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.    >> 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're glad you're here. >> Ryan: Welcome to the worship service of First Colony Church of Christ, whether you're joining us online or here in the building. We're so glad you're here with us this morning. Jesus said He came so you could have life and have it to the full. Today is an opportunity for you to receive that gift, to live a full and abundant life thanks to Jesus and what He has done for you. So let's all stand and worship Him this morning! >> Richard: Yes! ("Victory in Jesus" playing) >> Richard: Here we go! >> Richard: Yes! >> Richard: Yes! Aren't you glad for the victory we have in Jesus? He alone is God: the Way, the Truth, and the Life! ("The Way" playing) ¶ You are ¶ >> Richard: Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Don't you agree? Amen. You may be seated. >> Joel: Well, good morning, everyone. It is so good to be with you on this Lord's Day. Guess what? We've got fire. Yes. Ha-ha. Some people just never happy unless we have fire. Go figure. All right, well, it's good to see you here today whether you're watching online or here in the audience. Thank you for being here. And today we're talking about renewing your mind, being transformed, and I think back when I was a kid. We would play opposite day. So it would be like, you know, "Time to go to bed!" It's like, "It's opposite day. That means I can stay up all night!" It's like, "No, okay, fine, stay up all night." "Okay, I'll go to bed." Usually they would switch it. You would see how we have a mind set where we are headed in a direction typically that is opposite from God's ways. And when we respond to Christ, when we become a believer, things change. Our lives are transformed, and we see things in a different way. And one of the best illustrations is that God's Word tells us that first will be last. Why would we let someone go in front of us? Or it talks about investing in God's kingdom and that you'll be rewarded. When does it make sense if you give away money God's going to provide something back? All these things don't make sense. Our relationships, what kinds of friends we hang out with, everything is turned upside down. Actually, I have a verse, beyond the one presented today in the message. My verse is Isaiah 55:8-9. God is saying, for My thoughts are not your thoughts; neither are My ways your ways. They're higher than the heavens. So we can trust God and believe in Him. I have a real-life $20 bill. It's the biggest denomination I had. I would be willing to take -- if someone had $100 bill and don't mind me burning it -- you know, if you want to sacrifice -- this is a legit $20 bill. I will put it in a solution. Check this out. So the point is that we think if I trust God and I give God things, I'm going to lose it. It's going to be gone. But wait a minute. It's still there. How is that even possible? Do you want to see it again? Yeah. I want to see it again! All right, now, I'm making a pile. So here we are. I don't know if you can see it is; I can see it. It's blue flame initially. And then boom. It's right there. So the point is that -- ah -- it's not even hot. Ha-ha. I still want to try with my finger but am not going to because the thing that said "use metal tongs." (Laughter) So the point is we need to trust and obey, even when it doesn't make sense. We need to flip over our mind set to do the things that God tells us to do in His Word, and that's how you renew your mind. Thank you very much. (Applause) >> Ryan: Thank you so much, Joel! As we take communion together, Steve and Lee Harris will be leading us in our communion time; so if you're at home, you can get your communion supplies out. Here in the Worship Center, get your packets ready. If you didn't pick up one, with every some available at the back of the room. Steve will lead us in our prayer. >> Steve: I'm Steve. This is Lee Harris. We're thankful to lead in the Lord's Supper observance this morning. Please join me as we pray for both the bread and the cup. Father God, in the beginning was the Word. The Word was You. The Word was You. The Word became flesh. It became Jesus. He became the sinless, perfect, spotless sacrificial Lamb. When the time came, He didn't want the suffering. He wanted the cup to pass but with total trust and faith in You, he immediately chose to do Your will. On the cross, He asked why You had forsaken Him. But with complete trust and faith again, He completed the sacrifice and entered death, only to be buried and raised the third day victorious. For 1200 years, the Israelites sacrificed sprinkling blood on the altar. On the crucifixion, the altar was the cross. There was no more need for sacrifice for the old temple, which was almost immediately totally destroyed. So as we take the communion, we think on these things. I want to close with a praise. Jesus and Father, You Are awesome, Savior and God. Through Jesus, amen. >> Lee: And I'll be reading from Matthew 26:26-29. The Scripture will also be on the screen for you to follow along. (Reading) ("O Come to the Altar" playing) >> Richard: Why don't we all stand together and continue to worship the Lord? >> Richard: Thank you for your worship today. You may be seated. >> Ryan: This is a time when we take our offering together, and we want to thank you for your generous contributions that support our church and our ministries here locally and around the world. We just thank you so much for your generosity. You got the option of giving online. You can also text to give, and those are safe and easy options to set up and to do each week. We also have collection boxes at the back of the room if you'd like to make a contribution here this morning. Pray with me. God, we thank You for Your goodness, for Your love, for all the ways You take care of us; and You bless us and You watch over us, God. We ask You bless this offering, Lord. Use it to do Your amazing work in our community around our world. God, we pray You are glorified through our work. We pray that the Gospel is shared and that the Name of Jesus is known. We pray all these things in His Name. Amen. All right. First to fifth graders, it's time for Main Street Live; head to the back where Mr. Joel is. He will take you to the chapel for kids' worship time. If you didn't get a chance to check your kids in, parents, follow Joel there. There's a kiosk where you can get started. We'd also love to have everyone here fill out a Connection card. If you look on your seat back, there's a code that you can scan with the camera from your phone. It's gonna bring up our Connection card. You can tell us programs you're interested in learning more about and ask questions. We'd love to follow up with you this week. There's also a place to put down your prayer requests; so whatever prayer needs you have, we'd love to hear those. We have a group of people that are honored to pray over those every week. If you're online, just click the "Connection card" button, and you can fill out the card that way. And for all our guests here today, we're so glad you're here with us. I want to personally invite you to come to our "New Here Start Here" area after the service. There's volunteers that would love to meet and get to know you. We have information about our church and there's also a special gift that we have that you can pick up. So hope to see you at "New Here Start Here" after the worship service. Well, it's time for our fellowship greeting. So let's all stand, say hello to people sitting nearby this morning; and if you're watching online, say hi in the chat box! ("House of the Lord" playing) ¶ We shout out Your Praise ¶ ¶ Oh, oh, oh, we shout out Your praise ¶ ¶ We shout out Your praise ¶ >> Richard: Yes! Do you agree there's joy in the house of the Lord today? (Applause) Thank you for worshiping with us. You may be seated. >> Ronnie: And thank you, Richard and team, for leading us so very, very well. God bless you, everybody. So great to see you here today. Welcome to the First Colony Church of Christ, to second service; and to those watching online, we welcome you. Next Sunday is July 4, and we will next Sunday change up our schedule just a little bit -- no classes but one 10:00 a.m. service next Sunday. So next Sunday we'll have one worship service at 10:00 a.m., and then after that we'll have some food trucks here. We invite you to stay and -- now, there will be a charge at the food trucks -- but stay and enjoy that. We'll have some tables set up in the courtyard and gym and will be a nice time to visit with one another. Well, today I'd like to continue with a series called "Kind of Different." We'll talk about different kinds of relational energy that we, as believers, bring to the table. You know, we live in a time when technology has made society more connected than ever. We can be connected with far more people ever in history. You can instantly connect with hundreds, if not thousands, of people. You can share with the world what you're having for lunch today. "Hey, everybody, check out these nachos!" You can do that. It's never been easier to find people with shared common interests, whether it's beekeeping, motorcycling, your favorite musical group. You can go online and find a beekeeping, motorcycling, musical group -- Beatles online community full of blogs, discussions, opinions, and arguments. And it can be fine. You know, I'm a big believer in hobbies. Have hobbies and have fun. At the same time, the Lord does call us to relationships that are not just shallow and are much more than superficial. He invites us to relationships that have substance and meaning and that are touched and empowered by the Presence of the Holy Spirit. Relationships on purpose. You know, good relationships, they will enrich your life and allow you to be a blessing to someone else. They take time. They do take effort, but they are worth the effort. Now, let me put a couple statements here on the screen. First of all, relationships are important because our God is relational. We believe in the Trinity: the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit. God Himself exists in beautiful friendship and harmony and community. Secondly, relationships can be messy because we are. You've never met a person who's not messy. We all bring a little mess to the table. And the temptation will be to say, "If ever anything gets difficult, let's do what the world does with anything is inconvenient." What do you do? Dispose of it. You throw it away. Right? I'm asking you to bring a different kind of relational energy to the game. Romans 12 will set the stage for where we're going today because I'm going to highlight some relationship principles from Romans 12-15. Here's the way this section of Scripture begins. (Reading) Notice this. In view of God's mercy. In view of everything Christ has done for you. You know, Steve and Lee led us so well, talking about the wonderful mercy of God to us and in view of that, in view of all that God has done and is doing and will do for us, I want you to offer your bodies -- what you say and do -- as a living sacrifice. Strange wording, isn't it? An oxymoron like "jumbo shrimp." A living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God. This is your true and proper worship. Listen to this: do not conform to the pattern of the world. Let me apply it to today. Don't do relationships the way the world commonly does relationships. Be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Having read that, let me ask you three questions. First of all, what are you bringing to the relationship table? What are you bringing? I'm gonna -- so today I will ask you to listen for you. Sometimes when we talk about relationships, it's easy to sort of say, "You know, I wish so-and-so were here;” or to look at somebody sitting near you and think, "You paying attention to this?” Did you? What are you bringing to the relationship table, and are you willing to partner with God? Because sometimes things are little difficult, and we need God's help to push through. The third question is, are you willing to do that? Are you willing to do difficult? Relationships will not last; they will not thrive if they are built on preferences rather than promises, if they're built on convenience rather than commitment, if they're rooted in just natural like as opposed to Holy Spirit love. All right, let's look at coaching principle from the book of Romans. He said, I want you to be living sacrifices. Through 15:7, he emphasizes our relationships with one another; with people in the world; with government so I can't talk about it all but will highlight a few. Here's the first one: Make a difference for Jesus in the lives of others. Romans 12:6. We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. What's his point? You've been blessed to do what? Be a blessing. You have gifts and aptitudes and abilities and opportunities. We'll not all make a difference in the same way. Some will serve as foster parents. Some of you are thinking about doing that. Some of you will adopt a child. We can disciple people. We can bring those younger and those younger in the faith to us; and yes, it will take some time and energy, but we pour ourselves into others, and we make a difference; and nothing but absolute nothing beats being used by God. Parenting is like that. I don't know if you've read much of Jim Collins' work, you know, Good to Great. He talks about a conversation he had about relationships one day with one of his mentors and coaches, a guy by the name op Bill. He asked Bill, "What is it that makes a great relationship, in your opinion?" Bill said, "A great relationship is where if you ask each person independently who benefits more, they would say, well, I do. I benefit more from this relationship." And Jim said he said to Bill, "Well, isn't that a little selfish?" And Bill said, "No, think about this for just a minute. Jim, let me ask you: who do you think benefits more from our relationship and our friendship?" And Jim Collins said, "Well, clearly I do. I benefit more. After all you've done for me, I'm the one who benefits more." And his friend Bill just laughed and said, "Isn't that great? Because I would answer the very opposite. I would say, no, I benefit more. I'm the ultimate beneficiary in this relationship." And he said, "The reason we feel that way is we're both putting something into it. We're both really investing in this relationship. And when you do that, when you make a difference, it's amazing how much it comes back to you in such a powerful way." I've lost count of the number of times I've said to someone around here, "Thank you so much for pouring yourself into," you know, pick a ministry. And they will say, "I get so much more out of it than anyone." Secondly, form new relational habits that honor Jesus. Baptize our relational habits. From Romans 12:10 and 14. Listen to how countercultural this sounds. Be devoted to one another in love -- not a hobby, a lifestyle. Honor one another, even above yourselves. Listen to this one: bless those who persecute you. Bless those who complicated your world. Bless and do not curse. This is so wise. It's counterintuitive, but he's so concerned here about the ever-escalating cycle of one-upmanship where if we're not careful, if we just return hurt for hurt, we never want to get even. No, we want to do more than get even; we want to respond disproportionately. And rather than just getting even, inflict the wound times 10, times 12. This is so countercultural. It's counterintuitive, but it's the wisdom of God. Sometimes -- just for fun -- you ought to read some psychology articles or scientific articles about our brain and our response to anger. It's really interesting. You know, there's that part of our brain that's a what? That's a reactor, and there's a part of our brain that's a reflector. We need both. We need to react, but we also need to reflect. You know, if you open your house door and there's a snake right there, you got to react. I said that this morning, and after the service, someone came up to me and said, "Were you aware of what happened at our house this morning?" And they showed me a photo on their phone where they had opened their front door; and sure enough; there was a coral snake on their porch. You need that part of your brain that reacts; but you also need that part of your brain that reflects and said, "Think about this. Chill out. Relax." And here's the thing: we sort of train ourselves, right? And the more you react, you train yourself to do that. And the more you do it, what? The more you do it. And the more you reflect, the more you reflect. Long before any psychology journal wrote about that, the Bible will say this: let every person be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry. Form new relational habits that honor Jesus. Thirdly, emphasize, listen, and care. Empathize. Listen. And care. Romans 12:15 says, rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Don't one-up people on something they rejoice about. Don't feel like you need to one-down people when they mourn. "Oh, you think you've got it bad." Rather, you say, "Let me crawl into your brain space. Let me celebrate with you. Let me hurt with you." We empathize; we care; we listen -- and we listen not to fix, not to win; but we just listen to learn and understand. And listening and caring and responding to people with appropriate emotional intelligence, it's a beautiful way of saying, "You matter to me. I care. I'm glad you're here. I'm glad you're a part of my world." Number four: you are responsible for the stewardship of your relationships. You are responsible for the stewardship of your relationships. Romans 12:18. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Now, this is not a call to be naive. There's a caveat here. If it's possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Sometimes that's not possible, but I am 100% responsible -- not for you; not for how you respond -- but for the stewardship of how I respond in this relationship. Now, let me put three words here on the screen: wise, foolish, and evil. There are wise people in this world, and that's fantastic. There are sometimes foolish people who are generally good but sometimes they need a consequence to get them back on target. But you would not be wise if you do not admit there are evil people in this world who would seek to harm you. That's why there are at times you need to call the police. Or you call an attorney or if there's an attack on the church, you alert the elders. This is not a call when it says "If it's possible with you, live at peace with all people." This is not a call to be naive. It's not an invitation to open yourself up to catastrophe. It IS saying that would you be the one, would you be the mature one who will step into a reconciling spirit? Would you take a specific step towards peace? Number five: mind the gap with generous patience. Mind the gap with generous patience. Hmm. Have you ever been to London? If you've ever been to London, you have probably ridden the Tube, the subway; and they will regularly be saying, "Mind the gap. Mind the gap." Why? There's always a gap between the train and the platform. You got to mind the gap. In all of our relationships, there's always a gap between what I might think and what really happened between maybe what I expected and what's reality. There's always a gap in our relationships, and you have to ask yourself: what am I going to put in the gap? Am I going to assume the worst and guess; or am I going to assume the best and try to give as generous an explanation as possible for what is happening in the gap? From Romans 14:13, it says this: Therefore, let us stop passing judgment. He uses the term "judgment" as you're assuming the worst in one another. Let us stop passing judgment on one another. Gang, we do not live in an edited sitcom where things get solved in 20 minutes without commercials. We live real, unedited life. You get -- sometimes you get bloopers and you get the rough first cuts, but to live in harmony with one another, give generous explanations for that gap that exists between an expectation and a reality. Suspicion comes naturally. Trust comes intentionally. Again, this is not a call to be naïve; but just like you want people to give generous explanations to you and about you, do the same for them. Someone wrote this a few years ago. "When there is a gap between what I expected and what I experienced, I will believe the best. When other people assume the worst about you, I will come to your defense. But if what I experience, what I continue to experience erodes my trust, I will come directly to you. And conversely, if you confront me about the gaps I've created, I will tell you the truth." All of us in relationships, we have an opening bid. Is that opening bid going to be one of assuming the best and trusting; or is our opening bid going to be one of mistrust? You have to trust a battery that you give to somebody. Is that thing 5% charged or is it 75% charged? If somebody says, "Well, you know, if you're trusting, you will be taken advantage of." Yes, you will from time to time. That's part of the cost of living. But would you rather go through life cynical and distrusting? Actually, when you take on the mind set of "I'm leaning into trust," I'm not saying you open yourself up to catastrophe; I'm not saying you're naive; but when you lean into trust, you know what you do? You raise the bar on people around you, and people want to BE in your group, in your circle because you're someone who plays THAT kind of game, the high road game. Last of all, take the touch of Jesus to you and pass on it. Romans 15:7. Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God. Accept one another, just as Christ has accepted you -- first of all, that's really good news that Christ has accepted us, made possible through His grace and His mercy. And just as that touch of mercy comes to us, take it and pass it along. This is the beautiful answer to relational discord, whether racial; social; economic; issue-driven. Jesus, Who could be no higher, humbled Himself to be no lower and is willing to accept us in spite of our sins on the basis -- we come with faith. We come with repentance. And the dirtiest things of our lives are washed away. That spirit of acceptance gets to flow through us and we get to be conduits of that mercy. We get to be missionaries and ambassadors of God's fabulous and indescribable grace. Well, everybody, we were made and crafted for relationships. You were made in the image of God, Whose very nature is friendship; and God designs us for this. They won't just happen. We'll have to make time for them. We'll need to be intentional. We'll at times have to work through the hard and awkward parts of relationship, and you'll have to be gracious in those gaps; but our motivation is the cross. We accept as we have been accepted, and we have an end game, my friends. Our end game is the salvation of souls because it's relationship, a relationship the bridge over which the Gospel travels. A relationship is the bridge over which truth travels. Our end game is the redemption of souls, and our end game is the joy and the encouragement of one another; and our relationships, they are the bridges over which encouragement and truth travels. They absolutely matter. Gang, here we are on this side of the pandemic. There's light in that tunnel. In the last year or so, it's been difficult relationally. Now, a lot of people, they've really leaned in through their introversion -- you know, 70% of us are more introverts than extroverts; but we need one another. When you reflect on the pandemic, there's certain things. Certain things have changed and you just need to acknowledge that grieve it. There are certain things, though, that have NOT changed, and we need to be aware of those and celebrate those. And there are some things on this side of the pandemic for which we have a renewed appreciation. Maybe perhaps we used to take certain things for granted, but now not so much. I do want you to know as we head into the, towards the end of summer, as school begins to kick off again, we plan to offer more and more opportunities to connect; to reconnect; to re-engage; so those opportunities will be there when you're ready to step in. My friends, just know that we love you, and we pray for you; and we pray especially today for your relationships, that your relationships will be rooted into the mercy of God and the touch of the Holy Spirit. God bless you, everyone. Kyle Strickland is going to come up now and lead us in prayer. >> Kyle: Good morning if everyone. Let's pray together. Lord Jesus, we appeal to Your grace and mercy in our life, giving us the strength and the power to engage our relationships in beautiful ways. Help us to be good neighbors and good colleagues and to be Jesus sharers to people who don't know You yet. Lord, we pray that Your Spirit fills our life. It fills this church. It gives us great ways to connect and to share the Gospel in all situations. Thank You for First Colony. Thank You for this place, for the way You have bless the lives of haul of us here in great relational ways. We ask, Lord, You give us the power to do that and to continue to do that as a church and as groups and as individuals. We love You, Jesus, and we thank You so much for today. We pray this in Your Name. Amen. >> Ryan: Amen! Thank you, Kyle; and thank you, Ronnie. I have a few items to cover with you as we finish up this morning. Remember, at 9:45 a.m. on Sundays, we have classes for all ages so kids and students are in the Education Wing. We have our online class at 10:00 a.m. and really excited that on July 11 we're launching our full adult class schedule again. So there's going to be a lot of great options for you and hope you will check that out starting July 11. Camp 1010 is 22 July for elementary-aged kids. You can sign up on the website. Holley Elementary school drive is coming up next week. You'll hear more information next week on how to support our teachers at Holley Elementary as they get ready for back to school. As Ronnie was saying, remember next Sunday is July 4 so we have one service at 10:00 a.m. That means don't come at 8:30 because no one will be here. If you come at 11:00, church will be getting out; and then you will have to act like you meant to do that. And it's just going to be really embarrassing. It will work better for everybody to come at 10:00 a.m. on the fourth. And then who likes food trucks? Right? Yeah. I love food trucks. What about the Fourth of July? Who likes the Fourth of July? Awesome. Doesn't get better. It actually does get better because we will have food trucks on the fourth of July, and we've got Sammy's Kitchen here, barbecue, mac and cheese and sides. There's an ice cream truck with sundae and milkshake and slushies so great food for you. We'll be set up in the courtyard with music and games set up for the kids so dress for the summer weather. We hope you will join us outside. There will be some indoor seating, if needed. There is a purpose and cost for lunch, but Sammy's Kitchen is offering a family rate to enjoy lunch together as a family. Hope you'll plan on celebrating with us next week. It's going to be a great time. Well, thank you for joining us today. We are with you. We are praying for you. I just want to challenge you to be a difference-maker this week. Go and make a difference at home; at your church; in your community. Let's all sing one more song before we go. >> Richard: Yes! Let's all stand! ("Victory in Jesus" playing) >> Richard: Thank you for worshiping with us today! You are dismissed!