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. >> 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 weekday. In addition to finding our podcast on our website and 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're 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 weekday. In addition to finding our podcast on our website and 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. >> Shane: Good morning, and welcome to the online services of First Colony Church of Christ. This is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad. Let's sing out and worship the Risen King wpm who is worthy of our trust, hope, and our praise. (our God" playing) >> Richard: Our God is worthy of all honor, worthy of all praise. Let's sing! >> Richard: We believe that! >> Richard: We believe with all of our heart! Our God is greater! Our God is stronger! He's higher! He's able to do abundantly more than we could ever ask or imagine. We just need to ask. ("I Will Look Up" playing) >> Joel: Well, good morning, everyone! It's so good to be with you in your living room, dining room, family room, bedroom, wherever it may be this morning. It's a privilege to worship together. My name is Joel Smith, Children's Minister here at First Colony Church of Christ, and I like to take a message from Scripture and make it visual. So today we're gonna talk about love and forgiveness, but in order to get there, you have to start with the Gospel. Let's review the Gospel. God made it -- the sun, the moon, the oceans, you and I. He made everything, it was beautiful, and it was good. But then man and woman came into the Garden of Eden and He gave them one rule. You can do anything you want, just don't eat of this tree. Of course, what did they do? They ate of the tree. And then we know that beautiful world, there's still glimpses of God's beauty all around but also things messed up and broken and sad and destroy. And so Jesus came. God came in human flesh, lived the perfect life, died for us. The wrath of God, what we deserved, was placed on Him, but He was raised again. Then we have a response -- we can turn and follow Jesus. That's the essence of the Gospel. Well, today to get to love and forgiveness, the verse I've chosen is 1 John 4:10. Here in His love, not that we love God but He loved us and sent His Son to be a propitiation -- all that wrath of God -- as a sacrifice. I have a clean glove. What happens when you get ONE tiny little spot on your clean glove? It's like 99-point -- well, 98% clean. It's pretty clean, is it? No, the tiniest spot makes the whole glove dirty. Well, as we know, Adam and Eve sinned. We have the same grandparents. The interesting thing is that it's not just them; it's us. We have a tendency to sin, too. We have a tendency to make our own mistakes, and we have a tendency to get all spotted; and so I have a little jar here. I will put some of this in here, which represents when we don't do what God asks us to do; and I have some water here. I will put some water in -- quick get a drink, though. And as you can see, the world that we live in is broken and damaged; and the thing is that people without God try to figure out ways they can make themselves clean again, and they come up with all different sorts of ways; but we know the answer, and the answer is that we turn and follow Jesus. So when we try to clean ourselves -- ta-da! We go in this world and -- what happens? We get dirtier and dirtier and dirtier. But the cool thing is that there is a solution, and that is Jesus was our sacrifice and that He died on the cross for us and so when we go in and we turn and follow Jesus, He cleanses us of ALL unrighteousness, which is pretty cool. Now, it will take a few moments, but as you can see, those spots are disappearing Now, the interesting thing is that God just doesn't say "Okay, you're good; time to come home," but He leaves us in this world where we have the opportunity to shine God's light in that world. Now, check this out. This is pretty cool. So today we're actually going to hear about a church that did an incredible job but hear about a man who chose to let God's forgiveness and love be an example to others. The interesting thing I want to show you -- check it out -- we can go in the world and because of Jesus' sacrifice, we're still clean, but we need to keep going back to Jesus and growing in our relationship with Him; and as we have that opportunity, we can go and we can affect those in the world, and we can show God's light. But ultimately we're drawing people to be in a relationship with Jesus, and it takes time. You look around. You say, "Man, this world is kind of having a hard time." It's not gonna instantly be fixed, but we're still here. We are still to be salt and light, and check this out. Pretty cool, huh? And check out my glove. It's still clean! Which is awe is. So you can keep stirring this and will turn totally clear and white; but the point is we have an opportunity to shine Jesus' light out there because He first loved us. Love one another. >> Shane: Thank you, Joel. That's a wonderful transition into our communion time, and it's time for us to take communion now, to celebrate Jesus has cleansed us. You will want to gather for your communion elements at home now, and we're going to remember and reflect just on what Jesus has done for us, how He has reconciled us to God and redeemed us. Mark and sherry Pruitt, two of my dear friend, will lead us as we take communion together. >> Mark: Good morning, church! It's just awesome to be with y'all today, and as we are going through a time of fear and uncertainty and just not sure what's gonna happen from one day to the next, we always know that God's gonna be with us. He's never gonna leave us. He's always going to be there to take care of us in all things that are going on in our lives. And as we take this communion and bread today, the bread and the wine, let us never forget that it's all about helping others, loving others, because we're all sinners. We all struggle, and we all need each other; but in the end, the Lord's always going to be the One that will take care of us. Let's pray. Dear Heavenly Father, we are just so grateful to You, for Your grace and mercy. And when you were put on that cross, Lord, the pain and suffer You went through just for us; that You love willed us that much that, Lord, You're just an awesome God that loves us no matter what situation we're in. And, Lord, help us to have those same type of attitudes toward others, to love them no matter where they are in their walk and reach out to us. As we take the bread and the wine through the vine that we will continue to serve You in everything we do and never forget, Lord, that we love You; that we know that You're there for us in any situation we're going through. Thank You for all that You do for us. And, Lord, help us to continue to focus on You each and every day. In Christ' Name we pray. Amen. >> Sherry: Good morning, church. I will be reading from Philippians 2:5-8 this morning. ("Resurrecting" playing) >> Shane: Amen scam well, as we pray over our offering today, we want you to know giving online is safe, secure, simple to set up. You just click the link on your screen on our online web page there or text to give. Would you please pray with me as we take our offering? Thank You, God, for the offerings that we're able to give. Thank You that we can partner with You, God, and join You in what you're doing. May everything we give now be used for Your glory and for sharing the Good News about Jesus in this world. We pray this in Jesus' Name. Amen. Well, let's sing another song before today's message. And, Hey, let me encourage you -- even at home, let's stand up and sing praise to our God! ("Raise a Hallelujah" playing) >> Shane: Amen! Thank you, Richard and team! That was fantastic! Well, Hey, everyone, and welcome again to our online service and our worship at First Colony Church of Christ online. My name is Shane, campus minister for foster Creek. It's a privilege to speak for you today and to our church family, to our friends and family and loved ones who are watching all around the world, thank you for joining us today. We would love to connect with you and hear from you. You can communicate with us through the digital connection card on our First Colony Church app and also on the website on the live stream. You can find the Connection card. Let us know how we can pray for you; how we can connect with you or serve you this week, okay? Our Bible teaching time today will pick up where Ronnie left off last week in 1 Thessalonians. We're in chapter 3 now. I encourage you to open your Bibles to 1 Thessalonians 3. We'll dig into what it means to grow a stronger faith and a deeper love. Okay? As Ronnie explained, Paul had to leave this new, young church in Thessalonica and left sooner than he wanted to and went on to continue his missionary journey bees. He stayed connected to them by sending friends to visit and he would send a letter sometimes. So I got to wondering, "What if today Paul wanted to send a text to the church? What would that look like, Paul texting to the church. " Maybe something like this. "Sup fam, you good? They would give the thumbs up. "Miss you guys." And they would say, same. He would sayics maybe, "See ya later." And they would give the hand wavinger mojo. If you're under 25 -- I just want to assure you I was told by the cool kids that's how you text these days so you're welcome if you want to be cool. Of course, we know text messaging can go horribly wrong, and I found a few examples I wanted to share with you today just for fun. So here's some text message fails. One guy is texting his mom and said "I missed the bus." Mom said, okay, I'm on the way. He said "But I hit a person in driver's Ed. I'm at the ER." It's important to get the whole message. The next one is someone said "I'm here for you." And the reply is thanks. I'm going through a hard time right now. That means a lot. Oh, and sorry, I lost all my contacts; who is this? He says, this is your Uber driver. I'm here to pick you up. Then here's another one with a mom. Mom is asking the daughter, "You're coming here for Christmas, right?" The daughter said yes, and I'm bringing drugs. The mom said, oh, no, you're not, don't think about bringing drug to this house. The daughter said, "Wow, chill, I meant I'm bringing Doug." So autocorrect strikes again. We have all done it and we know it can get worse, such as this next one. A mom texts her son." your great aunt passed away, LOL." The son said, why is that funny? The mom said, it's not funny, David. What do you mean? Mom, LOL means laughing out loud. Oh, no, I sent it to everyone. I thought it meant "Lots of love." I got a kick out of this one. Mom texts her daughter "What does IDK, LY, and TTYL mean?" The doctor said, I don't know; love you; talk to you later." The mom said, okay, I'll ask your sister. You may notice a lot are having fun at the expense of moms and perhaps because my mom may be watching right now for all I know, I will share one where Mom gets the last laugh. A mom texts her son several things. Don't forget to unload the dishwasher, did you finish your homework? Remember to take out the trash. And then this: dad and I talked and we're getting you a car. Son said, you are? Thanks! Mom said, no, we're not. I just wanted to make sure you were getting my text messages. That's a smart mom. So all joking aside, I hope we remember to use our phones for good this week. You know, we can call someone and encourage someone and pray with someone over the phone and or check in with them over the phone. Use your phone for good to build people up this week. The apostle Paul didn't have a phone and couldn't text so he sent his fellow missionary Timothy to see and find out how are they doing. He wants to know, is their faith getting stronger? Is their love growing deeper? Paul cares about them deeply and want them to have the same love for one another and has great concern they continue to grow in Christ. He wants them to mature in their faith. So 1 Thessalonians is Paul's reply letter. He sent Timothy -- Timothy comes back and we're glad to report it's a good thing. Paul gets the best news from Timothy. He gets the greatest news, the best report he could have hoped for. 1 Thessalonians is his reply back and in chapter 3, verse 6, Paul says Timothy has just come to us from you and he's brought good news about your faith and your love. Paul says he was encouraged by this so let's pick it up in verse 8. 1 Thessalonians 3:8 in response to this great report Paul got from Timothy about them. Paul says -- >> Shane: This is really a touching letter written from the heart and you can hear his heart when he said "We can really live because we see you're standing firm in the Lord. How can we thank God enough for you?" And that prayer, those last couple of verses, he says, "May the Lord strengthen your heart and make you holy. May He make your love increase and overflow for one another." Paul's desire for them is to develop a stronger faith and a deeper love and that's what God also wants for you and me. In his other letters, Paul often links faith and love. There are so many passages for an example but can share one to Timothy. He writes in 1 Timothy 1:5. >> Shane: So today I want us to honestly evaluate where are we at these two key virtues, our faith, our trust in God, and our love for one another; that we may, too, have a stronger faith and a deeper love. A stronger faith will trust in God in the good time and in the hard times. It will not be surprised at hardship or trials to come or even persecution because Jesus said these things would come. A deeper love will put our love of God above all other loves and work to root out deep idols we may have -- you know, those things we cling to and put our trust in that are other than God. A stronger faith will cause us to go beyond half-measure and halfhearted commitment. We will serve even when it's inconvenient. We will do what is right even when it's harder to do the right thing. A deeper love will compel us to die to the ways of the flesh -- you know, to draw nearer to Christ. Our love for Jesus will cause us not to say no to sin but to say yes to Jesus and His ways. A stronger faith will make us more bold in our witness for Christ. It will cause us to realize that the most exciting, exhilarating mission we can experience in life is being a part of God's mission to seek and save those who are far from Him. Our faith in Jesus and our love for Him can propel us to being His ambassadors and telling others about the wonderful grace of God. And the deeper love will infuse and inform the way we treat others, of course, as Christ would. It will cause us to think twice before we speak harsh words or divisive words. It will cause us to speak more in the language of encouragement, joy, graciousness, kindness. You know, a lack of faith could be evident in many way in our live. One could be just a crippling fear, but it also could be the need for control or the desire to control everything or everyone. A lack of faith can show up in putting our trust in things other than God and those things will only disappoint you. A look of love could also be evident in our lives in many ways but consider today how do I talk to people; how do I talk about people; and how am I doing with kindness and patience and graciousness and forgiveness? I want to camp out on forgiveness for the second half of the message and focus on this vital issue, forgiveness. To forgive one another is absolutely something that requires a stronger faith and a deeper love than we could have on our own. Forgiving one another is one of the hardest things you will ever do but, of course, it lies at the very heart of God. And the fact is I won't be good at forgiving others until I realize and sink in and realize God has forgiven me. I have to have faith in that. It's only God's love for me that gives me the Powe to forgive. I must draw upon that. I simply don't have the strength or capacity to forgive on my own -- at least I have never been able to. The late Congressman John Louis exhibited both his faith and great capacity for love through his example of forgiveness. I want to talk about him. Congressman John Lewis passed away a couple weeks ago and Marched with Dr. King, the youngest speaker at the 1963 March on Washington for civil rights, leader in the 1965 March for voting rights in Selma, Alabama, that became known as Bloody Sunday because of the brutality of the beatings they endured and spurred such national outrage it hastened the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. But on that day, John Lewis was beaten so badly he had to be hospitalized, along with many others. He was arrested over 40 time in the 1960s alone and continued to work for civil rights and became a Congressman, eventually, in 1987. The most important thing today to share about John Lewis is he was your brother in Christ. He was a man of deep faith in Christ, an ordained Baptist minister, called the preaching protestor. Throughout his career, in protest and in public service, he called for peaceful protesting and radical love. I will quote him some now. He said "I have long believed that peace and nonviolence is the true way for change." He said, "You are light. Never let anyone or any force dampen, dim, or diminish your light." He said, "When I was growing up in rural Alabamas, as a young child, I would see signs that said white men over here; colored men over here. White women over here; colored women over here. I would go home and ask my parents why. They would just tell me `that's just the way it is. Don't get in the way. Don't cause any trouble." "I met Rosa parks when I was 17, Dr. King when I was 18. They inspired me to get in the way, to get in trouble, so I got go good trouble, necessary trouble." He continues, "Don't become bitter or hostile. Be hopeful and optimistic. Never be afraid to get in good trouble." Before the March in Selma and March on Washington, there was another incident in his life I want to highlight, especially his reflection on it many years later -- just a couple years ago -- I want to look at. He was one of the Freedom Riders who rode on interstate buses into segregated states in the south in 1961 to challenge segregation because segregated public buses had actually been declared unconstitutional by two Supreme Court cases by then. However, the Southern states ignored this and the government did not enforce it. They did nothing. So in 1961, along with some others, as a peaceful form of protest, John Lewis and a white friend sat together on a bus that was headed South. They knew they were headed for some good trouble. Sure enough, they were beat. By a mob when they arrived in South Carolina and in Birmingham beat with chains and lead pipes and stones. A few years ago, Lewis gave an extraordinary interview, recounting the story of many years later. One of those men beat him came to John Lewis as an old man and brought his 40-plus-year-old frown son with -- grown son and w him and came to apologize and ask for forgiveness. How hard would it be for you to forgive them if they came to you after that? Well, I two minutes of interview to play. Please don't be confused because they're in the bar her shop. That's the setup of the interview but John Lewis' words are profound. Let's listen. ? >> Oh! My goodness! Congressman John Lewis? How are you, sir? >> I'm fine, sir. How are you? In 1961, the same year president Barack Obama was born, black people and white people couldn't be seated together on a Greyhound bus or trolley bus, even in Washington. In May 1961, my seatmate was a young white gentleman. The two of us left Washington and we arrived at the greyhound bus station in Rock Hill, South Carolina. A group from the Klan beat us and left us -- >> No. >> -- lying in a pool of blood when we tried to wait in the white waiting room. This was May 1961. Many years later, to be exact, in February of `09, one member of the Klan, one of the guys, he now in his 70s, came to my office in Washington with his son and his 40s. He said, Mr. Lewis, I'm one of the people that beat you and your seat mate. Will you forgive me?" "I want to apologize." >> Hmm. >> The son started crying. He started crying. And I said, I accept your apology. I forgive you. They hugged me. I hugged them back, and I started crying. And that's the power of the way of peace, the way of love, and nonviolence. Dr. King said, hate is too heavy a burden to bear. >> Hate is too heavy a burden to bear. >> Yes. >> Mmm! >> So love is a better way. So all of the people that beat me and arrested me and threw me in jail, I don't have any ill feeling at all, not at all. >> Mmm. >> I feel free. >> Congressman John Lewis, thank you very much. >> Thank you very much, sir. >> Yes, indeed. ? >> Shane: He said "It accept your apology. I forgive you. Hate is too heavy a burden to bear. Love is a better way." He said, all the people that beat me and arrested me, put me in jail, I don't have ill feeling at all. I feel free. Now, I'm so glad that white man finally, eventually, repented of his racism and his sin. I'm glad he sought forgiveness as God taught us to do and I'm glad he set an example for his grown son. It's good to do. It was hard for that man to repent. It's a hard thing to do for any of us but I'm also so glad that John Lewis was able to forgiven him. He wasn't able to do that on his own power. John Lewis was a man of great faith and trusted in God and his work for equal right and justice was rooted in his faith of God. "The civil rights movement was based on faith. Many participants in this movement saw our involvement as an extension of our faith." Lewis also had a deeper love, even for those who persecuted him. In his capacity to forgive came not from within himself but his Heavenly Father. The work of forgiveness can be the hardest work you will ever do in your life. We can't hang on to hurt. We can't hang on to the gnawing resentment that eats away at us. We have to increase our capacity to forgive in the Bing things and even the "Small things." These days we find more pressure and stress and stand I to hurt one another. We have to work on our repentance muscle and apology muscle and we have to work on our forgiveness muscles. I'm talking about husband and wives; children and parents; friends; siblings; coworkers; neighbors. This is serious, serious stuff. I know that there's a number that must be listening right now and you're right in the middle of a hard struggle -- in your marriage, family, relationship, or some other significant, difficult thing that's just so hard for you to soften your heart right now and work on your ability to forgive. It's hard. It can be so hard. I know there's many of us listening right now -- we might have a lump in our throat. Maybe even a tightening of the fist as we're challenged right now with this reality that, "Yeah, I need to forgive." "But I don't want to forgive." It's not easy. It's hard work and the big thing and the small things; but both things true. First, when I walk w work at the habit of forgiveness, even forgiving the daily, weekly slights, the hers, the small things that add up -- it will increase my capacity to forgive. I will work out that forgiveness muscle and learn how to forgive better. You know, it will help my heart become more like Christ to forgive. He who could forgive even hanging on a cross. But also when we have been through a major betrayal -- you know, we have been hurt deeply by someone we love -- you know, that experience also gives us an opportunity as hard as it is to increase our capacity to forgive; to learn how to overlook offenses; and to work it out when we're wronged in the future. No, it's not easy, but we can grow in this because we learned how to do the work of forgiveness. When we go through that, we learn the value of being set free like John Lewis said, we can be free from the hurt, anger, and grievance. If John Lewis can forgive the people who beat him and Jesus forgives the people who put Him on the cross, surely I can work on forgiving, too. You know, if you hold onto the grudge long enough, eventually you find that grudge is holding onto you. You know, it's captured you. Lewis Smedes said -- Of course what we want for them is to get what they deserve, you know, get what is coming to them. I don't know. I'm really glad I don't always get what I deserve. C.S. Lewis said -- Better yet, Colossians 3:13 says -- You know, I know forgiveness does not always guarantee the relationship will be reconciled and set back right. I know that extending forgiveness doesn't automatically set right the wrong that was done to you. And you can't control how someone else will respond to your offer of forgiveness. But you CAN control whether or not you're hanging on to the heart or the hate or whatever is in your own heart. You CAN be set free. Even if you can't forget -- and, look, we can't always forget -- but we CAN forgive; and we really do want to forgive and move forward before we're stuck in that state of resentment and hurt that will hard listen our hearts and damage our souls. You know, I think our ability, our capacity, our willingness to forgive is one of the greatest indicators of whether we have a stronger faith or a deeper love. You know, overlook small offenses, forgiving the really hard things as well. It certainly isn't easy, but it's so worth it. I know I have been forgiven much by God and other people in my life. For that, I am so grateful. But did you know you need forgiveness too? God is extending His love and forgiveness to YOU right now. If you want to talk about that or want to pray with someone, you can reach out to one of our elders or host in the chat right now in the online chat. You can contact us at the church. If you want a phone call from a minister or one shepherding elders, we would love to pray and talk with you. We are here for you. So I leave us with this today. If the apostle Paul sent Timothy to check on you and me today, would he bring back good news about our faith and our love? Would he say we have a strong faith? Would he say we have a deeper love? Would he be encouraged by growing trust and confidence we're putting in Jesus and our ability to live out the one anothers of Scripture, to live out Christ-like love and our capacity to live out one another. May the Lord make our love increase and overflow for each other. May he strengthen our heart and increase our faith. And may we forgive as the Lord has forgiven us. One of the amazing thing would be if the world would see the people of God living out our stronger faith in deeper love with kindness and graciousness and an ability to forgive and love that is out of this world. Thank you for joining us today. Please know I love you. We're here for you all. We're all in this together. We wanted to continue k conclude our time in prayer together today and one elder -- my good friend Kim Brigham will lead us so let's pray. >> Good morning, church. Let's bow in prayer. Heavenly Father, we bow before You this morning, thanking You for Your constant care throughout our country's crisis these last few months. Our lives have drastically been changed, but through it all, You have been our constant. You are our lighthouse. We look to You because we love You, and You told us that You would never leave us. We resolve that no matter what happens, we will stand firm in the knowledge that You are in control. We ask, Dear God, You heal our land of this illness, and the constant hatred that seeks to divide us. Help us to love each other, to forgive each other, and to follow the example of Jesus. Lord, we pray that Your love will increase and overflow in all of us, strengthen and purify our hearts; that we will be blameless and holy in Your Presence in that day to come when Jesus appears with His holy ones. Lord, we praise You. We honor You, and we give You all the glory. In Jesus' Name, amen. Thank you for being with us today. Remember, our God is more than capable of handling all of your issues. Stand firm and stand strong in your faith. We are all here to do whatever we can to help you: pray for you, sit with you, talk with you, whatever is needed. Our Lord is able. Be blessed.