”Don’t Fall Asleep in Church” | Sun AM | Acts 20

[Music]

Acts chapter 20 this

Acts 20 · chapter mention

morning. Faithfulness is extremely

valuable in God's

economy. God's not looking for featured

Christians so much as he is looking for

just faithful Christians. that God is

looking for Christians, for believers

who will just show up and do what he's

called them to do. He's not looking for

people who have to be flashy. He's not

looking for people to be featured. Jesus

Christ is the only one who should be

featured in our Christian life. What

Jesus would desire of you and I is to be

faithful. The problem is that many

Christians are not being faithful

because we have fallen asleep

spiritually.

I want to preach a message for just a

few minutes this morning titled this.

Don't fall asleep in

church. Don't fall asleep in church. How

many of you have ever fallen asleep in

church? Now, before you raise your hand

or don't raise your hand, you have to

understand I stand up here every week

and I see every single one of you. So, I

know if you're lying this morning. So,

let me ask the question again. How many

of you have ever fallen asleep in

church? When we were growing up, we was

in a church similar size to this one and

and they had padded pews actually. But

on the top of the pew, there was a a

wooden rail that went along right on the

top of the pew. And when a little kid or

a child who was just big enough for his

head to be above that pew, they'd be

sitting there in the pew and they'd

start to doze off and they'd start to to

get sleepy and the service would go on.

And it always happened when the preacher

paused and there was a a a quiet spot in

the service. That kid's head would flop

back and crack against that pow and

you'd hear it echo all the way through.

It echo everywhere and he'd jump awake

and and then start crying and then

they'd have to take him out. And you

know, I I don't care if people fall

asleep in church when I'm preaching. It

doesn't bother me at all. In fact, today

we're going to see someone fell asleep

in the great Apostle Paul's sermon. And

that it doesn't bother me at all. I know

you come in here tired and I know you've

got busy schedules and I know you're

doing the best you can and so if you

doze off

physically doesn't bother me at all.

What I am concerned about though is

Christians who come to church and fall

asleep spiritually. Today we're going to

look at an example of scripture, a man

who falls asleep physically in church

and then literally falls out of the

church. And I want us to draw some

comparisons between his literal falling

out of church and your in mind literal

spiritual falling away from church. How

do you not fall asleep in church? The

key to it all is faithfulness. I want to

give you three ways that Paul was

faithful. And Paul did not fall asleep

in church. Paul did not fall asleep

spiritually. Paul did not fall asleep in

his Christian walk. How did he not do

it? He was faithful in three areas.

We'll begin in reading in verse number

one. And after the uproar was ceased,

that is all the things that happened in

Ephesus, Paul called unto him the

disciples and embraced them. Now, I like

that. Or this isn't the sermon at all,

but I like that. And embraced them.

There is love and there is unity

demonstrated in this hug. It's a

goodbye. Paul is leaving Ephesus and

he's going to hug the brethren. Hey, I

love you, man. I love you ladies. I I'll

see you again. God is good. And they

have a unity. They have a community here

as Paul is leaving. And he departs for

to go into

Macedonia. And when he had gone over

those parts and had given them much

exhortation, he came unto Greece and

their abode three months. And when the

Jews laid weight for him, as he was

about to sail into Syria, he purposed to

return through Macedonia. Now, many

commentators on verse number three would

agree that Paul is getting ready to

leave. He's trying to get back to

Antioch of Syria, which is where his

home church is based. However, as he's

getting ready to get on the boat to go

back to Antioch, there he hears rumors

that there are Jews on the boat who are

planning to kill him when they get out

into the middle of the sea. They're

planning to dispose of Paul's body in

the middle of the ocean. And so, Paul

decides it's best for him not to get on

this boat and to travel by land.

Verse number four. So he's going to go

through Macedonia on foot on his way

back to Antioch of Syria. Verse four.

And they're accompanying him into Asia.

So of Berida and of the Thessalonians,

Aristarius and Secondus and Gaes of

Derby and Tooththeus and of Asia,

Titicus and Trophamus. These going

before terried for us at Trrowaz. And we

sailed away from Philippi after the days

of unleavened bread and came unto them

to Trrowass in five days where we

abodeed seven days. So these verses is a

summary of some extensive traveling by

the Apostle Paul. I see in verse number

one through three his

travels. Write write down number one. I

skipped over point number one. I want

you to write this down. Paul was

faithful first of all in his

calling, the ministry that God had

called him to. You see in verse 1

through3 his travels. Uh in all of

Paul's missionary journeys, he would

travel over 10,000 miles. And he didn't

have planes like we have today. He

didn't get on a an airplane and fly to

this location and then fly to that

location. He traveled on foot most of

the time. He could take a boat, a

sailboat, and if the wind was good, he

could make good time. If the wind was

bad, he would make bad time. He was

shipwrecked multiple times traveling

through the world preaching the gospel.

Why did he do it? That's what he was

called to do. He would travel through

modern-day Israel, Greece, Asia, Syria,

Turkey. Eventually, many people believe

he went to

Spain. In these verses, verse 1

through3, Paul is going to travel nearly

750 miles. In these three verses, 750

miles on foot. And in all of his

travels, the Bible says Paul exhorted

them. He embraces them and he exhorts

them. He's spreading the love of Christ.

He's preaching the word of Christ to

everywhere, everyone that he meets. He

wants people to know the gospel. Why,

Paul? Why are you doing all this?

Because that's his calling. It wasn't

easy, but it was his calling. And Paul

was going to be faithful to his

calling. Here's a quick application, and

I'm moving quickly through this because

I got to get to point number two. But

here's a quick application for you.

What's God calling you to do? But what

has God laid on your heart that it's

time for you to do this? Oh, we've got

Celebration Sunday coming next week. And

maybe there's one of those items that

the Lord has laid on your heart and the

Holy Spirit has said, "Hey, you need to

do this or you need to take this step."

And you've been putting it off and

saying, "Well, I don't think it's time

and I I make excuses and I don't want to

do that." Hey, why don't you just take

the example of Paul and just do what

God's calling you to do? He was faithful

in his calling. Notice not just his

travels, but I notice secondly his team.

In verse number four, there there's

these men mentioned. So are from Berea.

Aristarius and Secondus are from

Thessalonica. Gaees and Timothy are from

Derby. Titicus and Trophamus are from

Asia. And this team of people is waiting

on Paul in the city of Trrowaz. And Paul

is on his way. It's taking him a little

longer to get there, but God does all

things in his plan. You understand that?

And Paul was just obedient to what God

had called him to do. faithful in his

calling, faithful to his ministry. There

is no greater attribute for a Christian

than to just be faithful. If God's

called you to do something, do it. If

God tells you to do something, do it.

Show up. Be faithful to what God's

called you to do. You say, "Well,

pastor, I don't think God's called me to

do anything." You need to read your

Bible. The Bible says in Matthew chapter

Matthew 28 · chapter mention

28, "Go ye into all the world and preach

the gospel." That is the great

commission and it's given to everyone

who believes on Jesus Christ. If you're

saved today, you are called to share the

good news of Jesus Christ with everyone

you come in contact with. Are you being

faithful to your calling? Number two,

and this is the message today. I've got

a brief number three and a brief number

one, but number two, here's the message.

He Paul was not only faithful to his

calling, he was faithful to the

church. He was faithful to the church.

That is the meeting. Now look at verse

number

seven. He's arrived in Trrowaz and in

verse number 7 through verse number

nine, there is a a church service is

described for us. And there's a lot we

can learn from the early church meeting.

Verse 7. And upon the first day of the

week, when the disciples came together

to break bread, Paul preached unto them,

ready to depart on the tomorrow, and

continued his speech until midnight. Now

you think I'm a long preacher. I don't

want to hear anything. Okay. Paul is

preaching until midnight. Verse eight.

And there were many lights in the upper

chamber where they were gathered

together. And there sat in a window a

certain young man named Udicus being

fallen into a deep sleep. And as Paul

was long preaching, he sunk down with

sleep and fell down from the third loft

and was taken up dead. What a wild

church service. What a crazy meeting.

Now, there is this is this is a a wild

story. And I'm so glad that Luke, as

he's writing the book of Acts, includes

this story because it gives us a vision,

a picture of what the early church

looked like. Now, not every service did

someone fall down a window and die. In

this one, poor Udicus did. Um, but

there's a lot of things that were taking

place every service and they're

mentioned for us here. I want us to just

examine them for just a moment. Let's

just expound this. Can we just expound?

I'm going to teach. I'm going to preach

here in a minute. You got to stay with

me that we're going to teach for a

minute. Okay. When was the church

service? Look at verse 7. The first day

of the week. They didn't meet on the

Sabbath day. They met on the first day

of the week. Why did they meet on the

first day of the week? Two reasons.

Number one, it commemorates the

resurrection. On what day did Jesus

Christ rise from the dead? He came up

out of the grave on the first day of the

week. So the church began meeting and we

still do today on the first day of the

week because we are commemorating

celebrating the day in which Jesus

Christ gave us the victory. Not only

does it commemorate the resurrection but

it pictures for us the principle of

first fruits. Now maybe you've heard the

principle of first fruits talked about.

The principle of the first fruits is

that God desires your first in

everything. God desires the first of

your money. the first 10%. Now, we can

get into a debate on, well, the tithe is

not mentioned in the New Testament and

and okay, we could get into all of that.

If you want to have that discussion, we

can have that discussion and I'll prove

to you that God does indeed expect you

and I to give of the first of our

tithes. Okay? So, if you're interested

in that, come back. We'll talk about

that. But also, he desires the first of

our time. When you wake up in the

morning, God desires that the first

thing you do is talk to him. Maybe read

your Bible. Think about him at the very

least. Say a brief prayer when you're

brushing your teeth or something. God

desires the first that you think about

him first. Before you get on Facebook,

get in the Bible and and before you get

on social media, look into the word of

God. The principle of the first fruits.

Okay? And then it also carries into when

we go to church. This is the first day

of the week. God desires the first day

of the week to be given to him. If we

really love God, then it's not too big

of a deal for us to give God the first

day of the week before we do anything

else. Uh this is Memorial Day weekend.

I'm sure that the lakes are loaded

today, especially with the weather we

have outside. People are out there

fishing and people are out there

enjoying themselves and that's fine and

good. But for me and the principle of

the first fruits being applied, I don't

care what day what time of the year it

is and I don't care how good the weather

is. I don't care if it's in the middle

of the rut in October. I don't care if

the turkeys are gobbling like crazy in

April. I don't care if the fish are

biting in June. If it's Sunday, I'm in

church, right? It's the principle of the

first fruit. And this is something

that's been carried on through time by

the church since the early church in the

book of Acts. So when did they meet?

They meet the first day of the week. Not

only when, notice what what do they do?

They meet the first day of the week to

break bread. Now, I'm teaching. Y'all

got to stay with me this morning, okay?

Stay stay awake. No falling asleep in

church, okay? They came together to

break bread. Now, this is probably a

reference to the Lord's supper. Probably

corporate worship is what we're talking

about here. They come together to

worship Christ. It could mean, it's

possible that it means a literal meal.

They come together and sit down and eat

a meal. I think I'm fine with either

application. In fact, I like to apply it

both ways. They came together for

corporate worship. And they came

together for fellowship. They come

together to love on one another. They

come together to encourage one another.

They come together to worship the

Savior. That's why they're gathering on

the first day of the week. And that's

why you and I gather on the first day of

the week. Why? So, we know when. The

first day of the week. We know what they

did. They worshiped. But why did they do

it? Well, notice in in the ver verse

number seven, they first day of the week

when the disciples came together to

break bread, Paul preached unto them.

Paul has only got one shot here. They're

coming together. And by the way, the

Sunday was a work day. Sunday was not a

a weekend in Acts chapter 20. It hadn't

Acts 20 · chapter mention

been established as a weekend day. It

wouldn't be for several hundred more

years until established as a as a a

weekend day that we celebrate today. So,

they went to work. That's why they're

meeting in the evening. They had worked

all day and now they've gathered in what

we believe to be Carpus' house. This

large three-story house. It's crowded

and they've all come together. Why? To

hear Paul preach the word of God.

Preaching has to be a part of our

worship services. We can't go to church

and not preach the gospel. It's all

about the word of God. This is what we

need. They didn't have all that we have.

They didn't have the completed word of

God, but they got together and Paul

preached what he did have. Paul was in

the process, as he's preaching to them

here in Trrowaz, he's in the process of

writing some of the epistles that you

have in your Bible today. But they

wasn't completed yet. He was still

writing them. He was still formulating

them. The Holy Spirit was still speaking

them, but they preached what they had.

You and I have the completed, perfect,

holy, precious word of God. And when we

come together, why do we come together?

I hope you come to church to hear the

preaching and the teaching of the word

of God. because that's what'll get you

through life. So, we know what, we know

when, we know why. Let me mention

briefly where they were most likely

gathered in the home of carpets. They

didn't have church buildings like we

have today. This thing was just getting

started. They didn't have no money to

build a building. So, they met in

people's homes. In 2 Timothy 4:13,

2 Timothy 4:13

uh Paul asked Timothy to bring him the

coat that he left in the house of

Carpass, which lives at Trrowaz. So,

it's pretty easy to deduce Paul was only

here one night. He spent the whole night

in one person's home. He spent the whole

night preaching, as we're going to see

in just a moment. It seems easy for us

to to make the assumption, and I think

it's a good assumption that they're

meeting in the home of a man named

Carpus. He was only in Trrowass this one

night. There's a three-story home. I

want you to get a picture in your mind,

and I'm getting ready to preach, okay?

There's a three-story home that's

crowded. It's busy. It's stuffy. All of

these people have come from work. They

did not shower first. That they didn't

have AC like we have this morning. They

probably didn't have deodorant like we

have this morning. They have lamps. It

says there's many lights in the place.

They would light the place with an oil

lamp. So, you can imagine the smell of

the oil burning off of those lamps. It's

stuffy. It's humid. It's hot. And here's

Udicus sitting up in the third loft and

he's leaning on the window probably to

get just a a little bit of that evening

fresh air. And he's warm and he's tired.

And Paul is just going on and on and on

and on and on. It's interesting to me

too that we can't get people to come to

church and and and want to stay for they

don't like I mean people don't like when

I sing a song twice because they got to

go get to lunch, you know, but here we

have a group of people who have worked

all day and now they're going to spend

their entire night just to hear the word

of God. If we would find that kind of

passion for the word of God again in our

day, we might find revival in our day.

But here's Udicus sitting there on the

window sill and he begins to doze off.

He begins to fall asleep in church.

Under point number two, still point

number two. I want to give you three

reasons why Udicus fell asleep in church

and then fell out of church. And I'm

going to give them to

you. He was physical. He was literal.

You and I were talking in a spiritual

sense. But I want to give them to you

this morning. Number one, how did Uticus

fall asleep in church and then fall out

of the church? Number one, he was in a

distant place. Look at verse number

nine. And there sat in a window a

certain young man named Udicus being

fallen into a deep sleep. And as Paul

was long preaching, he sunk down with

sleep and fell down from the third loft

and was taken up dead. Number one, how

did Udicus fall asleep in church and

then fall out of the church? Number one,

he was in a distant place. He was in a

distant place. Udicus is up in the third

loft. The Bible tells us he's as far

away from the preaching as he can get.

He was a good Baptist. He was a back row

Baptist. He said, "I'm going to sit as

far back as I can." And in his position,

in his place, he was far away. He was

distant. He couldn't hear Paul clearly.

Paul's voice was echoing to him, whereas

the people on the ground floor could

hear Paul clearly. The the sound wasn't

reaching him. He wasn't getting as much

out of the sermon. Why? Because he was

in a distant place. Now, I want you to

think about this in a spiritual sense

today. There's a lot of Christians today

that come to church, but they come to

church

distanced. They don't come to church to

sit close and be involved and worship

and and and thank God for what he's

done. They would rather just sneak in,

sit on the back row, leave as soon as

everything's over. They're not

interested in coming down and praying at

an altar. They're not interested in

getting to know anyone. They're not

interested in any community. They want

to stay distanced. They want to come

into the church uh and and just so that

they can check a box off and say, "Yep,

I was in church today. Box check."

Here's what they're doing. They're

falling asleep spiritually in church.

They've put themselves in a place where

they have no accountability. They have

no community. They have no unity. And

then when when they do fall out of

church, it's the church's

fault. Well, no one loves me there.

Okay. Listen, we need to be a loving

church. I tell our church all the time,

listen, I want to be the most friendly

church in all of Carol County. Ain't

nobody friendlier than Bethl Baptist

Church. somebody comes in here, we ain't

going to overwhelm them, but we're

pretty near going to overwhelm them cuz

we're going to love on them and we're

going to tell them that we love them and

we want them to stay here and we're

going to encourage them and we're going

to pray for them and we're going to ask

them if they need anything. Why? Because

we want community. We want people to

feel loved. And there are churches that

don't do that and our church isn't

perfect at that. But some of it falls on

the people.

If you come into church and you distance

yourself, you're back row Baptist in and

out just to check a box, not looking for

accountability, not looking to get

right, not interested in what the

preacher has to say, not really caring

about the worship songs, we get up here

and we get all emotional and we start

singing and we start praising our God

and we start lifting our hands and some

of us are sitting back there thinking,

"What in the world is going on in here?

What is wrong with these people?" Don't

distance yourself. Get involved. Find

the community. Why? Because if you

distance yourself, if you come to church

in a distant place, you'll fall asleep

spiritually. And that's not the church's

fault. Number two, though, not only was

he in a distant place, let me give you a

quote before I give you number two.

Scott Tulle said this. Before people

distance from the church, they will

distance in the

church. Before someone will distance

themselves from the church, they will

distance themselves in the church.

Number two, he was in a distant place.

Number two, he was in a dangerous place.

He's on the edge of a window. Three

stories up. He's leaning out over the

window. Three stories up. Here's what

Udicus is doing. He's gambling with

something he shouldn't be gambling with.

He's playing with something he should

never be playing with. He He He's tired.

and and the the tense of the verb. If

you go to the Greek and you look at the

tense of the verb, it's interesting

because the tense indicates that Udicus

is fighting against falling asleep. He

falls asleep in spite of the fact that

he's trying not to. He's trying to do

the right thing. He's just put himself

in a position where he can't overcome.

He He's put himself in a position where

he his body, his flesh is going to

win. So have a lot of

Christians. We play with sin. We we come

in here on Sunday and we dress nice and

we smell nice and we look nice and we go

through the motions, but in Monday and

Tuesday and on Wednesday and Thursday

and on Friday and Saturday, we're

playing with sin. We're going to gamble

with this a little bit. We're going to

play with that a little bit. It's okay

if I allow this. I ain't got church

again and for 5 days, so it's okay if I

do this. I've got time to repent. And we

put ourselves in a dangerous place of

falling asleep spiritually because we're

gambling and playing with little pet

sins. Don't put yourself in a dangerous

place. You fall asleep. Don't fall

asleep in church. Don't fall asleep

spiritually in church. Don't gamble with

the little sins. Don't put yourself in a

position where you have the potential to

fall not just in the church, but fall

out of church altogether.

That's what happened to

Udicus. Somebody once said this and it

it I don't know who said it. It's an

unknown quote. It said Udicus was

leaning out more than he was leaning

in. And a lot of Christians come to

church just to check the box, but if

they're honest with themselves

spiritually, they're leaning out a whole

lot more than they're leaning

in. Dangerous place, a distant place.

Number three, he was in a deadly place

or he ended up in a deadly place. Look

at the text. Verse number nine, I'll

read it again for you. And there sat in

a window a certain young man named

Uticus, being fallen into a deep sleep.

And as Paul was long preaching, he sunk

down with sleep and fell down from the

third loft and was taken up dead. He

falls out of the church. Literally falls

out of the window from the third story.

He falls and they presume him to be

dead.

Now, I'm going to show you in just a

miracle in just a minute a great miracle

that God's going to do through the

Apostle Paul. And I believe that God can

still do the same miracle

today. But don't be the church member

that needs a miracle to get back in

church. Don't be the Christian that it

takes a miracle to get you to be alive

in Christ again. A deadly place. There's

a lot of I'm going to use the term. I'm

not being cruel or mean. I'm just trying

to give you truth this morning. There's

a lot of dead Christians in our culture.

They've fallen asleep spiritually.

They've fallen out of church spiritually

and they're dead. If you and I were to

meet them on the street, they would

proclaim the name of Christ. They would

say that they are saved, but they have

no fruit. They're dead. They're not

producing any fruit. They're not living

the victorious Christian life. They're

they're

dead. The people gather around Udicus.

He's there on the ground. They gather

around Udicus and they say, "He's dead.

It's done, man. We were having a great

church service. We were listening. We

were being discipled. Paul was teaching.

We were taking notes. Everything was

going well. And now someone's dead. I

mean, the devil really knows how to take

the steam out of a meeting, doesn't he?

Listen, he does the same trick today. He

sees a church that God's working in. He

sees a church that God's reviving. He

sees a church where people are getting

saved. And if he can get somebody to die

spiritually and just suck the life right

out of that

thing, but I want you to notice the

miracle that takes place. Paul. Let's go

back to Paul. Paul faithful in his

calling, faithful to

church. Number three, he was faithful to

comfort. Faithful to comfort. That's the

miracle. The miracle of all of this is

the Apostle Paul still being faithful

through it all. Look at verse number 10.

And Paul went down and fell on him. And

oh, here's our word again.

Embracing him said, "Trouble not

yourselves, for his life is in him."

When he therefore was come up again, and

had broken bread, and eaten, and talked

a long while, even till the break of

day, so he departed. And they brought

the young man alive, and were not a

little, look at the word,

comforted. Udicus, how are you

alive? Somebody embraced me when I was

presumed dead. Somebody loved me when I

had made a mistake. Somebody wrapped

their arms around me when I said, "I'm

done. Somebody showed up for me when I

said I was finished. Somebody came to

where I was. I I picture all of the

people, the people up on the third loft

there in Carpus' house looking over

saying, "Oh my goodness, can you believe

he did that? What a foolish decision.

What a foolish what an idiot. We're

trying to have church. Can you believe

he would do that while Paul was

preaching?" And then on the second loft,

people I mean, they just see him come

floating down, you know. Woo! Oh, what

was that? And they go running to the

edge. Oh my goodness. I can't believe

somebody would do that. Do you know who

that is? Do you know what their family's

done? And can you hear the gossips and

the murmurings all around? And then down

there on the first floor on the ground

floor, they're looking at poor dead

Udicus. And they're whispering to

themselves, "Well, I don't know what to

do. I mean, let's just bind him up and

take him out. He's dead. What a what a

foolish thing to do. I can't believe he

would fall out. Why would you fall

asleep in church? Why why would you do?"

and they begin to gossip and they begin

to murmur and then all all of a sudden

through the crowd comes Paul and says,

"Hey, hey,

hey, his life is in him. He just needs a

hug. He needs somebody to love on him.

He needs the miracle of the church to

touch his

life." Somebody has once said that

Christians are the only army alive that

kill their

wounded. It's true. What? Somebody

messes up, somebody makes a mistake,

somebody gets out of church, somebody uh

falls into sin, somebody falls asleep

spiritually, and what do we do? We we

run at them and say, "Well, if you're

going to go good riddens, you know, if

you if you're going to do something like

that, just get out of here. We ain't we

ain't going to have none of that. That's

a foolish decision. You can't do that in

church." and we make sure that we close

the door, lock the door, seal the door

so that they can never feel comfortable

coming back again. That's not what Paul

did. He embraced him, loved on him. Hey,

hey, Udicus, that was a foolish thing to

do. But let's let's get your life back

in you. Let's embrace you. Let's love on

you. And then we're going to break

bread. We're going to fellowship. We're

going to worship all the way until the

sun comes up. The devil is not going to

stop this thing because we are

determined. We're going to love on

people. I'm reminded of the story that I

heard and I'm done. This is the message.

We're done. You can come. I'm reminded

of a story I heard once about two men

who went

hunting. They were buddies. They were

going to go deer hunting together. And

so they go out in the woods and and over

the course of the hunt, something

happens. An accident takes place and the

one man accidentally shoots his

buddy. He's frantic. He's upset. He's

all a mess and doesn't know what to do.

His buddy's laying there bleeding and he

doesn't know what he's going to do. And

so he he frantically he calls 911 and

he's trying to talk to the dispatcher

and he says, "I I think I killed my

buddy." The dispatcher said, "Well, are

you sure he's dead?" And the man said,

"Well, give me just a second." Was quiet

for a minute and the dispatcher heard

boom. The man came back on the phone and

said, "Yep, he's dead."

Now, that's how the church treats a lot

of Christians.

Well, somebody's upset and somebody's uh

fallen and somebody's asleep and and

somebody's not doing what they need to

do and and instead of loving on them and

embracing them and comforting them, we

say, "Are you sure they're dead?" "Yeah,

let let's just make sure. Let's nail

that coffin down." And they have no hope

of ever coming back and being comforted

in this place

again. Now, people are going to mess up.

you and I mess up. It could be that

people who are here today, in just a few

months from today, you will have made a

mistake. And you know what? You're going

to need a church family that will love

you through the

mistake. A church family that will

embrace you through the mistake. A

church family that's not going to be

discouraged by the devil trying to suck

the life out of us. And let me tell you,

he's

trying. What God's doing in a place like

this, the devil wants it not to happen.

And he'll do everything he can to get

the life sucked out of here. You know

how we keep it going? We just keep

loving on one another. We need one

another to hold us up. And we rely on

Christ, but Christ has provided a church

family for us to hold on to one another,

love one another, lift one another up,

encourage one another, embrace one

another, pray with one another. Hey,

God's given us a family

here. If somebody makes a mistake and

they need love, don't be like that

foolish, silly hunter. Are you sure

they're dead? I I'll make

sure. So often we get hurt by someone in

the church. And our first response is to

respond bitterly towards them, to lash

out at them, and well, you can't say

that to

me. No, they shouldn't have. or you

falsely accused me. Maybe they

did. But what's your

job?

Faithful.

Faithful. Doesn't matter what anyone

does to you. It doesn't matter what

anyone does to us. It doesn't matter how

hard the devil tries to defeat us. What

does God desire?

Faithful. Faithful in our calling.

Faithful to our church. I don't mean the

building. You understand what I mean by

church? the people faithful to one

another, faithful to show up, faithful

to love on each other, faithful to be a

community. And listen, there are going

to be people who are going to fall out

of church. I hope it's not you. Don't

don't live in a distant place. Don't

live in a dangerous place because you'll

end up in a deadly place. Don't fall out

of church. Don't die spiritually. Don't

fall asleep spiritually. But there will

be some who

do. What's our job?

Be faithful to

comfort. Faithful to comfort. We may not

understand why. We may not agree with

how. We may not like what they said or

what they did. But what's our job?

Faithful.

Faithful. Faithful. It's what God asked

from you and I. That we would just

faithfully serve him, faithfully walk

with him. What are you going to do

tomorrow morning? Well, I hope tomorrow

morning you'll wake

up. It's Memorial Day. You don't have to

go to work. Maybe you're going to go do

something fun. Have a good time. I hope

the first thing you do is faithful to

God. Say a prayer. Read some Bible.

Faithful to God. What are you going to

do next Sunday? We're having a great and

exciting Sunday. I hope you don't come

to church next Sunday just to see

somebody get

wet. Come to church next Sunday because

you love the church. You love these

people. you love Jesus Christ. What does

God want from us? He doesn't want us to

be featured. I promise you that God's

not looking for this place to be on the

9:00 news. What God is looking for is

for a little church in the hills of

southwestern Virginia that's full of a

bunch of people who said, "God, I don't

care what they said. I don't care what

they did. I don't care if I've been hurt

in the past. It doesn't matter if

they've fallen asleep. I will be

faithful. I'm going to do what you've

called me to do. I will go where you've

called me to go. I'm going to travel if

you call me to travel. I'll sit still if

you call me to sit still. I'll share the

gospel as you've called me to share the

gospel. I'll be faithful to my calling,

God. I'll be faithful to my church. I'll

pour into it. Lord, if you want me to

serve, I'll serve. If you want me to

become a member, I'll become a member.

If you want me to get baptized, I'll get

baptized. Whatever you ask me to do,

God, I'm all in. faithful to my

church, faithful to comfort one another

no matter what. Hey, people hurt. It's

been said that hurt people hurt people.

When someone gets hurt, the first thing

they want to do is lash out. What are

you going to do when someone lashes out

at you this

week? Faithful to God, faithful to the

word, faithful to the calling. That's

what pleases Christ. You don't have to

fix everything. You just got to be

faithful.

This is a little different message than

what we normally preach on Sunday

mornings. But the timing I felt was just

godsend. And I don't know what you're

here with today. I don't know what you

may have walked in with today, but we've

had a wonderful service in the Lord's

house. I want you to just kind of

reflect over all of it. Reflect over

what we've taught and and preached on

from the word of God. Ask the Lord to

help you to be faithful. Faithful to

your calling, faithful to your church,

faithful to comfort one another.

If you got a burden and you want to

bring it to the Lord, come and pray this

morning. She's going to play the piano

for just a few

moments. And as she plays, you pray.

Whatever you need today, just pray and

ask the Lord to help you with it. Pray

for your church today that God would

strengthen us. Help us to be a community

together to love one another. You pray.

She's going to play.

[Music]