foreign [Music] Delight to be back to be with you again what a delight it was to be able to be a part of the conference this weekend and I just want to Echo the thanks that were offered to those who put it together and who worked so hard as as volunteers and it does say a lot about the church when you see the people serve in an event like we saw this weekend and so thank you thank you for that and know that um it meant more than you will you will never know people want to be a part of a community that sort of conducts itself the way that this community did and so we thank God for that and speaking of community this morning I want to address that very topic and the costly call to community and and we have been called to community and that's something that has become even more precious in recent days as we had you know lockdowns and travel restrictions and everything else that sort of isolated us and posted us and didn't allow us in many ways and in many instances to experience community it was interesting as you know restrictions were sort of lifted and as I would travel again there were there were groups of people that I hadn't really thought about but I was able to see how all of this hit them you know I'm I'm traveling again and there are people who are you know checking me in for flights who hadn't been checking people in for flights and you know you get somewhere and you ride with a car service or a taxi a person who's you to interacting with people from all over the world but hadn't been able to do that because that was shut down and you go to a hotel and people are excited to be checking people in again because they weren't able to check people in and you know when you go to a restaurant people are happy to be serving people again because they weren't able to do that and it was just interesting to see all of these types of community that people have been robbed of and we know that during that season of deaths of Despair skyrocketed because we were made for community and and we missed something but more significant than all of that is a community that we experience and that we're called to as members of the body of Christ because we indeed are a community we're going to be looking at second Timothy chapter four but as you turn there there are a couple of other passages that I want to read for us First Peter chapter 2 verses 9 and 10. but you are a chosen race a royal priesthood a holy nation a people for his own possession that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of Darkness into His Marvelous Light once you are not a people but now you are God's people once you had not received Mercy but now you have received Mercy we are a people we are a nation we are a community God calls us together and we become something that we we're not and we're called to live as community Hebrews chapter 10 verses 23 to 25. became very pertinent to US during these days and many of us went back to this one passage of scripture over and over again as people tried to tell the church that the church couldn't gather that the church couldn't do what the church has been commanded to do and we know that no one can forbid what God commands or command what God forbids but there's reason for this Hebrews chapter 10 verses 23 to 25 let us hold fast to the confession of Our Hope without wavering for he who promised is faithful and let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works not neglecting to meet together as is the habit of some but encouraging one another and all the more as you see the day Drwing Near we are a community and we're called to live in community we're we're called to commune together regularly and it means something it's significant when when we're not able to do that for for whatever reason First Corinthians chapter 12 in Romans chapter 12.
we can debate all day about the nature and continuation or secession of spiritual gifts what they mean and how or where they're supposed to operate but what is not up for debate is that God gives us these gifts for purposes within our community First Corinthians 12 12. for just as the body is one and has many members and all the members of the body though many are one body so it is with Christ Romans 12 Verses 4 and 5. 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 of one another we are members of one another we belong to one another now unfortunately when we use this word Community we often have in mind this idealized version of the word and and the world has this idealized version of community as well two of the most popular and longest lasting TV shows ever produced have everything to do with Community one of them is friends oh don't act like you're too holy to know what friends is okay now I'm sure I don't understand what he's talking no you do friends what was that about that was about Community right this is about Community it was unrealistic but it was about community and the other one is going to press your Christianity even further because it's cheers which was about a bar but it's about Community right it's about being able to walk into the bar and have everybody say Norm right because you belong to a community the world Longs for community and as Christians we are part of the community that the world cannot even fathom and what they're looking for they won't find but we have we still tend to be unrealistic about community we think that true Christian Community is about finding a place where everybody thinks exactly like we do where they never let us down where they meet all of our needs and they never leave and nothing can be further from the truth in Christian Community not everybody thinks exactly like we do if you can't say Amen you ought to say ouch right and people let us down people don't meet all of our needs they weren't meant to and people leave sometimes for good reasons and sometimes for not so good reasons and and we often when we think of community we don't think about the cost we don't think about the risk we don't think about the pain we don't think about the disappointment and we don't think about the Betrayal that is inevitable consequently because we're not realistic about Community whenever we experience the risk and the pain and the disappointment or even the Betrayal what we often do is then hop from Community to community trying to find the perfect Community trying to find the community where everybody thinks like us trying to find the community where everybody meets all of our needs trying to find the community where nobody ever hurts us nobody ever disappoints Us and nobody ever leaves and that Community doesn't exist so we hop around from Community to community to community until eventually we realize that there's a common denominator in all of this disappointment and that common denominator is me it's me then there's the problem of the fake false online community that we now learn to seek out and that by the way I'm afraid that the church has entrenched because of many of our covert responses it's amazing I hear the story over and over and over again of people you know who decided okay fine we'll just shut it all down and we'll just take everything online and now all of a sudden they're trying to revamp and get people from online and people are like no I kind of like convenience and staying in my pajamas and not having to deal with people I'll keep streaming thank you very much there are many churches who have died literally have died the church no longer exists because they streamed themselves out of existence online community is not real community celebrity pastors whose messages are polished and edited and created for online consumption that's that's not a real Pastor that's not your pastor I'm heartbroken every day because every day I receive emails from people trying to make me their pastor every day I receive emails that go something like this right I just love your ministry I listen to you all the time you know and and I want to ask you this because I can't really ask my pastor and I listen to you more than anybody else so essentially you're more like my pastor than my pastor is so or emails that say you know yeah I listen to you all the time and you know I'm in Australia or I'm in Nigeria or I'm in Switzerland or I'm in New York or I'm in wherever can you Mentor me can you be my mentor virtually online and then they get hurt and disappointed and offended when I point out listen if I Mentor disciple and counseled the thousands of people who email me I wouldn't be able to be present and available for those with whom I'm in community and if you say that guess what the response is oh no no no I get that I know you can't do that for everybody but just me and what is that that is our addiction to this fake false online community people dissatisfied with their own church and their own pastors because they have this picture and this vision of this community that they have online that presents itself putting its best foot forward they never disappoint you because it's not real and this fake online world has made us more and more dissatisfied with our real messy biblical communities so so what is it supposed to look like we might not be happy with the answer but if you lean into it it'll be blessed by it so if you turn with me to second Timothy chapter four second Timothy chapter four let's look at the second half of it I often said that you know second Timothy chapter four is is very similar to Ephesians chapter two not in its content but because in Ephesians chapter 2 most people are very familiar with the first 10 verses and and can really can recite and quote most most of you know those first ten verses if not all of those first 10 verses but then verse 11 on would uh uh uh but there's good stuff in Ephesians 2 11 and following right same thing here we know these powerful first eight verses of second Timothy chapter four but there's good stuff in this second half that has a great deal to say about this costly call to community so let's look at it we'll read the second half of second Timothy chapter four and then I'll lift just a few points from here do your best to come to me soon for Demas and love with this present world has deserted me and gone to thessalonica cresson's has gone to galatia tied us to Dalmatia Luke alone is with me get Mark and bring him with you for he is very useful to me in Ministry tishikes I've sent to Ephesus when you come bring the cloak that I left with Corpus at troas also the books and above all the parchments Alexander the coppersmith did me great harm the Lord will repay him according to his deeds beware of him yourself for he strongly opposed our message at my first defense no one came to Stand By Me but all deserted me may it not be charged against them but the Lord stood by me and strengthened me so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it so I was rescued from the lion's mouth the Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his Heavenly Kingdom to him be the glory forever and ever amen greet prisca and Aquila and the household of onus of forests erastus remained at Corinth and a left trophomas who was Ill at melitus do your best to come before winter sends greetings to you so do putans and Linus and Claudia and all the brothers the Lord be with your spirit Grace be with you I love the ending of this letter and it's interesting I love it for a number of reasons but one of the reasons I love it is because as an apologist you know doing apologetics dealing with people who are making objections to you know the gospel all the time one of the things I love to point out to people who say you know no these men just made this up and yada yada and so you know these men are just inventing a religion the end of these letters make it absolutely clear that these are not men writing in order to invent a religion these are real men writing real letters to real people and this is gritty stuff at the end of second Timothy Paul's not trying to deceive anyone the kind of vulnerability that we find in this letter is incredibly telling but why is this call to community so costly because I think that's what we see from Paul here number one I believe Community is costly because it requires intimacy it's costly because it requires intimacy it's not the same as you know going to a concert and I think about that and unfortunately a lot of people have turned Church into just that kind of experience right there's a group of people who gather together because there's a type of music that we like and an incredible band that does that type of music for us every week and and all it is is we're just a group of people who who share uh you know a desire for this same kind of music we go to a concert but you don't have to be intimate with people to go to a concert with them you just you put on your concert T-shirt right we all love whatever band you know we're you know I haven't been to many concerts you know it would say a lot about me to tell you the concerts that I have been to but uh you know I again I I remember experiences I remember the first concert I ever went to it was Prince the 1999 tour oh don't act like you're too spiritual to know about but I remember that feeling you know you put on your T-shirt everybody's got their prince t-shirt on you know and they come and there's thousands of people coming to the arena and we don't know one another but everybody's smiling at each other and everybody's excited because we're getting ready to go and have this experience and all of us are you know we we're we have this like-mindedness for this night and this night only because we're all getting ready to go to this concert and see Prince that's not community that's not lasting Community is costly because it requires intimacy verse 9.
do your best to come to me soon and again verse 9 if you put it into its context do your best to come to me soon just before this Paul is alluding to the fact that he is likely to be executed so don't just take that lightly I'm likely to be executed I'm likely to die here for preaching the gospel do your best to come to me soon there's a parenthetical statement there that's not in the text and it would go like this do your best to come to me soon dot dot dot before they kill me verse 13 when you come bring the cloak that I left with Corpus at troas and also the books and above all the parchments again this is an intimate State bring me those precious things you come because your precious precious to me and then bring me those other things that you know are precious to me verses 19 to 21 greet prisca and Aquila a household of honestly for us erastus Miranda remaining current the left trophomas who was Ill at melitus do your best to come before winter you will send his greetings so the putins and Linus and Claudia and all the brothers this is intimacy this is intimacy this is not a cold-led dead letter from a religious official this is an intimate letter from one brother to another whom he dearly loves and desperately wants to see again before he dies look at the beginning of the letter go back to the beginning go back to chapter one Paul an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God according to the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus to Timothy my beloved child again that's not normal usual greeting to Timothy my beloved child my child my son in the faith whom I love grace mercy and peace from God the Father and from Christ Jesus our lord I thank God whom I serve as did my ancestors with a clear conscience as I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day as I remember your tears I long to see you that I may be filled with joy that's intimacy these are two brothers who've been in the trenches and who've shared Blood Sweat and Tears together for the sake of the Gospel Community is costly because it requires intimacy our real Community is rooted in real intimacy you don't create real intimacy overnight and you don't throw it away over trivial matters and that's why it's costly and connected to that is the fact that it's risky Community is not only costly because it requires intimacy but it's costly because it requires risk there's risk involved listen if you don't get close to me you can't hurt me if I don't let you matter to me you can't betray me but real Community requires that we take that risk foreign look at verses 10 through 12. for Demas in love with this present world has deserted me and gone to thessalonica now again don't skip past this verse every word everywhere in the text is important and I want to read this for you again but I want to read you what he didn't say so that you can be impacted by the magnitude of what he did say for Demas in love with this present world has deserted Christ that's not what he said it's true that Demas has deserted Christ and it matters that Demas has deserted Christ but Paul is talking about his pain because Demas in love with this world deserted me he continues crescents has gone to galatia Titus to Dalmatia Luke alone is with me get Mark and bring him with you for he is very useful to me for Ministry I have sent to Ephesus this is not about selfishness this is about intimacy and honesty and pain look at verse 14. Alexander the copper Smith did me great harm the Lord will pay him according to his deeds beware of him yourself for he strongly opposed our message at my first defense no one came to Stand By Me but all deserted me may not be charged against them this is a man who has experienced great personal pain because of the great risk the community Paul lists 15 names in these 11 verses 15 names and that's one of the reasons we don't pay attention to this part of the passage right we get into this habit that when we run into lists of names in the Bible we just kind of Nod at them and go okay Lord now you know like I we're going to count this as being read right but of these 15 names four of them Demas crescents Titus titicus had departed for one reason or another four mark erastus uh cappers trophymus have been left along the way so four of these Paul says they went somewhere four of these Paul says I left somewhere one had betrayed and opposed him the other six names were just mentioned in passing but but these names are important these names are important because these names these names are brought up because of the painful reality of the risk that we take in community and it's it's not just the people it's not just Alexander the Copper's Man by the way I love that I mentioned this at the conference too I love this one I love the fact that he doesn't just name names but he gets specific you know Alexander you know the copper Smith got down there on Main Street around the corner from the flower shop they're ready to date that guy I want you to yeah I want you to know exactly who I'm talking about that's painful Demas being in love with the world and abandoning him because he's in love with the world that's painful that's that's painful in pastoral Ministry this is some of the most painful stuff that we deal with people that we invest in and then they and then they leave that's bad enough but the people who we invest in and they don't just leave but but they throw stones as they go the pain of the Betrayal it's incredible and people can be cruel I I remember you know there's this one group online there's several groups online that have you know been various versions of we hate voting and hope he dies.
com um but but this this one particular group online was really vicious it's this group of of of Christian feminists and you know they hate me because you know all this patriarchy stuff that I represent and you know and I'm writing my books and you know these books about family and you know and just you know men and the toxic masculinity that just oozes apparently from every fiber of my being and they just you know and they would just they would just sit and and write stuff you know and and you know and usually whatever but every once in a while um these things would just really hurt my family it's one thing you know and I roll up you know just let it go it's me I got big shoulders whatever but then sometimes my fan I tell them don't look at this stuff don't pay attention to this stuff but this one time it just got it just it got my wife really riled up so what would happen is I I'd shaved all my hair off and I had a lot more hair then so it really meant something right and my hair was gone and one of this this feminist group they're like you know he's he's losing his hair and you know probably because of all the stuff that's going on because he's trying to hold on to his Empire and you know this and that I mean it was just like vicious about you know but my hair being gone you know and people were like you just are you gonna let them get away with this are you gonna get an I said not a word and my wife was like no you gotta no nothing's in high but here's why she was so bothered she was so bothered because several months earlier her sister who was in Houston at the time had breast cancer and was agonizing over the fact that she was about to start chemo and she was likely to lose her hair and in my living room I looked at my sister-in-law and I said you you lose yours I lose mine and so my sister-in-law when her hair started falling out sent me a picture and the next day I shaved all my hair off and now these we hate Bodhi and hope he dies. com cackling hens are writing about how this how this must be either God's judgment or this must be this or that you know and and everybody's like you you should just no but but that's just that's just one little snapshot of how awful it can be but that's not all that hurt Paul it's not just the betrayals but it's it's even the ones who left for good reason it's not just painful when people walk away from the faith it's not just painful when people you know leave the church and still throw throw stones on their way out it's also painful when people who you love are called elsewhere that's painful too and that's part of the risk it's part of the risk you know Tim brought up my grandkids and you know what I said in the last service was oftentimes people will ask um you know what was it hard for us to leave the US and and go to to Zambia and and I say with all honesty that wasn't what was hard what was hard was leaving my grandkids that's what was hard it was hard for our two older kids to see their parents and their seven younger siblings moved to Africa that was that was hard and and we hadn't deserted the faith we hadn't had a falling out but the Lord had called us to another field to do a good work and even that is painful that's part of the risk of real community it hurts when people leave even for good and right reasons we know this is parents don't we all the tears at weddings they're not all just because these young people have no idea what they're getting into but but you know what call s the most tears at weddings what causes the most tears is here we are and for all these years we've we've loved and we've nurtured and we've taught and we've mentored and we've discipled and we've known that this day was coming and now this day is here and like nothing else this day says goodbye even if you're going to be around even if you're going to be close things are never going to be the same again and that's painful Community is costly not only because it requires intimacy and it requires risk but communities also costly because it's never going to be sufficient it was never meant to be sufficient I was never meant to have all of my needs met by another person you were never meant to have all of your needs met by another person or another group of people you were never meant to have all of your needs met by the church if you're looking to have all of your needs met by another person or by the church two things are true number one you're going to be disappointed and number two you're guilty of the sin of idolatry God Alone is meant to meet all of your needs he uses other people in that process but no single person no single entity apart from God is meant to meet all your needs which which means that whatever benefits we get from Community they will always be insufficient there will never be enough because they were never meant to be enough look at verses 17 and 18. but the Lord stood by me and strengthened me so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it so I was rescued from the lion's mouth the Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his Heavenly Kingdom to him be glory forever and ever amen this is the perspective that allowed Paul to endure the pain and to respond to it appropriately uh look back at the text for example look back at verse 14 again Alexander the coppersmith did me great harm the Lord will repay him according to his deeds now look at verse 16.
at my first defense no one came to Stand By Me but all deserted me may it not be charged against them he's hurt but he's not bitter don't miss that he's hurt and the hurt is real but he's not bitter he's not vindictive he's not striking out he's not repaying evil for evil he's trusting in the Lord to vindicate him he's trusting in the Lord to make all things right because yes that hurt but you were not meant to meet all of my needs yes that hurt but you are not the be-all to end all to my community yes that upset me but my world has not Fallen apart because of what you did because Community is important but it will never be sufficient Christ is sufficient it captures this well in Philippians turn with me to Philippians chapter 1. and I think we really get insight in into into Paul's theological Foundation that allowed him to respond to pain without becoming bitter and without striking back without becoming cynical because that's what that's what happens to many of us we become bitter we become cynical we strike back and we begin to say you know what I love Jesus but I'm done with the church I'm done with those people those people let me down those people disappoint me I'm out of here how is it how is it that Paul could be honest about the fact that he's been hurt he's been betrayed he's been abused and yet not be bitter and trust the Lord and do it again raise up these young men pour his life into these young men have a loving relationship with these young men be encouraged by the fellowship with these young men and then open his hand and let them go and experience that pain and then go do it again experience that pain and then go do it again give his life away to a man like Demas and then demons leaves not only him but leaves the faith and he turns around and he does it again and again and again and again without becoming bitter without becoming cynical without becoming vengeful and vindictive how why Philippians chapter one beginning in verse 18. yes and I will rejoice for I know that through your prayers and the help of the spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my Deliverance as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed but that will with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body whether by life or by Death for to me to live as Christ and to die is gain if I am to live in the flesh that means fruitful labor for me yet which I shall choose I cannot tell I am hard-pressed between the two my desire is to depart and be with Christ for that is far better but to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account you see Paul did not see his life or he did not see the community or the sense of community as existing for him he saw him as existing for the community famous John F Kennedy quote right ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country ask not what the community can do for you but what you can do for the community and and that's our problem that's why we don't have Paul's disposition when pain and heartache and disappointment and betrayal comes because we walk into this thinking the community exists for me what can you do for me what of my needs can you meet how can you satisfy me and then when the community doesn't do all of those things we say I'm done with you I'm out of here I'm going to find somebody else who can satisfy me and meet my needs and over and over and over again we go Paul says no no no no this is the body of Christ I am here to serve the body of Christ I love the Lord Jesus and I'll be with him someday and some days I even prefer to be with him but he's left me here because there's work for me to do for his body Paul why do you keep doing this again and again and again because I'm serving the lord Jesus Christ and I'm serving his body yeah but look at what happened with demons and and look at what happened with Alexander to which Paul would probably respond yes but look at what happened with Timothy and look at what happened with Titus look at what the Lord did look at what the Lord did and even beyond that how dare I complain about pain and heartache and disappointment and betrayal when I'm serving the body of Christ who suffered pain and heartache and disappointment and betrayal to the point of death on the cross to die for his bride to rescue his bride from her own sin Christ looks at the bride and he says she is worthy of my very life how can I then turn and look at the bride and say she is not worthy because she disappoints me she's not worthy because she let me down she's not worthy because she doesn't meet all of my needs how dare I how dare you this is the bride for which he laid down his life and died and we get to be a part of her and we get to serve her and we get to commune with her and we get to strengthen her and we get to be strengthened by her all for the sake of advancing the Kingdom so that Christ May indeed have the fullness of the reward for which he died what's not worth that what price is too high to pay for that you saying nasty stuff about me online listen listen here's the deal for all of them we hate voting and hope he dies.
