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.  











>> Shane: Hello and welcome to the live online worship services of the First Colony Church of Christ. We are so glad to have you worshiping with us today. As we sing, pray, take communion, take God's word, He wants us to draw closer to Jesus, so let's get started. 

>> All right, let's worship the lord. Our God is faithful. He's the only king for ever and for ever amen.

 ? "Only King Forever" ? 

>> Only King forever and He is already victorious! Thank you, father. Thank you, father, for your presence with us today. There is no God like you. You alone are King. 

? "The Way" ? 

>> My friend, Joel Smith, come on up here. 

>> Joel: Well, good morning, everyone. It is so good to be with you again this morning, whether you're on your couch or at your kitchen table or in your car. Wherever it may be, it is a joy to be with you. Last week we talked about a couple of things. When you're going through difficult times, there are things you need to remember. God's faithfulness in the past, be obedient, and be patient. Today I want to talk about being obedient. Do you know there are five keys to being obedient. We see them all throughout scripture. So I wanted to help you remember those keys by giving you grocery store items, things that you might see every day. So the first key to obedience is Total cereal. You're like, what? What does that have to do with obedience? You remember the story of Namen, who had disease and was told to go dip in the river seven times. If he went one or six times, we wouldn't have a story about him. He did the complete job, totally. Then we have -- this is one of my personal favorites. I realize you probably can't read this, but this is instant Jell-O pudding. There is two different kinds, cook, wait, chill, serve, later. Then there is the instant Jell-O, you can put it in a bag and bad da boom ba-da-bing you have Jell-O. And in John Jesus looks at the man and says, get up. Do you think he would have said, let me finish my video game and I'll get up? No, we have to do it instantly. Now, the next one is WD-40. It says it stops squeaks. We need to carry on without whining. The Israelites were in Egypt and said they wanted out. He said, okay, follow me. And he asked them to do things they didn't like and they started whining and complaining and sounded like a creeky door. WD-40 stops creeks and if you spray it on the hinges, the door goes like this. Then we have what involves our attitude. Cheer detergent or joy. I probably should have went with Joy. In Nehemiah it says, the joy of the Lord is our strength. When we obey, we have to have a joyful or cheerful attitude. The next item is extra, extra strength bubble gum. In Matthew 5:41, Jesus actually tells people to go the extra mile. You're like, what? What does that mean? There was a context there, but I want to give you an example of when I was a kid. Let's suppose my mom or dad said, clean your room. I'm doing it instantly, with a good attitude, I'm not complaining, and I come across my older brother's shoes. They told me to clean my room, so I technically could throw them out the window or poke the dog with them. Or best-case scenario as a younger brother, you could knock on his door and when he opens the door and starts chasing you and you run and stand by your mom when he starts chasing you. And when she asks what was going on, you say you were cleaning your room. Going the extra mile would be just giving him the shoes. Do the job instantly, without complaining or attitude, and going the extra mile. Those are the keys to obedience. 

>> Shane: Thank you so much, Joel. The Bible tells us that we died with Christ and we have been raised with him and our life is with him. It's time to gather your communion supplies so we can take communion together to celebrate together. Robert and Stayy Beasley are going to lead us now. 

>> I'm Robert and this is my wife Stacy. Almighty and tender-hearted faithful God, we are amazed at your love for us and the lengths you have gone to rescue us from ourselves and fear and death. We praise you, Lord Jesus, for suffering for us, making a new covenant for us, not based on what we do or don't do, but sustained on your love. As a church we celebrate your love for us, the bread that gives us a picture of how your body was broken for us and the cup that's a vivid reminder of how you bled for each one of us. We do this together until we shall be like you in your presence and you come again. Thank you in the powerful name of Jesus, amen. 

>> Stacy: I'll be reading this morning from Colossians 3:1-4. Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. 

? "O Come To The Altar" ? 

>> Shane: Amen. As we take our offering today, we want you to know that so set up online giving, it's safe, secure, simple to set up. To get set up, you can click the link or text "give." Our Father God, we ask you to use these offerings. Use them for your glory, use them that all may hear the message of Jesus and this glorious savior we have in His name. Amen. It is time to start thinking about our annual joy box collection. This is where we partner with Hope For Haiti students. All you have to do is drive up to the church building next Sunday from 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. You pick up a box and you'll have two weeks to fill that box with gifts and bring it back to church. See the website for more information and it's an easy way to make a difference in the life of a child in Haiti. We have some really cool opportunities coming up for the fall. You'll receive an e-mail tomorrow that will highlight several things that are great things you can get involved with this fall. I want to highlight two briefly now. First, I am so happy to announce that we are beginning our celebrate recovery meeting together in person again. Celebrate recovery will meet on Friday nights at 6:30, but here is what is new. We will be at the Foster Creek campus and meeting outside in our recovery groups, in the nice shade. Friday nights at 6:30 p.m. beginning this Friday, this coming Friday. Whether you're a part of CR and have been longing to get together in a safe way or thinking, I need to get some help and connect with someone about my heart, my habit, my hangup. We're here for your. The online groups will continue to meet and the online option will be there for you. If you want to meet in a safe and wonderful setting this Friday at Foster Creek, e-mail me. Marriage night is an online marriage conference. It's a one night only Saturday, September 12, from 6:00 to 9:30 p.m. You can watch it from home. You can sign up. It's great speakers, great content, a great way to invest in your marriage. It's just $15 a person. You can sign up online now. It's a great opportunity. I hope you check that out. Here is a quick video that tells you more about the marriage night seminar. 

>> Right now marriage night is back. Join thousands of couples from around the country for a one-night experience. Laugh and grow as you hear from Les and Lesley perpetrator,- and comedian Michael Jr. 

>> Let's get excited this morning. 

? "Glorious Day" ? 

>> Thank you for worshiping with us today. 

>> Ronnie: Richard and team, thank you so very much. Welcome from the First Colony Church of Christ. My name is Ronnie and we would love to hear from you via the connection card or the church app or on the live stream page. Let us hear from you. We would love to pray for you. Two weeks from today, we're so pleased that we get to reopen for in-person worship. Whether you join us in person or online, just know we will continue to do our best to serve you and serve the lord together. In terms of our recommendations and protocols, those will be on our church website and various church e-mails. I look forward to seeing several of you in two weeks. Come with a great spirit. Come where a spirit of worship and gratitude and worship. Lord willing, two weeks from now on September 6. We're in a message series from the book of 1 Thessalonians. The message is coming and going. The second coming of Jesus Christ and going, where do believers go throughout eternity? This is a message that is not just theological, but also very, very pastoral. I can say with great authority that you have some losses and some seasons of grief coming your way. So do I. Most of us have already been there and we will be there again. So it is so very prudent that we enroll in a grief management course under the lordship of Lord Jesus Christ. In her book "Magical Thinking," the author tries to make sense of her world after the death of her husband, John, she marvels at the capacity of grief to derange the mind. She says, surely there must have been some mistake. Grief is a knife-like sadness. When you start to speak to someone who's no longer there. Grief is the emptiness when you eat alone after eating with someone for so many years. Grief is teaching yourself to go to be without saying good night to the one who is no longer there. Grief is the helpless wishing that things were different, when you know that they are not and they never will be. Grief is a whole cluster of adjustments, apprehensions, and uncertainties. This young church in Thessalonica in Thessalonians is one of the first books in the New Testament. This church was pound founded by the a apostle Paul, but they don't have a wide array of teachings. They have questions like where do Christians go when they die, what happens to their souls, and what happens to Christians before the return of Christ? In that church, Paul taught them that Jesus was indeed coming back visibly, and they were expecting him any day, as we should too. Jesus could return before this message is over. The Thessalonians were anticipating Christ. Well, what if he comes back and we're still here, but what happens to the Christians who die before his return? So a number of questions. Now, before we get into today's text. Make sure you have your Bible, 1 Thessalonians 4:13. I would like to give you an overview of what the Bible teaches about our future. Here are four facets of our future that are pretty much rock solid. Christians have believed these four facts for 2,000 years. If someone were to deny one of these four, I would say, you may claim to be a Christian, but you certainly are not holding on to the Orthodox historic Christian faith. So here are four features. Let me put these words up on your screen. Jesus returns, Jesus is coming back. Secondly, when he does, there had will be a resurrection for all, for those who love Jesus and for those who do not love Jesus. For those who are believers and for those who are unbelievers. Here is a summary. When you die, your physical self goes to the ground. As the Bible says, dust to dust, ashes to ashes. You're buried, you're cremated, your body disintegrates in some accident. Your soul goes to be with God, but that's not the end of the story. To be absent in the body, you're present with the Lord. I thought we were all present with the Lord. We are. When we die, absent in the body, present with the Lord. Our spirit and soul goes to be with the Lord. Then we're waiting for the resurrection. Our body is sleeping. Resurrection is this future cosmic God-sized act, where you are reunited with your body and you get a remade self. The apostle Paul teaches about this and talks about it in detail in 1 Corinthians 15. The world is remade. We'll get back to that in just a moment. Jesus returns and with him he brings not just someone, but many someones, there is a resurrection for all. There is judgment. We will all stand before the living God and giving an account, says the scriptures, of the things done in the body, whether God or evil. That's either a beautiful, encouraging thought, or it is terrifying. And at the final judgment, God will shut out all evil from his world, all human evil, all supernatural evil, all natural evil, like hurricanes. Jesus returns. Resurrection for all. Judgment. And then recreation. A new heaven, a new earth. Jesus heals, renews, recreates every square inch of the cosmos. Now, people speculate on many other facets of the future, but I would suggest that everything beyond these four is secondary, it's speculation regarding timing, et cetera. Now, Paul will not talk about all of these in this particular section, but I think that's a pretty good foundation as we go forward. Starting verse 13. Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about Those who sleep in death. A couple times Paul is going to talk about death as sleep. So that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. He says, I do not want you swallowed by despair. He's not telling us not to grieve. He says, I don't want you to grieve without hope. Grieve. Jesus grieved. Grieve with one another, but let your grief be laced through and through with a solid dose of truth and hope and not just the kind of hope, cross my fingers and hope no. Solid, verifiable hope. Is there life after death? Is there real hope? Are dead believers in good hands? The clear answer is yes. Why? Verse 14. For we believe that Jesus died And rose again. That's one of the earliest Christian creeds and confessions. Say it with me, for we believe that Jesus died and rose again. Our faith is built on that. We do believe that. So we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. Jesus is going to return and he's bringing not just someone, but all of those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. A Christian euphemism for death, sleep. Death has been changed to sleep by the work of Christ. He died a death in our place. He was punished for our sins, thus turning death into sleep for us. Death is for the Christian, merely the sleep of the body. The spirit goes into the presence of the Lord. You know what? Nobody's afraid of sleep. I'm in the unique position that I've actually witnessed many of you sleep from time to time at either 8:30 or 11:00 on a Sunday morning. I've watched your head bob up and down. Some of you are who we call in doughnuts, you've got that glazed look over your face. Nobody's afraid of sleep. Jesus has taken that, which is oppressive and fearful, and he turns it into something that is not fearful for the believer. Verse 15. According to the Lord's word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. In other words, when Jesus comes back, there are going to be people alive and operating. Jesus one time said, people will be getting married, they will be working, it will be the routine flow of life. But what he's affirming here is that neither the Christian dead nor the Christian living will be disadvantaged in any way. A little side note. It's interesting to me that beginning at verse 15 through 17, Paul doesn't really use the name "Jesus." He uses the description, the term, the title "Lord" five times. He's reminding us that this Jesus is Lord over all the living and all the dead. Verse 16. For the Lord himself will come Down from heaven -- not an emissary, not an ambassador, not a deputy, not a representative. The Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud Command -- I wonder what that will be? Enough. Enough sin. Enough sadness. Enough death. Enough brokenness. Enough, Satan. Enough. The Lord himself, a loud command. The voice of the arcangel. I wonder what he might say, ladies and gentlemen, behold the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. And the trumpet call of God, signalling it's time to assemble. Notice the place of honor here and the dead in Christ shall rise first. They're not forgotten. They actually have a place of honor in God's victory parade. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be Teaching and preaching and living. We are still alive and we will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Let me stop there for a moment. We're taught when the Lord returns, those of us who are still alive at that time, we will be changed in a twinkling of an eye. That's less than one thousandth of one second. Just like that, the dead in Christ rise. We are changed. We will meet them and the Lord in the air, and so -- And so we will be with the Lord forever. You notice the word "clouds"? Clouds throughout the Bible are regular vehicles for Theophanies or regular appearances of God's glory. Jesus returns. The dead in Christ rise first. We are changed in the twinkling of an eye. We meet the Lord in the clouds. But listen, what he's underscoring here, we're not just meeting Him, we're meeting them. Not just Him, but them. Death does not separate us from God. For the believer, you're never separated from God. You close your eyes here. To be absent in the body is to be present with the Lord. The apostle Paul would say in Philippians 1, should I stay here and continue my ministry or go be with the Lord? It's win-win. Now, to go on and be with the Lord in glory, he says, that is better by far. Death does not separate us from God. Not only does death not only separate us from God, it does not forever separate us from one another as Christian brothers and sisters. Our separation is only temporary. And for believers, death is only on interruption to our relationship. It's not a conclusion to our relationship. There is a comma there, not a period. What that means, believer, is you need to put names and faces on this theology. For some of you, you're thinking of children. Maybe a child you never got to hold. Maybe a child with who you never got to relate, never got a chance to lock eyes with him or her. But those children are precious to God. I believe life begins in the womb. For God, as the scripture would say, knits us together. And that child you never got to hold, that child with who you never got to relate and lock eyes, you will relate to that child and God's wonderful tomorrow. You will enjoy a relationship in full personhood, under all the wonders that God has for you. This is the gospel. Therefore, our grieving at death, it must never obscure the hope in the gospel. We know, just as assuredly as Jesus died and rose again, therefore those who died in the Lord, they are going to come right back with him. Easter happened for Jesus. You're going to have your own Easter as well. That's why he concludes his teaching in 18: Therefore encourage one another with these words. That's why this is written, encouragement. Not disillusionment, when a believer dies, he, she, they are in good hands, God's safe hands. As God has described Himself, he is a God of the living. A couple of summary points. First of all, in Christ, we have a better kind of grieving. In Christ, we have a better kind of grieving. Remember the scripture we read just a few minutes earlier? "so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope." Is there a sadder description in the world than no hope? But in Christ, we have a living hope. Now, this passage does not teach that we should not grieve. We do grieve. We're invited to grieve. But in a new way, a specific way, a better way, we grieve with hope. Let me encourage you to grieve with one another as well. The British novelist Julian Barnes tried to capture the loneliness of his grief in what he calls grief work. He said after 30 years of marriage his wife, Pat, died, and he was struck by how many of his closest friends just did not know how to speak with him at any level about his grief. He said some friends are as scared of grief as they are of death and they avoid you as if they fear infection. He describes some of his friends who cannot even bring themselves to say his wife's name, Pat. He calls them the silent ones. He imagines that these silent ones are really just sort of saying to him, your grief is an embarrassment to us. We're just waiting for this to pass. By the way, you are much less interesting without her. In the church, let's grieve together in community. Rejoice with those who rejoice. Weep with those who weep. Your grief is not an embarrassment. Your tears are welcome. Jesus does not expect hope-filled people to operate like robots. Jesus himself wept at the tomb of his friend Lazarus, even though he knew he was about to raise him. Death is not right and this is not the way it should be. Even though he knew that glory was about to come from the death of Lazarus. Jesus is moved by grief, by your grief and mine. Being a person of faith doesn't mean that you're not going to carry some scars. You'll never be the same after a deep, tragic loss. I don't want to get over that. I want to get -- I want to move forward with healing and with hope, but I'll never just get over the death of my sister. I'll never get over the death of my mom and my dad. I grieve, but thanks be to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We grieve with hope. It hurts, but the anchor holds. Secondly, God's vision for our future provides hope, encouragement, and meaning for today. What we believe about the future shapes our present. We are members of this new community. We are members of this family. We are citizens of heaven. Our today is shaped by what we believe about the future. That's what we are. We're people of the future. You're not on some merry-go-round. You're on a journey to eternity, with the story written by Jesus Christ himself. So if death is not the end, what we do now matters. It matters a great deal. That's why the Bible uses this word to describe our response. Are you ready? Here it is. Faithfulness. Be faithful. Jesus says, when I come back, will I find you faithful? Whether you've been given one talent, two talents, or five. Whether you've been given two, five, or 10. Will I find you faithful? Faithful in times of adversity when times are tough and when people are not friendly to our Christian faith, will we be faithful? Will we be found faithful if we're walking not in a season of adversity, but in a season that might be more difficult, a season of prosperity, where we have the wherewithal and the resources to build a wonderful cocoon and enjoy our stuff. But the Lord calls us to more than that. Let me just remind you that these wonderful promises are more children of God. You may be God's creation and God loves you, but you become his child through faith in Jesus Christ. There's a big wall between every human and God, but the love of God is greater and bigger than that wall. Jesus Christ came to pay our debt to be the remedy. He died for our sins. He was raised to life again. You can be at one with the living God. You can be reconciled. We are invited to trust him and follow Him. That's what we do day by day. We trust and follow. We begin that journey by trusting Him, believing Jesus is who he says He is, by turning from following self to following Jesus, by being baptized in Jesus' name. We trust and follow. That's the Lord. These wonderful promises are for you. Don't you want to step into God's glorious future? You can. You can. There's nothing you've done, nowhere you've been that can disqualify you from this hope if you will turn to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. The King is coming, King Jesus. Let's be ready to welcome him. God bless you, everybody. Thank you for joining us today. Just know I love you, I pray for you. Let me remind you of what Shane said earlier about our annual joy box collection. This is where we partner with Hope For Haiti children. We provide Christmas presents to a number of our students and friends there. To participate, next Sunday, which will be August 30, all you need to do is just drive up to our church main entrance here between 1:00 and 5:00 p.m. You'll pick up a box. Then you'll have a couple of weeks to just fill that box with gifts for a child in Haiti. May the Lord bless you and keep you and give you His peace. My friend Robert Beasley is now going to lead us in prayer. 

>> Robert: Let's pray together. Good Father, and our Lord Jesus, in life-giving spirit, we honor and pray you for you who shown yourself to be in Jesus. We thank you that you hear our prayers when we come close to you. We pray with confidence in the name of Jesus because you have conquered our worst fears and enemies, death and evil, and we praise you that you are changing the selfishness and sin that is in all of us. We praise you for your patience, wisdom, love, and faithfulness. We thank you for giving us life in the first place, but now for the reality of new life with you for ever, for the assurance of eternal life and a renewed creation where there will be no death and evil. We thank you that until then you are with us in every way. We thank you that you did not leave us as orphans, but your spirit is with us when we turn to You. You're the God who comforts us in all our affliction. We pray for a speedy remedy for this virus, but until then we pray for the healing for many in our church who are not well. We pray for your loved ones. We pray for strength for the healthcare workers. We pray for those who are lonely and who need jobs. We turn our fear and anxieties over to you. Give us faith to hold onto you and please give us today, every day, our daily bread. We pray for our children and teachers as school begins for protection, wisdom, and patience. We pray for our nation and elected officials and administrators. We pray that we, bearing the name of Jesus, will be ambassadors of your love, spreading the pleasing aroma of Christ, that we will be those to bring peace and reconciliation, quick to listen, slow to speak and become angry. In the light of your amazing grace, let us not be conformed to the way of this world, but instead be transformed by renewing our minds by your word and your spirit. Thank you for the opportunities we have every day to give to the poor, immigrants, orphans, widows, sick, imprisoned, remembering that you said when we are chiropractoring for the least of these, we are praying for You. We do not grieve for those who have no hope, but instead, we will be with you and those who love You for ever. We pray all this with confidence in the name of our Lord Jesus, amen. Thank you for joining us and have a blessed week as you go in the power name of Jesus. [???] 

>> 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. [???]