DISCLAIMER: This text is not a verbatim transcript. Communication Access Real Time Translation (CART) is provided in order to facilitate communication credibility and may not be a totally verbatim record of the proceedings. >> Ronnie: Okay. Good morning, everyone. Good morning and welcome to those of you in the room today. It is so very, very good to see you. Good morning and welcome to those of you watching online. This is a live streamed service of the First Colony Church. And to our church family and village, from wherever you are watching, we're delighted to have you with us today. For those of you in the room, why don't you go ahead and stand and let's worship the lord together. ( "Every Giant Will Fall" ) >> Ronnie: Our God is awesome. Amen. We're so glad everybody is here, those of you in this room and those of you watching at home, we're glad to be together today. ( " Great Things" ) >> Ronnie: What an amazing God we serve. Amen. Mr. Joel Smith, come on up to the stage. >> Joel: Well, good morning, everyone. Are you excited to be here? Yes, I'm excited to be here too. Welcome, everyone. It's good to see you. It's good to see you guys as well over on the streaming. Today we're talking about love. I usually like to have a Bible verse that's our theme. Our theme is 1 John 4:10, that he sent his son to be a propitiation for our sins, a sacrifice, take the place of. I have an illustration of love. This represents you and me. When you and me become a believer, we have the opportunity to share God's love with those around us. We can keep God's love bottled up and hold it to ourselves and that doesn't do good, but we have the opportunity to share God's love with the world. I have a circle and this starts in your home, with your brothers and sisters in your neighborhood. We have the opportunity to overflow. 1 Corinthians 4:13 talks about. Love is overflowing. Love is patient, love is kind, being kind with your neighbors and people at school. It keeps going. It doesn't envy, boast, keep a record of wrong. It trusts and is faithful. Love truly is faithful. You're like, Joel, I get it. That's cool and all, but you only have this small-sized thing here. What if you don't feel like giving love or run out of love. Is it possible to run out of love? This canister will run out of love, but the cool thing is that Jesus will never run out of love. He fills us up, as you see. Oh, no, we're out. But you know what, as believers, we are never out. This is what's really cool. Remember his love, he sent his son to die on the cross for our sins. I'm going to pour this in and it's going to start off red and burgundy and it's going to poof into white. Check this out. We have a backup plan. God is really cool and his love continues to overflow as it keeps on going. That's the cool thing, God's love never runs out, boys and girls, parents, grandparents, friends, when you feel like you don't have love, turn to God and do what he says. Thank you very much. We are going to try to take this away while it's still overflowing, which is so cool. And, here we go. >> I love Joel's part. We're going to take a few moments now and focus on that love of God that never ends, as we share communion and reflect on what Jesus did for us. >> Good morning, church. My name is Life Granville and my baby sister. We're so grateful to be back here and leading the community today. Pray with me as we thank God for the bread and the cross and the love that was poured out for us. Dear God, it's me in the church. We want to come and thank you and praise you for who you are. We thank you for the cross, your body broken, beaten, spit on, mocked. We don't take you lightly. You loved us so much that you gave us your son, that you had those nails put through your wrists and your feet. We're thankful and we remember you. Let us live today in light of that generosity of your son. Let's be generous and give of ourselves to everyone we encounter. Let's take the bread. >> Zoee: I will be reading from1 Thessalonians 5:5-11You are all children of the light and children of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be awake and sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet. For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him. Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing. Let's take the cup together. ( "Way Maker" ) >> Welcome to the stage right now Kyle. >> Kyle: Good morning, church. Are you doing all right? It's so good to see you. And to those online, we're grateful you're joining us. I want to thank you for a moment for your generosity over this past season, that has provided fuel for our ministry and globally. The message of Jesus has gone across the planet and has found its way into places it never would have been. We want you to worship with generosity. You can do that online and text the number of your screen right now. You have our assurances that online giving is secure, safe, and simple. You can also mail your gifts, as many have been doing. For those here in person today, if you want to give personally, you'll see our giving receptacles at our four entrances to the worship center. You can deposit your tithes of offerings in one of these receptacles this morning. I want to highlight a unique opportunity for those of us in the room and online as well, next Sunday, June 14, we are hosting a food drive with Second Mile Mission. They have served over 115,000 people since COVID-19 relief efforts began. There are still families in need, and you can need a difference. Items needed can be found on our website. We invite you to bring those items here next Sunday, again, June 14. You can bring them here between 8:30 in the morning and 3:00 p.m. and simply deposit them in the appropriate boxes on our front porch. It's very simple. We know that you will rise to the occasion. Again, thank you so much for your partnership for the sake of the gospel. Let's pray over our offering. Lord Jesus, we adore and trust you. Your very gift to us, your righteousness is more precious than anything we could imagine. We long for that gift to be known to every person of every skin color, every tribe, every language, every nation. We thank you now that we are partners with you in such essential work. Bless the offerings of our hands today, we ask this in your name, Jesus. Amen. This is our fellowship greeting. We're going to do something different. If you're in the room, I want you to stand up. When you stand up, I want you to look at the camera at the back of the room and wave to everyone who is joining us online and on their phones. Give them a hello welcome. If you're in the room, say hello to somebody. We're so glad you're here today. ( "Glorious Day" ) >> You may be seated. >> Ronnie: Richard and team, thank you so very, very much. Didn't they do a great job leading us in morning? Fantastic. It is so very, very good to see several of you with us in the room today. Welcome. I've missed you. I'd love to hug every one of you today. I'm not. I'm going to keep my distance. It is so very good to see you here. To those of you watching online, we're delighted to have you with us. We live stream our services and we're thankful that you can be with us. And perhaps this is your preferred method now, maybe for the next few weeks and that is just fine. I'll get into this morning's message called "all for one." I'll get there in a moment. This past week was our congregation's birthday. The first worship service for the First Colony Church of Christ was June 2, 1985. So we celebrated our 35th birthday this past week. I want to say personally to our charter members, some of you who are still right here, thank you so much for your longevity and your faithfulness. Those of you who joined along the way, you are a vital part. Thank you so much for investing in the work of this congregation. Let me put four phrases up here on the screen. These four phrases summarize what we want to be doing and do unique here. Worship God. Put the Lord first in all essential. Second, Release Compassion Third, Rescue & Nurture Souls And fourth, be a Community of Belonging - That's our aim, vision, dream. Now, this morning I would like to talk really about that community belonging concept. I'll get there in just a second, but I want to highlight a couple of scriptures that really are the foundation for these statements. Here is the first one from John 3:16It is the great promise of the Bible. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have -- a lot of people don't believe it is possible to perish. The Bible says it is and Jesus came on a rescue mission to believe us. That those who believe in him, they shall not perish, but instead will have eternal life. Here is another passage. It's the great commandments. Before I read it, John Ortberg, who is a fabulous writer. In one of his books -- people ask, what does the Bible have to say and Jesus have to say about the ultimate purpose in life. And he says, you know, the Bible is really complex and obscure. If you listen to what Jesus has to say about your ultimate purpose in life, it's really hard to decipher. If you don't know the Greek language, it's going to be hard -- he's speaking sarcastically tongue and cheek. Then he reads this passage in mark 12. He was asked, of all the commandments, which is the most important? Jesus says this eternal life. Mark 12:28-31One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, "Of all the commandments, which is the most important? "The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: 'Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. 'The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself." There is no commandment greater than these." Too often we try to have the thing without the thing that makes the thing the thing. That makes perfect sense, right? You can't have the thing without the thing that makes it a thing. And the classic example is decaffeinated coffee. I mean, caffeine is what makes coffee, coffee. Caffeine is what makes the thing the thing. And Jesus says and the Bible says repeatedly, and you don't have to know Greek to see this, it's not obscure or subtle, love is what makes Christianity the thing. Love is the thing that makes Christianity the thing. Without it and without God's definition of it, we're just noise, banging something. Ravi Zacharias, who died a couple of weeks ago, said, if truth ask not the possessor of love, it makes the possessor of that truth obnoxious. There is a passage in Colossians 3 that emphasizes we are all for one, all for Christ. We are this community of belonging. Colossians 3:11-14Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or -- that's the only time you will see that word in the New Testament, people of a certain reputation, mobsters, if you will --free, but Christ is all, and is in all. This was a radical, radical message in the 1st century world that was filled with caste systems west coast bigotry, jealousy. And Paul says, no matter your background, your nationality, your color, whether you come from a classic, noble upbringing or maybe you don't come from a sophisticated upbringing, some of you in this room -- I came from a fairly sophisticated upbringing. I mean, my whole town is the mule capital of the world. Maybe you didn't know that Colombia, Tennessee. And Paul lists all these groups and says, no matter who you are, if you can respond to the gospel message and trust and love Jesus Christ, we are all one in Christ. That's a beautiful thing to say, but we're going to have to work at it. It's not going to come easily. So he says in verse 12: Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Why? Don't be shocked that this oneness doesn't always come easily. Don't let that surprise you and shock you. So clothe yourself with compassion. You'll have to walk in another person's shoes, with kindness, treat them maybe better than they deserve at the moment. Humility, you be willing to listen and listen hard and play second. Gentleness restrained, not harsh. You don't have to start on a scale of 10. You can start at a one or two and not nine. Patience, enduring more than you think you should. And then: Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. Forgiving why? Because we know forgiveness firsthand. And then he says: And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Love is the thing that makes the thing the thing. Again, Ravi Zacharias says love is a commitment that will be tested in the most vulnerable areas of your spirituality, a commitment that will force you to make some very difficult choices. It's a commitment that demands that you deal with your lust, greed, pride, power, your desire to control, your temper, patience, every area of temptation that the Bible clearly talks about. It demands the quality of equipment that Jesus demonstrates in his relationship to us. Christ makes us one in him. Now, practically pursue that with one another. I read not long ago about a school in Brooklyn, New York, it's a school for children with learning disabilities. Sometimes those children are able to transfer away from that school and sometimes they stay in that school throughout their educational career. But the father of one of the children was speaking at a dinner. There were other parents there, faculty, staff. He asked a question about his son. He says, where is the perfection in my son, Shia? Everything God does is done with perfection, but my child cannot understand things his other children do. My child cannot remember facts and figures as other children do. So where is God's perfection in my child? Then he said, I believe that when God brings a child like my son, Shia, into this world, the perfection he seeks is in the way others react and respond to him. Then he told the following story. He said one afternoon Shia and I were walking home and there was some boys playing baseball. He said, Dad, do you think they'll let me play? He's not athletic. I asked the kids if Shia could play. He just took charge, and he said we're going to play one more inning. Our team is almost finished. He stands out by the center fielder. That inning is over and the last inning Shia's team is batting. Actually a couple of people get on base and it's really his turn to hit. He had never hit a ball, never did anything like this. He walks up there and is holding the bat. The pitcher doesn't even stand on the mound. He lobs it in so Shia can hit a ball. He swings and misses. He's probably not going to make contact. One of the teammates came and said, let me help. They grabbed the bat, the pitcher lobbed the ball. He hit it and it's rolling. The pitcher grabs it and the pitcher could have got him out. The pitcher catches the ball and throws a rainbow in the right field. Then they're saying, Shia, go to second, go to second. He goes to second. The right fielder picks up the ball and could have easily thrown it to second. Then he throws a rainbow to left field. They're cheering Shia on. He rounds, the throw is not even close. He gets in. All the players lift him up, they put him on their shoulders and celebrate. They say, you hit the grand slam to win the game. His father is telling this story at this dinner, at this banquette. He said, that day I saw perfection in my son, but I saw perfection in him based on the way others around him responded and reacted. You know, when the Bible says that in the body of Christ we're whole, I'm not, you're not. But where I'm weak, you can be strong. Where you're strong, maybe somebody else can be a little bit stronger. And on the day when your strength is weakness, maybe we can pick you up. Not one of us is ideal and perfect on our own, but in a world that doesn't care and doesn't help and doesn't often play well with others, there is a call from Christ to be a part of the team, a family, a body, a community of belonging. We can do this. We can do this. Well, in our nation right now, amidst lawful and peaceful protests, along with some not so peaceful, following the killing of course of George Floyd and the issues of equality, justice, racism, are rightly at the forefront of national news and our own personal conversations. And everyone with a conscience was appalled at the video showing a Minneapolis police officer showing excessive force against George Floyd, a native Houstonian. He went to Yates high school. He was a member of the Houston resurrection church. He only moved to Minnesota in 2018 as part of a job connection with a Christian work program. His funeral will be here, in Houston, on Tuesday. He'll be buried here. As Christians, what can we do to help this escalating problem? All of us who follow Jesus Christ, regardless of race, can seek to be helped, light shining in darkness. Not one of us wants to live in a culture that's ugly, racist, marginalizes anyone. In the body of Christ we are one, and from the body of Christ should flow the love of Jesus from every person, to our neighbors, whoever that neighbor may be. Let me throw out some specific suggestions. First of all, I believe all of us can become more racially literate, more relationally literate even. And the first step I believe is listening with humility. Remember, we just read about humility and gentleness in Colossians 3. Get out of your echo chambers. Walk across the room. Be willing to talk with people who are not going to automatically just be -- echo what you've always said and thought. You're willing to dialog with another person, especially someone of a different race or nationality. And stop please just thinking that's a wonderful, noble concept. I'm going to ask you to lead by example. You know, in our culture we're experiencing the slow death of empathy. Let's reverse that trend and learn to listen to one another without being defensive and certainly without feeling like we have to have an audience to do it. Don't lose the ability to dialog with others in conversations. And as I mentioned last week, there are different ways to listen. You can listen to win and that comes easily. You can listen to fix. Listening to fix is where you kind of approach it like you're a sage and you've got the wise answer for the moment. But there's a better way, not listening to win, not listening to fix, not listening to platform. Just listening to learn and connect, where you say, look, I don't pretend to have every solution here, but how can I understand you better and this problem better in a deeper way. Tell me how I feel now, what I need to know, how I can help, one conversation at a time. And that kind of listening is always more difficult, but it is more life-giving and it is much more necessary now. We can become more racially literate. Secondly, we can embrace Bible theology and what the Bible teaches us about oneness. I'm going to mention "Gracism," written by David Anderson. He says in that book, and I agree, there must be a theological response to racism in the culture, a theological response to racial segregation in the church. For example, just think through the trajectory of scripture, we are all, all of us, made in the image of God. In other words, we are all more alike than we are different, and we're all sinners corrupted by the fall. We're more alike than different. If we're believers in Jesus Christ, we're all one in Christ. We remember what the Bible has to say when it says, if you would hate your brother and sister, you're a murderer. Hate is saying, I wish you weren't around and not here. I wish I didn't have to deal with you. That kind of attitude just does not flow from a heart that's open to the Holy Spirit. The Bible says that Christ came to tear down walls of hostility. The Bible gets a picture of our ultimate trajectory, heaven. Heaven there are people gathered worshiping Jesus from every tribe, language, nation. So Christians reject racism, not just because it gives us a pat on the back for moral outrage. No, first and foremost, we say that's not the will of God. And we submit to the will of God and to the authority of his work. We can be more intentional, something else we can do, very intentional and remember that you've never faced anyone who is not an image-bearer of the God you worship. Every person that you meet has equal dignity and value in God's eyes. When ethnic and racial walls begin to crumble and we decide to walk across the room and build sincere cross-racial friendships, I'm not saying it doesn't happen, it does happen, we can be more intentional about this. When that happens, love grows naturally. Hearts are knit together and we are in one another's corner. I mentioned David Anderson. He's a pastor and an author and many things. He's married and his wife is Korean. He's written a book called "Gracism: The art of inclusion." He defines gracism as the extension of grace and positive favor towards others, regardless of -- and sometimes because of -- color, class, or culture. Certainly we're going to extend grace to every color, class, and culture. He says that G, Grace, it stands for God. If you put God at the first of anything, that's going to change it for the better. He says, here's seven sayings of gracism. He goes over these in his book. Let me highlight them for you. I will lift you up. I will lift and help in any way I can to your success. I will cover you. If ever I need to protect you from anything embarrassing, I will lift you up. I will cover you. I will share with you resources and opportunities. I will honor you and recognize heroes regardless of color, class, culture. I will stand with you. I will stand up for you and defend you and stand with you. And I will consider you. Consider your perspectives in your needs and not just my own. I will celebrate with you. And in a world that's becoming increasingly hostile, polarized, and insecurity, gracism is needed now more than ever. Here is something else we can do, acknowledge the good. There is some good and here is what I mean. I'm going to show you something in just a second. Let's not swap out one injustice for another by casting all law enforcement officers in a negative light. Let's not dehumanize every noble, high-road law enforcement officer. Every officer I know does not condone in any way the excessive force that happened in Minneapolis. We need to encourage good law enforcement officers, both men and women, several of whom are members of this church and several of whom serve us every time we meet and gather. You see what happened in Louisville, Kentucky, a few weeks ago. An officer by the name of Galen Hinshaw. There was a protest going on, mostly a peaceful one, but a few flash points. He was alone and he was immediately surrounded by protesters. He said some yelled profanities, some balled their fists. He backed up to a pizzeria. The crowd moved closer. The yelling got angrier. People started hurling questions at him, are you one of the good ones? How do you think we feel? One person said, you guys are all gas and you don't have any brakes. He kept trying to respond, I care, I care. And plenty of us, we care. I'm sorry, we care. He was scared. And he thought, um, I'm about to get injured here. He was watching the crowd. And then at that moment a man stepped forward, a black man in a University of Louisville mask. And then another African-American by the name of Darrin Lee Jr. stepped out. They locked arms. Can you see the photo on the screen? And then it became five or six strong locking arms and protecting Galen Hinshaw. One of those protecting was Ricky McClellan. He said a human is in trouble and right is right. Another man locking arms is Julian De La Cruz, a local businessman. He said, all we're asking for is accountability. I needed to hold my fellow protesters accountable. In the end that's all we're asking for from the law enforcement. He said, my uncle is a police officer. All we need is for the good cops, the good brothers and sisters, to hold themselves accountable at all times. That officer, Galen Hinshaw, says he's we want many times over the last several days. It was a moment where strangers came together to help another stranger and that stranger was me. We can use our influence for good. Did you read this week the blog from Dan Cathy, the CEO of chick fill A, where he calls on power and influence and you need to use it for good. He said we talk about certain things being systems. People influence systems. And he mentioned the Old Testament story of Nehemiah cut to the king who knew his home of Jerusalem was in disarray. He asked, would you allow me to be a person of influence to go there in that neighborhood and create a renaissance? What can you do as a person of power and influence for good? We can use and do our best to empathize with those who hurt. Imagine, would you, if you look kind of like me, you're white, imagine what it's like, though, to be a part of a minority in America? Somebody says, we've come a long way. We've got a long way to go. There are still those in our culture who are racist with condescending spirits. Imagine not being given an opportunity simply because of the color of your skin or nationality or anything like that. You would be inclined, if that were you, to interpret any encounter and light of that awareness, and that is a heavy and unnecessary burden to bear every day. Let's sit where they sit. Let's humbly listen. If and where we personally contributed to the problem, let's intentionally repent and change. The more aware we are of the Father's love for us, the stronger and more robust we want to be in taking that love and sharing it with all. Here are a couple more things we can do. We can teach our children well. Families, recognize the importance of family influence in the development of attitudes towards other races and other people. Seek to cultivate Christian attitudes and ensure you discuss with your children about what they are hearing about the race and immigrant issue outside of the home. Here is one more thing we can do. We can invite God to join us. We're going to do that now. As we close our service, we're going to pray for divine intervention because with our great God, nothing is impossible. One of our elders, Scott, is going to come up and pray for you. We love you and we care for you, whoever you may be, every tribe, every language, every color, every nation, we love you. We are praying for you. It is so good to see many of you in the room today. Thank you for coming. It is so good to have you with us. May the Lord bless you and keep you. Let's pray together and ask and invite the Lord to have unhindered sway in us and among us. >> Scott: Good morning, church. I'd like to invite you, if you'd like to submit a prayer request, you can go to our app and quick on the prayer request link. If you're online if you'd like to have a private prayer, we have some elders that are online waiting for you and would love to speak to you and pray with you in private prayer. Would you please bow your heads with me as we approach our God. Heavenly father, as we gather here this morning, we are thankful for this day, this Lord's day, this set of our time that all of your children come together to worship you, to sing praises to your name and read from your Word. Father, may the aroma of this morning be pleasing to you. Father, one of the great things about being your child is that we take comfort and we rest in the peace that comes only from you, we rest in your mighty presence, acknowledging that you are our maker, provider, king, and protector. Father, we thank you for not changing and for the stability to know you and rest in you as our source of peace, and for granting us the ability to trust who you are. Father, it comes from no one else. Lord, this is an unusual gathering this morning, where some of us are here in person and others in our church family and village are watching from home. Father, there has been so much that has happened in our nation in the last three months. We've been physically separated and we've experienced dark and broken times. Father, we need you. Please heal us and comfort us. Father, sometimes we feel so broken and uncertain, we're struggling and we're hurting and we're aware of the dark forces that are constantly around us. Lord, we ask that you fill us with your spirit of love in unity among all believers. Lord, we also ask your help to set aside differences and look to you. Help us live a life of love. We pray for your spirit to move across our land in fresh ways and draw others to know you. Father, wake us up and remind us to always be aware of who we are. We are your children. Remind us to live aware, to redeem our time and to listen to our words and be aware of our community and land. Give us the courage to speak up. Help us be a light shining in every place we walk. And help us to look to others' needs above our own. Help us not to be silent, but to do things through your wisdom and love, leading by example. Father, we pray for your healing of our land. Specifically, Father, this morning, we pray for all of those in authority, for every leader in our community and nation, Lord, may you give them wisdom and discernment to lead. May their hearts be directed to you. We ask that you shine your merciful face on us today. Father, we love and acknowledge your active work in our lives today. We trust in you and we trust in your power working in us and submit to your authority. Give us your eyes to see and your heart to heal. You alone are worthy, Father. Thank you for being our king. In Jesus' name, amen. >> Thank you for joining us online today. We want to let you know about a few items of interest. First, go to our website, firstcolonychurch.org, and go there often. We have a unique page dedicated to resources for you during this season. You'll find links to our worship services, Bible study options, online giving, and our new podcast "Anchor Point." You can also download our church app. Just search for First Colony Church of Christ in the app store or on Google Play. Every link is there. The app is a great resource where you can stay connected to First Colony Church. "Anchor Point" is our new podcast. We are posting a new episode every week day. In addition to finding our podcast on our website and on the church app, you can find it across all podcasting platforms. Our children's ministry is posting a weekly kids online Bible lesson. Be sure to check that out. And our student ministry is creating lots of daily content on Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook. Be sure to follow them. Thank you for joining us online today. We are glad you're here. >> thank you for joining us online today. We want to let you know about a few items of interest. First, go to our website, firstcolonychurch.org, and go there often. We have a unique page dedicated to resources for you during this season. You'll find links to our worship services, Bible study options, online giving, and our new podcast "Anchor point." You can also download our church app. Just search for First Colony Church of Christ in the app store or on Google Play. every link is there. The app is a great resource where you can stay connected to First Colony Church. "Anchor Point" is our new podcast. We are posting a new episode every week day. In addition to finding our podcast on our website and on the church app, you can find it across all podcasting platforms. Our children's ministry is posting a weekly kids online Bible lesson. be sure to check that out. And our student ministry is creating lots of daily content on Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook. Be sure to follow them. Thank you for joining us online today. We are glad you're here.