Thank You Brethren

Do you know the 10 out of 14 of Paul's epistles? He gave thanks, specifically, to the brethren. Specifically, he thanked the brethren, and very directly in many of them.

I was at the feast. We were at the feast as a family in 1983. I believe it was in Johnson City, Tennessee. And a gentleman gave a sermon at the feast. His name was Bill Cowan Jr. He gave a sermon at the feast that really affected me, and I thought, what a great idea! And what a moving sermon it was, and his title was, Thank You, Brethren, which is the title of mine.

I did not have his notes, so I did not copy his notes. I did not hear this. But in 1983, I heard it. It had made that much of an impression on me that I did prepare a sermon so that I might deliver it on Thank You, Brethren. It's so easy at church, and I know as a minister, as a young minister particularly, it's so easy to tell people what they need to do, what they can't do, what they have to do. It's easy. You're preparing them. I'm preparing the bride. Well, do you prepare the bride by telling her how heavy she is, how light she is, how ugly she is, how hard-haired, straggly?

What do you say to the bride? Are you always condemning the bride, or are you trying to prepare the bride by saying, Oh, that's a beautiful dress. Well, you look so beautiful today. So again, this sermon is called Thank You, Brethren. I want to give you a couple of samplings before we go to several points that I'd like to thank you, Brethren, for. Look at Colossians 1, verses 3 and 4, just a couple of samples of what the Apostle Paul wrote to the brethren that God inspired and left in Scripture.

He didn't say, Oh, that doesn't need to be in there. He's just being nice to people. There's nothing wrong with being nice to people. Nothing wrong with giving encouragement to people. You don't have to get hammered every week, not that you are. But you don't have to be told what's wrong with you every week. You don't have to be told what you need to overcome and change every week. It's good to be able to be encouraged to say, How am I doing? I play basketball, and I play the accordion, and had lessons several years ago. And after that accordion teacher, all he did was smack my right hand because I was hitting the wrong notes.

You know what? I'd have a pretty negative feeling about going to that accordion practice. And if he never encouraged me that I did a good job once in a while, I probably wouldn't be too happy to be there. And I probably wouldn't do a good job the next time, or the next time, or the next time. So it's once in a while, it's good to give some encouragement.

The Apostle Paul knew how to do it. Colossians 1, verses 3 and 4. God's inspired word. We give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you. We thank God, and we pray always for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of your love for all the saints.

Look at another one. 1 Thessalonians 2-4. Notice what Paul says. We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers. So Paul's writing this letter to the church at Thessalonica, and saying to them, I give thanks for you. I am grateful to you. I mention you in all my prayers.

Verse 3, remembering without ceasing your work of faith, your labor of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the sight of our God and Father. Verse 4, knowing, beloved brethren, your election by God. So what I'd like to do today, I would like to say thank you, brethren. And I want to be specific about what I would like to thank you for, because there are several areas that I'd like to be grateful for to you.

Thanksgiving is coming up, but that's not my purpose for this. It fits in nicely around this time. My purpose is to thank you. Thank you for being in God's church. Thank you for being a church member. Thank you for all you go through. And you'll see as I go through each category. So thank you, brethren, for the following. Thank you for your calling. That's number one. For your calling.

You see, many are called, but few are chosen. And oftentimes we confuse these words. We say, you're calling. When we talk about a person being in the church and being called, we assume that's called and chosen. But God says, I try calling lots of people. Many are called, but few are chosen. Why are they chosen? Because they responded to the call.

We're called in different circumstances, different situations. I can recount my calling. You know, I didn't like this church. I didn't like Herbert Armstrong. I ridiculed him. I called him Herbie. I didn't like it. I didn't like hearing his voice. I didn't like it. My brother Dave was older than I. He listened to the Work Tomorrow program as we went to bed before school, on school nights or Sunday night or whatever, 10.30. I'd get up. I couldn't handle listening to it. I couldn't tell him, turn it off. So I'd go downstairs and sit with my dad watching one of the, I think it was Highway Patrol or whatever, Broadway Crawford. I'd sit, he was watching it. I'd sit there with him. And you know what? That voice followed me all the way down the steps.

I couldn't blot it out by watching TV. So then I'd go up. After it was over, I'd go up and go to bed. But I didn't like it. My brother said he wanted to go to Ambassador College after one year at this college. My parents were dead against it. But they had to let him go because my dad said, Dave, write to the Chamber of Commerce. If they say he's legit, then I'll let you go. My dad was so convinced that Mr. Armstrong was a charlatan and a fraud, they figured that they would say that and then he'd have a reason to tell my brother, don't go.

Well, my brother wrote to the Pasadena Chamber of Commerce, and this is back in 1959. No, 55 or 56 when my brother went to college. And they wrote back and said, he's an upstanding part of the community. He's rebuilt one of these areas. They're a good college. And that's when it was very small.

So my dad didn't have a leg to stand on. So when my brother left on the bus, and turned his luggage, he'd go, I said, good riddance. Now, I loved my brother, but I was good riddance because that took Mr. Armstrong off. So my dad said to me after he left, if you ever turn that program on, I'll break your radio. Don't worry, dad. I don't care to listen to him. And you know what happened? Two weeks later, I go up the steps to go to bed, and I hear that same voice coming from my dad's room.

So my dad started listening to the world tour. So I thought, oh, well, since dad's listening, I'll listen to it. So I would turn on my room. So we both listened for, I don't know, how many weeks? And my dad quit. I continued. That was my first time being called. I didn't respond to that calling. I was a junior in high school. I was interested in basketball and some girl down the street.

I was interested in that, and I was anxious to do that, and anxious to have that opportunity to be in the world and be like the world. And so I didn't respond right away. But the more convicted I became, the more I listened, the more I became convicted. Then I started listening twice a day. Once in the afternoon, W.P.I.T. Once in the evening, W.W.V.A. They repeated themselves every few days. So if I really liked one in the afternoon or the evening, whatever one followed the other, I would be sure to listen to that one a second time. But most of the time, I listened twice a day.

Then I found all these old correspondence courses that my brother was using, and I started studying it. And I started to become convicted. I had a full-time scholarship at another university. Full ride, not staying there, full tuition. It was worth $43,000 now, per year. I gave it up because I had to go on Saturday. Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, I had already was there. Didn't have the strength to quit. But God calls us all in different circumstances. And we have to say, I am going to follow Him.

That means you were chosen. Thank you. Thank you for your calling. 1 Corinthians 1, 26. We know God doesn't call many mighty, not many noble. There have been people mighty and noble in the Church. There's still somebody, some who follow God who are mighty and noble. But most of them are kind. One man who had sold his property, I forget how many, $100,000, $100,000, $200,000, probably worth close to half a million now. And he was living in the city of Toronto. He was such a generous man. He had lots that he could have said, I am going to live, I'm going to build myself more barns, I'm going to build myself more silos.

But he didn't. He held people. One family needed a car. He gave them a car. He had a car, he was driving, they needed a car. Take this one, he bought a new one. He was generous. He would travel with me, and when he went on expense, I would take care of it from the Church. But sometimes he would say, let me do this.

He offered, he said, let me buy you an overcoat. I said, no. No. I'll take care of my own. He was willing to buy me, go with me at his time, take time off to go with me.

And so he was generous to people, kind to people, take them out after church. He was so good about that. 1 Corinthians 1, 26. For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. You don't see many. There were some in Caesar's household, you know. They weren't too shabby. There were centurions, you know. They weren't too shabby. So he had individuals come, but he says, but God has chosen the foolish ones of the world to put the shame the wise.

And God has chosen the weak ones of the world to put the shame those who are mighty. God has chosen you and me. Most of us are nobodies in the world. Most of us would have been nobodies in the world.

Doesn't mean everybody wouldn't. It doesn't mean that you have to stay a nobodies. There are lots of people in the church who said, you know what, I may have been a nobodies, but I'm going to do something. I'm going to excel. I'm going to study. And a lot of our students, a lot of our kids, a lot of our families, they grow. And they're successful in the world. They didn't say, I'm just going to stay foolish. I'm just going to stay weak. I'm just going to stay of no nobility.

A lot of them have grown tremendously. But he called them, they were willing. Thank you. Thank you for being willing. Because each one has his or her own story to tell. Thank you for your calling. 2 Thessalonians 2, 13, just a little bit. And I'll only give one or two scriptures for each of these points that I have. But 2 Thessalonians 2, 13. Paul writes, But we are bound, we're obligated to give thanks to God always for you.

Thank you, brethren, beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation, through being set apart by the Spirit and belief in the truth. I'm bound to give thanks to God for you. And if this is written to them, guess who he's thanking? Them. He's giving thanks to God for them and for their calling. The second area that I'm grateful to you is for your obedience.

How hard it is to find people who will obey. The world is full of people who break the laws. The world is full of people who don't care. The world is full of people who see a policeman and say, There's a cop. Why are you afraid of a cop? Why don't you say, I'm really glad there's a policeman around here. In case there's an uprising or something, I'm really glad to see a policeman.

We had owned a service station. We were happy to have policemen stop at our service station. We seldom ever had somebody come in and rob us. You know why? Because we had this service station, motel, restaurant. They'd see police cars come in and stay for a little while. We would treat nice to them. We'd give them cigars. They'd come in, you want a cigar? Have a cigar. And they'd sit there for a while. You want a cup of coffee? Have a cup of coffee. You know what? That was great insurance for us. Again, thankful. Are you thankful? We are thankful for your obedience. We're thankful that you follow the law. People don't. And they helped ensure that people did. Philippians 2.12. Philippians 2.12. Look what Paul says to the church at Philippi. He loved the church at Philippi. Philippians 2.12. Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed... Obedience is the hallmark of God's people. They listen. Now, it doesn't mean that you're a dumb sheep. If somebody tells you, you just swallow it. No, you think. This is right. I do it. This is God's law. I follow it. This is God's way. I walk in it. Again, thank you for your obedience. It's the hallmark of Christianity. And it's not just obedience to people. It's obedience to God. Thank you. It's that obedience to God that affects people in a positive and effective way. So he says, Therefore, my brethren, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. Thank you for your obedience. Thank you for having the hallmark of Christianity. And notice Revelation 14, 12. And through trials and difficulties that we may have, we keep on plowing on. We keep on keeping on. Revelation 14, verse 12. Let's flip it to the end. What will the people in the last generation be like? Well, they have given up obedience. They don't want to follow obedience. That's a dirty word. There's no absolute truth. That's what the world wants to sell you. You know, what's good today might not be good tomorrow. And do you have your truth? What is your truth? What is your perspective? Give me a break. You want to follow your perspective? That's why you are. I had one kid come into my office for counseling. He was mandated to come in for counseling. I was the director of counseling services in Big Sandy. He had been drinking too much. He was reported. Went to the dean of students. The dean of students, I guess, yelled at him or whatever he did. Sent him up to me. He said, you know what? When people are sent to you as a punishment, they're not going to learn much. So I said to him, so tell me, do you have anybody you really look to as a role model, a good role model in life for you? He said, I'm my own role model. I said, and that's why you're in trouble. You followed you. Is there anyone else trying to keep saying, well, there's somebody moral, somebody noble, somebody he looks at or believes is good? No. He said, I'm my own model. But in the end, Revelation 14 and verse 12, here's the patience of the saints. Here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. They keep the commandments of God. It's a hallmark of Christianity. It's a hallmark of those whom God calls saints. Thank you for your obedience.

Number three, thank you for your example.

Who else in this world is going to show the world a foretaste of the kingdom, of what people in the kingdom are going to be like? People who are still growing to get into the kingdom but who are under the kingdom, what are they going to be like? Who's going to show that? God has always made sure there's somebody, whether it's a patriarch or somebody through the years, who's kept his way to shine the light of God's Word.

Matthew 5 verse 14 to 16. Matthew 5 verses 14 to 16. Jesus Christ admonishes us that we are the light of the world. Who else is going to be shine the light except those who have the light in them? Remember what Jesus Christ said? I came into the world. Lights come into the world. But men prefer darkness.

Who's going to shine the light? You. And you know, often times I tell the students this all the time when I was teaching, you don't realize how precious you are. You don't realize how special you are because you're around other people all the time. You're around each other. You don't say, look at my light shining, look at my light shining, or I'll sit in a room of lights. But when you go out into the world as a light, you shine. You're precious.

People want individuals who are honest, faithful, regular, responsible, kind, loving, thoughtful. How do you get to be that way? Get in Latians 5 verses 22 and 23, give you a whole list of the fruits of the Holy Spirit. How do you get to be that way? How do you get to be patient with others? How do you get to be kind and generous? Hey, you know God. You know His way. You try to follow it.

And it shows. It shows. People don't know why you are the way you are. Sometimes they may be mad at you because you work hard instead of working slovenly, barely get by. My dad wasn't in the church, but he knew a lot of good principles. People would say to him, let's go grab a drink.

He said, I've got to finish up these jobs first. They'd all finish at Benhamah, Madaba. They'd be sitting in a tavern, wasting the last couple of hours, or hour and a half in the afternoon, on company time. And pay. My dad wouldn't do that. He would work.

The boss came to him and said, don't tell anybody about your Christmas bonus. It's larger than a lot of the others. You are the only man in this electric company, as who installed ranges, who makes us any money. All the others just make enough to keep us afloat. You're the only one that does three and a half jobs, while the others do too. And when you come back to the electric company, you load up your truck for the next day, because you know where you're going, you get all the supplies.

You don't wait until the next morning to load up your truck. So as soon as my dad came in, he checked in and punched in, he was in his truck and were ready to go. They saw that. And my dad knew of good, basic morals. How much more are those who know God's way? So thank you for your example. Matthew 5, verse 14. You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.

You can't hide it! People will see it. People will know that. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket or a bushel. But on a lampstand it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.

Let them see it. Three of our students worked for Staples in Cincinnati in 1999-2000. When they started that store, it was like number 75, I don't know how many of them, 100, ranked 75. When they finished, when they did the next evaluation, they were four, number four. You know what the manager came and said? I don't know what they do, you people, but anytime they come to rate you, rate them, Staples, 100%. Cashier, people at the service desk, 100%. You know what he told everybody? Left a message.

If anybody from ABC comes, hire them. He didn't know why they were the way they were. He just saw what they were. God sees what you are too, and people see what you are. Thank you for your light. The light comes from Jesus Christ. It's not just because you're goody-good. It's because God is good. God gives you the strength, the power to be good. Thank you for your example.

1 Peter 2, verses 11 and 12 is another scripture you can add into that. But you are the light of the world. You're the ones that show the way for the future. I think this is number four. Thank you, brethren, for your words. Thank you for your words.

Thank you for your words to God. You know, God says the prayer of the upright is his delight. Proverbs 15, 8. Thank you for your encouragement to each other. For your encouragement to the ministry. For your encouragement to the work. Thank you for the comfort you give. Thank you for every card you send out to people because you care.

Thank you for being edifying, for being uplifting to one another. Thank you that you're grateful, that you express it. A lot of people don't. When you come to church, thank you for that. And I know that when I was in Toronto, Canada, my brother Dave was just fellowshiped or sent him to Hawaii or whatever, and they all wondered, what's this Gary Ante? We had a church of 500 people. You know, the people did it at church. They took like a roll of, it was like a roll of toilet paper.

It wasn't toilet paper, but it was like a roll of toilet paper. The paper was like, they all wrote on their words of encouragement to my wife and me. And when we came to church, it was the week after he had been set aside, set apart to stay away for a while. And they just said, we love you, we thank you, we appreciate you, all you do, the whole roll of 500 people to us.

I had no desire of going and following, walking away. I prove something is right. I stick with it. If I prove it, if I find out it's wrong, I will change. But I haven't found it wrong. Because I'd be saying, God, you're wrong, because the scriptures are my guide. His way of life is my guide. I often told people, when I see God's Spirit no longer being given to God's people, when I see them no longer able to change from how the world is to how God is, God wants them to be, then I'll know God's not working with his church anymore.

But I see it. I've seen it in 21, average, 21 baptisms a year at Pasadena and Big Sandy. Students came to conversion. Nobody held any baptism classes. They came to it themselves. God brought them. Thank you for your words, but thank you for your words to each other. Malachi 3, God knows that too. Malachi 3, verse 16, look what he says. Then those who feared the Lord spoke to one another, and the Lord listened and heard them.

You know, God is an eavesdropper. He drops on every one of us. He knows when you care. When was the last time you called somebody and said, I just want to see how you're doing, give a call, check in on you. Do you know how much that means to people? It means the world. When was the last time you sent somebody a card? When was the last time you saw somebody at church and said, hey, how's it going? I know you lost your job. Have you found anything? I know you have this sickness. How's it doing? How are you doing?

Words. God notices. Thank you for your words. Thank you for your words of encouragement. I want to read to you Hebrews 3.13. I'll give you a different translation. This comes from the Amplified. Listen carefully. Hebrews 3.13. He said, but instead, I'm breaking into a thought, but instead, warn, that means admonish, urge, and encourage, one another every day, as long as it's called today. Thank you for your words, that none of you may be hardened, settled into settled rebellion, by the deceitfulness of sin, by fraudulence, or stratagem, or trickery, which the delusive glamour of sin may play on him.

Thank you for encouraging. Thank you for telling. Somebody comes to you and says, well, I think the Sabbath's really on Tuesday. Do you just say, oh, oh, that's interesting to hear. I don't want to tell anybody. You say, well, show me where that is in the Bible. What do you use as your guide? Where do you find that in the Bible? Words. Thank you for them. Thank you for the encouragement you give. Thank you for the cards you send.

Thank you for what you say and what you mean by that. And remember, a word fitly spoken. What is it, like apples of gold and pictures of silver or pictures of gold and apples of silver, whatever. Remember that. Your words. I want to thank you for them. Words of encouragement. Words of urging. Words of comfort.

Words of warning.

Next, I want to thank you for your service. These chairs didn't automatically show up. They said, the United Church of God is coming to me here today. The chairs just jump off the walls and line themselves up because we want to be orderly. Thank you for those who do that. Thank you for those who set up. Speakers.

Thank you for those who go out of their way to bring others to church.

Thank you for those who set up and look after the kitchen.

Thank you for those who plan socials and are willing to go out of their way to do something for the rest of us.

We used to have brethren drive 30 or 40 miles out of the way. They would come along the 401 in Canada.

They could have come straight on the 401, but instead they were going past someone who was about 20 miles north of the 401. So they would go to the 401, exit, go up north, pick up those people, come back down, and keep on going.

Week after week after week, they brought brethren to church.

Thank you for their service. Thank you for those who set up. Thank you for the food, for the kitchen. Thank you for the ushers.

Thank you for the piano accompaniment or the CD accompaniment. Thank you for special music. Thank you for the song leaders, for the sermonette men. Thank you for socials, the planning for them. Thank you for special music. Thank you for cards. Thank you for song books, whoever brings the song books.

Thank you for security. Thank you for Sabbath school, where there is a Sabbath school.

Thank you for flowers. Thank you for the technical side. Thank you for the parking area. We used to have people go out, because we had a large group of people meeting at a school.

And there were regular guys who go out doing services, walk through the parking lot to make sure nobody was trying to deal with somebody's car or whatever, vandalize.

They would come back in. Regularly did that.

One man literally put his foot on Usher, put his foot on a cherry bomb that was thrown into our...

It was an elementary school that we were meeting for Bible study in the evening.

And it was still summertime. Kids were outside playing, and all of a sudden he was an Usher, and somebody threw a cherry bomb in.

He saw it come in, and it rolled almost near a little baby lying on the floor on its particular blanket.

And he ran over and put his foot on it, and it blew up under his foot.

Now, it didn't make too much of a mess of his soul, but it would have made a mess in the life of that little child.

Thank you for the service. I had deacons who said to me when a man was threatening my life, and it was real, they said, we will come over, take turns, and we'll come over, and we'll sleep downstairs in your house in case that guy tries to come.

I said, I would not endanger your life for me. But thank you for thinking of me. Thankfully, that man, eventually, he had nothing to lose. The detectives who talked to me said he has nothing to lose.

And he said, I'll kill you, I'll kill your daughters, I'll kill your wife if you don't do this.

And so, they said, we'll come, and we'll stay with you. I said, I wouldn't have it. I won't have it. But thank you for your willingness to serve.

Thank you, brethren, for that, for whatever service you render here. Thank you for your care. 1 Corinthians 16, verses 15 and 16.

We find a family, the house of Stephanus, who was willing to dedicate their lives to service. Paul writes to the church at Corinth, he says, I urge you, brethren, you know the household of Stephanus. You know the Stephanus family, you know them, that it is the firstfruits of Achaia. They're the ones that came into the church in Achaia. And that they have devoted themselves to the ministry or the service of the saints, that you should submit yourself to such and to everyone who works and labors with us.

Dedicate. Here's how it's put from the New Living Translation.

You know that Stephanus and his household were the first of the harvest of the believers in Greece, and they are spending their lives in service to God's people. I urge you, dear brothers and sisters, to submit to them and others like them who serve with such devotion.

Serve. And thank you for your service because many of you serve. I tried to ask everybody at the feast when I was next to the last speaker, who was going to have them all rise, but then I know that almost everybody would be rising, because almost everybody was doing something for somebody else. Whether it was singing in the chorale, or whether it was helping out with ushering, or whether it was setting the stage, or whether it was helping people up and down from the stage. Pretty awesome. Thank you. Galatians 5, 13 tells us, By love serve one another. Thank you. Thank you for your love that's shown by your service. Thank you for the love that is with your service. And a lot of times people are overlooked. We had faithful men who set up. I never worried about the set up of the church. I knew it would be set up. I knew at the end, I knew it would be cleaned up. Because we had a set up crew, and we had a clean up crew. They both were under the same man, but everybody who set up didn't have to stay afterwards and clean up. They had people who cleaned up afterwards. They put everything back in order, and made sure everything was decent in order before they left. It was wonderful. It saved me a lot. I go from one church to another church to arrive there to know everything was set up. Thank you. Thank you for your service. And again, Romans 16 verse 6 talks about your prayers, so I'll come to that in a moment. But thank you for your service. Next, next to the last one, is thank you for your support. Thank you for your support. Certainly your prayers. I had what I called my funeral crew. I didn't enlist them. I would just tell them at church, we have a funeral to do done such and such a place. And when I would get to this funeral home, Inwood walked five or six, or sometimes ten people, of brethren. I was in a strange area. I didn't know who would show up for this funeral. No, they would be. The brethren that I recognized their faces knew who they were, and they would be there to support. They did that numerous times. I never asked them. I never said, it would be nice if some of the brethren would show up. They would just show up. And what an encouragement to me to see those friendly, godly individuals there while I was giving a funeral message. So wonderful, so awesome. I always remember that. But again, service to the Apostle Paul that all the individuals did. Philippians 1, verse 19, one major way we all can do it, we don't all have to be able to throw things around or travel miles away to do it. We can be as close as it is to the private room or private place where we pray. Philippians 1, verse 19, here's what the Apostle Paul said, For I know that this, things that will be good to it, I'll be free and I'll be able to preach the truth, I know that this will turn out for my salvation, how? Through your prayer. I know that I'll be on my way to salvation. I know that I'll stay the course. And through the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ.

Pray for God to give us the Spirit. On Sabbath, I try to remember people in the various regions, ministers. I ask God to give them love for the people. I ask God to give them inspiration as they speak and as they counsel.

I also ask Him to give them wisdom, that they may give good sound advice to people when they're asked. I ask to give them faith as they anoint those who are sick or afflicted or come to them for anointing. I ask that God will give them overall protection and safety. Don't pray for everyone, but I pray for regions and any special areas. And for God to give them His strength, His Spirit, to be able to do it. I don't want to do it my way.

I want to do it God's way. I don't want to prepare this as hard as I can, as much as I can. But I want to depend on God's inspiration, not mine. I don't want it to be the words of Gary Antion. I want it to be not obviously some of them are Gary Antion's words, but I want it to be God's word. That's why I punctuate my sermons with Scriptures. I want it to be God's word that's given. So you find here, prayer was one special way.

Philippians 2, verses 25 and 30. I'll read this from another translation, but you could turn there. Philippians 2, verses 25 through 30. We'll see that Paul got support. Verse 25, and this comes from the New Living Translation. Meanwhile, I thought I should send Epaphroditus back to you.

He's a true brother, coworker, and fellow soldier. And he was your messenger to help me in my needs. So they sent Epaphroditus to help the Apostle Paul in his prison. I am sending him because he has been longing to see you. I'm sending him back because he's been longing to see you. He was very distressed that you heard he was ill. He got sick. He was worried because he didn't know what the brethren would feel like back home. Worried about him. He didn't want them to worry.

Send me back so I can show them I'm okay now. And certainly he was ill, he said. In fact, he almost died. But God had mercy on him, Paul writes, and on me, so that I would not have one sorrow upon another. So he came to see the Apostle Paul to deliver what their church couldn't actually deliver. The church wanted him to deliver it.

Probably gave some contribution to whatever he delivered. But he came for them. And he almost died to do it. Now, that is service, isn't it? That is support for someone. Great support. And he said he risked his life for others. Just like those men were willing to come and risk their lives for me. And my family, I told them no. I know what it's like. I know what it's like to go out after I finished working at my office.

He knew where I worked, the guy who threatened me. And we came out, I came out, I'd always look at my hood to see if anything had been attached. So when you start, the guard blows up. The police thought that was really, they said, well, you can throw him in jail. If you throw him in jail, I mean, you can send him. He'll probably put him in a mental institution for a little while.

When he gets better, he'll come out, and then he'll really go after you. We can't do anything until he does something. But they kept their eyes on him. And one time I got a note. They said, he's left the country. He's left the country and gone elsewhere. They tracked him. RCMP. They tracked him. Royal Canadian Mounted Police. They knew he was gone. Boy, did I really... I didn't sleep well. I slept with a .22 rifle under my bed.

Listen carefully. I didn't have it there to shoot him. But I thought he could cut the wires and try to invade my home. And if he did that, I would shoot out the window. Not at him, but shoot out the window to make noise so that people in the neighborhood would say, oh, this is going on. There are gunshots over his head. Call the police. I didn't have it there to shoot him. But I had my plan. Get my kids from the next room, bring them to our bedroom.

Our bedroom had a little lock on it. That wouldn't have helped him. Kept him out. So I know what it's like, and I know how grateful I was for the support that the brethren gave me. How much they cared in their prayers. And I could feel the prayers and the strength they helped. The last one. Thank you, brethren, for your love. Thank you for your love. Thank you for the kindness.

Thank you for the hugs. Thank you for the concern. Thank you for the cheerful word, the good word. Thank you for the goodies. Thank you for caring. Thank you for walking with God. Because you know what? To have the love of God, guess what we have to do? Follow God, don't we? 1st John 5.3. Thank you for your love. 1st John 5.3. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. When you're keeping His commandments and walking in His ways, His commandments are about thinking about others and thinking about Him.

Thank you for the love of God. Thank you for having it. And His commandments are not burdensome. Of course they're not burdensome. They're good for us all. They're good for your neighbor. Love your neighbor as yourself. That's what they drive toward. If you keep the commandments of God and walk in them, you'll be loving toward others. And you are.

John 13.35. Does my heart so much good to see at the Feast of Tabernacles, see people that you haven't seen for years? Some came up to me at this year, we stayed in Cincinnati, that I had known for years ago. Years and years. You probably don't know me, but I remember you. I remember you. Remember I'm so-and-so's daughter. Oh, I remember them. I'm their daughter and I'm here. Well, thank you for being here. So many people hanging in there, holding on to the faith, not giving up. Thank you for the love that they feel. And to see people go up and hug each other. I'm not hugging today, by the way. I have a slight cold and I didn't want to spread it to anybody. And so I'm bumping if I bump hands, but we probably won't stay too long afterwards. But I would normally want to stay longer afterwards, but I'm not going to today. But I just want to thank you. Thank you for your love. Thank you for your kindness. Thank you for your care. Thank you for your thoughtfulness. And by the way, the North Church is always known for its after-Thanksgiving gathering. That's why you have the downstairs part, because you've got a lot of people coming to that. John 13, verse 35.

Do whatever you're going to do for that other person, for the pure joy of love. Not because, well, I'll love them and then they'll love me back. No. You love them because love is what God wants us to do and what He is. So thank you for your love. Thank you for your care. Thank you for the hug that you give people in their time of distress. Thank you for the comfort. Thank you for the cheery words.

Thank you for the cards to those people who are cancer victims. Or victims. Cancer fighters. You know what they tell me? Those cancer fighters can tell you every card they got. Why? Because they thought it might be their last one.

Thank you.

So, brethren, thank you for your calling. Thank you for your obedience. Thank you for your example for being a light. Thank you for the words that you give. Thank you for your service. Thank you for your support. And thank you for your love.

Thank you, brethren. I want to read in closing Philippians 1, verses 2-8. And with Thanksgiving coming up, let's all remember to be thankful for our brethren and thankful to our brethren. And give thanks to God, the Father, who gave them all to us. I'll close with Philippians 1, verses 2-8. And this is from the New International Version.

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Jesus Christ. It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart. For whether I am in chains, or defending, or confirming the gospel, all of you share in God's grace with me. God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.

Thank you, brethren.