gospel, their false gospel, included circumcision as a right for entrance into the new covenant. In other words, they said,
• 20:08
  If you want to become a Christian, you must become a Jew first. You got to follow the old covenant before you can embrace the new covenant. After all, they might say, Jesus was Jewish. Jesus himself was circumcised and he came not to abolish the law, but to fulfill it. Now, we must remember that the church that we are sitting in has existed for 2,000 years.
• 20:37
  So we have the benefit, the advantage of a rich and full history. Generations of believers have gone before us, have written creeds and confessions in order to clarify even the deepest points of theology. We are educated and prayerfully biblically literate, right? We understand what God's Word says. But to an uneducated body of believers, to brand new Christians who had not the slightest exposure to gospel truth,
• 21:08
  This heretical teaching was catastrophic. In fact, many abandoned the faith and followed that Judaizer's gospel. It actually became a theme throughout Paul's writing. Don't go back into what we were saved out of. And Paul, in an effort to spare the flock at Philippi, warns this young congregation of these, what he calls mutilators of the flesh. Circumcision, that was once a sign of the covenant.
• 21:38
  A sign of a penitent and contrite heart was now considered a heathen act of false idol worship. In fact, the word that Paul uses for mutilate is the same idea used by Elijah of the false prophets of Baal in 1 Kings 18. You remember the story when Elijah is standing on one side and the false prophets are standing on the other, and he says, let's both build an altar, let's both cut up a cow, and let's see whose God shows up first.
• 22:06
  Whoever stuffed lights on fire. Do you remember this? He basically throws down the gauntlet to the false prophets of Baal. He lets them go first. Do whatever you got to do. And they're dancing around and they're doing all of these things. He's making fun of them. It's one of my favorite passages, right? He's making fun of them. He's saying, maybe your God is sleeping. Yell louder. Maybe you just got to wake him up. He even at one point says, maybe he's going to the bathroom.
• 22:27
  The wording he uses in 1 Kings 18 is maybe he's relieving himself. You've got to get him out of the bathroom. Find your God. Get him out here. Have him show nothing happens, nothing happens, nothing happens. Finally, Elijah covers it, douses it in water, does all of that, makes it soaking wet, and then says, okay, God, go, and fire from heaven consumes the offering.
• 22:48
  But at one point, those false prophets of Baal, 1 Kings 18 even says, they began to chant and walk around this altar, cutting themselves so that the blood flowed freely. If you want to think of it this way, they were making of themselves a living sacrifice, right? Now we know that wording, right? A living sacrifice, cutting themselves, blood without death. I mean, they are just, and he uses the word mutilators.
• 23:19
  Mutilators of the flesh. It's the same idea. Mutilators of the flesh. And so Paul taught them that the true gospel had nothing to do with that. He taught them the genuine mark of a believer. He taught them what it is that truly makes a believer unique. And he says it in verse 3. We are the new circumcision who worship. We are worshipers. It's not just what we do. It's who we are.
• 23:50
  No longer were God's covenant people going to be separated by a physical condition, by a physical circumcision. Instead, they would be separated by a circumcision of the heart. Worship is to the New Testament believer what circumcision would have been to the Jew. There's no such thing as a Christian who doesn't love God. And in the same way, there's no such thing as a Christian who doesn't worship because that's what people who are in love with God do.
• 24:21
  Worship is the action of love. The worship is love's feet and hands. A Christian's love of God through worship colors and transforms the rest of his or her life. Our worship dictates and changes everything about us. And that is what separates us from the world. That's first, we worship. Second, that's worship. Second, connect, connect. Let's go back to Romans chapter 12. Romans chapter 12 and verse 3 says this, for by the grace given to me, I say to everyone among you.
• 24:51
  not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. One body.
• 25:16
  In Christ. Now, this is absolutely key to our spiritual growth. We are members one of another. We belong to each other. We belong to each other. We don't just go to church because we may feel like we need it. We go to church because as worshipers of God and have now become members of His body, not only do we need the body, but the body needs us.
• 25:44
  We must understand that the spiritual success of us as individuals and of our families is to connect with other believers. And I hate to say it so strongly, but I believe it to be true. If you never connect with other believers here at Highland, if you come, if you attend, if you worship with us for a time, but never connect with other believers here, you will eventually leave. You will. We have seen it over.
• 26:18
  And over and over, people attend for six, nine, 12 months. They worship, they enjoy it, but they never make any kind of relational connection with the body. Eventually, you leave. It doesn't matter how genuine our worship. It doesn't matter how good the music is. You guys, the music is good. It doesn't matter how deep and engaging our preaching. Connection is what we were made for. We are worshipers of God.
• 26:51
  who connect with one another through the body of Christ. Connection is important. Now you say, why do I say this so strongly? Because the church is the expression of God's family. The scriptures even teach this. In fact, we say consistently, we're a family. Highland Baptist Church is a family. That's what we are, brothers and sisters in Christ, united under the banner of God's blood. We usually say that.
• 27:15
  We are brothers and sisters together. And like an earthly family has members and expectations on those members, so also the family of God. Every one of us was raised in a family and there were expectations on each of us as members of that household. 1 Timothy 3, verses 14 and 15 say, I hope to come to you soon, but I am writing these things to you so that if I delay, catch this phrasing, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God.
• 27:44
  which is the church of the living God. He actually calls the church God's household. The church is the household of God. Everyone grows up in a family, a physical family. Every family is different. The same is true of the church. This is a spiritual family, and every family may operate according to its own set of family rules.
• 28:07
  Our family acts a certain way. We have told our boys from before they can remember what it means that they are part of the Gardner house. And whether we realize it or not, just like it's true of my sons, it is also true of us as members of Highland. There are family expectations here at Highland. I remember when I was new to this church, and as hard as it is to believe, we're coming up on five years, five years of being here at Highland. So thankful for the Lord's faithfulness to us.
• 28:39
  in those five years. But when I was brand new, I expressed my love of the game of baseball and my love of the Los Angeles Dodgers. And I had one of our senior members who has gone on to be with the Lord whose funeral I did a few years ago named Lona. Lona and her husband attended here for many years. I did both of their funerals. In fact, only six years apart, or six, I'm sorry, six weeks apart. He died first and then six weeks later.
• 29:08
  She passed away, but Lona came up to me, and Lona was a huge Broncos fan, and you guys may even remember, if you don't remember Lona, you'll remember...
• 29:16
  who she is because on Sunday mornings when the Broncos played, she came head to toe in Broncos gear. The earrings, the makeup, blue and orange, the shoes, blue and orange. I mean, it was everything about her. And she came to me one Sunday after I had expressed my love for baseball and she said, listen, Pastor Danny, you can root for whatever baseball team you want. We don't care as long as you root for the Broncos. What if I showed up to preach today in a Raiders jersey?
• 29:52
  Listen, you guys, I mean, you laugh because you know it's true. There is a culture. There is a culture here, right? It exists. There are expectations. I'm not just talking about in Denver. I'm talking about at Highland. If I showed up in a Raiders jersey to preach, that would be considered sacrilegious, maybe borderline blasphemous.
• 30:18
  Can you imagine if I had my Niners Montana jersey on? You're like, whoa, we are Elway people. Maybe Peyton Manning. But that's who we are. You don't show up to Highland wearing a cowboy shirt. No, I'm just kidding, Justin. He's got his cowboy shirt on. He said, hey, somebody's got to root for a winner. He said that today. There's a...
• 30:44
  funny little thing, right? It's a funny little expectation of culture. Nobody cares about the Dodgers, Pastor Danny. You can wear blue. Nobody cares. We'll call it Broncos blue. Now, here's why I bring this up. We need to start thinking about the church as a people. We are not a building. We are not a corporation. I've heard it worded that way. We're a corporation. No, we're not. We are incorporated because the government says we should. But other than that...
• 31:20
  We are not a corporation. In the time I've been here, I've said repeatedly that the building we are sitting in is not the church. That our worship gatherings on Sunday mornings and Wednesday nights are not the church. I'm going to go to church. That's not it. I've said this. You guys have heard me say it. The church is sitting around you. The church is sitting in the row with you.
• 31:45
  As a church family, what are the things that should be true of us? What we will call this morning are Broncos issues, the non-optional, non-negotiables. What are the expectations on us as members, connected members at Highland? Here are a few. We are going to love one another. We are going to. If you're part of this church, you're going to love the people in it. 1 John 4, verse 7 even says that. John 13, verse 35, Jesus says, a new command I give you, that you love one another.
• 32:15
  By this, all people will know that you're my disciples if you love one another. So as we come together as the body, that is an expectation on us, that we love one another. We are going to guard and protect one another. There is loyalty here. If people start ripping on our body, those outside the faith are ripping on us and trying to divide us and trying to pull us apart. There is a loyalty. That's my family. And you know what? Honestly, you guys, even if they're right,
• 32:47
  Even if what they're saying is true, you still don't get to say that about us. Right? You're not a part of the family. That's my family. You don't get to say those things about us. Another one, Hebrews chapter 10 says that we should encourage one another all the more as we see the day of Christ returning, approaching, as we see His return approaching. We should encourage one another all the more.
• 33:14
  We would never allow our kids to speak about one another in a harsh, negative, or degrading way. Why would we allow it within our spiritual family? We never would. Here's another one. This is true of the Gardner home. It's true here at Highland as well. You're going to participate. I tell my sons, we participate. That's what it means to be a part of the family, right? You have the same expectations in your physical family. You participate, even if you don't like what we're doing.
• 33:42
  Even if you're like, you know, Pastor Danny, everybody knows the worst Disney movie ever made was The Lion King. I have no desire to see it again. That Mufasa and I don't get along. You know? I don't want to come. I don't like The Lion King. You know what? It's fine. I tell my boys the same thing. Even if you don't like the movie we chose, come watch the movie with us. Right? We're going to participate. It means we're part of the same family. We'll be involved in each other's lives.
• 34:14
  eating together, praising together, raising our kids and our grandkids together. It's what it means to be part of the family. John Stott says this, as brothers and sisters, we are called to love, forbear, and support one another, enjoying the rich, what he calls one anotherness, one anotherness or reciprocity of Christian fellowship. In other words, Christian fellowship is a give and a take. We benefit from the body, we also benefit.
• 34:43
  Now, what does this look like at Highland? You know, we try to create opportunities for you to be with the people of God. We try to create opportunities for us to do that. Life on life, families with families, we believe that to engage in corporate worship and preaching is vital to your spiritual health. What we are doing this morning, corporate worship and preaching is vital, but so is discipleship, prayer, accountability.
• 35:13
  friendship, and this is why our connect groups exist. We call them that on purpose. Connect groups. Our corporate worship services are at 9 and 1045. Our connect groups are at 9 and 1045. So right now, as we're in here worshiping corporately, there is another group in our fellowship hall connecting with one another. They are doing the aspects of the church that are difficult to do in a corporate setting.
• 35:41
  They pray for one another. They really do. They break into groups. They ask for requests. They pray for one another every week by name. Accountability. If there is something going on, if there is sin in the life of the believers, they find out about it. They're trying to do that. They're creating an environment where this is happening. Discipleship, giving people the opportunity to use their gifts. Hospitality. The Bible says to practice hospitality. It is difficult to do in a group of 200, right?
• 36:11
  Hey, everybody come over to my house. Like nobody has that house. 200 people, you can't. So we purposely try to break it down into a smaller group where you can say, you know what? Come to my house. There's 12 of us. Come to my house. When we're done in here, we all go in there.
• 36:28
  When they're done in there, they all come in here. And we complement each other those aspects of the Christian faith that the New Testament describes. If you're only coming to the corporate worship setting, then there are some major aspects of the church that you're missing. Namely, the connection, that relational aspect of the church that is so, so vital. Now, I have an exciting announcement to make. This is the perfect time to join a connect group.
• 36:54
  September 15th, just a few weeks from now, both of our Connect Hour teachings are doing new series. So everything's kind of wrapping up and everything's going to relaunch as of September 15th. Also on September 15th, we are launching a brand new Connect Group specifically for young married couples.
• 37:15
  Okay, we know that God has been bringing a lot of young married couples. People have just gotten married, married in the last five or 10 years, just starting to have a family. And so we are starting that September 15th as well. If you are a young married couple, then you should come. It's gonna meet at nine o'clock. So you'll attend that at nine o'clock. It's gonna meet in the West Hall. Nine o'clock, you'll attend in there. And you guys, the couples that we have at this church are unbelievable.
• 37:43
  The reason we wanted to offer this is because they were having a hard time getting together. A bunch of them are just having their first babies. They're having a hard time getting together because of childcare. The good news is we offer childcare. It's already done. So you can drop your kid off and then go with people who are just like you. Same stage in life, September 15th, right in there. Would love to have you guys in there. Attend that and then come in here and worship at 1045.
• 38:09
  You know, if you're only coming to worship and then leaving, you're missing some vital aspects of what Scripture says the church should do. We've got to start thinking of the body of Christ as more than merely Sunday mornings. The body of Christ and our connection to it should be an everyday, even moment-by-moment interaction. That's second, connect. Third and last, thrive. If you turn back to the left with me to John 15. John 15. We're going to pick one verse out of Jesus'
• 38:42
  upper room discourse. I'll explain kind of the context in which it was written. But John 15, verse 8, by this, my father is glorified, he says, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. If you look at verse 11, just a few verses later, these things, Jesus said, I have spoken to you that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be full. This is just a couple of verses of the last sermon, the final sermon that Jesus ever preached.
• 39:15
  It was given the night before the crucifixion. Christ and his disciples had eaten the last supper. He'd washed their feet. Judas had left to commit the betrayal. Jesus had begun what would be his final address to the apostles before his death. And in chapter 15, Christ's theme is basically, I want you to be happy, right? That your joy may be full. I want you to be happy. I'm going to tell you how to do it. He's looking at the men who would, within a matter of weeks, lead his church. And he told them, bear fruit.
• 39:46
  In fact, four times in these 11 verses, chapter 15, verses 1 through 11, four times in 11 verses, he gives them this edict, bear fruit, which makes me think he was serious about it. There is no such thing as a fruitless Christian. There's not. If you claim the name of Christ,
• 40:09
  and yet you're bearing no spiritual fruit in your life, if you're not growing in your likeness of the Savior, if you're not more and more exhibiting the fruit of the Spirit, if the gospel never graces your lips, you should definitely question the genuineness of your conversion. Right? I'm not saying you're not saved. That's not for me to judge. The Lord alone knows your heart. I'm saying that there may be something seriously wrong with your faith if it's not exhibiting itself in the bearing.
• 40:39
  of fruit. If you go up to John 15 verse 1, I'm not making this up. Look at verse 1. I'm the true vine. My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit, He takes away. Every branch that does bear fruit, He prunes that it may be more fruitful. 2 Peter chapter 1 verse 5.
• 41:02
  It says, for this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue and virtue with knowledge and knowledge with self-control, self-control with steadfastness, steadfastness with godliness, godliness with brotherly affection, brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, I like that, if you're continuing to grow in your faith, grow in your exhibiting of spiritual fruit, grow in the fruit of praising lips, grow in your...
• 41:32
  fruit in keeping with repentance. All of the times the New Testament talks about spiritual fruit, if you're growing in your fruit of evangelism, offering that kingdom invitation to others who don't know the Lord, if it's yours and increasing, it will keep you, 2 Peter 1 says, keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these qualities, whoever is unfruitful, is nearsighted.
• 42:02
  and blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. To say that it is possible to be a Christ-following, God-honoring believer and yet not bear any spiritual fruit, 2 Peter 1 says is nearsighted, blind, and forgetful. Now, it's our goal that Highlands members would thrive. In fact, we even have a Wednesday evening Bible study that we call Thrive. The entire church comes back on Wednesday nights. If you guys aren't coming back yet, you should.
• 42:33
  Our old church comes back, the youth ministry meets, children's ministry meets, all of the adult classes all meet. We call it Thrive on Purpose because it's meant to take Sunday morning and launch us into even deeper theology, deeper teaching, deeper worship, deeper fellowship. It is God's Word. God's Word says and even commands that we bear much fruit. Our branches should be drooping with fruit. Consider your own spiritual journey. Have you progressed? How often is the praise of God on your lips?
• 43:08
  Have you put to death the things which are unpleasing to Christ and which will destroy you? Have you put off the old man? Have you made an honest effort to put on the new man? What place does the gospel maintain in your daily life? How many have heard the gospel from you? We must be a church that thrives in the bearing of spiritual fruit. We worship. That's first and foremost. We love God, and it's a love that is manifest in worship. It is the single greatest thing that makes us distinct and unique from the world.
• 43:39
  We connect. We're all members of one another. We're members of one another. Those relationships are vital. We've got to create friendships, fellowship, genuine fellowship here in the church, and we thrive. Our desire is to bear much spiritual fruit. This is Highland. We may be small on the outside, but we're big on the inside. Our church is over 50 years old, and our course as a church has already been determined. Those founding members 55 years ago,
• 44:10
  determined the direction they wanted this to go, the church to go. The trajectory has already been set. The arrow has been shot. It's been calculated. It's up to us to maintain the course. We will continue to be a Bible-teaching, Christ-exalting, disciple-making church. We will continue to be worshipers. We will allow the love of God in our hearts to overflow in magnifying praise of our Savior. We will connect with the family of God.
• 44:40
  The church is the household of God. And just like we commit to invest in and grow our earthly family, so also we will take the time to invest in our spiritual family. We will have the same view of the family in Christ and we will thrive. We will bear spiritual fruit because the day that Highland stops bearing fruit is the day that we become nearsighted, forgetful, and blind. God, I pray that you would bless the reading, preaching, hearing of your word today. God, help us.
• 45:09
  to accomplish this mission, this mission which is not new, but was set over 50 years ago, five decades ago. God, may we continue on that path of training up and sending, of disciple-making, of evangelizing. God, I pray that if it's within your will to allow us to plant a church or revitalize a church, God, that you would make that clear to us someday. Lord, we would rejoice. Give us great joy, God, to lay that church at your feet one day.
• 45:41
  Say that we had used the resources that you had given us to the best of our ability for your glory and for our joy. And it's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.