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'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 receiver weekday. In addition to fining 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. >> 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 download the First Colony Church of Christ" on the App Store or Google Play. 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 owe 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: Hello, and welcome to the live worship services of the First Colony Church of Christ! It's great to see everyone here in the building! Thanks for coming today, and we're so glad for all of you at home watching. We are so happy you're with us this morning, too. Together, all of us, whether we're watching at home or right here today, we are part of the family of God in Jesus Christ. Amen? So we are here, together, and united and will praise the Name of Jesus because He is worthy of our praise! So you guys in the house here -- and if you want to at home, too -- let's stand and sing! Let's sing together now! ("Great Things" playing) >> Richard: Yes! Our God only does wondrous things, it says in the songs. He is a faithful King. ("Way Maker" playing) ? Yes, that is who You Are ? ? Yes, it is, Lord ? ? Who You Are ? ? That's who You Are ?? >> Joel: Amen! You may be seated. Well, good morning, everyone. It's awesome to see you all here today, and whether you're at home watching on your screen or in the person live, it's awesome to see you. My name is Joel Smith, Children's Minister here, and I'm going to get down just so hopefully you can see what I'm doing. But discernment. When you look at life, you have choices. As a believer, you have choices to do what is good, what's better, and what's best. Well, the Bible tells us in 1 Corinthians 3, starting in verse 12, that as a believer, everything we do is going to be evaluated; and some stuff, which is like wood, hay, and stubble, is going to be burned up and consumed and there will be nothing left. Other things like precious stones or incredible, precious metal -- and that's referring to the two things that last forever, people's souls and the Word of God. So I have a root beer, Mr. Saint Arnold -- happens to be my favorite. In Oregon, it was Henry Winehart's, in case you're wondering. And I have paper, which has a tendency to burn, yes? I know you're thinking, "Yes, we will have fire!" No, not this week. So -- and then I have, I think it's $1.75 in quarters. The point I want to make you have the opportunity to put things in your life, and we want thing to remain. And so in this particular instance -- actually, I will flip this over. It really doesn't make a difference, but I want those precious metals, those things that last forever, to remain, and I want to remove things out of my life that are just kind of wood, hay, and stubble. And so if you go like this -- aah! That's why I got down, just in case, just in case it went on the ground, and I'm glad I didn't have to chase them. But it's pretty cool if your dollar bill is not bent, and I made the mistake of putting it in my pocket. That is not helpful. That's why this is an excellent lesson because it's possible to lose sight of what is important. But check it out. Aah! I did it again! First service was flawless! (Laughter) We'll tell them. We'll leave them. It's good. You can try this at home. The secret is if you have a crisp dollar bill, needs to be a bottle, stack coins on top. If you go straight down on the side, you can do it; but don't do it until after the service is over. Well, thank you very much. Remember, just like my illustration, some stuff didn't remain. Focus on that which will. (Applause) >> Shane: Yes. There is only one Joel Smith, and I'm glad we have him here. (Laughter) Love you, Joel. I'm glad we have him here. As Chad and Gavin St. Jean come up here to lead us in communion, gather your supply if you're at home. If you're in the building, you have supplies in the back. Feel free to get one now. If you would, discard the communion cups -- those in the building -- into the plastic baggies and after service, you can put them in the baskets on each row or in the waste bins as you go out after service. We'll turn our attention to the cross of Christ and what He has done for us, and these guys will lead us. >> Chad: Let's pray as we prepare for the bread and cup. Father God in heaven, we just thank You for this morning. And Father, as we just take this time to reflect on Your goodness; Your love; Your sacrifice as we take this bread and this cup, just prepare our hearts of a time of reflection in a world that's uncertain. We know one thing: we know that You sent Your Son Jesus. We know that You sent Him, that we have eternal life with You. So as we take this bread, let us reflect on Your body nailed to the cross for our sins as we take this cup and we remember the blood that was poured out for our sins. Father, we just thank You for the opportunity for the relationship, and we thank You for Your promises and the hope that You give to us. So as we take this bread and cup, Father, let us remember that we thank You for all Your many gifts; Your love; and Father, we take it together. We pray all these things in Jesus' Name. Amen. >> Gavin: (Reading the Scripture) ("You Say" playing) (Applause) >> Shane: Amen, right? Amen. Yes, thank you for that. I hope we will all believe what God says about us, that we are His beloved children, yes? >> Amen. >> Shane: Come on! Amen? >> Amen! >> Shane: We will have a prayer for the offering. We want to say thank you for giving. We don't take it for granted and always pray over these offerings. We always appreciate them because we partner together as a body of Christ, and we partner with God to be a light in our community and to spread the message of Jesus from right here to all around the world where we have mission points. And so that is ministry and worship as well. And so as we take our offering, we want you to know it's safe, secure, and simple to set up. You can text to give and click on the link to give now and begin that process. But here in the building, we have some offering boxes at the back, and you guys can put your offering in there as you leave if you like. Let's pray together now for our offering. God, I simply want to ask You to use these offerings for Your glory and may You will use them to hear the message of Jesus and we may be able to get Your Good News to as many people we can. We ask this in the Name of Jesus. Amen. Okay, here's at First Colony what we will do in a second is greet one another with a very loving, welcoming, socially distant wave. And at home, you can do that but can also at home -- if you would like to stay hey in the chat box, please do that. Let's just stand and greet one another right now. ("Fires" playing) (Applause) >> Richard: You may be seated. >> Joel: Well, good morning, everyone! It's so good to be with you. My name is Joel. I am the Children's Minister here and whether you're at your breakfast table or in your couch or bedroom, it's good to be with you. Today we'll talk about love and forgiveness. But in order to get to love and forgiveness, you really have to review the Gospel. ? (Applause) >> Ronnie: Good morning, everyone -- yeah. We have such a fantastic group of servant-hearted folks around here, and I am so glad to see you, those of you in the room today. We're so glad to see you, those to have you watching us and joining us online. Our church family, our church village, from wherever you may be -- across the nation, actually, across the globe. We welcome you. We're so glad that you're here and would love to hear from you via the Communication Card you will find on your church app; here in the room, our church app; and even on your live stream page, for those who are watching us online. Remember, if you're part of our Foster Creek campus, they plan to continue their in-person services meeting this evening at 6:00 p.m. So today we will conclude the series "Stead did and Sure." We, as believers, are faithful; and God is faithful to us so we conclude today this series out of the book of 1 Thessalonians. The title of the message today is "Got discernment?" In the book "The Gospel According to Starbucks," Leonard Sweet tells the story of Ed Falbert, a "cupper," a coffee taster; and his discerning taste buds have actually been certified by the State of New York. So refined is Ed's sense of taste for coffee that even while blind folded, he can take one sip of coffee and tell you not just that it's from Guatemala what state it was from, what altitude it was frown, and what mountain. Now, there's a guy dish like coffee, but there's a guy who REALLY, really, really like and knows his coffee. But you know what? It's important to have discerning tastes. Let me put a statement here on the screen: discernment goes beneath the surface and it reads between the lines. That is especially important when it comes to our faith. You know, we live in an age where we have more informational content, more information available readily available to us than previous generations would have ever dreamed possible. We're not lacking in information. What we need is discernment to filter through the abundance of information. And as you desire to grow in your faith, it's important that you are discerning in who has your attention; who's got your ears; to whom are you listening in a persuasive way? And this matters because truth really does matter. Now, before we get into that topic, I want us to read the closing statements from this letter to the church in Thessalonica, located in Greece -- still the second-largest city in Greece. This was a wonderful charge found by the apostle Paul. It was a healthy group. He loves them, and this is the way the letter concludes. "Brothers and sisters, pray for us. Greet all God's people with a holy kiss." (Continuing to read) >> Ronnie: In other words, we're not the first people to love and follow Jesus, and when you read this letter to the church in Thessalonica, these are real people of real faith, hope, and love. And you see, God's not just calling you to be you. He's calling you to also be a part of "us," to be a part of a healthy, Christian community of believers. So now we get into four verses of Scripture today that talk about discernment; and before I read it, let me just sort of quote it all to you. It's very simple. "Do not quench the Spirit." "Do not treat prophesies with contempt but test everything." Hold on to what's good. And then reject every kind of evil. All right? So there it is. Pretty simple. Let's start. "Do not quench the Spirit." The Holy Spirit. The Invisible Presence of God within and among us; the Holy Helper. There it is. Do not quench the spirit. Now, how do you do that? So he tells us. Do not treat prophesies with contempt. Let me put it in modern language. Do not treat preaching, teaching, mutual exhortation with one another in the church; do not treat that kind of feedback and instruction and coaching and encouragement with contempt. But test it all. Let me put a statement on the screen. Prophesy is -- according to the New Testament, God speaking to one person through another. Preaching, teaching, mutual exhortation. In other words, he says, don't treat this with contempt. Don't be a picky eater. Don't be the kind of person who says, "Well, I would listen if you were just cooler." You know, "I need somebody cool." Do not treat teaching, preaching -- one another exhortation with contempt; but rather -- notice -- but test it all. Test it all. And hold on to what's floored and reject every kind offer -- good and reject every kind of evil. Let me throw out two or three questions. I would ask, first of all, does what person's preaching, teaching, that feedback come to me -- first of all, does it line up with Scripture? Because God will not contradict Himself and if the Scriptures clearly teach one thing -- if I'm saying something else, go with Jesus over Ronnie. Go with the Bible over Ronnie. Go with the Bible or Jesus over anyone. So does this teaching, does this word of encouragement or exhortation does it affirm what Scripture affirms and deny what Scripture denies? Secondly, I would ask, is this in alignment with my church? Is this in alignment with my spiritual community? Because I'm not an island. I'm not rogue here. I'm under an eldership, and you are, too; and I need to ask. Is this in alignment with who we are? Thirdly, I want to ask: what is the tone? Tone matters. Tone matters as much as content. Sometimes maybe even more. And a prophecy, a preaching, a teaching; a one-another counsel to me. Is it edifying? Is it encouraging? It is comforting? But even if it's a challenge or a warning or rebuke, is there an undercurrent of the Father's love? Is there an undercurrent of redemption and hope and grace? You know, there's a big difference between me giving you a piece of my mind and trying to give you a piece of God's mind. Often the difference is tone. Tone matters as much as content. So I'm asking: does this line up with the Bible? Is this in alignment? And what is the tone here? I love how Gordon Feed. He says, because preaching and teaching and mutual conversations in the church -- because these things are from the Holy Spirit. They must not be despised; must not be treated with contempt. But because they involve people, they must be -- and people are merely human vessels -- they must be tested. Do not quench the Spirit. Do not treat prophecies with contempt, but you test everything, and you hold on to the good, and you reject every kind of evil. Let me put an image on the screen. Here's what we do. We are to eat the meat and jettison the bones. Test everything. I love that statement in the Book of Acts when the apostle Paul himself was talking about the people in Berea and he said, they studied the Scriptures to see if what I was telling them was true. So how do we step into greater discernment? Let me throw out some suggestions for you. Here's the first one: remember that discernment is your friend. It is your friend. It help you discern between what is good and what's wrong; what's right; what's almost right; what's good and what's better; what's better and even what's best. It will protect you. Discernment will protect you from being led astray, from being gullible. As Jesus would say, you don't want to be the kind of blind person who follows a blind person. The stakes are high. You just end up in a ditch. Just because somebody's cool, your friend, or whatever -- discernment is your friend. Test everything. Hold on to the good and reject every kind of evil. You know, good, Christian counselors usually have an extra measure of discernment, and my hat's off to the men and women who serve in that kind of ministry because they can use that gift of discernment often to peel back a layer more quickly and help us make progress. Discernment is your friend. Secondly, beware of confirmation bias. Beware of just looking to live in an echo chamber. When we favor confirmation bias, what we're doing is we're favoring information that validates our pre-existing beliefs AND -- this is key -- refuse to consider information that threatens our pre-existing beliefs. It's confirmation bias. That's why the Bible will say, for example, in James 1, "Let everyone be quick to listen and slow to speak and slow to become angry." Thirdly, beware of generalizations, taking a small percentage and strapping it out. Now, it's important when we're talking about something -- you know, things that aren't that significant, you have to generalize. People will say "Texans are proud of their state." I'm sure there's a person in Texas who is not, okay? Odds are. But you have to generalize. Or "Folks in Tennessee do such-and-such." You have to generalize. When I took a motorcycle riding safety class years ago, the guy teaching it generalized. He said, "You need to assume that every person driving a car is an idiot." "You just got to make that assumption that every person behind the wheel is reading a text and not seeing you." Is that true? No, but sometimes it's helpful to generalize. But when you are person of discernment, dealing with REAL people and significant issues, when we generalize, we miss nuances. We turn the world into a binary, us versus them. And we miss nuances and we create often this gap instead where really and truly on a scale of 10, I'm a 4.5 and you're a 5.5; but when you generalize, you make me out to be a 0 and you a 10. When you generalize, you don't kneel with nuances. And in relationships, we need to remember every person is an individual. Just because you know where my degrees are from and what state I was born in, that doesn't mean you know me and I'm like every person from there. You have to deal with me and deal with THAT person on an individual basis. Fourthly, beware of feeling your way to reality. Beware of emotional reasoning where -- listen carefully -- where your default is to trust your feelings as infallible guides. Please do not hear me say that feelings are negative, bad, and emotions are not good. I'm not saying that. I'm saying beware of trusting your feelings as infallible guides. Emotions bring the party. I have six grandchildren and love them all. They're terrific. The youngest one is Millie, and Millie is almost 9 months old and right over there. I love -- you know, and don't get me wrong. When they're born and "baby" babies, they're great; but I love it when they can start showing emotion and now when I see Millie and around her, oh, she smiles and she canticle and laugh and she can reach for me and emotions make all the difference in the world. They bring the party and warm the atmosphere. Feelings are part of us, but they're not the only part of us; and when we just buy into the mantra of "Follow your heart," you are on dangerous ground. Discernment requires that we question our feelings -- not discard -- just question. There's a best-selling book out I have been reading called "The coddling of the American mind." It said one of the bad ideas is "Always trust your feelings." Feelings are real. Sometimes they're intuitive. But sometimes they lead us astray. Even the Bible will say there's a way that seems right, but the end thereof is destruction. And the Bible will say "Sometimes your heart will condemn you, but God is greater than your heart. It forgives and loves." Discernment include a commitment to connect our emotional claims to reliable evidence like we were singing earlier today. Even when we don't see, even when we don't feel, God -- you are at work. I believe, Emily, what you say of me. Number five: treat the Bible as God's Truth and not as a consultant. You know what a consultant is, don't you? A consultant is someone you hire and you bring in for advice and then you are free to accept that advice or reject that advice. You're still in control. You just bring in the consultant. I believe the Bible is God's Word to us; that we stand under the Scriptures as an authority over us and sometimes the Bible will make you angry, and it will challenge you. It will comfort you but will convict and will challenge you. Tim Keller and his book "The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism," says this. I will put the quote on the screen. >> Ronnie: So we ask, do I treat the Bible as the Word of God; or do I treat it as just, you know, good advice; take it or not. And the good news is you don't have to be a Bible scholar. The key is, are you willing to submit to the clarity in front of you, and are you hungry to find out? Suggestion number six: engage wise believers, present and past. In seeking discernment, get good counsel from flesh and blood believers, people of faith, hope, and love around you; but listen: don't discard the wisdom of previous generations. C.S. Lewis said, "Beware of chronological snobbery, believing wisdom is only out of this generation." I believe it should be wary of abandoning previous studies. God has given us His Word, and we have had 2,000 years to study it and learned men and women have invested much time in the. Why jettison that and start from scratch? The church's assignment is not to create new doctrines but to help us understand and apply the ones that God has given us in the sacred Scriptures. And the consensus of the church over the years has helped us to understand sound doctrine and detect error. Don't get me wrong; I'm saying, yes, every generation should study the Scriptures afresh under the help of the Holy Spirit; but as for me, personally, I am not prone -- I am not willing to reject widely held, widely accepted, historic, orthodox, apostolic doctrines on a whim. The burden of proof should not be on what has been passed down over the ages. The burden of proof should be on that teacher who wants to deny historic orthodox Christianity. Doctrines should be discussed. We should continue to study the Scriptures afresh, but I believe that discernment also comes when we engage wise believers -- yes, in the present -- but also we lean into and cherish those widely held principles that have been passed down for years. And last of all, ask for God's wisdom. We go to our knees. One of the promises in Scripture -- and this is fantastic. God says, "You ask Me for wisdom and will give it to you. Yes, I want you to study the Scripture. Yes, I'm giving you a mind to reason. I am giving you one another to bring out the best in each other, but you come to Me and engage Me in the process, and I will help you be a discerning person." Not just a critical person, not just a rock-thrower, but a discerning person who can minister to the church at large, providing help and counsel and restoration and redemption and hope. So you got discernment? We all need it. It's your friend, and what we have read today simply says please don't quench the Holy Spirit. And you to that by treating, preaching, teaching one another counsel with content. You need to test anything you hear. Anything Ronnie says, you test it. Does it test the smell test? Test it. Hold on; cherish what is good. Reject every kind of evil. Discernment looks beneath the surface. It reads between the lines. You know, over in San Antonio, just a few years ago a very, very nice lady by the name of Jane Dinsmore thought she had found two abandoned Bengal kittens and she takes them home and will care for them. She had such a tender heart for animals and want to care for these kittens. She gives them a little bottle, plastic bottle of milk, and she was a little surprised that once the kittens finished the milk, they tore up the plastic bottles. And then after some scratches on her hands and arms, she calls animal control. And Linda Norwood from animal control commended Jane's motives but said, "I do not recommend you do things like this in the future." And she stayed this. She said, "I think Jane's heart was in the right place, but we have to use our minds, our eyes, and we got to make educated decisions." "If you don't know something, ask somebody, because there are many resource out there." You see, they were not kittens but bobcats, and there's a difference between the bobcat and a kitten. She said her heart was in the right place. She wanted to help but didn't use discernment. Hey, maybe what we've read today: is this a wake-up call to you in any way? It is to me. Is the Holy Spirit nudging you today, saying, "I think you have been sleepwalking a little bit"? Maybe you have been sleepwalking morally. Ethically. Spiritually. Maybe relationally. Is this a wake-up call for you to open your eyes and walk with discernment? Hold on to what's good. Reject the evil. And so allow the Spirit, rather than you dousing and throwing a wet blanket on the Spirit -- now the Holy Spirit can nurture your heart and soul through a good dose of Truth. God bless you, everybody, for being here. Just know I love you and pray for you. Rocky Hudson, one of our elders, will lead us in closing prayer. Please, everyone, let's pray together. >> Rocky: Will you join me in praying? Righteous Father, we lift Your Name on high and give You honor and praise as the Creator of all good things. We praise You as example of our Good Father. You've given us love and guidance. You showed us love even when we were undeserving and sent Your Only Son as sacrifice for us. You've given us the Holy Scripture to teach, admonish, and instruct us in how to live our lives both in service to You but to have an abundant life now and life everlasting. Today we ask for wisdom and discernment. May we be led by Your Spirit in paths of righteousness. May we trust in You, keep Your statutes, and seek You with all our hearts. I pray today and every day our relationship with You will be genuine and personal. But thank You for accepting us wherever we are along our journey of growing closer to You. We pray for our nation, Father. We are reminded in Psalms 33: blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord. May we be in a nation that seeks Your will; that Your will be done in our land is in heaven. May You bless our land with unity and peace. We pray for wisdom and discernment for all our leaders and of our people. We pray for discernment in who we choose to represent us in government, but we take comfort to know You are in control of all rulers and authority. It is a special prayer today for You to protect our church; our people; our students; and children as they reengage this school year. Bless every family in our church and protect them from COVID. We pray for Your provision for those suffering from economic hardship from COVID. Father, we just ask You to heal our land. We pray You will provide wisdom, guidance, patience, protection; and perseverance for each of us. May we be strengthened to continue to serve Your church in reaching those in need, especially those in need of the Gospel. We pray You will guard our heart and minds and keep us from evil. Let the example of our faith and love shine forth as the beacon to the world. In Jesus' Holy Name we pray, amen. >> Shane: Amen. Thank you, Rocky. Well, as we close today, I want to ask for another minute of your time because I want to tell you about a few things really worth knowing about, okay? Everybody should look on the home page of firstcolonychurch.org near the top. You will see a link that says "Fall 2020 Connection Opportunities." You should click that link and see the stuff we have this fall in person, online -- things you can connect with others about and thins you can get involved in so the Fall 2020 Connection Opportunities, okay? One of those great opportunity is online connection groups starting up. If you're looking for a good Bible study, a good discussion group and you want to join one of these online discussion Bible studies, that is there, too; and you can click on that link and find the sign-up and the information for the online connection groups, okay? We have groups for couples, singles, men, women so there's a group for you there. Also on our home page is a link to learn more about our Anchor Point podcast. If you have not listened to some of our podcasts, there are great interviews right now where we are interviewing different people about their walk of faith and different things going on so this week, tomorrow, a new one drops with Sarah White, executive director of the Second Mile Mission Center. She has a fascinating story how she has depended on God and God has up held her in that ministry so you need to hear that story. I will be on our website tomorrow and other podcast platforms will be available on Tuesday. Check out the podcast, Anchor Point. Next Sunday, Ronnie will begin a new series called "Vice Grip: Avoiding the Misguided Pursuit of Happiness." Okay? We hope we will continue in this vein of what Ronnie was preaching of being open to God's Word; instruction; correction; and how he want to shape and change us. We want to diagnose what problems we have and need to leave behind. We want to discern that and point to the solutions, okay? So there's an old wise saying: fleeing vice is the beginning of virtue. I hope you will tune in and ask God to continue the series to speak to you to shape and inform you in some fresh way, okay? I want all of you in the house to stand up as we read a Scripture together. If you're at home, let's stand up too and read from 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24. Let's read it out loud and proud. Let's say the last part really loud again. Come on, guys! Amen, church? >> Amen! >> Shane: Let's have one more song! >> Richard: Amen! It's a good day to be in the house of God, right? ? >> Richard: Thank you so much for your worship with us today! Our God is worthy, amen? Have a great week, and we will see you all next week.