August 17, 2025 - Celebrating Ben & Ginny's Ministry

Hey there's two people that don't know about today but we do we are celebrating.

Today the faithful ministry of ben and jenny today,

we knew if we told you ahead of time you would not be happy so so that's why

we're doing it so no that's not what we're doing i didn't mean to say it that way sorry,

so we're gonna stand and sing hopefully our our sound system is gonna work today

but our computer is acting goofy so we're gonna stand and sing a song we learned

last week it's not a new song but it's a new melody to it and just or a version

of it so let's stand and sing come christian men or come.

Music.

Amen. You may be seated. Could we have Ben and Ginny come up here?

Come on, please. Please, please.

On the count of three, say please. One, two, three.

We got you the cushy ones too. Yeah, wow.

So we sent a text out a couple weeks ago letting folks know that we're doing this today.

And we asked folks just to put together some memories and ministry impact testimonies.

So we're going to have some of our young guys with a microphone walking around.

And because Ben's family would like to hear it, if you don't mind using a microphone

or letting someone hold a mic for you so we can record it, his family and Jenny's

family would greatly appreciate it.

I know people get weirded out by using a microphone, but if you wouldn't mind, that'd be awesome.

Okay. Pick up something.

Something nice to say. All right. Who would like to start?

We're going to, so the plan today, because I got one of the bulletins that didn't have the front side.

The plan today is we're just going to do a song, some testimonies,

another song, and we really would

love you guys to share your words of encouragement to this sweet couple.

Yes, ma'am. I'm going to get this done.

I'm going to help you. Oh, good. We're a team. We're going to be an expert.

Oh, I can do it with you. Yes, sir. Okay, well, I just wanted to say. Oops.

When I was a boy growing up, my godfather was a doctor who used to make house calls.

Doctors used to do that. And Ben and Jenny still make house calls. And they're wonderful.

So if you're ever hurting or you need anything, if you want prayer, they're there for you.

Nothing better than that. That's right.

Well, look at you two up there. I think this is so wonderful,

and I can only imagine you're both cringing just a little bit.

But here's what this is. This is a celebration of what the Lord has done through your lives.

It's about the Lord and what He has done through you. So that's what it's about.

So you can kind of take a breath.

Well, I have to say that, you know, I kind of jotted some thoughts.

When I think of, it's not one or the other, it's both.

It's Ben and Ginny. Sometimes it's Jen and Benny.

And, you know, you are a team.

And I love that. And the Lord really knew what he was doing when he made this perfect team.

He really did. He knew what he was doing.

When I think of a word, Josh has already used it. It's faithful. Faithful.

You're faithful. You're faithful to the Lord. You're faithful to each other.

You're faithful to your family and your friends. And it just spills out into all that you do.

The scripture that keeps popping into my mind is Romans 11, 29.

God's gifts and his calling are irrevocable, and you are living proof of that.

You have the same passion and commitment, probably even more so than you did when you started.

And so I love that. And that's an inspiration to me because sometimes that looks different, doesn't it?

With circumstances and life and health, our calling is still the same.

So I love that. I just love your commitment.

And just as far as, you know, we see Ben, I love the fact that he has the passion,

to share what the Lord puts on his heart every Sunday.

So we always kind of lean in and look forward to that with the chrysalis and

the butterfly and the bugs and all of the things that the Lord places on his heart.

But I had the privilege and have had the privilege of doing Bible study with Ginny.

And we all know, those of us who have been in Bible study together,

there's a unique bond that the Lord gives us with when we dig into the Word

together in an intimate setting.

So I'm really grateful for the years that I got to sit around Judy Rietor's

table, and I hope we can continue.

And studying the Word of God together and hearing your insight and hearing your

life history and understanding,

you know, never lofty or fluffy, but really real and spot on.

So you've encouraged me hugely.

So I feel like everybody in this room, we are all beneficiaries of these two

lives that have committed to Jesus, and that's what it comes down to.

So I love you hugely, and thank you.

So when I think about the two of

you because as Dave and I have entered

into retirement stage kind of

watch people that have gone before us

and I look at the two of

you and think life goals seriously and what particularly stands out to me and

I know I'm just hormonal But what particularly does stand out to me is that

the two of you keep contributing in the ways that you can contribute.

You're active, you're friendly, you interact with all the ages.

And, you know, Ben gets up every week and contributes to our service.

And I just think that's so important. And I just watch you.

I mean, I want you to know that you're seen and appreciated for all the little

ways that you do things and that you've kept doing it.

Like, that's an encouragement to me. That's how I want to live.

And I think that it does reflect the way that God has worked in your lives.

You know, you just exude His love in your day-to-day living, and I appreciate that.

I just love your sense of humor That's what I love And I really appreciate your

marriage You guys We need that And you guys are just awesome Awesome marriage I thank you,

Ben has a sense of humor.

Years ago, he called me and he says, Hey, Jer, I need some help.

Can you come over and help me?

So we're planning on doing something we probably shouldn't be doing on a day

we're not supposed to be doing it.

I said, Ben, what are we going to do if a pontoon boat comes by here and they

look at us and they see us doing what we're doing and we're not supposed to

be doing it? He says, we'll just wave at him. Okay, I'll be there in five minutes.

By the way, they make an incredible homemade bread, and thank you for the recipe.

I just got to thank both of you, because if it wasn't for both of you,

I wouldn't be where I am today.

You guys have been such a big impact in my journey,

making me feel wanted accepted and really let me know that I wasn't the only

one out there struggling with a lot of things that I struggled with and I can

never thank you guys enough.

You guys are more like family

to me than what my actual family is and

I love you and I would

do anything for you guys we'll just

slide up my name's Dave Brandt and

this is Debbie Brandt she put me on the spot she's got

something prepared and she said well tell a little bit about some most of you

have heard that's okay most of you have probably heard our story before but

we've been married seven years when we have six children between us so figure

that one out Yeah, we're in our second marriages.

We each lost our first spouses to health issues.

I lost my first wife in 2015 and Deb lost her husband, Larry, in 2017.

I've been, so I'm a long timer on the lake as a part-time vacationer.

Deb is new to the lake on 20, I'll get it right here, 2017.

2018. 2018, yes. Well, I got to get the proposal right, but anyway.

So, she lost her husband in 2017, and she and her husband are in my small group at church.

Long story short, I proposed to her on Memorial Day of 2018,

and I happen to know this couple on the lake, having been here for many years,

Ben and Ginny, and I talked to Ben and asked if...

He would marry us, and he was very kind to say yes. So that was part of the

proposal to Deb that we would get married later in August. I think we had the date picked out.

But anyway, so we happened to get married on Mr.

Joel Bear's pontoon boat with his lovely wife, Sue.

I proposed to Deb on the footbridge, and we got married by the footbridge on

Captain Joel's pontoon boat.

And it just so happened that Dennis Linemuth was back in the lagoon, and we didn't know that.

And he came back out just when we were finished and he got a nice picture of

us on the pontoon, which was kind of a little God wink to that.

So that's a little bit about our story about how we came together and arrived at Piat Lake.

Also, we came to know that Ben writes a lot of poetry.

He's very excellent at poetry. He's written books. They're all very wonderful.

I think he wrote a special poem for us on our wedding that was read and Deb wrote one for me.

So to kind of honor this occasion, for this very special couple that's been

a big part of our lives because Ben was our pastor and married us in 2018.

So Deb's got a poem to kind of honor today and this lovely, lovely couple that

God's provided this area with.

I'll let you hold the mic. How's that? Can you hold the mic?

Okay, I did. I wrote a poem for Ben and Jenny.

Now, I am not the kind of poet that he is.

He's like professional poet. But I'm just, do poetry for fun.

So, this is called Faithful Hearts.

Ben and Ginny have worked as one to serve our Lord till day is done.

Two loving hearts, they're quite a pair. Ben, we know, shares words from God,

while Ginny stays busy with the younger squad.

Now, don't get me wrong, Ginny's just as wise.

And love shines through her sparkling eyes. But God has blessed us with them

both, and through them we've experienced growth.

It's through service to Christ with faithful hearts that God has revealed,

and then your new journey starts.

Thank you, Ben and Jenny, for your faithful service to our loving God.

Music.

Nothing profound for me, but I was trying to remember, what are my first memories of you?

It was way back when we used to worship in the Miracle Building,

and my great joy was your son, who I think his name might be Ethan?

Evan. Okay, I got the E right. And he had a beautiful, beautiful voice.

And so he very often sang for us there. And I thought, what?

I mean, your family with you, what a blessing, and ministering to us because

they've learned from you.

And now my sister goes to a Baptist church in Kentwood, and your daughter Katie

is a member of that church, and she's blessing my sister.

So, yeah, long through the years.

So, y'all, everybody local knows I'm emotional. I cry over everything.

Anyways, the verse that comes to mind for me is honor thy father and mother.

If anybody knows the situation with my family, it's not great. Never has been.

And when I look at Ben and Jenny, I don't think, yes, I think, what would Jesus do?

But I think when handling my children, when dealing with Zach and his long work

hours and just everything, our marriage, everything, what would Ben and Jenny do?

The very first thing always, pray. But how can I do this calmly?

How can I respond to my children calmly about slamming the doors?

How can I, you know, typical kid things?

And when it comes to ministry, I couldn't even fathom to begin where to even

start to think where you started blessing us.

But the most recent message,

was seeing you two sitting in the pews and serving God together made me realize,

that I had to step away from the nursery, which was so hard for me because I love children,

but I don't love them enough to be with them every Sunday when I need to be

with my husband right now.

I need to be with my children in service. And I know come this fall,

we're not going to have the extra summer people. what we're not going to have.

And I will go back and I will help, but my marriage will be stronger now than it is now.

My marriage, my kids will be loving and more understanding that,

hey, mom's not in service for one Sunday, but she's here right now.

So thank you. I love you guys. And I will pass it on to whoever,

wherever. There you go. Thank you.

I am called to temper a little bit some of the wonderful things we're hearing about Ben and Ginny.

I think you should know that Ginny is absolutely ruthless when she plays games

of cards or aggravation.

And Ben can get very, very frustrated when things don't go his way.

But on the other hand, they are very, very transparent people.

They have opened their hearts to allow the love of our God flow through them

to everyone whose lives they touch.

And that is what makes them good and faithful servants of our Lord.

I don't know if you two remember, but when my husband now, Joel,

and I had met, we started coming here.

And as time moved on and life got in the way, we disappeared.

You welcomed us then. When we came back, you welcomed us again with the same love and the same light.

And in the Bible, and I'm emotional right now, so I can't remember the exact

verse, it talks about, you won't need the sun because God will light.

You are an earthly version of that light. Thank you.

Ben and Ginny, on behalf of Cindy and myself, we want to say thank the Lord for each of you.

It's a pleasure living next to you at Piat Lake for at least seasonally and

for the gift of your friendship.

Ben, I know this is probably particularly difficult for you,

but if I could as your friend to encourage you,

it's important for the church and for all of us to have models of faithfulness

in a generation when so many are unfaithful.

They're not true to their word. They're not true to marriage.

They're not true to themselves. and you continue to model with God's grace and help.

May he be praised, a life of faithfulness.

And this scripture comes to me, and I know I quote it from 1 Corinthians 4,

1 Corinthians 4:2

verse 2, no doubt one you've preached.

But today thank you for allowing yourselves to be part of a silent testimony

to a congregation who needs all the encouragement of what those who have been

faithfully walking with God means.

Words far more important than mine. In 1 Corinthians 4, verse 2,

1 Corinthians 4:2

now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful.

May that be said about all of us, and may we be living examples as God has helped

you folks to be that for all of us. To God be all the praise.

We're very grateful for you, Ben and Jenny. And the verse that comes to mind is in Galatians 6.

It says, let us not become weary in doing good for at the proper time we will

reap a harvest if we do not give up.

And I just think, as many have said, you are role models for those of us entering

during our last quarter of life, you don't get weary.

You just keep going, serving the Lord in little ways and big ways.

And one of the things that's impacted me is whenever you talk to Ben and Jenny,

it's not but a few moments and Jesus is in the conversation.

They are motivated and passionate about the gospel of Jesus Christ and that

other people come to know that good news. And that is just a wonderful,

wonderful role model for all of us. Press on.

Sorry. We learned it last week.

I think you'll like it. The words are excellent. Let's stand and sing.

Let's sing.

Music.

Can be seated kids could you handle one more one more thing or do kids want

to be dismissed ready are you getting our kids ready to go downstairs.

We love kids so you can make all the noise you want i just

wanted to we really wanted judy to be able to hear everything so kids are doing

awesome all right who's next all right holly's gonna get this good morning all

right so when we first moved here we did not go to this church,

and at the time we moved to piatt lake and i

was known as dusty's wife okay nobody knew me

i was dusty's wife i was the caretaker's wife which

was completely fine i'm good with being his wife but but we had our first child

lyle and i was in a dark place i was always home i was depressed I was having

a rough time at being a mom and I don't remember how but somehow,

I don't know if someone told me about jenny or what but I decided to call jenny

up and see if I could come over And we didn't really even know each other and she was like.

Oh, yeah, of course So I go over there with my little infant and we just sit

and talk for hours Sorry, I called her again sometime later and I came over

again and we sat and talked for hours And like I said, she didn't even know me.

I didn't really know her, but her door was always open.

She was always willing to have someone at her house and just chat with you. And I learned about her.

And it was just such a great time to get away from my house when I needed to.

You know what I mean? You know, new moms can relate.

So that's one memory I have. And another thing is every Tuesday night over the

winter, she comes to our Bible study.

And she doesn't have to she's got another bible study that

morning that she goes to i'm sure by seven o'clock or six

o'clock she's kind of tired and pooped and would rather stay home sometimes

but she still came and the fact that she came i don't think was for her own

benefit she came to speak into our lives and i just so appreciate that i really

do so you guys are amazing and i i love you guys anybody else.

Well, I hadn't been here long, a little less than a year.

But even since I came in to these front doors, you were the first face I met, Mr. Ben.

I remember when I came in, you was all happy and smiling and everything.

You came in and greeted me.

And I ain't going to lie, it was kind of weird. But I wasn't used to that.

But no, you were cool. And you came and talked to me and everything.

You invited me into the little study y'all had because I was in there eating

cookies and everything.

And y'all didn't kick me out. Thank you for that.

And, yeah, I thought you were pretty cool. So I decided to keep on coming because

I enjoyed speaking to y'all. Y'all are such happy people.

Y'all didn't look at me all funny because I sound funny.

And y'all didn't say nothing mean or sarcastic or nothing. Y'all was just straightforward.

I thought y'all were pretty cool people.

And I've even gotten the privilege of taking your job of greeting people.

Even though these last couple of times I ain't been doing very good because

I have worked, but I know you've appreciated it. You told me a few times because

you like talking to people.

I think it's been a pleasure getting to know you. Amen.

I'll read one here from Ron. He sent it this morning. And a mogra.

Did I cut somebody off? Sorry.

And Jenny are an inspiration to us in so many ways, particularly with respect

to their ministry and their marriage.

They embody the verse about always being prepared to give an answer for the

hope that lies within you,

as well as Paul's instruction in 2 Timothy 4.2 to always preach the gospel with

encouragement and patience.

Ben has been a Paul in the lives of so many, Timothy's over the years and continues to be to this day.

God bless you both for your service to Christ and to your fellow man.

Neva, do you want to? Okay.

I just wanted to ask a question. I know Ben is 90 years old now,

so I was just wondering, when did you go in the ministry? How old were you?

How old were you when you... I said five.

When did I enter the ministry? How old were you? How old? None of your business.

Oh, I love it. Yep. There's that humor coming out.

I was 23 years old when we began our first church.

I was a youth pastor two years before that.

So in 1961, we had our first church.

Wow, that's a long time. Well, I just want to thank you both for what a blessing

you've been in my life and what a blessing you are to this church.

I i didn't get to be here for bible school this year because i've been,

a broken heart, but it's okay. It's getting better. But I was here last year

for Bible school, and what a blessing you were teaching those kids the Bible

verse every day. And both of you.

I've been in lots of churches in my life, and there are some people,

when they retire, they quit everything.

They don't come to church. They don't do anything in the church.

They think, oh, I'm retired. I don't have to do anything anymore.

But you guys are such a blessing that you just continue to serve the Lord year

after year, whatever comes, however bad you might feel.

Because I'm sure there's a lot of mornings you don't feel like getting up and

coming to church or going to Bible study or anything else. But you know what?

God blesses that. And I can't imagine what heaven is going to look like for

all the lives that you've touched for all these years.

And we just love you. And we want you to be here forever. Absolutely. yeah.

First of all listening to other people talk it reminded me that you guys' marriage

really reminds me of my grandma and grandpa hopper and I mean that in the best

way possible there's a lot of kindness and graciousness and humor and that last

part is really underrated you make it look fun and you make it look easy.

And it's a joy to watch and it's an inspiration to the rest of us so thank you

for that and Ginny I appreciate you have a quality of directness,

and I don't mean this in a sexist way, that most women lack, but it is very helpful.

I think that sometimes your directness is a great ministry to other women, and I appreciate that.

Ben, you are an inspiration to me, and your wisdom and your experience is a great help to me.

And you came to at least me, maybe Josh, a year and a half ago,

and you came back from, I believe, a visit to your kids, and you came back and

you had a spring in your step and you said,

I'm praying that God would give me six more months so that I can just give it

a couple more shots. I think that's what you were saying.

I got a couple more good shots in me and I want six months to get those things out.

And I came across this verse the other day, and this is what you were saying.

This is Paul in Acts chapter 20.

Acts 20 · chapter mention

I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself.

If only may I, I may finish my course and the ministry that I have received

from the Lord Jesus to testify to the gospel and the grace of God.

You guys have done a very good job of taking the gospel into the world.

You make sure that it doesn't stay in this church. You go to individual people

in this community, whether they go to this church or not, and you've changed

this community for the better.

Your ministry will outlive you. Thank you.

All right, let's stand. Oh, here we go. Sorry.

You all have already heard from my husband, but I want to personally.

It's gone off there it is okay i want to personally thank you for every morning

the little conversations we have it brightens up my day and i've oh my god i'm

sorry i'm so happy to just see you every morning or every sunday morning oh my god i'm sorry.

And you I look forward to coming every Sunday this is my first time ever doing

this I don't know how to put anything,

I don't know what to say,

my heart is beating I think I'm done you're doing fine I'm shaking,

you're good we knew exactly what you were trying to say that was good that's

good alright let's stand and sing another song and we'll let the kids be dismissed,

hopefully they're not too wound up for Miss Judy downstairs she'll let us know

if you're not behaving though okay fellas and girls let's stand and sing our

next song this is a favorite of Ben and Ginny's music.

Music.

Shake some hands and welcome folks today. We'll let you guys be released.

Good morning, everybody. If you could find your way back to your seats,

please. I'm going to try to keep this really short today.

After service today, we have a taco bar. Please join us for that.

And then as far as prayer requests, I'm also going to keep that short.

But you two are here and you're on our prayer request list.

Can you guys tell us how you're doing? Linda, you go first.

Okay so you okay you have a pet scan on the a to determine what happens here

forward but you're doing great today perfect how about you neva i'm i'm hoping i'm there.

You both have giant smiles on your faces, so that's good.

And then also, I'm going to bring up again, prayer for opportunities to spread Jesus to people.

Holly and I are on a softball team that is a city league team,

and there's only about two or three of us on there that are saved,

and that provides a lot of opportunity to share to people that really need it.

Our first game was last week, and we observed a lot of conversations about partying

last weekend or partying last night or blah, blah, blah. Those people need Jesus.

We also had a prayer request last week for an opportunity to share with biological

parents Jesus and prayer requests for sharing with a sister about Jesus.

And then we have all our normal ones. Anybody need to add a new one?

Okay christian has some testing this week at mayo clinic

and lucy is driving them there right now okay can you

run me that to write that on here when i get back over there okay thank you

anything else bill okay and

then right behind you was again amy we're praying it's a praise because amy

is improved but she still has improvement to make okay for those of you that

don't know it was from a wasp wasp sting and you're very allergic okay christine

very good adeline has friends here today,

and that's not a praise that adeline has friends that's a praise that they're here.

All right, let's go before the throne. Heavenly Father, thank you for those

of us that are here today, Lord.

Thank you that we could be in your house and that we can worship you and that

we could share stories of your servants who have been great ministers to each

of us and made a difference in our lives, all for your sake, Lord.

Lord, we pray that you would give each of us opportunities to minister just as they have, Lord.

As we go throughout our week, Lord, we always meet people that need Jesus.

Lord, help us to recognize opportunities to say, hey, you know what,

I know someone that can help you with that problem.

Or if you're feeling down, I know that someone is an answer to that hole that's in your heart, Lord.

I just ask that you would make those opportunities abundant and obvious to each and every one of us.

Lord, I pray that you would be with Christian and Lucy as they go to Mayo Clinic, Lord.

I ask that you would give doctors wisdom and help tests to reveal things that

they need to take care of to help Christian feel better. We ask this all in your name. Amen.

I had the opportunity this week of seeing three things that really impressed me.

I saw a caterpillar. I saw a cocoon.

In fact, I saw a caterpillar turn into a cocoon, and I saw two or three butterflies,

and I thought of me, and I thought of you.

Because the caterpillar is

a picture of Christians who are not any more satisfied than to be saved,

sanctified, single, and satisfied, or just glad that they're going to heaven, and that's all.

They're still reveling or crawling in their belly like a caterpillar,

and there is no victory, there's no joy. It's.

The church for? It is for you and me, not just to fellowship together,

but to realize that the Christian life is more than just salvation to heaven.

And so I saw this little crystal, I saw this little caterpillar begin to spin itself.

I saw him as he began to excrete something that to me was quite a shock or an

interesting picture because from out of him,

and I saw him struggling for a moment.

But out of this, there came something that surrounds him.

And for the caterpillar looking up there, you would see he's dying.

He's on his way out. But no, it wasn't long before it spun itself into a cocoon,

surrounded by something that came from within.

And then I saw a butterfly,

and I realized that that is a Christian who has learned to say no to self,

who has gone to the cross and has acknowledged not only Jesus as your Savior and Lord,

but you begin to allow the Holy Spirit to,

transform you from within. Here's the verse I leave with you.

2 Corinthians 3 and verse 18.

But we all, with open or unveiled faces.

Beholding him, reflecting as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, now listen to this,

are changed into his image from one degree of glory to another,

even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

When you begin to be transparent before God and go to the cross and say, God, everything I am,

everything I've done is worthless in your sight because all my righteous acts

are as filthy rags before your holiness,

and you allow Christ then to begin to rule your affections, your desires,

your will, and you say, not my will,

but thine be done, you learn to go from dying to self to living for Jesus because

that word change is the word metamorphosis.

And metamorphosis is the process of God working within you both to will and

to do of his good pleasure.

The church, our pastor, everything that we do as you come to church is not to entertain you.

Show you the fact that you can go from a caterpillar to learn to fly and trust Jesus.

You won't be without your problems. You won't be without difficulties.

There's only plenty of those, but you'll have a God who lifts you up and helps you to fly.

Jesus Christ is that one who changes us as we put our full trust in him.

Shall we pray, Heavenly Father?

You have been so great, so good to us. You have taken some rotten sinner like me,

and you brought me into your family, adopting me,

making me your son, and then giving to me the opportunity of showing that in my weakness, Jesus,

you are everything.

To God be the glory, great things he has done. We give to you our praise.

We give to you our worship.

And at this time in a small, tangible way of saying thanks, we give you our

tithes, our offerings, but our.

Full yieldedness to you. In Christ's name we pray. Amen.

Will the ushers come and we'll receive the offering of the morning.

Music.

Jesus, we thank you. And we ask, as the band just played, Spirit of the Living God.

You are a living God. You are alive.

Even though the evil one believes he is winning, your scripture tells us in

the end that that is not true, and he's a liar, and he's a deceiver,

and he will be banished forever and you will reign.

So Jesus, we ask for your Holy Spirit today as we look briefly and as we honor who you tell us to honor.

These two faithful ones are your servants.

They've loved you and they live out your truth. They're not perfect and they let us know it.

They share their marriage with us. They share their walk with us.

God, we just thank you for them. And we thank you that you've allowed us the

privilege of being co-laborers with these two wonderful people.

I pray today now that your Holy Spirit would take this just short time as we

dive into your word and understand what John was trying to share with the church.

And I pray that we would see you work today in Christ. and we pray. Amen.

So don't worry, we're not going to be super long today.

Ben was kind of worried earlier. He was giving me the evil eye.

So don't worry. We have taco bar Sunday today, so we have lots of food,

and we hope that you will stay.

If you go in your Bible to 1 John, last week we looked at this passage,

and we're going to unpack it a little bit further today, just briefly.

We're not going to go long. Don't worry.

But focusing in on the word fellowship.

1 John 1, what was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes,

that we have observed, that we have touched with our hands concerning the word of life.

John's talking about Christ.

That life was revealed. Remember, we talked about how he was incarnate. He came and was born.

And we personally have seen it.

We testify and we declare to you.

The eternal life that was with the Father was revealed to us that we have seen and heard,

and that we declare to you so that you may also, you may also have that same fellowship with us.

And indeed, our fellowship is with the Father and with the Son, Jesus Christ.

Writing these things so that our joy may be complete.

And last week we looked at that word complete and joy.

Remember, it's the deep seated understanding that we are completely filled in Christ,

that we have this relationship with him and it's rooted in God's truth.

And God tells us now, this next word that we're going to focus on today,

we're just going to kind of prime the pump just a little bit,

but it's the word fellowship.

We've honored Ben and Jenny today. They're faithful, right?

They're faithfully, the early disciples, the disciples were faithful witnesses.

They testified what God had done. And that's what these two,

through their lives, they have done that.

And if you haven't had an opportunity to go and listen to the podcast where

we interview Ben and his life story, it's really worth listening to.

But this word fellowship, it's used throughout the New Testament multiple different times.

And depending on the context, it's broken out a little bit differently.

Sometimes it's translated as partnership. fellowship, it's not one of those

words that we actually have in the English language to have this really good

equivalent because it's much more robust.

Probably the closest one, if you're looking at it from a bird's eye view of

the word fellowship, is talking about a relationship.

The relationship that you have with your spouse, with your child,

with your mother, with your Father.

It's multifaceted, right? You have this relationship that's not just one thing.

And that's what John is talking about here, that we would have this fellowship.

And what is this fellowship?

This is a relationship that you and I can have with our Creator.

He actually wants to have a real relationship, not fluff, not religion,

not a list of do's and don'ts.

He actually wants to have a relationship with us.

And he wanted that relationship so badly to be restored that he sent his own

son to give up heaven and his place in heaven to come to this planet to fix

things and to restore that relationship that was broken by man.

God's desire that we have that relationship. One, it's to be, have it restored.

What does that mean? The restored relationship with God means it was,

in order to be restored, it must be broken.

And that's what happened with the fall, right? What happened in the fall is

that the relationship that we had with God was broken.

Man decided to do what man wanted to do. And man has continued.

We've continued to do that same thing. and it hasn't stopped,

right? The curses, you can see it everywhere.

Man trying to do what man wants to do. But God desires, and he desired so much

to have a relationship restored that he sent his own son to take your place and my place.

Even that thief on the cross, and he wants a relationship. And if you think

about relationships and what John had with Jesus, think about this for a second.

The relationship that John had with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Who loves their mom here, right? Who loves their mom, right?

What did Jesus do with John?

John was there at the cross, and what did he say? What did he say to John?

What did Jesus say to John?

Behold thy mother. I want you to take over my place.

John understood what a relationship was like with Jesus.

I read Spurgeon this week, and he was talking about, think about John,

who knew Jesus very intimately so much that he felt comfortable laying on his chest.

So many of us have this view of God that he's up there, and he's so far away,

and he's so holy that he does not desire to actually have that sort of relationship

with us. And that is so false.

Jesus actually desires to have a very personal relationship with you.

It's not just at salvation, like Ben said, where you get your fire insurance.

No, Jesus wants an actual relationship with you.

A relationship that grows over time. It's not gonna be perfect right away.

If you're a new believer, chill out. Just enjoy your time with Jesus right now.

You don't have to look like someone like Ben, who's been a believer for many

years. That comes over time.

But for the believer who's known Jesus for a long time and your walk has gone and it's leveled out.

Here for us, for you, is to get back into the Word, not out of feeling of duty,

but you want to actually rebuild that relationship.

And John here later on, one of the reasons why he's writing this letter is explaining

this whole idea of what it looks like to have a relationship with Christ.

This normal Christian life where we are to be having this relationship with

Him, and we keep these short accounts of sin.

He tells us, if you say that you don't sin, you're a liar, right? You have the flesh.

And so if you walk around in your own pious, pukehead face idea that,

oh, I don't do anything wrong.

Come on, God knows your heart.

Be honest with yourself. Be honest with God.

None of us are perfect. We are all flawed. And Jesus even loves us because we

are flawed. Think about that.

Think about that. Jesus still desires to have a relationship with you,

even though you're flawed, even though you lost it yesterday with your wife,

even though you lost it yesterday with your kid, even though you lost it last

night when you're clicking on something.

Jesus still desires to have that relationship with you and to have it active

and not let the evil one win.

When your fear of what's to come is just spiraling out of control, right?

When it's spiraling out of control and fear overwhelms you, you have to land

back in the truth that no, Jesus is standing right there.

He wants this relationship because we look last week that the father creator,

desired to have our relationship restored and it's done through Christ.

And with Christ now we have this fellowship. We have this relationship restored with him.

So that we could have an active, vibrant walk with him.

So our walk away today is this. One, Jesus desires for us to have a relationship restored.

It was broken. That takes place at the cross. It takes place when you finally

admit, you know what? I don't have it all figured out.

And these Christian people, they talk about this relationship with Jesus.

I hear them talk about it and it sounds kind of weird, but then I see them,

they're a little bit different.

And you know, I have questions about that. And if you do, we want to talk to you.

Ben would love to talk to you. Ginny would love to talk to you.

Dusty, I would love to talk to you.

Many of our folks would love to talk with you about beginning that relationship with Christ.

And then secondly, our relationship with Jesus needs to be nurtured.

Our relationship with him needs to be nurtured. That means you got to be in the word.

You can't know the one who loves you if you don't get to know him.

Say, Josh, it's so hard for me to understand. I process things differently.

We live in a day and age now where you can get God's word in so many different ways.

Whether you listen to it online, you listen to it audibly, you listen to podcasts

about messages about truth.

There are so many ways that you can experience and understand God's word.

You got to get there and you got to nurture it. And then the one thing that

I see about these two right here is a relationship with Jesus is contagious.

I heard it over and over this morning.

It's contagious. It means they see it's something real. It's authentic.

And when you have an authentic relationship with Christ, it just, it spills over.

The cup is full to the brim.

It's always full. And they are constantly seeking opportunities.

And that's what God wants from us. He wants our relationship with him to be contagious.

And that takes you and me. I know some of you folks don't live around here,

but when you go back to your church, bless your pastor, bless the folks,

your leadership of the church by developing relationships in the community.

No one expects you to walk around with a collar on and some priest or something.

No, they just want you to be real, to talk about Jesus.

Paul, Paul Baker, he's got so many different stories.

He brings Jesus into it. He talks about God. He brings it down.

It's not rocket science to do. We just bring Jesus in.

And your personal walk, your personal relationship with Christ is important.

It may not be like somebody else over here who's done all these different things,

but you know what? Your relationship with Christ is so important.

And if you minimize that, Think what that does to Christ.

If you minimize the fact that, well, I'm just a housewife, I'm just this,

I'm just, I really haven't done anything special for Christ.

You are minimizing what Christ did for you.

And there are women, the younger generation that needs you pouring into them,

whether they realize it or not, whether they're obnoxious or not,

be gracious with them because they're going to say stupid stuff.

They're going to be rude. They're going to do what you are the same way.

You just TikTok or whatever, right? They were rude. You were rude back then.

You used to look down at your parents and now you look back at your folks. Wow.

She was pretty smart. Your parents are pretty smart, right?

So be gracious. Be gracious with the hot mouse online and don't respond to their stupid comments.

Don't give into that kind of stuff. Just love on them. Show grace.

So make it contagious. And then

the last challenge I have this morning is just that our walk with God,

our relationship with him would be daily deepened every

day deepen your walk with christ it

doesn't have to be massive but it's

the daily daily time with him daily time with christ that you have this opportunity

to deepen your walk and it's contagious jesus i pray today as we we thank you

for these too. And we thank you for your word.

Jesus, I do pray that our walk would be daily deepened with you.

And we would understand as John wrote here, that our fellowship,

you desire to have this fellowship, this restored relationship with us.

You want this relationship to be multifaceted. You want to be a part of our

lives. You want to clean house.

You want to come into every part of our house, not just the parts we want to let you in.

So Jesus, I pray today, maybe there's a brother or a friend here that's here

today and say, you know what?

I don't know that I have a relationship with Christ. I've heard about it,

but I don't know about that. If that's you, we would love to talk to you.

We would love to talk to you. Please see one of us, and we'd be glad to talk to you.

And for my sister and brother today who, when they go back and evaluate the

relationship, may this be a good day evaluation.

So much of what we want to do, Jesus, is that to look and see what it looks

like to be faithful at the end of our days and at the end of our race.

Jesus, I pray today that we would evaluate some things.

That you would help us deepen our relationship with you, but not leave it there, Jesus.

I pray for the ones who have a tendency to say being contagious is for somebody

else. That's for the Ben and Ginny.

And Ben and Ginny would tell you, no, that's for all of us.

That's for all of us to be contagious with our relationship with you.

So God, I pray today that you would give boldness to my sister and brother who

are maybe more introvert-ish and they just kind of keep things and they don't

think that the evil one has allowed them to believe that they have no story,

no relationship with you, or it's not worthy of talking about.

Jesus, I pray that you would smack that lie down from the evil one and that

my sister and brother would realize that their relationship with you was bought

and begun through your shed blood.

You love them enough to begin a relationship through your blood, and you chose to do that.

So Jesus, I pray for my sister and brother today that they would deepen their

walk and to be contagious in their walk for you.

Jesus, we love and we thank you for your church. We thank you for giving us

servants and that you didn't just leave us alone, but you tell us,

God, in your word that when two or three of us are gathered,

you are right there in the midst.

And Jesus, I pray that we would realize that.

And Jesus, lastly, I pray for my sisters and brothers who get to go back home wherever it is.

I pray that you would challenge them not to be a sideline Christian,

just sitting there over the sidelines, cheering folks on, but not really active.

I pray that you would encourage them to get off their behinds and love your

church and love the lost and keep their relationship with you at the top of their mouth,

that they talk about it all the time.

Jesus, we love you, and we thank you for giving us life, true life.

In Jesus' name, we pray. And all God's kids say, all right, let's stand and

sing. Our God will go before us.

Oops, sorry, Bryson. Wrong one. Did I have it saved, right, Bryson?

We can do Behold Our God. That's fine. Ben loves that song.

Let's do Behold our God. Crank it out just for Ben and Ginny.

Music.

Another visitor today. I found out Jenny told me Mrs. Walker is in the back there.

And for those of you that know her husband, Billy Walker, very kind.

I didn't actually get to know him, but I do know, I know his voice because when my mom had cancer,

my dad kind of grew up, well, he was, he was a fundamentalist and just,

he didn't always hang out with a church like this.

He would not do well, but he, he loved Jesus, but he just, he was very,

very much in his mind a separatist.

Anyway, but what the thing that stood out to me, I didn't really know Mr. Walker at all.

The Billy Walker would call almost every month and leave a voicemail before.

Well, not voicemail. It was on the machine, right? On the tape.

I would say, Hey, Joan, this is, this is Billy just thinking of you and praying for you.

You don't need to call back, nothing like that. and just leave those messages or send a book.

And my dad, who did not know how to have relationships and friendships.

He was actually, Billy was actually reaching out to him, even though he was kind of pushed off.

And so my challenge for us today, guys and ladies, is build relationships,

even sometimes, with people might push away a little bit.

And they don't necessarily understand what it looks like to have a godly relationship

with a brother or sister.

So please make sure to say hello to Mrs. Walker.

And we have tons of food. So give us like probably 10 minutes to have everything

set up. Tons of food. Please stay.

Dusty, are you able to pray? Okay.

Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you for this day. You tell us in your word

that we are the salt of the earth. We are the light of the world.

Lord, shake us from our complacency. You tell us that if we lose our flavor,

if we're hit under a basket, that we're useless.

Lord, keep us from being useless.

Sometimes we're so set in our own lives and our own ways and our own things

that we forget our purpose is to spread your son and his relationship with us to those that need him.

Give us opportunities for that this week, Lord. Make it a habit in our life

to find ways to point to you and to point to your son.

Thank you for the people that have been mentioned today, Billy Walker and the

Pence, Lord, that have been a great instrument for you in reaching this community,

even if they don't know it. Be with us as we go from here.

Guard our fellowship afterwards. In your name, amen.

Music.