One Anothering

Because we'll be talking to God and talking about things for each other and to God. So this is

What one anothering looks like? I'm sure we can add more to this, but this is where we can start

So when we say one anothering, what are we seeing? We are saying hey guys, this is the way we fellowship

This is the way we fellowship get used to this word one anothering. It brings new sense to it

Sometimes words are so critically they bring into our lives a whole different way of thinking

The word fellowship is so archaic and so disconnected with us. We never say to our neighbors, hey come for a fellowship

So you start using the word one anothering the first one and perhaps the most important

Thing in this first one is guys all fellowship all fellowship whether be in the church or whether it be outside the church

all circles around one word

compassion

this is what makes God do everything

God heals because he's compassionate, God shows mercy because he's compassionate

God is kind and compassionate. Slow to anger and compassionate.

Gracious and compassionate. Full of mercy and compassionate

forgiving because he's compassionate

moved because he's compassionate

came to the earth because he's compassionate

died on the cross because he's compassionate

everything about Jesus is

compassionate and the one word that we have to root and anchor ourselves in when it comes to fellowship and one another in the

Church and outside the Church is this one word compassionate

And so that's where we start be kind and compassionate to one another Ephesians 423 starts off

So we are looking at all the one another's in the Bible and Ephesians 423 says be kind and compassionate be kind and compassionate

I think I told you a couple of days last week

UPS was supposed to deliver something to me and

They delivered it four days late, and it was wrong what they did was wrong and so I called them up

But the way I treated them even though I was respectful was not compassionate

It was unkind whoever was at the other end of the phone didn't have a good day after I was done

Even though I didn't raise my voice. I told him I understand

Yet I gave them a piece of my mind in a way that didn't show any kindness

That demanded a pound of flesh, but in a very civil way you can cut someone's flesh in a civil way

And I was telling someone about it proudly that I showed them what they should do and and they said

You were really kind and compassionate weren't you?

And I know it's kind of late in the day for me to figure this out, but I decided that gosh I

Cannot do this. I cannot be

Unkind and I cannot one another in within the church or outside the church

Does not happen if this one word and the great thing is compassion works when people are treating you badly

Big deal the Bible puts it this way if you're only good to those that do you good?

How are you better than the pagans?

So when I am wronged when UPS delivers my

Package four days late. Let me see your compassion Jacob and let me see your kindness

This is where it starts a one another in Ephesians 423

And

When we start behaving this way here, here's the thing guys

Why should we first practice it in house because they will know that we are Christians by our

Love and by our kindness and by our compassion if we practice it here, then we can practice it outside, too

But this is where it should stop and then from here it spreads out

The second one anothering is live in harmony

Romans 12 16 as much as possible live in harmony as in live in peace as much as possible

So what does it mean as much as possible guys?

Learn how not to argue about the

Unnecessaries if you it's pointless

Being disharmonious about Trump and Trudeau. There are more important things

There are more important things like perhaps abortion you can differ on that on

Gender benders you can differ on that on

Important issues yes, but the but as much as possible live in peace

in harmony

Simple rule a but God put it in there imagine this all these things as we look at them

We look at some of them and think big deal. I don't know. That's no big deal live in harmony

Hey, God put it in there man. He's a wise God

Live in harmony live peaceably

One of the things I found out in the church

I was at before was that there were so many people in the church who had pet prejudices against certain ethnicities and nationalities

And I found out that I had some too. This was about 13 14 years ago

And I realized gosh lord

If I want to live in harmony somewhere inside something will have to change and I'll have to forego my state

Forego my stereotypical attitudes towards certain ethnicities and towards certain nationalities

You won't say it, but you feel it as soon as you see them

These things are haram in the eyes of God

Haram means obnoxious abominable in the eyes of God

Haram is not a Greek word

May your minds and hearts may my mind and heart be absolutely empty of anything that

Stereotypes any ethnicity or nationality?

I

Haven't seen the problem at acts 29, but these are things that are really well hidden and may never come up a

Destroyed destroyed God hates

Destroyed destroyed God hates it

God hates it when I take someone made in his express image placed here as a steward of the earth

Just because of the color ethnicity

background nationality when I maybe never

fall for

Stuff about refugees and immigrants and who should and who should not come

Be balanced in your outlook

Politics is not the eyes that we look through we look through the compassionate kind

Harmony filled eyes of Christ and that is the first thing we look at there is nothing called Christian nationalism

There is a perverse perverse

Expression of Christianity that is specific to the US and should not touch us

Should not touch us

I'm sorry

I'm going on about that because it's most because there'll be other people listening to this tape guys not just you third one welcome

And accept one another Romans 15 7 Romans 15 7 depending on the version

It says that these are one another in things learn it because we are going to practice this in the world

we need to be like this welcome and

Accept one another one of the things I found out when I would come home after a long day

Particularly if the day was even slightly difficult is when I get into the elevator

I would hope that no one else is getting into the elevator because I want the elevator all for myself on

Occasion I would hear footsteps and I've quickly pressed closed door

So that I could go all the way to the 12th floor without anybody else in the elevator

And now I have decided that every time I step into any place where I can have the whole place to myself

I'll check and see if for those 12 flows I can have somebody that I can chat up

Accept one another welcome one another welcoming and accepting guys these things were put in the Bible deliberately

We like our space we want isolation. We do not want interruption

We only want interruption when it's convenient God is looking for a people who are ready to be inconvenienced

Because one anothering is messy. This is not as easy as you think guys

This is not as easy as you think

I

Romance 15 7 says I

Maybe for some of you it's easy for me

It's not except one another just then just as Christ accepted you in order to bring praise to God listen to this guys

Accept and welcome one another different depending on the version

Then just as Christ accepted you in order to bring praise to God it brings praise to God eventually guys

Some of you find this easy for some are others like me

It's not as easy third or fourth offer hospitality offer hospitality first Peter 4 9

first Peter 4 9

The sad thing or the good not the sad thing the thing about these points is it's so not profound

That one can ignore it

First Peter 4 9 offer hospitality to one another without grumbling

Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling

Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling

Do you want to say something?

I'm sorry

I'm sorry

I'm sorry

Do you want to comment on this if anybody does find anything you want to say about it?

Yeah, yeah, yeah

No one to say anything or is this normal for you

For some of you yes, it is bless you for being that way your parents brought you up the right way my parents tried

I didn't learn

Pardon

Really I'm trying to discover that

But you and Kamala known for your hospitality

inconvenienced hospitality

Or sorry dangler. I didn't see you there. Thank you, Kamal

Yeah

I

Acknowledge

These three sitting up front as one of the examples in this church there are others trust me these three are known for being

hospitable to a point where it inconveniences them and

There are those two in this church that do that but offer hospitality without grumbling

I find all the other teachings still not quite easy

This is the one that is going to be something that I'll have to practice because it's not natural for me

Next one is love and serve one another love and serve one another

I hope my brother-in-law doesn't hear this teaching

Because he snores so I always get him another room. I never let him share my hotel room

So the next one is love and serve one another so love one another is in first John 311 first John 311

First John 311

First John 311

And says that that this is how we know the children of God

This is how we know who the children of God and who the children of the devil are

Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God nor is anyone who does not love his brother

Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God nor is anyone who does not love his brother

Nor is anyone who does not love his brother

So one part of it is loving one another the second one is serving one another Galatians 513 Galatians 513

And Galatians 513 says

You, my brothers, were called to be free. Do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful

nature. Rather serve one another in love. Serve one another in love.

The next one is really nice. Romans 12.10. Romans 12.10. It says in Romans, be devoted

to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. Honor one another

above yourselves. Honor one another above yourselves. Guys, let's take one more. Another

version says outdo one another in honoring. Outdo one another in honoring. Just one more

and then we'll draw a distinction. First Thessalonians 5.11. First Thessalonians 5.11. First Thessalonians

5.11. And it says in First Thessalonians 5.11, therefore encourage one another. Build

each other up just as in fact you are doing. Therefore encourage one another. Build each

other up just as in fact you are doing. Therefore encourage one another and build each other

up just as in fact you are doing. Guys, I believe that till here these things apply

to the world not just to the church also. Yes, we practice this in church but you can

practice this with anyone in the world. It's possible to be compassionate to people in

the world. It's possible to live in harmony with people in the world except on issues

where Christ's ways are distinct from their ways in which case you'll have to speak the

truth in love. Welcoming and accepting one another. You know this country will be blessed.

I'm talking about Canada now. Canada will be blessed because of its willingness for

years and years and years on end to accept and welcome people. And when they have not

of late there's a trend to apologize for it and make restitution. It might seem like a

small political gig but the thing is in the eyes of God whenever anything godly is planted,

regardless of the motive, like Jesus said, if they may not be for me but if they're doing

what I'm doing then great. This nation will be blessed because of it. It'll reap a harvest

because of it. There is an ex. So this we can practice with everybody. This we can practice

with everybody. Offer hospitality. This we can practice with everybody. Love and serve

one another. This one too. Outdo one another in honoring. Guys, there is nothing that opens

up a person's life like honor. Nothing. You honor somebody, they'll open up like a flower.

Open up like a flower. Anyone you honor, regardless of how difficult they are, you begin to honor

them and they open. Guaranteed. Just keep honoring them. And not false platitudes, real

honoring. Yeah, one of the things I've found that whenever I meet a new person who's not

a believer, one of the ways God uses a prophetic through my life is using the prophetic to

honor them. And as soon as they realize that God is saying things about them, that there

is no way anybody would have known, but it is things that are valued and that gives them

worth, they begin to open up to God. I've seen it again and again and again. Or you

can go into a house where there is a wife and a husband and a wife is a believer and

the husband is not. You begin to honor the husband and you'll be surprised at how things

change because there is a tendency in Christian families when the wife is a Christian and

the husband is not, the husband always is in the background. He does not want to be

involved. When you shift your attention from the wife and begin to focus on the husband

and begin to honor him, the whole household changes. Jesus had this way of picking out

people who were trash and he would begin to honor them. And he would honor them by finding

that one thing in them that was treasured and they would open up. Eddie is an expert

at this. You can bring Eddie into a room and I'll see all the nice looking people and he'll

see all the nice looking people who are not being paid attention to and he'll begin to

honor them. Changes, right? Because what are we saying when we say we honor? We honor the

people. We are saying you're of value and we recognize that value. You think that won't

help. I used to talk about this ages ago when we first started Acts 29, the parable of the

ten coins. So let's assume you have a five cent coin that goes under your sofa and you

call Derek and Don and Jeevan and Wayne to move that sofa, to get to that coin. And you

have no idea how much value you've given a five cent suddenly. The value is placed not

by the coins' intrinsic claim to anything. The value is placed by the seeker. You're

the seeker. Place value and you'll be surprised. Encourage and build trust. You can't be a

seeker. Encourage and build each other up. Encourage and build each other up. Encourage

and build each other up. I could give you examples from this week. Encourage and build

each other up. I'm talking about people in the world, not just church. In church, for

me, it's easy to do. Encourage and build each other up. I'm talking about the world where

you're paying someone at a counter and you have to rush. One of the things I plead with

God is, Father, when I walk through airports, when I go through different countries, when

I'm walking around in Vancouver, please let me not be someone who does not look at people's

faces. Please let me not become like that. Please. There are times, and I'm not kidding

you guys, these are things I'm saying to you not to show off, but to show how difficult

this is in a world like ours. There are times I will go back the same route I came because

I did not acknowledge the person who's doing a simple task. And if you asked me what he

looked like, I wouldn't be able to tell you whether it's a guy or a girl, because he's

just a guy who opens a door. Who cares? My God, there was not a person Jesus went by

who he did not recognize and acknowledge. One of the things I used to like about videos

on Obama was whenever Obama would go past people, he would acknowledge them. Doesn't

matter who it was. Doesn't matter whether it was a Marine who was saluting him or some

person who was opening the door. There was an acknowledgement. I don't know whether that

is in nature, but it always used to strike me as this is the most powerful man in the

universe stopping to say hello to people. Guys, you and I have to make sure that we

look into people's faces when we go past them. These things are absolutely doable. This is

how we build relationships, guys. It is a fabulous thing to do. We can do it in church

too, but the thing is you guys do this for each other in church anyways. Now it's time

to do it out in the world. Any thoughts? Any comments? I'll wrap up in five minutes.

Thoughts, comments, guys? No? Azhar, you want to say something? You look like you want to

say something. That no is not convincing enough.

I'm in the journey of finding a friend, making a friend. In this journey, I'm already five

years. During that five years, I realized that the most important thing is that I have

to become a good friend for others. Whatever you see someone, you have to find some good

things so that you can highlight, but it should be really genuine. Sometimes, there was a

situation, I think for women, it's very easy. For me, if I will see that someone is really

wearing very nice clothes, I will always say that I like that the way it is. Even if I

will in the street, I met someone who has a very nice tattoo, which I love it, but I

sometimes don't understand why they do it. So it's very nice. I always say that. That

is like open up. But sometimes, if it's not genuine, they will feel it. They will say

it. Really? Guys, we can't flatter, right? The moment

you flatter, you're being insincere. There's nothing about God in it, and there's someone

else in it. Any time I make a comment that is not sincere and it is flattery, know that

there is someone else who is playing around now. It's not just God. Your intent may be

godly, but what ended up is ungodly. So you can't be insincere about it because it's a

platitude then, and someone else now gets into the mixture.

Right on. I was just going to say that. Sorry, but finish it.

I was just going to say that. I was just going to say that.

And guys, here's the thing, to jump off her point. Once this habit begins, God will begin

to easily highlight things in people that are small but are huge if you commented on

it. Just standing in a counter watching the lady behind the counter patiently take care

of two people who don't have the right change, who are taking eight minutes for a thing that

takes two minutes, and you are irritated about it. But when you go to the counter and you

compliment the person behind the counter for the tremendous patience they showed, you have

no idea how it changes that day because you were the only one in that entire day who did

something like that. Oh, bless her. Compliment. You are the salt of the earth. You are the

light of the world. Salt brings out flavors. Light brings out colors. That's how the message

puts it. You are the light of the world. Bring out the colors. You are the salt of

the earth. Bring out the flavors. One anothering, guys. What are we doing? We're building God's

family. Draw them in. Let the doctrine of God become attractive through you. Let the

doctrine of God become attractive through you. Open blind eyes, open deaf ears by building

relationships through one anothering. This one anothering is supposed to happen in church

and praise God in this church. I don't know how it happened, but it's happening. But now

we can take it outside. Let's deal with the last four. Serve with your gifts. This is

the part where the last four I think are more for within the body, as in not within these

walls but within the body. Serve with your gifts. First Peter 4.10. Serve with your gifts.

I'm going to harp on this forever till it's not necessary. That when you come for a gathering,

what are you bringing? What are you bringing? Not because you were asked to, but because

you at home asked. And it is possible after asking that you've got nothing to bring, but

you will not be guilty of not asking. And then when you bring it, there will be order

that will be followed in bringing it forward. You don't serve dessert before the main dish.

You can, actually you do. Yeah, you do. But the point is that we never ask because we

have this clergy lady divide. What a shame, eh? That ain't church, man. So we'll talk

about that more. Serve with your gifts. What are you bringing? And if you're a guitar player,

you can't say I'm bringing my guitar. If you're a drummer, you can't say I'm bringing my drumming.

That becomes something that you do. What else are you bringing? And maybe there will be

days when you've got nothing because God is not a cosmic vending machine. But there will

be days when you have that one thing that will change someone's life. Next one is devoted

to each other. Devoted to each other. Crazy, eh? Devoted to each other. As in I live for

you. I mean, Kamal can say that to Anne. How dare we say to each other. But that's what

Jesus did. Devoted to us. As a hand. Terrible to think of God as someone who possessed an

intrinsic servant nature. God by, God in His DNA, the sound sacrilege of God, the sound

religious. But God in His DNA is servant-like. When Jesus took off His outer garments, wrapped

a towel around Him and washed people's feet, you think He was putting it on? No. You think

He just had a brilliant idea? Oh, I better be like a servant. No. He in His very nature,

from the beginning to the end, kept saying one thing. I have come to serve. I have come

to serve. I have come to serve. So it's very servant-like. God is servant-like. So when

this idea of being devoted to each other is, I want to serve you so that you get better.

There's a psalm. It says it so beautifully. Just like a handmaiden's eyes are locked on

her mistress, watching her every move. So my eyes are locked on you, oh God. I just

want to take the first part out. A handmaiden is devoted to her mistress. She'll be standing

there when she's combing her hair. She's watching if any hair will fall or any nails will be

clipped or whatever handmaidens do for mistresses. I don't know. But the point is, they're so

devoted to their mistress. Like a butler, man. No.

Next one. This also is more in church. Spur one another to good works. Hebrews 10, verse

Hebrews 10:24

24. Hebrews 10, 24. Spur one another to good works. And something else. Hebrews 10, 24.

And let us consider how we may spur one another on towards love and good deeds. On towards

love and good deeds. Spurring one another. Come and encourage me, man. Because you don't

do it while I'm preaching. You can do it after. This church has trained me so well not to

go by facial expressions. Thank you. I can go anywhere in the world and preach to corpses

and I'd still come back encouraged. Sorry, that didn't come out right. That sounded like

an insult. What I'm trying to say is that I'm okay with you not encouraging me while

I preach with a single whisper or a sound. But please feel free to spur me with love

and good deeds as I do you. Guys, I'm telling you, I would suggest to you in that area,

imitate me. I spur you on to good deeds. Love I'm trying, but good deeds in Christ certainly.

And love for God I spur you on, man. It is the only passion of my heart to spur you on

to good deeds. You need to do that for each other and you need to do that for me. Last

one. Admonish one another or scold one another or rebuke one another or one another. And

there are ways of doing that, so we won't talk about that right now, because let's get

the harmony part right first and then we'll move on to that. So we'll leave that one for

later. But occasionally this has to happen too, but there is an order and a way it happens.

Whenever you do it wrong, call the person and apologize immediately. Or if you don't

apologize immediately, apologize after a week. But apologize. So that's what I wanted to

talk about today. And so guys, all this can be practiced in church, the last four particularly,

but the first eight can be practiced with others. I pray God that just as passionately

as you've been listening to the last three sermons, that you will take this in. Because

if you don't take this in, fellowship or one anothering will not happen. Don't worry,

I'll repeat it till the cows come home. But we learn to live like this. I think I said

this somewhere. If all of us wore yellow for the next three weeks, soon people would notice

that there's a bunch of guys who wear yellow and are walking around Vancouver and Langley

and Abbotsford and the works. And they think we are a cult. But they recognize us. If a

color can do it, then a Christlike attitude can do it too. Whereas certain people begin

to act a certain way, it begins to become visible. And I'm not just talking about Acts

29. We're too small. That's a great thing about a larger church. You have a larger number

of people doing it, but we can start it. So this Sunday is Be the Church Sunday. So I

would suggest to you that this Sunday, since you don't have to come here at 1.40, that

you take any of these things and either one another with each other in an unusual way,

come to the church, be the church, or find someone who's not a believer and build relationships.

Take this Sunday to do that. Just do something that will allow you to build relationships

either with one another here in the church or with somebody else. My plan is to go and

find someone else. I've been trying to see how best to do it, just to build relationships

with someone and to one another. And I'll pick something out of this or more than one

out of this that I can put into practice. So use this Sunday for that. And then should

you, after doing that, feel like, huh, now what do I do? I want you to know that there

will be some of us here from 3 to 4.15 just worshipping. Feel free to join us. There'll

be no teaching, preaching, or anything. Just guitar, piano, piano, drums, shums, and just

worship from 3 to 4.15. It'll only start at 3 and we leave at 4.15 because the other church

will come in. And so you're welcome to come.