Unity and Service: Embracing Our Church Family

**S of Jesus Christ that we are made one in him and that we are part of a larger family that is the church and that we are called to be one in the local body of believers and that we are called to be one in the global body of believers and that we are called to be one in the world that God has made and that we are called to be one in the family of God and that we are called to be one in the love of God and that we are called to be one in the grace of God and that we are called to be one in the mercy of God and that we are called to be one in the hope of God and that we are called to be one in the peace of God and that we are called to be one in the joy of God and that we are called to be one in the faith of God and that we are called to be one in the power of God and that we are called to be one in the Spirit of God and that we are called to be one in the love of Jesus Christ and that we are called to be one in the glory of God.**

Good morning to you all and welcome to Gospel of Hope! We are delighted to see each of you here with us and especially our first-time guests. We hope you all remain a guest for very long and by that we mean we hope that you will feel welcomed and then that you will come to make Gospel Hope your church home. We are just thrilled with the things that God is doing here and you have come on a bit of a special day.

We started today by reading a scripture found in John 17, verse 20-23, which says, “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word—that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.”

Today we are singing and hearing about the truth that we are one, and there are two senses to this. The first sense is the Oneness of the church: are we moving together as one and is there unity in the local body of believers? But there is actually a larger, more global scope to this unity, and that is for those who are in Christ. We are one in Christ; he has made us one and we are a part of that family. We are called to be one in the local body of believers, the global body of believers, the world that God has made, the family of God, the love of God, the grace of God, the mercy of God, the hope of God, the peace of God, the joy of God, the faith of God, the power of God, the Spirit of God, the love of Jesus Christ, and the glory of God.

We are so blessed to be united in Christ as this family and we thank God for the work he is doing. God is calling people from all kinds of settings—every tribe, tongue, family, and nation—as the Book of Revelation speaks of. He is calling people from very diverse backgrounds and experiences into one household.

We are continuing our series in the New Testament letter of the Apostle Paul to the Thessalonian church, and we come to a portion of scripture today that will be very encouraging and practical. We will be singing more and have an opportunity to pray and open the word and worship our Lord through giving. We ask for the Lord's continued blessing over our worship this morning. We thank God for sending his son to die for us and taking the penalty of our sins upon himself. We pray that each one in this room would be able to know that by the end of the day. We thank God for his kindness and graciousness to us and pray that he would open our hearts and minds as we hear the preaching of his word and sing praises to him.

This great God decided to come down to condescend to our level, to Earth, die on a rugged tree, and sing of the great truth together. Hallelujah, praise be to God and for the cross.

Good morning! My name is Matt and I'm one of the pastors here. Dan, you already met Danny and Daniel's around here somewhere. We always play a little bit of Where's Waldo with Daniel. We are happy to help and serve you. Thanks to Simeon for leading us in prayer, one of our deacons. We just want to help in any way that we can.

We are moving announcements to this little middle slot here, and in part that's because we'd like to end the service with the preaching and sing ourselves out.

If you are a guest, I want to add my greeting and say thanks for coming. If you look in the chair in front of you or just right off to the right or left, there's a little stack of cards here and the green one says "Let's Connect." It's got four simple lines on there and if you're visiting with us, if you would just do us the honor of filling that out, we would love to have a record of your visit. It's a huge help to us to remember your name and the names of people in your family. We will send you one follow-up email. We will not put you on an email list forever and ever, amen. We all have enough of those to delete out of our inboxes.

This is a big week around here. Ron Harris told me this week that we're probably getting an excavator dropped off in the next couple of days and put in the back of the parking lot. Construction begins this week on the parking lot and the building edition. It's super exciting, but also a little bit disruptive. So we have to stay flexible, keep the Lord first, trust him, and make it work.

For July and August, we are going to lose access to this building to worship in. That's because there's a sprinkler system going in and all kinds of other stuff they need to do. So that means if you come here next Sunday at 9:30, you won't be able to worship here.

We are thankful to God for all He has done and will do. Hallelujah for the cross and Hallelujah for the cause. When Jesus guides us into that, we can take our seat and be thankful. Even when we read our final death, we can still be thankful.

Our worship service is moving to South Mountain Community Church (SMCC) in South Jordan. It is located just a few blocks from Peterson Farm (now Kinlands). We will meet at 3:30 in the afternoon for the next 8-10 weeks. This will require some flexibility, but it will also give us some neat opportunities on Sunday morning. SMCC has a great facility that will serve our worship services, musicians, nursery, and kids church. They have been amazingly welcoming and gracious.

This coming week is a huge week because we have Plant Campers coming in. They will serve at the Park Cookout on Saturday. We invite our church family to come and enjoy the park and be with our neighbors and friends. We will have a little tent and info tent, and we could use 4-5 people to be Gospel Hope Representatives at the tent.

On Monday and Tuesday is Town Days. There will be a huge parade on Monday night and an Expo all day Saturday in Riverton City Park. This will lead up to a fireworks display on Tuesday night. We will pass out 7,000 water bottles at the parade.

As we prepare our hearts to give, let us remember the words of Psalm 31: "Oh how abundant is your goodness which you have stored up for those who fear you and worked for those who take refuge in you. In the sight of the children of mankind, in the cover of your presence you hide them from the plots of man. You store them in your shelter from the strife of tongues." Blessed be the Lord, for he has wondrously shown his steadfast love to us. How has God shown his steadfast love to us? When we were in a besieged city, he heard the voice of our pleas for mercy when we cried to him for help.

Love the Lord, all you his saints. The Lord preserves the faithful, but abundantly repays the one who acts in pride. So be strong and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the Lord.

Let us pray as we prepare our hearts to give. God, thank you for your goodness, your steadfast love. You hear us when we cry to you and you encourage our hearts. Some of us came in today and our hearts were in a pretty good place and we were even more encouraged by singing and praying and hearing from your word. Some of us came in today hurting, discouraged, fearful, uncertain. Our hearts are far from courageous, so please help the truth of your word, your great love, your goodness.

We can show this love and grace to our community by helping out with various activities. We can distribute water bottles, have a float in the parade, have a truck in the parade with candy, do the cleanup after the parade, and have a booth all day. On the fourth of July, we can all sit together in the park and after the fireworks, we can serve the city by helping with a little bit of cleanup. In this way, we can let our light shine before men, that they may see our good works and glorify our Father who is in heaven.

We will meet at Kari Sioux Elementary or Kari Sue Hamilton School (134th 27th) and send out details on that. After the groundbreaking, we have a camp meeting. Let us all jump on for the ride, find a spot, and serve the Lord together.

We thank you, Jesus, for taking care of us and reviving us. We offer these gifts as an act of thankfulness and gratitude, and we pray that you will use them for your great work right here in Riverton, even this next week, and to the ends of the Earth. Forever, there is no sinner beyond the infinite stretched-out arms of your mercy. How can we thank you? We love you forever, Jesus. All we want is you. We need you. Thank you for sleeping and thank you.

Father, as we continue to seek you by faith, expressing the longings of our hearts, we, like the Apostle Peter, long for you because there is no one else. Where else can we go? You only have the words of life. So, the prayer of our hearts this morning is that we would know your presence, that you would draw near to us as we draw near to you in faith, according to your promise.

Father, would you cleanse our hearts from all unrighteousness? We are sinful in so many ways and feel painfully our imperfections. We disobey those things we know we ought not to do and do those things we know we should not do, and yet you continue to call us back, calling us to repent, calling us to believe, calling us to receive the full and free forgiveness that comes at great cost to your son, our savior. We ask today that that powerful blood would continue to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. How we thank you for the full forgiveness of our sins. Thank you that you are the God who removes the guilt and the shame.

Thank you that you are the one who has borne the penalty in full and you have left nothing to us. We ask, Father, as we open the word, that your Spirit would be our true instructor. These things are spiritually discerned and it's not a matter of exercising our minds or intellect, but it is dependent upon your divine instruction. So, we ask that you would instruct our hearts in what we should know and what we should believe, in what we should repent of, and what we should consecrate ourselves to.

Spirit of God, would you please do all your holy will in us and then through us? We ask that on this day you would give encouragement to those who are weakened by the difficulties of life, some who are suffering physically. Oh, how we pray that you would show mercy to these individuals and their households who feel such great grief on their hearts today. There are some, Lord, who have so much uncertainty as to the future and what it will hold for them. Would you give them that confident assurance today that you are the God who goes before them, the God who has planned all things from eternity past, the God who never lets his people go, the God who even sanctifies suffering for eternally good purposes? Encourage their hearts on this day that their faith would not falter.

We pray for those who seek your will concerning job situations. Many people are feeling challenged and overwhelmed at the moment, some even contemplating career changes because of the recent events they have experienced. We pray that God would lead them for His name's sake and speak words of peace into their hearts. We know that even our suffering has a sanctified purpose in it and that God is firmly seated upon His throne, laughing at those who devise plans against Him. We need God and pray that He would come with all of His sanctifying blessings and strengthening, awakening power. We ask that He would change us, that we may be made conformable to His Son, and that He would do all His work and will in us.

Mark Brolin published an article two years ago in which he said that humans seem to have a basic need to define teams and camps and belong to one of them. Throughout the history of the world, elaborate hero versus villain narratives have been spun to glorify one political camp and demonize another. With the platforms that social media provides, tribalism seems to rage at a fever pitch. But God has a very different platform for His message. He could have invented social media a long time ago, but He has not chosen to use technology as the primary means for communicating His truth.

In this world we live in, He has actually chosen that ordinary people like you and me would be messengers of this good news of who Jesus Christ is and what He has done. He has designed that we not only be messengers of it, but that we live it out in our own context that He calls the Church. It's a family that God has put together, if you will. It's not a tribe, but rather a family that in some ways is most remarkable and unusual because it is comprised of people who find their identity not in what they are angry about or fighting against, but people who have found their Eternal identity in Jesus Christ. People who have come to know the power of His forgiveness that flows from the cross, people who have come to know the power of His word as it takes root in our hearts, and people who have come to know the presence of the Holy Spirit who dwells in us.

So this identity is created in Jesus. It's not about your race, it's not about your socioeconomic standing, it's not about your cultural background, it's not about your politics or a social cause or mission that you are on. It is Jesus. It's why we just sang the songs we did about Jesus, and it's why we live with a very different perspective and even on a very different mission than so many of the present tribes in our world today.

Now, as we come to the end of Paul's letter to the Thessalonians, remember at the outset he was expressing thanks to them for things like their work of love and the steadfastness of hope and faith that was characterizing them. Remember he even recounted how in that brief mission time that he and Sylvanus and Timothy had with them, they had turned from idols which were very popular in Thessalonian surrounding culture and had given themselves to serve the Living God. Well, that relationship with the Living God was creating this new identity.

So he has in the last two chapters covered some of the concerns or questions that they had put forward. One of those was, so what happens to our loved ones who have died? Are they going to miss the coming of Christ? He said emphatically no, no they will not. They will rise first, we who were alive and remain will be caught up together with them to meet the Lord in the air, so shall we ever be with the Lord. So just rest in this, your loved ones are well cared for and planned for.

Then we looked last week as he dove a little deeper into the coming of Christ and what that would mean. We noticed that it was a time of God's wrath being poured out on those who rebel against Him, but it will also be a time where God's people experience the full blessing that God has prepared for them. So again, he's settling hard. Even with all this talk about the end of the world and the coming of Christ, Paul gets very practical and it's not disconnected from those great themes at all, but actually ties back into how should people like us live in this present age, this age of cultural chaos and insanity.

We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers and remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. In light of the imminent return of Our Lord, which reminds us that life is brief and we have to make every day count, how should we live? In some respects, we should live in a very ordinary way. Paul gives us specific instructions in 1 Thessalonians 5:12-15. He says, "We ask you, brothers, to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves. And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone."

This passage reminds us that we are a people of the day, the coming day of the Lord, and that we belong to the family of God. Paul outlines the responsibilities of leaders and members of a local assembly. He tells us to respect those who labor among us and are over us in the Lord, and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work. We should be at peace among ourselves and admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, and be patient with them all. We should seek to do good to one another and to everyone.

We should be aware of the two extremes of church leadership: clericalism and anti-clericalism. Clericalism is an unbiblical view and unhealthy practice of church leadership that emphasizes the formality of it and that the pastor carries all authority. People are expected to submit and to follow and to defer almost without any question. This kind of church leadership can lead to problems, such as abuse of power and the people it is meant to serve.

On the other hand, there is anti-clericalism, which is often a reaction to this kind of unbiblical or ungodly Church leadership. In this system, every member reserves the right to do whatever they please, which is more reflective of the Book of Judges, where everyone does what is right in their own eyes. This can lead to loosely affiliated people who come and go as they please, and are hesitant to give anyone any kind of leadership.

The Lord has appointed some to lead and to exercise authority, and pastors are given by Christ to lead God's flock, feed God's sheep, guard God's sheep, and shepherd them to God. Pastors function under the authority of Christ, and yet truly with an authority delegated by Christ. It is God's will that every local church should enjoy pastoral oversight, but not his will that pastors should dominate everything. They are not meant to monopolize ministries, but rather to multiply them.

Paul highlights three particular responsibilities for pastors: labor for the family, rule well, and preach and teach. Labor for the family speaks of weary, exhausting labor. Rule well speaks to the importance of exercising authority in a godly manner. Preaching and teaching speaks to the importance of prioritizing the ministry of God's word.

Pastors are called of God to labor for the family. Paul wrote in Colossians 1:28-29, "Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ." He also wrote in 1 Thessalonians 5, "We ask you, brothers, to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you." Pastors manage God's family, lead in ways that bring spiritual health and understanding, and admonish the family.

Matt, Daniel, and I look at you as our family. We don't put ourselves on a pedestal, so please don't put us on a pedestal either. We take this responsibility and stewardship very seriously. We want to give the kind of oversight that will be a blessing to you. We want to lead in ways that bring spiritual health and understanding, encouragement to your soul. We feel very privileged to have this position and we talk from time to time about the inherent dangers that come with a responsibility and privilege like this.

Pastoral care is parental here. Paul is saying to the church at Thessalonica that there are individuals among you who are called by God not only to work hard and labor for your benefit, but they are called to manage the church. We have an equipped class to follow where we would say it's not so much preaching but it's teaching. But all of that is designed to bring the word of God to life and into the light so that you, as the members of God's family, would understand the word. You feed on the word, you grow by the word. This word is living and powerful and it is a great gift from the Lord. So pastors labor specifically in the word for the family. It's not the only area in which we labor. We labor in prayer, we labor in Soul Care, we labor in a number of ways.

At the end of the day, a pastor's responsibility is to bring God's word to bear upon the life of the church. This is not to say that pastors, like Daniel, Matt, and I, huddle up once a week and come up with ideas for the church. Rather, the task that God has called us to is to open his word and say, "God, what are your words of life and wisdom and exhortation and admonishment for Gospel Hope this week?" This word of admonishment can take place in the service, one-on-one, or in small groups. Faithful pastors, like faithful church members, will always operate with their Bibles open.

Admonish means to warn or counsel in terms of someone's behavior. We live in a very autonomous culture, where nobody wants anyone else telling them what to do. However, true freedom is being able to do what God created us to do or calls us to do. Pastors are called of God to bring the word of God to bear upon our lives personally, and sometimes that means warning or counseling. We should be thankful for those who trust us enough to come and ask for our input.

Pastors do not speak with an inerrant authority, but with a delegated authority from Christ himself. We are called to labor, manage, and admonish by Christ. When we warn or counsel, we should pay close attention to what pastors speak to us, but do it with our Bibles open. There are times where we say things that won't square exactly with scripture, but I trust that my heart is in the right place.

In Western culture, it is rarer to take the input or counsel of others and do with it as one will. The Bible says that as leaders, there is a day coming when we will give account to God for our actions. We should give consideration to what our pastors will say about us. Jesus says to us to tell him about our congregants, which is a sobering thought. We should not let it scare us away, but instead drive us closer to the word and closer to our pastors.

Not only is there responsibility for leaders, but there is responsibility for members. We should respect those who labor among us and esteem them very highly in love. Respect has the idea of knowing someone and knowing our pastors. It is likely that what Paul has in mind is that the congregation should recognize that these leaders have been positioned by God for their care and for the growth of the church. Respect is more than just a title; it has to do with an attitude of the heart that recognizes God has structured his family in a particular way. Esteem has to do with the regard that we give to an individual.

We are not better or more valuable than congregants. We battle our sins like you do, struggle to trust God like you do, and wonder what the future holds as you do. We're praying as earnestly and sometimes out of fear that God will provide for this building program we're going to officially begin in just a little while. We walk the same path you do, yet we do believe that God has called us and positioned us. I'm thankful that Paul included that little phrase "esteem them very highly in love because of their work." We want you to value the work that God is doing in our midst and God is doing a great work through all kinds of imperfect, flawed, weak, and dependent people, and pastors are included in that respect, esteem, and love.

Finally, work toward peace is incumbent upon all of us, but a congregation is called of God to work for peace.

I interacted with a young gal who was waiting on Kristen and me and she had a button on her lapel. I think the button said "Question Everything, Obey Nothing." I was like wow, you're in for a hard life if you really operate by that. That just leads to anarchy and Lord of the Flies. We're pretty close right now, aren't we? God has a different idea and plan for his church. He says be at peace. What does it mean to be at peace among yourselves? It means that you pursue and develop and protect harmonious relationships one with another. It means, as First Corinthians 13 says, you give the benefit of the doubt and work toward peace among yourselves. We're even willing to hold differences of opinions.

We live in a world that rapidly is deteriorating into this thing that if you don't agree with me 100%, you're hateful towards me. How did we derail this train of life and reasonable conversations where we all just recognize that in a room like this there'll be dozens and dozens of different differences of opinion and that's okay? It's not a room full of hatred just because there might be some disagreement on a number of issues. In God's family, we put the most important things at the center. Those things we hold to firmly. You can't be in the faith and deny some basic truths about Jesus Christ. You can be in a faith, but it just wouldn't be the Christian faith if you don't believe Jesus is the one-of-a-kind Son of God who entered this world, lived, died, rose again, and ascended on high that sinners like us might be forgiven.

I'm so thankful that God has given us a church that by and large is a church of peace. We are encouraged to pursue peace with others and obey our leaders, for they are keeping watch over our souls. Paul encourages us to make every effort to live peaceably with all, as far as it depends on us. However, sometimes it is not possible and we must entrust the whole mess to God and continue on the journey of life. We must thank Him that through His Son, He has made peace with us by the blood of the cross.

It is unbelievable to me when I hear of dissatisfied customers making complaints such as the beach was too sandy, there were fish in the water, the size of their suite was smaller than their friends, or that there were no hairdressers at the resort. We must remember to read the brochure carefully and not misread it. Even in these situations, we must strive to maintain a pure conscience and thank God for His peace.

There were too many Spanish people at the reception, and no one told us there would be so many foreigners. The food was Spanish and the receptionist spoke Spanish. It was stunning, pitiful, and offensive all wrapped into one. I have no idea if this was a male or female complaint, but it made me think, what universe did you grow up in thinking that the axis of the universe ran right through your backyard? Like the whole universe is populated with foreigners? What's with these people? Some people are just never going to be happy, so we make every effort to live in peace. Yet at the same time, we recognize there are people who need extra little TLC and so God calls us to care as a family.

Now some people need special attention. Paul says we urge you, brothers, to do what? Admonish the idle, encourage the faint-hearted, help the weak, and be patient with them all. There's a group within the church that needs some extra special attention and we give it to them. We don't just write them off or kick them out. We admonish the idle, which is often used to speak more broadly of disorderly living. If there are people within our congregation whose lives are not ordered according to the word of God, according to the gospel and his truth, they need some admonishment.

We also encourage the faint-hearted, those who are discouraged or less hopeful or enthusiastic in life. Many of us would sympathize; some of us would even say we are in that club. These are people who have been weakened by the experiences of life. There is a deficit of hope and enthusiasm for living the Christian life, even as they know the Lord intends. Paul says that we as the family need to encourage them. He doesn't say chide them or exhort them, but move into their lives in such a way that we alleviate the sorrow.

We need to look for ways to alleviate the sorrow and distress that they are feeling. Sometimes that can be as simple and as powerful as just an arm around the shoulders, a hug, a word of encouragement, or just to say "I love you. I know this is a hard time for you. I'm praying for you. Better yet, can I pray with you right now?" We need to be wise as well, that not everybody who is faint-hearted actually needs a sermon. And some of you are more prophetic by nature, so you look at another person's suffering as an opportunity to remind them that God sanctifies all their suffering and he's teaching something they ought to just trust him.

We also need to help the weak. That just means to support them and hold them firmly as they go through this time of affliction. Something that they have experienced has weakened them. They know that they don't have the necessary strength. It may be that they lack moral courage at the moment and maybe that they've just lost motivation for getting up and being about the business that God has entrusted to them. The Lord Jesus reminded us in Matthew 26:41 that "the flesh is weak, even though the spirit often is willing." He was using that to encourage his disciples to pray, but our own prayers in those moments of our weakness are not the only means of receiving strength. Sometimes we receive it from the family of God.

Lastly, we need to be patient with them all. This term that we translate as "patience" really is quite descriptive when you break it down and meditate on it for a little bit. It means to "suffer long" with them. Aren't you thankful that God has not called us into a tribe where it's just the survival of the fittest, or we find people who think and operate in life just like us? But God has actually called us into a family where there's great diversity and variety. In calling us into that family, he also is teaching us to be aware of the suffering and difficulty that others are carrying around us, and he says to come alongside them.

As we admonish some, encourage others, and help the weak, we need to be patient and enter into the suffering and go long with them, because there are some people who are on a long journey of suffering. So we're never dismissive of it, we're never careless with it; we bear with them in their suffering.

We live in a day and age where people so much want justice to be done at any cost. Politics right now is ugly and our culture knows well this idea of repaying evil for evil. In Paul's letter to the Thessalonians, the Lord through the apostles is always unpacking what it means to love one another and seek to do good to one another. He states positively that we should leave vengeance to God and see that no one repays anyone evil for evil. This does not mean we would never pursue justice, as imperfect as our court system is. What is clear in this situation is that the one party who has experienced an evil of some kind is not authorized by God to go repay that evil to another person.

It reminds us of what the Lord revealed to us in another one of his New Testament books: vengeance is mine, I will repay. This responsibility lies specifically in the hands of Christ. When Christ returns as the judge of the world, he will bring God's wrath with him, and part of what God's wrath includes is a just and righteous repayment of his righteous anger on evildoers.

The Apostle Peter wrote to the first-century Church that if we sin and are beaten for it, we should endure, and if we do good and suffer for it, we should also endure. This is a gracious thing in the sight of God, for to this we have been called. Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example so that we might follow in his steps. He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return, and when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; by his wounds, we have been healed.

Peter takes us right back to the foot of the cross. Even in the midst of suffering great evils and great injustices, as the people of God, it is not that we are oblivious to injustice or careless with regard to it, but we recognize that our God is the ultimate arbiter of justice and that Jesus himself is the judge who will return.

Are you part of God's family? Have you turned from your sin to Jesus and called upon him for the forgiveness of your sins and the gift of eternal life? God is not looking to form another tribe that is known for fighting for Christian rights or championing some kind of trendy Christian cause. He is looking to establish a kingdom and a family and he wants to include you. Are you living in a healthy relationship with the family? Jesus didn't die and shed his blood to make you a Lone Ranger. Humble yourself, follow the teaching and commands of God, and get connected to the family.

As this passage notes, it is through unity that the world will know that God the Father has sent God the Son. Therefore, we must pursue what is good first to one another and to the body of Christ, and then to everyone. God's justice may be slow in coming, but it will come. We must seek to do good and live in such a way that would be a marked difference in the coming weeks. We will have opportunities to speak to people about Jesus and share the gospel.

Are you respecting your leaders? Are you receiving the warning and admonishment not just from leaders but even fellow brothers? Maybe some of you are actually idle at this moment in the way that First Thessalonians 5 mentioned. And praise God if there's someone who loves you enough to step into your world and go, "Can I tell you something? I have great concern for you."

And then finally, are you planning to do good in the next two weeks? Now beyond that for sure, but Matt ran through several announcements about some of the things that are right around the corner for us. We recognize that your life is not limited to the calendar of Gospel Hope Church, but we actually do hope and pray that your church family here is really close to the center. Jesus is the center; we'll just concede that someone will come up afterwards and correct me for that. Jesus is the center of our lives, yes, yes, fully agree, but Jesus, if Jesus is the center, that doesn't make sense that his family is also at the center.

So look at the calendar; some of you have work responsibilities and family and travel and other things, but we need you to be part of it. Those t-shirts out back are designed to be conversation starters, so whether we're cleaning up trash after the big Riverton parade that's Monday night, July 3rd, yes, a week, or taking a turn at the tent during Riverton Town Days in the park because we'll be out there all day July 4th and thousands of people come by.

Yeah, they're there more for the carnival or the music, the concert that goes pretty much all day, the vendors who are there, and there's a lot of great stuff, but thousands of them walk right by. And if you've never been there before, I mean it's just great conversation that happens and sometimes it's a little hostile. We have people say unkind things, but we also have people who stop by and they want to know more. Pretty much every year we've had people come by who really are hungry or searching and you end up in one of these really wonderful moments.

Will you be there? Now I say that and I think, "Oh Lord, what if all 125 people decide to come to the tent that day?" That won't work, so we'll kick you out and make you go elsewhere, but you don't have to leave the park; you can still walk around and engage with people. The opportunities to do good in these next couple of weeks will be many. What a Savior we have and what a gospel we have. It really is good news. We're not asking people to join some social justice effort or political party, not asking them to jump on a trendy cultural bandwagon; we're asking them to come engage with the Living God and be a part of what he is doing.

Would you bow your heads with me please? There's a lot here really to chew on. What particular piece of this passage stands out to you? What do you sense the Holy Spirit is impressing on your heart right now? It may be a very specific step that you need to take with reference to a sin, to leave it, forsake it, to confess it to God. Maybe this is the week that you invite them to lunch again, just get caught up. How are they doing? How can you pray for them? How can you serve them?

Pursue good, beloved, as we meditate on this passage; there are probably a hundred things that the Lord would have us to take out of it, but what's one thing that you can take out of it right now? In just a moment, I'm going to close this portion with prayer, praying for God's blessing over each of us, praying that he would strengthen you to be obedient to whatever he's calling you to.

But I also want you to know that after the service and after we have our time of prayer and groundbreaking, if you want to have additional conversation, it would be a great privilege. Our pastoral team is available; other members of this church are always eager to talk and share. But don't leave today until we've had the opportunity to talk through some of your questions or some of your thoughts.

Father, seal to our hearts your words and yours alone, and if there are ideas or notions that have simply originated in my heart that were not born out of your word and the work of the spirit, let them just die away, fade into oblivion as quickly as possible. But oh Lord, let your word remain and do all its powerful, life-giving, life-changing, saving work. Just don't leave us the same. These things we pray in Jesus' name, amen.

We can give you an opportunity to respond by singing again, and then we're going to take just a few minutes to transition. We're gonna head out back. Those of you who are visiting with us today, this building program we're embarking on has been long, long, long in the work, and so we're all going to just head out back for just a few minutes. I know it's hotter today, sun's beating down, we won't keep you too long, but we're going to read one little portion of scripture, then we're going to divide up and pray. You can grab a prayer partner, you can pray alone, you can pray in a small group. Pastor Daniel has even prepared some special things for the kids to be a part of this, and it includes sidewalk chalk. Daniel, do they already know that they're ready to go?

Parents, if you are inspired to pray through your artistic ability and want to grab a piece of chalk and use that out back, but we just want to saturate this building program with prayer right here at the outset and even stand on the very piece of ground that God graciously gave us and we want to build for his glory and the good of this community.

So after we sing, I think what we'll do is say whatever point that is, we're just going to meet out back in about five or eight minutes.

Good morning! Guests, please stay; it won't be long. We love for you to just be a part of that and, as Matt said earlier, we'd love to have a record of your visit. We also have folks there after each service who have that small gift that Matt made reference to. We'd love for you to take that with you as a reminder of your time here with us. Is that clear enough? Is that what I was supposed to say? My mind is like fuzzed out on those details; that's why we need a team. Right now, we lean on each other.

Okay, Andrew, you come and lead us. Let's stand together and let's sing.

One thing that I personally appreciate ever since Bethany and I have come to Gospel Hope is keeping the main thing the main thing. The reason we're here is not to build a name for ourselves. The result here is not necessarily the end goal. It's not a building project to say, "Hey, look at this building project." The end goal is that the name of Christ will be high and lifted up because he is worthy of all praise and he is calling people to himself here in this Valley.

So let's sing these truths that he is the preeminent one, he is the Glorious one.

Jesus, we love you always. Thank you again. See you out back in about eight minutes. Thank you.