Pastor Robert and TaQuaris Smith
Pastor Brian: Welcome again everybody. It's great to see you. Thank you, worship team for a great time of worship. Wasn't a good worship today? Wow. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Angie, for all the work you do. Up top there and Joel, Jeff, Sherry, Cheryl. You look so young today. I called you Sherry. Hallelujah. Bill, it's so great to see you. Always good to have you here, my friend.
When I was young, I used to think I wanted to live to be a hundred. There are two things I didn't understand about that. Number one, how I would feel as I was approaching that age, or maybe even 30 years before that age, but how many people you would lose out of your life. I remember when my mom's older sister, auntie Winnie, passed away at about 101, six weeks shy of 101. And we went to visit her, we'd go visit her and she said, "I don't have any friends left."
I tried to make a joke with her and said, well, you know, the good news with that is there is no peer pressure. All of her peers were gone. But she didn't appreciate my humor. One of the great things, one of the most comforting verses that we have in scripture is when the Apostle Paul says we don't sorrow is those who have no hope. He didn't say we never sorrow. I think actually as a believer and as a Christian, we actually sorrow more deeply because we've learned to love more deeply as a believer, as followers of Jesus. We've just learned how to love more like Jesus. we are all in that place of perfecting that. But I think our sorrow at times is deeper because relationships mean so much to us, but we don't sorrow as those who have no hope as well.
I'm thankful today that I look back at pictures of our wedding, which was almost 50 years ago, and I see different people that came. We had 950 people at our wedding. We had a large wedding. What do you say, that's absurd? It was, it was what it was back then. We were part of a large church and everybody kind of knew us and they wanted to come. I look back and I see all the pictures of different people that were sitting there and they are gone. they are gone. They are gone. They are gone. They are gone. And but not forgotten. They've gone to a place where I'm going to, where we will be reunited together.
And so I'm so thankful today for eternal life, thankful that God has made a place and is making a place for all of us to be with him in eternity. And so it kind of reminds us that this world is not our home. This world is not our home. It's not really where we belong. We belong someplace else, but in the meantime, we are here. And so Pastor Robert, of course, are going to come and bring a message that actually has to do with being a community here before we become part of that great community there. So let's welcome them today as they come.
Pastor Robert: Praise the Lord. I'm excited about what we have to share with you today. It's going to change our lives here in our faith community. Amen. Yeah. Don't get quiet on me. You can, you can talk back to me. I'm used to it. I come from multiple streams. I can even hoop if you want me to, but it has been a while, you know, but I've had to adjust in my different speaking engagements so I can go there. Praise the Lord. It's good to be with you today. Good to be with my family from another mother. We got to celebrate Ken and Erica for their birthdays. That was great. Great time.
I'm not going to tell y'all, Mama Ruby was cutting the rug. I think I just did. Praise God. It's good to see, see all of you. Speaking of longevity, you know, Pastor Brian, I think my grandfather found the remedy for living to be a hundred because he just turned a hundred last May, but he also had 11 children. And those 11 children had multiple children, and those children had multiple children. So there are a multitude of witnesses that surround him, especially now that grandma has gone on to be with the Lord. Even at a hundred, he's still surrounded by a great community. His father, I remember his father, my great-grandfather, he lived to be 95, so a lot of his brothers all lived to be in their late nineties.
It's a blessing to have him. He has lost a lot. He even lost his youngest child. When you do live that long, there are a lot of things. You see a lot of things that are gone. That's why it's important for us to get to know Jesus. I know my grandfather, he knows Jesus and has served in the church way longer than I've been alive, and he loves the Lord. So it's a blessing.
It's a blessing to be with you today. It's a blessing to be here with my wife. we are, we are, again, we are excited to share what we have today and we are talking about community. If you look at that term community, it's defined in many different ways. Depending on how it's defined, it could indicate anything from a group of people as a whole or it could describe a feeling that comes from such a group of people. And I tell this community has, in the theological, scholarly, theological realms has fostered many discussions. They have been interesting, even in my seminary life, how much we can discuss what the nature of community is and means.
But the question I have for us today is what does that mean for the church of Jesus to describe itself in terms of community? Like all communities, the community of the body of Christ, and it's important that we underline that the community of the body of Christ, has its own distinctive culture. It has its own unique way of life. To get a great biblical perspective or revelation on the idea of community of church, you can look in the Bible in especially the writings of the Apostle Paul.
To summarize his writings in the scripture, Paul describes community as the relationship of believers to one another, as a shared experience of our salvation. That pretty much wraps up Paul's idea of community. It's something that as the body of believers, we share a common experience through our salvation. Theologically, we talked a lot about this even in seminary, in the Greek, this is called Koinonia. It's this great fellowship, this great sharing, this bonding that we have together that's unique from all other communities because we share the uniqueness of this gift of salvation. That's the entrance into this community is our salvation. That's something that we alone can claim, is our salvation that was wrought by the blood, the death, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
In that salvation walk, we experience things together. there is no other community that shares in a holy communion. We share that together as a shared experience of our relationship in Jesus, our salvation in Jesus. We share in baptism. A couple of weeks ago, I was able to baptize my own son. What an honor and a privilege and a blessing and an anointed time that was. But we shared that together as a common experience in our salvation as a declaration, an outward declaration of our belief, our salvation in Jesus. We come together as the ecclesia on a weekly basis to come together, to worship together, to pray together as a common experience of our salvation.
That's why it's important. I don't care what society say I don't care what the current culture says. I don't care what cultural current trends dictate. It's important for us to strengthen and to continue to grow in our common sharing together, in our common fellowship together. I know the dynamics of our gathering has changed with the onset of online communication. But my online brothers and sisters, that doesn't get you off the hook in sharing this common experience of salvation. Because if you are a born again believer, you are in this family and we need to cultivate and we need to develop, and we need to strengthen ways to continue even your fellowship with us.
That's why I thank God that we have a great, and I mean great livestream production team, that we have tools online for our Bible studies and our devotionals and our moments of hope videos and all the things that we are pushing, because we are not saying we don't want you to fellowship, we are making it available for your fellowship, but we need you to avail to that too, so that our bond is strengthened. We can't do that. And we should not do that apart from each other.
As I would love to see all of you here and to fill up the chairs and, and, and in this sanctuary and all of that, all of that is ideal for me. I'm just saying from the bottom of my heart, I know that's not always going to be the case. But that doesn't mean that we can't be connected together in our fellowship. When it comes to building our faith community, it's important that we cultivate the following things that we are going to share with you today. One thing that's very important in developing or building this faith community is that we maintain sound doctrine. Sound doctrine is a necessity in the formation of our community.
TaQuaris: We are going to read from Acts chapter 2, verse 42. All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and to fellowship and to sharing in meals, including the Lord's Supper and to prayer.
Pastor Robert: Some church leaders and groups today believe that they, they believe that our Martin Church should be identical to the first century church to be really considered the church. This is what some of them believe. But I don't believe that to be the case. I believe that there are some unique circumstances of the early church that dictated its shape and its formation and how they gathered. They gathered in homes and some were underground. They had to meet in secret. So I think that there were certain circumstances in the first century that dictated how the church met, how the church gathered. But those things don't quite necessarily fit the modern way of life. So I don't believe that we have to mirror the first century church.
However, what I do believe that we should mimic, we should model ourselves after from the first Century Church, is that we need to have the same foundational spiritual practices that they had. One such thing as their devotion to gospel instruction.
TaQuaris: We should not overlook the word devoted here in this passage because doctrinal instruction was by the apostles, non-negotiable. They were committed to and persisting in the teachings of the word of God by the apostles. Doctrinal instruction helps transform lives, which in turn will enable the church to have its maximum impact on the communities and its culture. We can't grow together if we don't share or have common values. Our values are given to us and embedded in us by the word of God, by the teaching of the Word of God with sound doctrine. Through the teaching of the Word of God, the community of believers in God, by Christ Jesus was formed. It wasn't through anything clever, any clever strategic marketing strategies or anything secular. It was by the word of God accompanied by the spirit of God.
I want to speak to our local faith community, Hope. What a great-- Hope Community Church. Now I love the name, but I want us to add some meat to that community, part of our name. One of the things that is great about here is that in our local community, we are given sound doctrine on a weekly basis. Quite frankly, guys, I love you, but I wouldn't be here if it wasn't. I know the Bible enough to know what sound doctrine and not. Been there, done that, and that's not where I'm at right now. But we have great teaching through our Sunday services, through our Bible studies, and it's important for us to be devoted to the teaching that our senior leader, Pastor Brian, is feeding us. It's important that Pastor Jeff and I support his teaching in our messages as well.
We can't be up here preaching and teaching a different doctrine than our senior leader and expect for us to grow in unity in our community and falling in line with this teaching that helps define and unify our faith community. It's important. This is how we become a unified community that is living and breathing the same thing, the same spirit. It's not delivered in the same manner, but it falls in line and has a cohesiveness where we are not as sheep, we are not scattered, and we are not confused, and we are not in a spirit of competition and we don't know what our identity is.
Pastor Brian has the privilege of setting forth the vision for our community, and it's our responsibility to come in line with that vision and promote that vision in our teaching, in our receiving and in our application of that. What's the point of preaching and teaching the Jesus way if we don't apply the Jesus way to our lives? And that starts with us here in this local community so that we model that to the outside who we-- one of the things I want us to develop is to break down the partition of the so-called outside community and our Hope Community.
We need to bust open the border, so to speak, and we need to transcend these four walls that we gather in on a weekly basis. We need to extend the hand of Jesus, the way of Jesus to those that are surrounding us. Because a community of Christ is not just in the building. A community of Christ affects its salt, its light to the surrounding constituents that may not necessarily darken through these walls, but they are a part of our community too. That community is growing and they need to be salted, influenced by this great community.
They need hope. What an opportunity for Hope Church to offer the hope in Jesus Christ to this growing community that's going to bust open. We are undergirded because we are receiving truth, Bible truth, Jesus truth. And so that makes us strong in who we are. That gives us direction in who we are. That gives us identification in who we are. Because I don't know if you listen to my last podcast episode, we have an identity crisis in this culture and truth is twisted and people are confused. It all comes from identity issues. But we know if any man is in Christ, we become something else. We become something new. We become something different than what we were before. That transcends anything else that we were before. It doesn't even compare to what we were before.
If you look at, if you really study the Greek of that text, it really is saying that it's something that never existed before, a new creation. That's what the tense is in that Greek. It's a new creation. You have become something that never existed before you became a person in Christ. That's something to rejoice about. That's something to hold onto. And that's something that we need to extend the invitation for as well. As we have this foundational teaching in our midst, it's also important for us to have a clear vision of our purpose in this community. Let's look at what Paul says about the church in First Corinthians.
TaQuaris: The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So it is with the body of Christ. Some of us are Jews, some of us are Gentiles, some are our slaves and some are free. But we have all been baptized into one body by one spirit, and we all share the same spirit. Yes, the body has many different parts, but not just one part. If the foot says I am not a part of the body because I am not a hand, that does not make it any less of a part of the body. And if the ear says, I am not part of the body because I am not an eye, would that make it any less a part of the body?
If the whole body were an eye, how would you hear? Or if your whole body were an ear, how would you smell anything? But our bodies have many parts and God has put each part just where he wants it. How strange a body would it be if I had only one part? Yes, there are many parts, but only one body that I can never say to the hand, I don't need you. The head can say to the feet, I don't need you. In fact, some parts of the body that seem weakest and least important are actually the most necessary. And the parts we regard as less honorable are those we clothed with the greatest care. So we carefully protect those parts that should not be seen while the much honorable parts do not require this special care.
So God has put the body together such that extra honor and care are given to those parts that have less dignity. This makes for harmony among the members so that all the members care for each other. If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it. And if one part is honored, all the parts are glad.
Pastor Robert: And see, the church's design, there is no accident the way it's designed and its makeup lends to its function and its purpose. The apostle Paul used the analogy of the human body in all of his individual parts to describe the church and its individual members.
TaQuaris: The human body is an intricate and interconnected wonder. Scientists and biologists still to this day, I try to figure out how and why things work the way they do. You see, because there are whole systems in place like our respiratory system and our nervous system or different parts of our body and our organs, they interact to perform specific tasks often without knowledge.
This is the same as the church. Each individual member is needed and is part of this intricate and interconnected wonder, which is the body of Christ, the church. Each part of the body, when working properly, will build up the body in love. This is the community that we have within the body of Christ. Because when we look at the world, we can see that there are many different differences and many people are divided based on ethnicity, based on preferences and economic status, family background, politics, and other factors. However, this really should not be the case when it comes to the church. Those who are in Christ are united by his spirit in one body with a variety of gifts that serve a much greater purpose. And that purpose is to exalt Jesus Christ above everything.
Pastor Robert: It's important, Hope as we grow, as we continue to grow in our love, in our care for one another, that we exalt Jesus above everything. We are going to have our differences in politics, sad but true. we are going to have our differences in whether we should wear a mask or not. You know, from day one, I'm going to be real and raw to you. I'm not going to sugarcoat anything because it's grieved me. What has divided the church in these last few years. I told you from day one, as the big brother of the church, it is not going to happen on my watch.
We have to exalt Christ above everything because this Christ that unifies us by his spirit put all that stuff aside. I mean, I know my cowboys are better than your Vikings, but you know, when has that not been the case? I still love you. I had to make you laugh for a minute. We are united in spite of those differences. And I receive that love. Amen.
Christ has to be above everything. When we have art with one another, Christ has to be our anchor.
We are going to disagree, we are going to offend, we are going to make mistakes. We are going to hurt each other. Trust me, I have a huge family. I have to deal with stuff all the time. But I love my family and I love my Christ family, my faith family. Hope Community Church will exalt Jesus as we continue to grow as a community that allows people a place to cultivate friendships, a place to receive healing, especially spiritual healing. There are a lot of spiritually broken people in our midst today. And they need a place. They need a community of faith that they can come and receive Healing. Is Hope such a place? I know your pastor envisions that as a place for people to receive healing.
And it's a place that we want people to belong. Here goes that identity thing. As we shout out come as you are, that means that there is no discrimination in how you come. You can come dirty, come raggedy, come broken, come confused. Just come. Come and join us. As they receive sound doctrine, as they receive the love of Christ in this community, as they receive the Holy Spirit, then all those things will start to develop in them that makes them look like us. Not before. Not at the door. They don't just magically transform at the door. They are transformed as they interact and intermingle in fellowship with us.
TaQuaris: Because it's God who does the transforming. It's the spirit of God that convicts and convicts a person to change. I always think about this metaphor when it comes to souls, and them being saved and changing and things like that. I think of a fisherman, like my husband. When you are fishing, you have to catch the fish before you clean it, right? It's the same with Christ. Let him catch them. He is going to clean them up. He did it for us. He did it for me. We are to love them where they are at.
Pastor Robert: So greeters, smile at everyone that comes through the door. I don't care what they look like, I don't care what they smell like. I don't care what they sound like. Greet them with a smile and greeters. You do a great job. I'm not saying that you don't. You do an awesome job. You do. I invite many people here on a weekly basis and I've never heard a complaint about not being greeted and greeted with love and a smile. So we don't have that issue. I'm just saying just stay sharp because you never know a day, a moment when you don't have it, that will negatively infect somebody because of what's going on.
We don't know what's going on in a person's life at any given moment. That's why it's that much more important, for lack of a better term, for us to have our act together. It's not an act. It shouldn't be an act, not something that we put on as an act. That's why I'm saying we need to cultivate that as a community, that that becomes a part of us, a part of our identity that we are known for. Hey, you want to, you want to feel like a million bucks when you walk through the door, go to that church in the midst of the corn fields and get loved on.
Is your heart broken from the church, from people? Go get loved on at that church. You want to hear a great word from three handsome guys and their wives? Go to that church where there is a big water tower going up out here. You want to see people serving the community? Hey, I know a church that's serving and involved is ministering to the community beyond their walls. Go to that church. You know, it's important that we are a community of faith. Paul talks about the faith that I'm talking about in the book of Romans.
TaQuaris: For I am not ashamed of this good news about Christ. It is the power of God at work. Saving everyone who believes the Jews first and also the Gentile. This good news tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the scriptures says, it is through faith that a righteous person has life.
Pastor Robert: It is through faith that a righteous person has life. You know, life throws us all kinds of curve balls and trials, tribulations, loss, disappointment. It's important that our faith community shows the world that we are unwavering in the storms of life because we have faith. We have faith in Christ. You guys hear me talk about Pastor AJ down in Birmingham a lot. That's because that man means a lot to me. Like I said, he was very instrumental in why we are here. He says something to me after every conversation, whether it's a two-minute conversation or a 20-minute conversation. He says to me every time, "keep the faith" at the end of every conversation. Keep the faith. When he first started saying it, you know, I'm like, why is he telling me to keep the faith like as if something else, you know? But all of these days where I'm going through and I've been disappointed or offended or struggling with something, my spirit is anticipating those words, keep the faith.
We need to be known as a people that keep our faith no matter what because there are things that happen in this life that get people shattered in their beliefs. They struggle. We have our own struggle to be very transparent in the midst of me. You guys amaze me, and I commend you for your faith because I have not been in a place in all of my church-going where people have lost so much, especially your mates and your family members. You have to understand that's a culture shock for us. But I commend you. All you widows and widowers. I commend you that you are still here, that you are still fighting, that you are still contending for the faith.
I just went to a funeral of a pastor friend of mine who just lost his wife, the first lady of the church at 58 years old to brain cancer. When I called him up yesterday just to check on them, he sounded like many of you, the conversations I've had after you buried your loved ones, what do, where do I go? What do I do next? And you know what? I told him the same things that I told most of you. All you got is one moment at a time. And in that moment in time, you allow the Lord to lead you and you don't go any more beyond that. And that you grow from faith to faith and glory to glory one moment at a time. Because anything beyond that is the temptation to add fear, to add skepticism, to add doubt, to add unbelief. And I don't desire that for any of you. And that you don't have to have the answers all figured out right now. Because faith says that the Lord is going before you and he's going to take care of you. Just stay with him and keep holding his hand.
That's what faith does. That's what faith does. What the community of faith does, is that when we see you, we embrace you. When you cry, we cry with you. When we don't see you, we are calling you up saying, where are you? Either we are going to see you or we are coming to see you because we love you and we want you to keep the faith. Even in the most trying times, we want you to keep the faith. I called on my brother. I called my brother and I said, "I'm just making this call. And I know I just saw you at the memorial service." But see unfortunately, that's when all of the calls stop. Community of faith, the phone calls don't need to stop. They need to increase. The invitation for fellowship needs to increase because we are a brother's keeper.
TaQuaris: A vibrant and growing church is one whose members realize that they are not just individuals who come together on a Sunday with their own, I would say, isolated portion of faith. Rather, we are a community of believers. We are a family that is going to grow together. And one day see God. We all are saved by the same grace, all following the same savior, all walking in the same fate. It's more of a communal fate. I would call it more of a communal fate. It's not an individual fate. When we are singing praises and worship songs together, we are growing in fate. When we are hearing the word of God, we are growing in faith because church is not an activity that we do. It's really who we are. So, and it is in this community that we find the strength to keep believing and to keep walking by faith.
Pastor Robert: And as we grow in faith, we grow in hope. So we must be a community of hope.
TaQuaris: Romans 15:13: I pray that God, the source of hope will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him, then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.
We as believers, are called to live in hope, the hope that is based on the life and the death and the resurrection of Jesus. The hope of forgiveness of our sins, and to have eternal life. This hope is also a communal hope as well. When we read the promises of the new earth and the new heavens, those are communal promises. Because think about it, we have hope that one day we will live with God among the people of God, from every generation, from every nation, from every tribe, from every tongue. Our hope is a communal hope. Therefore, we need the church to help us endure this hope and embody this hope in our times of suffering and loss and grief because we need each other. We are in this together.
Pastor Robert: And so we grow from faith; it grows into hope. And we also must be a community of love.
TaQuaris: Three things that will last forever, faith, hope, and love, and the greatest of Jesus love. And we know that the two commandments, and I'm paraphrasing, but they are based on loving God and loving our neighbor. And so in John 13:35, it says, your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples. The way that we love each other shows that we know Jesus. Obeying the command means that we are just showing tangible love to the church and to the world so we can be the light and salt in this world.
Pastor Robert: You know, what's the song? All we need is love. Love is all we need, right? But in this day and age, this culture, we need to define that love. The love that we are to cultivate within our community goes beyond mood, goes beyond offense, goes beyond if we feel like. It goes beyond our attitudes and goes beyond our differences. It's anchored in that common shared experience that we have together in our salvation in Jesus Christ. It's because we share in that experience, our hearts are spurned into that love that reaches out, that sacrifices, that helps, that strengthens, that cares, that nurtures, that speaks the truth.
If you want to know the difference between our love and the world's love, it's that part right there: It doesn't speak the truth. Because sometimes the truth offends. But the Bible urges us to speak truth in love so that there is a salve, there is a balm for that offense. The world says hide the truth. To try not to offend. But that's not love. Because if we are saying something in truth, in love, it is because we want to see someone come out of error. We want someone to avoid something detrimental to them. So we are going to tell the truth, but we are going to offer healing with that truth. Not try to avoid it so that you can push a like button. I don't need your likes. I want you to love me enough to steer me in and keep me in the right relationship with our Father in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
TaQuaris: Ephesians 4:16, he makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love. We are meant to be joined together. And this is not something that happens automatically. The Bible says as each part does its work. It takes work to be connected and be available in the kind of way in which I believe God has called each of us to be God intended for us to have meaningful connections and community. And in this community, this is where spiritual transformation can happen in an intimate and deeper level.
You can't microwave biblical community. It takes work. And if you are just coming to church and want to stay where you are comfortable at and not really trying to go any deeper, you really just coming into a social club, not a biblical community.
Pastor Robert: There is a certain motivation that happens when we come together. There are certain things that we encourage one another to do or not do. We are strengthened by us rubbing shoulders together, so to speak. When we see us coming together and we know that there has been hardship. When I see a brother and sister that I know has had loss or illness or something and I see them still coming and worshiping and fellowshiping, that strengthens me. That encourages me. And it also offers conviction because I say if they can do it, then I have no excuse. But also allows us to be available to be that source of inspiration and encouragement to one another too by just showing up. Presence, right Pastor? Presence is important. Us showing up is important. The book of Hebrews.
TaQuaris: Let us think of ways to motivate one another, to acts of love and good works. And let us not neglect our meeting together as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is dry, near, go ahead.
As believers, we are instructed to be concerned about our brothers and sisters in Christ, and to stir up one another unto love and good works or deeds. We have to care for each other and consider ways on how to stimulate one another unto love as Christ loved us and to produce good deeds that God has also prepared for us to do. It is through on changing love that love is provoked. It is through unchanging love that love is provoked. It is by the means of loving another, that they become stimulated to love you back in return. It's not based on how they treat you, it's not based on your preferences, right?
You have to love, regardless, unchanging love. You constantly keep loving somebody constantly. Think about it; the person that needs to love the most is the one that's not lovable at all. My husband gave a great example when he was saying, when he goes to the grocery store and he kept on loving on this woman that her face was just not nice and not happy. And he constantly did that every time he seen her until she was looking forward to seeing his face because it was unchanging. And this is all about the community that we have in the body of Christ.
Pastor Robert: It's the love that we need to model as people come through the doors and as we go out the doors that we need to model this love so that our reputation precedes us and it goes before us. And it says that there is a place of faith. That's a place of hope. And that's above all, it's a place of love that I'm going to be loved on. If I want to know what the love of Jesus looks like, I'm going to go be a part of this faith community.
If we are ever challenged on days that we don't feel so loving, we can be encouraged to know, you know what, I'm going to go hear a good word from Pastor Brian today. I'm going to go hear a word from Pastor Jeff, Pastor Robert today, and I'm going to be motivated and strengthened because my faith brothers and sisters are there to love on me and to cheer me up and to stir me up in the joy and the Holy Ghost. And therefore, I look forward to Sunday. I look forward to Wednesday. I look forward to any other day that I know that this faith community is gathering. And I don't want to miss out because I know I'm going to be better for it and my neighbor's going to be better for it.
TaQuaris: Biblical community is pretty much just doing life together with other Christians in a way that reflects the love of God to a watching world. It moves us beyond the self-interested isolation of our private lives and beyond the superficial social contacts that pass for Christian fellowship, biblical communities when we can be transparent with each other and just build together and share common values with one purpose in mind is to exile Jesus Christ with our variety of different gifts and our diversity.
Pastor Robert: I want to leave you with this. And it's the same spirit that our Lord had as he prayed for his disciples because he had an expectation of how he wanted his church to look because his church represented him. When you have an expectation of your representative, you want your representative to be like you, to reflect you. And so I want to end with this prayer. Lord, I pray for our church, Hope Community. And I pray that as we continue to receive sound instruction and learn your ways, holy Spirit, that you will continue to convict our hearts, to challenge us, to grow from our comfort place, from our fleshly places that we can become vibrant in spirit, vibrant in our love for one another and our hearts set on fire for you. And I pray that as we commit ourselves wholeheartedly to this, that the word would get out and we would be known by your name. Lord, help us when we get discouraged, help us through our frictions, guide us through our places of uncertainty and give us the peace that your will be done in this community. In Jesus' name. Amen.
Pastor Jeff: There we are. Hallelujah. Thank you, guys. That's a powerful message that is important for all of us to hear. And that it doesn't at all fall short of helping us understand the Lord's expectations of us. I was thinking as you were praying, Pastor Robert, you know, Jesus said, if you've seen the Father, you've seen me. And how are people going to see Jesus now through us? And he told his disciples, he said by this, well all men know that you are my disciples if you love one another. So as we commit ourselves, as we are intentional about learning to love one another, about being a community that embraces each other in all of our humanity, accepts one another, believes in one another, encourages one another, just as Pastor Robert and TaQuaris have been sharing people, exactly what you said, Pastor Robert. What the Lord is wanting is for people to look at us and see the Father.
He wants them to be able to look at us and see the father's generosity, to look at us and see the father's mercy, to look at us and see the father's love. And the way that they'll be able to see it is when we live in it. The best place to start right here. One of my spiritual, fathers once I remember him speak, and he said, oh Lord, I love the people of India. Oh Lord, I love the people of Africa, but my next-door neighbor and that irritating person who sits in the other pew over there.
The farther people are away from us, the easier it is to love them. It's when they get up close and personal that we have a little trouble. But that's where Jesus gets to do his best work in us, when we are up close and personal. I'm glad we are in a place where that can happen. And I'm glad for you all because you are committed to love me in spite of me and we to love each other that way.
Let's just practice a little bit of what this is about. I was asking the father how he wanted to close this, and I think it'd be really great for us just to take a minute and pray for each other. If you have some need in your life, and it would be really helpful this morning to have some friends surround you with prayer, just put up your hand. Don't be bashful. Put up your hand. There is deliverance. Linda, who else has a hand up? Yeah, you can stand then we'll see who you are. Who else? Do you need a financial breakthrough? Adrie, Adrian, Sherry, Brother Ken over here. Okay, anybody else? This is your chance to get some prayer and some care.
So then some of you who are around them, let's go gather around them. Oh, there is Brother Wellton back there. Harris, right? Harris back over here. Let's go. Make sure that these friends of ours who are standing Pat's standing here. Pat, are you going to pray? If you don't have anybody to pray for, take the hand of someone who is close to you and pray for each other. If you are watching on livestream and you need the Lord to work a miracle in your life, I'm going to pray for you. So go ahead, just begin to pray for one another. You can share your needs. Janice, did you want prayer? We need someone to come and join. Janice. Bernie, would you come pray with Janice over here?
Thank you, Jesus. Just thank you, Jesus. Father, thank you, how you get to move through us, how we get to be the vessels of your love. We get to be the vessels of healing. We get to carry your mercy to one another. And so this morning, we just choose to be in that place where you can use us. And Father, this morning, as we are praying for one another in this building, I pray for our friends who are watching online who need a miracle in some way. And I can't ask them right now what it is. But you know, and I agree with your heart, father because your heart says, I want to meet that need. And so Father, I ask and agree with your desire that you would move with power and with mercy to meet the needs of our friends who are with us online today.
Needs of provision, needs of healing, needs of relational restoration, needs of hope. Somebody watching online, you are feeling very hopeless right now. I'm just releasing to you father's love that will stir deep inside and give you a renewed sense of hope that he will never forsake you, he will never leave you, that he will act on your behalf. Taste and see that the Lord is good. Just taste him right now. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus.
Hey Darrell, why don't you go over there and lay hands on Brother Welton. I think he stood for prayer and I don't see anybody standing with him. Oh, he already did. Sorry. Do it again. We'll pray again. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. Pastor Brian
Pastor Brian: Thank you, Jeff. Course Pastor Robert, God bless you. Before we pray, a blessing over you, about 30 years ago, I officiated at the wedding of a young couple who had just started to come to our church. Yesterday, I had the privilege of officiating at the wedding of one of their children. But at the rehearsal for the wedding on Friday evening, the mother of the gal that was getting married was introducing Jacque and I to one of her friends. And she said, "If I hadn't gone to church all these years, we wouldn't be married today. I wouldn't be married today."
She told how there was a lot of tension in their home. They would be fighting with each other in the car on the way to church. And then they would sit in church and they would hear the worship, and then they'd hear the word being spoken. Pretty soon, they were holding hands and walking altogether. And then two or three weeks later, they were fighting again on their way to church. But they went to church virtually every week for 30 years. Today, they are not fighting anymore. They love each other, their families together.
My heart breaks for how many people have given up on just coming to church on a regular basis, making it part of just their life. Because there is something that can happen in our lives when we just expose ourselves to what the spirit of God is doing during a time of gathering together.
If you are watching by livestream, I encourage you, if you are not here in the Twin Cities, to find a church that you can be part of, still stay connected to us. We are part of your community as well, your faith community. But if you are in the Twin Cities area, come on, let's take advantage of these seasons that we have. As Pastor Robert was saying, in the early church, some of them had to meet in caves to just sneak around to just meet in the home. We don't have to do that. Let's not lose the privilege before we value the privilege. Amen. Hallelujah. Let's raise our hands together.
And now, may the Lord bless you and may the Lord keep you. May the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. And may the Lord turn his face towards you and give you his peace. This, we pray in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
John and Tina will be serving communion after the service. Just like they did at the early church, they have communion together. We will also have people to pray for you if you need prayer for anything else after the service. God bless you. Thanks for being here today.
Transcript taken from the Sunday morning service 9-24-23. If you would like to watch the full service, click the link below.