What kind of Place Should the Church Be?

Mr. Todd.

Because I was unable to go to his funeral, because of when it was set, the timing and so forth, it does happen sometimes.

But I'm hoping that my wife and I can go back sometime, not too far down the line, and at least see the family, and to go by the graveside. But it's like for all of us, something like that's pretty difficult when you lose your little brother.

It just is. Now, we're in that time of year, aren't we? When you go into the malls, you go into the different department stores, and you hear the familiar sound of Christmas music, you go into the communities, and they're all lighted up. I remember, you know, years through the years, if we were visiting during Christmas time, you know, everybody has the lights up in the community, our house was always the, you know, you go lighted, lighted, lighted, dark.

That was us. If we were going to go visit somebody, you know, and we wanted to find somebody who was in the church, it was the way it was. You look for the darkest house in the community.

During the Christmas period.

You know, light really says something about you, doesn't it, from that small vantage point.

You know, we knew, of course, that these were God's people because they knew they weren't involved in the Christmas season.

They were not involved in the celebration of Christmas.

You know, Jesus Christ said to us that we are the light of the world and our light says something about us. You know, just like Christmas lights say something about people in the world today, our light says something about us.

You know, we are to display ourselves as lights to the world and to the community that is about us.

You know, what kind of light should the church, though, display? You know, the title of the sermon today is, What Kind of Place Should the Church Be?

Now, if you're brand new, you're walking into the front door of the church and you begin to intermingle with God's people.

You've never met these people before in your life. I remember that was the way it was for me back in, you know, the 60s when I started attending the church. I didn't know a solitary person. When I went to a master college, I knew no one at a master college at all. I was just as green as could be and I wonder how I was going to survive. I don't know if I ever told you about this, but when I went to a master college I didn't really have a lot of money. I had like 500 bucks.

But you know, when you were about, you know, 19 years of age, 18 years of age, you don't think about survival.

That much. And anyway, when I got off the bus in Gladewater, then it really dawned to me, I don't have enough money to be here. And yet God allowed me to survive and to go in and get an education.

And he worked it out for me, but I had to have a little bit of faith with it.

And when I got there, the ambassador college made an impression on me because of a light that was there.

So, brethren, what kind of a place off the church of God be?

You know, how should we be when somebody new comes in our midst?

We know God calls. We can't do anything about that. I know we get frustrated because we do different things to do the work of God, but God is the one that calls. You know, we can't do the calling. That doesn't mean, though, we don't have any responsibility. We, as the church, have a responsibility and we have a part to play in the church. If we're going to do that part, we have to know again what kind of place this ought to be. We must strive to make the church a spiritual zone. You know, we talk about, in fact, a safe and a secure place that promotes growth without fear of ridicule, a place of encouragement. You know, we do that at the youth camps every summer. And in reality, the church ought to be that. That's what the church ought to be, a place where you could grow, that you're not afraid of somebody that's going to criticize you, but they're going to be there to help you, to encourage you, to promote you. You know, the apostle Paul was concerned that outsiders would actually, in his day, would come into the Corinthian church, and they'd get the wrong impression about the church over the issue of tongues. Let's go over to 1 Corinthians chapter 14 over here. 1 Corinthians chapter 14. And down in verse 18 here, here Paul, in this chapter, is talking about the speaking of tongues or, you know, glossolalia, as we've given sermons about that before. He says, I thank my God I speak with tongues more than you all. Paul was a very educated man, and he did speak many languages, and that's what it meant. He spoke with more tongues than all of them. Yet in the church, he said, I would rather speak five words with my understanding than I may teach others also than 10,000 words in a tongue or in a language that they don't even understand. You know, Paul spoke, from what we understand, at least three languages. He spoke Hebrew, he spoke Aramaic, and he spoke Greek from what we understand. And so he is saying, look, I would rather speak in a language that everybody understands. You know, that there's speak one word in a language that nobody understands, that maybe they think that they're speaking in tongues or, you know, this angelic tongue or whatever people perceived it to be. Now, let's go down to verse 23 here, verse 23 and 24. And it says, therefore, if the whole church comes together in one place, in other words, when you come together to keep Sabbath services, he's saying here, and all speak with tongues, you know, everybody is speaking in these angelic tongues or whatever, again, they thought they were. And they're come in those who are uninformed or unbelievers.

Will they not say that you are out of your mind?

You know, you've been maybe to churches like this where people start breaking out into tongues.

No, I had an aunt that was that way. She could speak in tongues at the drop of a hat.

Of course, nobody knew what she was saying. So she could do it pretty easily, couldn't she?

But it says, if all prophesy and an unbeliever or an uninformed person comes in, he is convinced by all. He is convicted by everybody. The word prophesy means to speak under the inspiration of God, but it's something that can be understood. He's saying here, everybody prophesies, if everyone's speaking and letting truly the Holy Spirit leave them, what they're going to be saying is going to be understood. It's going to be grasped.

But in verse 25, and thus the secrets of his heart are revealed and so falling down on his face, he will worship God and report that God is truly among you.

Did you get what he's saying here, brethren, in verse 25 here? He's saying here that somebody who is being drawn to God, that when they hear something that is by inspiration of God, and it is amazing how this works, it really is, we can have people that can come to the door, and it's happened all the time, brethren, that they come up to me and they tell me, and I know they've told some of you as well, the message today was exactly what I was thinking.

And I there said not only are new people walking through the door, but also many of you, the same thing you've been thinking about during the week. That's how the Spirit of God works.

In other words, what he's saying here, and thus the secrets of his heart, are revealed. In falling down on his face, he will worship God and report that God is truly among you.

God is here, because my very heart's been revealed here by what's been said.

And then Paul goes on to say, how is it then, brethren, whenever you come together, each of you has a psalm, has a teaching, has a tongue, and has a revelation, has an interpretation. He says, let all things be done. It says for edification. Here's the big word, brethren, of what we do as a church of God always. Everything we do is for edification of every one of us.

That we all can imbibe of the spiritual knowledge that God imparts and that God gives. And so God wants us to be that kind of a church, brethren. We want to be conducting services that don't scare someone half to death. I remember as a young boy, in fact, when my brother Keith was well, my parents were, you know, they were looking for all the answers, as many people do when their kids are sick. And they went to a Pentecostal church, and they were going to pray for my brother, who was, he was five years of age. And anyway, they prayed over him, and they all began to break out in tongues, you know, as the Pentecostals tend to do. And pretty soon, you got to have all these people speaking in tongues. And I tell you what, it was terrifying to me. I scared my little brother to death. I do know that. I remember that very, very clearly. It did not set well with me.

Like Paul says, they think you're mad, that you've gone mad. You're, you know, you're out of your mind by doing this and being this way. Well, we want to have services that don't scare people, but exhort people, that edify people, that teach people. You know, as soon as I say that, though, I talk about people speaking in tongues and so forth, and I've had people that have actually said that in this very hall to me. I don't know if they attend with us now, but I hope that they have maybe changed their thinking if they think that way. But anyway, some say, well, you got to let the Spirit go. You're stifling the Spirit. That's not what Paul said. That's not what Paul said at all, brethren. You know, Paul didn't think quite that way. You know, Paul is saying you don't have bedlam in the church. You don't have confusion in the church. When someone comes to the church, realize that God has inspired them and drawn them. And when they hear sermons and sermonettes and Bible studies, it's often again the very thing that they're thinking about.

God has performed a miracle. It is a tremendous miracle. Imagine it, brethren. I don't think we realize how much of a miracle that is, that the very thing you're talking about is the thing that somebody's thinking about. And he really hit dead center in their minds, you know, as to what they're talking about. So God wants us, brethren, to present again a church of order always.

And let the Spirit of God work, but let it work in us to edify other people. And the word edify has to do, brethren, if you look up the word in strongs, it has to do with architecture.

And what do you think about when I say the word architecture?

You think of building, don't you? So that when we do whatever we're doing, it should build up.

It always should build up. It should not tear down, but it should build up. And every sense of the word. So what we do then, naturally then, has to be more structured if it's going to build up.

It has to be organized. It has to be orderly. Now let's go on down to verse 27. Verse 27.

He said, if anyone speaks in a tongue, let there be two, or at the most, three, each in turn, and let one interpret. So if you don't have an interpreter, even if somebody could speak in tongues, or is speaking in tongues, you know, they shouldn't speak. That's the bottom line.

But if there's no interpreter, let him remain silent in church, and let him speak to himself and to God. He said, let two or three prophets speak, and let the others judge. I had somebody call me on, you know, the other day and said, guess what? I've come to understand that I'm not one of the two witnesses. And I was really happy to hear that, actually. It's a breakthrough.

But some people think, again, that God is especially using them. But what does he say here, brethren? If there are two or three prophets to speak, let the others judge. But if anything is revealed to another who sits by, you know, he doesn't say, oh, I've got to say this.

No, God has inspired me, and he sees me. If anything seizes you, brethren, it's not of God.

The Bible says here very clearly, it says, let the first keep silent. For you can all prophesy one by one that all may learn and all may be encouraged.

And then he says the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets. See, the spirit doesn't seize you. It doesn't make you do anything. It leads. It leads. And in my experiences, it gently leads us to come to see the truth as God's people. So everything in the Bible shows there must be order in the church. And we, if we have God's Spirit, that spirit will lead us to agree with that. So from these scriptures, brethren, we can begin to determine what kind of place the church of God ought to be. It should be a place of edification, a place of education, if you want to put it that way. You know, the word edification appears many times because the church builds up. And the word edifies, I said means to build. It has to do with structure. It has to do with architecture. You know, when people attend services, the song services and the other parts of the services, the sermons, the sermonettes, the Bible studies, and the fellowship should build up in every sense of the word. These things will make an impact upon someone who is new in the church. If we have that attitude and we have that approach, I was talking to our grandsons this morning about some of that, you know, about the Sixth Commandment. It says, thou shalt not murder.

And I asked them, I said, well, what does that mean? Well, you don't kill people, obviously.

What else does it mean? Is it okay to talk bad about people?

And we had that discussion, you know. Then, look, if you talk badly about somebody and you put somebody else down, that is a form of murder. And it is a sin. It's contrary to God's way of life.

God's church should be a place where we're building each other up, helping each other, encouraging each other, speaking highly of each other, as we're able to, certainly, in every sense of the word. So, these things, again, make a tremendous impact on people if they see that we're that way, brethren, if this is the kind of place that we are. Let's go to Romans chapter 15. Romans 15, in just a couple of verses here we'll look at.

But in Romans chapter 15, Paul says this. It fits into what we're talking about here.

But here, Paul says, We then, who are strong, ought to bear with us scruples the inadequacies of the weak and not to please ourselves.

Now, God's people have to be patient. And I've seen that approach in the church, and it's encouraging that people are very kind and very generous and patient with people within the church. But it says, Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, leading to edification.

In other words, making somebody else's life better. If God has blessed us, brethren, why shouldn't we try to help somebody else? No, do we think we did it on our own, that God gave us gifts that we have, if we have certain gifts and abilities? You may think that you have your life completely all together. And you don't have any trials. Well, if that be the case, if you're strong, help somebody else that needs help. Help them to be pulled up. Help them to grow, so that they can feel a confidence about their life as well.

We should be building up one another. I've seen that happen over the years, where in the Church of God, I think I've told you this before, I remember I came into the church.

First place I attended was in Arkansas, AK. But in Arkansas, I was born in Arkansas, I'm sure you can tell by my cultural development. But anyway, Jenny Lynn Arkansas was where I went to church. It was outside of Portsmouth, Arkansas. And I remember walking in the church for the first time, there was this big, burly looking guy, you know, really tall guy. I wouldn't say he was tall as Steve Kennedy, but he was up there, pretty big guy. And it's like he looked, he was the kind of guy that looked better if he was behind a tractor, you know, he was plowing fields. But they were teaching him how to lead songs. And I thought, you know, this is an unusual place. And that man, though I saw him grow and develop, eventually became an elder in the church. And his son, actually is an elder in the church now, was a pastor. I don't know if he is now. I think his health prevents it from him being a pastor. And by the way, those of you from Arkansas, that was a long time ago. I'm talking back in the 60s, so a long, long time ago. But that made an impression on me. I was, you know, at that time, about 18 years of age, walked in the church, and I saw it was a place where people grow. People change. They overcome. And people develop. You see somebody one year, and you go back maybe three more years, and their world of difference in how they are is people. They've changed so much, and developed and grown so much. It's because those that maybe had it together took the time to teach them. And they were, of course, willing themselves to learn. Let's go to 2 Corinthians chapter 10 over here. 2 Corinthians chapter 10.

I remember those years well in Arkansas. I drank my first glass of champagne in Fort Smith, Arkansas, by the way. Pink champagne, as I recall.

And the one glass did be under, you know, by the way. In 2 Corinthians chapter 10 and verse 8, For even if I should boast somewhat more about our authority. Here Paul is talking about his authority. You know, sometimes people think authority. Well, if you have authority in the church, you can take the Bible and just beat it over people's heads. Make them change. Make them do it. But let's notice this, what he says. Even if I should boast somewhat more about our authority, which the Lord gave us, it says, for edification. The authority was given for edification, he's saying here, and not for your destruction. He says, I shall not be ashamed. So here Paul is saying that the authority that God gave him was so people could be edified. Now, that's a world of difference between, you know, the authority that some people think authority is and what it in reality is, and what it should be in the church of God is to help us grow. Let's notice in chapter 13, 13 and verse 10. Chapter 13 and verse 10. He says, therefore I write these things being absent, lest being present I should use sharpness, according to the authority which the Lord has given me for edification and not for destruction.

So God wants us to always have that attitude, brethren, if we have authority, if we have responsibility, of actually the desire is to teach others.

He had a job to set things in order in the church.

Remember also, he told Titus when he was in Crete to set things in order, ordain elders and set things in order. So that's what the responsibility of the church always is, is set things in order, where we go, so that there's an apparatus, you might say, for edification.

The church is a tool to help us to learn, to help us to grow. Let's go to Matthew 16.

Let's go to 1 Corinthians chapter 14 now. 1 Corinthians chapter 14 and verses 1 through 3, just a few verses over here. But in 1 Corinthians chapter 14, notice it says, "...pursue love and desire spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy." That you may, as I said earlier, the word prophesy means to speak under inspiration.

You want God's Spirit to be leading you? So we can edify others.

For he who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men, but it says, but to God. If you're speaking in this tongue that the Corinthians claimed they were. For no one understands him, however, in the Spirit he speaks mysteries. But he who prophesies speaks edification and exhortation and comfort to men. And so this is what we do when we're speaking under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. We're exhorting someone. That word exhort or exhortation means to implore someone, to plead with someone. You know, God does that with us. He pleads with us.

He said it to Israel. He said, why will you die? He pled with them. And God wants us to do that. He tells us, cry aloud and spare not. That doesn't mean, brethren, when we cry aloud and spare not, there were beaten up people over the head. But we are crying aloud and we're telling people what the law of God says. And it is God who has said what the penalty for violating that law is.

So God wants us to, again, speak boldly, but also for the purpose of educating people and edifying people and to comfort people or to encourage people. Because of the good news of the gospel.

It is good news, isn't it? And God gives these promises to us to encourage us in the fight that we have in this physical flesh to overcome and to change. The gospel is encouraging. You know, it's always inspiring to me somebody who speaks with really passion about the good news of the kingdom of God and what's going to happen in the future.

So, brethren, the Church of God not only should be a place of edification, it should be a place of exhortation, a place where you get exhorted to do certain things, to a place of comfort as well.

With the realization, we're all in this together. We're all physical, flesh and blood human beings.

We all make mistakes. None of us grow like this. I mean, from just straight up.

You know, we all sort of grow like this, don't we? And it may be more like this. You know what this is, don't you? I don't know either, but here it comes again.

But, you know, I guess I'm using side language up here, so I thought I would take full advantage of that. But the Church should be a place of exhortation.

We ought to be able, brethren, to cry aloud and spare not. The Scriptures tell us that we do that. Let's go to Hebrews 10. We don't know how much time we have ahead of us, brethren.

I don't know. Are we 90% there? Are we 95% there? Or are we half there? I don't know.

I really don't know. I think that all of us ought to be working like we're almost there.

That's what I've been doing since 1968.

And I'm sure that's what many of you have been doing as well.

You keep pushing forward. You keep working toward the goal. And someday we're going to be there, brethren. Every year that goes by, and we'll be into 2018 pretty soon, we're a year closer.

You're closer to the return of Jesus Christ. But Hebrews 10, verse 23, notice here, it says, "...let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who is promised is faithful." You can bank on the fact that it's going to happen, brethren.

And it says, "...and let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works." And the admonishment to us, brethren, is not forsaking the assembly of ourselves as the manner of some is, but exhort one another, exhort one another, encourage one another, plead with one another, and so much the more as you see the day approaching.

I don't know again how far it is to the kingdom. But, you know, look at the times we're living in. Can it get much worse? I mean, yeah, it can get much worse than it is right now. You know, we have the rocket man, as he's been dubbed by President Trump. Now he has a missile that could reach the heartland of the United States. It's a reality. It's a reality. We live in that kind of world.

The nuclear club keeps growing, doesn't it? And what is so bad about that, too, is the nuclear club in which you've got madmen like Kim Jong-un, who are at the helm, and others like in Iran, that possess these weapons, the likelihood of something happening, you know, the odds grow, don't they, that that eventually is going to occur. You know, God wants us to learn the value of persistence, too. And here we're told not to forsake the assembly of ourselves together. In other words, you've got to stay after it. You've got to keep applying yourself year after year after year. And so it's to teach us the value of persistence and overcoming and changing.

And those values, brethren, are so important to us in our character development, the holy righteous character. You know, it teaches us to be like God, because God is patient. He's patient. And of course, it teaches us to trust God, to put our faith in God, and not in ourselves, and our thinking, our way of thinking.

Let's go to Titus chapter 2. Titus chapter 2 and verse 15 over here. There's so much in the church that we can do, brethren, in making a place of edification, and making it a place where people want to be and want to remain when they come. In Titus chapter 2, in verse 15, it says, Speak these things, exhort and rebuke, with all authority. Titus was said, Let no one despise you. So he's told here to exhort and rebuke.

Yeah, there comes a time where you must rebuke in some cases. I've had to do that on some rare cases, rebuke people, or to correct them. But I can say this, brethren, I always felt I did it very gently. I was very careful about their feelings, and I think we should be very, very careful. We can correct people without raising the voice in that way, in that manner. But we are to exhort people and implore them to plead with them. And that's what Titus was instructed of Paul to do. Timothy and Titus were young ministers.

They learned, being taught of the Apostle Paul. My experience as a younger minister is that in the church, very often the churches I pastor, the people who have been in the church a longer period of time, don't have any problem with respecting a younger minister. I've said many times that when I was, you know, started pastoring, I'm sure that Mr. Zimmerman would say the same thing, and Mr. Scriber, there were more people that called me Mr.

back then than now. And again, it's no big deal as far as I am concerned, but it's just a fact. But it's the older members of the church that were more respectful. It is interesting, isn't it, the way that works. But Timothy and Titus were told, don't let anybody despise you. So the church, again, should be a place of exhortation. You know, Paul told Timothy that he should continue to exhort, to plead with the brethren about true doctrine, to teach them true doctrine. You know, people have a desire, again, to follow after their own ideas, their own thoughts.

You know, we've, of course, had many people with a lot of ideas that seem to crop up from time to time through the years. Now, we've had things that, of course, that we thought that Mr. Herbert Armstrong basically resolved back in the 50s that become a problem today. It's just been the way it has been, and it will always be that way. But sometimes you have to set people back on the track to teach them.

You know, the Apostle Paul told Timothy, and he told others within the church, don't let people judge or don't judge by outward appearance.

Now, don't look at the outward appearance of someone. Some people can come across as very impressive. Paul was not one of those you could judge by outward appearance. He was a short, bald man with a very weak voice. He even had a health problem. Probably had runny eyes. You know, he had a health problem. It was pretty serious for him. He had to write in huge letters in order to communicate. Not impressive at all. Paul, on the other hand, was a powerful writer. He would knock you off your chair if you read what he said, but it wouldn't be that impressive if you met him. Jesus Christ, in fact, was not an impressive person, at least from his appearance. Remember what the Bible says about him? He has no form or comeliness that anyone would desire him. And yet, Jesus Christ was the most powerful teacher in the history of mankind.

So, brethren, don't look on the outward appearance. The Corinthians had a problem with that. Paul said, some of you say you're a Peter, and some of you say you're of a Paulist. A Paulist was a very good speaker.

And people, we were warned in this last day, would heap up teachers unto themselves to their own destruction.

Brethren, if we in the Church of God are to survive, we must, brethren, pull together and look to what the Church teaches. Somebody comes to you and tells you something contrary to what the Church teaches. That should raise some antenna. You need to, again, reground yourself in what the Church teaches. That that be the case.

But we must exhort everyone, again, to do the right thing. And we need to, again, comfort people through their trials. We should support the weak. A JFB says this, literally, lay fast hold onto and support the weak.

God wants us to, again, to help other people, in every sense of the word. And if we're going to sometimes maybe exhort or plead with somebody, we're going to have to first develop a relationship with them, obviously. They don't know you from Adam. Probably won't be there very effective. You've got to, again, build that relationship.

Let's go to 2 Timothy chapter 4 over here. 2 Timothy chapter 4.

Paul says, I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing in His kingdom, preach the Word, Timothy, be ready in season and out of season, continue, rebuke, exhort, with all long suffering and teaching, for the time will come when they will not endure solemn doctrine. But according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers. I talked about last time, how well do you listen? And the problem of people having, you know, what we see in the Bible, one of the problems people have is itching ears. Another problem people have is their dull of hearing. You know, so how well do you listen? But Timothy was told to preach the doctrine of the church. And, brethren, I hope that's what we will do as a congregation as well, to support that, to be behind that, in every sense of the Word.

Messages in the church should always be clear.

You know, Mr. Herbert Armstrong, when he wrote, you know, he developed the Plain Truth magazine, he said he wanted it to be understood for people from nine to ninety-nine. It was very simply written. That was the approach that was taken. Let's go over to 1 Corinthians chapter 14 over here. 1 Corinthians chapter 14.

And verse 19, he says, again, yet in the church I should rather speak five words with my understanding that I may teach others also than 10,000 words in a tongue. So, that word, it should be very clear what's being said. You know, the Apostle Paul, as I mentioned, you know, was a man of high education. He was educated at the feet of Gamaliel, one of the greatest teachers, you know, in Jerusalem. Well known.

And yet, when he went to preach the gospel, he spoke plainly to people. People that nine to ninety-nine could understand. He didn't speak in terms of, you know, the lofty way that oftentimes educators do. You ever heard a lecture that way? I enjoyed hearing Dr. Hay, but very often, and I say this lovingly, by the way, and all of you know what I'm talking about, oftentimes when Dr. Hay was finished, I would often look over at my wife and say, now what did he say? Because he was a man that could speak in those kind of ways.

And I know that some of the things that maybe I heard probably wasn't what he intended. And that's exactly the way he spoke. I remember him one time saying, do not presume that what you heard is what you put on your paper and your notes. You know, don't presume that's what I said, you know, Dr. Hay would say. But Paul was one who, again, though he could be that way, was a plain speaking individual. You know, Paul says this in 1 Corinthians 2 and verse 1, And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. He did not speak again in an erudite way that could only be understood by somebody, you know, who had an education similar to his. He wasn't that way at all.

You know, the common people were the ones to whom Jesus Christ went to preach the gospel. The common people were the ones that responded to the gospel. And frankly, today, the common people, you know, of this nation have responded to the gospel. It was the farmers. It was the, you know, the people that were from the country, many of them who responded in this age to the gospel of the kingdom of God. And we, of course, have some that are very well educated and have responded as well. It don't mean that no one educated has been, has responded. We've had many people who had high educations that responded to the gospel. But the lion's share of people are just the common people. It was the same in the days of Jesus Christ. But, brethren, when people come into the church of God as well, another thing they ought to be able to see, they deserve to see, is a place where all of us are participating. That all of us are involved. You know, the body cannot work unless all the members, you know, are willing to commit. It's like I got up out of the bed this morning. My legs had decided they did not want to go to church. We would have had a problem. You know, if my arms had decided that, we would have had a problem. You know, because you can't dress, you know, you can't get ready. Every part of your body is important. And, brethren, everybody here is important to the body. The work of God goes forward, brethren, because we're all involved, every one of us. So, when a new person comes in, they should see, and they deserve to see, all of us are actively involved in the church. And it's like we've told people many times, don't hold back. Commit yourself. Get involved. I told a young man last night who wanted to be baptized. He said, what should I do? He's in another church area. But I said, well, look, you need to commit to a local church. You get involved in that church. You get to know the people in that church, and you serve within that church. That's what all of us need to be doing to make ourselves a part of the church of God. You know, Vince Lombardi, you know, the famous coach of the Green Bay Packers says, people who work together will win.

He says, whether it's against the complex football defense or the problems of modern society, if people work together, Lombardi says, you win. You know, out in the world, people get involved, and some of the, you know, causes are not all that important, but they get together, and they do it, whatever it is. They think it's important to save the whales or whatever they're trying to do. I bumped into a guy over in Malawi that my wife and I met him in the airport. He was trying to protect, you know, the animals from poachers. I wondered why he was in Malawi. You know, there's a lot of places to protect animals from poachers, but interestingly, this guy was in the church in the years past, and he was a part of the church. He's no longer part of the church, but his new church is basically protecting animals from poachers. But people get involved in that kind of thing, and I guess he's successful at what he's doing. When someone new comes into the church, brethren, they should see us in the church actively involved, with our Bibles open, taking notes or whatever we do within the church, and not only that, but putting it into practice the things that we hear, applying ourselves to what we hear. So the church should be a place of participation. It should be a place of order, as I've mentioned already. Order means that we start services on time, and I'm really happy that Mr. Tuck started services on time with the song lead. Members should arrive on time out of respect for God and for the brethren. I remember years and years ago we had a family. You could set your watch. They would be at church 15 minutes late every week. And I remember talking to this particular husband and the wife about it, that it wasn't respectful to show up 15 minutes after church began. And that was a big thing back in 1970-something. Believe me if you did that. But anyway, it never did change. You can always... it's like you could set the time. My watch is a little bit off here. They just arrived. But it's a wrong thing for people to treat services that way. I like what Vince Lombardi used to tell his players on his football team. He taught his players this rule for practice. I mean, he did enforce it as well. He told his players that if you were five minutes early, you were 10 minutes late.

And I've read stories about Lombardi, what he did to his players, if they showed up late. And you'll later they loved him for his strictness and how he really applied... made them think about what they did.

But he said you should be 15 minutes early for everything. Be 15 minutes early for whatever appointment you may have. So, you know, treat God's church that way. It's a place of order. And we start on time and hopefully we're all engaged when we are here. Also, the church, brethren, should be a place... and this is what new people deserve... a place of love and peace. A place of love and peace. When new people come to visit the church, they should expect it to be a place of peace, not conflict. It's not always been the case of the church. Not always been the case. I don't want to over-dramatize that, but let's go to 1 Corinthians chapter 3 over here. 1 Corinthians chapter 3.

In verse 3 and 4, here Paul is talking to the Corinthian church. He says, For you are still carnal, for where there are there are envy, strife, and divisions among you. Are you not carnal? In other words, if there are strife, where people are not getting along, if they're arguing with one another, he's saying, this is carnality, not the way it ought to be.

And he says, you're behaving like mere men.

This is what everybody does, isn't it? But it's not what everybody does who has the Spirit of God. For when one says, I am of Paul, and another, I am of Apollos, are you not carnal? That's just a clear sign wonder, you know, example of where somebody is carnal.

He said, where envy and strife and divisions are, carnality is present. And that's the purpose of being in the church, isn't it? Of overcoming our carnality, and that was the problem that Corinth had. Corinth needed milk. When you see that kind of an attitude, people need milk. They don't need meat. They need milk. And the milk of the word is repent and change and overcome. Change your attitude. Get in the right frame of mind.

God wants, again, His church to be a church of love and a church of peace. Christ said that, by this, shall all men know that you are my disciples, that you love one another? And God wants us to love one another, to be at one with each other, to be in unity with one other. In fact, the last prayer that Christ prayed in John 17, He prayed that we would be one as He and His Father were one.

So, brethren, someone new who walks into the church, if they see all of these qualities, if they see it's a place of edification, if they see it's a place of exhortation and comfort, if they see it's a place where everybody's involved, that people are engaged, if they see it's a place of order and a place of love and a place of peace, brethren, they'll want to be here. So, brethren, I implore you, I implore you, I plead with you, I exhort you. Let's be this place, this place where new people can come, and let's really work at it. Now, I know we've got a wonderful group of people here, and one of the things that people always have said about the Phoenix Church is that we are one of the friendliest churches, you know, that they've been to. Well, let's keep that so, and let's be the church that someone new wants to come and to attend and to be a part of.