 And so I'll begin by reading verse 8 and then do a little bit of a reminder and then move into the verses before us So Paul writes here in Romans chapter 12 verse 8 He simply says he who exhorts in exhortation. He who gives with Liberality he who leads with diligence and he who shows mercy with And so what we've been looking at here in chapter 12 of the book of Romans is the gifts the gifts of the spirit That Paul has has mentioned and begun sharing about enumerating Now I mentioned this. I'm just going over some things with you When we look into the New Testament the spiritual gifts and all we find them referred to in various New Testament books the best known book that contains these gifts is first Corinthians in That book in chapter 12 and into chapter 14 We see various gifts. You see the gift of The word of wisdom we see the word of knowledge The gift of faith the gift of gifts of healing so working of miracles of prophecy discerning of spirits tongues and Interpretation of tongues and these are mentioned. There's some nine gifts that are mentioned there in first Corinthians And so there's a variety of gifts that are mentioned in the New Testament Ephesians chapter 4 Speaks of gifts there, but it seems that as Paul was speaking of this He was also referring to these gifts as what would be called offices like apostles and prophets evangelists and pastors and teachers now in first Peter Peter seems to combine Spiritual gifts and divide them into two categories and the two categories that Peter speaks about in first Peter would be speaking and Serving gifts and all of these gifts that he mentions are all the gifts are to be exercised through love in First Peter 4a through 11. I'll read that to you He says above all things have fervent love for one another for love will cover a multitude of sins Be hospitable to one another without grumbling As each one has received a gift minister Minister it to one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God So if anyone speaks let them speak as the oracles the word oracles means the divine words The oracles of God if anyone ministers Let them do it as with the ability which God supplies That in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever Amen, and so he's speaking of gifts each one of these books Referred to gifts or offices that exercise gifts So the gifts as I've been sharing with you are exercised through God supplying the strength and are always to be exercised To his glory and with that in mind The gifts when they are exercised are to be a blessing to others in first Corinthians 12 7 Paul said the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the prophet of all So as I was sharing with you when it comes to the gifts of the Holy Spirit the offices in the various ways that the gifts manifest Themself I was mentioning to you last time there are no superstars in the body of Christ Why because God gets all the glory now each member in the body of Christ is designed to work together and As the church as a members work together it gives the world a clearer picture of Jesus Christ Now in chapter 12 here in Romans verse 4 it said that there are many members, but not all have the same function Verse 5 made it clear that this makes up what is called the body of Christ and again in 1st Corinthians 12 20 Paul said indeed there are many members yet There's only one body and so this body has been gifted by the Spirit Working in unity in order that we might bring glory to God and demonstrate that God is moving amongst us To the unbelieving world and so we were looking at various gifts last time I'll mention a couple of them to you and move into our study. We looked at prophecy now I mentioned that Prophecy Can speak of of a prophet who who brings forth? Things concerning the future, but it can also be exercised to meet present needs in 1st Corinthians 14 3 through 5 Paul said prophecy edifies exhorts and Comforts and so edifies speaks of building up or encouraging the body of Christ when prophecy occurs. It's encouraging Also exhortation, which which again in an encouraging way Encourages us to walk with Christ and then comfort Which reminds us that God is concerned about us and it's interesting because as I was sharing this last time I Was mentioning that there are times when a minister will say using that as as in this context His pastor is teaching the word and he may not even know that he's uttering a prophetic word But somebody within the confines of that congregation listening to that study I mentioned that they could be hearing Was being said and receive it as a word or a prophecy a prophetic word Something sharing about what God is doing which brings to them comfort and exhortation and edification and so Just this week. I received a text text message and and it said this It said pastor you gave an example of how this gift works You said This you said this you're going through something heavy. I don't know what it is But you're going to be okay Even though that was simply an example That was a word for me pastor and they knew went on to say I love you and I love Marie Thank you. That's how the gift will work I was given an example, but somebody was listening online and as they were listening online The spirit of the Lord was bringing comfort and edification. That's how it works Sometimes we may get caught up with the theatrics. You see somebody on on TV and Before you know what they're crawling across the stage and they're making odd words saying weird things and you think well If that's prophecy, I don't want any part of it, but one of the things about the gifts are when they're exercised They're not it's it's not an unnatural thing. It's a It's it's the most natural thing under the Spirit's guidance that there's going to be because there's a peace there's a comfort There's there's an acknowledgement of God's presence. And so we were looking at that gift we looked at ministry and I shared with you that the gift of ministry is is a gift like like the gift of helps it It's a gift that that stirs somebody up with an inward joy to meet the needs Of other people and very often somebody with that particular gift is in what ministries like we have here called the helps ministry I shared about the gift of teaching which is the ability to explain scripture and encourage application It's not just giving out information It's giving information that encourages people to apply it and as a result They're built up in their faith and it's a very important gift in the church Because it's a gift that feeds as well as protects the sheep it protects the sheep from deception And that's why Ephesians 4 11 and 12 says Christ himself gave or put in place the apostles The prophets the evangelists pastors and teachers to equip his people for works of service so that the body of Christ may be built up So a teacher's ministry is centered on presenting Jesus Christ clearly It's not intended to impress listeners. It's intended to build up people in their faith When Paul was writing to the Corinthians in 1st Corinthians 2 verses 3 through 5 He said to them I came to you in weakness and with great fear and trembling My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words But with the demonstration of the Spirit's power so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God's power And so the teacher is to present the Word of God in such a way that people become aware of who God is and serve him with God's power Exertation is the next gift. It's the gift we begin with now and that word Exertation here found in verse 8 the word exhortation is where they can be translated encouragement or comfort So teaching appeals to the intellect, but exhortation appeals to the will Exertation is a gift that encourages people to remain strong and to trust the Lord in Hebrews 3 13 the writer said exhort one another daily. Well, it's called today Lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin in 2nd Timothy 1 6 Paul said to Timothy for this reason. I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God Which is in you through the laying out of my hands. So it's an exhortation Hang in there. Look to the Lord. You're gonna make it. I encourage you to do that. That's what the exhorter does but exhortation is To be done with the gentleness You don't stand up and say listen stupid. You're going to hell You smile when you say that no you You encourage them you say words that that that stir within their heart of hope That that they know that That that God is on their side and then God working through them can accomplish great things and That if they release the things that hold them back It frees them to do the things God has desired them to do and you share like that with people and It encourages them it helps them to see that that even if they haven't been performing the things that they want That the Lord is still with them. And so that's a gift That's in the body of Christ and it's a beautiful gift to exercise Then there's the gift that nobody asked for the gift of giving He speaks in this way. He says he who gives give with Liberality so when he speaks of giving there are those within the body of Christ who actually have this as a gift They're spontaneous and they're generous and they see a genuine need and they respond to meet it Generosity in scripture is really to be the normal life of a believer, but there are those who have this as a gift We see it in the book of Acts as a matter of fact, I'll be touching on this this upcoming Sunday briefly But in Acts 9 verses 36 to 42 There's a woman there that has mentioned she's given two names one is Dorcas the other is is Tabitha and In Acts 9 36 it says that she was full of good works and charitable deeds, but she did this is a woman that is gifted with the gift of generosity and So there are those who have that gift when we were in In Europe we were doing some ministry in Austria and we were driving in a bus we Actually, no, we we flew we flew into this airport When we got off the plane there were about 20 or 30 of us I it's hard to remember all the details now. It's been a long time But I still remember this When we got off the bus the hotel that we were going to stay in had a shuttle that could only Accommodate something like four people at a time and there were between 20 and 30 of us and so We were waiting and as we waited You know, obviously as a pastor, I pushed in note as a pastor I wait for everybody else to get on on the on the bus, of course And so I wasn't the only pastor there. We were all just waiting we and our wives Well people were getting on and that's fine. It's okay. There's no big deal to that, of course But we were going to be there for probably an hour and a half or two hours before we got on Because being only one shuttle bus and having to drive drop people off and then come back drive It was going to take an hour and a half two hours at least it was late at night We were very tired But there was a couple on that on that flight with us who were gifted with the gift of generosity and Marie will remember this with Phil and We're just standing there. There's a good group good-sized group only one or two times had the shuttle come and gone when a bus pulls up like a lot, you know a big bus and This brother named Phil had Had called, you know, one of these companies that supply buses and out of his own pocket Had paid for us to get on that bus. He paid for the bus to take us all to the to the to the hotel and then the next day we're all and we had our kids with us and All of these people he and his wife paid for everybody's meal in the restaurant Great guy. I call him up every once in a while say hey No, he has the gift of generosity Not many people have that it's a beautiful gift obviously in the body of Christ and so he speaks about it He says when you have the gift of of giving do so with liberality do it with generosity in Proverbs 11 25 it says the generous soul will be made rich and he who waters will also be watered himself He goes on in verse 8 to speak of the gift of of leading. He said he who leads with diligence Leading speaks of Administration it speaks of presiding over or super intending See the question is now that that I've presented my body for service How is it that the Lord is going to direct me? Well in the ordinary affairs of that are related to church service. He does that through the gift of administration It's also referred to as a as governments. It speaks of of a church leadership So we need to remember that spiritual leadership isn't the same as sexual or leadership we need to remember that Jesus Christ is ahead of his church and then he appoints and he equips leaders to lead within the confines of the church and So there are those who have the gift of administration of leadership and they're to do so they're the lead He said with diligence the word diligence speaks of it on eagerness and earnestness and earnestness and eagerness that is revealed by action So this person who is a leader has an earnest diligence. He's he's he's desirous of Doing those things that they are pleasing to the Lord He does it with a a fervency and and it's not lording it over the flock It's not getting lazy and saying things need to be done. So you guys need to do that It's somebody who has a commitment and a vision and and he leads and he cares for the church because he knows that that is a Holy a holy calling He goes on to say in verse 8 the one who shows mercy do it with cheerfulness Now mercy is showing compassion to those who are in need And he says when you show compassion Do it cheerfully do it with a spontaneous Service to those who are on need Listen something in need sometimes The ones that we minister to aren't necessarily the most kind people Sometimes they're not I've said this before sheep are not dangerous necessarily, but they do have teeth and Every once in a while they like to take a bite out of you So the one who has this gift the one who wants to show mercy the one who shows compassion Is somebody who does it and does it with a joyful heart? We? We had somebody in our fellowship. He was one of my staff members He was my worship leader same's Tony and Tony for years was here and he would do hospital visitations He had a heart for those he had a compassionate heart And I'll never forget how he came to me after paying a hospital Visit to one of the members of our church and he said to me I had the most difficult thing happened to me today What is that? He said I went in to minister to one of the women of our church and she had a Mascon and she had oxygen Running to her through a tube He said and as I was standing there. He said I I Acknowledged her I said I'm here to pray for him He said she looked at me and nodded he said so when I came close and laid my hands on her to pray for her she began to To to fight for air he said I'm there going on. No, she's she's gonna die She's gonna die. She was grabbing at her mask and she's Trying to breathe and he said oh lord, which should I do he said pastor Look down and I was standing on the air tube So I never sent him out again Anyway, this is one of those gifts That that you do even when it's not appreciated In Galatians 6 verse 9 it says let us not grow weary and well-doing for in due time We will reap a harvest if we do not lose heart if we do not give up He goes on now in verse 9 and He says let love be without hypocrisy of whore what is evil cling to what is good And so Paul has been speaking of the gifts and all and now he's gonna speak concerning the Relationships with other Christians and how those gifts can work amongst the body of Christ Again spiritual gifts are intended to minister to the church There's somebody who said if you are committed to Jesus and aware of your gifts You will also be committed to the church and so he's being now speaking now concerning how we are with one another Verse 9 let love be without hypocrisy. So what does he do? He begins this section by stressing love Love also, which is interesting also follows his introduction to the gifts of the spirit in 1st Corinthians 12 And it's also spoken of in 1st Peter chapter 4 and So love is is what is the motivator of us as we exercise our gifts to serve the Lord and others So the entire life of a Christian is to be bathed in the love of God God's love is the one quality That Jesus said demonstrates that you're a believer It Isn't just what we're against And I think there are things that we as believers obviously need to speak out about of course but it's not just what we're against it's what we're for and When Jesus said that by this all men shall know you are my disciples He went on to say if you have loved one for another Because love is the birthmark It's what demonstrates That you've come to know the God of love Scripture says he who loves not knows not God for God is love and so The gospel message is a message of the love of God that he so loved us that he gave his son He demonstrated his love toward us and that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us And so how are people gonna know that the church is the genuine article if we are Biting one another another and Paul says be careful that you don't devour one another if we're constantly at war with one another If we're comparing our faith and our gifts and everything That isn't how it works We're supposed to be known for our love and he says you to have love He says but let verse 9 let love be noticed without hypocrisy He writes it because it's possible to pretend to love someone I love you brawler You're a great guy, man. I just love you It's not hard It really we all know this I'm not saying anything that you don't know And as you're as you're looking at them you're thinking I love you I love you to fall in a ditch. No as you're looking It's not hard to pretend you love somebody So that's why he said let it be without hypocrisy and first John 3 18 Let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth To learn to love one another to get along with one another to do good unto one another again That's an emblem of the believer. He says in verse 9 up whore or hate what is evil and cling to what is good Someone said hate sin as you would hate that hell to which it leads We need to hate sin. How can we well we remember what it cost Jesus? When you spend time Meditating on what God did for you through his son That's where you begin to grow deeper in your affection and love for him Some 97 verse 10 says you who love the Lord hate evil Don't be playing with it Don't keep it as a pet There are those who have pet sins we call them pet sins. It's like they keep them as a pet You know, I gave God everything but there's one I just It's too difficult to let go of You know, we let it all go. We let it all go. Why because it's it's it's that sin that that Brings us down. There was a I wish I could give you his name. It's so long ago But he was an American wrestler and he went to Europe in order that he might wrestle the European champion many many years ago and He went he won and he got a purse and they paid him in his victory purse. They gave to him gold And so he was on his way back and again This was long before airplanes and also we has taken an ocean liner and coming across from from Europe and coming back to the States when the ship began to sink and What this guy did is he had his gold in a belt a money belt and So they had the the life rafts He had to jump to get into the water to swim to the raft But he didn't take off the belt and he sunk to the bottom the ocean Don't hold on to things that destroy you Don't hold on to things that don't matter. Let me tell you I've been young and now I'm old and I'll tell you this from experience a Lot of the things that I thought I needed so desperately Relationships that I just had to have or things that I needed to possess They they had no real value in the end They had no value in the end and I had to learn not to make choices That were harmful rather than good I needed to learn and I still need to learn to hate evil to hate it for what it did to Christ To hate it for what it's doing to our nation to hate it What is doing people and so he says you need to love you need to hate evil love God and hate evil He says in verse 9 cling to what is good that word cling interestingly is a word that literally means be glued to this Be fastened to what is good I Clinged to it. I I still remember I don't know how many of you are parents And I don't know how many of you have taken your child to learn to swim I took my daughter Corinne who is now a woman with children of her own But when she was a little girl Marie and I took her to swimming lessons and she didn't want to go in the water And so I still remember we're walking her to the edge of the pool She was five or six and she didn't want to go in and so we said come on baby You have to need you need to learn to swim and so she went in the water and when she went in the water She grabbed hold of the guy who was teaching her to swim and would not let go of him She was clinging to him and he was trying to peel her off And he couldn't do it and then could see his face getting red. He was getting upset and me I just had a walk away and drank a soda. No, I I said it's your turn, man I'll never forget how she clung to that guy She would not let him go We need to cling to what is good. We need to hold fast to it so that you we cannot be peeled off We cling You see if you love the Lord, you're gonna hate that which causes death He says in verse 10 be kindly affectionate to one another In honor giving preference to one another so this speaks of affection now kindly affection it actually speaks of the affection a mother has for her baby and So you have this love and you're treating one another with this tender love It's it's a way of speaking of loving one another This ought to be an interesting thing to think about to love one another This is literally what he's saying to the church. He's saying treat one another with love as if they were your own family Some of us don't really care much for a family, but how much do you really? I mean when you wouldn't how much do you my kids know this? I'm sure again if you're a parent or whatever They know how much I love them They know that I'll do anything for them. They know that They know that I've tried to do that all their lives and I intend to do that until I go home to be with Jesus You treat each other with tender affection your family. I don't want to embarrass anybody I'm not gonna draw your attention to do something. I'm simply saying that right here in this room right now We're we're to be more than simply strangers gathered together We're supposed to see each other as family We're supposed to love one another and be tender towards each other. There's no weakness in that there's strength in that And and learning to trust each other and care for one another and not take advantage of one another To love each other is a great thing to do in Proverbs 18 24 One who has Unreliable friends soon comes to ruin, but there's a friend who sticks closer than a brother He says in verse 10 in honor giving preference to one another And he says giving preference consider all of your brethren as more worthy than yourself In Philippians 2 verse 3 let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit But in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself In honor giving preference to one another that's hard Because though we may want them to be honored We want them to be honored a little bit less than we are and so we have to learn to want them to be blessed and and not to be Jealous when when they seem to receive something that we desired ourselves we give Preference to one another in verse 11 not lagging in diligence fervent in the spirit serving the Lord So maintain fervor and zeal Don't lapse into that old way of life and and then become lazy He says we're to be fervent in spirit as we continually serve the Lord. We need to And this is something Important to think about we need to maintain the fire in our hearts for the Lord If you're not more in love with Jesus today than the day you got saved your backsliding You just don't realize it If you don't have a deeper love for him today Then you had yesterday. You're not moving forward So we're not to be lagging in diligence. We're to be fervent in spirit We need to maintain the fire of our of our hearts He says that we're to rejoice in hope and be patient in tribulation and to continue steadfastly in prayer We walk with hope we walk with patience and we walk with prayer. This is the way of the Christian Why is that because we walk through dangerous times? We walk through spiritual minefields That are intended to cripple us in our walk And so we have to learn to walk with a way that is fervent and yet aware and Patient because we're going through things that are difficult In verse 13 Distributing to the needs of the saints and given to hospitality So when genuine believers are in need we do the best that we can to meet their needs Agolation 610 as we have therefore opportunity. Let us do good unto all men Especially into those who are of the household of faith So genuine needs and I'll share a little bit about this for a second genuine needs real needs Are met by the body of Christ now? That doesn't mean that we are Responsible always for those who refuse to work Who are slothful who expect others to take care of the ball of time? In second Thessalonians 310 it says even when we were with you we gave you this rule the one who's unwilling to work shall not eat Boy We years ago We had a when our church was fairly young we had a a 2,500 square foot building we used for our midweeks and Sunday nights and Somebody came in and said I need some help. I go to the church and I said you know what? We'll help you but I have things that you can do so they can work and Receive the pay so he could buy some food We had two small bathrooms and when I say small they were very small They had a toilet and that was pretty much it. They probably weren't more than 24 square feet each and We had these tiles that were one by one foot square and I said, you know, we've got things you could do Why don't you go and lay the tile? He was there for eight hours and Then he came in and Then he left and we gave him something then I went and looked he didn't finish the job So what I did at lunchtime The next day as I went and laid the towel wasn't hard to do was that sticky tile that you put it was cheap I did in about 20 minutes both of them and that's when I began to realize that there are those who expected us to give them things and They thought that the church is here. You're a church. You should help me. That's what churches do. Don't they? I still remember I'll give one more story. I Won't mention your name John and I'll give one more story but somebody came in on a Sunday and Had said he ran out of gas Some of my guys took him to a gas station got some gas put it in his car gave him some money to go and eat They came and told me I said that's a great thing to help somebody But he really if he ever comes back He ought to come into the church service at least give me an opportunity to share the word with this guy The next week he came back and he was there It was at Ontario Christian Elementary. He was in the church service and then later on they said yeah He came to the church service and we took him and got him something to eat and put gas in his car again I said oh really? So he was now found a place right and so the third week I went out I was out and on my way to my car when this guy walks up and they already had described him to me So I recognized him when he walked up and he said to me I Ran out of gas and I need some food Can you help me? And I said well, let me see you've been here twice and this is your third time right and he kind of got these Big eyes and I said no no, I don't think so not this time. He says I want to talk to the pastor and I said speaking and He gives me this look like you're a pastor. You're not helping me So I said you're wondering why he didn't give you any money. Yeah, I said well, let me tell you I've got children. I give them an allowance. I'm not gonna adopt you. I'm not gonna give you an allowance You need to work Because you've come twice. This is your third time and he didn't like that at all. He drove away Well, the next day, which was a Monday. I get a call at the office. It's his father and His father says my son is going to all the churches in Ontario asking for money. Please don't give him money I said we won't He's been here. He's already played that we won't he says thank you, sir. I Hear my secretary talking to somebody and I walk into her office and guess who's standing there and I said to him didn't I talk to you yesterday and didn't I tell you not to be he got so But my secretary looked like I was I was evil. Oh, you're not helping the poor No, the scripture says neither if he doesn't work neither should he eat and I told him I said your dad called and told me who you are. I said so you can't do that So I'm telling you that because some of you are such sweet hearts that you just give to everybody You need to pray before you help. It's not that you shouldn't help. It's that you pray So the Lord may put it on your heart help them. God bless you as you do But I pray before I help I always do why because I don't want to contribute to a lifestyle That isn't proper. I don't want to do that and I don't so with that said we meet needs but they need to be genuine He goes on in verse 14 and I'm not going to finish Bless those who persecute you bless and do not curse Persecution is part of the cost of discipleship. It's inevitable. Those who live godly in christ jesus shall suffer persecution 2nd timothy 312 It's part of the christian life Jesus said in matthew 511 blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake When they revile you when they when they say things to your face When they persecute you Which is physical attack when they say all manner of evil against you when they lie and gossip about you to other people And so what is our response? This is this is This is this is our response and it's not easy. I'm not going to pretend that it is What is he saying to do lip them up to god in prayer? And love them for his sake Love them for his sake even when they do that love them Jesus said in matthew 544 I say Love your enemies bless those who curse you do good to those who hate you Pray for those who despitefully use you and persecute you And so that's what you do lord in jesus name. Look at how they said about me. Look what they're doing. You mean look they've harmed me I can tell you christians sometimes Can be mean the world can be even meaner And sometimes the world can say some pretty bad things about you and what do we do? We seek the lord for them He says rejoice with those who rejoice and and weep with those who weep um When people are hurting in general not always in general When people are hurting They need fellowship So we weep with those who weep But it is generally easier to weep than it is to rejoice What do I mean? I mean if somebody is hurting then the compassion But we can feel within our hearts. Well, I'm glad that's not me going through that But what happens when somebody gets the promotion you wanted? What happens when somebody gets the blessing you thought was yours? And they come up and tell you man look how god is blessed and you look at him Praise god That's great. Yeah, I've discovered it's easier to weep with those who weep than it is to rejoice for those who rejoice We need to learn to do it because that's really a full spectrum, isn't it? We're there rejoicing with people when they're going through the great things And we're there weeping with people When they go through the sad things I have to tell you that in the christian life You have opportunities to do both quite often In ministry you have as a pastor you have Many opportunities to do that often. I can't tell you I I stand out there after a second service I've been standing out there for many years a lot of people don't know that They think I'm I'm just gone and I'm not I'll come out and I stay there for about 40 45 minutes after every service After first service and and I'll talk to and minister to as many as I can And I can't tell you How many times someone has walked up and said something like pastor, I just want to tell you That the lord has blessed me My wife is pregnant and we're going to have our first child and you rejoice with them And then someone comes right after And I've had this I'm giving an actual example where the widow comes up and says My husband died on friday And it's sunday two days She's been So you're laughing and smiling with someone praise god The next person is weeping And i'm telling you you can feel so out of balance sometimes Sometimes you're man praise the lord and you're smiling Yeah, so good and then the next person I've lost my job. I lost my home. I've lost my loved one I I I can't tell you how many How many stories when john first came on staff and he likes to shadow me And and all and we're out there and talking and I'll And after I gave the study you'll remember john after I gave the study I Went into the back for a moment and he's walking with me as I come back out And I turned to him and I said now ministry begins And he didn't know at first what I meant But now he does Because he's watched as I've stood there crying and ministering Smiling and laughing As christians we go through All of it with one another the joys That you can have and the sorrows That you can have as a man I I have I have had the joy of having grandbabies And I've had the sorrow of seeing so many miscarriages We've seen 12 or 13 miscarriages Grandbabies Most recent being a set of twins recently We go through the joy And you go through the sorrow And and and without the power of the spirit Without the love and the unity of the body of christ Without people who pray for you and care for you I don't know how you make it I don't know how you can I was speaking to my friend randy who's who's my dearest friend randy is the pastor of calvary upland and And his wife Jeanette went home to be with jesus and she is marie's very dearest friend And and we watched as she faded from view she died of dementia until she ultimately Went home to be with the lord and and randy and i and marie just the other day went out for breakfast Together and there's this empty chair where janette usually would sit And you feel it you feel it and i say it randy I said, you know without the lord randy He said he says, you know what? I don't know how people can make it without jesus I don't know how they can See, he met her when she was 15 and he was 17 They would have celebrated 52 years of marriage Just this august 52 years He was in spain Just to To heal give himself time. He planted a church in spain He stayed with some some people that that planted the church out of his out of his church And so he stayed there with him. He said, you know, I was on the and a model guy was on the Sitting at the beach. He said Just me on my anniversary on my anniversary Just sitting there You weep with those who weep And you rejoice with those who rejoice Because that's what believers do That's what we do We don't want to be shallow We don't want to be people who think that god promises me happy days every day Sometimes the joy of the lord is so overwhelming to me. I don't know what to do I I I mean this sincerely I there's something in my heart that wells up that is just god you're too much And then there are other times when your heart is so crushed by by sorrow or grief or loss You go from from one to the other But with christ all things work out for the good And and that's what believers do. So in this church, obviously, I'm not going to finish. I'll pick up next time, but I'll say this The people around you are more are supposed to be more than just strangers They're your brothers if they know christ and your sisters And we belong together That's why we call our fellowship a community A jesus people community because we belong together