We are Family | Part 3 | Jon Colyer | Gateway Christian Centre

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Transcript

SPEAKER_04 0:04

Welcome to Gateway's Weekly Service. We are so glad that you are here. We pray that this message inspires you, it encourages you, and that God speaks to you in new ways. Now, on with the message.

SPEAKER_01 0:18

The Bible says, and a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, saying, Your servant, my husband, is dead, and you know that your servant feared the Lord, and the creditor is coming to take my two sons to be his slaves. So Elisha said to her, What shall I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house? And she said, Your maidservant has nothing in the house but a jar of oil. Can I tell you something? Whenever you see oil mentioned in the Bible, you need to get ready because something's about to happen. Whenever you see oil. So I'm gonna read this verse again and give you a second chance at this. So Elisha said to her, What shall I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house? And she said, Your maidservant has nothing in the house but a jar of oil. As long as there's oil in the house, we're fine. Can I tell you something? Doesn't matter what's going on out there, doesn't matter what's going on around the world, doesn't matter what's going on in war zones, as long as we have oil in the house, we are never without a future. The kingdom of God is never without a future. If there is oil in your land, you are ready for the king. Then he said, Go borrow vessels from everywhere, from all your neighbors, empty vessels. Don't gather just a few. And when you have come in, you shall shut the door behind you and your sons, then pour it into all those vessels and set aside the full ones. So she went out from him and shut the door behind her and her sons, who brought the vessels to her, and she poured it out. Now it came to pass when the vessels were full that she said to her son, Bring me another vessel. And he said to her, There is not another vessel. So the oil ceased. Then she came and told the man of God, and he said, Go sell the oil and pay your debt, and you and your son shall live on the rest. Do you know what this story tells us? The oil was never the problem. The problem was there wasn't enough vessels. The oil is never the problem. The Holy Spirit is never the problem. We're looking for He's looking for vessels. We need to be vessels. Our hearts are the vessels. And when we come and when we worship him, and we close the door and we begin to pour out the oil and he fills, not just this cup, but this cup and this cup and this cup and this cup and your cup. And he fills you, and he fills you, and he fills you. The oil is never the problem, it's the vessels. We need more vessels. I'm gonna say, Lord, I'm a vessel. I didn't believe that. Come on, say, Lord, I'm a vessel. God, if you're pouring out oil, pour it out in me. If you're doing something, do something in me. If there's a move of God going, Lord, move me, move my heart, change me. If you're sending fire, burn in my life. God, I am hungry for a move of God. I'm hungry for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Guys, I know it's hot, but you don't get wet looking at a river. You only get wet when you jump in. There's many things I can do for you, but I can't be hungry for you, and I can't worship for you, and you can't be hungry or worship for me. We got to do that for ourselves. So let's just take about 30 seconds more and tell the Lord, I am hungry for the oil of your spirit. Come on, let's do that. Lord God, we are hungry for you. We are hungry for the outpouring of your spirit, we are hungry for what you are doing, we are hungry for the signs and the wonders and the revelation and the salvation. We are hungry to see Jesus glorified. So, Lord, what you need to do, do in me what you want to do, Lord, do in us and do it here and glorify your name. Lord Jesus, there's no one like you, and we worship you, we honor you, we magnify you, we bless you, we praise you.

SPEAKER_02 4:18

Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. Give him your vessel, Jesus.

SPEAKER_00 5:31

Here's my wish, all of my wish, receive my wish, Lord.

SPEAKER_02 5:52

I don't just want to worship you in here when people are looking.

SPEAKER_01 5:56

Lord, in my secret life, in my hidden life, my marriage, in my home, my family. Lord, I want to worship you there. In my finances, in my decisions, the words of my mouth, the meditation of my heart, Lord, I want to worship you there. Jesus, you are Lord of all it. So, Lord, let my eyes, let my heart be turned to you. Capture me. Lord, even today, even in this place, would you take us by the hand and lead us deeper? Take us by the hand and lead us deeper. Let us walk out of this room in a few minutes, closer to your things in our life, closer to your purpose in our life. Lord, as I share the word, I'm asking you, use my tongue like a pen and write your word on our hearts. And anoint our ears to hear and our hearts to receive what you're saying to us. In Jesus' name. Amen. Awesome. Okay, praise the Lord. You can go ahead and take your seats if you would. Thank you, everybody. I know it's really hot. There's a little more space in here today, which is a shame for the people that aren't here, but nice for those of us that are, because it gives us a little bit of wiggle room. It's nice to be able to kind of spread out our arms a little bit and praise Him. So I'm very glad you're here. I want to just say a couple of things. And one is to thank everybody that served yesterday at the UCB um event. It was a really, really powerful day and powerful night, and I enjoyed it a lot. Thank you. And so I know that a bunch of people from Gateway served, and it was hot, but you serve with great joy. And I just want to say I am very grateful. David LaRue texted and expressed his appreciation as well. So on his behalf, he's the um president of UCB. Thank you. He's also a really good friend of ours and a friend of this house. So thank you for doing that. I also want to do one other thing. There's a very special couple in here today. Um, there's a particular young man who's been a friend of mine for a long time. Aiden, you'll be pleased to know there was a picture I was gonna put up of you. Come on up here, Aiden and Debbie, come on up. I'm gonna tell you why they're coming up here in just a second. Hang on, don't cheer yet. Hang on, hang on, hold it because I want a big cheer. And so it was Aiden and Kezia, who's here today as well, and Minnie, and they were at Levi's birthday party when he was, I think, three or four, maybe guys coming up here. And so I have known Aiden. Aiden is like a son to me for a really, really long time. And a few weeks ago, many of you know I went to Germany for a couple of days. And the reason I went to Germany is because I had the privilege of doing the wedding for this wonderful couple. So, can we put our hands together for Aiden and Debbie? Congratulations. I had a beautiful day. It was a wonderful, wonderful event. So we love you, we love you a lot, and we're really happy for you. Aiden, just take a minute, say hello. You'll know some people, you won't know here for them, but just say hello anyway.

SPEAKER_03 9:04

Hello, everyone. So nice to be here. Every time I come and I just look around, I see some familiar faces, lots of new faces, but so many familiar faces. And it's just always beautiful for me to be here because if it wasn't for this place, if it wasn't for John Angela, it wasn't for that them saying yes to this place for cultivating an environment like this, I would not be standing here today. I would I would not be standing here today. I found Jesus here. I met him, I was discipled by him and by by the church, and I wouldn't be standing here without this place. So I'm just so grateful for all of you. I'm so grateful for the people that I've grown literally grown up with, some of you here, and John and Angela and Ian and Michael, the whole team, Martin. I see everyone I could probably go for ages, but I'm just it's such a blessing, such a blessing to see you all, and thank you so much, John.

SPEAKER_01 9:56

Hey, tell them the countries that we spent time together, see if you can remember.

SPEAKER_03 10:01

Okay, so we have sat down and had coffee um in the beautiful um Costas of Albury to the to the forests of uh well, cities of Thailand, in California, and now Germany. Am I missing any?

unknown 10:18

I don't think so.

SPEAKER_03 10:19

No, so we'll see where we go next.

SPEAKER_01 10:22

Come on, put your hands together for this couple again. We love you. Thank you guys for coming up and letting everybody see you. So and then Kezia, man, what God is doing in Kezia's life is is really incredible. She's going in the nations as well. And so, man, Minnie, Serge, if a tree is known by its fruit, your tree is good. So we love you and we bless you. Okay, which leads me wonderfully into we're finishing a series that we've been doing the last few weeks. Angela spoke the first week about um uh we're talking about family, church family. We are family, and we're looking at it through the lens. Initially, we looked at through the lens of singleness, then we looked last week, we kind of moved it around. Normally you would go singleness and then marriage and then family or or children, parenting, it just kind of flows that way, except for the fact that last week was Father's Day. And so Angela brought the message the first uh week about singleness, and then Ian shared last week about parenting, and I want to wrap this up this week by talking about covenant family, and in that context, a godly marriage. And so one of the defining characteristics of modern culture is the avoidance of commitment. You kind of see it everywhere. People are terrified of being trapped, we're terrified of missing out. FOMO is very huge and very real, and we're terrified of making the wrong decision, especially when it comes to who we marry, and and so we leave our options open. Let me just kind of try the field. It it doesn't work, that makes things worse, trust me. Even not just in my opinion or even the Bible's opinion, statistically, it makes things worse. So we we keep one foot in and and one foot out, we maintain escape routes in relationships, not just marriage and all our relationships in churches. Well, I'll go, but I'm not gonna commit yet. I'll I'll I'll I'll kind of attend, but I'm not gonna engage. And the irony is that the things most people long for can only be found on the other side of commitment. We were designed to be committed to one another. People want deep friendships, they want healthy marriages, we want thriving families, we want strong churches, we want meaningful community, but none of these things happen accidentally, they are built over time through covenant. It takes relationship to build us. God uses irritating people to grow you. Have you noticed that? This is some of you can say, Thank the Lord for my spouse. Hallelujah. And to grow, you need mentors and you need tormentors. I moved on from now. I should have said we should have taken a bit longer to do that sort of the adult. But none of these things happen accidentally. I said it, they're built through covenant, and the modern world teaches us to protect ourselves. The kingdom teaches us to give ourselves. The world will say you're safe by just keeping everything hidden, keeping everything secret. The world says, the Bible says you're safe by giving of yourself. Modern world says keep your options open. Kingdom says plant yourself in the house of God. The modern world says leave when it gets difficult. The kingdom says learn how to love through difficulty. Modern world says protect your rights. The kingdom says lay down your life. Can I tell you something? Jesus is right. Jesus is right. There is a way that seems right to a man, but the end of it is death. But then there's Jesus' way, there's God's way. And perhaps one of the reasons so many people feel disconnected today is because we're trying to enjoy the fruit of covenant without embracing the cost of covenant. And that doesn't work that way. We want belonging without vulnerability. We want friendship, but we don't want sacrifice. We want marriage, but we don't want selfishness. We want family, but without commitment. And one of the first things I discovered when I got married is quite how selfish I was, quite how much I like things my own way. And we were married for about, I don't know, seven or eight years until Levi came along. I thought I had perfected myself. And then Levi came along, and I realized, oh, there's a whole nother level. You don't just have to consider one person, you've got to consider two. And that person who was about as big as a shoebox takes over everything. And so today I want to answer some of these kind of questions. Maybe not get to all of them, but why does God place such a high value on covenant? Why is it so important to Him? Why do so many relationships become fragile? We need to know these things. Why do, oh excuse me, what makes marriage survive difficult seasons? Why do healthy churches and healthy marriages share so many characteristics? And what does biblical commitment actually look like? Because every meaningful relationship eventually reaches a point where feelings are no longer enough. Every church membership eventually reaches a point where feelings are no longer enough. And there comes a moment when commitment has to carry what emotions can't. Because you're not feeling it right now, but you're choosing it. Do you get what I'm saying? And when we understand covenant, we begin to how understand how God builds things that last. I'm glad God is in a covenant relationship with me, not a feelings relationship with me, because I can guarantee you I must have been aggravating. I mean it. I mean you've been polite, not what you were, but everyone else was polite and didn't say anything. But I'm sure I had times when God's like, oh, again? Well, maybe not, because he says they don't remember it. But you get what I'm saying. I am glad that he loves me with an everlasting love. And that his and my relationship is based on his covenant and his goodness and his decision to love me, not based on my performance or how I do things. All right, let's look at the word together. I feel like I'm still getting chilly. Could someone just point things a little bit differently? Because I'm straining a bit with my voice. When the wind blows, even though you're hot, you struggle with your voice. So I apologize if I get a bit croaky. Looking around, they're not pointing at me, but it feels like they are. So maybe it's the wind of the Holy Spirit, in which case I'm fine. Ephesians chapter 5, verse 31 and 32. I want to read this, and then we're gonna read John 13. They'll both be on the screen, but look at this with me together. Ephesians chapter 5, verse 31 says, For this reason, a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. Verse 32. This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church. We'll talk about this in a minute, but now let's read. John 13, verse 34 and 35. And new commandment I give unto you that you love one another as I have loved you, that you also love one another, and by this all will know that you are my disciples if you have love one for another. The greatest mark of a believer is not signs and wonders, it's not the anointing, it's the love of God. Because prophecy will cease, tongues will cease, miracles will pass away. But God's love endures forever. It's going nowhere. So let's look at three things. Really simple. Number one, the church teaches us covenant before marriage ever tests it. Good preaching. The church teaches us covenant before marriage ever tests it. So many people want great marriages but have never learned covenant thinking. And one of the great misconceptions of modern Christianity is the idea that spiritual maturity and relational maturity are separate things. They're not. They go together. In fact, much of what God does in church life is preparing us for healthy relationships. See, what most people think, church, we think worship, we think prayer, we think preaching, ministry, tithing, and giving. But one of God's primary purposes for spiritual family is to teach us how to love people. This is why the principle of marriage applies within the context of church, whether you are married or not, because we all are the bride of Christ. And this is often where discipleship becomes real. This is where the rubber meets the road. Because loving God in theory is one thing. Loving imperfect people consistently is entirely something else. And Angela taught us a couple of weeks ago. Many of the principles of Christianity cannot be lived out in isolation, serving, humility, generosity, patience, kindness. It's easy to be patient with yourself. It's easy to be kind to yourself, it's easy to be generous to yourself. Those virtues aren't tested until you get around someone that's a right stinker. And you have to love them anyway. Notice what Paul says in Ephesians chapter 4, verse 1 through 3. He says, I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you're called. With all lowliness and gentleness, with long-suffering, bearing one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the spirit and the bond of peace. See, before he ever teaches on marriage in chapter 5, he teaches all of us, every believer, how to walk with one another in humility, in gentleness, in patience, and in love. That's not an accident. He knew what he was doing and he knew what he was talking about. In fact, Paul understood marriage even though he was a single man and was never married in the same way Jesus did and does. Because marriage is an extension of covenant family. It's not in a league by its own, it happens within the context of covenant relationships. And God understands something that many of us miss. If I cannot walk in humility with brothers and sisters in Christ, I will struggle to walk in humility with a spouse. If I can't forgive people in church, I will struggle to forgive people at home. If I can't honor spiritual family, I will struggle to honor my marriage partner. See, marriage doesn't create covenant thinking, marriage reveals wherever covenant thinking already exists. And a lot of people enter marriage without covenant mentality. It's a contract, but God didn't call us into a contract, He called us into a covenant. And my part in a covenant is irrespective of the way I'm treated. It is God's love flowing out of me by the Holy Spirit, regardless. There's not a if they or if only. It's my love for God expressed to the person closest to me. Again, marriage doesn't create covenant thinking, it reveals whether covenant thinking already exists. Some of us that are single are waiting to develop certain virtues until we get married. No, they will be expressed in your marriage, but they're being developed right now. Why are you so quiet? I'm just gonna, I'm not holding back. I'm gonna be like that one prophet. God said, Don't look at their faces, just say it. Everyone look up at me. Smile real big, let me see your pearly white. Say, we love you, John. Okay, I love you too. So Paul goes on in Ephesians chapter 4, verse 31, 32, challenging believers. Put away bitterness, put away anger, put away wrath, put away malice while embracing forgiveness and kindness. This involves when you park in your car and the car park is full. Had a number of guys say, John, you want to know what the congregation is really like? Help us park the cars, especially on conventions. Sunday. Oh Lordy. So think how relevant Paul's teaching is. These are church family instructions. And you gotta understand, church family is the thing. Within it, there are single people, within it, there are married people, within it, there are parents, within it, there are grandparents, but our family, being the bride of Christ, extends forever. But the Bible is very clear marriage doesn't occur in heaven, giving of marriage doesn't occur in heaven. This is an earth thing, but the covenant family is eternal. We are the bride of Christ for eternity. And these happen to be some of the most important marriage scriptures or instructions in the Bible because covenant principles work everywhere. Paul takes it even further in Colossians chapter 3, verse 12. I'm going to read from the New Living Translation, verse to verse 15, says, Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourself with tender-hearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Make allowance for each other's faults and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you. So you must forgive others. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us together, binds us all together in perfect harmony. And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts, for as members of one body, you are called to live in peace and always be thankful. Does that sound like church? Sometimes. I know. It's all right, they've all left now. It's a whole new congregation. You're perfect. I'm talking about the old church. Uh other church, not you, of course. You'd never do that. Compassion, kindness, humility, patience, forgiveness, love. Again, these aren't marriage verses, these are family verses. This is church, this is church family. And yet they're the exact qualities that create healthy marriages. Because church family is God's training ground for covenant relationships. Think about the gym. No one develops strength by lifting feathers. Strength develops through resistance. Strength develops by pushing through difficult things and hard things. The very thing that feels the most uncomfortable is often the thing that's producing growth. In fact, let me say this: what you are going through right now that you are not enjoying, give it a short period of time, you will look back and say, I'm glad I went through that. We went through something a number of years ago. And I remember a month or two into it, I felt the Holy Spirit say, as clear as clear can be, this very thing that you're going through now, in a few years, you will celebrate because it will place in you what you need to carry what I'm going to put on your shoulders. Never forget there was a group of a couple of missionary pastors from China, and they were visiting America for about six months and going around different places and having a respite from the persecution that they were under. And it was their last night in the States, they were flying back the next day, and they were being prayed for in a church, happened to be in California, that was um like the main church that had kind of supported and sponsored them, and they'd built relationships. And so the pastors called them up on the stage and began to pray over them, and people gathered around and started to pray, oh Lord, as they're going back to China and going to experience persecution, the work they were in was not easy, and they'd they'd been imprisoned and beaten, and you've possibly heard different stories. They said, Oh Lord, protect them from the persecution, Lord, keep them from these things. And one of the Chinese pastors put his head and said, Stop, stop. He said, We don't pray like you pray. He said, We in China, we don't pray. We're not asking, Lord, lift the difficulty. We're not praying, Lord, make it easy. We're saying, Lord, strengthen our backs. We're saying, Lord, strengthen our shoulders, because in this world you will have trouble. Jesus said, But be of good cheer. I've overcome the world. My friend, God knows what you're going through right now. He's aware of what you're going through. There is no temptation taking you, but such as is common to man, and with every test, he gives a way of escape and will not give you more than you can bear if you hang on to him. And what you are going through will strengthen you for everything that he has for you. So count it all joy, my friend, when you're going through tests and trials, even those tests and trials that are relationship-based. Count it all joy. Don't jump off the potter's wheel, don't run from the fire. Let the refiner's work do what it's supposed to do because God is getting you ready. Everyone say, Lord, bring it on. Relationships work the same way as lifting heavy weights versus lifting feathers. Many people think that difficult people are interruptions to their spiritual growth. But sometimes they are the means of spiritual growth. Church would be so nice if it wasn't for so-and-so. No, they're there for a reason. That one weird uncle in your family. God knew they were gonna be there. And the people who test your patience may be the very ones developing your patience. Shall I move on to the next point? Let me just do that because I don't want to push this further. We could go on a hot day. Number two, marriage is God's clearest picture of covenant love. That's why Jesus is the groom and we are the bride. Because marriage exists for far more than companionship. It's one of the clearest revelations of covenant. One of the most profound statements Paul ever writes appears in Ephesians chapter 5, verse 31 and 32. He says this a man leaves his father and his mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one. Verse 32. This is a great mystery, but it's an illustration of the way Christ and the church are one. Where we leave and we cleave. I am no longer of the world. I am no longer a child of darkness. I am a child of God. I have left and I have cleaved. I have died in Christ and I've raised again into a newness of life. And after describing marriage, Paul suddenly says, This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning the Christ and the church. In other words, marriage isn't merely about marriage. Marriage is about revealing something bigger. Marriage is a revealing of Christ. And every healthy marriage is preaching a sermon, is telling a story about faithfulness, about grace, about sacrifice, about forgiveness, commitment, excuse me, covenant. And this is why marriage matters so much to God, because it reflects his nature. This is why healthy, godly marriage is worth fighting for. And the person you need to fight is not your spouse, it's yourself. You know, the biggest problem in my marriage is not Angela, it's me. She can also say the same thing, no doubt, for herself. But I'm saying trying to fix Angela is never gonna work. And she's that close to perfect that I mean, why bother? Just saying that. Yeah, amen. Watch and learn, guys, watch and learn. Watch and learn. Bow to the master. She's just that awesome. I mean, genuine she is. What's aggravating is she's almost always right. Every now and then, but it's rare. Almost always right. But even if she wasn't, trying to change her doesn't work. Everyone that's been married for any length of time understands that probably the people around you won't change until you change, and then miraculously they change. It's like teenagers. Your parents, when you're a teenager, know absolutely nothing, they're clueless, don't even know how to dress themselves without your help, have no idea what they're doing. And then when you turn 21, they just miraculously change. Isn't that incredible how that happens for teenagers when your parents just suddenly know things again? Well, in reality, your parents didn't change, you changed. Usually the marriage gets healthy when you change, when you develop things in yourself. There are exceptions. I realize people go through things, but what I'm saying is this is I need to shine the mirror in my own life and say, God, work on me. God change me. Marriage matters so much to God because it, and for me as a husband, for Angela as a wife, we are to reflect his nature. That's what we are to bring to our marriage, is a reflection of his nature. And the problem is modern culture usually approaches marriage like a consumer. Consumer love asks, What can I get? Covenant love says, What can I give? Consumer love protects its rights, fights for its rights. Covenant love lays down rights. Consumer love is driven by feelings, covenant love is sustained by commitment. See, feelings matter, affections matter, romance matters, but covenant is what gives those things stability when life becomes difficult. Because every marriage eventually enters seasons where emotions fluctuate. Every marriage experiences disappointment, every marriage will have times where the other person lets you down and hurts you. The Bible says it's impossible, but that offenses will come. But my love is to absorb and to cover and to protect and to love anyway and to serve anyway. Every marriage experiences disappointment and pressure, and every marriage discovers that two imperfect people have married one another. And in those moments, covenant becomes incredibly important because even when I walk away from the Lord, he doesn't change his love for me, he doesn't change his heart for me. And there are times in marriage where one person completely walks away, and there's nothing you can do about it, but what you can still do is guard your heart. Even then, I am responsible from my own heart not to let bitterness, not to let offense take root, not to let these things take over and define who I am, but to still say, Lord, I will love you and I will love others, others. I will not put up walls, I will not be that person that lives offended, but I'm gonna live in the love of God. Philippians chapter 2, verse 3 through 8, Paul said this: don't be selfish. Don't try to impress others, be humble. Think of others as better than yourselves. Don't look only for your own interests, but take an interest in others too. You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Though he was God, he didn't think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges. He took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal's death on a cross. Notice how he describes Jesus: humility, selflessness, servanthood, sacrifice. It's amazing to me the greatest marriage advice in the Bible is not actually found in a marriage passage, it's found in a Jesus passage. Because healthy marriages are built by people becoming more like Jesus. Strong marriages are rarely built by two people fighting for their rights. They are built by two people continually asking, How can I serve? Now, again, let me just address, I mentioned it a minute ago. Not every marriage goes the distance. Some marriages do end, and some marriages do end in divorce. Some relationships do break down. And I understand that because it takes two to tangle. And as I said a minute ago, in one context, I say now in another context, you cannot change the other person. And there are decisions that those person, that person may make, which means it is impossible for you to stay in that marriage relationship. You are not responsible for the decisions that the other person makes. But that doesn't alleviate us from our own heart, being the bishop of our own heart, taking care of our own attitude, treating other people with love anyway. We are still part of a covenant relationship. Even people in this room that are divorced, perhaps you've even been divorced several times. You are not excluded from covenant relationship because you got me and I've got you. And we've got one another, and we've got the family of God and the church of God, and we are still called to be covenant people that love one another without ceasing. Last point I want to make, and I'll close with this. Strong covenant relationships create strong lives. It's interesting to me, I've been pastoring for 20 years, and every now and then someone comes along, and through whatever circumstance it may be, whatever the reason is, they decide I'm gonna withdraw myself from church and kind of do Christianity on my own. I don't just mean leave a particular church and join somewhere else. That happens. We move, you know, pastures, Jesus is the shepherd, he moves us into different pastures, and that's that's fine. We're sheep of his pasture. But I'm talking about people that make a decision. I'm just gonna kind of withdraw myself and and and I believe in kingdom, but I believe don't believe in church. You hear things like that. Well, I love the Lord, but I don't love church. My friend, that is a unhealthy mindset. And I can sit here from a perspective I've been preaching for 30 years, I've been pastoring for 20 years. I I'm struggling to think of anyone that has withdrawn themselves, not just from Gateway. I'm not talking about people leaving this church. That happens again. We move. I'm talking about have withdrawn themselves from fellowship and kind of said, I'll just do it, I'll YouTube my Christianity, I'll do it on my own, or or well, I just, you know, gonna have my own thing. I've rarely seen those people flourish, and I've rarely seen them be fruitful. Not saying they don't love the Lord, I'm not saying they lose their salvation, not saying that for a minute. I'm saying, sitting here looking back with the perspective of 30 years of watching people, I've rarely seen those people flourish and be fruitful. I've rarely seen them be a blessing to other people, have the synergy that comes from working with someone else so you can put thousands to flight. And I've rarely seen them be effective in soul winning. The people that are connected to other believers are far more fruitful and far more effective. It's just a thing. Strong covenant relationships create strong lives, and so one of the great lies of modern culture is a radical independence, and people celebrate self-sufficiency, but scripture consistently celebrates interdependence. In fact, one of the most countercultural passages in the Bible is in Ecclesiastes chapter 4, verse 9 through 12, where it says this two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble. Likewise, two people lying close to each other can keep each other warm. But how can one be warm alone? A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back to back and conquer. Three are even better for a triple braided cord is not easily broken. I suspect had he carried on, he said, now let me tell you about four. If you think that's good, man, when you get a small group of five, ooh, but let me tell you what happens when six people, if he'd have carried on, he'd just talked about the strength because the writer is repeatedly repeatedly emphasizing that life works better together. Now, heart will tell you talk to the hand because the face isn't looking. I'm just gonna do this by myself, I'm just gonna do my own thing. But two are better than one, the Bible says. When one falls, another helps him up. A threefold core cord is not quickly broken. Now, notice what it doesn't say. It doesn't say marriage is better than singleness. If that was true, Jesus needed to get married, Paul needed to get married, neither of them were married people. The two arguably most dominant, undoubtedly Jesus, but uh Paul as well was single people, and yet look what they brought to us. So marriage isn't better, but aloneness is very difficult. We are very vulnerable because God's design has always been connection. It is not good for man to be alone, God said. Romans chapter 12, verse 4 and 5 says, Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, so it is with the body of Christ. We are many parts of one body and we all belong to each other. In other words, my talents aren't mine alone, my resources aren't mine alone. What I bring is I'm not just supposed to hoard it to myself and have a lovely little house that no one visits and it's all peaceful and all quiet and all will love the Lord and Christian music playing all the time until someone else walks in and they want to watch something like ballet when I want to watch the football, for example. I don't know if ballet is even on the TV, but assuming it is, or they want to watch a uh what are those old shows where the ladies all dress up in the period show? They want to watch like a uh a period classic. What is period, thank you, thank you, ladies. A period drama when I want to watch something else. That's when the robber that's when my love walk is tested. We need one another. Some of you need to make a fresh commitment to the Lord that you are all into relationships. So let's do something because sometimes before we do that, we just have to have a big sigh. So let's just have collectively a big sigh. One, two, three. Okay, you've resigned yourself to it now. Let me say again. Some of you need to reconnect with people, maybe not the same people because that was toxic, but you need to reconnect with people. Maybe not the same place, but you need to be connected to people. Many members, one body. Think about that picture. A hand can be removed from the body. The hand still exists, but it can't function as it was designed. The same is true for believers. Isolation doesn't remove identity, it removes function. And this is why, and I'll close here in just a moment. Hebrews chapter 10, verse 24-25 is so important. Look at this together and we'll close. Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and to 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 returning is drawing near. Now, notice the emphasis is not simply attending meetings, the focus is people, considering one another, encouraging one another, strengthening one another, building one another. Because God's design has never been individual Christianity, his design has always been family. So before we close, I want us to remember a few incredibly important things. Every covenant God asks of us flows from the covenant He first made with us. We do not stay committed to earn God's love. We stay committed because we've experienced God's love. The cross is the ultimate picture of covenant. Jesus stayed when leaving would have been easier. Jesus remained faithful when humanity was unfaithful. Jesus absorbed the cost so reconciliation could happen. At Calvary, we see covenant in its purest form. We see faithfulness, mercy, sacrifice, love, and commitment. And the reason I can walk in covenant with you and you can walk in covenant with me is because God first walked in covenant with us. Our relationships, my and Angela's relationship, is a reflection of God's covenant relationship with us. So let's pray. Heavenly Father, please give us a revelation of covenant and of the power of your Holy Spirit. And Lord, please give us the wisdom to know how to apply this in our lives. Church, let's stand up together. It's easy to listen to a message like this, but there's no power in hearing it. The power comes in doing it. So, Heavenly Father, I pray for every single one of us. Show us. Show us where we're getting it right. Show us the areas that we're getting it wrong. Show us the places that we have withdrawn our affection. We've withdrawn our willingness to walk in covenant relationships. Show us the areas of our lives that we have closed off to others and said, no one can go there, including you. Lord, you can't use me in that area. I don't want this part of my life to be available to you. Lord, show us those areas and by your grace help us to lay down our self-selfishness, our self-centeredness, and take on a humility that says, I'm not my own, I've been bought with a price, and I will glorify you in my body which is yours. Lord, show us those things. I pray for each one of us as we go home and we go about the rest of this week. Lord, let this message be ringing in our ears and ringing in our hearts that you have called us to be a covenant family and we are the church, the body of Christ. Lord, let Gateway be so filled with the love of God. When people walk in here, let them experience your love because of the way that we love one another. Let people know that we're your disciples because of the way that we love one another. Let our relationships be a shining example of your relationship with us. Lord, don't just use our words, don't just use our gifts, use our time, our heart, our talents, our friendships, our relationship, and our covenant commitment. We are yours. In Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Come on, let's say for the Lord thanks for his word, for his grace, for his kindness. Where would we be without Jesus? Amen.

SPEAKER_04 44:56

Thank you so much for joining us for this week's message at Gateway. We were so glad to be able to share it with you. If you would like to find out more about what is going on at Gateway or when our weekly services are, you can visit our website at www.igateway.org.uk. Thank you so much for joining us.