Sunday, May 1, AM

Thanks, Sunnyside. Good to see your bright, smiling faces on this beautiful day. Mr. Kyle Smith, who normally would do this, is with his son Lincoln on the sixth grade CHA trip to Washington. You may have seen his post on the bus.

It's tradition for the CHA class of sixth grade to watch the film Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, starring Jimmy Stewart. Well, he took a picture of Mr. Smith on his way to Washington watching the movie Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.

You don't find that unusual? All right, we also want to pray for our Durham family. Our pastor and his family are taking the week to enjoy some refreshing time and time together. And they've not revealed their exact location.

We did try to plant a GPS, but we didn't get that done. We also are rejoicing with a certain Mr. Jerry Brown with us this morning and his beautiful bride, Jan Brown. Also, Hannah Hamilton. Haven't seen her for some time.

I was reintroduced to her by her husband this morning. Sorry, just had to do it. You can see in the bulletin those announcements that are coming to us. Please read especially the one about needing your photos.

I won't go into great detail, but that's something that's being worked in the background. Also, just so you'll know, there has been a preliminary list and is being vetted for accuracy, grammar, and punctuation of the summer sessions upcoming.

And at this point, we have three. More information is forthcoming. Once the punctuation, grammar, and other corrections are made by Mr. Smoot. And our Friday verse of the week is this. Fear not, little flock, for it is your father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

Sell your possessions and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with money bags that do not grow old. With a treasure in the heavens that does not fail. Where no thief approaches and no moth destroys.

For where your treasure is, there is your heart also. So it's a pleasure to have you here today. We ask that you give your heart and your mind's attention to worshiping God through the singing, and the preaching, and the prayer time, and the sharing in scripture.

Thank you very much. Would you pray with me? Sorry for that. Father, we just thank you for your many blessings and the privilege of being in this house on this day with these people. We do pray for our pastor and his family as they are away.

Give them refreshing time together to enjoy a week with fewer burdens and fewer responsibilities. I pray for the blessings of this day. I pray for blessing upon Josiah as he preaches before us. And may we worship you in all the ways that we know how and ask for your blessing in Jesus' name.

Amen. I'd just like to say I really appreciate Jerry Brown, Brian, Dwight, Ken, and Randy, our elders that faithfully serve and lead our church here at Sunnyside. And we as a body at Sunnyside, we're very, very thankful for you guys.

Keep us on the straight and narrow, keeping us with the truth of Christ. And just your leadership here at Sunnyside is really appreciated. Would you stand for our call to worship? And again, so thankful for our pastor, Brother Michael, in leading us in the truth of Christ, proclaiming that we can celebrate Christ's resurrection every Sunday.

But anyway, we'll go into our call to worship here. Our passage this morning is found in Psalm chapter 78. We'll be reading verses 5 through 8. So read with me together. He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers to teach their children.

The next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and arise to tell them to their children, so that they should set their hope in God and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments, that they should not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation whose heart was not steadfast, whose spirit was not faithful to God.

And our first song this morning is in Psalm 78, in our Psalms for Worship hymnal, page 78a. And we'll sing all three verses. Our next song is on the handout in the back, hope you're able to pick that up, is May the Peoples Praise You.

We're going to sing all five verses, and there's also a bridge there. So we're just going to sing the praises of the Lord together. One thing I just wanted to point out was, lost my place. We're making known Christ, his death on the cross for our sins, his resurrection from the grave the third day, and his reign forever and ever.

May the peoples praise the Lord Jesus Christ.

And his Isaiah chapter 23, Isaiah chapter 23, verses 1 through 9. This is the word of God. The burden against Tyre, whale you ships of Tarshish, for it is laid waste, so that there is no house, no harbor, from the land of Cyprus it is revealed to them.

Be still, you inhabitants of the coastland, you merchants of Sidon, whom those who cross the sea have filled. And on great waters the grain of Sior, the harvest of the river is her revenue, and she is a marketplace for the nations.

Be ashamed, O Sidon, for the sea has spoken, the strength of the sea, saying, I do not labor nor bring forth children. Neither do I rear young men, nor bring up virgins. When the report reaches Egypt, they also will be in agony at the report of Tyre.

Cross over to Tarshish. Whale, you inhabitants of the coastland. Is this your joyous city, whose antiquity is from ancient days, whose feet carried her far to dwell? Who has taken this council against Tyre, the crowning city, whose merchants are princes, whose traders are the honorable of the earth?

The Lord of hosts has purposed it to bring to dishonor the pride of all glory, to bring into contempt all the honorable of the earth. This is God's word. Would you pray with me? Lord, you are the King of glory, and you are in the heavens, and you do what you please.

There is no one who stays your hand or says to you, what have you done? Father, you bring down the prideful, and you exalt the humble. Father, thank you for making us humble and beholding Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.

Thank you for breaking our hearts and breaking our pride to humbly come to Christ and throw ourselves upon his mercy and grace. And in him, we receive mercy and grace. Please deliver us from pride. Please deliver us from evil and from temptation.

In Jesus Christ, in the glorious Son, in whom we have the victory. And it's in Christ's name we pray, amen. You may be seated.

Thank you, Josiah. It's awesome, Josiah. He'll be preaching to us here in just a few minutes. Appreciate you, brother. All right, as we continue in our song service, if you would, turn page 372 in your regular blue hymnals.

We're going to sing the first three verses of Living for Jesus. Then we'll go into page 206 and sing There is Redeemer. And then we'll sing the chorus, Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus.

How unsearchable are your ways.

Your grace is vast and deep, beyond our comprehension. Yet you have revealed this to us in your word. Brought us to your Son, Jesus Christ, on Christ today. Thank you for the gift of music and to be able to worship you, Lord.

Thank you that you have made us to worship you and that you have given us answers in your word on how to live in a broken world. Father, as we approach the scriptures today, help us, Lord, to trust in you.

Philippians, Joy, and Perseverance in an Ungodly World

Please, may your spirit open our eyes and may we behold Christ in the text. And it's in Christ's name that we pray, amen. This morning, we'll be in the book of Philippians, Paul's letter to the church at Philippi, specifically chapter four, verses two through nine.

So I invite you to turn there and we'll be reading there in a moment. Many of you are very familiar with this book of God's word. It's known as the epistle of joy, as joy is one of its main themes that run throughout the entire letter.

And we know many statements from Paul that are very familiar to us and very dear to us. Statements like, for me to live is Christ and to die is gain. But what things were gained to me, these I have counted loss for Christ.

And of course, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. At the time of his writing, Paul is imprisoned. The faithful apostle had been chained for the sake of preaching the gospel and even faced the very real potential of being executed for his faith.

Yet in spite of this, the apostle nevertheless still takes time to write to this church to encourage them, to update them and to instruct them further on how to live in an ungodly world, on how to live out their Christian faith.

Paul deeply loved this church. He is extremely thankful for them in chapter one, always making mention of them in his prayers to God the Father. And he is openly honest with them, letting them know, I wish to depart and be with Christ, yet I also feel this pull to be here with you.

He's openly honest and we don't see that very much in his letters. He's being honest with the Philippians and saying, this is how I'm doing. This is how I'm doing. Yet in all of this, Paul is joyful. The Philippians had labored with Paul and partnered with him in the gospel ministry and sent support in his missionary work.

Paul loved this church. The believers here were very dear to him and he held them close in his heart. And while the church had been faithful with many things, yet still there were trials and troubles that plagued them, that they had to face on many sides.

The Philippians were living in a perverse and crooked generation. The world around them was sinful and broken. The congregation was also dealing with sins within themselves that promoted disunity among the brethren, among the local church.

And they were preachers of the present time that preached Christ, yet not out of a sincere heart of worship, but out of envy and strife. There were more enemies of the gospel, false teachers who boasted in the flesh and taught that the old covenant was still needed.

You needed this in addition to Christ to be saved. They promoted a twisted gospel. And there were other enemies of the cross of Christ present as well, those whose God was their belly and whose glory was in their shame, who set their minds on earthly things.

And the Philippians, on top of all of that, saw their faithful apostle and teacher imprisoned for the sake of the gospel, facing possible execution. They had evil on many sides for this church. And in spite of all these spiritual dangers, Paul still writes to them, to his beloved brethren with joy, he is confident in God's sovereignty.

And that theme bookends the letter. He begins chapter one, I am confident that he who has begun a good work in you will complete it. And at the end of his letter, God will supply all of your needs according to his riches and glory by Christ Jesus.

Paul knows that God will be faithful to complete the work begun in this church. And alongside the truth of God's sovereignty, he instructs the Philippians to continue to have their conduct be worthy of the gospel, to stand fast in one spirit with one mind, striving together for the faith of the gospel.

In our text today, we'll see that Paul instructs the believers at Philippi to not lose their focus on Christ, for that's the danger of all these things that they face, all the evil that is present before them.

The danger for the Philippians is to lose their focus off of Christ, and to rather set it on earthly things, on the things around them, on their sins upon the false teachers. So Paul instructs them, keep your focus on Christ, persevere in him, stand fast in the Lord.

Do not be swayed by trials and troubles around you. Do not move away one inch. Give no ground, remain stationary in your faith. And in 2022, in Oklahoma, in this United States, we also live in a perverse and crooked generation.

In a world that calls right wrong and evil good, we also have false teachers who promote twisted gospels and speak out of envy and strife. We also encounter people who worship themselves in their sinful appetites.

We also contend against ungodly fears and anxiety and disunity among ourselves and within ourselves. And we know that there are faithful preachers of the word who are imprisoned for the sake of the gospel.

There are many trials and troubles for us today on many sides that can cause us to lose our focus on Christ. Yet praise God, he has given us his word. And in Philippians, we see instructions that were written to brethren who came long before us.

And these instructions by God's grace apply to us. For this is God's word, living and active, guiding the church throughout the ages, faithful to lead the Philippians, faithful to lead the church in the first centuries, the reformers, the Puritans, and faithful to lead us today.

To instruct us on how to stand fast in the Lord, to persevere in Christ. Praise God. He has provided for us answers on how to live in a crooked and perverse generation. He has provided for us. So I encourage you to take up and read God's word.

Philippians chapter four, verses two through nine. I encourage you to stand for the reading of God's word. I implore Euodia and I implore Syndice to be of the same mind in the Lord. And I urge you also, true companion, help these women who labored with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.

Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I will say, rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.

And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy, meditate on these things.

The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do. And the God of peace be with you. This is God's word. You may be seated. The first way that we persevere in Christ, stand fast in the Lord, is to continue to be united in Christ and therefore united with each other.

We see this in verses two and three of Philippians 4. Paul mentions two women by name, Euodia and Syndice. And for whatever reason, the text does not specifically say it doesn't give us the circumstance, but these two women were for some reason not united with one another, but they were at odds with one another in disunity.

And we see Paul's response to their disunity. In the spirit of gentleness, he calls them to unity in Christ. He implores, he entreats them. He appeals to them. And the apostle does so individually. He doesn't come to them both right off the bat.

He appeals to Euodia and he appeals to Syndice. Be of the same mind. He approaches them individually and instructs them, be of the same mind in the Lord. Do not be in disunity, but be united. Be united in Christ.

And Paul also enlists the help of a true companion, another believer, to assist in this matter. There are several translations that translate this part of the word differently. Some put true yoke fellow or some put the actual Greek word, but the Greek word here means to be yoked together and to pull and sink, to work together.

And so Paul enlists the help of this other believer, a partner who works alongside in ministry. He says to him, help these women, help them to be united in the Lord. We know as well that these two women had labored with Paul in gospel work, along with others as well, with Clement and the rest of Paul's fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.

And if I may go down a quick rabbit trail here, there is a truth here that is truly glorious. We read of these fellow workers who labored with Paul in the spread of the gospel. We read of people like these two ladies and of Clement.

And who is Clement? In researching this part of scripture, all the commentaries were in agreement regarding this gospel worker. Nothing is known about him. He is not mentioned anywhere else in the New Testament.

And we also see these other fellow workers with Paul not being mentioned by name that are unknown to the rest of history, yet are known by God, the Lord of heaven. He knows each one of his servants by name.

And isn't this a glorious reversal of how the world works? Last week we saw in that portion of Daniel, our pastor broke it down for us and said, these historical figures that have made their mark on the world, how does the word of God treat them?

There are no names. But here, there are people who history does not remember who are not recorded in the history books, but God knows their name. And their name is recorded in the book of life. He knows your name.

He's called you by name and has said his love upon you. And though history and the world might not know your name, though you may labor quietly outside the spotlight, God knows you. Your quiet work for the gospel is not in vain, but it's used by God in mighty ways.

And your name is written in the book of life, having held fast to Jesus Christ by faith because of his person and work. These fellow workers were all Christians, saved by God and known by God, including these two women who for whatever reason had strife in the local church.

There was disunity. And Paul instructs that local church, be of the same mind in Christ, come together as you had rightly done in the past in gospel work, be united in Christ. Unity is an essential for the local church to be united in serving Christ and serving one another.

For we are living stones being built up into a spiritual house with Christ as our cornerstone. What would it be like if some of those stones did whatever they wanted to do? Were led astray by their own desires?

What if members of a local church decided to go with their own selfish ambitions instead of being united with Christ and with each other? Wouldn't it be like this right here with these two ladies? No longer having unity, but now having disunity and strife.

And again, these were real Christians. These weren't hypothetical situations and hypothetical people. Paul mentions them by name and says, these are real people in a real church. And this is a real threat for the people of God to be led astray by their own ambitions.

And this can happen with well-intentioned ministries, with gospel work, with weekly worship. One Christian will say, we should do things this way. Another disagrees and says, that's never gonna work.

We should do things my way. That's the only way that's going to work. Out of selfish ambitions, disagreements arise along with complaining and disputes. And there is the unsaved visitor seeing all of the disunity in the body of Christ and walking away saying, there's no unity, there's no love in the people of God.

When God's people seek after their own desires and allow sinful disputes to grow among them, Christ is dishonored. The apostle Peter writes elsewhere, finally, all of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another.

Love as brothers, be tenderhearted, be courteous. And Romans 12, 16 says, be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion.

And here is Paul and Philippians writing to these two ladies, be of the same mind in the Lord. Earlier in his epistle to the Philippians, Paul has already instructed the church about being united in Christ.

And in chapter two, he writes, fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind, let each esteem others better than himself.

Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant and coming in the likeness of men.

And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore, God also has highly exalted him and given him the name which is above every name, that the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven and of those on earth, of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.

Jesus is our supreme and ultimate example of humbly serving one another and being united together. He who is truly God emptied himself, stepped down from heaven and entered the created world. He gave up his rightful position with the heavenly Father and became a servant to do the Father's will.

He who had created everything became the dust of the earth, becoming truly man. The Son became a servant to those fallen sinners around him, teaching them, being patient with them, and washing their feet.

And he delivered himself up for the sins of his people, securing their eternal salvation forever and ever. It is this mind, the mind of Christ, the humble servant that Christians have by the grace of God.

It is in this humble servant that believers are united. He is our savior and our king and we are citizens of his kingdom. In thinking about the unity believers have with each other, I often think about this A .W. Tozer quote.

Mr. Tozer writes, has it ever occurred to you that 100 pianos all tuned to the same fork are automatically tuned to each other? They are of one accord being tuned not to each other, but to another standard to which each one must individually bow, end quote.

Therefore, let us have the same mind which is in Christ and be united in him and thus be united with each other. And it's interesting how Paul addresses the situation between these two ladies. He simply calls them to be of the same mind in the Lord, to be united in Christ.

And isn't this what is simply required to address disputes among the people of God, to call them to remember Christ and to remember to serve others like he did? When we continue in the same mind in Christ, disputes are no longer present.

By looking at Christ and his supreme example of service, Christians are changed to be more like Christ. Believers no longer want to pursue their own desires, their old selfish ambitions, but begin to ask, how can I help?

What can I do for the honor of Christ? How can I best edify my brother or my sister? How can I better be united with those around me? By looking at Christ, there is unity among the brethren in him and in him alone.

So let us not be tempted to be selfish or to jump into quarrels with one another, but let us stand fast in the Lord. Let us persevere in Christ, being united in him and thus united with our local church.

Rejoicing in the Lord Always

The next instruction Paul gives to the Philippians is to rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I will say rejoice in verse four. Rejoicing has been a rich theme in Paul's letter thus far. It's been all over the place.

It was mentioned earlier at the beginning of chapter three. And now Paul repeats this command and repeats it again immediately. Again, I will say rejoice. The apostle not only commands rejoicing, but actually lives it out himself.

We read in his letter that he rejoices in many things over the Philippians and their faith, even over the fact that those who preach Christ out of selfish ambitions, hey, Christ is still preached. The gospel is still going forth.

Also, Paul rejoices in his present state, being imprisoned and facing possible execution. Even in this situation, Paul rejoices. He lived out his command, rejoice in the Lord always. But how can Paul rejoice now?

And why does he instruct the believers at Philippi to rejoice in all they are facing? Can a Christian really rejoice at all times? The situations of life do not determine the Christian's joy. Paul's situations did not determine his joy.

And he writes to the Philippians to be like him, that likewise, a Christian rejoices in the good times and in the trials of life and during the average days where things are just okay, to rejoice always in the Lord, even when weeping, to rejoice.

The Christian joy is not a joy that suppresses godly emotion. It's not to force a fake smile in every situation. That's not sincere. That's not genuine. But the Christian joy is a genuine supernatural blessedness, a joy that continuously shines though there might be darkness all around the believer, to rejoice in the Lord always, a joy that is deep in the inner man, a joy that is connected to the supreme treasure the Christian has at all times, to Jesus Christ.

Even in the hard situations through the valleys as well as on the mountaintops, Christian joy is always to be present in a believer's life. And again, it's because our joy is connected to and based solely in Jesus Christ, the risen savior.

Do you wish to have this joy? Then look to Christ. Remember the gospel. The word was with God and the word was God. The word became flesh and dwelt among us. He who knew no sin became sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God.

Christ became a curse for us being hung on a tree that we might receive the blessing of the spirit through faith. Therefore, having been justified, made right with God by faith in Christ alone, we have peace with God.

There is now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose. How can a Christian have joy at all times?

Because our joy is in the Lord Jesus Christ. We are saved in him by his perfect work. We who are once dead and trespasses and sins, now by God's mercy and grace are made alive with Christ. You were once dead, sinner.

You were once spiritually blind and unable to hear the gospel, unable to see God. Yet now through Christ, you are alive. Now in Jesus, you have not received what you deserve, the wrath of God, but you have received what you do not deserve, salvation and favor.

We are kept by Christ, held by him, the good shepherd, who will never let us go, who will never leave us nor forsake us. By Christ, our citizenship is in heaven and we eagerly wait for his ultimate return.

This fallen world filled with pain and with evil is not our home, praise God. Praise God. It's not our home. We wait for that final day when we will be transformed, conformed to Christ's glorious resurrected body forever and ever.

Therefore, the Christian has a hope of a glorious eternity yet to come. And we know as well that everything that happens in this life, good and bad, God will use for his glory and for our good. 2 Corinthians 4 says, therefore, we do not lose heart, even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day.

For our light affliction is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. While we do not look at the things which are seen, but of the things which are not seen.

For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal. Let us stand fast in the Lord and rejoice always. When it's hard to have joy in difficult times, when it seems like you have none left, for those times come for the believer, look to Christ and pray.

Pray like David, being utterly dependent on God, restore unto me the joy of your salvation. Think on the gospel, think on your salvation. Meditate on the person and work of Christ over and over and over again.

Meditate on Jesus and his promises until your joy is restored. Continue in faith, and when you do, God promises you will bear fruit, including joy. Stand fast in the Lord and rejoice always. Next, Paul addresses how the Christian must be gentle in verse five.

He says in verse five, let your gentleness be known to all men, the Lord is at hand. Gentleness. Different translations put this word as reasonableness, moderation, even big heartedness. And with all these different words, what exactly does Paul mean here?

What is the meaning he's getting at? The specific word he uses is used differently in the New Testament, and going to other passages will help us understand what does Paul mean here? In First Timothy three, when Paul is discussing about the qualification for elders, he writes, not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money, but gentle, not quarrelsome, not covetous.

Gentle and not quarrelsome. Not a brawler, not an aggressive man, who is ready to fight at the first sign of any possible conflict. Ready to get into a needless fight, but one who is gentle. Titus three two, Paul speaks to Titus about how the church, not just elders, but all of the local church must live to speak evil of no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing all humility to all men.

Again, we see the idea of being peaceable set alongside being gentle. To show humility to all men. And so seeing how the rest of scripture closely puts gentleness alongside being peaceable, it makes sense to conclude that this gentleness is a calm forbearance.

A patient behavior that does not seek its own. In a perverse and crooked generation, the Apostle Paul instructs the believers at Philippi to stand fast in the Lord and let their gentleness be known to all men, to all men.

Not just the brothers and sisters, of the church, but those outside of the church, those outside living and the parts of the crooked and perverse generation. He says, let your gentleness be known. Demonstrate this characteristic to all around you.

Live it out in the church and in the world. When disputes rise among the church brethren, don't aggressively respond and jump into a quarrel, but be calmly forbearing of the other. Be gentle with your brothers and sisters.

And do not stop there, but be gentle to those outside. Those who come with ungodly aggression against the church, you believers do not fire back with ungodly aggression, but be gentle with them, calmly forbearing with them.

And I'd like to make clear, being gentle does not mean that the Christian never gets into a fight. It does not mean that. We know from other letters of Paul that he contended for truth, that he got into fights, and he fought hard for the glory of God.

The Christian does and he must fight the battles that the Lord sovereignly places him in. Ephesians 6 speaks of how Christians wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against power, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.

It instructs us, therefore, take up the whole armor of God. The Christian is a soldier who is both meek and gentle. Meek, self-controlled, ordering his entire conduct, his entire life, and the spiritual combat that he is in.

And he is both gentle, calmly forbearing with those around him. Fighting against lies and evil, yes, absolutely, being led by the word and the spirit in all combat, but also not returning evil for evil, not returning sin for sin.

And our Lord Jesus gave us an example of what this looks like, what gentleness looks like. In 1 Peter 2, Apostle Peter writes, for to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that you should follow in his steps, who committed no sin, nor was deceit found in his mouth, who, when he was reviled, did not revile in return.

When he suffered, he did not threaten, but committed himself to him who judges righteously, who himself bore our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness, by whose stripes you were healed.

For you were like sheep going astray, but now have returned to the shepherd and overseer of your souls. What does it look like, this gentleness that Paul speaks of? Look to Christ and see the ultimate example of what it means to be gentle.

Behold your savior and your captain, fight like him and be gentle like him. Let us be gentle today to all men. Let's be gentle to our brothers and sisters of the church. We're trying to teach one another spiritual truths or even practical truths, and the brother's just not getting it.

Be gentle with them, be patient. When your brother sins against you, don't retaliate with sinful anger, but bear with them, forgiving them as you have been forgiven. When your brother is suffering from pain, bear with them in the hurt.

Let us be gentle to those outside of the church as well. When the ungodly would breathe out words of hate toward us, mock us, ridicule us because we are followers of Christ, do not return evil for evil, sin for sin, but trust God with that situation.