Unsatisfying Bread and Sleepless Nights

It's my joy to introduce to you Pastor Curtis Cook.

You guys are familiar with his name because we've been praying for him and for Brandy

and for Hope Fellowship Church for, I guess, seven years now in rotation, ever since we

started out as a church plant.

And there's a lot of connection points here.

You guys know Craig.

Craig, one of our church members, the church that he came from in Oklahoma City, Eagle

Heights Churches, the church actually sent Curtis and Brandy out.

And they planted Hope.

I just found this out this morning that it was 20 years ago in September.

So they're celebrating a 20th anniversary, which is amazing.

I hope I get to be a part of that to celebrate with them.

And Hope's been, I think this is, Curtis will never say this, but I think it's fair to say

one of the most important, significant, strategic churches in the Boston area for the last

two decades.

And it started when there weren't many, many gospel preaching churches in the area.

And they've been instrumental in sending out a lot of church plants, including some churches

that we pray for regularly, including the Beacon Church in Belmont, and as well as the Beacon

Community Church with Dane Helsing, as well as Trinity Church Bedford with Scott Cope.

These are all churches that Hope has been part of.

And you guys might not, some of you might not know this, but when we were sent out from

King of Grace Church in Haverhill to plant, for the first year, when we only had five or

six people at the beginning, we weren't having public services.

We were just meeting at my home.

And during that time, we wanted our church to benefit from a fully functioning church.

So we actually joined Hope for a year.

And we were part of Hope for a year.

And Curtis pastored us during that time.

And after that, in Sunday morning worship, we'll have our own service in the evening in

my living room.

And that's when we were evangelizing and building up the core team.

And so I'm really profoundly grateful to Curtis and to Hope and Brandy.

Obviously, Curtis could not be doing what he's doing without you.

So thank you for the work that you do to support and to help.

And so I want to introduce to you, Curtis, please come preach God's word to us.

Let's welcome.

It is a great joy to be with you.

Like you pray for us, we pray often for Trinity Cambridge, and we're grateful for that.

I love and appreciate Sean and Hannah.

When I am with Sean, there are numerous things that I admire about him.

Some of the things are just an evident love for Jesus.

So in conversations with Sean, it's obvious that he loves Jesus, that he loves his family,

that he loves his wife and kids, but also that he loves you as a church.

And so often it's evident just the weight of both responsibility and joy that he feels

as a shepherd of this flock.

And so he's often speaking of what God is doing in you and encouraging things, but also,

you know, feeling the weight of what it means to pastor a church.

And so just know that that's one of the many things that encourages me when I'm with Sean.

And then just as a pastor who once had young kids, it does our heart good to see a pastor

and family on the front row.

That's where we used to drag our kids to the front row and they sat on the front row with

and now our kids are gone and grown up, but they came up there with us, right?

And sat on the front row with us and trained them up in that way.

I think they forever sit on the back row now after having grown up on the front row,

but they did their time growing up there as well.

I'd love to pray for us and then we will begin to look at the text.

Father, we're grateful for your grace.

Lord, that you shower us in grace in so many ways.

And one of those graces is the establishment and the continuation of local congregations.

Father, we're grateful for this church, Trinity Church, for the way you've sustained them

and kept them, but you are at work in them for the good future you have for them.

Father, we thank for these moments as we look to your word.

We ask, Father, you would give us open hearts to hear and receive,

or you would work through your word by the Spirit to grow us to be more and more like Christ.

So would you help me now to be clear and helpful in the preaching of the word?

In Jesus' name, amen.

Amen.

If you're able and willing, if you would, let's stand together.

So we read our passage for this morning, Psalm 127.

If you don't have a copy of the Bible at the table back there, there's some free Bibles there.

You can grab one now or following the service.

So please grab one of those as a gift from Trinity Cambridge.

So Psalm 127.

Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain.

Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchmen stay awake in vain.

It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil.

For he gives to his beloved sleep.

Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb of reward.

Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one's youth.

Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them.

He shall not be put to shame when he speaks to his enemies in the gate.

Amen.

You can be seated.

If you travel much around our country, you'll notice a number of differences from region to region.

How fast they talk or how slowly they talk.

How fast they walk or they don't walk anywhere at all.

How laid back they may be or how tightly wound the culture seems to be.

Of course, Boston is known for fast talking, fast walking, driven, aggressive, fast driving people.

And we say, well, of course, why wouldn't you be?

Of course, anyone who wants to get anything done has to be those things.

So Bostonians, we look at people in the South and the West and we wonder, how do those people live?

How do they get anything done moving so slowly?

Personally, I'm intrigued at times about living in a place like San Diego.

I've never lived there.

I've only been there once.

But it seems to me nearly paradise.

The sun is out, I think, every day.

75, no humidity.

And I can imagine to myself, I could live there.

They need churches there.

Maybe I'm supposed to go pastor in San Diego.

And yet, as I've thought about it at times, I would think to myself, I think I would go crazy.

Because at least my sense of what it's like on the West Coast is that life is just slower paced.

And I think I would be too tightly wound to actually thrive and survive in San Diego.

So I stay in cold, gloomy Boston as it is today.

Our fast-paced, aggressive lives do allow us to get much done.

In fact, allow us to do much good in our city and in the world.

But our fast-paced, aggressive lives also easily consume us.

Consuming our hearts, our souls, grinding us up to the point of exhaustion.

And an exhaustion often deeper than even physical exhaustion.

I wonder if you've ever felt yourself worn down.

Exhausted by the pace of life and work and study.

Have you ever wondered, is this really what God intends for me?

Or is there another way?

So it's worthwhile for us to consider, you know, are we investing our lives wisely and well?

Is there a way to work hard, but in a way that's sustainable?

A way that matters?

That's what we're going to consider today from Psalm 127.

And we'll see this emphasis in our text.

Trust the Lord who builds fruitful lives.

Trust the Lord who builds fruitful lives.

And look at our short psalm in only these two parts.

First, unless the Lord, vanity.

And second, from the Lord, heritage.

So unless the Lord, vanity.

From the Lord, heritage.

So first, unless the Lord, vanity.

See this in verses 1 and 2.

The Israelites at the time of the psalm's writing had the same challenges that we face today.

The temptation to busy themselves.

The construction of a house.

The protection of a city.

And the idea of building a house would include certainly the physical building of a home.

But even beyond that, the building of a family.

Their life together.

The psalmist writes of the protection of the city.

In ancient Israel, the cities would normally be built up with a wall around them.

Protecting them from attackers who would come from outside.

It could easily become the focus of any Israelite of that day.

To focus on the building of their home.

Their life.

The protection of the city they're in.

And we see in this the danger of building our lives through what we could call self-reliance.

And we see this repeatedly.

The alternative or the warning is unless the Lord builds it.

Unless the Lord watches.

So if we try to build our physical homes or the broader home of our lives.

Or try to build our life on anything other than the resources that God would give us.

The psalmist says it's in vain.

The self-reliant house, it's vanity.

The very best that I can produce on my own, it's not enough.

The very best that you can produce.

If it's from self-reliance, friends, it will ultimately be shown to be vain.

Same goes for the security of the city.

Security of our families.

The security of anything that we have.

We certainly also apply this to your education, to your career.

If it's grounded primarily in your self-reliant efforts.

However great those efforts are.

In time, it will eventually be shown to be empty.

In vain.

Destined to fail.

I wonder how often you find yourself struggling with self-reliance.

I know that I do.

That I so easily fall into this.

My heart tends to lean so easily, so naturally.

That self-reliance actually feels comfortable.

It actually feels natural.

When I'm not living that way.

That's what actually feels strange to me.

Over the years, I've tried to have a day off as a pastor because of our sort of strange schedule.

But I've found it profoundly difficult across the years to have a day off.

To keep it.

And not because of the church members.

Not because of anyone sort of watching me.

But simply my inability to step back.

And not feel like I need to do something.

To believe that God can work even if I'm not working.

And so it's fueled by my own fear.

My own self-reliance.

My own lack of trust in God.

And every Monday, which is the day I typically take off.

I face that struggle again.

So tomorrow, I'll face that same struggle.

Will I really step back and trust God?

Or will I somehow convince myself?

No, today, I just need to do this work or that.

What's the result of our self-reliant living?

Verse 2.

It leads to this vicious cycle of rising early and staying up late.

So we rise up early because the work must be done.

And we believe that the work depends on us.

And so we work all day.

Then we stay up late.

And because we must come through.

We stay up through the night often.

And when we do finally fall asleep.

It's unsatisfying sleep that doesn't refresh.

And often we have sleepless nights throughout.

So we're either working and worrying about what we're working on.

Or worrying that we're not working enough.

And so we lose sleep.

So we throw ourselves into more self-reliant work.

And we work and we work.

But we aren't satisfied.

And we are never truly at rest.

I wonder if you know this experience.

Of grinding so hard.

And then even when you lie in bed.

Your mind is racing with worry.

Projects.

The to-do list.

So then you face the exhaustion of anxious, sleepless nights.

And we're cautioned that we shouldn't be satisfied to eat what's called this bread of anxious labor.

In verse 2.

So we have a choice of whether it will work and eat anxiously and nervously.

And notice we see that we will receive some bread.

But it's this bread of anxious toil.

It's a bread that cannot truly satisfy.

But unfortunately the dangerous part is that because some bread is produced, it can convince us we're making real progress.

But in fact it's a treadmill that we never step off of.

It's an all-consuming treadmill.

And self-reliant work is so dangerous because it can produce progress for a time.

So the fruit of extra hours of work and worry can appear to be substantial for a while.

So we worry and we work and we make a pair of progress.

It looks like we're getting ahead.

And this self-reliance is doubly dangerous and tempting in our culture, in our city, because it looks so respectable.

If you live like this, you'll accumulate accomplishments and degrees.

If you live like this, you'll actually climb the ladder of success.

You'll get lots of affirmation.

If you rise early and stay up late and self-reliant work, you will likely be applauded.

You will certainly never get fired.

You may get promoted.

So it actually just fuels this self-reliant working.

It will not initially lessen your success as a student.

It may help you rise to the top.

And almost no one in our city will caution you about this.

Your employer, your supervisor will likely not pull you aside and say,

I'm just worried you're working too much.

You're working way more than we're paying you for.

Please slow down.

They're not going to do that.

They're going to give you more projects.

They'll give them extra things to do.

If we live like this, we'll actually fit in very well in Cambridge and Boston.

If we don't live like this, we will feel strange in Cambridge and Boston.

Now, an important question is, is the psalmist, is God against building a house?

Is he against hard work to protect the city?

And the answer is no.

God himself created work before sin entered the world.

So if you're hoping I was going to tell you today, never work again, that's actually the other side.

The way we don't have that option, work is good.

There's a rightness to it in all these various forms.

So work is from God.

But as a result of sin entering into the world, work has become difficult.

It is so often weighty and feels like toil.

But it is good and God-glorifying for God's people to work.

To work in any number of areas, in the home, outside of the home, in the life of the church, in the community.

And good can be done through your work.

And there are times in life when one may have to work extra hard.

That there is a season when it may mean rising early, staying up late,

missing some things because of a particular weighty aspect of your life.

And Christians, since we're working to glorify God, we should be extra diligent workers.

We should be reliable.

Our supervisors, our employers, those who we work under, should think it's a great thing to have a Christian.

Because they're so reliable, so trustworthy, so diligent.

So God doesn't say to us, don't stay up early, or don't get up early for work.

He doesn't say, don't stay up late, but he does give us this significant principle for life.

He says, don't rise early, or don't stay up late out of fear.

Out of anxiety.

Fueled by self-reliance.

So our text holds out a caution of the danger of self-reliant living.

But it also holds out the potential for a transformed outlook.

So we should see the potential of work and rest that relies on God.

So this text is both a daunting warning, but also a great promise marked by hope.

There's good news for the beloved.

Referred to in verse 2.

Now a relevant question is, who are these who are called the beloved?

Beloved.

The beloved of God.

And it is those who trust in him.

And by beloved, it means those who are loved by God.

It is an identity.

It is not those who are loved by God because of what we do,

what we have done, or what we will do.

But it is who we are.

And for the good news is, we are the beloved of God.

Those who trust in Jesus.

And how did God bring us in to be known as his beloved?

It is through the perfect sacrificial work of Jesus Christ.

God the Son who died in our place so that we wouldn't have to.

He came to take the place of sinners and rebels for our lives of running from him,

of rejecting him.

Christ died through his death and resurrection,

purchasing, providing this free gift of salvation,

which includes reconciliation with God, adoption by God,

forgiveness of all of our sins,

brought in and now known as the beloved of God.

So, friend, if you're a Christian,

this is who you are.

One of the beloved of God.

And because it's grounded in what Christ has done,

it is not grounded in what you have done or will do.

And, friends, this is tremendously freeing for us.

And if you're not a Christian,

I wonder, do you see what this says in 1 John 3?

It speaks this way of the beloved of God.

See what kind of love the Father has given to us

that we should be called children of God.

And so we are.

If you're new to Christianity,

the center of Christianity is not people trying to become good

through our own work,

but a glorious God

who out of great love sent forth God the Son

to rescue, to redeem, to bring back

rebels and sinners like us,

all grounded in his love,

not in our goodness,

not in our merit,

not in our devotion.

So the God of the universe loves.

And he makes sinners into sons and daughters.

And I realize this may be very new to you,

but we would love for you to know

this God who loves in this way.

For those who are Christians,

I wonder,

whose significant approval do you long for most?

And how often does that lead to our working?

Because we so want someone to say,

well done.

To say, I'm proud of you.

To say that you did it.

So maybe a family member,

maybe a boss,

a supervisor,

a professor,

but you long for that.

And so you run and you run and you run.

And one day,

maybe there is some affirmation,

but it's never quite enough.

And sometimes there's no affirmation at all.

Or sometimes the one we're running for the affirmation,

there's someone we don't even have a relationship with,

perhaps a broken relationship with a parent

or someone who's passed on from this life even.

And so we run and we run

and we can never quite find satisfaction.

But we're trying to please someone else.

So friends,

the fact of being brought in as a beloved of God,

God is the one who says to you,

I approve you through Christ.

So friends,

that can free us

from this treadmill of running and running and running

for the approval of others

because God himself approves you, friend.

That is freeing

when we live from that.

We see that God loves us,

but he also gives.

Look at verse two.

It says,

God gives,

which is the very nature of our God.

He is the giver.

And the God of grace

pours out gifts on his children.

And notice what he gives to his beloved,

verse two,

for he gives to his beloved sleep.

He gives sleep, rest, refreshment.

And I wonder if you were to,

this morning before this,

just nailed,

wrote down,

what are 50 things that God gives to his people

I doubt sleep would have been in the top 50.

Perhaps depending on life circumstance,

maybe it'd be really near the top.

But in general,

we don't think of that as a gift.

And yet here,

in light of these needs that we have,

here's this picture of God giving to his children sleep,

restful sleep,

restoring sleep.

And what must we do to experience this gift?

We must humbly receive it.

For it takes humility

to cease work

and to try to go to sleep.

And God created us with these bodies

that need to rest.

When we try to maximize the hours,

to see how little sleep we can get by on.

We are thoroughly caffeinated,

myself included at times.

But also try to squeeze more out of the day.

But friend,

God made us so that our bodies need to stop,

which should be a daily reminder

that would humble us.

Say,

however many great things you can do

throughout the day,

you must cease and rest

and sleep.

So sleep helps us then

to potentially fight pride

and cultivate humility.

Now I understand that for many people,

sleep can be a great struggle.

That you try,

but it's often sleepless nights.

So this is not a promise

where you should feel guilty

if you struggle with sleep.

That's worth always considering.

Are there particular things

that are making you worry,

that are impacting your sleep?

But friend,

don't let this be an extra burden

if you already have a hard time sleeping.

Don't feel condemned by this text.

But know that it is God's desire

to give to us rest

and to sustain,

even though our bodies

are often impacted by the fall

in so many ways

and things that cause us

not to be able to sleep well.

There's something interesting

when we think about the translation here

at the end of verse two.

It can be translated,

as our text has,

he gives to his beloved sleep.

It can also be translated,

that he gives to his beloved

even in his sleep.

New American Standard

has it that way.

Both are good,

faithful translations.

So when we think about it,

at the very least,

he's telling us God gives sleep,

which is a tremendous gift.

But likely also,

based on what we know of God,

not only does God give us rest,

but friends,

while we rest,

while we sleep,

God works on our behalf

while we're sleeping.

God can accomplish more

on our behalf while we sleep

than we can while we're awake.

Imagine with me

a wheat farmer.

So the farmer works hard.

He and his family,

they spend all day

out in the field

preparing,

sowing,

doing all that they can.

But eventually,

at the end of the day,

the farmer has to go to bed

and rest.

And while he rests,

what happens?

The wheat grows.

God is the one

who gives the growth to that.

And friends,

in so many areas of our life,

that's what we do

when we go to sleep.

We say,

God,

yeah,

I worked hard today.

I can't do anything else

on this problem

or this situation

or this weighty thing.

So I'm going to sleep

and saying,

God,

would you work?

And I trust that you will work

even while I sleep.

So friend,

might that change the way

that we close our eyes at night?

Say,

God,

I don't know the answer.

But I turn it over to you,

trusting you are not asleep

even while I sleep.

Friends,

we should also consider

the other side

of these cautions,

which is hope.

So the caution is,

unless the Lord builds it,

the builder labors in vain.

But the flip side would be,

but if the Lord builds it,

then the building isn't in vain.

Unless the Lord watches,

the watchman labors in vain.

But if the Lord does guard,

then the watchman

doesn't stay awake in vain.

So friend,

there is a way

that as we work

with the strength

that God gives to us,

that He works through your work.

The Lord will build.

He will empower your efforts.

He will give you rest.

And He will work while you rest.

So how might we begin

to seek to embrace

and grow

in this transformed view

of work?

One, friends,

I would encourage you,

pray that God would enable us

to feel the weight

of this caution.

Because it's a sobering word.

It's easy to ignore,

but say,

I need to really feel the weight

and the warning

about self-reliance.

Second, friend,

I would encourage you today,

repent of self-reliant living.

Where this marks your life,

as it does for me so often,

repent of that.

God, would you forgive me?

Would you help me also

to turn?

Would you change my mind?

Third, pray that God

would help us

to discern our own hearts.

You might ask yourself

questions like this.

Why do you stay up late working?

Why do you rise early?

What's driving you

to work so long

and so hard?

Whose applause or approval

do you chase after?

Is it fear

that fuels that

or insecurity

or pride?

You might also consider

who could help you?

In a city like Boston,

Cambridge,

where everyone else

is going to say,

do more, do more,

in order to try

to live differently,

you will likely need

someone to help you.

So is there a brother

or sister who'd say,

I actually would like

for you to ask me

a question

once a month,

once a week,

because I want to try

to live differently

so you might invite

someone to help you.

Also consider this,

friends,

we want to be a light

in our city,

in our neighborhoods,

on the campus,

and our workplace.

Friends,

how distinctive

would it be

that if you worked hard,

diligently,

sometimes long hours,

but you weren't always

frazzled

when everyone else is?

When you weren't always

overwhelmed with anxiety

when everyone else is?

Not because you're perfect,

because by God's grace,

you're thinking

and living differently.

How compelling

would that be?

I mean,

in a lab

where everyone else

is frazzled,

if you showed up

with hope

and diligence

and excellence,

wouldn't that be curious

to those who don't know Christ?

The last thing

would be this.

Friend,

when possible,

receive rest from God.

Receive sleep from God.

So here's my recommendation.

Today,

go take a nap.

That's the take home for you.

This afternoon.

Go find some time

and take a nap.

I'm going to try my best

to do that.

It's a pretty good rhythm.

That's one thing I'm good at

is napping.

That's a good thing

to say,

there's work you could do

this afternoon.

I'm going to slow

and sleep.

Or at the very least,

just lay down.

Put electronic devices down.

Just be still.

So we see,

unless the Lord,

vanity.

Then second and more briefly,

we see from the Lord,

heritage.

We see this in verses

three through five.

The psalmist tells us

that children are a heritage

and a reward.

Just based on the way

that the verses turn here,

you may,

if you're not married

or if you don't have children,

may immediately think,

this part's not for me,

so I'm going to tune that out.

I would encourage you

to stay with us

because I think there's more

here for all of us

than we might think.

So it begins by saying

that children are a heritage

from the Lord.

They're a gift from God.

All children,

every child

is a gift from God.

This is not saying,

importantly,

this is not saying

that children are earned.

He's not saying

that if you are good enough,

God will give you children.

That's not what the text is saying.

Friend,

if you don't have children

and you long for children,

it is not

that somehow

you have not measured up

to receive the gift of children.

That's not the sense

of what it's saying here.

But it is saying

for all who have children,

they are a gift from God

and they must be seen as such.

And so friend,

if you are a parent,

do you think of your children

most often as a gift?

Or do you find yourself often

thinking of them

as something that takes from you?

For parenting is a weighty thing

and an exhausting hobby.

But do you mainly think of

they take my time,

they take my money,

they take my energy.

Friend,

children are a gift from God.

Both for families

and for churches.

And children are a gift

to this church.

Also,

we see that children

are strategic like arrows.

Verse four and five,

like arrows in the hand

of a warrior

are the children

of one's youth.

Blessed is the man

who fills his quiver

with them.

So God intends for children

to be like a well-honed weapon,

like an arrow

in the hands of an expert warrior

sent out to accomplish

significant purposes.

So the psalmist says,

parents,

children are like that.

They can be invested in,

equipped,

prepared,

and then sent out

into the world

to Lord willing

to do significant good.

So parents,

do you think and pray

in that way for your kids?

And what are the prayers

for your kids?

Is it that they would

achieve the most?

Or is it that most of all,

they would glorify God

in whatever they do?

Friends,

as so many of you

feel the weight

who've come into our city,

from our city,

feel the weight

of parental expectations,

which are well-intentioned,

but often are a weight

that's too much to bear,

aren't they?

And so parents,

may we be those

who love our kids,

but they hear much from us,

well done,

I'm proud of you.

Most of all,

that you would love Jesus,

not that you would get

into this school,

or that school,

or climb this ladder,

or that.

Now parents,

the promise here

is not that if we

do certain things,

our kids are guaranteed

to follow Jesus.

That's not the promise.

But,

we are called

to this intentional devotion,

to training up,

pointing our children

to Christ,

with the desire,

the hope,

the prayer,

that one day

they would come

to a saving faith

in Christ.

So we want to be wise

and strategic,

persevering.

So parents,

we must think

about our parenting.

It is hard.

Life is busy.

So many things

grab our time

and attention.

Let me encourage you parents,

let your kids see

you love Jesus.

Not in a fake way.

Not in a perfect way,

but let them see

you love Jesus.

Let them see you

love the church.

Studies consistently show

that the greatest

likelihood of children

having the faith

of their parents

is do they see

their parents love Jesus?

Do they see their parents

love the local church?

It's really that fundamental.

It's a huge part of it.

I know that life is busy,

but it's worth thinking through

like what shapes

the calendar

of your family?

Is it the things

that you want to prioritize

or is it

your children's schedule?

I know.

I'm treading on thin ice

here, I suppose.

It's not my church,

so I'll tread.

But especially

with younger kids,

there's a great temptation

and I felt it well

when our kids were younger

to kind of maintain

an order of life,

which often felt like

we have to do

these certain things

schedule-wise

for our kids

to keep life together,

which led to,

in time,

withdraw from

the life of the church.

We can't ever

have someone over

or go to their house

or be a part of a group

because of our kids' schedule.

Just let me say,

friends,

your kids need to see

you love Jesus

and love the church.

And sometimes

that may mean

them staying up

a little bit later,

but I think it's worth it.

Even if it messes up life

for a couple of days,

that they'll bounce back.

And people across generations

have been raising kids

long before us.

It can be done.

And so I would just say,

make tweaks here and there.

Stretch them out

a little bit more,

but it will serve

your kids well too

because your kids love

being with other people

from the church as well.

Build in things

like the Sunday gathering

into the rhythm

of your family.

And as the kids get older,

they won't ask,

are we going to church?

Because they just understand,

well, that's just what we do.

Just what our family does.

We gather with the church.

And for those of you

who are single parents,

we understand

it's a weighty gift you have.

So let this church love you

and serve you

and help you

in that parenting.

Are we sufficient for the task?

No, we're not.

Parenting is daunting,

weighty.

But God will give us grace.

He will empower you.

He will help you

in the parenting.

As I mentioned,

if you don't have children,

you're thinking,

well, this isn't for me,

but that's actually

not true at all

because we see

in the ministry of Jesus

a new view of family.

Matthew chapter 12,

Matthew 12 · chapter mention

we see a time

when Jesus was teaching

and his mother

and his brothers

come to him.

They wanted to speak

to Jesus

and Jesus replies

and says,

who is my mother

and who are my brothers?

He stretched out his hand

toward his disciples

and he said,

here are my mother

and my brothers

for whoever does

the will of my father

in heaven

is my brother

and sister

and mother.

And so Jesus helps us

see that there's

a new view of family.

Now that's not

to downplay

or say that

our earthly families

are unimportant

or that we aren't

to love them.

That's not what Jesus

was saying,

but he's saying

that now in his kingdom,

this is the truest family,

the family of God.

These are brothers

and sisters

and aunts

and uncles

and cousins

and we actually

have more in common

with them

than anyone else.

At the beginning

of the Old Testament

we see that the call

to be fruitful

and multiply,

fill the earth

and that was done

primarily through

having children,

multiplying in that way.

In the New Testament

the call is the same,

be fruitful

and multiply

and yet it's

slightly different

because it is said

this way,

go and make disciples

of all the nations.

Same idea,

be fruitful

and multiply

but it's no longer

the multiplication

only of a biological family

but it's the good news

of Jesus going out,

people hearing

and believing.

So the same multiplication

is happening

as the call

of God's people

and so friend

whether you're married

or not,

children or not,

we all have the opportunity

to have spiritual offspring

as we share

the good news,

as we disciple others,

friend,

in your life

across the decades

you could play a part

in so many lives

for the sake

of the gospel.

So the family of God

has changed,

changes everything.

So friend,

if you're a Christian

think about how you

can invest in others,

sharing the good news

with those who don't know Christ,

helping others

to grow up in Christ

and through that

sending out arrows.

So we do this,

we spend time

a clearly defined

discipling relationship.

So many of these

in undefined

but just a friendship

where we're trying

to encourage one another

for their own spiritual good.

Walking with a clear

sort of spiritual mentorship.

Friend,

there's so many ways

that you play a part

in this.

And so imagine with me

if you have 40 more years,

50 more years of life,

if you invested in

making disciples,

joining in,

making disciples,

how many spiritual offspring

there might be

sent out into the world.

I didn't think about

this church.

Your church is in the same city

as our church

and I assume has

some of the same beauties

and challenges.

One of the beauties

and challenges is

so many people come

and go,

don't they?

They come and study

or work

and then they sinfully

leave Boston.

Okay,

it's not sinful

but it's painful,

isn't it?

Right?

We get to know people,

we love them

and then they move

and I can feel,

especially this time of year,

we say goodbye to so many

and we shed tears

and for those who stay,

it's exhausting,

isn't it?

And we're tempted even

to think,

okay,

yeah,

I'm not going to let

any new people in

to my heart.

I may welcome them,

yeah,

they can sit

in the row behind me

but I'm tired

of saying goodbye

or friend,

you can certainly

protect yourself

in that way

and I'm tempted

pretty much like

May through July

to do that

as I mourn the loss

and sometimes I think

to myself,

I want to move

and pastor a church,

maybe in San Diego

but where nobody else

moves away,

where it's all the same people

for the next 20 years

but then I think,

I don't know that I want

the same people

for 20 years either

so maybe actually,

there's a gift

of this coming

and going as well.

So let me encourage you,

those of you

who are trying to stay,

I know it's painful

but it's a worthwhile pain

but also just imagine

this church

over the past years,

over the decades to come,

how many spiritual arrows

will be sent out

to the world

from here?

They came as an undergrad,

they came as a grad student,

they were here for work,

you invested in them,

you helped them

to grow up in Christ

and now they're sent out

to the world

and what impact

through this church

and so many other

in greater Boston

as people come and go,

friend,

do you see the opportunity

you have as a Christian

to send out,

to join in sending out arrows

to the world?

And friend,

as a part of that

is loving the children

in this church as well.

And so those of you

who are not parents,

you have a key role

to play in the lives

of the children

in this church

because the very nature

of someone being a parent

makes them patently uncool

to their own kids

very quickly

because they're parents,

that's just who they are.

But friend,

you who get to come

alongside of them,

whether it's by teaching

in the classes

and I hope that you do that some

or it is simply

by modeling before them

a love for Jesus

and the church

will shape these kids

more than you know.

You disciple them

by your life.

We have an empty nest now,

so our daughter's 25,

our son is 21.

They've both moved

across the country,

sinners who've left Boston.

No, they've moved away.

And so far at least,

they both love the local church.

But that's not because

of Brandy and me.

I'm convinced it's because

of our church

who loved them.

Not a perfect church

by any means,

but a church

who loved them well,

people who lived before them,

older teenagers,

college students

who were older than them

who loved Jesus,

modeled that for them,

gave them a beautiful view

of the church.

We have no biological family

in Massachusetts,

so our family

has been the church.

So friends,

you have the chance

to do that

with every kid

as a part of this church,

that they would see you

and their view

of the church

will be shaped

so much by that.

So let me help you

to remember

that opportunity,

that responsibility

to love and invest

in the kids

of this church.

For it'll be costly

for us all

to give ourselves

into making disciples,

sending out arrows

to the world.

Friends,

that's a worthwhile thing.

That's a worthwhile work

to even exhaust ourselves

at at times,

to even lose some sleep,

but not from anxious toil,

a kingdom work

that really matters.

So friends,

let's pray

and labor together

that we would spend

our days well

in a fruitful way,

in a curious way

for those around us,

in a way

that would glorify God.

Let's pray together.

Father,

we're thankful

for your goodness

and your grace.

And Father,

we ask for help

because we live

in a city

that will only

push us further

into self-reliance.

So I pray

for some this morning

that just the wise step

would be to just repent

of that.

They might even begin

to imagine

what could life

look like.

And that as we're scattered

into the neighborhoods,

as parents,

students,

as workers

who could do so

in a way

that would glorify you.

Help us to trust

that you can do more

even when we sleep

than we can ever do.

We pray for the children

of this church

that they would hear

and believe the gospel

at a young age.

And Father,

we pray for,

we're thankful for already

how Trinity

has sent out arrows

to the nations

and will continue

to do that.

We pray, Father,

you would bless them

with decades more

of that.

Encourage those

who stay behind

even when it's painful

and hard

to see the goodness

of that in Jesus' name.

Amen.