Integrating Faith and Work: A Mission Field

### Bible Study Discussion Guide

#### Bible Reading
- Acts 18:1-4 (NIV): "After this, Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. There he met a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had ordered all Jews to leave Rome. Paul went to see them, and because he was a tentmaker as they were, he stayed and worked with them. Every Sabbath he reasoned in the synagogue, trying to persuade Jews and Greeks."

#### Observation Questions
1. What was Paul's profession, and how did it help him in his ministry in Corinth? ([35:44])
2. Who were Aquila and Priscilla, and what role did they play in Paul's mission in Corinth? ([34:52])
3. How did Paul integrate his work with his faith while in Corinth? ([39:16])
4. What does the sermon suggest about the relationship between our daily work and our spiritual lives? ([40:43])

#### Interpretation Questions
1. Why is it significant that Paul worked as a tentmaker while spreading the gospel in Corinth? How does this reflect on the integration of faith and work? ([35:44])
2. How did Paul's relationship with Aquila and Priscilla demonstrate the importance of community support in sustaining spiritual energy? ([43:12])
3. What does the sermon imply about the potential impact of laypeople sharing the gospel in their daily interactions compared to clergy? ([41:45])
4. How does the historical context of Labor Day parallel our spiritual journey, according to the sermon? ([31:34])

#### Application Questions
1. Reflect on your current job or daily activities. How can you integrate your faith into these routines, similar to how Paul did with his tentmaking? ([39:16])
2. Think about your workplace or community. What are some practical ways you can use your unique gifts to honor God and serve others? ([40:43])
3. How can you ensure that the spiritual energy you gain from Sunday worship fuels your missional energy throughout the week? What specific steps can you take? ([40:43])
4. In what ways can you seek and offer community support within your church family to sustain your spiritual energy? ([43:12])
5. Identify a coworker or someone you interact with regularly. How can you show them God's love through simple acts of kindness or by offering to pray for them? ([41:45])
6. Reflect on the historical struggles for fair labor practices mentioned in the sermon. How can you strive to ensure that your labor honors God in your daily life? ([31:34])
7. How can you avoid compartmentalizing your life into "church time" and "vocation time"? What changes can you make to see your daily interactions as opportunities to share God's love? ([33:47])

1. "We have a responsibility to realize that we have to weave together what we do on Sunday and what we do Monday through Saturday. They're not separate. They are one." [40:43]


2. "It's easier for you to share the gospel than it is for me. Do you know who I work with all day? Church people. You get to be on the front lines." [41:45]


3. "Wherever it is that you spend your labor, my encouragement to you today is to use that time to honor God. Can you imagine the good we can bring to others?" [45:41]


4. "Paul did not do things on his own. This incredible master of our faith who spread the gospel all throughout the Mediterranean did not do it by himself." [44:41]


5. "God uses us and where we are and what we do in our life skills. We have to incorporate where our life is and what we do into our faith." [45:41]


6. "Sometimes that spiritual, missional energy we get on Sunday doesn't last all the way through the week, and that's why we do small groups." [43:12]


7. "We love when we don't have to go on Monday, don't we? When we have tomorrow off. And Labor Day, I love Labor Day. It's probably one of my favorite holidays." [30:14]


8. "Monday is the least productive day of the week. Nobody gets anything done on Monday. I mean, who wants Mondays to happen? Nobody does." [29:19]


9. "We are a church that wants to journey together in prayer. You'll find prayer request cards on the connect card, which is on the back of the seats." [22:12]


10. "We bring all of these things that are ours to help build the world around us. Some of us work by being full-time parents. Some of us work by going into our job every day." [25:05]

Day 1: Integrating Faith and Work
Our daily work is an extension of our faith, as exemplified by Paul in Corinth. Paul, a tentmaker by trade, used his profession as a platform to share the gospel. This teaches us that our vocations are not separate from our spiritual lives but are intertwined. By integrating our faith into our work, we can use our unique gifts to honor God and serve others. Our workplaces become mission fields where we can live out our faith daily. This integration allows us to bring the kingdom of God into every aspect of our lives, making our daily labor a form of worship. [35:44]

Colossians 3:23-24 (ESV): "Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ."

Reflection: Think about your current job or daily responsibilities. How can you intentionally integrate your faith into your work today? What specific actions can you take to make your workplace a mission field?


Day 2: Community Support
Just as Paul worked alongside Aquila and Priscilla, we need the support of our church community to sustain our spiritual energy. Small groups and communal worship play a crucial role in rejuvenating us, enabling us to carry our faith into our daily lives. Being part of a supportive community helps us stay spiritually vibrant and provides accountability and encouragement. This communal support is essential for maintaining our spiritual health and ensuring that we do not feel isolated in our faith journey. [43:12]

Hebrews 10:24-25 (ESV): "And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near."

Reflection: Reflect on your involvement in your church community. How can you deepen your connections with fellow believers this week? What steps can you take to support and encourage someone in your small group or church family?


Day 3: Missional Energy
Our spiritual energy from Sunday worship should fuel our missional energy throughout the week. By viewing our daily interactions as opportunities to share God’s love, we can make every day a part of our spiritual journey. This perspective transforms mundane tasks into meaningful acts of service and evangelism. Simple acts of kindness, like offering to pray for a coworker or sharing an encouraging word, can be powerful testimonies of God’s love. This missional mindset helps us to see every interaction as a chance to reflect Christ’s love to those around us. [40:43]

1 Peter 3:15 (ESV): "But in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect."

Reflection: Think of one person you interact with regularly who may not know Christ. How can you show them God’s love in a practical way this week? What specific action can you take to share your faith with them?


Day 4: Historical Context of Labor Day
Labor Day reminds us of the historical struggles for fair labor practices, paralleling our spiritual journey. Just as workers fought for their rights, we must strive to integrate our faith into our daily lives, ensuring that our labor honors God. This historical context helps us appreciate the value of our work and the importance of fair treatment. It also challenges us to advocate for justice and fairness in our workplaces, reflecting God’s heart for righteousness and equity. [31:34]

James 5:4 (ESV): "Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts."

Reflection: Reflect on your work environment. Are there areas where you see injustice or unfair treatment? How can you be an advocate for fairness and justice in your workplace, reflecting God’s heart for righteousness?


Day 5: Practical Evangelism
It is often easier for laypeople to share the gospel in their daily interactions than for clergy. Simple acts of kindness, like offering to pray for a coworker, can be powerful testimonies of God’s love and can make a significant impact in our communities. Practical evangelism involves being attentive to the needs of those around us and responding with Christ-like love and compassion. This approach makes evangelism accessible and effective, as it is rooted in genuine relationships and everyday interactions. [41:45]

Matthew 5:16 (ESV): "In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven."

Reflection: Identify one practical way you can show God’s love to someone in your daily life today. How can you be intentional about sharing your faith through simple acts of kindness and compassion?

Amen.

Well, friends, this is that time of our service where our friends in Kids Club can go and head back. It is the first Sunday, which means our elementary friends are heading back, and our preteens stay in the room.

All right. So, if you have any way we can be praying for you, we would love to do that. We are a church that wants to journey together in prayer. You'll find prayer request cards on the connect card, which is on the back of the seats. You can drop those in the offering baskets, which are up here at the prayer rails. You can also email those to us or drop them in the church app. We want to journey with you in whatever you are praying for.

And as a reminder to you, church, you can find the things we're praying for in the e-news, which is on our website. The prayer requests are password protected to protect you so that it's not on the wide open web. If you would like that password, just contact Val. It's there for anyone in the church family, and she'll be happy to share that with you. It's also in the email that goes out every Thursday with the e-news. So, if you don't get the email, ask Val. She'll be glad to send it to you.

Now, because it's Labor Day weekend, we have a prayer video to just remind us about all the people that help our society to continue running. As we prepare to go to the Lord in prayer, I'm going to say a blessing over all the work that makes our society happen, but I'm also going to bless the tithes and offerings. Many of those are given through the online giving in our church. If you would like to give something physically, you can do so at the time of the offering, which is at communion, and that's in those baskets up here in the front.

Would you like to invite you to go to the Lord in prayer with me now?

Almighty God, you created each of us unique. With unique gifts, unique abilities, unique passions, and unique perspectives upon the world. And it's because we are unique that we help make our society run. We bring all of these things that are ours to help build the world around us. Some of us work by being full-time parents. Some of us work by going into our job every day, and some of us work by being retired and helping support others. But whatever it is that is our labor, we thank you for each and every one of us for the part that we play in being the body of Christ and being a part of our community.

I pray, God, that you bless us to continue to labor for you, and that we may be your hands and feet in our world, that we may honor you in all that we do, and that we may rest in this day so that we may be rejuvenated and continue that work in your glory and your honor. We pray this in the name of our Lord Jesus.

And God, as we come to study your scripture in this space and in our children's space, we ask that you honor that study and allow us to grow deeper within our relationship with you. We pray this in your name. Amen.

Amen. Amen.

And did you know that Monday is the most dreaded day of the week?

Yeah, you knew that, right? Of course you did, because you all dread Monday. You miss the weekend.

Yeah, well, why do you miss the weekend? Because the weekend is the time we get to have fun, right?

So I have a couple things I want to share with you about that, if I can get my notes to show properly. Where was I? Because I'll tell you honestly, I don't trust my memory this morning. Some days I do when my notes don't work.

There we go.

All right. So I love some of you post the best memes about Mondays on Facebook. We're going to look at some just to get ourselves going in a Monday mood, all right?

Who likes a Monday-sized cup of coffee? Any of you?

Anybody get an extra cup on Mondays? I do.

All right. How about the idea that some days we just dread that it's Monday again? You feel that one?

All right. Who gets that Monday morning glow? We got any glowers?

All right. Do we have anybody that's allergic to Monday?

What about Monday being on the dark side? See, I feel this one.

Now, I have a question for you. Did you know that 50% of employees go in late on Monday mornings? 50% don't get up on time. And I bet you 50% of students don't make it to school on time either. I don't have that statistic, but I'm going to just make a guess. If we can't get to work on time, those kids probably don't get out the door on time.

There's also a study that says employees don't smile until after 11 o'clock in the morning on Mondays. That's when the coffee kicks in, right? Somebody said it's because they realize lunch is almost there.

They say that Monday is the least productive day of the week. Nobody gets anything done on Monday. I mean, who wants Mondays to happen? Nobody does.

But when we have businesses that have a four-day work week, they don't take Monday out. They take Friday out. I mean, why? If Monday is so unproductive, why do we leave it in the week? Nobody wants to go. Nobody wants to go. It's just an unfortunate thing.

Well, we love when we don't have to go on Monday, don't we? When we have tomorrow off.

And Labor Day, I love Labor Day. It's probably one of my favorite holidays for so many reasons. One, Labor Day is the start of football. Love it. Love it. I grew up in a football town. Not going to name it. Y'all can just guess to yourselves.

But my football town and Labor Day, Labor Day was the beginning of not only football, but it was always my birthday weekend. And I spent my birthday downtown watching the football game or like listening to the football game because I didn't have tickets. And so I would sit in a parking lot and eat and listen to the game. And it was marvelous. I loved it.

But why do we have Labor Day? Do we really remember the history of our holiday? Because it's not just about barbecue and friends. It is for the workers who fought for the right to have a day off. Back in the 19th century, friends, they had to fight for being paid for overtime and weekends. And to get a minimum wage, it was standardized in the nation. And they worked hard for it. And this holiday is to remember that.

Our blue-collar workers who did not get paid hardly anything and were taken advantage of for so long. Now we have to still deal with so much of feeling like people get taken advantage of. And we have so many laws of minimum pay for people to be on salary and all these things to try to help from people not to be taken advantage of as a worker.

But this is my question to us today on a holiday dedicated to work. What happens to us as Christians on Monday?

See, I think oftentimes we have this use of our spiritual energy. We come into church on Sunday and we get all excited because we're with our church people or we're watching online and we worship and our spiritual buckets get full and we're having a great day and it's our relaxation.

And then Monday comes and we get the Monday blues like everybody and our spiritual energy is just gone. And then what happens is we're building our own energy throughout the week and we're like looking towards the weekend and the energy rises like everybody else. We're like, okay, we're coming. The weekend's coming. We're counting down to Friday.

I love those memes too. We got our hump day memes. The camels, man. We got some good camels, don't we? And everybody's like, it's Wednesday. We're almost there. We've almost survived. And we got our Friday memes. It's Friday. We made it. And then we got the Monday again. How is it Monday again?

But what does that mean for us as church people? And this is what I want us to think about today because sometimes we kind of compartmentalize our lives. We have our church time and we have our vocation time.

And for those of you who don't work, you still work. For the sake of today, however you spend your time during your day is your vocation. Whether you're retired or a stay-at-home parent, you still work. Don't let the fact that you don't punch a time clock mean you don't work.

Okay? So can we agree on that terminology for the day? Yes? Okay, fantastic. I don't want to define that every time I say it.

Okay. So we're going to look into the book of Acts because one of my favorite Bible characters is Paul. I have two favorite characters. Out of the 12 disciples, it's Peter because he always jumped before thinking. Love that about him. And out of the rest of the Bible characters in the New Testament, it's Paul.

And the reason I love Paul is because he went and did things that always made people really upset, but he did great things for the kingdom of God and went to the people that nobody else wanted to go to. And I just love that about him. And God often told him he was going to do things. He's like, I'm not doing that. And God's like, yeah, yeah, you are. And he had to deal with it, even though that's not what he wanted.

So I want to look for a second at Paul in the book of Acts. And we're going to look in Acts chapter 18, verse 1.

Then Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. There he became acquainted with a Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, who had recently arrived from Italy with his wife, Priscilla. They had left Italy when Claudius Caesar deported all the Jews from Rome. Paul lived and worked with them, for they were tent makers just as he was. Each Sabbath found Paul at the synagogue trying to convince the Jews and Greeks alike.

Does not sound like one of those momentous passages, does it? Friends, this is the one place in the entire New Testament that we are told what Paul's vocation is. You might have missed it.

It says, Paul had been persecuting Christians when he was Saul. God literally showed him the light, blinded him, gave him his sight back. He became Paul. And now he's going and spreading the gospel. And he gets to Corinth. And when he gets to Corinth, God gives him information. He speaks to Paul because he and Paul have a very close speaking relationship.

After he gives him this vision, he tells Paul, you're going to stay in Corinth for a good while. You just need to get ready. You're setting down roots for a while because Corinth needs you.

Some little info about Corinth. He is there for the longest of any other place in the ancient Near East. He's there six months. And Corinth is the Las Vegas of the ancient Near East. If it happened anywhere, it happened in Corinth. If you can imagine a behavior, Corinth, it is just the most crazy of towns.

And God's like, yeah, Paul, you're going to need to be here for a little while. This is not one of those towns you're just going to ride through and you're going to go have a couple of debates and you're going to have a couple of speeches and then you're going to be out. You're going to need to hang out. They're going to need you for a little while.

So he goes and figures out what's he going to do and he's going to need to work. He can't stay in a city without working. He's got to find a way to feed himself.

So he meets two other Jews, Aquila and Priscilla. Now, why is this important? Well, because he's in a city filled with people that have a lifestyle nothing like his. That's like going up and down the Las Vegas Strip trying to find somebody that has something similar in your values. Right?

I mean, could you imagine going to the bars in Las Vegas and trying to find somebody that had something similar? Something similar to you so you could go live with them? That's what he's doing. And he finds a couple who are Jewish and he's like, thank you, I found somebody.

Not only did he find a Jewish couple, they had the same vocation as him. They were also tent makers. And this is a big deal because all the artisans lived together. So you had all the tent makers here and you had all the bakers here and you had all the iron workers here and they all lived in little micro communities.

And so to find tent makers, tent makers that were like him and were Jewish was big because he could go work for these tent makers and they didn't just make tents, they were actually leather workers because the tents were made out of leather. And Paul could carry his tent making tools with him and go, see, I know how to do this. And they go, great, we'll hire you and you can live in our house because they would have had their workshop in the bottom and their house on the top.

And they've hired Paul to come and live here. But remember, it says here they're Jewish. So what's Paul do? He works for these Jews. Paul is Jewish, but he's also sharing the gospel of Christ and he starts ministering to them right there in the tent making shop, in the leather shop, surrounded by all these other leather workers that are not Jewish and they're not Christian. They are full-on pagan and they're just having conversation as they work.

Eventually, Priscilla and Aquila come into the Christian world. They help start the church in Corinth. They keep it running after Paul leaves because he teaches as he works.

Now, on Sabbath, he goes into the synagogue and he debates the religious leaders and he does the Paul thing because Paul is good at that. He debates really well and he goes and has these big educated conversations with the big religious heads. But during the day, he works with his hands and just has conversations as he goes.

Now, why is this important for us? See, friends, we have a responsibility to realize that we have to weave together what we do on Sunday and what we do Monday through Saturday. They're not separate. They are one.

And it's not spiritual energy. It's missional energy. Because what we need to be fed by church is filling a bucket to empower us to carry from here what we do into our vocation.

Do y'all know it's easier for you to share the gospel than it is for me? Just think about that one for a second. It's easier for you to share the gospel than it is for me. Do you know who I work with all day? Church people. I got Val and Katie who work at a church. They don't need to hear the gospel for the first time, y'all. They've already got it. We talk about church stuff all day.

The only time I get to even do anything remotely connected to missional work is when I leave the church and I go do other things. My job is to help equip you to share the gospel and then to help care for you. Because, friends, you're the ones that are out in the world.

Can I just say, this is the one thing I don't love about my job. I don't know. Let's be honest. I would love to just be out in the world all the time, but this is not what I've been called to do. I've been called to equip you. Because you get to be on the front lines.

For those who spend time with taking your kids to and from school, you get to interact with other parents. For those who are still in work, you get to have moments like asking a co-worker who's having a hard time saying, can I pray for you?

And we do things in our day-to-day lives like reading our Bible and praying. I hope you do. If you don't, then let's talk about how to help you with that. But sometimes that spiritual, missional energy we get on Sunday doesn't last all the way through the week, and that's why we do small groups. That's why we do other things to help kind of boost us throughout the week.

Because our missional energy sometimes needs a kickstart. Sometimes we have a small group that may meet on Tuesday or Wednesday or Thursday, but we need others to kind of help us be rejuvenated. Because there's something about joining, joining with others.

Do you all feel better when you've been here? I mean, I hope that's why you come. I hope you don't come and then leave going, oh, if not, please talk to me. I hear people say all the time, I can read the Bible and talk to God on my own. Yes, you can. What you can't do on your own is join with other Christians and walk through life together.

That's the part that you need others to help support you in life. There's many of you as I look around this room that I know for a fact, you're in groups. And I've heard from you talk about how your group has supported you when life has been difficult, when you've been struggling and you've needed prayer and support. And that is the reason that we get boosted.

But the intention of the boosting in our spiritual life is to share that joy with other people. Friends, Paul did not do things on his own. This incredible master of our faith who spread the gospel all throughout the Mediterranean through country after country after country did not do it by himself.

And he's not the only one. If you whittle down in the Bible some amazing people that have done things for God, I want you to think for a second. Go back to the Old Testament. Because Isaac, he developed real estate for God. Joseph worked as a government official. Moses was a shepherd for 40 years. Esther won a beauty contest. Mary was a stay-at-home mom. And Jesus spent the majority of his life as a carpenter.

See, God uses us and where we are and what we do in our life skills. And we have to incorporate where our life is and what we do into our faith. There's no one, there's no one that doesn't have somewhere that our life is spent outside of church. None of you live here 24/7 is what I'm saying. I don't live here 24/7.

Wherever it is that you spend your labor, my encouragement to you today is to use that time to honor God. Can you imagine the good we can bring to others? It's not about going out and inviting people to church. Sometimes that happens. Sometimes it doesn't. But just say, how can I pray for you? How can I help you? How can I support you? How can I show that Jesus cares about you?

And friends, our world desperately needs you. It's that today. They do, friends. We're all called to be the hands and feet of Jesus.

Would you pray with me?

God, you have not stopped showing us that we each have a place. Thankful that you took everyday average people throughout the Bible. Average carpenters. Jesus wasn't average, but Joseph was. And Joseph taught him and mentored him. Average tent makers. Average shepherds. And made them kings.

People that you took and you transformed into sharing things that we get to be a part of today. So in this moment, God, I pray that you take us and transform us to be incredible witnesses for the world. I don't know who we come in contact with today and tomorrow and the day after, but I know each of us will contact somebody.

Open our hearts. Open our eyes to see them. Open our eyes to be able to show the love that they need in that moment. Or to listen. Or to pray. Or to walk with them.

God, if we have those in this room that have not yet gotten involved in a small group, I pray that you help us connect them to those groups so that they can receive the support and the love that they need.

We thank you for all these things. For all that you do for us. In this day and the days to come. We pray this in your holy and powerful name. Amen.

Friends, I hope that you can see one way this week that you can take your church life and connect it into your personal life. If there's a way I can help with that, I'd love to do so. I'd love to support you. Remember, my job is to help support you.

You can tell me by filling out the response card in your seat or you can email me or fill out the card through the church app. But this week, this right now is your time to respond to God. Tell him if you hear how you connect those things so that you don't walk away leaving it in the wind.

This table is the place to meet with him. And make today the first day of your week, not tomorrow. The day you start your labors as you prepare for the week to come. So we may be energized from Monday, not dreading what is coming tomorrow.

As Christ sat with his disciples, he knew that work life and spiritual life were one thing. He sat with a whole bunch of disciples that had lots of different vocations. And he knew there'd be times that they'd have to do those jobs to pay bills. But he witnessed for them what it was like to integrate the two.

So when he broke bread with them, he said, this is my body, which has been broken for you. Eat this in remembrance of me. And he took the cup. He said, this is the blood of the new covenant. Drink just as you eat in remembrance of me.

If you're watching online, I hope you'll take something from your kitchen so we can extend our table to you. And as you're sitting here in the room with me, know that God invites all people with no requirements or restrictions to come to this table.

The only thing he asks of us is that we confess our sins together. So I'd like to invite you now to join me as we confess our sins with this confession on the screen.

Holy God, you lavish us with good gifts, yet we persist in seeking after that which robs us of abundant life. We hold fast to our anxieties and give in to our greed. We desire the very things that harm us.

Forgive us, purify and sustain us by the strength of your Holy Spirit, we ask in Jesus' name.

Take a moment, lift any confessions to God you need to give.

Almighty God, hear the confession, hear the confessions of our hearts. Receive our confession that sometimes we don't integrate spirituality and life together, but that you can help us do so.

Prepare us for what this week will be, a Monday, Tuesday, which sometimes can be more stressful. And let us not be stressed, but prepared to bring the kingdom everywhere we go.

Thank you for receiving all that we bring and setting us free from the sins of our past so that we may walk as redeemed. We ask God that you send your spirit upon this bread and this juice and upon us to set us free from our sins and the things that bind us so that we may walk as your children redeemed by your blood and be your body in the world.

Pray this in the name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Friends, if God is for us, then who can be against us? In the name of Jesus Christ, you have been set free. Be at peace and rejoice.

In the name of Jesus, you are forgiven. Would you join me?

In the name of Jesus, you are forgiven. Amen.

I'd like to invite my helpers to come forward. Just a bit of instruction as they come. You'll receive a small piece of bread to dip into the cup of juice. We'll have prepackaged communion and gluten-free here in the center.

And you'll come up the center and out the outside. You'll dip that piece of bread just right down there. And if you like that prepackaged for no one to touch your communion, you can find it here.

I'll serve my helpers first and then we'll invite the others. I'll invite everyone forward if you'll give us just a moment. The Lord's table is prepared and we invite all to come.

We'll start in the back and come up the center and out the outside.

All right. Just a couple things before you go. We are selling what? Pork butts.

Hey, friends, you have one more week to get your pork butt. Okay? I'm not trying to like, I am. I am trying to sell pork butts. I'm not trying to pressure you.

Okay. They're due a week from tomorrow. So we got asked last week about how if you don't have cash or check, which I feel you on that one. Okay? There's two ways. We brought the swiper over this morning. So Tommy will, he'll take you right now. He'll take your card. He'll take your order. He will take care of you and you will be done with your pork butt and your dinner ticket.

Or you can purchase it on Church App. Right when you open the app, it'll be the first thing you see and you can do it that way.

Okay. If you have friends that would like pork butt, take an envelope with you and take the orders and bring them back next Sunday.

Okay? But a week from tomorrow, we will have to submit how many we've ordered and you will be sad if you did not get one. We did an estimate and they are eight-pound pork butts.

Okay. There's a lot of pork. A lot of pork. You can freeze it. I love freezing smoked pork. You put a half in the freezer and then like three weeks later, you get to feed the family again. It's fantastic. It thaws and cooks.

Anyway. Come on now. Order some pork and let's help with it. It'll be fantastic. You don't have to do any other work other than eat pork.

The irony is I don't eat pork. So I'm doing all this and I don't eat it. Okay. I know. I know. Your vegan pastor is trying to get you to buy pork. I get the irony.

All right. And our next week, next week is the new small groups for Wednesday nights. We'll have children, youth, and adults. So don't forget. It's going to be fun. It's going to be great. Katie's super excited. It's going to be fantastic.

Tommy and Julie are going to lead the adults so you don't have to listen to me again. I know you're going to love that. And it's going to be fantastic. Youth are going to have confirmation. Please mark your calendars.

And the last thing is our chronological Bible study is meeting today. If you're here and you want to be a part of it.

Okay. You ready to pray? I know you're ready because we got more football today.

Okay. Yes.

Almighty God, I just want to start by saying thank you. Thank you for this great day that you've given us. Thank you for this opportunity we've had to learn from you, to lift our voices, to be renewed by you.

God, send us ready to be your hands and feet. Send us ready to be a part of not just our body of Christ here, but the body of Christ in the world. And as we've been learning, God, the kingdom of God is everywhere that we are. So let us be the kingdom. And help share the goodness of what that means.

We pray this in your holy and powerful name. Amen.

1. "And it's because we are unique that we help make our society run. We bring all of these things that are ours to help build the world around us. Some of us work by being full-time parents. Some of us work by going into our job every day, and some of us work by being retired and helping support others. But whatever it is that is our labor, we thank you for each and every one of us for the part that we play in being the body of Christ and being a part of our community." [25:05] (40 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




2. "What happens to us as Christians on Monday? See, I think oftentimes we have this use of our spiritual energy. We come into church on Sunday and we get all excited because we're with our church people or we're watching online and we worship and our spiritual buckets get full and we're having a great day and it's our relaxation. And then Monday comes and we get the Monday blues like everybody and our spiritual energy is just gone." [32:35] (26 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




3. "We have a responsibility to realize that we have to weave together what we do on Sunday and what we do Monday through Saturday. They're not separate. They are one. And it's not spiritual energy. It's missional energy. Because what we need to be fed by church is filling a bucket to empower us to carry from here what we do into our vocation." [40:43] (29 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




4. "Do y'all know it's easier for you to share the gospel than it is for me? Just think about that one for a second. It's easier for you to share the gospel than it is for me. Do you know who I work with all day? Church people. I got Val and Katie who work at a church. They don't need to hear the gospel for the first time, y'all. They've already got it. We talk about church stuff all day. The only time I get to even do anything remotely connected to missional work is when I leave the church and I go do other things." [41:45] (56 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




5. "My job is to help equip you to share the gospel and then to help care for you. Because, friends, you're the ones that are out in the world. Can I just say, this is the one thing I don't love about my job. I don't know. Let's be honest. I would love to just be out in the world all the time, but this is not what I've been called to do. I've been called to equip you. Because you get to be on the front lines." [42:31] (32 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




6. "Friends, Paul did not do things on his own. This incredible master of our faith who spread the gospel all throughout the Mediterranean through country after country after country did not do it by himself. And he's not the only one. If you whittle down in the Bible some amazing people that have done things for God, I want you to think for a second. Go back to the Old Testament. Because Isaac, he developed real estate for God. Joseph worked as a government official. Moses was a shepherd for 40 years. Esther won a beauty contest. Mary was a stay-at-home mom. And Jesus spent the majority of his life as a carpenter." [44:41] (56 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




7. "Wherever it is that you spend your labor, my encouragement to you today is to use that time to honor God. Can you imagine the good we can bring to others? It's not about going out and inviting people to church. Sometimes that happens. Sometimes it doesn't. But just say, how can I pray for you? How can I help you? How can I support you? How can I show that Jesus cares about you? And friends, our world desperately needs you." [45:41] (33 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




8. "I hear people say all the time, I can read the Bible and talk to God on my own. Yes, you can. What you can't do on your own is join with other Christians and walk through life together. That's the part that you need others to help support you in life. There's many of you as I look around this room that I know for a fact, you're in groups. And I've heard from you talk about how your group has supported you when life has been difficult, when you've been struggling and you've needed prayer and support." [43:12] (31 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




9. "Friends, if God is for us, then who can be against us? In the name of Jesus Christ, you have been set free. Be at peace and rejoice. In the name of Jesus, you are forgiven. Would you join me? In the name of Jesus, you are forgiven. Amen." [51:38] (18 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




10. "God, send us ready to be your hands and feet. Send us ready to be a part of not just our body of Christ here, but the body of Christ in the world. And as we've been learning, God, the kingdom of God is everywhere that we are. So let us be the kingdom. And help share the goodness of what that means. We pray this in your holy and powerful name. Amen." [01:05:14] (26 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)