Stand Firm (1 John 2:18-27)
Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet this week.
Transcript
My name is Chet. I'm one of the pastors here. Excited to be with y'all this morning. We are celebrating that we officially joined together two congregations two years ago. In that time, we have seen some really cool things. We've had a lot happen in two years.
We met for about 10 weeks, and then there was a pandemic, and so we stopped meeting. And so some of what we had planned to originally, you know, join together, get to know each other, share meals, become friends. We had to, in order to love each other, stay away from each other. We told our younger congregants who were still living their lives, we said, don't you dare get to know anybody from First Baptist Church of Casey? You disease-harboring sponge? We couldn't be around each other.
We couldn't share meals. We couldn't do anything. We had, though, the Lord kind of kept us together in that, and we walked through that together, and we have grown together in that. There's some handful of things that have happened over the two years that we've been together. We walked through the pandemic together. We went through construction together, and we joined our churches together all in the same year.
We got it out of the way. I mean, we bunched everything together that can be really frustrating in some ways. They're really difficult. We walked through together. We've, in the past two years, we have ten community groups. Nine of those were a part of multiplication.
So either they grew and then multiplied. So we have six new group leaders in the past two years. We saw nine people profess faith in Christ over the past two years. We, at one point, our basement flooded, and it wasn't just water damage. We went down there, and we realized this isn't just water. This is sewage.
So we contacted Casey, and we said, we don't think this is just from the rain. This isn't an act of God. This is an act of Casey. And they contacted us back and said, it actually isn't our fault. It's this company. And we thought, okay, well, they're kind of putting this off.
We're going to try to figure this out. We called that company, and the company said, we don't want to do an insurance claim. Just tell us what it costs, and we'll pay for it. We renovated our basement for zero dollars. Yeah. And isn't that a picture of the gospel?
It's like, there's some mess here. And then he, at zero cost to you, he paid the price and did it for us. The other thing that happened in this was, I remember being frustrated in the middle of the pandemic. I was like, you know, Lord, we prayed. We felt like we were supposed to join our churches together and walked right into a pandemic. And I was just kind of, I was, I was annoyed.
I found the pandemic inconvenient. I don't know if y'all did. And I didn't remember Miss Louise, as we were getting back together, she said she came in one, one day and said that, that the, their group had met and was just talking about how blessed they felt that we had merged when we did, because they didn't know how they'd walk through the pandemic without our congregations being brought together. And I was just like, Oh yeah, I could see that. I see how that would, would have been a very different thing if we'd have been separated. And we'd have been over at Glen Forest trying to figure that out and trying to be in a school and just seeing the Lord's hand, even in the timing that he brought us together.
Cause he, he wasn't caught off guard, but we have been blessed as we decided to come together and celebrate our anniversary today. We were originally planning on coming from a different place and just trying to find something and, and talking as we read through first John, we realized this actually kind of fits. And so we're just going to keep walking through first John. So go to first John chapter two. This in some ways, I think makes sense for where we are today. What we're trying to, the moment that we're trying to celebrate as well as what we've been studying.
So first John chapter two is on page five 92. If you grab one of these blue Bibles that should be tucked under a chair in front of you. Um, we'll also have it on the screen. And so I'm going to pray and then we'll read through this together this morning. God, we thank you for your grace. We thank you for your love towards us.
We thank you for the two years of work that you have done with us as a joined church. And then we pray that you'd bless the many, many more years that we get to serve you until you call us to our eternal home. We love you and we praise you in Jesus name. Amen. We're in verse 18. He says, children, it is the last hour.
And as you have heard that antichrist is coming. So stop there for a second. We thought this text was appropriate for the day. Um, we'll get there as to how, but I just want to highlight, we're having a homecoming anniversary Sunday. We're eating a pig. We just saying when the rolls called up yonder, and now we're talking about antichrist.
If I get more Baptist, we're going to pop like this is about to be good. And those of you who it's your first Sunday, you're like, Oh no, before you bust out your end time, your pocket end time Bible chart with your picture of a dragon on it. That's not where he's going. I don't know what the word antichrist brings to mind. He's going to kind of mention maybe what you think when you hear the word, but he's pushing this in a different direction and he's discussing something different. What he's actually going to call, uh, the church to in this instant is to focus on the reality of the gospel, the hope of the gospel and to stand firm in the gospel because it's the last hour.
That's what he's going to get after. But we've got to take a second to just talk about antichrist and what that means. So he says, you heard that antichrist is coming. Now, most of the time, if you're familiar with the term, you think when you hear the term antichrist, you think of some, uh, future figure that is, uh, at the end of the age, some sort of powerful future figure. Um, and I don't know where you've drawn your theology from on that. Maybe it's from passages in the scripture.
Maybe it's from the movie, the omen. I don't know. Maybe it's from the left behind books, but in the scriptures, the only person who ever uses the term antichrist is John and he only uses it in first John and second John. So most of the time when people think of the antichrist, to think of the book of Revelation, it's never mentioned in the book of Revelation. Um, so it gets connected to some ideas from, from, uh, Daniel chapters nine through 11. It gets connected to some of the things that Jesus says when he's talking about things that are to come in Matthew 24, Mark 13, Luke 21, uh, this, this abomination of desolation, these false prophets that are going to come, it gets connected to some of the things that Pete, that Paul says in first and second Thessalonians, where he talks about the man of lawlessness and it gets connected to the book of Revelation where it talks about the beast, but this idea of some sort of a future figure.
And he says, you've heard that this is coming, but then he says something really interesting. He says, you've heard that antichrist is coming. So now many antichrists have come. Now that messes with some of your working theology of the antichrist. That's not on your pocket chart that there's a bunch of them, but he says, so now many antichrists have come. And this, this term antichrist really just means against Christ, opposed to Christ.
The same way we use, you know, an anti-discrimination lawsuit. It's against discrimination. That's what the, the, the phrase means. So he's just saying, you've heard that this opposition to Christ is coming. And I'm saying it's already come. That's what he's getting after.
I'm saying this has already begun. Yes, there may be some sort of big future figure, but I'm saying that this is already at work. This has already come. And that's what he's going to say in first John chapter four, verse three, we'll get to it later as we continue to study through this, but I thought it was helpful to show here. It says, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming.
And even now is already in the world. So there's this idea of some sort of spiritual opposition to Christ that ultimately may be personified at the end in some sort of a bigger figure, but right now is just at work in the world. And so this means that all opposition to Christ, and he's later going to say all those who don't believe in Christ, those who deny Christ are functioning in an antichrist role. Now, this doesn't mean they're enemies. It just means that in, when, when we're against Christ, we're joining this team. When someone denies Christ, they're joining this team.
Similar to, there's a situation where Jesus and he's talking about going to the cross to one of his disciples, Peter says, far, far be that from you. Like, don't let that, that's not going to be true. That's not going to happen to you. He's giving him a little pep talk. And Jesus looks at him and says, get behind me, Satan. Feels a bit heavy handed.
But the point is that Peter, by a joining in, don't go to the cross, has joined the other team. And so that's some of what he's saying here is that there's a spirit at work that opposes Christ. And there are those who join that team. That's what he's getting at. So don't conflate this, make this some sort of a big, super in time thing, because that's not what he's getting at at all.
He's saying, and he says this, he says, we are in the last hour. It is the last hour. He says that twice. And as many antichrists have come, therefore we know it is the last hour. And that's actually what I think is helpful for us to wrap our minds around today. When John wrote this, we had already entered the period of time where Jesus can return.
We've already entered into the period of time where there is opposition against Christ specifically, not just God the creator, but against Christ and his redemptive work in the world. And therefore they ought to hold fast to Christ, hold fast to the gospel and be active in proclaiming the gospel. And that's where we find ourselves today. That actually is why the First Baptist Church of Casey got started is because we're in the last hour and the gospel needs to move forward and we need to hold onto this hope. And it's why Mill City Church got started is because we're in the last hour. It was a hundred years later, but we're in the last hour and we need to hold firm to the gospel.
It's why we joined together. We thought it was the best thing for us to do as people who are holding onto the gospel and trying to see people come to know Jesus because time is short and we need to hold onto what we have in common and move forward in proclaiming the gospel. That's what he's getting at. So he keeps going. He says, they, now he's referring to the Antichrist with an S, they went out from us, but they were not of us. For if they had been of us, they would have continued with us, but they went out that it might become plain that they all are not of us.
It's a very John sentence. He does this all the time. It's fairly clear if you walk back through it, but it's just like, why do you say this in such a, there's just a lot here. So he says, they, the Antichrist went out from us, but they were not of us. Meaning that those who had been Christians and those who had been leaders, they had some that left and began to stand against Christ, began to preach another gospel, began to say it wasn't in Christ. There was hope somewhere else.
They began to oppose Christ. He says, they went out from us. If they had been of us, they would have continued with us, but they went out that it might become plain that they all are not of us. Meaning if they really belong to Jesus, he'd have kept them. And when they leave and say, I was a Christian, but I'm not anymore. And I actually don't believe that anymore.
And you shouldn't believe that either. He goes, all that is, is just showing that they never really knew him. One of the things we say here all the time is that Jesus is better than everything else. We believe that if you really know that, if you really taste that, if his Holy Spirit really claims you, then you don't, you're in an unpluckable hand, as Jesus says, that there's no getting out of that. There's no walking away from that. But those who say, I've walked away, I was a Christian, but I'm not anymore.
John just says, it actually just means you weren't a Christian. And it's a really simplistic way to see it, but that's, that's our theology on that. That if someone says, hey, I, you know, I was a Christian and I know all that, but I've deconstructed my faith. You're reading this on Instagram, by the way, just so you know, that's what it's saying. I've deconstructed my faith. Or they're doing a little YouTube video teaching you how you too can deconstruct your faith for only $5.99.
They'll give you lessons. That's a thing. It was going to be more expensive than that though. But, uh, this idea that someone who was a believer is now not a believer and they're, they've figured out how to break this all apart. And he just says, no, I just actually, that helps us because once they go out from us, it's just to make it plain that they never actually really belong to Jesus. And sometimes this is very hurtful because there's people, you know, there's people we've walked in life with.
That's what John's saying. They were, they were with us, but they left and they've said they don't believe in Jesus anymore. And it just means they never really did. That's clarifying. Doesn't make it not hurtful, but it is clarifying. He says this in verse 20, he says, but you have been anointed by the Holy one and you all have knowledge.
I write to you not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it and because no lie is of the truth. So he said, I'm not writing to you because I'm worried over you. I'm not writing to you because you might be about to fall apart. He said, I'm writing to you because you know the truth. There's no lie of the truth. And you've been anointed by the Holy one.
This idea of anointing, we read a verse about it where it says the oil runs down on the beard of Aaron. We read that a minute ago. And it's like sweet. Good. Because we do that all the time, right? You pour oil on your head in the morning and it's sweet and nice.
You ever go to, I go to my wife, sometimes I put oil on my beard and say, see how sweet and fragrant this is. The idea of this oil pouring down on the beard of Aaron is this idea of anointing, meaning that God had set him apart. They would pour an anointing oil. They pour this on David at one point. While he's still young, they anoint him as king. He's not king yet, but he's going to be.
It's this promise of what's going to happen. That he's anointed by God. There are times in the story of David where he's in a cave. He's running for his life, but he could lean into, I've been anointed, meaning God's going to keep his promise for me. And that's what he's pointing to here is he says that you actually have a better anointing because it was done by the Holy Spirit. Your anointing seals you and keeps you.
That this anointing isn't up to you, that it's up to him and it's held by him and it's kept by him. So he's writing to the church saying, hey, you've, you've been set apart. You've been anointed. You are kept by the Holy Spirit. So I'm not worried about you.
I'm saying you've really believed in the Holy Spirit has claimed you. You've been anointed. And he says, and you know that no lies of the truth. That's also straightforward. It's simple, but it's very helpful. One of the things we say periodically is we work, we do teaching team together where we work on studying this together as pastors and then we teach through it together.
And then one of the things we talk about is that if you've come up with a new bit of theology, go back to the Bible, you're probably wrong. If you come up with some new, no one else has ever seen this before in this passage. It's like, no, no, no, go back. You're reading it wrong because that's, that's not how this works. We, we're, we're, we're telling the same old story. We've got the same savior.
We've got the same news. And that's some of what he's saying is that you're starting to hear this new stuff, this different stuff. And it's not true. I asked my wife one time, she works at a bank. I said, do they teach you stuff about counterfeit money and like how to tell something's counterfeit or whatever? She said, no.
She said, it just, you just know it's never right. It doesn't feel right. It doesn't look right. It's you, you count money and you, you go, no, we don't have a lot of money, but you can hand my wife a stack of money and tell her what denomination it is. And she'll tell you how much money is in it. She can hold a stack of money and go, is this ones?
And she'll tell you how much is there. That's usually how we test it out of our house with ones. We don't have all about them Washington's baby. But she just said, you can tell, you can, you can feel and tell this isn't, this isn't right. And that's some of what he's saying is that you belong to the church. If you've placed your faith in Jesus, the Holy spirit has anointed you and you know that no lies of the truth.
So when someone comes along and says, well, that's not really how it is. And you don't really have to follow Jesus and you really can do this. And it's more like this. You start going, no, that doesn't feel right. There's something wrong about that. There's something that doesn't sound right about that.
And you get to walk that out in church family and we get to weigh those things out. But he's saying, I have, I have faith, not in you, but in the anointing of the Holy spirit that he'll keep you and you won't be led astray by lies. And then he goes specifically, here's the lie. He's going to go after it. Verse 22, who is the liar, but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ. That is the lie because Jesus is the Christ is the truth.
He's the way, the truth and the life. That's our hope for salvation is the work of Jesus. And so the eternal lie is that you can find hope or salvation or life anywhere, but Jesus. So he says, who's the liar? Anyone who denies that Jesus is the Christ. This is the antichrist.
He who denies the father and the son. Now, again, if your picture of the antichrist is only this future magnificently evil figure, you're missing out on the fact that that is already at work. And so you might be lulled to sleep currently and not taking seriously the reality of the hope we have is in Christ now and the enemy we face is right now. And anything that calls us to love something, to worship something, to follow something, to trust in something that isn't Jesus. That there's opposition already and that we ought to be alert and mindful. He says, this is the antichrist.
He who denies the father and the son. No one who denies the son has the father. Whoever confesses the son has the father also. Here's what this means. When people say all religions are the same, it all leads to the same place. Everybody worships the same God.
Christianity says, no. No. You worship Jesus and you know the father. You don't worship Jesus, you don't know the father. Now, we're told that this is very closed-minded. This is very narrow.
And it is. Jesus also said it was narrow. It's narrow in that the only way is Christ. But that way is open to all. All who will believe will be redeemed. All who will trust in Jesus will be redeemed.
That's the gospel story. That's the good news is that God saw us in our sin, saw us deserving of punishment, and did not give us what we deserve, but that he joined us, that he lived perfectly in our place, that he died. He was tempted as we are. And I heard Scott Hill say this the other day, and it's a good point, that he was actually tempted more than you've ever been tempted. Because at some point, you and I gave in. We don't know the full extent of temptation.
How many licks does it take to get to the center of the Tootsie Pop? I don't know. Three? I don't know. I bit it. That's us.
And Jesus stood fully against temptation and never sinned. If he'd have sinned, he'd have been in the same spot as us. He deserved punishment just like we did. He would be incapable of rescuing us. But he's fully God, fully man, and he never sins so that when he pays the penalty for sin, he's the only one who had credit in his account to do that.
So he swaps places with us, and our hope is in Christ and Christ alone. And if you don't have Christ, you don't have the Father. To deny Christ is to deny the Father because it's Christ who gets us to the Father. And this is good news because sometimes people have in their mind that the picture of God is he's grumpy, and he's angry, and he's disappointed in you. But the Scriptures tell us that Jesus is the image of the invisible God.
And so the way that Jesus interacts with sinners is the way that God chooses to interact with sinners, which is gracious and humble and loving and sacrificially forgiving on behalf of those who don't deserve it. That's good news. And anything else that tells you you're okay without Jesus is a lie. And it may sound nice, and it may sound caring, but if it ultimately leads to your destruction, it is not nice, and it is not caring. I say this every once in a while. I use this illustration every once in a while.
But it's mean for me to push you to the ground in most contexts. But if someone was swinging an axe at you, and I got your head out of the way, you would thank me. My toddler one time was running towards a fire pit. I was too far away. And some other mom just drop-kicked him. She just took him down.
Now, in most contexts, that would be really frowned upon. You just see a kid, and you're like, nah, and just take him down. Like, you just can't do that. But in this context, it's extremely gracious and kind and helpful. And the reality is, for us to proclaim anything other than Jesus as Savior is a lie that leads to destruction. And for us to sit on that truth is wicked.
But for us to hold to it is gracious and loving, and we can't do anything else. He says, no one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also. Now, I want to pause and give you some future Antichrist things that you can do. Because we've read all the Antichrist passages. There's one more in 2 John.
But that's it. It just kind of says the same thing. That's the only places in the Bible you'll find the term. So now, I know this happens to you all the time. Someone wants to talk to you about the Antichrist. Well, I'm here to help you out.
I'm going to give you some options. Usually, if someone's like, you know, whatever. I've had people ask one time, is this person, you think this person might be the Antichrist? Or whatever. It's like some big political figure. Or they say, what's your opinion on the Antichrist?
You know. Usually they're thinking some sort of Book of Revelation stuff. That they've taken this term and some stuff Paul said in Thessalonians and stuck in there. Usually what they're wrapping their head around. So, one option is for you to just be like, helpful. And say, well, let's talk and try to help them see where the terms come from and what they're doing.
And try to help them show the passages. And just in general have a normal conversation about what the scriptures say. That's one option. It's a good one. I've got two other ones, though. One is, you can be like, yeah, we've studied 1 John.
What questions about 1 John do you have? Because they probably aren't thinking about 1 John. And they'll say, what? No, Book of Revelation. You go, oh, the Antichrist is in the Book of Revelation. You just enjoy yourself a little bit.
But the third option is the most fun. Because John says that those who deny Christ are Antichrists. And that's not how we think about it. And so you probably shouldn't use that term a bunch. But it's theologically accurate.
So if someone says, I want to talk about the Antichrist, do this. Because I actually think I've met about half a dozen Antichrists even last week. They probably won't want to keep talking about it. If they do, I'm sorry. That's going to be a long conversation. Verse 24.
Verse 24. Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you too will abide in the Son and in the Father. There is a gospel message that Jesus saves. And if you believe that and you hold firm to that and you stand firm in Christ, then you belong to Jesus. You belong to the Father.
And that's it. Some people say, isn't that too simple? Yeah, it's beautifully simple. It's graciously simple. It's welcomingly simple. There is no secret truth that you have to find out.
You've got to climb to the mountain and dig to the bottom of this. And anybody who comes and says, hey, I know you've heard this, but I found some secrets. No. No. It's a message that has been proclaimed for 2,000 years. It's not a secret.
It's not supposed to be a secret. It's not supposed to be hard. It's supposed to be gracious and welcoming that you can find redemption in Christ. That there is forgiveness in His name. And that's what we hold on to. There's not some other secret information you need to have.
That you are saved by Jesus. And forgiven by Jesus. And in Jesus you have everything. And then he says this, verse 25. He says, and this is the promise He made to us. Eternal life.
That's a beautiful promise to get from the Creator of the universe. That through Christ we're forgiven of sin. And therefore we have eternal life. One of the things that Paul says in Corinthians is he says, the sting of death is sin. Meaning, what makes death bad is if you die in your sin. Because then you're punished in your sin.
You're condemned in your sin. But death is not bad if we die forgiven in our sin. If we die in Christ, death is sad for those who remain. But glorious for us as we walk in forgiveness and life and joy and delight. So there's some reality to the idea behind Peter Pan.
You know, in Peter Pan, the enemy isn't in Captain Hook. It's age and time. Peter Pan's going to stay young forever. The only bad guys in it are old. And the thing the old guy is scared of is a crocodile clock. That's already eaten some of him and eventually will eat all of him.
That every time the crocodile comes around, it's a tick, tock, tick, tock. Time's ticking away. I've already gotten some of your strength. I'm going to eventually get all of it. There's some amount of us that resonates with us. I want to be Peter Pan.
I want to stay young forever. And the idea that my body would begin to give out. That I would begin to have issues. That I would begin to... You know, you start getting older and you can sleep wrong and wake up in pain. When I was little, you could like beat me with sticks and I'd wake up fine the next day.
Just regenerated overnight. Now, it's like you wake up and it's like, what's wrong with you? It's like, I don't know. My pillow is too mean? I don't know. But you slowly start to give out.
And there's this fear of this coming crocodile with a stomach. With a stomach. Yeah. It has a stomach. That's not the main part. It's got a clock in its stomach.
And it's ticking away. It's going to come get you. And he says, this is the promise we have from Christ. Eternal life. What else are you going to fear? What else are you going to dread?
What else is going to get you? So Jesus says, he says, don't fear those who can only kill the body. Kill my body. He says, fear him who can control your soul. We stand firm in the gospel. And in the gospel, we have unending courage.
Because we have unconquerable life. So we stand firm in this and we proclaim this. Because it's the only message we have. It's the only hope we have. And nothing can be taken from us. So he writes and says, you're in the middle of opposition right now.
And I'm telling you, the enemy's at work. And there are those who are trying to tear this apart. And there are those who are claiming to have been Christians and left. And they're trying to tell you something else. And he says, don't buy it for a second. You stand firm in the hope of the gospel.
Hold fast to it. He says, I write these things to you about those who are trying to deceive you. I mean, don't let them. Don't let them pull you away. Don't let someone come along and tell you they know some sort of secret. Or there's something else other than Jesus.
27. But the anointing that you have received. It's the Holy Spirit at work in us. From him abides in you. And you have no need that anyone should teach you. Now, he's writing this letter to explain things to him.
To coach him up and to teach him. But what he means is that he ultimately trusts the Holy Spirit work in a believer to keep a believer. This is extremely encouraging. If you've ever thought, oh my goodness, I had that wrong for a while. I thought, how was I so confused? How did I wonder?
And it's like, no, the Holy Spirit brings us back. But his anointing teaches you about everything and is true and is no lie. Just as it taught you. Just as it has taught you. Abide in him. We stand firm in the hope of the gospel.
We have nowhere else to stand. We have no other hope. We have nothing else to run to. We have glorious good news in the work of Christ. And that's it. It's simple.
It's not about us. It's not about our works. It's not about our ability. It's not about our intelligence. And that's good news for us. It's real good news for me.
That God saves sinners who need help. Who can't keep it together. That's the hope of the gospel. It's in the work of Christ. And I want to read something to y'all. I find it encouraging.
This is the handwritten church record. From the First Baptist Church of Casey. From 1919 to 1925. There are handwritten records. From Mrs. W.J.
Casey. In here. She was the clerk when they first started. First Baptist Church of Casey. It began in 1912. As a Sunday school.
And as a mission church. It was constituted as a mission church in 1912. And then in 1919. It constituted as a church. The First Baptist Church of Casey. We have a pastor team here.
When we say. When we get up sometimes. We'll say. I'm one of the pastors here. They had a presbytery. Which is an elder team.
When they first started. So. Just bringing that back. You guys. But on the.
The first day. This was in 1919. And this is a typed up version. The handwritten version. Is back here later. But I'm going to use the typed up version.
Because it's easier to read. When they. When they constituted themselves. As a church in 1919. They had someone give the charge. Commission them.
To be a congregation. To move forward in the mission. And he says this. He said. First. This was the message that he shared.
He said. First the church should be evangelistic. Meaning the church should tell people about Jesus. Because that's the hope we have. Second. It should be educational.
So those who believe. Should be disciples. Should be trained. Should be broad. To know. The reality.
And the depths. And the truth. Of the scriptures. Third. It should be. Missionary.
Meaning. Not just evangelizing. Those who show up. But actively going. To those who aren't here. That's one of the reasons.
People asked us. When we first started the church. In 2013. In this area. It's like. Why would you plant a church.
Where there are already churches. Because if people want. Want to show up to a church. They'll show up. But there are a lot of people.
Who still don't believe the gospel. And we're supposed to go to them. We'll take all the churches. We can get. We'll take all the people. Commissioned.
And sent out as missionaries. As we can get. And we'll go. Actively. To try to see those. Who don't know Christ.
Come to know him. Some of your neighbors. Are not going to show up here. And if you brought them today. And I started in on Antichrist. I'm sorry.
I hope it worked out. But some of your neighbors. And co-workers. They're not going to show up here. If you invite them. To come to your house.
Just to share a meal. And to. We have people. Who've come to our community group. Before they would eat. And we'd be like.
All right. It's Bible time. And they'd be like. All right. I'm going home. And it's like.
Cool. We're glad. They just eat with us. Some of them aren't going to come. But guess what?
Jesus is already sent. You're already there. You live in that neighborhood. You work in that office. Pray. Plead.
Be a missionary. So he says that. Third. They'd be missionaries. Fourth. It should be systematic in giving.
We don't talk about that a whole lot. But he did first thing. And then he said. That fifth. We should pull together. We should be unified.
That was what was said on the first night. That this church was constituted. That's why we chose to join together. We believe the same things. We're fighting for the same stuff. We have one hope.
We have one king. We want to stand firm in the gospel. And be active in sharing that truth with others. Because it's the last hour. And there is no other hope. If you have not placed your faith in Jesus.
Oh we want you to. He is so good. He forgives sinners. He gives hope to us. All based off of his work. Not ours.
There is joy and delight with Christ. The band is going to come back up. But we're going to sing to Jesus. We're going to celebrate 2,000 years. Of his work. We're going to celebrate 100 years.
Of this church. We're going to celebrate 2 years. Of this church. All to the glory of Christ. For his redemptive work. On our behalf.
Let's pray. God we thank you that we have hope in the gospel. We thank you so much that it's in Jesus. And his work. And in his name. And not in us.
Not in our behavior. Not in our morality. Not in our ability to keep our joy level. Not in our ability to have a beautiful vision for our lives. But Lord that it's in Christ.
And it's eternal. We praise you.