People Need People
Simple Life

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Good morning church; it is good to see all of you here this morning. We’re in part three of our series,“SIMPLE LIFE: How Simple Commitments Create Great Life Change.” We’re asking this question, “How are we going to live simply in such a chaotic, busy world?” Indeed, we live in a world today that we might call a “supersized” world; everything is supersized and I’m not just talking about Mcdonald’s. McDonald’s always wants to “upgrade” your order; they will ask you, “Would you like to ‘supersize’ that?” Have you ever said back to them, “Yes, go ahead and ‘supersize.’” Then, they hand you a five gallon diet Coke that takes both hands to take back to your table. Wow, what did I do? I should have never supersized.

If you have noticed, everything’s “supersized” and it’s not just Mcdonald’s. We’ve “supersized” our kitchens, but we don’t eat at home anymore. We’ve “supersized” our cars; we call them “SUV’s,” yet we have smaller families. We’ve “supersized” our houses, yet, we eat out. We’ve “supersized” our communication, yet, we talk to each other face to face less. We’ve “supersized” our social media and we no longer socialize. We’ve “supersized,” perhaps, the wrong things and we’ve downgraded the best things, which are spending time together.

The truth is, God made us for each other. People need people. Why is that? It’s because God made us that way. It says in the book of Genesis 2:18 (ESV) Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone …” We’re only two chapters into the whole bible in Genesis 2. God has said that everything is good that He made. He made the sun. He made the moon. He made the stars. He made the oceans and He made the plant and animal life. He looked at everything and felt good about what He had made. Then, he made Adam and took a look at him. In Genesis 2:18 (NIV), The LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” God made us that way.

Dr. Shelley Taylor at UCLA says, “Friendships play a far more important role in maintaining good health and having a long life than most people realize. Social ties are the cheapest medicine we’ve got.” People with strong social networks are shown to boost their chances of surviving life-threatening illnesses, have stronger, more resilient immune systems, improve their mental health, and live longer than people without social support. These are all proven realities. God made us that way. He made us for each other.

Here’s another reason we need each other – Because we can’t grow spiritually without being connected to the body of Christ. You really can’t grow , spiritually apart from God’s people.

It says in Colossians, speaking of someone who was being disconnected, Colossians 2:19 (NIV) “He has lost connection with the Head, from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow.” We need each other; we need each other to grow up.

Dr. Ronald Glaser at Ohio State University says, “One of the worst things you can do to someone is isolate them.” We’re made for each other, especially as believers. We grow together with each other.

As Stephen said earlier, “Iron sharpens iron, but sometimes, it causes sparks to fly.” Maybe, some of you are here today and you’ve got a “church hurt.” You’ve been hurt at another church or maybe you’ve been hurt at this church and you are easing your way back in. The truth is, in every human community, sparks will fly if you get in there. But, you can’t let that push you away because maybe that’s exactly what you need. Often, it’s that person that challenges us the most, that irritates us the most . Often, that’s the person that God uses the most to help us grow.

That’s why God’s call, through Jesus, is so simple. It’s a relational call. He says, “Come follow Me. After He says that, He directs us to gather together with one another. He calls us first to Himself, then He calls us to one another.

In the book of Romans, the apostle Paul appealed to the believers in Rome to devote themselves fully to God, God, which would lead to a transformed and renewed mind that would know and follow the will of God (Rom.12:1-2). This new mind, this new way of thinking, will cause you to think rightly about your relationship with God . You’ll be able to know His will and you’ll, also, think rightly about yourself and one another.

I believe that we can have this new way of thinking toward ourselves and one another. As we look at the text today, I think we’ll see three ways we can have this new way of thinking about ourselves and one another. Let’s look at Romans chapter 12:

We’ll look, start at verse three for by the grace given to me, I say to everyone among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think. But to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned for as in one body, we have many members and the members do not all have the same function. So we though many are one body in Christ and individually members, one of another having gifts that differ according to the grace given us, let us use them if prophecy in proportion to our faith, if service in our serving, the one who teaches, in

Romans 12:3-13 (ESV) 3 “For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. 4 For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, 5 so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. 6 Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; 7 if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, inhis teaching; 8 the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness. 9 Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. 10 Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. 11 Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. 12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. 13 Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.” This is God’s word. Amen.

HAVING THIS NEW WAY OF THINKING IN CHRIST…

1. We can find our true identity in belonging to one another.

One of the deepest needs of humanity is to know the answer to these two questions: “Who am I?” “Where do I fit in?” Noticethe word, “think” in verse three, 3 “For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.” Now that you have this new mind, this transformed renewed mind, there’s a new way to think. Using this new mind, you can know God’s will for your life and you can think of yourself differently. This is about thinking differently about yourself, and not just about yourself, but about others. He says that you’re not to think too highly of yourself. You’re not to “supersize” your self thinking.

He also says to think of yourself with sober judgments, which I think implies that you’re not to think of yourself too low. You are to think of yourself just right, according to the way God sees you. You get your identity, not from those around you, not from looking at yourself in the mirror within, but looking up to Christ for your identity. Then, those around you help you to gain this sense of belonging, this new community you have in Jesus. He says, to think of yourself according to the measure of your faith. Sober judgment, according to the measure of your faith, is this idea of not too highly or too lowly of yourself. It is to have the right self image of yourself.

Tim Keller gives a description of how he thinks the gospel helps us to have the right self image of ourselves. He says this, “The gospel prevents us thinking more highly of ourselves than we ought—we are sinners, saved entirely by Another’s kindness. And the gospel prevents us thinking in a more lowly way than we ought—we are saved sinners, and we are loved and valued in the gaze of the only One whose opinion ultimately matters. ” In other words , we shouldn’t think too highly of ourselves because we are lost apart from Christ; nor should we think too lowly of ourselves because we’re loved by Christ. When we look at the cross, we see both simultaneously. We see that He had to die for us in order to pay for our sins, so, we see the ugliness of our sin. But at the same time, we see the love of God portrayed in Jesus, which gives us the appropriate value that we’re lost apart from Him.

Don’t think too highly of yourself; think of yourself as just right. He loves you. This is right thinking toward yourself. It’s the right identity. It’s not that you should have low self esteem. It’s not so much thinking more or less of yourself. It’s not really thinking of yourself at all anymore. It’s as you grow in Christ, your identity becomes more about thinking of Him and others and not worrying about yourself. It’s not a low self image; it’s not thinking of yourself at all anymore and putting Christ first and I’m putting others ahead of yourself. This is a new way of thinking; it’s a new way of belonging to one another.

Notice, as he continues in verse four, he says, “For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function,” We are one body. Christ is the head and we are one and the members do not have the same function. We all have a different gifting, a different shape.

Verse five says this, “so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.” We are connected to one another through Christ. We’re members of the same family and members of the same body. Paul here, uses the analogy of the human body –Christ is the head and we are the members.

The New Living Translation’s version of verse five says this, “And since we are all one body in Christ, we belong to each other.” We belong to each other.

Ephesians 2:19 (Living) “ … you belong in God’s household with every other Christian. “ I don’t know if you’ve introduced yourself to the people seated nearby you or not. I’m going to give you an excellent opportunity to do that right now; just say this to the person next to you, “You belong to me.” I know that’s an awkward way to make a new friend, but it could be a great start. “You belong to me.” Why? It’s because of Jesus. You belong to me and I belong to you. We are one in Christ and we’re not to live isolated, lonely lives apart, but we’re to live together as family. Every Sunday morning is the family reunion and we gather to remind one another that we e are Christ’s followers and we are one family. We call each other “brother” and “sister.” We love each other and we love being together. This is why we come together. This is the new way of thinking. You are now part of this family. You belong to each other.

One of the deepest needs that we all have is, Who am I, what’s my identity, where do I fit in and where do I belong? One of the greatest challenges of our young people today is trying to answer those questions. We have so much confusion today, even about gender. Gender dysphoria and sexual dysphoria issues have grown and grown, not just as identity issues, but because of the “belonging” issue. People want to fit in. It becomes an issue of, in order to fit in, they somehow have to make themselves like their peers. There’s social pressure to go against the way we are brought up and the way we were taught by our family.

Rather than diminishing or demeaning our young people, we should recognize that they have real questions about who they are and where do they fit in. We need to help them, pray for them and help them ask those questions in safe places where they can get the answer, not from the world, not from their peers, but from the Lord to get a new way of thinking. They need a transformed mind that thinks soberly about the self and their connection to God and others.

In his book, “Bowling Alone,” Robert Putnam makes the case that loneliness is actually America’s real epidemic. He says, “People are searching for a place to belong. The issue of the 21st century appears to be ‘where do I belong?’ Belonging is a God-given human need. We all need and want the security of belonging to a family, belonging to a group, belonging to a team, belonging with people who need us just like we need them in a healthy and productive way. The fragmentation of the family and the rapid growth in technology have made people more mobile and isolated than ever before. The aching need to belong is at an all-time high.” Weneed each other. We need the Lord and we need each other. When we deny these realities, we do harm to our own identity, our own sense of value and who we are.

Have you found your true identity today, giving your life to Jesus and trusting His invitation to come to Him and, in doing so, recognizing the invitation to be members of His family? There are several steps you could take today. Maybe you’ve never taken the step of saying “yes” to following Jesus. What does that look like? It means to say, ‘Jesus, I’m a sinner and I need a Savior. I need help. I need You. I see in the Bible that it says if I confess You as Lord, if I say with my mouth that You’re Lord of my life, I believe in my heart that God raised You from the dead, You’ll receive me as Your own. You’ll adopt me into Your family and You’ll make me a child of God. Have you ever done that? Have you ever said, ‘Jesus, I want to follow You. I accept Your invitation to come follow Me. I want to follow You.’ That’s the entry point to this new family, to say “yes” to Jesus.

Having given your life to Jesus, have you ever “put on the wedding ring?” You have said, “I do, but have you ever “put on the wedding ring? “The wedding ring” is your baptism. Have you ever been baptized? These are realities that we do in family and in community. Baptism doesn’t save you, though. I can go to a jewelry store and buy a wedding ring and it doesn’t make me married. In order to be married, I have to say, “I do.” I have to accept that, until death do we part, that I will be yours and you will be mine. We belong to each other. Then we put on the rings to show everybody that we’re married; it doesn’t make you married. It just shows that you are. That’s what baptism is. It says that I have said “I do” to Jesus and He has said “I do” to me. Ihave given my life to Him and now I want to be baptized to show the world that I am a follower of Jesus. Have you ever done that? Have you ever decided to be baptized?

I’m giving you practical steps on this entry point into God’s family and what it looks like. Then, you might say, ‘I need to be a member of a church. I need to not only say that I’m a Christ follower, but I need to join up.’ Now, I’m not saying you should join this church. We’d love to have you join this church; we’d like for you to pray about it and maybe attend the class that we offer next month to learn more about church membership, but we’re not the only church in town. We have partners all over the city that believe in Jesus and preach the gospel. Find one that you can join and then stick to it. We’d love to have you if this is your church. Join up and stick to it through thick and thin. We’re not perfect; by the way, if you find a perfect church, don’t join it because you’ll mess it up.

Here’s another practical step: Get involved in a community group. We have home groups that meet throughout the week. Plug in. You really get to know people in a community group.

By the way, there are fifty-nine “one another” commands in the New Testament: Love one another. Pray for one another. Bear one another’s burdens. Greet one another… there’s fifty-nine of them. “You can’t do the one anothers without one another.” You can’t keep those fifty-nine commands without each other. You need each other. You can’t just look in the mirror and keep those fifty-nine commands. You have to have people that you belong to together. Would you keep this instruction in mind this morning?

HAVING THIS NEW WAY OF THINKING IN CHRIST…

2. We can find our true purpose in serving one another.

We’re in verses 6 to 8 now; we’re gonna “unpack” those verses. It begins with having gifts; talking about having gifts. He gives a list; it’s not a comprehensive list. It’s a short list that Paul gives of various spiritual gifts that people are given within the body of Christ, within the church, the family of God. He encourages us to use them. If we have these gifts to put them into use. He says in verse 6, “Having gifts that differ…” We’re all gifted differently, which is especially why we need each other. I need your gifts and you need my gifts. We, in this way, serve one another; we grow together because we’re serving one another. He says, “ having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them.”

Are you “sitting” on your gifts? Are you not using your gifts? You’re denying them to the family. You have gifts that would cause the family to grow and mature and reach more people in our city and you’re “sitting” on your hands, “sitting” on your gifts.

You might say, “I don’t think I have any gifts.” Yes, you do. If you’re a Christ follower, you have gifts; maybe, you just haven’t discovered them yet. How much effort have you put into discovering them? God’s given you spiritual gifts and you’ve yet to discover them.

How do you discover your spiritual gifts? You can try some stuff; that’s the best way. You can take a spiritual gifts inventory; we offer that in our Life on Life Discipleship Process; you can inventory things that you tend to favor, but I think the best way is just to go to work and try some stuff in your neighborhood, in your family, at a nonprofit in town or in your church. We like to say that our church is a laboratory. So experiment, try some stuff and see where you fit in. You will find your “sweet spot;” the place that gives you joy to serve. God shaped you for it.

Paul lists a few spiritual gifts. He says, in verse 6, “if prophecy, in proportion to our faith;” When I think about prophecy, I’m thinking about preaching as much as anything, not foretelling the future but forthtelling the word of God. So, preaching is proclaiming according to your faith.

Verse 7 says, “If service, in our serving;” Some of us love to serve people. We love to wait on people and help people with things. If that’s your gift, do it and do it according to the grace God has given you. Don’t “sit on your hands.” Serve. You won’t grow and you won’t find your purpose in life until you start doing what God has made you to do.

Verse 7 continues with, “the one who teaches, in his teaching ;” This is the person that’s good at explaining things.

Verse 8 says, “the one who exhorts, in his exhortation;” This is the person that’s good at telling it like it is. Some of us don’t like to be around the person who has the gift of exhortation. Hopefully, the person who has the gift of exhortation also has somebody nearby with the gift of mercy.The person with the gift of exhortation is the one who will tell you what you need to hear, whether you want to hear it or not. They’re doing it according to the grace of God. As Ephesians 4:15 NIV says, “Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.”

Let’s see what else we have. Verse 8 continues to say, “the one who contributes, in generosity;” Some of you just have the gift of giving. You have the gift of giving, whether it’s money or whether it’s other resources – loaning something from your garage or loaning your vehicle. You’re just a giver. You should give all the more because God is going to keep pouring out on you so you can give in greater abundance. It’s your gift.

Verse 8 also says, “ the one who leads, with zeal;” someone is here that has this gift. It’s the gift of administration or of leadership. Did you know that it’s a spiritual gift? You should be carrying the weight of leadership in your church, in your family, in your neighborhood or at the workplace. Lead, administer and do it with zeal. The one who leads with zeal leads with fire and with passion.

Verse 8 concludes with, “the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.” Acts of mercy tends to be aimed at those who need mercy, people that are the weak among us, like our children like the nursery. If you’re going to serve in the nursery, don’t do it out of duty; do it with cheerfulness. After all, some of these young moms are dropping off their valued treasures and if you have a grumpy face when they hand them off, they might just snatch them back. They might not trust us. We’re looking for people with the gift of mercy and of serving. It’s good for somebody to work in the nursery or with children because those who need mercy need people gifted at mercy and service.

This morning, I saw a young couple come in with their firstborn. Both mom and dad went into the nursery area and they’re looking into the room where the baby will go. I knew it was their firstborn. I walked up to them and I said, “Is this the first Sunday that you’ve dropped him off?” They said, “uh huh.” They wanted to see the room, they wanted to see the crib and they wanted to see who was going to care for her baby.After she stepped out, I asked her, “Are you ok?” She said to me, “Yes, but I didn’t know any of those people.” I said to her, “Well, you can know this about them: they will love your child. They will take care of your child.” The couple had their firstborn; it’s their first child, so they’re nervous about putting their baby in the nursery. I’m glad that we have somebody in the nursery with the gift of mercy taking care of them. I went ahead and told the couple, “After you have two or three more, you’ll just throw them in there.” You get to the third child, you say, ‘Take it please. I just need a moment to myself.’ But when there’s a first time mom, especially, she needs someone with the gift of mercy, someone who will serve their baby. We can’t be the church without people using the gifts that God has given them and use them, so, find your purpose. S

May I say something to you about myself, something personal? I graduated from college. I had a wife and three kids. I had worked a secular job for twelve years. I made a good living. I had a house in the city and a house at the lake. I had it all together – a fenced in backyard with a golden retriever. We had two cars. But, God called me to preach. I was a successful businessman, but I was miserable. I loved my wife and I loved my kids, but I was miserable. I was miserable because God called me to preach and I wasn’t doing it. Preaching was my purpose.

I don’t know what God has called you to do, but until I said, “I surrender. I give up. I’m not going to live my life out of fear or out of comfort. I’m going to say ‘yes.’” It was scary, but there wouldn’t be a church here today if I hadn’t said “yes” and if you hadn’t said “yes” to helping us build this church and serving together. There wouldn’t be a preacher up here if I hadn’t overcome my fear of discomfort and my fear of so many things at the time.

Next week, we’ll be 32 years old; our church will be 32 years ago. I said “yes;” I’m so glad I did because I wouldn’t be able to see you and say, “I love you.” My brothers and sisters, we’ve been on this journey together. Many of you have been here since year one and you didn’t leave me. Wow. You had to watch me grow up and learn how to be this pastor. Isn’t serving together wonderful? Isn’t loving each other together wonderful? We need each other.

1 Peter 4:10 (ESV) “As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace .” Use your gifts; God has called you to use them. You won’t really know your purpose until you do the thing He made you for and if you do the thing He made you for, you can do it with passion and zeal, knowing that this is what I was built to do. He baked it into my DNA when I got saved. That’s what I must do.

Some years ago, there was an agnostic husband attending our church with his believing wife. He would come because he loved her, but he didn’t believe in Jesus. He would often stand in the lobby waiting to ask me his agnostic questions. They were not easy questions. Every question that I responded to, he would have more questions. We never got anywhere, really. He would smile; he was friendly. He was a friendly agnostic. He wasn’t difficult. His questions were difficult but he never moved closer to faith. He did attend fairly regularly with his believing wife. His wife camedown with an illness. She couldn’t keep the house. She couldn’t take care of her kids. She couldn’t provide meals. He was a professional and worked long hours, so some of the women in our church started going over to their house, cleaning, preparing meals for them and helping with the kids. After a couple of weeks of this, he called me and said, “Can you come over and talk to me again?” I didn’t really want to. I was kind of at my limit with all the questions when I couldn’t see any place that he was really listening. He just had questions and wasn’t really searching for answers. This time when he called, he sounded different, so I went to see him. I sat down at his dining room table and he asked me, “Who are you people that would come and do these things for my wife and my family? My own family hasn’t done this for me. Who are these women that have come and cleaned this house, taken care of meals and my children?” I began to share the Gospel with him again and he confessed Jesus as his Lord and Savior. He said to me, “Gary, forgive me, but it wasn’t your words. It was their service that led me to Jesus.” You see, your purpose matters and how we serve together matters in our unique ways. It was their vacuuming, making beds, washing dishes and caring for his children that broke his heart. He still had some questions; we still met week after week after that, but a change had happened in his heart and the answers began to sink in because, sometimes, an agnostic is just a skeptic. They enjoy the questions. They’re not really interested in the answers.

He shifted from being a skeptic to being more like the man who Jesus asked as he brought his son for healing. Jesus asked the man, “Do you believe that I can heal your son?” The man said to Jesus, “Yes, Lord, I believe, help me with my unbelief.”

This man, instead of doubting the Lord, he began to doubt his own questions and believe in the Lord. Little by little, his questions were answered. It was service that changed him.

Speaking of the least of these and certainly the unborn, today is the day that we celebrate and remember the sanctity of human life. Sanctity of Human Life Sunday is the third Sunday of January. We partner with Choices Women’s Center here in Wilson. We’ve partnered with them for thirty-two years financially and served with them, which is another great opportunity. There are other nonprofits in town, such as the Hope Station and the Wesley Shelter. We partner with the Flint Christian Home; we partner with them financially and in service. So, you find your place of service.

I would say, today, that one of the things that keeps us from growing and really reaching our city for Jesus is that many of us are “sitting on our serving hands” rather than offering them and touching others in the name of Jesus. We need preaching; I’ve been called to that, but preaching is only words without our action. We need each other. We need to serve in order to reach this city for Jesus.

HAVING THIS NEW WAY OF THINKING IN CHRIST…

3. We can find our true happiness in loving one another.

We can find our true happiness in loving one another; we can find our true identity in belonging to one another. We can find our true purpose in serving one another. Finally, we can find our true happiness in loving one another.

We’re in verses 9 thru 13, It begins in verse nine, “Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good.” Let love be authentic. Let love be real. This is agape love that he’s speaking of; it’s God’s kind of love that He gives us now, in verses 9 to 13. He gives us thirteen ethical exhortations about love. If I were to preach this, it would be a “thirteen pointer,” but I’ve decided to put it in summary fashion under one because I thought you might want to have lunch and dinner today because that would take a while. I’m going to “unpack” these quickly, but the header is “real love, genuine love” and then these thirteen ways to live it out, that lead to true happiness.

First, let me just give you a quick teaching on the four Greek words that are translated, “love.” The English language has one word for love –I love my puppy, I love chocolate and I love my wife, but in Greek, they have more exact kinds of words for love. “Eros” is where we get the word “erotic” in the English language; it is sensual or passionate love. You don’t find that word in the Greek New Testament. It’s not in the New Testament, but it is in classical Greek. “Phileo” is friendship love; that’s where we get the name of the city of Philadelphia, “the city of brotherly love.” It’s friendship love; brotherly love. “Agape” is the word for love in verse nine. This God’s kind of love, which is selfless, sacrificial love. These two words for “agape” are all over the New Testament. “Storge” is occasionally found in the New Testament and is almost always used as a compound word. “Storge” has the idea of affectionate love or the kind of love where you express it in a certain way. “Storge,” “Phileo” and “Agape” are all present in verses 9 to 13. That’s something; three of the four Greek words are all right here.

Let “agape” be genuine. The word, “abhor,” is actually “apostygeō,” which is not love. It’s translated abhor or hate; it’s actually unloved, but don’t love evil. Hate evil. Let love be real and hate evil. Hold fast to what is good.

Then he says in verse 10, “Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.” He is using two of the three words right there. “Agape” one another with “Storge” affection: “Phileo” affection. He’s got all three of the four Greek words in verse 10. Isn’t that beautiful? There should be this expressive, brotherly, affectionate love; this is why we call each other “brother” and “sister.” This is why we give each other “holy fist bumps.”

Paul tells us, in some of the closings of his letters, to greet one another with a holy kiss. There is one of the “one anothers,” by the way. “Greet one another with a holy kiss.” In our modern American culture, however, that could be awkward. I’m not sure that it would be considered holy. Greet your wife with a holy kiss; greet your kids with a holy kiss, but I’m not sure about you kissing my wife. I don’t think I’d like that. That’s who we are, right? Guys, please don’t come at me with a kiss. I’m not ready for any American men kissing me like that, Holy “fist bumps ,” a good handshake, putting our arms around each other and giving each other a pat on the back are good.

Now, if you go to some other countries, there are different cultural ways of expressing yourself, right? I’ve been on many mission trips to countries in the Middle East. It just depends. I remember the first time I went to Jordan to visit some missionaries, I was introduced to a young man whose name was Ahmed. He came to me very joyfully and got all up inside of my space, grabbed me by both shoulders and did the triple kiss and I wasn’t ready for the triple kiss. I wanted to be appropriate to the culture. Apparently, you go to the left and then right. I didn’t realize that you weren’t supposed to actually touch, you’re supposed to kiss in the air. It’s a triple kiss that the Jordanians practice. I made a mess of it; I started in the wrong direction. I tried to touch when you’re not supposed to, but thought I was supposed to and almost broke a tooth. It was a mess. Well, Gary, which side do you start on? I’m not going to tell you. You figure it out when you go to the Middle East. That way, you won’t be laughing so hard at me.

There are different ways to express brotherly affection. I was having fun a little bit, but I think it’s kind of beautiful. I remember when we brought a man, named Putu, to visit with us for a week from Indonesia. The Indonesians are so community oriented. It was this time of the year, so, he almost froze to death because Indonesia is on After about the third day, he came to me and said, “I think I’m ready to go home now, pastor.” I asked him, “Have you not enjoyed being here?” He said, “I enjoy your family. I love your family. Miss Robin makes wonderful eggs.” He wanted eggs at every meal, by the way. He said, “When I walk around your neighborhood, no one comes out to greet me. Where are the people?” I said, “Well, in America, we don’t leave our house.” He replied, “Oh, I’m ready to go home now. There’s no people, there’s no kids playing in the streets .” I’ve been to Indonesia and I remember coming home and feeling the same thing that he was feeling, Where is everybody? Where’s the togetherness? If you’ve never had it, then you might not miss it. But if you have ever had it, then you’ll miss it. It is connected to our happiness.

Philippians 2:1-2 (NLT) 1 “Is there any encouragement from belonging to Christ? Any comfort from his love? Any fellowship together in the Spirit? Are your hearts tender and compassionate? 2 Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one mind and purpose.” Paul says that it makes him happy when we are loving each other. It leads to happiness, loving each other as God would have us and, by the way, it’s the mark of a true believer.

1 John 4:20-21 (GW) Whoever says, “I love God,” but hates another believer is a liar. People who don’t love other believers, whom they have seen, can’t love God, whom they have not seen. Christ has given us this commandment: The person who loves God must also love other believers.” It’s a mark of being a believer that you love other believers; that you love one another.

Verse 10 says, “Outdo one another in showing honor.” No no, please after me.I insist after me. No let me take the check. No, I’ll pay. I’ll pay, Outdo one another in honoring each other.

Verse 11, “Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord.” Don’t be lazy. Don’t be slothful in, in your zeal. Be fervent. Serve the Lord.

Verse 12, “Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.” Verse 13, “Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.” Show hospitality, open up your homes, invite other people over for meals at your house. All 13 of them are here if you count them; the ways to show authentic love to one another.

We live in a country where our Declaration of Independence says that we have the right to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” It just came out last week in the annual report; The World Happiness Report is the title of it. For 2023, it came out that the US ranked number 15 –the country where we’re supposed to be guaranteed this life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. We didn’t even rank in the top 10. Why is that?

Economist Jeffrey Sachs says Economist Jeffrey Sachs blamed social factors for the decline in happiness. He noted how fewer people report feeling they have control over the choices in their lives; fewer people feel they have others to count on in times of difficulty; fewer people trust politicians and other public figures; and that, judged by data on charitable giving, people are less generous toward others than they used to be. Sachs concluded, concluded , “America’s crisis is, in short, not an economic crisis. It’s a social crisis.”

That’s why we’re not happy. That’s why we’re declining in happiness. As Americans get more stuff, we have less happiness. Why not simplify, why not say “yes” to the invitation of Jesus to come follow Him, to be connected to Jesus and to be connected to God’s people because “We can’t do the one anothers without one another.”

This is His call, having this renewed mind, this new way of thinking in Christ, we can find our true identity, belonging to Him and to one another. We can find our true purpose in serving one another. We can find true happiness and really love the family of God and loving one another.

Let’s pray. Lord, thank You for Your word. Thank You that You call us, first, to yourself and then to one another. Lord, I pray for that person that’s here this morning that’s never given their life to You. Is that you, my friend? Right where you’re at, right where you’re seated or maybe you’re watching online. You can pray and talk to the Lord right now. Pray like this, ‘Dear Lord Jesus, I’m a sinner. I need a Savior. I believe You died on the cross for me, that You were raised from the grave and that You live today. Come and live in me. I invite You to be my Lord and my Savior. Forgive me of my sins. Adopt me into Your family. I want to be a child of God. Thank you, Lord, for saving me.’ As you’re praying that prayer right now, believing, He will do the very thing you ask. That’s why He came. Others are here today and you’ve received Jesus. You’re a Christ follower, but you’ve been isolating yourself. I’m not sure why. Maybe, someone has hurt you. Maybe, you feel some sense of shame about a life decision you’ve made. Maybe, you just got out of the habit. Would you confess it right now and say, ‘Lord, I repent. I’m going to draw near to You and draw near to God’s people. I’m going to obey Your word and recognize my need for fellowship. Lord, I want to obey and follow and be what You’d have me be. Give me the identity, the family that You’ve called me to, Lord. I say “yes” in Jesus’ name. Amen.