 Let's begin here in 1 Corinthians chapter 11 verses 17 through 22. 1 Corinthians chapter 11 verses 17 through 22. Paul writes, now in giving these instructions, I do not praise you since you come together not for the better, but for the worse. For first of all, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you and in part I believe it. For there must also be factions among you. That those who are approved may be recognized among you. And therefore when you come together in one place, it is not to eat the Lord's supper. For in eating each one takes his own supper ahead of others. One is hungry and another is drunk. What? Do you not have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and shame those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you in this? I do not praise you. But an interesting portion of Scripture we're going to be looking at. And so we'll look at it in some detail. You'll see in just a moment why I wanted to take some time to lay a foundation because it really is an important passage of Scripture to understand in order to understand the context of communion as we'll look at it next time together. But anyway, I want you to notice this. Now, remember in chapter 11, let me lay a foundation. Verse two, remember how he had begun this context or begun this portion of his letter. Remember in verse two, he had begun with a word of praise to them. He said, I praise you, brethren, that you remember me and all things and keep the traditions as I delivered them to you. So he had introduced his thoughts in verse two with a word of praise for them. And as I just read, he praised them for remembering him and keeping the traditions that he had handed them. But as we enter into this section, he brings a word of rebuke. And it's interesting how in the same portion, you have a word of praise and a word of rebuke. And the reason he brings both praise and rebuke is because he wants one thing from them, and that is for them to grow into spiritual maturity. Part of the ministry of the word of God, part of the ministry of the one whom the Lord would use to bring his word and to encourage people in their walks. In his particular case, he had apostolic authority. But part of the ministry of a teacher is to not only bring praise, but also when necessary, bring a word of correction. Because a word of correction very often is what it's going to end up having those individuals receive a word of praise. And so you actually have both correction and praise in the same portion of Scripture. Because on the one hand, there are things that they're doing that he praises and says this is great. And then there are other things that they're doing that need to be corrected. When Paul was writing to Timothy, told Timothy, he used to preach the word. He used to do so in season. He used to do so out of season. He said to correct. And so there are times when you have to bring a word of correction, a word that is going to help people to get their lives in order. And that's what he's doing right now. He's bringing correction. He's their spiritual father. He's already stated earlier, though you may have 10,000 instructors in Christ, yet you have but one father. He said, I begot you in the gospel. And so the individual who doesn't really care about the condition of the sheep is not somebody who loves them. Like Jesus had said, he said, a hireling sees the wolf come. And what does he do? He flees. Why does he run? Because the sheep don't belong to him. He's simply a harling. But he said a shepherd will lay down his life for those sheep. Why? Because the sheep belong to him. So there's a different attitude for the one who doesn't have an ownership. The apostle Paul had an ownership. I'm your father in faith. I brought you to faith in Christ. Therefore, I will praise you for doing good. But I also will correct you when you're not. Because that's how it ought to be. And that's what it should be. It says in Proverbs 27 verse 6, faithful are the wounds of a friend. But the kisses of an enemy are deceitful. Kisses of an enemy we saw recently when Judas came to Jesus and smothered Jesus' face with his kisses. And Jesus speaking to Judas says, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss? An enemy may come to you and may give every appearance that they care for you, but they don't necessarily care for you because they don't love you enough to tell you the truth. Well, the apostle Paul loves them. And he wants them to grow. And he wants them to be mature. And he wants them to understand what they've been called out of the world to be and what they've been called to do. When you look in the Bible, you're going to see that one of the marks of the early church, one of the... It's called the marks of the church. One of the marks of the early church was fellowship, where they actually gathered together. And in the early church they had what they would call a love feast. We've all heard of that phrase, a love feast. It was a time of social fellowship when the church members would gather together and they'd break bread together. One of the things that was very inherent in the life of the nation of Israel was the understanding that having a meal or sharing a meal with somebody was part of demonstrating and having a relationship with them in a fellowship capacity. And so fellowship was a very important part of the early church. They would gather together, they would share what was called a love feast. And it would be part of a celebration where they would actually have communion and all. And this is what he's beginning to refer to here. He's speaking of this love feast, how they would share a meal together, which was part of the life of the church. So they had the social fellowship, but it also was sacred. But the problem here is that the table of the Lord is being abused. You see, the love feast was to have the sense of solemnity. It was a solemn remembrance of what Jesus had done for them in laying his life down and all and what had happened as the church service had descended into a party atmosphere. And it's not too hard, by the way, is it, for church services to descend into party atmospheres. It's really not that hard to do. You can orchestrate church services to actually have a flavor as if you're in a party and not in a worship service. And it's not difficult to do that. You can cross the line very easily. And that's what was taking place here. The church was gathering together but wasn't becoming better for it. You see, whenever the church gathers, whenever a group like this gathers together, we ought to be getting better for it, not worse. And that's what Paul is speaking about here. And that's what we'll be looking at because he has to now correct what has begun to occur. So in verse 17, he says, now in giving these instructions, I do not praise you since you come together not for the better, but for the worse. When you come together, you're no better for it because there's 11 in your midst. Gathering together in fellowship is intended to strengthen your faith in Jesus Christ, not to pull you down. So that's the key. Fellowship with believers ought to result in improved Christian lives. Think about the relationships that you have. Think about how you are before you go to meet with these friends while you're with your friends and what you feel like when you leave. And that'll help you to know whether or not you're the better for it. Not every relationship you have is one of Christian fellowship. You know that, I know that, even with Christians. There are times that you can gather together with other believers and there's no edification taking place whatsoever. It's no different in some ways than any other gathering that you might have with those who don't know the Lord. There's just no value to it in terms of spiritual value. There's just not. Not to say that that's wrong, but simply stated, it's not something that builds you up. There may be people that you know that you actually go to the house and before you go in, you have to take a moment to pray because you know that when you enter in, this isn't going to be the most edifying atmosphere. Sometimes we call them our families. It's not going to be the most edifying atmosphere. And there have been times with Marie and me when I had one friend in particular many, many years ago who I told Marie, I said, you know, he's a Christian, but he really isn't walking solidly with Jesus. And so I love him and I want to spend time with him. He means a lot to me, but we would pull up and if we were going to go to his house and would pray before I went into the house to see a friend because I knew that he was, he was carnal. I'll be honest with you. He was carnal. And I said, you know, Raul, you got to grow up someday. No, he was carnal. And so for me, I actually, Marie and I understood the difference between Christian friendships and Christian ministry. And I began very early in my spiritual walk to distinguish the two. To know that sometimes you'll go to a house and spend time and come out the better because you didn't do anything or say anything that you're going to regret. You're going to walk out saying this was a good night. We had a great night. Talked about the Lord, had a chance to pray together, shared some things about what God is doing in our lives. This is a good night. And then there are other times when you go in simply because you love them and you want to be a light for them and encourage them. You need to understand sometimes I am a ministry to somebody else and sometimes somebody else is a ministry to me. And I had to learn that a long time ago. And so not every time the church gets together results in edification. And Paul, let's speak about that right here. Genuine fellowship ought to result in a strengthening of your walk with Jesus Christ and not bring you down. In Hebrews chapter 10, verses 24 and 25, the writer said, let us consider one another to provoke unto love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as a manner of some is, but exhorting one another and so much more as you see the day approaching. You see, one of the basic things we learn when we first get saved is that the church is not the building. Now we use the phrase going to church, but we know what we mean by that. We mean that we're going to gather together as the body of Christ and the church is going to be in one place. We don't go to church. We are the church. The building becomes the house of the church when the church shows up. We understand that. So it's not the building at all. It's where the people come together for their service to the Lord. It's a gathering of people who come together in order to worship God, to build each other up by their mutual faith and to encourage one another, strengthen Jesus Christ. And when you look at the Bible, in reality, the church is more of a family and it's the family of God. And so that's what the body of Christ is intended to be. And as God's family, we are to encourage one another in our walks with the Lord Jesus Christ. Fellowship is to be an encouragement for all of us to live for the Lord. You actually learn your theology in more ways than just reading your Bibles. You learn the practical application of your theology by hanging around with believers because what they do is what you're going to begin to do because you're going to begin to meld in with their way of life. And so what they approve, if you're a new believer, you're going to begin to approve. What they do, you're going to think is what you're supposed to do. You actually begin to appropriate things around you and you kind of like fit in. It's almost like the first day of your first day on a new job. All of you who remember your first day on your new job know that if you worked in an office, you walk into the office and they usually will say, this is where you're going to be. This is your chair, this is your desk, this is your computer, whatever it may be. And these are your co-workers. They walk you through the office and they introduce you. Oh, look out for this person here. He, this, or look out for her because of that. And they tease, blah, blah, blah, and all of that. But you're the new kid. And so you go to your desk and you sit down and they say, well, you're going to have your breaks, 15-minute breaks at this time, 15-minute break at that time. You have a half hour of lunch. They tell you all of that. But you don't really know what the environment is like until you begin to just sink into it. And so you'll have the people who walk up and talk to you. You'll have the people who share with you. You'll have this start taking place, this atmosphere. And what are you going to do? Most people are going to try and blend in. Most people are going to try and find out what the atmosphere is like. You know, what do they do? How do they do it? All of that. And so you may choose some people on the job site that really aren't the best employees. You may not know that when you first become their friend, but that's what happens. And so you might begin to adjust to their habits, where they say, you know, yeah, we have a 10-minute break, but I usually stretch it for 15, because if you go out over here, nobody even knows you're there. And they'll start giving you their tips and their hints. And you may say, oh, I just want to get along with these guys and it seems to be acceptable. See, that's how human beings are. We have a tendency of kind of blending in. So that'll give you some insight into my style of teaching, because what I want to do is place the standard in a place that we don't want to be undisciplined in our walks with the Lord, that we don't look for ways to get around the things that he clearly says, so that our lives might be blessed by God. And so that's why we divide the word and try and present it clearly with a standard that would meet God's approval and receive blessing from him. Because even in the church, there are those who try and get over. They try to get over on the Lord. They try and get away with things. And Paul is going to be addressing that in just a moment. Fellowship is to encourage us in one way to grow in Jesus Christ. So it's wise for us to be aware of who influences us. And those we spend the most time with influence us the most. Now verse 1320 says, He who walks with wise men shall be wise, but a companion of fools shall be destroyed. Later on in 1 Corinthians in chapter 15 verse 33, Paul will say, do not be misled. Bad company corrupts good character. Be careful who you allow to influence your life. Seek out those who love the Lord and whose lives are being blessed and what your life might model after theirs in a sense. So instead of becoming worse when fellowshiping, we should be growing in the things of the Lord. What we should be growing is in our spiritual maturity. And love and unity ought to identify the body of Christ, the church. In Ephesians 4, 2 and 3 it says be completely humble and gentle. Be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace. We need one another. I was thinking about this just this evening, just before I came in. I don't know if this resonates with anybody anymore. I don't know. I've noticed that my children's generation, they're not really children anymore, they're all adults, but they're still my children. But I've noticed that their generation, those in their 20s and 30s, seem to like to have a lot of people around them all the time. I think that's pretty common. They seem to like. When I grew up in the prehistoric times, we had a lot of friends. I had a lot of people I hung around with. There are these shows that I remember seeing, you know, the wonder years and things like that. I don't know if you've ever seen that classic TV now. I think it was in color. But the wonder years where the kid has all these friends he hung around with and all of that, that's how I grew up. We had neighborhoods. We actually had neighborhoods. And we had kids, lots of them. And so I had a lot of friends. And we did a lot of bad things that are not really bad. By today's standards, they were just dumb things, you know, stealing cars and things like that. Just dumb things, not that bad. But we used to hang around a lot and get into trouble and all of that. But there were groups of us. There were packs of us. It was always four, five, six. Later on in the late 60s with the hippie generation. And it became communal. It became even larger. So you had a lot of people you'd hang around with. We'd have carloads of guys and girls, and we'd go to parks and the lovins and all of that. That was real communal for me. So when I got saved, it was just a natural thing. I need people. I need fellowship. I need family. It was natural. And so it wasn't hard for me to consider going with carloads of people to church or to go to houses and hang around with a ton of people. That's what we did. And I'm going to assume that a lot of that is still true today. And so if it is indeed true, what we really need to do is understand that the one thing that God first says in the Bible that is not good is that a man should be alone. And so fellowship, we have been created for it. We've been created to have relationship with God first and one another. That's our creation. That is how God created us. And it's not good for someone to isolate themselves because the Proverbs tells us the one who isolates himself is going to rail against all wisdom. So there needs to be the wisdom to hear from those who've gone before and to grow from them. We understand that to some degree. But when you read your Bible, and I've said this so many times, but it bears repetition at this point to make the point. When you read your Bible, especially your New Testament, and you begin to look for the phrases that relate to what is called body life, church life, Christian life. There are so many scriptures that speak concerning one another. How the spiritual life is lived out in a spiritual community. You know, when 3,000 people got saved, when Peter preaches, and what's the first thing they do? They begin to meet. They spend regular time in the Apostles' doctrine and the breaking of bread and in prayer and in fellowship. That was the natural thing to do. They had been called out of the world, but they had been brought together. And being aware of the fact that they were no longer of the world, though they were still in it, they needed people to help them so that they would be strong in the midst of the persecution and trials that were to come that were going to attempt to diminish their effect and undermine their faith. And so that's why the church got together regularly, daily, from house to house, and they broke bread and they had fellowship and they worshiped and they became a loving community, so much so that the pagans in the early days would look at the church and one of the phrases of pagan philosopher, rather a pagan historian said, concerning the church was this, he said, behold how they love one another. They saw it. They say these Christians are unnatural. They call one another brother and sister and they care for one another when they have a need and they have a meekness about them which to the Gentile was an affront to them because meekness was looked at as being weakness and these people, they're just, oh, we don't even like these Christians, but they needed each other. So you read scriptures like John 15, 17. This is my command. Love one another. Or Romans 12, 10. Be devoted to one another and brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. Romans 15, 7. Accept one another then, just as Christ accepted you in order to bring praise to God. Galatians 5, 13. Serve one another in love. Colossians 3, 13. Bear with each other, put up with one another and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. Colossians 3, 16. Let the word of Christ dwell in you, richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. 1 Thessalonians 5, 11. Therefore, encourage one another. Just as in fact you're doing, you can find so many one another scriptures, love one another, pray for one another, comfort one another, encourage one another, bear one another's burdens. That's what we're supposed to be doing. The loneliest person is the one who has nobody who can do that with them or for them. We isolate ourselves. So the church was not intended to be like that. The church is intended to have what is called body life. It's something that isn't automatic. Just because I've been baptized by one spirit into one body, it doesn't mean that I automatically have relationship. I actually have to pursue that. I have to zealously pursue it. You see, in the church there in Corinth, in spite of so much that was good, disunity began to exist. And their disunity was so evident it came to Paul's attention. Notice in verse 18 how he says, first of all, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you and in part I believe it. And so he's dealing with something, division. Paul's been informed. That's an interesting thought, by the way. He's the apostle and those are the household of Chloe. And we saw that back in chapter one, verse 11, informed him that there were quarrels amongst the body there. And so they were so concerned for the unity of the church that a report went to the apostle Paul. And they said, Paul, there are some problems that are taking place in the church at Corinth. He greatly concerned him. He has to address it. And so his response is bringing a word of correction. Now the divisions that are being spoken of here are not as they were earlier. Because earlier you saw that there was a division that had arisen over personalities, over teachers. You know, I'm of Paul and I'm of Apollo. So I'm of Cephas in the other words. I don't need any of them. I'm of Christ. So you already saw that back in chapter three. This is a different cause that he's beginning to deal with here. This is something that comes over economic standing. He's already mentioned it. We'll see that in a moment. Some had food in abundance and others had little or none. And so that's what this problem is. And his response in verse 18, I want you to see, he says, in part, I believe it. You see, I'm not there personally. It's hard for me to completely substantiate the accusation. So I, in part, can believe that. But I'm going to leave myself open to the possibility of exaggeration. Every once in a while I get an email from somebody who doesn't go to the fellowship, who wants to ask me a question pertaining to something, we'll say in the church or a guest speaker or whatever. And they will write, how come you're having this person here? Don't you know that this person has done this? And, you know, and I might think, well, perhaps they have, maybe they haven't. But just because someone's writing me and saying something doesn't mean that I automatically believe every word that they're saying. And so I have to talk to them and ask them, is this true? And that's what you do. Well, Paul is simply saying, I've heard some things, in part, I believe it, because it seems to be part of the way you guys operate there. So, but I don't know all the details. And therefore, I'm going to have to substantiate that through some investigation. But he goes to say in verse 19, there must also be factions among you that those who are approved may be recognized among you. Well, there's going to be differences. There must be factions. There are going to be differences. And there will be differences between brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ. That's true. There are some things that we'll disagree with. And it's okay. There's nothing wrong with that. You know, we haven't been created to be some kind of robots, you know, where we kind of walk in lockstep, you know, that kind of thing, you know. Same thing, same thing, same place. You know, we don't have to be that way. There are things that you can disagree with me about. It's no problem with me if you're wrong. But the fact is, not everything is that important. Some differences, if unchallenged, can cause great trouble. There are opinions that can lead to division they have to be dealt with. But some things aren't that important. And they're unavoidable. There will always be differences. You have what are called peripheral areas of doctrine. Things that are non-essentials that are not the things that you need to hold fast to to be saved. And those are called peripheral. Those are non-essentials. And we can agree to disagree agreeably. You know, you believe certain thing. I'll believe a certain thing. But it doesn't, it shouldn't break our fellowship. Somebody says, I believe that you should baptize babies. You know, I don't. I believe in adult baptism. Somebody says, well, I think you should sprinkle them. I don't necessarily think that I will and have many times. But I feel full immersion is a biblical model. But if somebody believes one way and I believe the correct way, but if we have a disagreement, it doesn't divide us. It's just a disagreement over something like that. Somebody says the spiritual gifts are no longer in operation. They ceased with the death of the last apostle. And I'll be teaching spiritual gifts real soon. I believe there's in what is called the perpetuity of the spiritual gifts, that God's gifts are still active in the body of Christ. And I teach that because I believe that. But if somebody, John MacArthur is a great example. Oh, no, the gifts are no longer in operation. He and I have had personal conversation. He says, you know, don't agree on certain things. I say, that's true. I respect John MacArthur and others of his doctrinal persuasion. There's no division over the essential of Jesus Christ. And so we can have relationship. We can have fellowship differences. Some people want to argue about the timing of the rapture. Well, we believe. Well, some don't even believe in a rapture. And then others will say, well, I believe it's before the tribulation. Others will say, I believe it's in the middle of the tribulation. And others will say, it's at the end of the tribulation. And others say, well, I'm not post. I'm not pre. I'm not mid. I'm pan. It's all going to pan out. And that's how they think. Now me, I'm pre-trib, pre-millennial. That's my theological persuasion. I believe it strongly. Walter Martin was post-trib. He was a great teacher. So we can have fellowship, though we don't agree on certain things of that nature. It doesn't have to divide you. It doesn't have to keep you from loving the same Lord, Jesus Christ. It doesn't have to. You see, division is destructive because it's a work of the flesh and always creates the lack of love and hostility. And when the Holy Spirit is operating, there is unity and His presence which always is going to produce love. The fruit of the Spirit is going to be there, which is love. But when division is there, it's the work of the flesh. Galatians 5, 19 through 21 says, the works of the flesh are obvious. Fornication, impurity, and debauchery, idolatry, and witchcraft. Hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions, and envy, drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. So division that is creating a rip in the body of Christ is always wrong. Division isn't always over doctrine, though it is essentially over doctrine, at least in living out of doctrine. But sometimes divisions can occur through some very basic things like perceived mistreatment. Somebody is in a church, and they feel that somebody didn't treat them kindly, and they get angry. And they get angry at the person who did it. And if it's the pastor, they get angry at the pastor and the whole church. And so they get angry, and they take it out. And they can cause division because they weren't treated properly. Or they came and said, I want something to be done, and you didn't do what they wanted to have done. And so they begin to sow seeds of discord. I had somebody who created some real problems for me for a lot of reasons, and he did it for a long time. But part of what he said when he was angry and speaking concerning it was that I had walked past him, and I didn't hug him. And so sometimes even small things, small things. Do you guys notice everybody around you all the time? Every time you walk someplace? Do you see every single person there? Do you stop and hug every single person walking by? Do you do that? Teach me. I don't. I don't know. Anyway, that can happen. And what happens is it can create problems. Proverbs 29-22, an angry man stirs up strife and a furious man abounds in transgression. Sometimes division can happen when leadership is not united, or when somebody through pride is trying to take a higher position and influence others. You see that in 3rd John, verses 9 and 10, where John writes, I wrote to the church about deotrophies who loves to be first, will have nothing to do with us. So if I come, I'll call attention to what he's doing. Gossiping maliciously about us, not satisfied with that, he refuses to welcome the brothers. He also stops those who want to do so and puts them out of the church. So you can have division over pride, over perceived mistreatment. You can have division, and one of the ways the enemy works, I think, in churches, and I think most effectively is through gossip. Through gossip. Unfounded statements that people take to believe as if it's true. And very often, people want to believe those kinds of things. And gossip, it destroys. In Proverbs 26-20, it says, without wood, a fire goes out, without gossip, a quarrel dies down. So division can occur, and he's speaking concerning the variety of things here, and what's going on there. And their problem is that the rich people are eating, and the poor aren't. The unity of the church is under assault. Opinions that destroy the unity of the church have to be dealt with. And so that's what Paul's going to be doing, and that's what he's about to do. And he's dealing with the fact that these people are not acting properly to one another. Now notice verse 20. Therefore, he says, when you come together in one place, it's not to eat the Lord's supper. For in eating, each one takes his own supper ahead of others. One is hungry, and another is drunk. Can you imagine that? Think about it. Think about it. You went to church potluck, and you're so boozed up and eating everybody else's food. I mean, I used to do that in the world. But think about it for a minute. You went to church, and the people in the church, there's people getting, they're drinking so much in excess that they're drunk. And this is at a church service. Have you ever heard of that? Has anybody here ever heard of that? I want to say, yeah, because you want to know something? I had to deal with that. Somebody many years ago now was talking to me and asking for some direction because the church he was going to, that's exactly what happened. He went to a New Year's Eve celebration where the pastor was behind the bar mixing drinks for people. Seriously. Seriously. And only invited the most spiritual people in the church because they wouldn't be stumbled. And so, no, that happens to this day, guys. I mean, this is not ancient history. What you're looking at here, this happens, even to this day when your eyes are taken off the Lord. These things can happen in church services to this day. Where somebody drinks in excess at a church. I've heard it more than once. I remember somebody was talking to me about a Sunday school. They got all the Sunday school teachers together to celebrate at a restaurant. And the Sunday school teachers were getting boozed up at this. Thank you for serving Christ as you serve our kids' meeting. So it happens. And that happened 2,000 years ago. He says they're eating all of their food and not thinking of the poor who don't have very much or anything at all. They're drinking all this wine and getting drunk. He says, this is not magnifying the name of Jesus Christ. This is so basic, isn't it? The agape feast. Again, in the early church, the agape feast, the love feast and the communion were held together. And disruptive members were polluting the celebration. They ate their own food that they brought. They wouldn't let the poor have any of it, nor would they eat anything that the poor had brought. And the spirit of love was conspicuous only by its absence. When the church gathered together, it wasn't for the better, it was for the worse. And the rich had their meals and the poor had very little. And the rich would look at that and say, I don't even know what that is. I don't think I'm even going to try to eat that. Now, I brought my steak and you can eat your whatever it is over there. That's cool. It looks like cat to me. You know, and that's kind of the hell it is. So, if you're going to act carnal, why don't you just stay home? That's what he's saying. That's what he's saying. Verse 22, what? Do you have not houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and shame those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you in this? I do not praise you. Love. In my heart, in my life, one thing that the Lord is really bringing me to a deeper appreciation for, and I'm going to close with this, and I don't know how to communicate this, is take advantage of the opportunities that the Lord gives to all of us to get to know somebody beyond the shallow. You know what has kept me strong for the years of my walk with Christ? And the times that I've had, the most difficulty, you know what it is? It all relates to one basic thing. It relates to a lack, there were periods in my life where I had a lack of godly fellowship. I was created by God to have fellowship. And the times that I've had the greatest difficulties in my life is when I began to remove myself from accountability with other believers. Because I could look like I was solid because nobody knew me. I could walk into the church and nobody knew what I was wrestling with. Nobody knew me. And I liked it that way sometimes because I could keep people at arm's length and I knew how to use Scripture and things, though I wasn't doing well with Jesus Christ. There were times of sorrow, there were times of failures, there were times of everything that human beings go through as a young and new believer, but nobody knew because I wouldn't open up. What you see in this pulpit is the result of many years of dying to the desire not to be known in a deep and personal level. I'm the kind of person who prefers my privacy. Though I kind of open, I'm an open-hearted person when I want to be, but there are areas just like you of my life that nobody will ever have a glimpse of outside of Jesus. It's between Jesus and me. But what happened was I began to realize that if people didn't know the condition of my heart, then I can put on like I'm doing really well and they'll never know the difference. So I have to have people in my life that I trust, that I trust with the things that matter to me. Obviously, my wife is the number one person, obviously. And there are others that are very close to me that I feel very comfortable with, that I can be David Rosales, not Pastor David, David Rosales, who I am as a man and not the function and role that I perform. And though I am called by God to be a pastor and I'm always aware of that, I also am aware that I'm the son of Frank and Bonnie Rosales and I've got a brother named Frankie, two sisters. I'm aware of that too. And so I need to have people in my life that call me and keep my feet to the fire and say, this is what believers do. And just because I've been walking with the Lord for a long time doesn't mean I'm exempt from that. So for me, it's very important to have relationships. Very important because there have been times when I have needed an ear to hear me speak. When you go to a hospital or go to a doctor's office and the doctor says to you, you're going to entice you something, a prognosis about your health. You have to have somebody that you can call up immediately. I've gone through so many medical things and I've had Randy Walls, Pastor of Uppeland and Jeanette Walls who are close, dearest friends to us in that car with me when I've driven home after hearing news that I didn't want to hear. And they're asking, how are you? What can we do? How can we minister to you? I need that. So do you. The church is more than just gathering like we are right now. I love doing this, by the way. But it's more than this. It's meeting in homes. It's having fellowship. It's knowing each other's names. It's knowing your kids' names. It's knowing things about you because that's what keeps you strong. Because that's why one in the morning when you got bad news you can get on the phone and you can call and you can say, I need your prayers right now because my mom just died or because my dad's been put in the hospital or because my kid's in jail and it's his mother's fault. Things like that. I thank God for friends. I really do. I thank God for people who love me for being me and accept me for being me. I love them for that. And you need to have friends like that, too. I'm telling you. I hope you have them. If you don't, this is a great place to start. It's a great place to start. Make some friends.