The Unveiling

Lord God B there was no my wife or my son. Dues will be coming will be later. There were no Mexicans on which were Mexican. So you know my American brothers always ICP Thomas in time, same thank you note on it is contextualized the rhythm of where we are right. My two daughters are back in cans. They were family and so I'm sober.

It was meant to be with y'all. I'm a little old school so can now do me to pledge a stand with me as we read the word of God. If you have a physical Bible none of the amenities that a physical Bible.

First Thessalonians chapter 2 verse eight of your text. If you have your new school and you got a device that you type it in first Thessalonians chapter 2 verse eight is working to be at this morning.

The title of the sermon is the unveiling it's identifying and addressing three blind spots in evangelism and discipleship and matters of the heart to see saints in action with gospel stewardship sharing the gospel and themselves with saints and sinners are more compact. I think how Paul modeled that for us to catch cues from and how we can literally live out this by the agency of God the Holy Spirit who lives inside of us.

And so as you turn there. I want to read the passage and I want to pray first Thessalonians chapter 2 verse eight says this so being affectionately desirous of you we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God, but also our own selves, because you would become very dear to us tell anyone about one again. Runabout promulgated in Spanish is all about best in the Queens English it means I'm going to repeat the affirmation statement that was just mentioned previously, so all that to say we want to back them again here goes. First Thessalonians to eight so being affectionately desirous of you we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God, but also our own selves because you had become very dear to us. Let's go before the Lord in prayer. Heavenly father. What a joy it is to be gathered with the saints. What a privilege it is to unpack the truth of your word which is timeless Holy Spirit. I pray that you would leverage my heart to be nothing more than a microphone used to amplify your word and your truth to the here on this day, and it is my hearts desire that you would mobilize each and every one of us, regardless if we know you are not to focus our attention on the cross of Christ and the work that was done on our behalf so we can share this unique powerfully packed message of the gospel with those who are around us that know not the affections of our God, or that are immature in this faith called Christianity.

The Lord will be careful to give you the praise, honor and glory in Jesus name we pray. Amen.

You may be seated. So I know we would all agree that there was a sense of urgency in regards to the need of sharing the gospel message but then at the same time, there's that tension that we have of just doing life for me.

We have a task list. We have deadlines we have stuff we have to get done. We gotta run errands, half of us got a pack of half of our kids in one vehicle and taken the gymnastics. The other guy go to soccer. The other guy go to football the other. Gotta go to art school, whatever it may be.

Life is a reality and there's things that we have to get accomplished if were to be good stewards of our day off and we are burning the candle at both ends and we're living in a rhythm of burnout and we don't even know what is the normalcy of our everyday life and the whole thing is that they were moving so fast you were caught up in the rhythm of life.

It's easy to forget the reason why God has called us to the cross of Christ to embrace his work in our place.

That is to go out into the world and do life with what were doing life make disciples. And if we ever divorced the reality of the gospel message from our discipleship making were not making disciples. And so there is this reality of getting recalibrated to the heart of God to have a sense of urgency to unpack the gospel message were ever we go. I have a conviction that every believer is a missionary and every piece of ground that you walk on from the college campus to the grocery store everywhere in between.

That is your mission field, and if that's the case, then we have the happiest urgency to see the immediacy of the loss listed is surrounding us and we when we forget that if people are not all peripheral because the busyness of life is holding us hostage where worried about their eternal condition and so we lose that urgency and I believe that that puts three blind spots in the normalcy of our everyday life. The word unpack of this passage today, so there is a thesis statement. If there is a filter. I want us to grapple with. As we work through this passage. It's this, our hearts will be more prone to share the gospel with saints and sinners when we get engaged with our context give HR contributions of our sales and our Savior and grieve every day over the spiritual condition about us a lot for me. What about formal game hearts will be more prone to share the gospel with saints and sinners when we get engaged with our context give eternal contributions of ourselves and our Savior and grieve every day over the spiritual condition of others. The reason I say the gospel of the for both saints and sinners is because us in the conviction I have, because I am prone as a believer in Jesus Christ to be swayed towards what I call self-induced legalism which means I will put this law on myself and nobody else gives me. For example, I'll be very honest with you, by set my alarm to wake up at 530 to get up that my cup of coffee to pray. If I sleep until seven. I naturally wake up feeling like that I would have been living in sin and God is displeased and the disconnection will be a God that self-induced legalism because the gospel reminds me that meal was a dead center was given the ability by God the Holy Spirit. As I heard the gospel proclaimed when I heard the message that I was born dead in sin separated from God illegitimate illegitimately spiritually. I was not a child of God spiritually though he was my creator that was the condition of my reality.

Because Psalm 51 five tells me that while I was being formed in my mother's will.

And guess what was present not just my organs say Sam was already woven into the fabric of my genetic makeup Psalm 58, three clearly tells me that from the womb. The wicked come forth, speaking lies so all of our native language is lying. Nobody had to teach us how to say it natural because like without employing the words I call say when natural born sinners as the reality of who we are in the gospel puts us up again that that's who we are. But then a contrast that with the righteousness of God within them just highlight the righteousness of God. It says that Christ himself was fully God made a willful conscious decision to step out of eternity into Tom coiled himself in human flesh like a rocket all garbled today and he added to his full deity for humanity uniting the two natures, all of eternity so that he could live all of the in obedience to all of God's command that you and I could never do. Nobody on the side of eternity could ever live fully with full obedience before commands of God. But not just that that he would get up on a cross in the substitutionary place of sinners like you and I can become a sponge to absorb the totality of the cup of God's wrath down to the last drop in a matter of three hours each. My eternal sentence and three hours on that cross and that he was buried, and that he resurrected literally visibly and physically. Three days later and he walked amongst witnesses who saw him, he chopped it up with him he told him what the next queue would be and that he went up to be with the father.

He is interceding for us today and we await that literal visible and physical return when he cracks the start to come back for his bride that the gospel message and I need every day we talk to sinners that our Lord Jesus is this Jackpot Jesus for a pie-in-the-sky that finding a job promotion to go.

Let me make your way.

If I say my printer my way about given up time and offering the automobile Jesus good cider is one of many options that God is like a cake and Jesus is one slice of the cake. Absolutely not. The gospel says where in complete opposition to those false philosophies and false ideologies that been conjured up in the mind of sinful human beings and so that reality is what needs to be unpacked to both saints and center on a daily basis. So that's just mozzarella sticks and artichoke shrimp dip for what we can to get into this morning right that's the appetizer. So here's the blind spots. Blind spot number one is the real top. We are disconnected or disconnected were disconnected in two ways is a spiritual disconnection and physical disconnection the spiritual disconnection is the gospel highlights. Is this reality, we were once according to Ephesians chapter 2 verses one through three. When we were dead in our sin separated from God.

We were a part of this worldly system that is being orchestrated by the prince of the power the air for the master conductor himself and that's it. He leverages the sons of disobedience, which in the Greek to English literally means those who refuse to be persuaded by the truth of the gospel, he allows them to leverage that world system just suck us in the living a life of complete selfishness and contentment away from God. So the reality of that condition is what we were once and that's what every human being outside of Christ has been born into.

So there's an immediate disconnection from conception at the time we are going to the time we die from God. We are disconnected all because not of race, not of socioeconomics. Not if your SEC or ACC has nothing to do with that has everything to do with sin we inherited and we are participants in playing out on a day-to-day basis. But, praise be to God when we heard the gospel and the Holy Spirit supernaturally caused us to be made alive in Christ which is what Ephesians 24 through 10 tells us were saved by grace through faith, not of our works in the reality of that now sets up a connection with God, but a spiritual disconnection from the world. The worldly system will want a part of is not a bad thing. That's a good thing because now through Christ being the bridge. We can now reach out to those who were disconnected from God through the gospel ministry and bring them if you will, into the position where they can now be confronted by the reality of the cross. But there's a physical disconnection that spiritual disconnection leads to when we are now in Christ there is this level of comfort we would get a little bougie on them.

Everything we too good now for the people we used to be around early and I walk we have the tendency of relying on a normal lollipop models on you do this or I needed to do my taxes and we begin to express our convictions but sometimes it may come off condescending and to be honest with you. Look were going to offend sinners when we live the gospel to proclaim with our lips and our lives. That's what Paul said in Galatians 511 that the cross is an offense.

The reason the cross is an offense as it removes every brownie point you think you could stack up in the eyes of God, to earn salvation. The cross tells us you can't work to earn a right relationship with God. You have to come as a sinner, say I'm guilty. I need the plea-bargain, the Christ is offering me right now for sale. Fully guilty of my sin. And I fully accept what he did to my place that I could never do add or take away from in order to be brought into a right relation with God.

So when we get disconnected physically from the world we do in the Christian Bible we feel comfortable around believers uncomfortable around nonbelievers will not engage with them as much. And then there's the attention of no longer having a urgency to share with them the gospel. So rather than being swayed into a Christianized world where fluency is now Christian East jargon that they have no idea what were talking about what I love about this passage or to put us up on Damon that Paul wrestled with that same tension and Paul did two things in order to get engaged with his context so because were disconnected. That's the blind spot, but the addressing is let's get engaged.

The context God has.

Here's what Paul did. Once he forced himself to be around nonbelievers so that he can stay in the conversation with gospel proclamation. He would go to the synagogue were the religious Jews work him off of the gospel he reasoned in the synagogue for weeks to try to murder him to come out and then when they got know what that he would he go marketplace to the Gentiles. He went wherever sinners were in order to unpacked it in the glorious truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ. But the second thing he did is not just any conversation with the world when God would save individuals and bring them to the knowledge of Christ and caused them to be born again by the agency and the ministry of God the Holy Spirit. Guess what Paul did. He stayed in community with those who embrace Christ Jesus, so that was that balance that we must meet. Sometimes we wrestle with obstacle full-blown of the world and isolate myself in the Christian community. That's not healthy. God did not save us. In order to become isolated God is simultaneously always existed. His father, son and Holy Spirit, God's very nature is community so you can save us to live in isolation. He saved us in creating us to bring us in this community so that we in the body of Christ can live in community together into life together both on the side of eternity throughout all of eternity in the presence of our God and so now what Paul says is not just going out to the world but not to stay clicked up in community but both because eventually all the CDs people come here and they'll immobilize these people to go back to the back and forth, back and forth was seen more people brought to the knowledge of Christ to receive salvation. So looking at this internal disconnection we got asked God to provide us with a desire to engage with the nonbelieving world. This process of being affectionately desirous of you that that phrase affectionately desirous is what I call pregnant like imagine the lady who was 10 months pregnant and her due date was three weeks ago and she's one sneeze away from dropping a bundle of joy wherever she says right like that's the reality of how how just enormous, not the lady but enormous this passages is packed with true so that that phrase affectionately desirous it means this it means to have a strong desire to be with someone your discontent until your with them in the Greek is really what we call the present tense which means this is an ongoing desire is not one something like a let's get it in a minute. We spent two hours. The other great catching up and then I'm onto the next one and I will talk to you for another two years. I really don't want to be around was much no more.

It's not bad. It's this continual pursuit of putting yourself in the intersection of life with that person you desire to be around. But in addition to that present sentence written in what we call the middle voice the middle voice is this internal desire and willful action that matches it that we have such a strong desire that motivates us to do something right so it's that consistently putting myself in the intersection of rhythm of life with that person so that I can consistently be around them. This word is packed with emotion. It was used in two ways. In the then known world, it was used to be imprinted on the headstone of children whose parents just wanted that child back this that you're gone too soon. Oh, I desire to hold you again. I desire to eat lunch with you again, walking to school again. I want you with me on discontent because now you're gone forever. So that was one usage of this word is so strong it is. The other use is a mother who desires intimacy in connection with her newborn baby is a set early. I have two daughters attended a six-year-old. And God blessed my wife and I with the baby boy last October.

So he's nine months old. His name is Damon Junior we had to give him a good nickname so that's my home. We do so we call induced in the crazy thing about deuces.

This when he was born.

I watched the most amazing thing take place after the birth situation and so with that the nurse is an in and in the team minister to the needs of my wife, and they were cleaning do soft and immediately my due got Street Craig's they put a Scully on his head numb like I gave him that was like a smudgy and they put them in a diaper wrapped him and then they put him on the chest of my wife and elites skin. They dim the lights, put some nice serene music on cake everybody about that piece except for my wife do, and I and they bonded.

They fell asleep at the same time they are there breathing patterns match that I felt two types of ways.

At that moment I would like Moran to get in this thanks always.

I told you know that all satellite one-on-one is no minimum to mess up moments like that you know is clumsy man in a second thing is, I'm just like I'm just enamored by the reality of this beautiful so after the hour was over.

The nursing staff came in and they continue to minister to the needs of my wife preparing her to help get ready to nurse dues induced at this moment is woke up, he's frustrated. He's taking shots at the nursing staff like phone bows and and again I felt two types away.

One of the proud that let us not go down.

I don't think that this eczema can calm down. Gigi got the rest you like to fight people off my light like don't don't show all you say major. Right now, right, and so they wrap up. There was no Mike and I cannot hold them until I absolutely saw Holderman on like it was a little homey like this are really because Mike is a Mike was good homey like you. My G dog like that. I'm your dad and I begin a plan on my home is likely just two hours before he was born I was like nonelderly raisin environment where you have the ability to make rational decisions entitled to what was done to me man obstinately.you can go here to do this with everything I said I wouldn't do. Now I'm doing right in my doing. Crime is like knowing what's going on. Maybe Sue my wife says Damon was my real government name. She had a Mike call me that you like Damon Lee holding an online bad side is also similar in the sum you know I like Damon my wife says these which he says this brace for real for real. I know my wife is for reverse your chick eyes as you like. Damon will reduce now that moment I had two options.

I just run of the hospital is just me here for the rest of our life.

We don't join a psychosis on home reliably don't make that I can surrender him to my wife. This boy thrown a Mike our baby, so I hand him over to Alecia as soon as our fingertips touch this brother swaddling clothes. Guess what happens this brother goes to the locks eyes with Alecia. She begins the nurse now that moment again. I felt two times away from light like dead dad is messed up brother prodigal son already lame is like that whole thing right. But then I asked my wife, did you. This will be a dumb question, forgive me, a man something to give me a pass at this like you miss me you want to be with them. She said yeah it's amazing to me that in the time you had bonded with him. It was so intimate was so precious. It was uninterrupted. But he did equally desire to the same way they affectionately desire each other.

So Paul is saying in this. This should be our posture towards those that God has called us to reach with Christ is that we should desire to be intersected with them to consistently make gospel investments in her life to those who are walking with Christ already. This is what I desire for community should be like the man. My week is discontent like on my mom startled them all the things I got going on honey to connect with the body of Christ to get acclimated to the rhythm of community throughout the week not just on a Sunday or Saturday, so we have to have balance in stewarding our time with people so we find ourselves in these intersections. That kinda gives us another blind spot that second blind spot is were dichotomized were dichotomized were disconnected but then we get engaged but we get engaged.

Now we have to wrestle with this dichotomy, that dichotomy is this. We will either a give the gospel and withhold ourselves or give ourselves and withhold the gospel. One of the other.

We force this natural dichotomy, Paul shows us what God is calling us to do is that we were with them when we have that time we have those precious moments we give eternal contributions of ourselves and our Savior. So with the both and not either or two relationships a risk and we been hurt everything what is a limit that we build these walls of self-preservation that will only allow people to get so far into would become vulnerable and we want to stack these bricks of self-preservation so that they cannot penetrate the heart and heard us. Like other people done the past and like how we have been other people as well so we force this dichotomy I'll share the gospel until nursing and they need Jesus, okay with that but share my life and my struggles now know about that resolute too much, or its share my life with people but I got tell him about the cross.

Now one of cinema want to jack up our relationship was that dichotomy, Amanda. We wrestle with all world needs to see God at work in the lives of his saints present tense.

One thing I consistently challenge people within become vulnerable when I preached is that we need to stop the days we only talk about before all the safes in and when I was a babe in Christ drug is the reality of know I still sin and I still struggle and this is how God is still working on me when the world sees that little delicatessen saints to keep 100 which means to be authentically transparent, so it's like okay so you got is working on you as well.

We taught my daughters this on the my mama taught me when I was little boy coming up says he still working on me to make me what ought to be just a week to make the moon and the stars, the sun and earth and Jupiter and Mars. But how loving and patient. He must be see still working on me.

He recent to the depth of the hood and save this duty when I was 15 years old. Another walking with him for 19 years now by his grace. But here's the deal.

19 years later as I stand this very morning he still working on me sees the struggles he exposes my sand went on in the word. He still loves me the same in all world needs to see and hear that. No longer should there be the façade Christianity which says everything is perfect everything is right. That's not real life, real life, says not everything is still jacked up but there is coming a day when sin is no longer to be a wrestle that's coming a day when pornography is knocking to be attention this coming a day when the last patient is no longer in astronomy, and sin is not there and you can be worth it, and send not their if you embrace the reality of Christ. So Paul felt the same tension in his responses what we can put in the practice. This is why he says in our text we were ready to share with you none of the gospel of God, but also our own selves that phrase we were ready. In the Greek is the imperfect tense which, sheds light on the past action was reoccurring.

So it was a consistent like if you watch a movie and you put all replace that repeat. Repeat. Repeat. That's the reality. Paul is saying we were always ready and you know you contract with this moment with you. We consistently did this, we consistently share the gospel and ourselves. But it's in the active voice which means this that Paul and his team made the conscious, willful decision to repeatedly do the same action over and over again that when they were connected and rhythm in life we date the gospel. Dave ourselves gave the gospel.

Dave ourselves gave the gospel. Dave ourselves in the pocket translate that we were ready to good translation English. I think a better translation would be met.

We took delight in doing this and gave us pleasure to get the gospel and ourselves. We took joy in becoming transparent and vulnerable. Every time we were with you because it was an investment of eternal proportions and x-rays to share with is a desire to give somebody something to break them off a piece of something given to them. Let them have it. While you don't give it all away and when you walk away. They still have the story to my wife help me find it's a place right here in North Carolina, a 13-year-old precious baby girl was healthy, vibrant, and living in active. All of a sudden her eyes begin to turn yellow. She went to the doctor she had these flulike symptoms. They found out that she had liver disease and it was so rampant in her body. The only way she could live was with a liver transplant and they said this is progress so fast under the radar. You are just livers consumed with it, you will die unless you have a transplant so they put them on a list search family members and found her older brother was a perfect match.

But the issue is her older brother still alive and so he became voluntarily what is called a living donor where he was able to go under the knife and say you can cut a part of my liver out of me give it and put it into her body and because it is still a living organ.

It will regenerate itself. While it is still doing the work that was created to do and so that procedure went forward. She got a piece of his liver imparts it in a hurry.

He kept the remainder the liver by God's grace, there still living and thriving. To this day, increasing about his when they asked him how did you feel when you did this, he said it took pleasure gave me joy made me happy. Because of this I was able to give a gift of life to my sister and she still with us today. If I had to do it again. I do it a second time I do 1/3 time I do 1/3 time. If I had to consistently keep doing this I would keep doing it so that she could keep having life. My question for us is this. If a brother is willing to save the physical life of his very own cyst.

How much more should we be willing to make gospel investments of the gospel message and ourselves and imparts it into the here's the we are in the rhythm of life with on a consistent basis for physical sustainability but for eternal life. And that's the urgency the believers must run with this because we have this this misunderstanding, eternal life begins when we die when when I come from eternal life begins the moment we hear the message of the cross were broken and shattered and say I need the oh how I need the past may not all gentle same care model will crop another dollar calling there we beg and plead to be saved in the moment. The were saved.

That's the moment we are given life eternal. So eternal life begins the moment we are born again in Christ by the ministry of the Holy Spirit. The problem is our internal reality is not reflected on our external reality. So we walk around burdens to walk around frustrated, irritated, and the complaining life if you will cycle the everything is irritating. A single complaining and not living in showing the display were not billboards for eternal life billboards for the rhythm of this world and I'm guilty that's why you're the inclusive way. This is a consistent struggle. I wrestle with nonbelievers looking in my life and say that life looks like. I'm happier doing me now versus putting my trust in what you're saying because you look more down than I do so as believers we have the shoulder man. Yes, the cares of this world are tough and trying and burdensome. But that's reason I can cast my cares upon him. His yoke is easy and his burden is light so we can show them this is what living life in Christ.

Looks like on this side of eternity. So is he. Brother took pleasure in giving that to his sister. We too must take pleasure in giving this to those who were not believers and those who are believers. These gospel eternal investments that phrase not only are not only the gospel but our own selves that phrase our own selves literally means the totality of one's being and literally means I gave all that I had to you, my mind my will, my emotions, my time is not about dying for someone. It's about living with them. That's what people need in our life. People that will just live with them.

It's about sitting there in the moment of suffering silently with them and weeping when you don't have the answers and you're not embarrassed to say I don't have the answers. I don't understand I don't have the mind of God. I don't know why this keeps happening. I don't know why he's allowing this and I'm not to try to over Christianize or go a few passages of Scripture to serve as a Band-Aid for your gaping wound but I will remind you of the sovereignty we see in the Scriptures, and I will sit here in weep with you in the middle of this fire because I love you is that moment when we think will my my my suffering resume does not match the resume of their suffering. In one situation I was pastoring was a couple they had a miscarriage.

My wife and I by God's grace have never suffered that pain of a miscarriage or the loss of a child and I walked into that hospital room thinking I can't minister to them during that. I don't know what this is like everything a polygamist say is superficial, so I couldn't say anything at all and I sat there for over an hour there was another time when precious family, our church, their father passed away. He was a believer. He was a pastor and God did great things and I sat in that room with them. My dad is never died. I don't know what that tension is like pressing hymns with them and I worked with them in for even over the moment in time. To me it was awkward as all get out, both those families came to me after and said you know what though was only our menu injected joy for days in our lives. The fact that you would just be with us today and check my resumes, allies or dad.you can't minister they didn't do that. They were so needy for ministry in a time of need. The body of Christ needed to be mobilized to meet with the walking sensitivity to the spirit of God when I walking and sensitivity to the spirit of God were to miss those moments to be the church to the church to the world. It's about providing biblical counsel in the moments of chaos and calamity and confusion about reminding them the eternal truths found in the Scriptures about highlighting our present tense work. So we dissolve that dichotomy when we give eternal investments, and contributions of the gospel and ourselves in the lives of people who were precious. They are going to spend eternity in one place or the other either in the presence of God or the place of eternal conscious torment known as the lake of fire. One of child destinations is every person reality from the waiter that is filling up your copy at the restaurant to the person of taking your ticket at the ballpark to the person who's playing basketball on TV to the people whose story is being exploited all over the baroness pretty turning one of two places and what are we doing with the concern about their eternal state of being seen nonbelievers and believers can shut us down from talking to God, to them so we can think is probably hear your religious mumbo-jumbo. They can shut us down, but what they can do is shut us down to us talking to God about them. So when there is no leverage in relationship. We can still take them before the throne room of Argyll, if not even one other piece of advice before moving to the last point is this, that sometimes in our lives. God calls us to a season of perpetual plowing, planting and watering. We won't see increase and that is frustrating like that is that is everything I thought bouts of depression as a pastor because his plow plow play water plant water plow plow where's the freaking fruit godlike was going on, may what is their hidden sin like what is it like I'm serious like for years is labor labor and then here's what happened. God will transplant me elsewhere and plow me on the back and then there's the fruit tree and I might not now timeout run at back flag on the play holding clipping three shots Jesus what is going on like that guy. I me plow on his time, the supply did and then all of a sudden now there's a fruit tree.

That's what I have to go back to the Scriptures to be corrected in my flesh I am playing my role.

I'm running my lane.

He's the one.

The breezy increase in his own sovereign time. So rather than seeing that his contention on to say men praise you that you did this. Praise you that the time that I get a seafood for ministries not because of me. It's because I'm walking in somebody else's work that he moved on and at the right time planted me there and there's fruit is like. To God be the glory. This is not my work.

This is your work because somebody else labor performed. So if you're in that season when you're planting plowing in your watering you select that nonbeliever what I believe is not getting through that season of cement.

Don't give up on them. That was me that was me before Christ after Christ and often times, that is me. That's my hardened heart.

Don't give up on them. Keep plowing, keep Lansing keep watering keep showing in the hope of Christ, opening alike. Keep making those investments don't stop. These are internal contributions that have an expiration date on so don't give up on people. The third blind spot is this.

We give up on people. We become desensitized for desensitized so often for those of us with walking in Christ for a while and what we would call biblically spiritually mature, it's hard for us to sympathize with the struggles of sinners and younger saints in the faith the things that they wrestle with the newness of Christ to try to shed their former way of living were like man I haven't felt like that tension in 15 years on him so divorced from that I minutes.

It's hard for me to get get get in that mindset again so that would become super super spiritual writing. It's easier to default and safe for men just trust in Jesus and in say a quick little prayer and I am praying for you and pray for you and we may be, or maybe not. Pray for were desensitized or coworker that we know how to live in because they put out there every single day throne ashamed of their lifestyle for sinfulness and will share with them the eternal words of God were desensitized to get my work done I get my work done. The way that we actively remove that blind spot is this.

We grieve every day over the spiritual condition of others I have to ask God on a consistent basis to deposit and impart in my heart. His grief for the loss people in my city because if I don't, the busyness of life is going to divorce me from compassion.

It is, and where divorced from God's compassion were divorcing the great commission is the reality of our life reminds me of my home reduce man reduce he's learning how to crawl. He doesn't law only calling us how to get a Rolex crazy man like 34 years old. I don't remember what it's like crawling on the ground to alligator roles, but I don't lay out a little is like being a nine month old. I don't and so so often in the busyness of life. My wife is cooking dinner motor daughters or coloring or watching TV.

I'm on the phone I'm sending emails I'm doing some sermon prep induces sitting there frustrated and irritated because he can't get from point A to point B is not say okay timeout standing up my job.

Now you're starting to tell me is not that we're doing life we forgot about his struggle were desensitized as we are divorced from the reality of the struggle you'll make some a little home reduce light up with joy. It's not if I coach of 1 foot in front of the other, it's not that it's literally getting down there I do I level with him on the ground soon as I do, that we like what he does. He smiles gets excited starts in the floor.

Get this motivation to start. I like the in the ninja warrior him comes out rises like going heart. After crawling to me.

That's when new believers in Christ need they need season mature saints were to pop their knees on the way down and get in the struggle with them, not just coach them from afar, but say no, let's lock eyes.

Are you good, me listed that encouragement, baby, let's get this thing together. That's what babes in Christ need tax discipleship. One mature believer, grabbing the other mature believer by the hand and say let's walk mature together.

That's all.

Discipleship is it's doing life and growing in Christ. That's what it is so allowed Paul to go forward with this type of the reality is this, as we close because you have become very dear to us that phrase very dear to us is centered around the agape of God. The agape love of God is self-sacrificing, unconditional, unwavering love, and there's two realities of his agape love one it's demonstrated an action, God's love is not just the noun it is a verb is demonstration John 316 if I were translated from Greek to English the emphasis puts the focus on how God love, not who God love to a better way to say it was God demonstrated his love by sending his son, that whoever would believe in him should not die.

It's that parallel of Romans 58 that while we were ungodly separated from God in our lowest point of ever existing.

We were sinners at that moment Christ died for the ungodly. So it's love demonstrated to those at their lowest.

If he did that for us. How dare we withhold that agape love from those who were at their lowest either in Christ or outside of Christ as it was while we were outside of Christ that he died in demonstrated his love for us. We need to replicate that reality in the lives of people.

Next it's experienced in relationship. So not only is it demonstrated in action, we experience and we grow in the knowledge of God's love for us as we live life with him the same thing for my home reduce when I held him again. It's on how much I loved him he could understand the words coming out of my mouth did understand all the things I was telling him. But you know what now these nine months old when he is hungry and me and my wife EMP start understand this is what love looks like he's getting the reality that were with him.

So when he scrapes his knee and he gets older will be there to say we love you were still with you God for bid, but when he has his first heartbreak will be there to help him on that rebound and say man, God is still with you. We are still with you when he swings any messes in it.

Strike three and they lose the game. Then he's gonna see daddy has not abandoned him and his lowest point. Daddy and mommy are there. We are there to say you experience the depth of our love one layer at a time. Crisis after crisis after crisis after crisis you see that although he's going deeper and deeper and deeper. But if a man like me can give a good gift to my child. How much more can your perfect father in heaven, whose love is infinite and the depth of his love every breath you say that's what you show to the world.

That's what you show to the body.

So the worship teams, the world is trying to force us into a rhythm of life where we remain disconnected remain dichotomized and remain desensitized. But God is saying to believers on this side of eternity. I am giving you one job description from the newest convert to the oldest St. one cough away from glory.

We have the same job description as you know, my life make disciples of all ethnicities.

That is our only reason for breathing on the side of eternity now and that is not a reality.

Unless we share the gospel share our lives and we do life in transparency with those God intersects with the rhythm of our life so your heart and my heart will be more prone to share the gospel with saints and sinners when we get engaged with our context give eternal contributions of ourselves and our Savior and grieve every day over the spiritual condition of others which you stand with me as we pray father have done my best to just unpack your word. You were the only one the supernaturally can move on the hearts of the people as I have desired to make the gospel as clear as I could. There were those who don't know you, Lord.

There were no those who have been living disconnected from you and I pray to the proclamation unashamedly. The gospel message that they would see their own sinfulness and their own lack of ability to get into a right relationship with you. Therefore, the need to declare dependency on the person and work of Jesus Christ. And for those who do know you that are immature that you put desire, Lord God of growth from milk to meat and then they wanted desire to be in community with saints or mature, they can live life with them and equally. I pray that you would mobilize the mature saints to get down ground level with those who are in their infancy crawling in Christ.

To say we are with you. I love you. Let's mature together, father answer my prayer in accordance to your will, and Jesus matchless name