Spend and Be Spent

I invite you to take out your Bibles and turn with me to 2 Corinthians chapter 12 and hold your place at verse 11, 2

Corinthians chapter 12 beginning at verse 11.

The title of today's message is Spend and Be Spent.

How much do we value our brothers and sisters in Christ?

That is really going to be the heart of today's message.

We're going to ask some difficult questions such as how do we respond when we show love to another but that love is not reciprocated in the way that we think it ought to be?

How do we behave towards those who we are giving ourselves to and they are not giving themselves in the way that we think they ought in return?

In essence how do we behave toward those with whom we will spend eternity?

How much of ourselves are we investing in the lives of God's people?

In today's text Paul is going to use a phrase which has been rolling around in my head all week as I have been preparing this message.

This one phrase, even though we're going to look at several verses, this one phrase that sort of comes in in the middle of the text that we're going to study.

This one phrase has in one sense become a new part of my vocabulary as certainly

I've read this text many times over the years but as is often the case you'll read a text and read a text and it doesn't connect and then there's a point at which it just clicks and it sticks and it becomes more meaningful than it ever has.

This is the Word of God which is living and active and so there are times where it just comes alive and this phrase spend and be spent has really just taken on a whole new meaning for me and I hope that through the message today it will do the same for you because I want us to ask the question is that our attitude toward one another?

Are we willing to be spent, to be exhausted for the people of God, to spend and be spent for the souls of others?

We live in a selfish world. We live in a world that breeds selfishness.

In fact it encourages contempt for selflessness but Paul in this text is going to show that his heart towards the

Corinthians who were not people who were doing him right, who were not, who was not a church that was that was loving him the way they should.

They were not a church that was exemplary in their behavior but Paul says on your behalf

I'm willing to spend and be spent on behalf of your soul.

Would to God this message challenge all of us as to how we look at one another?

Let's stand and read the Word of God beginning in verse 11.

I'll be reading from the English Standard Version. It'll be on the screen and Paul begins.

I've been a fool. You forced me to it for I ought to have been commended by you for I was not at all inferior to these super apostles even though I am nothing.

The signs of a true apostle were performed among you with utmost patience with signs and wonders and mighty works for in what were you less favored than the rest of the churches except that I myself did not burden you forgive me this wrong.

Here for the third time I am ready to come to you and I will not be a burden for I seek not what is yours but you.

For children are not obligated to save up for their parents but parents for their children. I most

I will most gladly spend and be spent for your souls.

If I love you more it might have been loved less but granting that I myself did not burden you

I was crafty you say and got the better of you by deceit. Did I take advantage of you through any of those whom

I sent to you? I urged Titus to go and sent the brother with him.

Did Titus take advantage of you? Did we not act in the same spirit? Did we not take the same steps?

Have you been thinking all along that we have been defending ourselves to you? It is in the sight of God that we have been speaking in Christ and all for your upbuilding beloved.

Father in heaven hallowed be your name and Lord when we come to you may we remember that you are holy.

In fact it is the very seraphim that said you are holy holy holy and therefore when we approach into your presence we should do so with genuine reverence.

The Word of God says it is the fear of the Lord that is the beginning of wisdom. Lord let us have a healthy fear of you.

Lord help us to know who you are. The God who created all things.

The God who will stand through all ages ordaining and providentially guiding and bringing about your will and the one who will at the end of the age bring judgment on the living and the dead.

Lord help us to know who you are and help us to know what you have called us to do regarding your people.

For in this text Paul does not give an explicit command but he does provide for us an example and so God I pray that as we examine this example that Lord you will open our hearts to understand and apply this text and I pray as I pray every time

I stand behind the pulpit God that you would keep me from error. For Lord you know how capable

I am of error. How my heart is easily led astray and I pray

God that you would keep me from that. For Lord God I am weak but your word says where Paul was weak he was strong because of Christ.

I pray now Lord that Christ would increase that I would decrease. That the word of God be our instruction.

That the Spirit of God be our instructor. May the word preached be done with power but not the power of a man but the power of the living

God. And Lord as we consider not only hearing these words but applying them

God do what only you can do and that is open hearts to understand and believe.

I pray for the believers God that you would give them ears to hear and eyes to see where this might apply in their life and for the unbeliever

Lord I pray as they are always among us Lord there are those who have not yet bowed the knee to Christ whether they be young children whether they be old or whether they be somewhere in the middle

God if they have not bowed the knee to Christ may today be the day of salvation and Lord may your gospel flow through this message in Jesus name and for his sake amen.

We are closing in on the final verses of 2nd

Corinthians only this week and next week to finish chapter 12 and then into chapter 13 which will only be a few messages and then we'll be moving on if the

Lord wills and the plan is again many of the plans of a man's heart but the

Lord directs the steps the plan is to begin the gospel of John so that is our next book to begin but I've certainly enjoyed our time in this book and have gleaned much in regard to ministerial application from this

I pray that even though much of this book is related to ministry and ministers

I pray it has also been and a book that has been well applied to your own life because there certainly are many things in it that we can learn the book breaks down into three parts again for those who have not been with us the the first seven chapters

Paul defended his ministry against those who called into question his integrity those who called into question his truthfulness those who called into question his very relationship with God saying that because of his suffering look at this man everything he has ever done has turned into a mess every ship he's ever been on a sank every time he goes into a city he's beaten thrown out or causes a riot and so there was a question about Paul's ministry that had arisen in the

Corinthian Church and I am convinced there were men there who came in after the

Apostle Paul which we identify as the super apostles men who had come in after the

Apostle Paul for the purpose of undermining the work that he had begun and bringing the church into their authority and pushing away the authority of the

Apostle Paul and Paul has now come to them and is defending himself and his ministry and we see that again in chapter 1 through 7 is a defense he he calls his ministry a ministry of reconciliation a ministry of the new covenant he he explains so much sound theology that he has been teaching and then in chapters 8 and 9 he addresses the offering that they had promised to give to the

Jerusalem Church a church that was suffering from famine and persecution and he calls them to remember that offering and to not have to collect it when he comes but to begin the collection now so that when he comes they will not have to do that but that it will be prepared when he arrives because he is on his way chapters 10 to 13 the attitude of the books shifts in fact as I as I mentioned back in chapter 10 there are even scholars who believe this is an entirely different letter that was stitched together over time

I don't agree with that I don't think that there's any evidence of that but I understand why someone would come to that conclusion because Paul goes off of defense and he and he goes right into offense against those who are who are calling his ministry into question and he straight -up calls them agents of Satan no longer is he going to hold anything back but he's going to address them as they truly are ministers of evil he says

Satan masquerades as an angel of light and his ministers disguise themselves as ministers of righteousness these are not simply brothers who are in error these are false teachers these are dangerous men and Paul has made it his mission to call out these men and to demonstrate their errors so we get to the chapter that we are in and Paul has just completed talking about a vision he uses the third person but as we talked about last week many people agree that he's talking about himself when he said there was a man who was caught up to the third heaven was given a vision of Almighty God and then after that vision he says

I was given a thorn in the flesh I prayed three times that God would take away that thorn and God's answer to me was my is sufficient for you and my power is made perfect in weakness and so we get to verse 11 and Paul reminds us that throughout this last two chapters he has been speaking as a fool why has he been speaking as a fool he says because I'm boasting if you go back to chapter 11 you look at verse 1 he he talks about that very thing he goes if you go back there and look he will say

I wish you would bear with me and a little foolishness do bear with me what is the foolishness that he is referring to he's referring to the foolishness of having to defend himself having to boast he even says in verse 17 he says this is not what the

Lord would do but I'm doing it as a mirror against the super Apostles who came to you with a boastful attitude the super Apostles came to you with letters of commendation they came to you boasting about all of their skills and oratory all of their wonderful education

I am mirroring back to them but I'm going to do it slightly different they came to you boasting of all of their strengths all of their gifts and I'm going to boast to you differently

I'm gonna boast in my weaknesses because as boasting in my weaknesses

I show where true strength comes from and that is from the Lord Paul boasts in one thing and that is

Christ so in our text today

Paul draws his boasting to a conclusion and he speaks plainly to the people they forced him into a game of comparison and he says

I'm going to show you the genuineness of my ministry here's the genuineness of Paul's ministry

I actually love you that's the genuineness of his that's how he's going to prove himself you want to know what makes me different than the super Apostles I love you and he's going to say basically that throughout our text today so let's begin back in verse 11 he says

I have been a fool you forced me to it why because it was they who had given over to these super Apostles and Paul is saying to them

I didn't want to do this but I had to do it in fact you are responsible for this foolishness how are they responsible the very next line for I ought to have been commended by you why is

Paul having to defend himself why is Paul having to explain the breadth and width breadth and width of his ministry why is he having to do that because they didn't do it for him you understand what

I'm saying if those super Apostles came into Corinth with their adversarial attitude against the

Apostle Paul the thing that they should have met was a church that said no we know who

Paul is we know what he's about we know that he taught us the truth it was him who planted this church it was him who gave us the gospel it was him with whom we stand and you gotta go but that is not what happened instead they embraced the false teachers they embraced the heretics and they made them the new leaders and Paul says this is not the way it should have been you should have commended me so there is a rebuke here again it's loving but it is a rebuke he says you forced me to it for I ought to have been commended by you for I am

NOT the least inferior or I am

NOT at all inferior to these super Apostles now remember the word here super Apostle who pair

Apostle on meaning simply the one who rises above later

I mentioned in German there would be the word uber which would would relate to something that is above other things we think of uber is like a car driving service but but if you go back into last century you'll read writings about the ubermensch that is the

German idea of the super man the man who rises above other men the man who is by nature better than other men well

I understand that's a 20th century a development of the word but the idea still exists even in what

Paul is saying here he's saying these men identify themselves as being above the other

Apostles these men identify themselves as the super Apostles now that may not be what they called themselves

I can't imagine they just walked around you know like Clark Kent pulling a pulling open and having a giant emblazoned s on their chest and look at me the super Apostle but that's the attitude that these men had a few weeks ago

I talked about that some think that this is referring to the Apostles Peter James and John the actual

Apostles and Paul says I'm not I'm not at all inferior to those men and I understand that argument however

I I take the position from chapter 11 and chapter 12 where Paul says super Apostles that he's not simply referring to the actual true

Apostles but he's talking about these men who have raised themselves up even over the real

Apostles the title

Apostle was limited to the twelve men who walked with Jesus and with Paul in regard to a specific type of authority which we call apostolic authority there are other men in the

Bible who are called Apostle Barnabas is called an Apostle because there is a generic sense in which the word

Apostle can be used the word Apostle simply means one who is sent by another an

Apostle and so when we talk about even today when churches send out evangelists and missionaries it would not be necessarily wrong to use the word

Apostle even though I'm not a fan of it and I'll explain why I think that when we use the word Apostle we tend to confuse it with the

Apostles and that limited number that I just mentioned there's something called the new apostolic

Reformation if you've never heard of the NAR that is a group of hyper charismatic teachers who believe that they have a new outflowing of the

Spirit whereby they have become Apostles in the same way that those early 12 plus Paul were

Apostles and there's a Greek word for that baloney it's what it is it's not true but those men claim today to be just as authoritative and just as gifted and to have just as much power as the

Apostles in the first century and it just ain't so it just ain't so so when

Paul talks about the super Apostles these were men in the first century who were doing something very similar as the men that today make up the

NAR and other false teachers they were claiming an authority that didn't belong to them they were claiming to be in a position that was not rightly theirs and so Paul says

I am not in the least inferior to the super Apostles even though I am nothing

Paul can't contain his own humility I fight a battle with humility as many men do pride is a constant sin that has to be suppressed thank you for a meaning that so I wasn't alone

I was fixing to say anybody else but you got there no it is such a hard thing and it's not only men but it seems to be worse in men but Paul had such a humble heart that even when he's saying

I am NOT the least inferior to these guys even though I am nothing you know what that means about them they're less than nothing but he's identifying his humility along with his boasting this boasting is foolishness he's called it foolishness it's foolishness because the only thing

I had to boast about is Christ I don't boast and shouldn't boast about any giftedness

I have because the Bible says what do you have that you have not received if you have money it was

God who gave you the ability to make that money if you have talents it was God who gave you those talents if if you have abilities to do things that other men cannot do and those men exalt you for those gifts you should turn around and point to God and say it is

God who has given me the ability to do this and we should recognize the gifts that God's given to other men and not be not be jealous of other men and say well he has a gift

I don't have therefore I can't exalt no I can exalt because the same God who chose to give me the gifts he gave me chose to give you the gifts he gave you and I can be thankful that you have those gifts and I have these gifts and together like a body you might be a hand

I might be a foot I think I'm a mouth but just but but as we consider the different gifts everybody has their own gifts

Paul says I'm nothing and I and I want to I when

I when I read that this week and I was thinking about it something came to my mind from a long time ago you guys know

I used to work with kids youth was was the first part of my ministry was all youth ministry and still love working with kids

I'm thankful for our karate program it lets me get involved with the lives of many of our young people who come

I still like to talk to them and minister to them as God allows but when

I was when I was in youth we used to have this saying that was very helpful and if you think this is somewhat childish

I just told you it was for you so you can you know take it for what it's worth but we used to talk about the word

Christian and we would say the word Christian is Christ plus I a n now what that means is follower of Christ you know that's the meaning of it but we would say

Christian I in if you take the I in it means without Christ I am nothing now that may seem a little elementary but it's absolutely true without Christ I am nothing and Paul says even in Christ I'm nothing because in Christ Christ is who

I live in and through I am still nothing but I have

Christ Paul says the life I now live I live by faith in the Son of God who gave himself for me to live as Christ and to die is gain to live is

Christ it's not about me it's about him oh how much

I wish my prayers reflected that truth how often do our prayers get caught up in ourselves so Paul says even though he says

I'm not inferior to these super apostles even though I'm nothing now verse 12 again remember he is showing the legitimacy of his ministry in a moment he's going to say

I haven't really been defending myself what I've been doing is building you up and we're going to talk about why he says that but but he is showing the legitimacy of his ministry through all these things and so in verse 12 he says the signs of a true apostle were performed among you with utmost patience with signs and wonders and mighty works now that phrase the signs of an apostle needs to be considered what does that mean some people believe that signs of a true apostle in this in this text can be linguistically disconnected from the phrase signs and wonders and mighty works because they are connected by a word the word with and so the idea is that I did

I did the signs of a true apostles and I also did signs and wonders as if those two things are connected or disconnected

I don't think that's exactly right but I do think we need to make this at least this recognition signs and wonders and miracles were done by men who weren't apostles you ever thought about that I'll give you two examples you don't have to turn there but in the sixth chapter of Acts this talks about Stephen was

Stephen one of the twelve plus Paul no Stephen was not but Stephen it says was full of grace and power and he was doing great wonders and signs among the people same word

Paul uses here but referring to a man who was not an apostle okay

Philip mentioned later in Acts chapter 8 it says in verse 6 it says in the crowds with one accord paid attention to what was being said by Philip when they heard and saw the signs that he did notice signs that he did the word there same same word for unclean spirits crying out with a loud voice came out of many who had them and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed so Philip was able to cast out evil spirits and heal the lame and the paralyzed that's a pretty powerful miracle and Philip was not an apostle

Agabus what if I had another boy if I'd name him back

I like that name I don't think we're gonna have any more we'll see if that but Agabus was a prophet it says in chapter 11 and then again in chapter 19 in chapter 11 it says one of them named

Agabus stood and foretold by the Spirit that there would be a great famine all over the world so Agabus prophesied a famine was coming to the area of Judea and it says he did so under the

Spirit of God so here are three men who did signs wonders and prophecies who were not themselves

Apostles so when Paul says that he had the signs of a true

Apostle is he including the mighty works I think that he is but it's not limited to that because other men who were used of God did signs and wonders but Paul and the other

Apostles were marked with a particular authority among the people of God and that authority was demonstrated through these signs and wonders but it was also recognized by their teaching it was recognized by the fact that God was using them among the people to be the foundation of this new thing called the

New Covenant community do you know what the New Testament says about the foundation of the church it's

Christ first Corinthians 3 no man can build on any other foundation than that which is Christ but later it says that the church is built

Christ is the cornerstone and the foundation is the Apostles and prophets

Christ Jesus being the cornerstone these men were marked with a particular authority in the early church the authority to be the voice of God among the people and that voice of God was accompanied by great signs and miracles and I would say probably unique signs here's two unique signs that we don't hear about from anyone else

Peter it says in Acts chapter 5 it says he'd walked by in his shadow would heal people that's pretty interesting it says that Peter raised the dead remember when

Tabitha in Acts chapter 9 died in Joppa her name was Dorcas as well what did

Peter raise her from the dead now who's going to argue with that Paul blinded

Elymas the sorcerer when the man spoke against the gospel of God it says that handkerchiefs and aprons that Paul touched in Acts 19 were taken to the sick and through that were healed and you see guys today buy my prayer cloth hooey but you've seen it right

I'll pray on this prayer cloth I'll send it to you to heal everything and give you all the money you ever wanted just to be reminded

Paul weren't selling no prayer cloths Paul would be there he would touch these things and people would say they would take it to someone and it wouldn't would heal it but again this is demonstrating the extent of the power that Paul and his ministry was given by God not

Paul himself but the the Spirit upon him and did Paul raise the dead yes he did preachers love this story because a man fell asleep during a sermon and all of us have dealt with that man fall asleep fall out the window

Paul walks down raises him from the dead and makes him come back and finishes the sermon so yes there were miracles signs and wonders that accompanied the

Apostles and I do think there was a certain uniqueness to their ministry but I'll add one other thought when

Paul says and remember just noticing in the text he says the signs of a true

Apostle that that word true is important because I believe

I can't prove it but I think the text will bear this out there were men who were calling

Paul's ministry into question who themselves were claiming signs and wonders they were claiming to do these things and Paul says there's a qualitative difference mine are the marks of a true

Apostle and were not they done among you

Luke doesn't tell us what they were Luke does not record miracles in Corinth when we read through the book of Acts we don't know what he did but we know whatever he did it was enough to cause them to recognize who he was

Paul says were not they done and notice he says how they were done they were done with patience the

NAS says perseverance done with patience among you and then he says this for in what were you less favored than the rest of the churches for it for for what did

I do at Philippi that I didn't do here what did I do in Thessalonica that I didn't do here what have

I done at any other church that that I somehow mistreated you the signs of a true

Apostle were done among you you know who I am you know what I've done you've seen the mighty works that have been done you know this what did

I leave out one thing I didn't burden you what's he talking about he didn't take their money the one thing

Paul did not do in Corinth Paul did not take their money to support himself he worked with his own hands and he received money from the

Macedonian churches so that he would not have to take one red cent from the

Corinthian people now

I know the Bible doesn't have a sign which says insert sarcasm here but I think there are times where the natural reading of the text would would say there's a sarcastic tone to the next word because what

Paul just said he said for in what were you less favored than the rest of the churches what did

I not do among you that I did among them except that I didn't burden you I didn't take your money and he says forgive me that wrong

I don't think he's legitimately asking for forgiveness I think he's saying well excuse me you know that kind of attitude like I didn't take your money well forgive me if that's what's offended you understand the idea well forgive me if that if that's if that's the one thing

I didn't do that you think I should have done well you must forgive me for that here for the third time

I am ready to come to you and I will not be a burden

I'm still not going to take your money I'm still not going to take it from you for I seek this oh boy this phrase right here he says

I seek not what is yours but you couldn't we just camp out on that for a minute

Paul says I don't want your money I want your heart

I don't want to be a burden I want to have you not what is yours how many men who stand behind pulpits all around our country can genuinely say

I don't want what's yours I just want you I just want you and then

Paul gives this illustration can't help but be a preacher he is a preacher and he says he gives an illustration for children are not obligated to save up for their parents but parents for their children now what's that about remember how

Paul sees the Corinthians Paul sees the Corinthians as his spiritual children he said this just a few verses earlier actually a chapter earlier when he's talking about them he said you are like a pure virgin that I presented to Christ as a husband what's the illustration there

Paul says I'm like the father you're like the daughter and my desire is to present you to Christ a pure virgin because Christ is the husband in the church is his bride but these men have come in and I've used this language

I said these men come in and they're effectively rapists spiritual rapists have come in to defile the virgin daughter rather than have her presented pure to Christ well here

Paul is saying I didn't burden you I'm not going to burden you and here's why

I am like your spiritual father you're like my spiritual children and children don't save for the parents parents save for the children that's a basic principle of life that Paul is applying to this spiritual application now

I have in my notes a little word it's called an aside sometimes

I'll write an aside that simply means I'm talking about something else for a second I'll be back because I want to say something about this little phrase it says parents save for their children not children for their parents some

Christians think that owning things and saving and amassing wealth is sinful this is a modern form of something called asceticism asceticism rose very early in church history and gave rise to the monastic movement the monastic movement is the monasteries and the monks the men who said they're going to rid themselves of all earthly goods and wealth and they're going to define or resign themselves to the cloisters the monasteries and they're going to be separate from all of the enjoyments and of life in the pursuit of anything in life that is not the call of the

Christian life it's not now we are called not to allow anything in life to hold us hostage especially money and money is a terrible hostage taker but the

Bible says in Proverbs 13 a good man leaves an inheritance for his children's children that be your grandchildren that means there's actually virtue and saving for your children and their children providing wealth for your children now we can talk more about that and maybe we will in a future message because I think we need to consider again it's not the focus but it's

Paul's using illustration so I'm I'm just making this point we need to consider the fact that our children are valuable and think generationally that's all

I want to say just this this little message Paul says children don't save up for their parents parents save up for their children are we thinking that way about our kids investing in them investing in them spiritually but also investing in their future so Paul uses that illustration to describe how he feels about the

Corinthians and now we finally almost at the end finally get to the verse I want to talk about the whole time and that is verse 15 he says

I will most gladly this is a superlative form of the word gladly this is why the ESV puts most gladly in there most gladly it is it's the idea of something not just glad but very glad Paul says

I would most gladly spend and be spent for your souls

I've come to you

Paul says and I took nothing from you instead while I was with you

I spent my own money I spent money he says in an earlier passage I robbed other churches so I wouldn't have to take a dime from you and I have spent money on you not taking your money and I have exhausted myself for the sake of your soul beloved think for a moment think for a moment what

Paul is saying in that passage I have given everything for you

I've expended money and myself as I was preparing this week

I was trying to think how to say this in a way that won't be misunderstood so here goes oftentimes

I'll hear people say oh I feel like I'm being used in a negative way

I feel like I'm being used being used in that context typically means being taken advantage of nobody wants to be taken advantage of that is the idea

Paul says I'm willing for that to happen because that's how much

I love you I'm willing to spend and be spent what's the

NSS expended I'm willing because I love you now

I'm not in any way endorsing any ministry or anything that would mistreat people please please know that that's not the point that I'm making but we live and this is where I really want to get we live in a consumer -driven church culture we live in a church culture that only wants to look for churches that provide for the needs without expecting anything in return a professional ministry for everything a professional nursery a professional youth group a professional band a professional this and a professional that everybody receives a paycheck and half the people being paid aren't even saved you want to get real with me right now

I know men who have served in church orchestras because they were the best at playing their instruments but they didn't know

Jesus the church didn't care because they were worth it because they were good at playing their instruments how dare we because the people coming to the church are looking for a place to be served rather than to serve brother this is serious you know and I mean you'd said guilty

I'm I'm sure I'm guilty too at times in my life just looking for a place that's going to do for me

Paul says I didn't ask anything from you in fact

I wouldn't take anything from you instead I gave all I had and then

I gave myself how different would we look if that be our attitude if everyone was saying use me use me up when it gets too much

I'll tell you but it ain't too much yet do you know what drives an attitude like that love the only reason

Paul was willing to spend and be spent for the

Corinthians was because he loved them you don't do that for people you don't love in fact

I'll throw this out there most of us who have children whether they be younger middle older whatever most of us spend and are spent on our kids why because we love our kids our money goes toward our kids our time goes toward our kids and is there ever a time where you look at your kid and say you're just using me maybe but you still keep doing it because you love them am

I wrong no but I'm meddling maybe say stop preaching start meddling about five minutes ago but that's it what if we had the attitude toward each other what if we had that attitude towards one another what if the family of God was actually our family and we were willing to spend and be spent for one another

I tell you this is what's rattling my brain all week because I get tired and I get frustrated and I stay up late sometimes it's just exhausting and yet you are

God's people and you are worth it and I'm not putting myself on a pedestal and say it's just me a lot of people here do what

I just said but beloved

Paul's example goes to all of us to spend and be spent and I'm not going to get to really exegete the rest of what

I read but I do want to point out something he said and by the way the other men I serve do the same he said

I has anybody I said to you done any different he says I sent

Titus to you he came to you notice what he says he in the same spirit with the same steps he's he just like me and when he came to you he came just like me meaning

Paul's attitude was contagious beloved do we have a contagious attitude of service to one another a contagious attitude of love when people see us on Sunday morning do we look like we are glad that they're here and and glad that we're here or does it look like we've been sucking on persimmon juice you say well

I'm not always going to look happy I get that and I'm not asking you to fake it but you know most of us only see each other once a week it's just the way it is guys

I wish we all lived on the same block I wish every one of you come over come borrow a cup of sugar every once in a while but just ain't the way it is right now we all live a little further away from each other thank

God there's technology that keeps us connected I talk more to Mike than I do my wife and we talk it's a relationship that you have to build and you have to work at but you understand what

I'm trying to get across today that willingness to spend the willingness to be spent the willingness to say you know what it's worth it

I'm going to spend eternity with these people I'm going to spend heaven with these people they should matter to me even if I don't like them you know the difference between love and light

I don't choose what I like I just like it I like chocolate ice cream and I don't like boiled okra and that just happens to be the way it is my step mama loves boiled okra and I try to encourage her to repent

I don't choose what I like that's why

Christ didn't say like your neighbor like your enemy he said love them because love is a choice love is an action love is something

I can do even if I don't like a person and you know what the more

I love you maybe by God's grace I'll get to like you a little better I know

I'm going a little long but this is on my heart today to say how do we view one another are we willing to spend and be spent for each other's souls

I pray we are what a difference it would make Christ gave his all for us he died on the cross for us he he came down Philippians 2 says not counting equality with God a thing to be grasped but made himself of no reputation taking on the person of Jesus Christ in going to the cross and dying because he loved us he's the greatest example let us love one another as Christ has loved us let's pray father

I thank you for your word I thank you for the

Apostle Paul who gave us an example of love for Jesus the greatest example of all who in his cross on that cross he magnified and demonstrated your love by being willing to give everything to to to most literally spend and be spent on behalf of our souls what a miracle we have in the example of our

Savior and he said by this all men will know that you follow me if you love one another

Lord help us to love each other in Jesus name I don't have any comment right because we do this each week so what

I will say is that we fence the table each week also and what that means is that we this is only reserved for the