Side by Side for the Gospel

Today is our Fall Kickoff Sunday… which simply means that we are going to set our sights on where we are going as a church this Fall...

After this Spring and Summer, it’s DEFINITELY a good time to bring clarity to where we believe God would have us focus our attention…

When the rest of the world is in upheaval about almost everything… no one really seems to agree which way is best...

It’s so good to come together and KNOW that God has a purpose for US… for THIS. No matter what changes, his mission to build his church stays the same!

This Fall we are going to be studying Paul’s letter to the Philippians with the theme, “Side by Side for the Gospel.”

That comes from the key verse of the letter chapter 1:27: “Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel...” (Philippians 1:27, ESV)

Paul LONGED to be physically present with the Philippian church… but instead he found himself in chains in Rome… and he wanted to make sure that the Philippian church stayed in this mission together with each other… and with him.

That they worked side-by-side… partnering together of the faith of the gospel.

We kind of know what that feels like, don’t we??? As I was getting ready for this series, I think this phrase “side by side” took on new meaning after living through a few months of social isolation.

We kind of know what it feels like to stand side-by-side from a distance when we really WISH we could be physically present.

I found it interesting that a buzz phrase during the isolation time was “We’re in this together.” You saw it on social media… on TV commercials… on the news… “We’re in this together.”

It was sort of ironic… we were all going through the same thing… we WANTED to support one another… but we actually COULDN’T be physically together.

And that’s hard. Because the longer you can’t look eye-ball to eye-ball, the harder it is to feel like you are really “In this together.”

There’s just something to being able to Physically stand side-by-side even as we spiritually stand side by side.

And so now that we are hopefully out of the season of social isolation… and now that most of us are back from summer vacations and getting into our Fall routine...

… we want to remind ourselves of WHY we are standing side-by-side. WHAT are we pursuig together?

Here’s why we are doing what we are doing this fall… here’s how we want to grow…

Big Idea: Partner together in the pursuit of knowing and proclaiming Jesus.

Your Bibles are open to Philippians 1… today we’re going to dig into the first two verses… It’s Paul’s signature of the letter...

But it’s is more than just a thoughtless signature like we might use at the end of an email or something…

THIS is the inspired word of God… and it helps us understand the content and themes that we are going to study this Fall.

Read with me Philippians 1:1-2. [READ]

This is a letter written to inspire the church to continue their partnership in the pursuit of knowing and proclaiming Jesus.

I believe that’s how God wants to use it in OUR church this year too.

Out of these two verses of (very intentional) greeting I believe we can see...

Three Ways to Partner This Fall (v. 1)

Followed by two things we will need in order to do that.

So we will start with three ways you can apply this letter… three ways you can partner with Christ’s church at Oak Hill this Fall, and the first is this:

1) Serve Jesus in regular ministry ["servants"]

Explain: Paul greets the church in Philippi... and he has Timothy alongside him as he’s writing… and he refers to them both as “servants of Christ Jesus.”

Now the word translated “Servant” is more literally “bondservant,” which is a type of slave [PAUSE]… “Paul and Timothy, SLAVES of Christ Jesus”

Does that make anyone else feel a little uneasy?

The word slave, especially in all the racial tension going on in our society right now, has a really bad connotation.

We think of the horrors of slavery in US history… We think of modern human trafficking and the slavery there and get sick to our stomach.

And we can’t IMAGINE Paul JOYFULLY using a word like “slave” to describe his relationship with Jesus.

Honestly, that’s why our Bibles choose to translate it as “servant”… because there are some differences between the modern concept and what went on in Paul’s day.

But it’s important for us to realize… that while the idea of slave was a little bit different back then, it still didn’t have GOOD connotations in Roman society.

The highest priority for the Greek AND the Roman was to be FREE… not SLAVES.

THAT SOUNDS a little be more American, doesn’t it? We love the idea of FREEDOM… AUTONOMY… INDEPENDENCE.

But to joyfully call myself a SLAVE? That feels uncomfortable

And yet Paul understood something that we need to get as well: everyone is a slave to something… the question is, who are you a slave to?

We are born as slaves to sin… slaves to unrighteousness… as servants of the kingdom of darkness.

Even the most FREE, INDEPENDENT, AUTONOMOUS person among us… if all they are living for is themselves… is a SLAVE to their own sinful passions and desires.

They can’t do anything but serve the Kingdom of Darkness.

And that is ultimate bondage. It’s not the freedom God intended for his creation.

(We are going to recognize that tonight at our worship and prayer event.)

That slavery to sin… and to our own sinful passions... makes life futile, broken, destructive.

But then JESUS came to set his people free from that slavery… he died on a cross and paid the death price that our sins deserve, and he BOUGHT us out of that slavery...

When we put our faith in Jesus, we are SET FREE from slavery to sin… free from our desires… free from the Law that condemned us...

But we become slaves… bondservants of Jesus himself...

And that may sound terrible to your American sensibilities, but I want you to understand that this is a VERY GOOD thing…

Because Jesus is a MUCH BETTER Master than your sinful flesh.

To be a slave of Jesus is to learn how to live life the way he created you to live.

To be a slave… a bond-servant of Jesus is the essence of true freedom.

So Paul and Timothy embraced this identity as SLAVE or SERVANT wholeheartedly...

We can see that in the way they planted the church in Philippi.

I’d encourage you to pick up the reading plan this week and read about how the church was planted...

Paul and Timothy were both there… and if you read Acts 16, you will see them serve in some INCREDIBLY SACRIFICIAL ways.

Timothy had to get circumcised in order to reach the Jews more effectively.... that’s serious servanthood there.

Paul was beaten and imprisoned while planting this church… simply for casting out a demon from a slave girl in the name of Jesus.... he took on chains so that she could be free.

What a picture of the gospel!

But Paul and Timothy weren’t only servants in the past… they were servants in the present...

This church was planted 12-13 years before this letter was written… the church was planted in AD 49… and it is now AD 61 or 62.

Just a cool point of reference… that’s exactly how old Oak Hill is right now.

We passed the 12 year mark in June.

So in those 12-13 years… the church at Philippi had financially supported Paul as he traveled and planted A LOT more churches… they were his most faithful supporters even though they weren’t a very wealthy church.

And now he is writing from imprisonment in ROME… his only crime was that he served others by preaching the gospel to them.

He is such a SLAVE of Christ that he is in CHAINS for Christ.

And while he’s in chains, he KEEPS proclaiming Jesus… he says that ALL of his soldier guards have heard about Jesus through him, and implies that even some of Caesar’s own household has come to faith.

He has NOT STOPPED SERVING JESUS even when it cost him.

And not only Paul… but in chapter 2, he sets TIMOTHY forward as an example of being a servant of Christ… one of the rare breed who looks not to his own interests, but only to the interests of Christ in building his church...

And in that same chapter, he informs the Philippian church that he intends to send Timothy BACK to them to continue serving them…

The partnership is not over.

But this word "servant” or “slave” isn’t just used for Paul and Timothy in the letter… Paul is modeling a theme that he’s going to hit hard in this letter: That every believer needs to view themselves as a servant of Jesus Christ.

In chapter 2, Paul instructs them to, “Have this mind among yourselves that is yours in Christ Jesus, who... emptied himself by taking the form of a SERVANT...”

If JESUS is a Servant, then everyone UNITED to Jesus through faith must see themselves as servants too.

Do you see yourself as a servant?

Illustrate: A lot of times I think we can have a wrong view of our role in the church… too often, we think of the church like any other organization that we might “volunteer” for…

Your kids school… the Lions club… the chamber of commerce…

Sometimes we see our role in the church like our role in any other organization: as volunteers rather than servants of Jesus...

Volunteers see themselves as giving some of THEIR time to Jesus… Servants seek to use ALL of time JESUS has entrusted to them. (they understand it’s his time, not their own)

Volunteers do activity in the church because it makes them feel good or important [selfish ambition]… Servants do ministry because it builds up Christ’s body.

Volunteers work because a person asked them to… Servants labor because their Savior called them. [notice… “servants of Christ Jesus].

Volunteers quit when the work becomes inconvenient, underappreciated, or offensive… Servants endure because their reward is from Jesus in eternity.

Do you see yourself as a servant… or a volunteer?

I’ll be honest… even as the pastor, it can be easy to slip into the mindsets of a “volunteer” because I like my comfort… I like thinking of “my time” as “my time.”

But Jesus wants something better for us… he wants us to embrace the role of “servant.”

Apply: We are challenging every person at Oak Hill to grow in serving Jesus in regular ministry.

Now maybe you are thinking, “Wait… that’s nothing new… I thought we already asked people to do that… I’m ALREADY doing that!”

And let me just acknowledge… MANY people ARE TRULY SERVING in REGULAR ministry… But the challenge I am making in this area is two-fold...

First, that we would each grow in the regular MINDSET of a servant.

That we wouldn’t just DO tasks… but that we would BE servants.

That we would identify areas of pride and selfish ambition and wanting our own way… and we would replace them with the heart of Christ every time we are called to serve.

All of us can continue to grow in that way.

And that mindset of a servant will help us grow in this second way...

That we would develop a regular frequency of serving.

We used to say this more often… and I’m trying to revive the language...

We challenge our members to serve in 1.5 ministry roles.

From the oldest to the youngest.

Kids… youth… this is for you too. How can YOU serve?

Timothy was in his late teens when he helped plant the church in Philippi.

You are never too young to take hold of your faith and become a servant of Jesus Christ.

We want to challenge you to serve in 1.5 ministry roles. (what does that mean???)

One ministry role would be something that takes some time each week… maybe some prep work… maybe some hours caring for people.

That might be teaching a kids class, visiting people though AROMA’s Care Connect ministry… leading a Gospel Community… helping with our finances… maybe even volunteering in the community in a way that helps you share Jesus with the lost...

A regular (weekly) place of serving that takes some investment.

And then a “half” ministry is not less important… it’s just something with less frequency or less prep work…

Greeting or ushering on a Sunday morning… super-important… just does’t take a lot of time...

Cleaning the church… we are going to have a sign-up for families to start doing that… don’t wait for others to populate the list!

Now maybe developing this type of FREQUENCY seems like a big ask… “REALLY, 1.5 ministries… I have a LIFE you know!”

But I believe that when we work of the consistent MINDSET… the heart of a servant… the consistent FREQUENCY will follow.

When we think of our time as belonging to Jesus...

When we set our ambitions on advancing the gospel by serving others...

When we see ourselves to serving HIM as we serve others...

When we build a resilience to endure the hardships of ministry while we await our reward in heaven…

I believe that when we work on the mindset of a servant, the frequency of serving will follow.

Just imagine this with me: What would it look like if every person in our church served with that kind of heart every week?

I believe we would KNOW Jesus more and that many more people would know him as well!

I’m going to send out an email this week outlining all the ministry opportunities available at Oak Hill and who to contact for each one.

I guarantee… there is a place for you to serve Jesus at Oak Hill.

If you are a visitor and considering making Oak Hill your home, we want you to know that being a part of a church is a partnership...

I don’t say that to overwhelm you or to freak you out… I hope that God is calling you to invest your life in the only thing that lasts forever.

And we would LOVE to have you join us in that pursuit.

But I do want to be up front… knowing and proclaiming Jesus is a pursuit that costs something… and we need everyone serving together in that pursuit.

That’s the first way you can partner with us… through serving. The second way we need to partner together is this:

2) Hold fast to the gospel through consistent Gospel Community ["saints"]

Explain: Notice what Paul says next in verse 1, “To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi.”

Now what is the first thing that you think of when you think of “saints”?

Well, a lot of people think of little cards or statues with dead Catholic bishops on them… [show picture]

A lot of people think that “Saint” is some extra-special… extra-holy, perfect believer, probably one who has already died.

But that’s not what the Bible means when it talks about Saints.

Remember, Paul is writing a real letter to imperfect, LIVING believers..

He’s not writing to perfected, dead spirits.

So when Paul calls the Philippian church, “Saints,” he’s simply saying, “To the set apart ones… to the holy ones...”

It’s a word that distinguishes them as a church from the rest of the world around them as “holy unto the Lord.”

When God saves people, he changes their lives. We can see this in the stories of some of the people we know about in the church in Philippi in Acts 16.

If you follow along with our reading plan this week, you’ll read about some of the saints in the church in Philippi.

You’ll read about Lydia… a wealthy Jewish fashionista… and when she heard about Jesus for the first time, she started using her home and her resources as a mission center for Paul’s team to proclaim Jesus.

On the other side of the social spectrum, you’ll read about a demon-possessed slave girl.. she was bound by her masters and by the demons who used her body for evil… and she was delivered in the name of Jesus. Her life was forever changed.

You’ll read about a blue-collar Jailer who was about to take his own life because he had no hope left… but who was saved and baptized… along with his WHOLE HOUSEHOLD... in the powerful name of Jesus.

Paul is writing to real people who he knows their stories… he knows how God set them apart and changed their lives.

When God saves you, he changes your life.

You are set apart. You become a saint.

This is true in two ways: first, you are a saint positionally. Notice, Paul says that they are saints “IN CHRIST JESUS.”

Apart from Jesus, we are anything but saints. The Bible says there is no one who is righteous, no not one!

But when we TRULY put our faith in Jesus as Savior and Lord, God spiritually transforms us...

Our life is hidden with Christ in God.

Jesus died in our place and took on the punishment for our sin, and when we put our faith in him, HIS righteousness is credited to OUR account…

His blood washes us clean and makes us holy before God.

When we put our faith in Jesus alone for salvation, God sets us apart from the rest of the world as HIS OWN.

To believe in Jesus is to belong to him and him alone. To be set apart for his purposes and glory. The church is a gathering of “set apart ones”… it’s a “set apart people.”

That’s the first part of being a saint… If you have put your faith in Jesus, then you are a SAINT!

Praise GOD that sinners can be made saints by no work of their own!

But how many of us FEEL holy all the time?

Raise your hand if you would look back on our week and say, “Yes, I lived a PERFECT, HOLY LIFE this week”...

NO! We are all still growing into what it means to be a saint.

We are saints positionally… and out of that position, we grow as saints progressively in our practice.

Illustrate: Ever since I was a little kid, everyone would tell me that I look JUST LIKE my dad.

But when you are 10 years old, that is sort of a loose comparison.

I HOPE that as a ten-year-old my dad didn’t look like me… he was 35 at the time… it would be weird if I looked EXACTLY like my dad at age 10!

When someone said I looked like my Dad when I was 10, they meant I had some similar features… I obviously belonged to him... but CLEARLY I still had some growing up to do.

I was growing INTO someone who looked like my Dad.

But if you compare a picture of me when I’m 35 and when my Dad was 35, you will REALLY see how much I look like my dad.

There are times when I look down and I’m like, “how did my Father’s body get underneath my head...”

When we become followers of Jesus, we get his family DNA. We get his Holy Spirit living inside us, growing us up into the likeness of Christ.

And we grow up into LOOKING and LIVING holy lives as he is holy.

We grow into the identity of "Saint” that is already ours in Christ Jesus.

Now how does that growth happen?

Well, Paul gives us the answer in chapter 2 “Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain. Even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all.” (Philippians 2:14–17, ESV)

The church is set apart… we “shine as bright lights in a dark world”.. when we pursue UNITY around the gospel (the word of life).

When we are blameless and innocent toward one another and God… when we don’t complain or argue with each other… that stands out!

In this CRAZY, divided society in which we live, how much will Gospel-Centered unity stand out? How much will that set us apart?

When the world is blowing up about every issue under the sun, how much will it stand out when we make Jesus the biggest issue in our lives.

When the world is full of racial division and divisive talk, how much will it show the beauty of Jesus for us to demonstrate where true racial harmony comes from.

When the world is rushing to their political sides, how much will it show the supremacy of Christ to not get caught up in the arguments at all, but simply seek to love people with a Kingdom-minded love?

And what produces that unity?

When we take the word of life that we read and hear preached every week… and we HOLD FAST to it TOGETHER.

And unity is produced when we LABOR and POUR OURSELVES OUT so that others will grow in the faith.

Apply: So how are we going to pursue this type of growth and unity this Fall? By holding fast to the gospel in consistent Gospel Community.

Our Gospel Communities are groups of people pursuing gospel growth together.

Right now there are four of them… personally I’d like to see that multiply to 8… so we have plenty of room for new leaders...

If you’ve been around Oak Hill just one week, you’ve probably heard us talk about Gospel Communities A LOT… this is not a NEW vision, but consistency is the key.

Consistency in Gospel Community was REALLY CHALLENGING for a lot of us during the isolation period… understandably so...

But now that the isolation period is winding down, we now have a great opportunity to reset our schedules and see this as a priority.

We say often here, that if you want to grow as a disciple of Jesus… if you want to feel like you are a part of the family at Oak Hill… then you need to be plugged into a Gospel Community.

But I want to remind you when we say that, we are talking about Gospel Community as a lifestyle, not a program.

A Gospel Community is a group of people pursuing gospel growth… it’s not a meeting on the calendar.

It’s an investment in each others lives… not a discussion group.

And I have to admit… sometimes our vocabulary betrays us...

We say things like, “Let’s go to Gospel Community” (referring to the program or our scheduled meeting…) rather than, “let’s get together WITH our Gospel Community” referring to the people.

Or I’ve been guilty of this one in announcements time: “This is an ‘off’ week of Gospel Community” (as if we could ever afford weeks where people aren’t speaking into our lives).

Like, when I read the Bible in places like Hebrews 3:12-13, the writer says “Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.”

If I’m honest, I need the accountability of Gospel Community EVERY DAY because I am tempted to sin every day.

Every single day… in slow and subtle ways… my heart wants to creep away from the God of Life.

Maybe the stagnancy that we can sometimes feel in our spiritual growth comes from a lack of CONSISTENCY in our gathering together.

So I’m calling us to change our mindset… and that needs to start with changing our vocabulary..

Let’s help each other STOP saying, “This is Gospel Community Week” or “This is an off week”…

Instead, let’s say, “Our GCs are scheduled to meet this week,” or our “or we are scheduled next week.”

And then, lets pursue a greater consistency in being together.

Get your regularly scheduled meetings on the calendar FIRST… if you know a lot of you won’t make it, work together to reschedule.

The every-other-week meeting is a touch-point for the Gospel Community. It’s a time on the calendar to say, “We are going to pursue growth together AT LEAST this much.

And then beyond that, I often tell the GC leaders that if you are trying to experience the type of growth and unity that Jesus wants in his church, you can’t do that by seeing one another for two hours every other week (or once a month if you happen to miss a scheduled time), it’s not going to happen.

The next time you are together, brainstorm ways you can be more consistent in growing together… in holding one another accountable… in praying for one another… in involving one another in your spiritual growth…

Maybe you want to identify smaller accountability groups of men and women that connect on weeks you don’t have a scheduled meeting.

I’m pretty sure the Mohler and Boos groups already have that set up… if that’s your pattern, just make sure it’s actually happening.

Maybe you need to grow in understanding how accountability actually works so that you’re not just talking about superficial stuff without getting to the heart of the matter.

I have resources for you if you want that.

Maybe you want to have some meals together outside of the normally scheduled meetings and you invite unbelievers and help one another tell the world about Jesus.

Whatever it is… Jesus wants his church to be set apart… he wants us to shine as lights in the world as we hold fast to the word of life… as we know and proclaim the work of Jesus in our lives… and we need each other for that purpose.

We need to partner together as Servants… we need to partner together as saints… and those are really the two core components of the identity of every true believer… it sort of seems to cover it...

But then Paul addresses another group, a little bit unexpectedly.

Look at verse 1 again: “Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the overseers and deacons:” (Philippians 1:1, ESV)

If we are going to partner together in the pursuit of knowing Jesus and making him known, we are going to need to:

3) Support the consistent multiplication of leadership ["overseers and deacons"]

Explain: Paul singles out two groups of people from the rest of the saints… two offices in the church:

The first is overseers or bishops.

It’s clear from the rest of the NT that this word is used interchangeably for the office of “elder.”

Elders “oversee” the ministry… as shepherds, they have a special job of caring for the flock with a watchful eye.

They see the needs of the flock... they see the direction the flock needs to go… and they lead accordingly.

At Oak Hill, we say that the elders oversee the “Why and What” questions of ministry.

“Why are we doing what we are doing?”

The answers to those questions always flow from their time in prayer and the ministry of the word.

The other word that Paul mentions, “Deacons.”

Deacon is another Greek word for “servant.” It emphasizes the WORK that they do more than the compulsion that the other word for servants emphasizes.

Deacon used in many places as a role or position in the church.

If elders answer the “why and what” questions from their time in prayer and the word, the deacons… filled with the Holy Spirit... answer the “how and when” questions.

How and when are we going to get done what God has led our elders to do?

Our deacons are our elders wives, ou Gospel Community leaders and their wives and our ministry coordinators (like children’s ministry or welcome ministry or worship ministry).

These two groups of leaders are set apart in Philippians 1 from the rest of the saints.

That’s not because they are more important, but because it is necessary to acknowledge the unique role they play in the church.

Paul mentions one of these types of leaders in chapter 2… Epaphroditus.

Epaphroditus was sent by the Philippian church with a generous financial contribution for Paul... and he ministered to Paul’s need… he was the personal expression of their partnership.

And NOW Paul is sending him back, carrying this letter, and in chapter 2, Paul instructs the church to “honor such men.”

How do we honor… how do we support the leadership of the church?

Well, it might mean financial support… we are grateful for that...

It might mean encouragement support… that’s always welcome too… [if time… have elder wives,GC leaders, wives, ministry coordinators stand… honor them.]

But can I tell you something??? The thing that means the most… the way you can honor the leaders the most is by partnering with them in where they are leading the church.

As long as it’s in the direction of Jesus, follow them.

Pray for them. Pray WITH them. Make yourself available to serve alongside them.

Don’t make the deacons pull teeth to find ministry servants.

Don’t make your Gospel Community leader be the only one pursuing accountability or prayer or outreach.

Partner with them in the pursuit of knowing and proclaiming Jesus.

Make yourself available.

Apply: One of the primary things the elders are working on this Fall is making sure we have the right deacon roles identified.. and making sure they are filled with the right people who are being regularly equipped.

ESPECIALLY with a team of only three elders, we have to make sure that we have delegated the work of the ministry appropriately.

It’s the only way we’ll be able to focus on of payer and the ministry of the word like we’re supposed to.

Maybe God will call you into one of those roles...

Maybe he will call you to GROW into one of those roles as an apprentice.

Maybe he will simply call you to say yes when they ask you to do something.

But we need your support in the multiplication of leadership.

Now maybe, for whatever reason, all of this sounds overwhelming for you...

Maybe you are wondering how it’s going to fit into your schedule…

Where you are going to get the energy for this partnership?

“What if I starting pursuing deeper relationship with people and they fail me? What if you I some goals and I fall short?”

I want to leave you with this;

Two Things you will Need to Partner this Fall:

And they come in verse 2: “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” (Philippians 1:2, ESV)

First we need...

1) The Grace of God

God doesn’t just call us to do something, he gives us the grace to do it.

My friend Dan Hammer… he pastors a church that’s on your prayer guide this month… he says this, “You give God your availability, and he gives you his ability.”

In chapter 2:13, Paul writes, “for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” (Philippians 2:13, ESV)

God is calling his church to partner together as servants… as saints… under godly leadership… and he empowers you with his GRACE.

We simply show up in faith… and he meets that faithfulness with ABUNDANT GRACE>

I don’t want to twist your arm to pursue these goals this Fall… only God can do that kind of change, motivating you by his Holy Spirit.

And when he does, it’s an evidence of his grace in your life.

Ultimately, if these are my goals… or the elders goals… if we are twisting your arm to serve or to be in Gospel Community or to follow us as leaders… these goals won’t do us any good...

But I hope that you can see that they are God’s goals… laid out throughout his word… and that we must pursue them together.

We need the grace of God…

And because this is a joint effort, we need the..

2) The Peace of God

God wants to give you his peace this Fall.

Peace is the calm assurance in our hearts that he is in control… that he is building his church and the gates of Hell cannot prevail against it.

We need his peace to know that he will work in the relational challenges that might be ahead...

We need his peace that comes from knowing he can overcome the temptations that will creep up.

We need his peace that comes from knowing he will work out the details of our schedule and finances and everything else that we need if we are going to pursue him.

We need HIM to produce a supernatural peace in our hearts… and in our church... that points ONLY to the work of Jesus in us.

And I believe he is EAGER to do it.

He sent his son to die and to purchase this peace and unity for us...

Let’s partner together this Fall in the pursuit of knowing and proclaiming Jesus.

Let’s pray… and as we pray, I want you to take some time to make each goal personal...

I want to grow in serving Jesus in ministry by...

(Activity, Frequency, Motivation, etc)

I want to grow in seeking accountability in Gospel community by...

(Joining one, Gathering more, contacting people outside of the scheduled meeting, vulnerability)

I want to grow in supporting the multiplication of leaders by...

(Stepping up into leadership, becoming an apprentice, being available when asked to serve)