So today, we're going to be picking up on this righteousness in return concept. That Jesus is coming back. He's going to return. And we are supposed to live righteously. In fact, His Spirit has come into us. And we are to be His holy people. We are to be set apart. Live a life that's holy. Live a life that's righteous. We should look different than the world. All right? So there should be a distinction. Not that we're chasing after behaviors just to make ourselves look good. But God should change us within. There should be evidence of the fruit of the Spirit. There should be evidence of a new life. There should be evidence of a change in you and me. And we should be different. We should be weird. The Bible says we are peculiar people.
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If you are going to say you're a child of God, you're a peculiar person, you are weird for Jesus. If that is you, and you really are a sanctified saint of Christ, then we should have this love thing down. We should have this work ethic too. That we work hard and we're the best that we possibly can be at what we do.
[00:59:44]
We love God. God loves us. We love one another in return with that same type of love. Why do some churches, and even in our church occasionally, why is this not manifested the way it should be? We're going to be honest. We're going to talk about that today. Because in this room, there's nothing sacred by the way about this room. This room is just where we gather to meet our Lord. That's the sacredness of it. But we can meet out in the field. We can meet at Panera. We can meet in a home. We can do a lot of different things to worship our God. But we gather here and we call this the church. But we're the church. So when we come together and we're the people of God, we should love one another for real.
[01:00:26]
Brotherly love, phile, is the word here. Not agape. Agape is the love of God. That's not self-seeking. But this love that manifests itself in affection for each other. That we will truly love each other, have affection, and genuine concern and authenticity towards one another. That I will really, listen, like for me, that I will really seek for the good of this church in all that I do. And by the way, I will tell you this, everything I have ever done, it may not be the right thing, it might not be the best thing, it might not have played out the way I thought it was, it has always been for the good of you all. Because I love you. I'm passionate in what I do because I love you. I give all to you because I give all to God and he gave all to me. By the way, flip that. You're supposed to do that too. All of us in this room. That's how we're to love.
[01:01:25]
If God is love, and his Holy Spirit is God, and he is in you, then you should have the love of God in you. So should I. We all should have the love of God in us. Isn't that beautiful? So that means if that's really true, when I go up and I go up and I give you a hug or shake your hand, I'm expressing God's love towards you and you are back to me as well. God wants us to be an extension of his love. And so the fruit of the Spirit that's in us is love.
[01:08:36]
Paul would acknowledge our love. As your pastor, I acknowledge your love. But we can do better. We can love more. If Paul can tell Thessalonica to love more, surely Pastor Chris can tell Lexington Park Baptist Church to love more. Love more. Every pastor should be able to stand up in this pulpit and say, let's love more. Let's do this better. More and more and more and more.
[01:10:53]
Love is like a circulatory system. So let's talk about this for a minute. How important is your circulatory system? Pretty important, right? Let's say you got blood in there, right? Okay. Taking nutrients and oxygen to everything in your body. Right now, if that circulatory system is messed up, things don't go well, right? You could have amputations if the blood flow is not going right to a certain part of the body. The heart can fail and then you're done, right? We, you know, so love is like the circulatory system. When it goes well, the church goes well. When it doesn't go well, we need an AED. When it doesn't go well, we've got problems. So the circulatory system of the church is love. The more we love, the more oxygen gets to the right parts, the more protein and nutrients get to where they need to be, and everything functions properly.
[01:11:16]
Should we allow preferences, differences, and disputes to get in the way of our love? We know it. Now we need to live it. And not live it, we need to love it. We need to love that way. We are to increase in our love. So you're to love that difficult person. You're to love that person that's selfish. You're to love that person that's annoying. It doesn't mean it's right. In fact, it's wrong. All right? But we are still to love. And then hopefully that person will learn to love back and appreciate and have gratitude towards those that are loving them and being part of the circulatory system. And hopefully we'll get healthy.
[01:13:37]
If the fruit of the spirit is in you, what should we see constantly? Love. We should see love. We should see love. Love your pastor. Love your deacon. Love your staff. Love your widow. Love the children. Love the youth that takes the last piece of apple pie. Love, love, love. And then love some more. All right, you got it. We need to love. We need to love often. We need to love good. We need to love gooder. Improper English, but gooder. Do it better. Love more.
[01:15:15]
Don't allow selfishness, tensions, individualism, defiance, and disgruntledness to destroy love. Can I read that list again? I worked hard on that. Okay. Don't allow selfishness, tensions, individualism, defiance, and disgruntledness to destroy love. That list right there, if you all, I think all of us would agree, does that destroy love? It does. That's not the love of Christ. So let's overcome those things. Let's love each other like God called us to love each other.
[01:15:52]
Paul recognizes that they were known for their love in all of Macedonia. This whole entire region, Thessalonica, right there on the water, the whole region of Macedonia. How did all the other churches know that this church was filled with love? Because their love must have oozed out. Paul must have been telling them, man, you need to get it down like them. You need to be more like the church in Thessalonica. They are filled with love.
[01:16:27]
If the world was to see our behavior, will they see Jesus? If the world was to see our behavior, would they see Jesus? We are to behave properly in the presence of outsiders. That's not in the, we should behave in the church. That's a given. Paul's already dealt with that, right? What are we supposed to do? Love and love some more. Be known for love. And now when we're outside of the church, when we're at work, when we're at base, or we're with these kids, or whatever we're doing in our lives, wherever you work or whatever you do, the world should see you as different. The world should see Jesus in you. Your faith and your work should connect. Amen.
[01:27:55]
God does not call us to be idle. Idleness and laziness are not from God. And God modeled that for us. In seven days, the first six, what did He do? He worked. Do you think God needed to take the seventh day off? No. Why did He do that? For you and me. He modeled it for us. Give your all. Work hard. Be good at what you do. Provide for your family. Don't be lazy. Don't be idle. Give it your all. Do the best that you possibly can.
[01:29:07]
Godly character matters. Living a life of a good work ethic matters. Making sure our behaviors are true to God. Making sure that we have this work ethic. And making sure that we love God and we love each other. And then we do it some more. If we do that, we become more like the church in Thessalonica. And I pray that Lexington Park will continue to do those things. Yes, it's evident we have those things. But we also have some of those other things. So that means we need to love what? More.
[01:30:03]
Thank you, Jesus, that while we were sinners, you died for us in a demonstration of your love. We thank you, God, that your character is love and that you love us and that we love now because you first loved us. God, teach us to love. Let us love. If you taught the church in Thessalonica, teach the church in Lexington Park. Teach us, God, to love. Teach us to love more. Teach us to be known for our love. And may others see that love in us in this region in which we are called to be your ambassadors.
[01:32:07]
All of us though, as we leave this place, we'll leave better than we entered it. More committed to your love and more committed to an ethic of work in this light that you've called us to.
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