***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 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. The app is a great resource where you can stay connected to First Colony Church. Thank you for joining us today. We are glad you're here.

>> Thank you for joining us today. We want to let you know about a few items of interest. First, go to our website, firstcolonychurch.org, and go there often. You'll find links to our worship services; Bible study options; online giving; and our 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. The app is a great resource where you can stay connected to First Colony Church. Thank you for joining us today. We are glad you're here.

>> Ryan: Welcome, everyone, to the live worship service at First Colony Church of Christ. It's great to see everyone in the building, and hello to everyone watching at home. God is with us and all around us, and we come together as the believers to tune in to Him; to be lifted up by Him; and to give Him our praise.  So let's stand up and worship together.

>> Richard: Amen! Let's worship the Lord!

("Great Things" playing)

>> Richard: Do you believe that this morning? Four God does great things! There's a song says that He only does wondrous things so whatever God does, it's an amazing thing. We can use some amazing things from our God, amen?

("Way Maker" playing)



>> Richard: ¶ Yes, it is ¶

¶ That is who You are ¶

¶ It's who You are ¶¶

>> Richard: You may be seated.

>> Whoo!

>> Corey: I know. It's craziness. Hey, have you ever just wanted to be something different? Maybe you wanted to be something special like strong like Superman; fast like the Flash; or maybe you want to spin webs like Spider-man; or maybe it's a person you're looking at and say to yourself, "I want to be like that."

I want to be like Mr. Joel.

(High-pitched voice) Hello, Mr. Joel!

(Normal voice) He has gifts and abilities I don't have, but that's okay because when God looks at met He sees my gifts and ability and said, "Hey, you're enough."

He said so much in Psalm 139. "I am wonderfully and fearfully made." Jeremiah said He's got a plan purpose for my life. Ephesians 2 said I am God's workmanship. Some versions go as far as to say we're God's masterpiece.

And my favorite part is in John 3 where we become part of the "whosoever" club. For who so far -- John 3:16, “For God So Loved the World” club.

My challenge to you is this: when the enemy tells you you're not enough; you don't measure up; your talents and abilities are nothing; you don't listen to that. Or even sometimes people will say you're in the enough. My God says you are. My God says you are enough to send His Son to die on the cross. God bless you.

(Applause)

>> Ryan: Thank you so much, Corey! We'll take communion together, and Don Hooper and Steve Williams will come up to lead us. It's CCA Day, and Don is one of our Board Members. This is time to get your communion supplies ready and everyone here in the building, get your packets out. If you missed picking one up on your way in, you can grab one at if back. We have them available. When you're finished with that little cup, you can put it in the bag and we've got some baskets at the end of the aisles you can put that in after the service or just dispose of those on your way out. We appreciate that. Now Don will lead us in our communion prayers.

>> Don: Thank you so much. Let's pray together, please. Father Lord, we're so grateful to be able to approach Your throne to have grace and mercy. Father, we love You and know You love us. We know that before we were created, You intended to send Your Son to save us. We know that we were created fallible so that we had the power of choice, and we can choose to love You; to obey You; to accept Christ; or not. Then You sent Him and was born on a precious, wonderful night; taking humble form; living a good life; teaching, Father; healing; knowing full well He would take all our sins and our punishment at the cross. He was willing to do that.

So we come to You through Him, Father, and look at our lives and we reflect on how many times we need forgiveness. We remember what He stayed so Peter and when he asked, how many times should we be forgiven? Seven times? Christ said 70 times seven, knowing as we partake of this, this bread when Christ was the Bread of Life. We examine our life of last week and past times. When we take of this cup, which represents His blood, that redeeming blood, we're so grateful to Him and to You.

So bless us now, Father, and come in our midst as we together partake in the Lord's Supper and in the mighty, powerful, and holy name of Jesus the Christ, our Savior and Redeemer, amen. And now my son-in-law Steve Williams will read our Scripture.

>> Steve: Our focus will continue on this communion and sacrifice that Jesus gave us. We will continue that focus with Hebrews 13, verses 11 through 16. The congregation and online viewers will read along with the screen behind me. Let's continue with our focus.

(Reading)

("Rescue Story" playing)

>> Richard: Why don't we stand together and continue to worship the Lord? He alone is worthy.

("Rescue Story" playing)

>> Richard: How many can say that today?

>> Richard: You may be seated.

>> Kyle: Good morning again. My name is Kyle and want to welcome you to the First Colony Church of Christ. We're entering into our time of offering and let me begin by saying thank you. We stay this so often in our services, but it is truly a blessing. It is truly exciting to see our partnership together for the sake of the Gospel here in Fort Bend County so thank you. Thank you so much. You can give online. The details to give online are on your screen right now. If you're in the house, you know we have giving receptacles at each of our four entrances. You can put your offering in there on the way out. Let's pray over this moment together, church. 

Thank You, Lord. Thank You, Lord, for the gift of Jesus, for teaching us to receive that gift; for teaching us what with it means to be on the receiving end. We are SO thankful, Father, for the people in this church who continually give; who continually invest in the Gospel here. We are excited. We love seeing what you do with these gifts and these offerings. Inspire us to give even more today. Thank You, Lord, for this moment. Bless Your people here as they give. We pray this in Jesus' Name. Amen.

>> Ryan: Amen! Well, today is a special morning where we celebrate our 18-year partnership with Cornerstone Christian Academy. We love to acknowledge the work they do here so we have a video message from Eric Nicholle, the Head of School for CCA and a church member.

>> Good morning, and welcome to First Colony Church of Christ on this special CCA Sunday. My name is Eric NicholIe, the head of school at Cornerstone Christian Academy. I would like to say thank you to First Colony. We are blessed to have a steadfast relationship as we partner with First Colony in 18 years of providing skills for life and faith for eternity so thank you to First Colony Church of Christ.

Our current members are our president, Shawn Burnette, Dr. Don hoop her, secretary dawn Brian, Jr., Meredith Duncan, Andy St. Jean, Mark Mize, Tom Basso, and Brian Myers. I'm thankful for their expertise as they give and volunteer to our school and how their gifts honor our schools so thank you so much to our board members.

Hundreds of students walk through our doors each and every day and more than 60 staff members take to heart the ability to grow students academically and spiritually. Our staff have been are so blessed in the fact we have half of them have been named teachers of the year from their perspective school. We even have a principal of the year from their perspective district. Also about half to a quarter, quarter to a half of our staff, have advanced degrees. Many of them have certifications all the way through high school with an average of about 19 years of teaching experience.

 Last year we were honored to be able to have our first dual accreditation in a national organization called COGNIA, formerly known as Advanced Ed and the National Christian School Association.

As far as academics, how amazing it is we differentiate how our children learn at CCA; and then the strong sense of family. So we are honored to be able to have those statements from our accreditation team. CCA continues to achieve at the highest academic standards. National testing show this in math, reading, and especially in science. We are continuing to show this growth even in some of the most challenging days of our pandemic here today so CCA was one of the first schools that opened this fall in Fort Bend County and have a comprehensive COVID-19 plan utilized and followed by many Christian schools and private schools and even public schools throughout the nation today. This is an amazing achievement as a testament to our staff and commitment from our families as well.

An indicator of the social health of a school is when 40% of students participate in either after-school programs or sports. Here at CCA, we have been blessed to have about 90% of our students participating in either after-school programs or athletics. This shows the commitment and joy our children have.

Here this spring, we opened up a new Junior Cougar sports program in soccer and track and field, and on our sports complex, we're going to offer this opportunity in April for our First Colony families to participate against our junior cougars in a fun-filled community day. Obviously with COVID-19, entrance will be limited so you will see information coming out from the church as we progress throughout this spring; but we are looking forward to that event.

Rigorous academics and preparing our students to be leaders in society is important at CCA. However, faith for eternity is our foundation. In schools today and Christian schools throughout the nation, you don't see chapel occurring on a consistent basis each and every day. Many times it's just one day a week. Here at CCA, we do our chapel each and every day and pre-school through eighth grade. If you have the opportunity to walk into this worship center on a Wednesday and see our kids pre-pandemic when they're all together and worshiping together, you would call it what I call it today, and that's Disneyland for kids, an opportunity to worship our God through music, player -- and in short, message each and every day. It's such a blessing to be able to start that, a commitment we continue throughout today at CCA.

Lastly, I would just like to say to you what differentiate CCA. Just a couple things very quickly. So one, the commitment of our families. About 90% of our families give above and beyond tuition. And that just shows their commitment and love for the school. And also, how our families and our all-inclusive tuition model that we do is a rarity at other private schools today. So we include many -- there's mandatory fees that other schools have we include in our tuition such as food service or field trips or service learning trips or one-to-one technology or armed security. All those things and even supplies are included in tuition. It's something that also differentiates here at CCA.

I want to end by talking about our staff, educators in general. One thing I think about as a devotional and talking about offering my time and verse of Colossians 3:17 jumps out at me.

(Reading)

So when I think of this word -- and I think of our staff, the words "in word and deed" come to mind. The words they say to their children and if deeds they carry out each day and how they show the love of Christ. I'm so thankful for them so I would like to end by saying thank you. Thank you to my CCA staff. If you're watching from home. Thank you though those in the worship center today. If you're previously a staff member or educator, thank you for giving your time. So thank you so much and God bless.

>> Ryan: It's time for Main Street Live so if you're a first to fifth grader, meet Mr. Joel and Mr. Corey, who will take you to the chapel. It's an awesome worship time where you will have a Bible lesson and some activities so meet up with Joel and Corey, and they will get you over there. Parents, if you didn't have a chance to check your kids in, that's okay. You can meet Joel and Corey. They will help you get checked in to the chapel and afterwards can pick up your children outside the chapel area. It is time for our fellowship greeting so let's all stand, say hello to one another. If you're online, we're so glad you're with us. Log on to the chat box and say hi.

("Victory in Jesus" playing)

>> Richard: You may be seated! Thank you so much for your worship today.

>> Ronnie: Thank you so very, very much, Richard and team. Good morning, everyone. To those in the room, glad to see you. To those of you watching online, we welcome you to our second service today here at First Colony Church of Christ. My name is Ronnie. We'd love to hear from you. You can fill pout a Connection Card or through our church app or other avenues. We love to hear and pray for you. If you're watching us online today in our livestream service, there are people ready to pray with you this morning. You just hit the appropriate button, and we are there.

Next Sunday, of course, is Super Bowl Sunday; and as tradition here, we have Super Sunday. It's typically bring a friend day. This year, not the best year to bring a friend but a great time to invite someone, to invite a friend to join us online next Sunday. I think it's going to be a really, really interesting day. I'm going to interview three of our church members here who are former NFL players, and this week -- you know, we had a preliminary sort of conversation. They're just -- they're a lot of fun together, but they've got things of substance to say as well. So Billy Granville, Curtis Duncan, and Jordan Black. That will be next Sunday.

I want to begin today with a brief and new message series called "Small books, big messages."

Like next week we take a break.

Small books, big messages. We'll take a look at four of the no-chapter books in the New Testament. In other words, they only have one chapter. There's no chapter 2. You know, Philemon 2 John, 3 John, and book of Jude.

I will start today with 2 John, which is the second shortest book in the New Testament. Only 13 verses and about 245 Greek words; but it packs a punch as it emphasizes how important it is to have strong love but also a strong commitment to truth so that we will be wise and discerning people.

You know, we've got more informational content readily available to us today than previous generations could have ever dreamed possible. We're not lacking in information, but we're always in need of greater discernment regarding that barrage of information coming our way.

Why? Because truth matters. It really matters. Truth is your friend, and as we start reading 2 John -- this is one of the letters from the apostle John. He wrote five books of the New Testament -- gospel of John, Revelation, and then these three epistles, these three letters, first, second, and 3 John.

As we start to read, you will see the word "Truth" five times in the first four verses. You will see the word "Love" five times in the first six verses. And to John's readers, the truth would have been the teaching handed down to them from the apostles. To us, today, it's still the apostles teaching. The word of God written and revealed in the Bible. The Bible is our standard of truth. We're to walk in truth and to live in love. They co-mingle beautifully into a wise and discerning lifestyle.

2 John 1.

The elder. That's the apostle John. There's some Bible students who think the lady is a metaphor for a church and a specific local church -- you know, the church is called the bride of Christ. Personally, I don't think so and I think it's speaking to a woman and children. "Whom I love in the truth."

(Reading)

That's nothing new. That's old. And he said to us in the church, love one another. It's the ultimate testimony to the world so it's nothing new. That's old. And this is love that we walk in obedience to his commands. How do we show love for God? Walk in obedience to His commands. In other words, our relationship with the Lord is not just nebulous and wispy but has muscle tone to it. We take honoring Him seriously, and when we submit to Him; surrender to Him; seek to obey Him, we're expressing our love to Him.

(Reading)

Deserver, deceiving people. Antichrist actually opposing the true nature of Jesus Christ.

He said many deceivers have gone into the world so this is a global problem. You can't necessarily handle a global problem, but you can handle it in your home and in your local church.

Now, there was an early heresy. Certainly there were times through the years and still current day will people will deny the deity or divinity of Jesus Christ. They will say He was a good teacher. There was a view early on, and this letter is written towards the end of the first century. It was -- the docetics, if you will, from a Greek word that simply means "To seem."

It was the idea that Jesus in His body, He didn't really have a physical body. He just seemed to.

Now, you say, well, is that really significant?

The incarnation of Jesus Christ is very, very significant, and it was a core, fundamental doctrine. Jesus really did come in flesh and blood, meaning He really was tempted in all ways like as we are; yet without sin. That means when He went to the cross, He actually went to the cross. He didn't seem to, and He had earned the right to be our absolutely perfect Sacrifice for our sins. And that means He is indeed a worthy high priest, ready to distribute real grace and mercy, and He really died.

And He really was raised to live again. What that means is He really is our first fruits, the One who truly, in a physical body, died; but by the Power of God, was raised to life again. That gets people in flesh in blood hope, you and me. There was sort of this idea with this belief that what you do in your body doesn't really matter. Just extrapolate that to how that impacts morality and sexuality. You know, in your heart your worship God. In your spirit you do, but what you do physically -- because Jesus didn't really have a physical body. Your flesh matters. And quite honestly -- you can sort of read between the lines here -- if you would deny this, what other cardinal doctrines night you be denying as well?

Verse 8.

(Reading)

I think what he is saying he is watch out. You have been building a foundation of truth and it's important that you not go in reverse and begin to build your life on wood, hay, straw, and stubble. You're wasting your efforts because you're building your lives on false teaching rather than on truth.

And now he'll give a warning and these are strong words, some of the strongest words in the New Testament. Verse 9.

(Reading)

Literally anyone who goes too far. You have gone TOO far. In other words, you can't separate God and Jesus. "I'll take God but not Jesus."

No. Anyone who goes too far ahead and I not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have God; but whoever continues in this teaching and the teaching has both the Father and the Son.

So you ask the question: is this the teaching about Christ; or is this the teaching from Christ? I believe the answer is yes. It's both. It's the teaching ABOUT Christ; but it's also the teaching FROM Christ that's been delivered to us.

You know, I have such great respect for Dr. John R.W. Stott who died in 2011. Here in America, you may not know a lot of who he, but he sold millions of books and died at age 90. "Time" magazine in the late 2000s listed him as one of the top 100 influential people in the world, an incredible scholar.

In his writings in the book of 12, and 3 John, he said this: "The Christian seeks to abide not only in Christ but in the teaching of Christ. And at first glance, this phrase might be taken as meaning the teaching which recognizes Jesus as the Christ. And that certainly suits the context well. But this usage in the New Testament of this phrase requires the genitive be interpreted as objective -- in other words, not just the teaching about Christ -- but pass subjective Christ teaching. And this no doubt include what Christ continued to teach through the apostles. And such authoritative, apostolic doctrine is she equivalent to what John said in his first epistle when he says ‘What you have heard from the beginning.’ And so the Christians' development is that we do not go beyond Christ's teaching, whether directly from him or through the apostles as recorded in the New Testament; but we have an ongoing, progressive understanding of it.”

And so John here will continue, and he said, verse 10.

(Reading)

I thought John was the apostle of love. Isn't this being sort of rude? Well, in that day where you didn't have Motel 6 -- I mean, Christian hospitality is always important, but Christian hospitality then absolutely such a high virtue.

You know, one of the qualify equation of being an elder, you have to be hospitable. Why? Because traveling, iterant preacher, teachers, you endorse them. And you recommend them and you've got them there in your home. Wave "Hey, I'm endorsing and recommending this person." But if someone comes to you and they do not bring the teaching of Christ, do not just say, "Well, I endorse anyone without any discernment." No! You don't give your endorsement. You don't give your recommendation.

Let me be very clear: he's not talking about someone with questions or have a disagreement on a disputable matter or somebody wrestling. This is someone who is promoting a teaching that violates core, cardinal doctrines of Christianity. In other words, someone is coming and they're denying that Jesus Christ came in the flesh. To quote the gospel of John, the beginning was the word and, word was God and the word became flesh.

Now, he said many deceivers have gone out into the world. You can't do anything about deceivers out there in the world. You got to protect your house. Elders, pastors, you have to protect your church. That's important.

And he says, and John says, don't provide a platform.

Now, you know, Paul will say in 2 Timothy 2, if you're going to be a servant of the Lord, here's the way you have to deal with situations like this. You have to be humble; able to teach; not resentful; and be willing to gently instruct. As you will see throughout the New Testament, you will find, for example, this wonderful teacher preacher Apollos was mistaken on something that wasn't a core doctrine but secondary. What happened? He was taught the way more carefully, responded beautifully to it, but here John's talking about fundamental repudiation of key Christian teachings.

And he said, "I know you want to be loving. You have to love but have to have discernment as well. And don't let your loving spirit” – 

“Oh, you know, we played college ball together. And I know his cousin."

Don't let your loving spirit bind you to the need for discernment.

Then he said in verse 11 -- (reading).

You give your endorsement? You see, everybody, we are defined by what we reject as much as what we accept, and we might say yes to all the right things, but we have to also learn to say no to what is false and evil and destructive. And we got to get good at rejecting what should be rejected.

So the issue behind 2 John here is a letter of discernment so that you might protect the truth, starting with your home; and don't forget love protects. You have to protect your family. Love protects. You have to protect your church as well. Be loving but be discerning.

(Reading)

Okay, let me take what we have read and summarize it under about three headings. Here's the first one: not every hill is worth fighting for, but some are. Not every hill is worth fighting for, but some are. Everybody in this room, you're familiar with the medical term triage. Triage simply assumes the need to prioritize patients in a medical context. For example, on a battlefield, a medical doctor will say, "Okay, this is critical; this is important; got to deal with this; this is a priority." And then here's a secondary situation where it needs to be addressed but we can wait a little more, a little morphine, etc., etc., and will come back to this in a bit. And here's a third one: a couple aspirin and couple of Band-Aids, will be fine. It's tertiary.

You know, the Bible speaks to a topography that there are certain doctrines and beliefs that are more important than others. We have the Ten Commandments, for example. Now, 1 Corinthians 15 Paul says this. Here is something that is absolutely first importance. I'll quote it for you: "that Christ died for our sins according to the Scripture." By the way, the phrase "according to the Scriptures" I'm quoting him. That's not me. “That Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures.” That Christ was buried and raised on the third day, according to the Scriptures. And Paul said that's of first importance.

And then in Romans 14 would tell the church in Rome, you got to accept one another on disputable matters. They're not matters of first importance and you don't need to break fellowship with one another over drink or wine. Don't get drunk. You don't need to break fellowship on celebrating certain days and certain foods. Matters and topics where you have people of really good hearts and minds who believe the same things on all the big rocks but on these secondary matters, there's some disagreement. In other words, the Bible acknowledges a topography here.

Let me put three words on the screen: essential, congregationally important, and third-level importance.

Essential beliefs are hills worth fighting for. These are the core doctrines of Christianity. They separate historic, orthodox, apostolic, Biblical Christianity from that which is not. Belief in the Father, Son, Holy Spirit; the authority of Scripture; the role of grace and faith; the sin selfness of humanity that we need a Savior; otherwise, we will experience eternal death. And the beauty of the atonement of Jesus Christ. The beauty of the bodily Resurrection of Jesus Christ. And the reality of eternal life or eternal death.

Essential doctrines that Bible-believing Christians have held for years. Nothing surprising there. But there are some congregationally important doctrines that don't necessarily make you a Christian. There are some secondary beliefs that honestly they might be so important we couldn't go to church together. You know, I used to say this in my younger days. If it will not separate us in the next life, it shouldn't separate us in this life. I was wrong. 

The apostle Paul and Barnabas were going on a missionary journey and had what the Bible calls a sharp disagreement. What was their sharp disagreement? I had to do with John Mark. Barnabas said, we need to take him on this journey; and Paul said, absolutely not. We took him before, and he bailed halfway through. You know, on -- I learned from Bob homestead and Homer Gainer years ago. When you have a discussion, you don't ask if you agree or disagree. On a scale of ten, is your passion on this -- are you an eight or a two?

Well, when you ask Paul and Barnabas about how they take John Mark, Barnabas was a 10 on taking him; and Paul was a 10 on not taking him. They blessed each other, and they did great missionary work. And Paul didn't take him but took some others and went another way and did great missionary work exalting the Name of Jesus. They didn't demonize one another. They gave one another grace and time and space. And actually, down the road, Paul even said, “John Mark, who I didn't want to take there years ago, he's actually become really, really useful to me.”

There are some beliefs that do not necessarily define Christianity, but we might disagree on some of these as believers. The structure of a church. Should you have a pastor or multiple elders? The role of women in a church is a church -- you know, reads -- honors the Bible and reads and studies Scripture like 1 Corinthians 11, 1 Corinthians 14, 1 Timothy 2. What's the role of women in church structure? Does the church lean more to the doctrine of election or more to free will? And that might -- those beliefs might define a particular, local congregation and sometimes our convictions on some of these matters -- you know, I'm at a 10 on some. Sometimes our convictions might simply mean that I can't do local church with some really good Christians.

You know, there are other really, really good churches in our greater Houston area. Some of them, though, differ from us on some of these secondary matters; but you know what? I love them and pray for them, and there are sometimes some good works. We partner together in those things. Not every hill is worth fighting for. There are essential, cardinal beliefs that basically define Christianity. There are congregationally important beliefs that, you know, this is sort of where we are, okay? This is where we are.

And then there are third-level importance beliefs that they don't need to be brushed aside. It's not like they're irrelevant, but they should never, ever divide at any level. For example, the timing of future events. Will there be a rapture? If so, when? Are you pre-millennial? Amillennial? Eschatology is important. The belief in last things. If you interviewed believers in this church, you would find beliefs on those topics across the board. So we have to practice emotional triage as well.

I don't need to be -- we should never operate out of anger and hate but on third-level matters, and certainly on matters that are like at a fourth level -- just personal preferences -- our emotions should be accordingly. But on core doctrines? That requires a proper level of passion and conviction and that's why John would say you're dealing with people who are denying the incarnation. You can't be frivolous here.

So, gang, what we can do, we can find a balanced mentality where on the one hand we have a backbone and willing to say like Martin Luther, "Here I stand. I can do no other." And yet at the same time acknowledge the dangerous direction that taking place far too often of lovelessness and meanness that happens in splitting hairs.

Very quickly I need to close here in just a few moments. But secondly, do not be naive to the reality of many deceivers in the world. Don't be naive to that. Jesus talks about it; Paul talks about it; Peter; the apostle John. There are wolves in sheep's clothing. They are deceivers. Some of them mean really well. They mean well. That doesn't mean there aren't charlatans but be a person of discernment.

In the late 19th century came the rise of theological liberalism and still exists in a number of forms, which denied many of the fundamentals of Biblical Christianity. And though it was a broad and varied movement, at its root, theological liberalism thought Christianity had to re-evaluate all of its doctrines in light of modern thinking and modern trends and modern currents and rejected the idea that a doctrine or a teaching was true simply because the Bible taught it. It had to also be proved by reason and experience and does it make sense today. They believed the Bible was not an inspired message and a standard of truth from a real God; but the work of men -- good people but limited by the ignorance and superstitions and quirks of their day and age. For them the Bible was neither inspired nor supernatural, and the importance of the Bible and its message was not in its literal and historical truth but simply in its spiritual messages that can be adapted to any season.

Here's what I'm saying to you: that's not our stance as a church here. We hold to the Bible as a standard and as authoritative. And in our day and age, whether you live here in Fort Bend County, whether you're in the room and you're going to move somewhere else, you have to pay attention. It's important to pay attention to your church's doctrinal statement and stance. What we believe -- you know, I love you. I love your children. Don't go to a church just because your third grader likes, you know, the snow cone machine. Your third grader needs to be taught well. Truth matters. Truth is our friend. And listen, there are lot of really, really good churches around, but identify and know the doctrinal stance.

Last of all, because deception is real, discernment is very important to life, meaning, and spiritual health. I need to call it a day, but remember: I do believe the Bible is more than a consultant. You know what a consultant is, someone you bring in for advice that you can either accept or reject. You remain in control. Treat the Bible as God's Truth and not as a consultant.

And here's the beautiful thing, everybody. We can approach the sacred Scriptures with a beautiful duality: on one hand, acknowledging our own fallibility, acknowledging that none of us will be a perfect interpreter of Scripture; but also acknowledging that we can have great confidence that this is the standard of truth and we're not the first people to study and interpret the Bible. It's been happening for hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of years. By the way, that's -- when somebody says, "Hey, I got a brand new, novel interpretation of something,” red lights start flashing to me. Now, it might be accurate. I'm happy to think it through. But we're not the first people to study the Scriptures but as it says in the Old Testament, these are not just empty words. This is your life.

All right, everybody. The message today is simple: love one another. Yes, love one another! But also be discerning. Walk in truth; live and love. We can have that beautiful combination. Thank you for being here today, everybody. 

Kyle, make your way up here for prayer. As he comes up, let me remind you of that which is of first importance: no one loves you like the Living God. Christ died for your sins, according to the Scriptures. Isn't that good news? You need not be defined by your worst moment and your worst day. Forgiveness and renewal is real and Christ was buried and raised to life again according to the Scriptures. We have, my friends, a living Hope. God bless you. Just know I love you and I care for you. I pray for you. And now let's pray together. Kyle?

>> Kyle: Let's talk to the Lord together, and as we do, we want to lift up Kendall McAnulty, 18 years old. We will ask for recovery even though she's showing good signs. Let's talk to the Lord this morning. Lord Jesus, we come before You in humility, knowing that it is our sin that put You on the cross; that Your resurrection has brought us life. It's filled us with purpose. We pray and yearn for Your Spirit in this place in our hearts and families and homes and careers. Many of us are struggling because of the pandemic. This thing seems to never end. We pray for a swift end to all of that but in the meantime ask for fresh energy and innovation from Your Spirit to live lives of purpose in difficult situation. We pray for Kendall and stand with her and her family today. We ask for healing and good care over her at the medical center over this day. We love You, Lord. We ask You continue to walk with us, guide our footsteps, show us the ways you want us to go. We pray this in Jesus' Name. Amen.

>> Ryan: We have a few things to highlight. I'm excited to start a new Connection season, a great time to get into a group. If you join a group, that's a great way to be encouraged by a group of friends. You will have a chance to learn about God and growing your faith, have a group of people praying for you and supporting you. So to get started with that, it's really easy. You can go to firstcolonychurch.org/getconnected. We have a list of groups including online options and in-person groups. While you're on there, you can sign is up on a quick form. We'll follow up with you to get you started in a Connection group.

Next Sunday is Super Sunday, and just remember we have our regular programming. 9:55 classes will go on and are excited about our guest speakers in each service. And remember that Bible class is back. We have that happening on campus and online so at 9:45, there's classes for all ages. There's an adult class in the gym. Children and students can go to class in the education area, and then Kyle Strickland teaches an awesome online class called "The Conversation." You can watch that on our livestream and also available on our YouTube channel.

Thank you for joining us today. We love you. We are praying for you, and we pray that God encourages you; that He gives you strength and boldness as you go in His Name this week. Let's all stand together for one more song before we go.

("Victory in Jesus" playing)

>> Richard: Sing it again!

>> Richard: Thank you for your worship today! You are dismissed!