Christianity and Community

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We are continuing our journey through Galatians, and today we look at Galatians chapter 6 and verse 6 to 10. And I open with this verse, “Let the one who is taught the Word share all good things with the one who teaches”. Now this is a sensitive verse, because this is about sharing, including I think, even financial things. And it is sensitive because I am also the one who is preaching. So let the one who is taught the Word, i.e. you guys, share all good things with the one who teaches, i.e. people like myself. It's always sensitive when it's about money and it's always sensitive when in some way it has to do with the preacher.

There was a circus act that went all around the world and there was this particular strong man who had this stunt. He would stand before the crowd, and he would grab an orange and he would squeeze that orange with his hands and squeeze out every single drop you can see. Then he would challenge the people.
“Anyone who can squeeze one more drop of orange juice from the orange would get $500 from me.”
So everybody of all shapes and sizes would turn up and try to squeeze that orange, but nobody can squeeze one more drop. Then there was this scrawny elderly man who slowly crawled up the stage as it were.
He says, “I will take up the challenge.”
So he took that orange, held it up into the sun, and he gave a tight squeeze. And against the sunlight, everyone can see one more drop of orange juice squeezed out. The strong man from the circus was absolutely amazed.
He said, “I've traveled all around the world and no one can do what you did. What is your secret?”
This elderly man then said, “Oh, it's easy. I do this all the time.”
“What do you mean you do this all the time?”
“Oh, you see, I'm the treasurer of the Baptist Church nearby.” (laughter from the congregation).

The Role of the Church and Financial Support

That's what people think about when they think about church. That churches are here to squeeze money out of God's people. I want to assure you that as a church, we don't major or we don't focus on preaching or teaching about giving. We focus on the Gospel of Jesus Christ, not so much my financial giving to anybody, but more so God's gift of His Son to save us from our sins. Nevertheless, in our journey through the Bible, from the Old Testament to the New Testament, we come to Galatians and we come, in particular to Galatians chapter 6 and verse 6. I say all that so that all our guests and newcomers can know this is not a church...I hope you trust us that this is not a church that talks about giving all the time. Now the question is, how did we get to Galatians 6 and verse 6? What is the background to this whole passage? Well, let me give you a two-minute summary of Galatians, can? I tried to do it in one minute. I think not honest if I say one minute. So I say two minutes, hopefully I can keep to it. So for all friends and guests, and indeed, for all of you who have joined us so far, I hope this is a simple, effective recap of our journey so far.

So, what is Galatians about? Well, Galatians is really about having a right standing before God. How can sinful men, dirty, rebellious people like you and me have a right standing before God? How can we stand before a holy God? The book of Galatians tells us this right standing before God is not achieved by the works of the law. In other words, nobody gets to be right with God on his own. Nobody is able to say, “I'm so good. I obeyed all the commandments that I deserve to be right with God.” Nobody can do that. You see, the Ten Commandments were not given so that you can try to do them to get right with God. Instead the law, the Ten Commandments were given so that we might be condemned, so that we may see how hopeless we really are. A right standing before God is not achieved by the works of the law, because it is only to be received by faith in Jesus Christ. The book of Galatians, like every other book in the Bible, is really about Jesus and how God sent His Son to die and to pay for our sins. From the day man sinned against God in the Garden of Eden, God had already said, “The way for man to be saved is through the seed of the woman, the offspring of a woman, through the birth of my Son, Jesus Christ.” And that is graciously, freely bestowed upon those who would believe in Jesus.

So if you are here today say, “What's the Bible all about? What is Christianity all about?” It's this that you can be right with God today, not based on what you do, but what Christ has done for you on the cross, how he died and rose again. And those who believe in Him will be saved. And Galatians is a book that tells us that this faith in Jesus Christ is not passive or inert or inactive. On the other hand, it is very productive. It is very fruitful, because Paul goes on to say, “In Christ Jesus, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything.” It doesn't matter whether you are circumcised or not, because a right standing is not achieved by the works of the law, but by faith in Christ. Nevertheless, this faith is not alone. This faith is not inactive. This faith is not inert, because this faith will work through love. This faith would produce love.

So this is what Galatians is about. We are saved not by works of the law, but by faith. And this faith will produce love, will result in love, and this love is going to be expressed two ways. One, last week, we learned you will restore a brother who has fallen into sin. Two, if you love, you will share and do good. Now I think I cheated. It's not two minutes, probably longer, but you get the point. That's the summary of Galatians so far.

Structure and Purpose of Galatians 6:6-10

So today we're just going to look at the second part, because this was dealt with last week. What does it mean to share and do good? I'm going to show you a slide. It's going to look very small and busy. Please don't scold me. I have a reason to showing all these five verses on one slide. This is what we're going to study today. I'd like you to notice first of all, “Let the one who is taught the Word share all good things with the one who teaches.” Instruction number one. And it's interesting that the next instruction is found in verse 10. “So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone.” Share good things. Do good. You see that they are parallels. They are very similar.

And then you see another parallel within in verse 7, “Do not be deceived. God is not mocked for whatever one sows, that will he also reap?” So sowing and reaping. That's the example that is being used by Paul. And this is again mirrored or paralleled in verse 9. “Let us not grow weary of doing good.” I think this is about sowing. Because he goes on to say, “For in due season, we will reap if we do not give up.” So again, parallels on the inner side, and then when you come to the center the core, it is again another comparison. Sowing to the flesh, reap corruption. Sowing to the Spirit, you reap eternal life. There's a contrast right there. So what I'm saying here is that if you organize it this way, there is a, the word that we've been looking at past weeks, “chiasm”, a mirror imaging on both sides, because this tip, or this apex, this pinnacle of the V-shape would point to you the most important aspect. So this structure provides symmetry, a sense of completion, but most importantly it allows you to see the real important point of the author. He wants you to know. He wants the readers to know that those who sow to his own flesh will reap corruption and those who sow to His Spirit, to the Spirit will reap eternal life.

This is its emphasis. So how are we going to look at this passage? Very simple. We are going to start from the outside to the inside. We're going to start with the outside these two verses that speak of the instruction that the author gives, Paul gives. Then we're going to look further into the inside, the illustration of sowing and reaping. And then finally, the highlight, the main point the author has for us is the implication right in the middle. Okay, so a very simple approach to these five verses about sowing and reaping in Galatians 6. Let's begin.

The instruction given to us is that we are to share and we are to do good. Now these properly viewed are the acts of love that flows out of genuine faith. So this is something that Christians, true followers of Jesus Christ, are commanded to do. They are the benevolent, beneficent acts of love, including I think, giving. So verse 6, it says, “Let the one who is taught the Word share all good things with the one who teaches.” So it is apparent that in Galatia in those days, there were already so called instructors, teachers of the Word, some kind of a formal arrangement. So there were teachers who have blessed the people with the teaching of God's Word. And I would say that probably the greatest commodity today in our world is not gold or oil, but truth. It's the knowledge of truth that is precious. And I think if you are a follower of Jesus Christ, you would know for yourself how precious truth is. And so there are those who teach these truths, from God's Word to the people who have blessed the people. And therefore, Paul says, “It is only right that those who are taught the Word would reciprocally bless the teachers.” They reciprocally bless the teachers by sharing, that is the word “have all things in common”, “Koinonia” or fellowship, all good things. Now, what is “all good things”? There are no limits or limitations put in this text about what is good so I think it will be appropriate to think about good things as your love, your support, your prayers, your encouragements, maybe your food, your shelter, your finances. It would include I think all these things. It is not unique to this text. We see elsewhere. “Let the elders”, again this is written by Paul to Timothy. “Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching.”

So Paul puts a premium on the teaching of God's Word and the necessary support of the elders who rule and especially those who teach. He then invokes the Old Testament Scripture, “you shall not muzzle an ox when it treads up the corn.” Even the ox who works for you deserve to be fed. So those who teach God's Word should be provided for. They should be cared for and the laborer deserves his wages. He also says in 1 Corinthians, “In the same way, the Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel.” Now, Paul himself actually would voluntarily, at times, refuse the support, not that it's wrong, but he felt that it would be better for the ministry like in a new place if he did not receive any support. Nevertheless, it would be appropriate for those who are taught the Word to share all good things with the one who teaches. Again, it might be that in Galatia they have not supported the teachers. Instead, they might have supported the false teachers, and thereby they are now inundated with false teachings and are not built up in the faith.

A story is told of a pastor in a good old days where they travel from place to place on horses. So he went to a particular church to preach and to minister, and the people there then asked him, “Pastor, why is it that your horse looks so healthy and strong and cared for, but you look so “jialat” (in a bad situation), not in this language of course, but you look so thin and worn down and scrawny. And the pastor says, “Oh, it's simple, I take care of the horse, and my church takes care of me.” (laughter from the congregation)

Well, I would say here at Gospel Light, we are thankful for the support of God's people. This is not my situation whatsoever, and I'm not preaching this for that purpose. I'm sure you know. But the point remains that there is a necessity for the church to support the leaders, and I would say, support them or us in terms of our needs and definitely not our greeds. This is not a passage that preachers should use to get rich or to live a lavish lifestyle. Now I also want us to notice that this sharing is not just dry responsibility we have to make sure our leaders are cared for. It is properly viewed to be a privilege, because we must not forget the imagery of sowing and reaping. No farmer takes a bunch of seeds and says, “So sad, I got to sow.” No. He goes out to his field, excited he can sow, because the moment he throws the grains and the seed, he knows that in a few months’ time, he will reap the benefits. So giving, sharing is not just responsibility.

Practical Application of Sowing and Reaping

I think a Christian who has the right theology would see it as a privilege to give. Sowing and reaping. It's an opportunity that should not be missed. So “Let the one who is taught the Word share” and that's verse 6. Let's go verse 10. “So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone”. Again, I think doing good here is limitless. There's no need to limit it to just giving, even though it should I think include giving or giving financially, providing food and so on, but it would involve all kinds of beneficent acts. The instruction here is to do good to everyone, even to non-Christians. That's what Christianity is all about. We love our neighbors, right? But understanding our own limitations, there is a prioritization given here to those who are of the household of faith.

About two weeks ago at about 3pm, I think most of you would be home already. I was around here and I heard something at level four at the lift lobby area. So I went over to take a look what's happening? Some “Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom”. And I saw this brother in our church wiping the doors and the buttons of the lift.
I said, “What are you doing? I thought there are people doing this.”
“Oh”, he says, “This is a special solution. This is a effective disinfectant.”
Because he just heard last two weeks ago, there was a danger of monkey pox or M pox in Singapore. He says,” This solution will keep virus away for three to six months.” So you all can come this church, very safe, (laughter from the congregation) won’t get monkey pox from our lifts or whatever. But he was wiping, I say, “Why do you do this?” Well, he just wants to bless the people.

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I think that's one example of doing good. I was just again thinking about, you know, the shawls that are provided as you enter. When I first started, when I saw people put, I say, “Who in the world would take the shawls?” I mean, I'm thinking of the guy lah, the guy here won't. But I realized that it can be quite cold, and some of the ladies here really appreciate it. These are just simple acts of service. By the way, it's acts of service because someone has to wash lah. Otherwise you put already, you put back meh? Cannot lah. We wash for you. So these are acts of service that people do. But I don't think that brother is wiping lifts all across the island. He's just limited, and he prioritizes that to the household of faith. But I think that's all part of doing good as acts of love that flows from the heart of faith.

So we looked at the outside - the instruction. Let's move on to the illustration - the inside. The example given is about sowing and reaping, and it is very clear, because verse 8, sow..reap”, verse 8, “sow..reap”, verse 9, “Do not be weary of doing good”. This, I think, is another way of saying, sowing is doing good and reaping. I like us to be very precise in our understanding here. Two things. One, sowing to his own flesh, sowing to the Spirit. What do these two things mean exactly? What does it mean to sow to his own flesh? And what does it mean to sow to the Spirit? Now, because we are looking at the Bible in segments, it's not always easy for you to immediately tell. That's why it's very important to read the Bible, or at least a book in its entirety over and over again. And if you read it over and over again, you would be able to tell me, “Oh, I think sow to the flesh is this, sow to the Spirit is that.” Right now, I'm not very confident you can. Correct? So short cut that process for you, just to convey and communicate and exemplify the principle of reading the Bible in its context. This is the text. What is along with it is what is the context? What is surrounding it?

So let's look at the context. I think the most instructive part will be back to Galatians 5:13. Paul has been saying,“You are saved by God's grace. You are free from having to obey the law to earn a right standing. You are free from legalism, but do not use this freedom as an opportunity for the flesh.” And the word “opportunity” is a military base from which you launch an attack. So don't use this freedom from legalism as an excuse to indulge your flesh. And the works of the flesh, he goes on to say, are very clear -  these sexual sins, superstitious sins, social sins and then the sensual sins. We looked at that a few weeks back. So I think when he says, “Do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh”, it is another way of saying, “Do not sow to the flesh.” And sowing to the flesh is equal to living in sin. How do I know that? From the context. Likewise how do we understand sowing to the Spirit? What does it mean? Again, back to this very important transitional verse in 5:13, “instead of using your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, use your freedom to serve one another in love.” So I now see as Paul goes on to chapter 6, sowing to the Spirit is to serve in love. Simple. Sow to the flesh means you do what you want in your flesh, selfish desires. Sow to the Spirit means denying your selfish desires to lovingly serve one another. It makes sense there, and this is further confirmed when you look at Galatians 6:10, “Let us not grow weary of doing good”. Like I said, I think this is another way of communicating sowing to the Spirit, because it speaks about reaping later on. And so sowing to the Spirit is doing good, which is similar to serving in love. So back to verse 8, what does it mean to sow to his own flesh? Live in sin. What does it mean to sow to the Spirit? Serve in love. You get that? I see newcomers not so. If you are, if you're old timer, wake up if you can't get this, all right? Now the illustration now is sowing and reaping. And I want, I would like us to see that there are three simple principles about sowing and reaping.

The first principle is the principle of identity, which means you will reap what you sow. Whatever you sow, you will reap. You will reap what you sow. So if I plant a mango seed, ten years later, I should not be disappointed that there is no “Mao San Wang”. (laughter from the congregation). I will be amiss and I will be a fool if I thought that sowing a mango seed would give me a durian. It can't. Because whatsoever you sow, you will reap. You sow a mango seed, you get a mango fruit. So if you today are sowing to computer games, TV programs, don't expect to reap good PSLE results. My son is not here, but I wish he was here.(laughter from the congregation).If you sow to gluttony and laziness, don't expect to have a fit and healthy body. Whatever you sow, you will reap. I was just having, okay, not here, but I think spiritually speaking, this is equally true. One who sows to his own flesh. What is sowing to the flesh? Living in sin, you will definitely reap corruption. Now, I'm not going to say what corruption is yet. I want to save it to the third point, right? Because that's verse 8. But the point is, if you sow to the flesh, you will definitely reap corruption, and if you sow to the Spirit, you will definitely reap eternal life. And don't be deceived, means don't ever think to yourself, don't let anyone say to you, “Oh, it doesn't matter how I live today, I'm definitely going to be A-okay.” No, do not be deceived.

Don't assume that just because you are in church, you have a Christian name, you have said a prayer last time. It doesn't matter how you live today, God will always be favorable to me. Don't be deceived. And remember, God is not mocked. The word “mocked” here is interesting. The root word in the Greek has to do with the nose. How is mockery to be with the nose? Well, the idea is, do not be, do not assume that God is to be mocked in that your nose is going to turn up against him. You know what is mocked? This one you turn your nose up and you sneer at God. Oh, don't hold God in contempt. Don't you ever think that God will be mocked by you in that you live in any sinful way you want, and he is still obligated to bless you. How you live really matters. We will look more later on, but this is the principle of identity. Whatever you sow, you will reap. Mango seed - mango fruit. Sinful living -corruption, inescapable reality.

The Importance of Perseverance and Investment

Second principle of sowing and reaping is that of interval. What I mean by that is there is always a gap time between sowing and reaping. It will never be immediate, correct? You sow a mango seed, it takes, I think I don't know how many years. I'm bad at these things, but maybe 10 years. Durian tree, it takes 25 years. That one I know, I just heard. 25 years, unless you graft the tree, then it will be a lot faster. But you sow a bean, a green bean, one day you have a bean sprout. So but regardless, everything about sowing and reaping requires an interval, a time period. So in this text, we also see a time period. Don't grow weary. Keep doing it. In due season, If you do not faint, you do not give up. There is a call for patience and perseverance. This is life. I was having conversations with my kids, and I was remarking to them, I think life well lived is all about investment.

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It is kind of, wow. What do you mean? Life well lived is all about investment? I'm not trying to talk about bankers here. It does may involve some of them, but life is all about investment. Investing financially to prepare for the future. Investing emotionally, especially nowadays, it's important. I was with my secondary school classmates, and we were remarking how important it is to have to give our kids a proper childhood and not just drive them to perform. It's important to invest relationally, isn't it? It's also important to invest physically. Don't be negligent with the body God has given to you. And most of all, it is important to invest spiritually, eternally. All of life is about investment. A life well lived is not one where you just live for the here and now, but you think about the future, and most of all, the eternal life. But the thing about investment, we all know that makes sense, right? I hope you know it makes sense. But the thing about investment is that the difficulty with it is there is no immediate gratification and we live in a world that wants immediate gratification. That's the hard part. But to live spiritually, you need to have that wisdom to see beyond it.

I think wisdom can be defined many ways, but one of the ways to understand wisdom, perhaps is wisdom is giving up what you want now to gain what you really want in the future. That was what I said to my kids. Wisdom is giving up what you want now to get what you really want in the future. It can apply to your studies. It can apply to your finances. It can apply to a plate of char kway teow. It applies everywhere I think. So my kids would tell me, “Dad, Mum, you guys seem to live your whole life based on a few promises in the Bible.” They know that we live with a very clear focus on the life that is to come and they think that that's foolish just to bank or live your entire life based on something that is not seen but is said in the Bible in a few places. I said to him, “No, it's not in a few places. It's everywhere.” And yes, you are right. The world may think that we are foolish, but I think that's what faith is all about. And we believe that in due season, we will reap. So this is about an interval, and so it is for you to decide how you will want to live your life. I think investment is the best way to live your life.

The third principle I want to highlight is the principle of investment. What I mean here is that the more you invest, the more you will reap, or the more you invest, or the more sure the returns would be. Paul says,“As we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone.” This is something you need to seize. Don't just do once or once in a while, but as often as you can. In this life that God has given to you, seek to do it all the time, as much as you can. As John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, would say,“Do all the good you can by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can.” As long as you have opportunity, do good. So keep sowing. That's the idea. And I think this is further corroborated by Paul's writings elsewhere, where he says, “They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share.” Do you realize this is Galatians 6:6 and 6:10, just put in one verse? And he says, “When you do this, you store up treasure for yourselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.” So we have learned from the outside. The instruction to Christian living is to generously share and tirelessly do good. The illustration is sowing and reaping. They are the principles of identity, interval and investment, whatever one sows that will he also reap.

The Central Message of Galatians 6:6-10

Finally, we come to the main point of Paul's writing here - the implication. And we come back to the chiasm. The chiasm has that central pinnacle, apex, focus on reaping and or reaping corruption and reaping eternal life. So what I think Paul is saying here is your actions will have eternal consequences. Don't be deceived. Don't say to yourself ever, “Oh, I raised my hand in a church service 10 years ago. I was baptized 20 years ago. It doesn't matter how I live now and for the rest of my life, that was how I received Jesus. I will have eternal life.” No, if you sow to your flesh, live in sin, you will reap corruption. And if you sow to the Spirit, you will reap eternal life. Now, when we read the word “corruption” in our ESV, we will think about it like some kind of stain or pollution, something not so good, but not that bad. Some corruption. So it may refer to some loss of joy, some loss of peace, some stagnation or backsliding in my spiritual growth. So you say, “Okay lah, sin a bit no problem, just corrupt a bit lor.” But in the Greek, I think it is unfortunate that the ESV has translated it as corruption, because in the Greek, the word can be translated more strongly as destruction or to perish. I think in this context, it should be destruction, not corruption. It should be perish, not corruption, because it is opposed to having eternal life. So if I may put it this way, sowing to the flesh, living in perpetual, habitual sin, regardless of what you say about yourself, you will reap damnation and condemnation. Let me put it strong. But if you live your life serving in love, sowing to the Spirit, you will reap eternal life and salvation. So what Paul is saying here is this is not just about a few rewards in heaven, or the loss of rewards, is not just about whether you growing or not growing. This is about heaven and hell. He is raising the stakes. He is ratcheting this up to a high level so that you know what is at stake for your soul.

Final Encouragement and Applicatory Questions

Piper or not Piper, let me go on to Paul first, just to tell you that I don't think this is off track, because earlier, when we looked at chapter five, we see also another chiasm. And again, the purpose of the chiasm gives you that symmetry, that unity, that completion, but most of all tells you the pinnacle, the main point. The main point is right here. What is this verse in full? “I warn you, as I warned you before”. This is a serious thing. “I warn you, and I now warn you again, that those who practice, the word “do” is practice. Those who habitually do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” In other words, you'll be damned, you'll be judged, you'll be condemned. So Piper says, “Let this sink in”. And I want this to sink in for you really, because what is at stake in this text is eternal life, and not merely sanctification, but also final salvation. Whether Jason goes to heaven or whether Jason goes to hell depends in some way on whether Jason will grow weary in well doing or not, you see that? It's about what I need to be mindful of. Do not be deceived. God is not mocked. It doesn't matter what you said or how you were raised. It depends on the pattern of your life from here onwards, because true faith must produce love. It is not alone. It is productive, and real love will be seen in how you restore your brother and how you are generous to share and do good. But if you don't love your brother, and if you do not do good, and you will not share, instead, you use this freedom to indulge in your flesh, you live in habitual sin. It only goes to show you never really loved, and that's because you never really believed. So I wanted it to be crystal clear. Paul is not saying, earn your salvation with doing good. No, he's saying evidence real salvation with doing good, and thereby secure for yourself a strong grasp of eternal life. So this is what Paul is saying in these five verses. Genius actually, to lay it out in a chiastic fashion so that we really can understand while the implication and the importance of sowing and reaping. Do not be deceived. Don't turn your nose up on God. Don't think to yourself, “Ha, doesn't really matter how I live, God is going to save me. He accepts me as Christian, I have been to Gospel Light.” No. Whatever you sow, you will reap. What is at stake is eternal life, and not just sanctification.

So as final words, I hope you and I will not grow weary of doing good. I hope today you will believe that in due season you will reap if you do not give up. Some of you have given up because it's not easy to serve. It's not easy to be in ministry, some of you have given up or kind of taken your foot off the pedal, because you say, “Well, I'm already 70 years old. I want to enjoy life.” I say, “Why are you enjoying life for 10 years or 20 years? Why don't you think about enjoying life for eternity? Why so silly?” “Oh, I want to travel around the world.” I mean, again, I'm not. I don't like traveling, but I'm not against those who travel. Let me say that again, but please travel, please have fun, please have breaks. But don't make it your ultimate goal in life. Don't say to yourself, “It's time for me to hand over to the next generation.” Yes, something's hand over, but you please keep serving and doing good and be generous because you need, you need this for your sake. Do not grow weary of doing good.” I say this not only to retirees. I say this to middle aged people like myself. I think I'm middle age, huh? (laughter from congregation). Maybe you are successful, maybe you have hit the top, or maybe somewhere near the top. I say, think about what your life is all about. Is it really to get to the top? Is it really to make it in financial sense? Why are you not thinking about eternal life? Why won't you believe? And if I may say, join my wife and I in saying, “Yeah, I live my life with a clear vision of what is to come, and we are willing to sacrifice what is needed today. We were not here to enjoy, though we have a lot of pleasures in this world, but that's not our ultimate goal.” So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.

In closing, just some applicatory questions that you can think about with your family, by yourself or maybe in your care groups. How are you expressing your faith today? What does it look like? Is it just mere words, or is it tangible, observable, discernible? How does this affect you? Because I hope you're not here just to listen to a sermon and say, “Oh, interesting. I understand the chiasm. Hahaha.” Well, I really hope that you will think about how you live your life. What are you sowing to and how are you investing your life? All of life well lived is about investment. What do you need to stop today? Surely there are some things you may need to think about. What are the things you need to start doing? What are the things that you need to keep on doing? What are the needs of the people around me that I can meet and why I still want you to think about why? Because it will be all messed up if you do this to earn salvation. It's so tragic, if that is what you think. But do this because Jesus loves you. He gave his life for you, and you believe him, and you love his people, and you know that as you do this, one day, you will reap eternal life.

Let's bow for a word of prayer. Father, thank You for Your Word and we pray that you will give us wisdom to give up what we want now to gain what we really want in the future. And I pray again for friends and guests that they would see that everything springs from an understanding that you first gave us your son to save us from our sins. May you turn their gaze to Jesus Christ that they too may be saved. As a church, we cry out to you once again. Dear God, give us a servant's heart. We pray this in Jesus name, Amen.