Unity

Tensions, challenges, human problems are not unknown to the church. I've been in the church for 47 years, and there have always been challenges. And I think those of you that have been around a number of years know the same thing. We don't have to go through all of that. We can and will work through any that we have in front of us as we use God's Spirit, as we submit to one another and esteem one another better than ourselves, as Paul said in the book of Philippians, that we should do.

I received a note this week after my sermon that I gave last week at the meetings on the Sabbath. A member of the church from out west, someplace I believe, is where they're from, wrote me an email this week, and appreciated both my sermon and Mr. Rhodes' sermon since we split those last week, as you know.

But he passed along a comment from a visitor, one of his family members, who was attending services with him in their location last Sabbath. And this family member is not a United Church of God member. In fact, his family member is a lay elder in the Seventh-day Adventist Church. And he heard both of the sermons and appreciated both of them.

This relative was kind of on an RV trip all around the country right now and happened to be visiting with him in their congregation. But he attended services with them last week, he said, and he said, I think it would not be very often that we receive a comment on a message that we deliver from someone outside of the United Church of God.

As best I can recall, here's what Uncle Ted, his name, said to me following the Amen and a few local announcements. And I'll just read excerpts from what he said to him, what he passed along. He said, every church in the United States should hear that message, those messages, no matter what denominations they are.

He also went on and he said, he mentioned that every church in the U.S., speaking of just conglomerate of all denominations, he mentioned every church in the U.S. has unity issues and suffers from infighting and needs this message. So I thought it was an interesting comment from a layelder in the Seventh-day Adventist Church who was visiting and listening to our sermons and congregational services last week. That is just an observation about certain things.

Now, I repeat that and pass it along to you. Not to make an excuse. We cannot make excuses and ignore or dismiss any problems that we ever run into. We have to deal with them in a right manner and prayerfully, humbly work through any and all of them within God's Church. Those challenges should not be something that deters us from our unity and from our commitment to the mission that we have and our love for one another. As I mentioned, Debbie and I have made a commitment to work very, very hard to build some bridges with individuals throughout the ministry that we have known for years and years and in an effort to reach out and make sure that we are communicating, talking, and understanding one another so that the distances and the gulfs and sometimes the cracks and relationships that can develop don't get so wide that they cannot be bridged.

So that's our commitment. That's our effort. It's one thing to pray and fast, and we do and we will. But then you've got to get up off your knees and you've got to put a hamburger in your mouth, and then you've got to reach across the aisle. You've got to go and talk and sit down and talk to whoever. You know, among ourselves, the ministry and the membership, in any human relationship, it just takes work and just some effort. Sometimes you may not feel like you want to or need to or how we get, but you have to. And we are committed to that and have already begun to work in that way.

And it's a matter of how we esteem each other and our relationships. As I was thinking about this this week and what perhaps all of us can learn and focus on so that we make sure that within our midst and our congregation, we maintain our relationships, even though at times there will be challenges in our relationships. And I look around, and we all know whether spiritually or however things develop in our small family here and in any of our congregations large or small, there will always be human issues that we have to tackle and deal with, try to avoid offense, make sure that we don't say things that are going to push people away or take actions that are going to create disruption.

We need to be working toward the success of our relationships because that's what will make our congregations successful. I was reading and thinking about what the Apostle Paul said in a couple of places. And if you will, turn over to Philippians 1.

And notice his attitude toward the church in Philippi. Philippians 1.

And what he wrote about them. Philippians 1. He said in verse 3, Philippians 1 verse 3, I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine, making request for you all with joy for your fellowship in the Gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this very thing that he who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ. So he had confidence in the members. He had confidence that Christ would and could work within them. Just as it is right for me to thank this of you all, because I have you in my heart. They were more than just in his mind or memory. They were in his heart. Inasmuch as both in my chains, and remember Paul was writing this from prison, and it is a very joyful epistle, but he was writing it from prison. So that's why he says in my chains, both in my chains and in the defense and confirmation of the Gospel, you are partakers with me of grace. For God is my witness how greatly I long for you all with the affection of Jesus Christ. And this I pray that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere, and without offense till the day of Christ, being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ to the glory and the praise of God.

So he had some very deep heartfelt memories of the members here in Philippi. As he wrote about them and wrote to them, and as you move along in the book of Philippians, you see exactly what he had in mind. He mentions many of them by name and calls them out and commends them to one another. There is one other place in the Bible, though, that I'd like to turn and spend a bit of time going through. It goes into more detail and shows this memory and this affection that Paul had for the individuals within the church. And it's back in Romans 16. Here is a unique section of Scripture where Paul goes through and takes the time to list a long list of individuals. There are more than 20 names here in the first 16 verses of Romans 16. And it's kind of a picture gallery of early Christians in Rome that Paul knew and commends. Now, you have to understand that Paul had never been to the church in Rome. But yet he lists here a number of individuals that he was either aware of, had come in contact with because of their travels and his travels.

As we know from some of them, and as he knew of them, perhaps even by reputation, but he had never been there at this point. And yet he goes through and mentions many by name and commends them. So it's an interesting gallery of individuals that we have here that he mentions. And it comes at the end of a very, very heavy book of doctrine and teaching, as you know the book of Romans to be.

I forgot to mention, I see two of our snowbirds are back. Glad to have you back from down south. Just now noticing everyone here. So our attendance is average is going to go up over the next few months here. So, good. Welcome back. But Romans is a very deep, technical, doctrinal book. But here at the end of it, you get to the end of it, you almost want to just read over these things. Well, that's just kind of fluff that he throws up, but it's more than that. Some commentators say this is one of the most important sections that Paul ever wrote. And it is important in what we can learn in terms of our individual relationships with one another. And the composition of the church, the unity, as well as the diversity of this church in Rome, which, remember, Rome was the capital of the Roman Empire, very cosmopolitan. It was where people had gathered from all across the Mediterranean world through the buildup, the conquest of Rome, the commerce, the political, business interactions that were necessary as people moved and came and went. Rome was a very, very diverse city. The church reflected that diversity, as you can discern here, as we'll bring out, from these individuals. But within that diversity, there was also a very high level of unity, it seems. And that diversity of either gender or race or ethnicity does not have to deter unity. And diversity, even of personal opinions about various matters, non-doctrinal in one sense, does not have to deter the church or a congregation from the essential elements of unity that are so important as well. And this is an interesting section, at least, to look at. Let's just notice, beginning in verse 1 of Romans 16, he says, So right off on this list, he mentions a lady by the name of Phoebe, who is a servant, just denoting, certainly, her attitude and her role as a servant of the church in the city of Sincria. In Rome, as many feel, probably on some business, probably some personal business, doesn't mention her being here on church business. She's in here for her business that she has need of. And he says, And so, right off the bat, she is commended here. She may be even the one who's carrying this letter from Paul to the church here, as part of a private trip that she is making. Anyway, she seems to be a very leading member, and possibly even a woman of business, and having some means to travel and a need to be there, other than just doing something for the church or for the apostle Paul.

In verse 3, he mentions two others. Greet, Priscilla, and Aquila, My fellow workers in Christ Jesus, who risked their own necks for my life, to whom not only I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles. Likewise, greet the church that is in their house.

All right, now here are these two individuals that are mentioned in the book of Acts and in the book of Corinthians. As a husband and wife team, it seems, who were very much involved in the church. You may remember from, I think it's the book of Acts, that they took Apollos aside, and they explained to him teaching and doctrine in the church more fully, and it kind of aligned his thinking and it made him a better speaker or a better minister on one occasion.

And so these individuals pop up a couple of times. They obviously were with Paul in his time in Corinth back in Acts chapter 18. You find them listed. And Paul spent quite some time in the city of Corinth, a couple of years at least, in his duties and his job there. They provided him hospitality, encouragement, probably, and cooperation. They were in Ephesus there as well. And as I mentioned in Acts 18, it shows that they were very instrumental in the life of Apollos, that Paul mentions there as an individual who was coming along. So these were fellow workers with Paul in Corinth in the city of Ephesus.

They had proven themselves over the years. He says that they risked their lives, or their neck, meaning their lives. At some point, they stuck themselves out and had a personal devotion to Paul.

It could be during the time in Ephesus when that dangerous riot broke out, that is mentioned in Acts chapter 19, where the people stormed Paul and Silas and drug them into the center of town there. Maybe that was where they somehow provided some service to him and defended or helped, at least stood by him, and did not abandon him at that particular time. But they worked very, very hard in support of Paul and his ministry. It seems that they were probably successful in their business, whatever business they had, allowing them the time and money to help out with the work.

And it says here that they had a big enough house in verse 5 that the church could meet in their home. So that tells us an interesting part about their life here and what they did. So Priscilla and Aquila, an interesting couple, a married couple, and every time you find them, Priscilla is mentioned first. Now, I don't know exactly what to read into the fact that Priscilla is mentioned first. That means that Priscilla was more the dominant of the two. That doesn't take anything away from her husband, Aquila. But sometimes in a marriage relationship, the wife might be a bit more of a dominant personality, more assertive in certain ways than the husband.

And maybe that's why Paul mentioned her first here. You want to be careful not to read too much into it, but it's an interesting thing to realize and to just kind of focus on. But everyone recognizes that they are wonderful examples. Obviously, their marriage was one that was good. But they are individuals here who formed a very, very strong service and help to the work of Paul and, in a sense, had that personal devotion to him.

So you see that from time to time, even within the church today, where individuals will have a certain devotion to a minister or to a church, or to individuals within the church, and provide that in terms of a friendship that transcends even some of the difficult times. And this is one that did. As we look around, it's important to note those. And Paul is doing this here, to recognize them and say, look, say hello to them and greet them.

They are my fellow workers, and I remember them and look upon them with a great deal of affection and care and concern, just as he did with so many others. In that type of relationship, it is always important, as some of them will develop from time to time in our day, that individuals remember that you follow a man as they follow Jesus Christ. And you have to assume that Priscilla and Aquila met that certain criteria, that they followed Paul as he followed Christ.

And though there was a personal devotion, they also had a higher devotion to the unity of the church, to the good of the church, and to Jesus Christ, the head of the church. Those are difficult matters to always navigate in life. Making sure that one's personal devotion to an individual for a kindness, for their faith, for who they are, is kept in proper alignment with the larger devotion to the cause of the church, to the people of the church, and certainly to the head of the church, Jesus Christ.

Being humans as we are, sometimes, and I've seen this happen many, many times, that the personal devotion individuals might have toward a minister, toward a leader within the church, sometimes goes no further than that. And that devotion to the church ends right there with that individual. And whatever that individual does is, in a sense, the highest standard or the highest authority to which a person may look. I've seen that time and time again, as well as you have over the years, and it's a very, very important matter to note, a fine line to walk, and one that all of us have to negotiate very, very carefully.

A minister has to be careful that he does not take advantage of the willingness of any one individual or two individuals or any group of individuals within the congregation for his own gain or his own ego, and that he's able to manage people's desire and relationship and friendship, manage that to the degree that it gets the larger work done and works toward the effectiveness of the whole. You get this impression that, from what Paul says of Priscilla and Aquila, that they had that type of relationship, that they served the entire church.

I tell you, anybody that would open their home up on a regular basis for the church to meet in their home is going above and beyond and sacrificing for the good of the whole. To do that every week, just imagine if the church was meeting in your home every week. It's one thing to host a social or an occasional activity, but if that was the meeting place every week, you know what Ben Franklin said about houseguests and fish.

Dead fish. Remember the phrase? After three days, they both stink. You know, service goes a long way, but sometimes you just want your privacy and your peace and quiet. So whatever Priscilla and Aquila did here in this way provided very, very large help for the church. Well, let's go on here. Let's notice the rest of these. He says, likewise in verse 5, Greet the church that is in their house. Then he moves on.

He says, Greet my beloved Epinitas, who was the firstfruits of Achaia to Christ. Now, Achaia was the region of Corinth over there in the nation of Greece. And he said, Greet Epinitas, who were the firstfruits of Achaia, among the first to come into the church as a result of the gospel being preached in that area. And so he mentions them. In verse 6, he says, Greet Mary, who labored much for us. This is a common name in the time of the first century, obviously, the mother of Jesus being Mary herself.

But he indicates a very precise knowledge of her, talking about her hard work for the members of the church, but without any indication as to what that work might exactly have been. But he seems to focus on her willingness to put herself out in serving them, serving everyone. She says, she labored much for us. So it was more than just an occasional, more than just a one-time situation. In verse 7, he says, Greet Andronicus and Junia, my countrymen and my fellow prisoners, who are of note among the apostles, who also were in Christ before me.

They were members of the church before Paul himself came to the church. But they shared his hardships and work in a special way. He says they were of note among the apostles.

Probably means that they were standout leaders, well known among many, had probably a widespread reputation among the leaders in the church for their service. In verse 8, he says, Greet and Plias, my beloved and the Lord, indicating an affectionate relationship there.

Greet Urbainus, our fellow worker in Christ, and Stachus, my beloved. So two other individuals are mentioned. Then in verse 10, he says, Greet Appellis, approved in Christ, and greet those who are of the household of Aristobulus. There's one scholar or one commentator that identifies this Aristobulus as possibly the grandson of Herod the Great, who was the leader, the king in Israel at the time of the birth of Christ, who rebuilt Jerusalem, rebuilt the Second Temple, and of course also persecuted the firstborn at the time Jesus was born as he received the message of a new king that was born. His effort to eradicate that king led to the firstborn being killed and Joseph and Mary having to flee into Egypt with the infant Christ to escape that. But if this is indeed the case, then it raises some interesting situations. Some say that he may not have been a member, but that those of his household are greeted here.

And he may be referring to individuals here, those who are the household of Aristobulus. He would have been of the certain level of nobility or a privileged rank if he was the grandson of Herod the Great and those that were of his household. So it doesn't necessarily mean that he was a member, but that some from his household were.

He says, greet Herodian, my countrymen. Some indicate that that may have been that he was a relative of Paul. Greet those who are of the household of Narcissus, who are in the Lord. Greet Trifina and Trifosa, who have labored in the Lord. And greet the beloved Persus, who labored much in the Lord. These are perhaps sisters, three ladies mentioned in verse 12. Trifina and Trifosa are probably sisters. And Persus, an individual possibly of Persian descent, but a female, and their particular work as well. In verse 13, he says, greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord, and his mother and mine.

And so it could be that there was more of an adoptive type of relationship there that she may have looked upon or adopted Paul in some previous relationship and had a very close situation there. But it goes on in verse 14. He mentions, he says, greet Asancritus, Phleon, Hermas, Petrovus, Hermes, and the brethren who are with them.

It could be that this long listing of individuals here were leaders of a small group of believers within the city who met together. Another listing comes in verse 15. He says, greet Philologus and Julia, and Ereas, and his sister, and Olympus, and all the saints who are with them. So individuals who were known or he knew of within among the believers, the members within the city there.

It's interesting that these names are common names that appear even on inscriptions in Rome as slaves. Archaeology has determined that many names like this appear on certain inscriptions from the time period that have been found that indicate that they were names of slaves. And if that's the case, then you have to understand then that these slaves, if that was their status, were also members of the church. Which again, lends understanding as to the diversity in terms of a social status in relationships, as to anything else, if there was any ethnic diversity. But certainly in terms of a social status, there was a diversity there. And in the first century, that could be just as problematic as any other type of situation. Because a slave status in Rome was something that was quite different than our modern understanding of our slave status, especially from an American historical perspective. But the status of slaves within the first century was one that was quite prominent, quite an accepted part of society. And you would have, even within the congregation, slaves of masters, slaves of people who owned them, as you understand from the book of Philemon, creating some highly unique and challenging situations of personal relationships. And they were both in the church, they were both members. So that's a whole subject of study and conflict resolution in one sense, just within the Scriptures there. But also it's important to understand that slaves in the Roman period were, many of them, highly intelligent. They were educated. In every case, they were not ground down into an abject servitude. In many cases, a slave would have run the entire household of a wealthy Roman. And so they had some very unique relationships that's much different from what our modern perspective of that might be. But here's a listing in these first 16 verses of a number of different individuals.

And it's interesting to note, as commentators bring out, the prominence of women in this list and in the life of the church. You have here women who represent various stations of life. One is a wife, Priscilla. Others who appear to be single. Another one here that is singled out is a mother. And they are all indicated as individuals who perform an invaluable work for the church and for Paul and for others. And Paul takes the time here to esteem them, to mention them, and to single out their names in a rather lengthy discourse here at the end of the book of Romans before he winds it all up after 15 chapters of very, very heavy material for the church to go through.

And Paul takes the time to greet and to talk about, talk to and of these individuals in a way that is very, very important to mention them by name. And keep in mind, I said he had not even been to this church. It would be interesting for you and I to go through an exercise in our own mind as we might think about other congregations that we've either been to or heard of.

And some of the names of people that we might know there within our small fellowship, even of the United Church of God, that we could list. If you were to write a letter to a church and you were then to make your point, finish your business, and then before you end it, you would begin to say, oh yeah, be sure and say hello to so-and-so. And note something that you knew about them. How would you know about them?

Well, today we can know a lot of the things by the various forms of communication that we have. The United News newspaper, for one.

The social media that we have. Facebook and email for another.

So there are a number of different ways. I mean, you could even go on a web. The websites of all the congregations are now connected. You can go on the ucg.org website and have a portal to virtually all of the websites of the local congregations and the announcements, some of the activities of the congregation that's available there.

And so there are more of those available to us. We get prayer requests from congregations, and we fill out cards on the table and send those cards to individuals. And note them in that sense. So names, situations, are kind of a regular occurrence as we think about each other within the church today beyond the walls of our own particular congregation.

You can imagine here in this church, as this letter would have been circulated and discussed within the congregation, how these individuals mentioned in Chapter 16 would have been so excited to have had their name mentioned.

You and I are all human. We perk up when somebody mentions our name. We hear our name mentioned across the room. Or if it's read from some public announcement in some way or mentioned in a newspaper, we're glad to see that. And it encourages us, can feed our vanity if we let it, but we all enjoy that. How much would these people have enjoyed hearing their names in this letter?

When we do something like that, when we note people, when we send greetings, when we send an email to, you know, we heard something, perhaps they were sick, or we heard something good maybe happening like the birth of a child, the marriage of a family member, whatever it might be, or a promotion or some other thing, that we note that. What Paul is doing here is he's noting these people, and he's encouraging them by mentioning their name and saying they've labored hard in the Lord. They stuck their neck out for me.

And that encourages people. You and I have the same opportunities to do that, and we should take the extra effort to compliment those who labor and do good works among us. Write your own commendations of letters to the saints, which we should and which we do. We started years ago sending cards to people who are sick and in trials from our congregation, and it encourages people. Some people do note that. Just last night, I got an email from a member in the Huntsville, Alabama congregation, who wanted me to pass along to you his appreciation, his wife, for the card that was sent here from here some weeks back at the death of their father. Now, I don't get too many of these cards that go out from our congregations, but when I get one, and he asks me to pass it along to you, so I'm going to pass it along to you. But it's an illustration of how something as simple as just signing your name, or with a little note, on a card like that, or an email or something else, and sending it to someone that you do not know makes such a big difference. Here's what this is from Mike and Debbie Kelly from the UCG Huntsville, Alabama congregation. They asked me to pass along to you here in Fort Wayne. He says, Debbie and I were touched by the thoughtfulness of your congregation in remembering the death of Debbie's father and my father-in-law, Mr. R. O. Bailey. He was a long-time member of God's Church in the Birmingham, Alabama congregation, who loved to serve the brethren and looked forward to the kingdom of God. After his two-year battle with pancreatic cancer, God saw fit to finally give him rest. We miss him, but look forward to seeing him again someday, a hope which motivates us daily. We love you all as brethren in Christ and do appreciate your concern. As I say, I don't get a lot of those. As you know, and I don't criticize, I'm not criticizing anybody, but we're all guilty of that when we, you know, if we would get a card from a congregation, how many of us perhaps have or would send a note like that to say thank you to everybody? We should, but it doesn't always happen, and I don't blame anybody for that in that sense, but it's nice to get that and pass that along, but it's an illustration of how they, this couple, note what you did. And I would assume that he may have done that for a number of other congregations, I don't know, I do know this individual, met him once, but it's how he looks upon you is what he is doing. So we need to do that. We need to note individuals, just as Paul noted these individuals in a congregation to which he had never been. For all he knew at this point in time, he would never be there. But he did that. Relationships have to be nurtured. They have to be watered, fertilized, digged and dunged. And that takes work. Look, you want a friend for life? You want a friend for more than a season, for more than two years, five years? We have to work at that.

We have to work at it. It takes effort, it takes time, and it takes sacrifice. To keep a friendship, to build a friendship, for a friendship to endure. It just does. You can move away, and if you don't keep in contact, that friendship can die in some cases. Oh, it's not that you would never be friendly if you meet again. And in some cases, you can pick up with someone after five years' absence and pick right up and go on. There are those types of relationships. But there are some friendships and relationships that do need a bit of extra work if you're going to maintain them.

And especially those relationships within the church. They are important if there is not always the natural things that unify us, perhaps a common background, common interests, children to come same age at any given time, or whatever that we make the extra effort. Believe me, I speak from experience. They are important, especially the ones within the church.

If we're going to stay knit together, the church must be a body of people who love one another very much and very sacrificially. Friendship has to be built and maintained even on a sacrificial level. And I learned a little bit about that I guess this week. And some that, as I said, making the extra effort to build some bridges back with fellow ministers, whom I've known for many, many years, that if you don't pick up the phone or if you don't write or at a meeting like we have here, make the effort to sit down for a few minutes or have lunch together or whatever, you've got to talk.

You've got to work through various matters. And it takes effort. Even sometimes when you may be a bit irritated, perturbed, or issues that challenge the relationship, it's important within the church, within the ministry, among the membership, that we do that.

That if we're going to draw together in the unity with so much the diversity that we have and in many different ways that that comes about. Being hospitable to one another, going out of our way just as we build new ones and maintain the old ones. Those are the things that we are very, very important for us to do. As you look around yourself, in our congregation here, the times we spend together every week, the social activities that are extra efforts for us to draw together where we can, they need to be taken.

Whether it's a picnic, book club, the potluck. You know, we're not the only church that has potlucks, but potlucks probably are one of the most important things in the church of God. Take away potlucks and you're in trouble. So those are important, to break bread and to share a meal. Two weeks ago we were up in Canada for a World News and Prophecy Seminar. We were in Calgary on a Sabbath and Sunday morning we flew up to Edmonton, Alberta, further north.

And in Edmonton we had the opportunity to stay with the family. Calgary, we stayed in a hotel and hotels get very old real fast. We had the offer in Edmonton of staying with the Barrent family. Bob Barrent is the pastor there, but his two sons who are elders in the congregation, they're both doctors and one of them invited us to stay at his home. Had plenty of room and we were contacted a few weeks ago, do you want to stay with Dan, Barrent, or a hotel? Well, to me that's a no-brainer.

I'd rather stay in somebody's home than get better acquainted with somebody. And as I say, hotels really get old quick. So we stayed with Dan and Fern Barrent in their home. And after the seminar on Sunday afternoon we had a meal there with others, the other elders in the church. And it was just less than 24 hours we were there, but we just kind of hit it off, everybody. There was a bond of connection there. I'd never met them before. I knew Bob Barrent, but I didn't know his sons. And we got acquainted.

We hope to continue that relationship as we move forward. But you stay in someone's home, you extend hospitality and offer, and you accept that offer, then you have an opportunity to really get better acquainted with someone even beyond the confines of the church or certain other activities that come. And those are very, very important that we extend them, offer hospitality, and take advantage of that. Those opportunities of fellowship help develop our unity and the like-mindedness that is so important to the church. I've always said, say it again, on any given Sabbath for a number of people in the congregation, many of you here right now, the fellowship that you have may be more important than the spiritual food you receive from the sermon. Both are important. We don't want to diminish any of them. Certainly don't want to diminish the spiritual food. But sometimes we've had a bad week or are going through a difficult period of time. We drag ourselves through the door to church because we know we should. It's a commanded assembly, right? And we've got to be there. But also, we're looking for something, a kind word, just being with people. I will tell you, folks, there are times that I drag myself into church and I'm looking just for a smiling face. Hi! Glad you're here. And just being in a room full of people of like-minded, the church, and the fellowship, and just watch people interacting and do that. And I'll give you a sermon, but I'm getting more from you in the fellowship than I'm getting from what I give. Okay? That's just the way it works in the ministry sometimes. So I know it's the same for you. That fellowship is very, very important. We are to exhort one another here in Hebrews chapter 10. Verse 24. Hebrews 10 verse 24. Paul says, let us be the one who doesn't do it for us, but let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works. We have to consider one another. We have to note one another. We have to write to one another. That's what it means to consider one another. You pick up the phone. You write a note. You sign a card at the table for someone you may never meet. You pray for someone. You consider one another, especially those that we know among ourselves, to stir up love And good works among ourselves. Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together.

You can only stir up love and good works when you're together and assembling.

Exhort one another and so much the more as you see the day approaching. As the pressures of life and the challenges of the world increase in this time, it makes all more sense and it's important that we stay close to one another in the fellowship, in the assembling, in the noting of one another, in the context that we have with one another with positive, uplifting, encouraging fellowship and communication. Not suspicion, not accusation, not innuendo that tears each other down or tears down someone else, but communication and that helps us build relationships within the church. That's what's important. And this example here in Romans 16, I think, helps us to note how important that is, even for Paul, who took the time at the end of his long teaching letter on doctrine and all to say, remember, say hello to Priscilla and Aquila and Rufus and his mother. And make sure that my greetings are passed along and you remember these people as well. When you have that, you have a good, solid, warm congregation to which God can place any individual, new or returning to the faith that he desires to put, and he's putting them into a warm nest. God does not hatch new people in the faith to put them into a cold freezer.

Okay? A young chick that's hatched out of the egg is looking for the warm, fuzzy, furry warmth of a mother. God brings people to be placed within an atmosphere of warmth.

And when we work very hard ourselves to create that, then God can and will add the increase.

So let's turn one another to good works. Let's commend each other to one another and do our part to knit the body of Christ together, supplying all of the needs from the basket of our lives.