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All right, so they're in 1 Corinthians chapter 12. What is this? Got a new cup? I thought he might be the Blessed Hope Cup. Wow. Is that a sneak peek for the anniversary? Huh? All right. I'll just take a sip then. I'll show the, I don't know if the online listeners can see that. It's a mug with that church name on it. It says, even so, we also should walk in newness of life, Romans chapter 6, verse 4. All right. Yeah, because that verse is about baptism, right, and there's a water there. So if someone needs to get baptised, we can start sprinkling. I've got some on the Bible. All right, 1 Corinthians chapter 12, verse 27 says, Now ye are the body of Christ and members in particular. The title for the sermon tonight is ye are the body of Christ. And so I was just thinking about what is the last topic that I want to cover here on the midweek service. And it is just to remind you that you are ye. What's ye in the King James Bible? It's you being plural, right? The these and the those in the King James Bible is speaking you in the singular sense. You know, most other language, I think every other language has a you for single and a you for plural. Like in Spanish, tu is you singular, tu and usted would be you plural. I think most languages have some form of that. And so when the King James translator is translated, they use the these and the those for the singular, okay. Now does it use a singular or does it use a plural when it speaks of the you, ye, ye, ye, that's plural. And so, you know, sometimes when we think about a church, and I don't think there's anything wrong with this necessarily, but you don't want to get, you know, too sidetracked on this idea that when you think of a church, maybe you think of New Life Baptist Church, the thought there is, well, that's Pastor Kevin's church. Well, that would be a very singular you, wouldn't it? That would be a they or thou. It says here ye, so it's plural. Hey, for all of us, all of us, we are all the body of Christ. And of course, the body of Christ is the church. And for us, it is referring to New Life Baptist Church. You know, without you, we do not have this church. This church isn't built on Pastor Kevin or Pastor Kevin and his family. All of us make up that body of Christ and we need to remember that. You know, when I have conversations with people, you know, maybe different pastors, different friends, you know, I might mention this church out there or that church out there. And I might not know that church necessarily, but I'll say something like, oh, who's the pastor of that church? And once again, you identify a church with the pastor and yes, you know, many times the way the pastor is, you know, the way his behavior is, his character, you know, usually his fingerprints are over the church, sort of on the church. And so I get that idea. I get the idea that you sort of recognize a church because of the pastor. But that's not how we really ought to think about church, okay? If you are a regular attendee, you know, if you're someone that says, you know what, I am a member of this church, you know, if you and your heart have set New Life Baptist Church as your key church, your main church, you know, then really you are the body of Christ. You know, you are part of New Life Baptist Church and we need to remind ourselves of this because I don't want you thinking while I'm away that somehow we've lost our identity somehow. No. You know, the church is not one man. The church is not one family. The church is everybody that makes up that body. Now look at 1 Corinthians chapter 12, verse number 12, 1 Corinthians 12, 12. It says, for as the body is one and have many members, let's think about that a minute, many members. So again, a plurality there, right? Many people. And this is in all the members of that one body. So if you're here right now, if you're sitting right here, you are all the members of that one body. If you're listening online, you know, this is normally a regular church, but you can't be out here tonight. You know, you make up that one body again. Being many, there it is again, many are one body, so also is Christ. For by one spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free and have been made, have been all made to drink into one spirit. For the body is not one member, there it is again, but many, all right? And so you are important to the functioning of this local body. You know, I don't want you to take the mindset as I go down to Sydney that, you know, somehow we've lost our identity or, you know, somehow, you know, potentially thinking that, you know, things aren't going to continue as they are. My hope, my desire, my prayer for New Life Baptist Church is that it will go stronger. You know, it'll go from strength to strength. You don't always need the pastor around. Hey, that's a great thing to have your pastor there. I'm not saying that's a bad thing. You know, it's good to have your pastor there, but the pastor doesn't make up the entire church. We being many make up that one body, okay? So if we're losing one member, hey, it's not one member, but many. We're all here. You know, it's your responsibility to ensure that this church continues, that it goes from strength to strength, that you continue attending, that you don't take the attitude, well, pastor's not here. I don't think I'll turn up this Sunday. You know, I'm not going to turn up this week. You know, you should be there because you make up this body. And you know, and I say this because I don't want you to have this, you know, this misconception because I kind of expect, you know, we're a big family, we're 13 people, right? So if we're missing, especially for the midweek service, and we're missing for the Sundays, the church is going to feel a lot less, you know, it's going to look like basically a quarter of the church will be missing, right? But you know what Jesus says in Matthew 18, 20, I'll just read it to you. But where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. What an amazing thing. So you know what, if you turn out, and I hope this doesn't happen, but if we turn up one day for a midweek service, right, and it's just three of you, you know, if it's just two of you, but you've come together, you know, two or three of you come together for Jesus Christ to serve him, to worship him, to make up that body of Christ, he's going to be there in the midst of you. And so I want you to have this idea that maybe, you know, we'll look like less people, maybe you'll start feeling a little discouraged, hey, why isn't everybody, you know, in church, it seems like people are dropping off. Just remind yourself, hey, if we've got two or three here, Christ is here with us. Jesus Christ has taken up a seat, we're in his house, and he's deserving of worship. He's deserving of honour. Hey, you're an important part to this church, okay? Maybe you don't do as much as somebody else. Maybe you consider yourself as one of the least. And we're going to look at that later on as we keep going through this chapter. But you are an important part, you make up this one body, okay? You make up this one body, please, set it in your hearts, New Life Baptist Church is my church. Don't think of New Life Baptist Church as Pastor Kevin and his family. No, you should say to yourself, this is my church. You know, when someone says, hey, what church do you go to, you know, hey, be proud, you know, proud pride is a sin, hey, you know, be excited to promote your church. Say, hey, this is my church, I love my church, the preaching is great, you know, worshipping God is great. Hey, how about you come and visit my church? No, don't take the attitude or come and visit Pastor Kevin's church. No, it ought to be my church, you know, it ought to be something that you have set in your heart, this is where I belong, this is the body that I'm part of. And look at verse number 15 now. It says, if the foot shall say, because I am not the hand, I am not of the body, it is therefore not of the, is it therefore not of the body? Listen, some of us are feet in this church, some of us are hands in this church, okay. Now let's say you're a hand, okay, would you look at a foot and say, well, I'm not a foot, therefore I'm not of the body, because I'm different from the foot. What we're about to read here brethren, is just a reminder that we're all different, we're all different. Some are feet, some are hands, let's keep going, verse number 16. And if the ear shall say, some of us are ears, because I am not the eye, I am not of the body, is it therefore not of the body? If the whole body were an eye, where were they hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were they smelling, okay. So we have different body parts here, a foot, the hands, the ears, the eyes, and the smelling, the nose, you know, and of course we need all of this, these are all our senses, these are, you know, the foot allows us to walk, our hands allow us to work and function, we all play a different role in this body of Christ. And it compares us to that body, okay, just because the eye is not like the ear, it doesn't mean the eye is not part of the body, it doesn't mean the ear is not part of the body. And you know, sometimes in churches, people feel like they're kind of left out, they're a bit of the black sheep maybe, you know, yeah but you know, we don't all have to be the same, I don't want everybody to be the same, otherwise it's kind of like this cultish idea that we all get to dress the same, we all get to speak the same, we all have to act the same, and if someone steps out of line, you know, there's something wrong with that person, get him out of church or whatever, right, that's how cults operate, but no, that's not how a local body should be. You know, recognise that we're all different, we're all different, alright, don't expect someone to be just like you when it comes to how you serve in this local body. And what I like about verse number 17, it says, if the whole body were the eye, where were the hearing? So we definitely don't want everybody to be the same, I mean what's better, you know, if you've got a body, you know, a normal human body, you've got two eyes, hey two eyes are good, but what if we had ten eyes and no arms and legs, ten eyes and no torso and no kneecaps, then what's the point of having ten eyes, I'd say ten eyes are better than two, but only if it's got a body that it can get plugged into, right, it can't work on its own. Hey, you might be a mouthpiece, you might be a preacher coming to preach, that's great, you know, we've got a lot of men that can actually get behind the pulpit and preach in, but if we're all preachers, then we're not going to get anything accomplished, you know, we need everybody working together, recognising that we're all different, we all play a different role in this body and just get to work, you know, just support one another, you know, how would it be if you woke up one day and your arm said, you know what, I'm having a day off today and your arm drops off, you're not going to function very well for the day, right, you know, if you make a decision when it's time for church, you say, you know, I'm just not going to be at church today, I just, Pastor Kevin's not there, this son, I'm just not going to turn up, you could be a leg and the body's not going to be able to function without you, it needs you, okay, you might just have one leg and then the church is just going to hobble, right, it needs a crutch or something, if you were there, you know, we could do so much more, let's keep going, verse number 18, but now have God set the members, every one of them in the body, as it have pleased him, I love verse number 18, I love verse number 18, okay, it says here that God has set the members, every one of them in the body, you know, if you consider yourself a member of New Life Baptist Church, God set you here, he's put you here, you know, you thought it was your choice, you thought I decided to go to New Life Baptist Church, no actually God picked you up wherever you were and placed you in this church, God said I need you, you're an eye, you're a mouth, you're a nose, you're a spine or whatever it is, right, and he's put you, I need you there in New Life Baptist Church, so what this is telling us is that you're important to this church, God has set you there, not only did he set you there, it says in verse number 18, as it have pleased him, it pleased God to pick you up from wherever you were and put you in this church, it says look, they need brother so and so, New Life Baptist Church needs sister so and so, that includes the children, that includes everybody, you know, that makes up this body, God put you here and he pleased him, you know, so if you have this attitude of well, you know, I'll just come when I feel like it, you know, I mean, do you think that's going to please God when he's put you there, when he pleases him to have you in church, no, he wants you in church, it pleases him, okay, remind yourself when you find it a little bit difficult to get to church one day, just remind yourself well, if I get to church, if I'm with the body, it's going to please God, that's going to encourage you to get out of, you know, out of your tired state or whatever you're feeling right there and to be in the local body, look at verse number 19, oh by the way, before I read verse number 19, so if God has set us as members of this local church and he's telling you we're all part, we're all members of one body, then don't you need to then realise well, God's put me here for a reason, there's a reason why he put me here, it's not like some random choice by God to put you in this church, you've got a reason to be here and you got to ask yourself the question and you know, these things, you know, you have to work out, why did God put me in this body, what function do I serve in this body, you know, am I a hand, you know, am I a foot, you know, am I hips, you know, what am I, you know, what part do I play, if God's put you here, you got to figure what that is, you know, and one advantage potentially I think, one advantage of me being away and the family being away is even though I'm trying my best to work out what needs to be sorted out and who's going to be in charge of what, I guarantee you there are going to be things we miss, you know, I guarantee you when we get to church, you're going to notice hey, that thing's not done, whatever it is, you know, someone hasn't done this or someone hasn't done that, you know, and then you can be like why hasn't anyone done that, that's going to be your first response and then you'll be like hold on, why don't I do that, that should be the next response, right, why do I have to wait for somebody else to do that, hey maybe that's the part that I've got to play, maybe that's why God put me here to serve in that capacity, whatever that capacity is, alright, it doesn't matter what role it is, you don't have to be like everybody else, we all have different body parts, you are something unique in this church, you are someone important, so I expect as we go through the weeks and the months, there are going to be things that I forgot to hand over or forgot to give, put someone in charge of, well you know what, take it upon yourself, you know, contact me, Pastor Kevin, I realise such and such is not getting done, do you mind if I take charge of that, you know, I want to be in control of that, praise God, you figured out where you fit then, you figured out what it is that God's put you in this church for, so I do see an advantage in that area, that there are certain things that are going to be picked up and I hope you just make that decision, that'll be my job, that'll be my responsibility as I serve this local body. Verse number 19, it says and if they were all one member, again if you're all just eyes or just all of us are just hands, it says where were the body, so you don't need a body, if you're all one part, where's the body gone right, but now are they many members yet but one body, okay, now are many members but one body and so, you know, church ought not to be, you know, just like a boys club, you know, church ought not to be this place where, you know, it's just me and my buddies, you know, ask for it no more because we're similar, we're alike, we're like one another, we get along, we have similar interests, you know, but if you're all the same, where's the body, right, we need everybody to function differently, we need people that are different, you know, there are things that I would never think about that others think about in this church, there are things that you will never think about that others are thinking about that can help this local body in the church and so we need to understand that we are many, we are many members but we are one body and if we're one body, we ought to pray for one another, we ought to love one another, we ought to support one another, we ought to encourage one another, you know, how bad would it be if you're that person that discourages someone from church and they leave the church because you are the one that calls them to be discouraged, if that's you, you cause them to be that way, we lose a precious member of the local body, there's something that person could have done that, you know, they were uniquely put there by God to do that job and you drove them out, as I said, you know, wake up one morning, a part of your body is missing, you're not going to be able to do much, right, you're not going to be able to function very well, could you imagine if you just lost, I think I told you guys a story once that I lost temporarily my sense of taste, all right, I was looking for mouthwash, I was a kid, I was looking for mouthwash, I found some Dettol, antiseptic and I just thought well use this, all right, I used that and spat it out, well I think for the next two months I couldn't taste anything, it must have just killed my tongue, killed all the taste buds, right, and I didn't want to tell my parents, I didn't want to get in trouble and I didn't want them to get worried about it, now kids you better tell your parents if you did something like that, but you know, obviously I can, but you know, it was kind of, my mum would make spaghetti, my favourite meal and I just couldn't taste it, you know, I'd eat it, I know it filled me up, but I just, you know, I couldn't appreciate it and all I lost was the sense of taste, you know, it made my life a little challenging over the next few months and eventually I got it back, praise God for that, but you know, just losing one function of your body really sets you back, what am I up to brethren, which verse, number 21, it says, and the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee, nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you, so the Bible's telling us not to have a elitist mentality, you know, these people are more important than these people, oh the church pastor, he's more important than this child in church, that's not true, we need each other, we need each other to function, okay, you cannot say to one part of your body, I don't need you, okay, so let's keep going to number 22, nay, much more those members of the body which seem to be more feeble are necessary, hey even parts of your body that seem feeble, that don't seem very important, they're necessary, you know, sometimes people need to go and get surgery done and remove some type of organ, what organs can you remove that you still live with, people can remove like kidneys, what else, gold bladder, spleen, a pen, oh man, you can remove quite a few things, in fact you can remove your whole arm if you wanted to, you still live right, but even, you know, sometimes people need to do that, you know, to prolong their life or give them better quality of life, but in the long run there's going to be other consequences without that organ, without that piece that functions in their body, right, so we cannot look at what might be more feeble or not look so good or we might look at little children and say well what part do they play in the church, you know, we can't take that approach, but, you know, we must honour one another, look at verse number 23, and those members of the body, that's the ones that are most feeble, it says which we think to be less honourable, okay, upon these we bestow more abundant honour and our uncommly parts have more abundant comeliness, okay, so in verse number 22 it says more feeble, verse number 23 it says less honourable, these are people that may feel they're less important to the church, as I said, you know, these might be the children, these might be people that have just recently joined the church, these might be babes in Christ recently saved, they may feel about themselves that they're more feeble, okay, but the Bible's telling us that they are necessary, okay, and look, we ought to bestow, so what did it say in verse number 23, upon these we bestow more abundant honour, so who should get the most honour in a local body, the person that you consider the most important person? No, the people that you would consider to be the least, okay, do you see that? Now the idea here, when it talks about your comeliness, comeliness means your beauty or something like that, the idea, you know, that I kind of think about here, where you give more attention or more honour or more care to that part of your body, you know, let's say, you know, a woman's getting herself ready for her wedding day or something, right, and she's trying to make herself look beautiful, but she wakes up that morning and there's a zit on her nose, okay, there's a pimple on her nose, well isn't she going to spend more time trying to cover that bit up, okay, she's going to give more time to that to make sure that, you know, whatever kind of defects she finds, she wants to try to cover that, she'll be given that more attention, okay, well it's not saying that people that are more, you know, maybe considered lesser in the church that are, there's something like that, but the idea is there, that that person needs more honour, that person needs more encouragement, okay, so it's good to encourage your pastor, it's good to encourage the men that get up and maybe are more visible, the song leaders and those that read the Bible verses, those that get up to pray, those that get up to preach, but really, hey, you know what, the one, the person that needs the most honour is the guy that picks up the rubbish at the end of the day and throws it in the bin, you know, the one that you, that wouldn't be out there, known by everybody, maybe behind the scenes they're doing things and you don't even know about it, they're the people that deserve the most honour, okay, they're the people that you ought to encourage the most, they're the people that you ought to take care of the most, you know, and I think about, I've used this example before but, you know, in my old workplace I've told you I had a lot of staff under me, a lot, you know, and I would come in to work a little bit earlier, it's like 10, 15 minutes early just to go and greet every staff member, okay, so I've got a position, you know, manager, this and that, whatever, right, and then I've got supervisors under me and then under those supervisors I have, you know, just workers and some of those entry level workers as well, right, you've got these people and in the eyes of the world, you know, they would look at the supervisor, well that person's a little bit more important, they would look at the manager, well that person's even more important, but it was important for me to make sure that I would go to every person that worked for me and welcome them, every morning I would go and say, hey, good morning, hey, how's it going, if they were busy I'd just give them a wave, if I saw them a bit busy, but if I realised they had little time I'd just have a quick chat with them, ask them how they're going, you know, and try to encourage them at work and I'd be questioned by other people, why are you doing this, why do you get there every morning saying hello to all your staff, I tell you why, because those that you consider to be most feeble are necessary, you know, if it's not for everybody pulling their weights at work that day, the work's not going to get done, all right, you need everybody, the reason you employ those people is because you need each one of them to do the job, you know, if some of them fail it's going to let down the whole team, you need to keep encouraging those that are working under you, it didn't matter, you know, who had the title, everybody was working hard, everybody was accomplishing the job, well if that's true for a workplace, how true is that then for the house of God, for the body of Christ, that we need everybody encouraged, we need everybody functioning, everybody needs to understand that they're loved, that they're appreciated, that they're important, yes even the little children that might not be able to do so much, they ought to know that they are loved and appreciated by the adults in the church rather than they're allowed nuisance, no they're great, they're going to serve us one day, they're going to grow up and they're going to be the preachers, they're going to be the song leaders, they're going to be cleaning up, they're going to be doing a lot of the work, all right, and they're going to be serving this local body but only if we encourage them, only if we tell them they're important, that Jesus loves them, hey that they need to serve in the church rather than think of them as some nuisance, okay, everybody is important. I'll just read to you, you know in the workplace you might say well you know they've got to work because if they don't work they'll lose their jobs, right, they've got to work because they've got to get paid and you know one of the sad things about the local church is people have that idea, they have that mentality of well pastors getting paid or maybe some deacons getting paid, I'm not getting paid to serve, why should I be the one, why should I clean up the church, you know, why should I wipe down the toilets, you know, you might have that idea, what am I going to get out of it, you know, you take the approach and look these things go through them, you might say that that's never crossed my mind Pastor Kevin, praise God for you, okay, but I'm telling you the truth, it crosses the minds of people in churches, maybe even in this church, why should I do these things, other people should be doing that, okay, but here's the thing, you are going to get paid, you are going to get rewarded, all right, it's just it's not going to be in your bank account necessarily but you're going to be rewarded in heaven, I'll just read a passage to you in Matthew 10 41, who that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward, you know how my goal is to get up here every Wednesday to preach for you guys, that's my goal, you know I've had a few people say to me, hey you can stay at my place, praise God, awesome, you know what, if you do that and I stay there, you're going to get a prophet's reward, you're going to get rewarded for that, you know, and then it says, what else, he that receiveth a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man's reward, we can share in the rewards of others, those that are being righteous, doing righteous works, those that are preaching God's word, we can share in the same reward as them if we're hospitable toward them, you say well hold on pastor Kevin, these are the important people, the prophets, the righteous man, he's done all this great work, yeah but look at verse number 42, and whoso, I'll read it to you, so I'm reading it to you, and whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward, hey even loving the little children in this church you'll get rewarded for that, you will get paid in heaven, so think about that for a moment, everything you do brethren, you walk past one day, you see a piece of paper on the floor, say I'm not going to pick that up, I bet you it was one of those kids, I was one of the supported kids, hey it's their job to pick it up, well you know what, if you just pick it up, chuck it in the bin, God's going to reward you, he's going to reward you in heaven for all the service you do, all right, I mean why leave it in the hands of others when we can all share in the reward, all right, so have that, you know yes I understand in the workplace it can be a little different because you're getting paid here and now, but what's more important getting paid here and now or getting paid in heaven, getting paid in heaven, treasures in heaven are vastly more important, you can lay up those treasures if you just make yourself a member of this church, say what can I do, you know and give your give your best, you know don't just start something and then give up after a few weeks, you know give your best, you're serving the local body, you're important, God has placed you in this church, praise God for each one of us, I'm very thankful that God has placed each one of you because by you being here you've encouraged me in the Lord, you've encouraged me as a pastor, you know you've encouraged me to keep going, even sometimes when I felt like oh man what am I doing, you know but just knowing that you guys have an expectation, you want to be in the house of God, you want to be fed the word of God, it encourages me to do the best I can to serve you, look at verse number 24, 1 Corinthians 12 24, for our comely parts have no need, that's no need of honour, that's our beautiful parts, but God have tempered the body together having given more abundant honour to that part which lacked, that there should be no schism in the body but that the members should have the same one for another, verse number 25 again, that there should be no schism, what's the word schism? It's division, there should be no schism, there ought to be no division in the body, you know one of the worst things that can happen in a church is when you create cliques, you know I only talk to this group of people, I don't talk to them, that's really bad because that's the beginning of the divisions, you know the Corinthian church that's what happened to them, you know they had cliques, they had people, I listen to this preacher, I'm of that preacher, I'm of this and you create these groups and you create divisions and problems, that's not how God wants his body to be, the church okay, no schism but then what I love about that verse as well, it says in at the end of verse number 25, but that the members should have the same care one for another, the same care, now I understand that there are some church members that we get along better than others, that you're going to have more in common with somebody in the church, you might have certain friends in the church, you probably will spend even more time with that person but even though you create friendships and you get along with some people better than other people, the commandment here is to have the same care one for another, so if your friend needs help and he's suffering and he's going through some trials, yeah you ought to love that person, you ought to care for that person, you ought to do what you can to help that person but if there's someone else in the church that you don't necessarily get along with so much, you ought to have the same care for that person, if they're going through the same hardships, if they're having the same needs, you ought to give everybody equal share of your care one for another and not just say well these select few they're the people I'm going to care about, you know, no that's not the right approach, God wants us to have the same care one for another, verse number 26, and where the one member suffer, then we can say they deserve to suffer, ah yeah he's suffering, right yeah he really deserves to suffer, you know, because I know what that person's been up to, I know what brother and sister has been doing, yeah he deserves to suffer, it's the hand of, you know, it's the hand of God chastisement upon that person's life, suffer, yeah, is that what it says in that verse, no that's a bad version isn't it, what did it say, it said, I'm losing my 26, okay, and where the one member suffer, all the members suffer with it, or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it, so church is an opportunity for you to feel empathy toward other people, you know, when someone's going through problems and hardships and suffering, hey maybe even get out of church, you know, what view do you have in that person, what do you think about that person that's having difficulties, you know, they deserve it, that's a bad place, you shouldn't be thinking like that, you ought to suffer, all the members ought to suffer together with that person, all right, I've used this analogy before where, you know, if you tweak a nerve in your body, it might be just like in one area, like a small little nerve in your body, but you can have pains all over your body just from that one nerve, I've experienced that, I've had a lot of back pain and like just struggling to walk and it's just one nerve that's been pinched, you know, because that's how the body works, if there's one part that's suffering, it's like the entire body suffers, you know, if one part of your body is, you know, maybe you've pulled a muscle or you've broken something, all the other body has to work extra hard to try to do what it normally does, right, it suffers along with that part that is suffering and so when someone in church is suffering, brethren, what are we to do, we ought to suffer with that person, we ought to pray for that person, we ought to think about that person, hey, maybe they are suffering because of God's chastisement, maybe it is their fault, could be, does that mean we don't suffer with them, hey, it could be the hand of God's chastisement, would you say, well, Lord, can you please help so and so, can you help that person, Lord, can you lift that person up, Lord, how can you use me to be a friend, how can you use me to edify that person that is struggling, all right, we ought to suffer together and then it says, oh, one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it, but what approach do some people take when somebody's been honoured, someone's been congratulated, someone's done well and they're being recognised, oh, what about me, what about my recognition, where's my honour, I'm not going to honour that person, where's my honour, I should have had that, no, when someone gets recognised, someone's been honoured, it says all the members rejoice with it, we're one body, you know, every piece of good news that happens to anybody in this church, we all ought to rejoice over it, we have to get excited for that person, okay, brother Matthew got a job, hey, he started working this week, hey, we all ought to rejoice for him, I don't know if he's listening right now, but if he's listening, hey, praise God for you brother, we've been praying for you to have a work, we ought to rejoice for him, right, that's how we ought to be all the time, anytime we have good news from somebody, we all ought to give praise, you get someone saved, we all rejoice, you don't say, oh, I haven't got anyone saved, brother so and so just seems to get someone saved week after week, I've not seen someone saved for a whole month, is that the attitude you should have, maybe brother Stosas is lying about his salvation, no, that's a wicked approach, right, just rejoice, be happy, you know, we're one body, we're one body, we're working together, you know, when we get to heaven, this church will announce, I don't even know what the numbers are, God keeps track of the numbers, right, these many people got saved because of New Life Baptist Church, because of the whole church, the whole body, we all work together, we got those numbers together, you know, for the Lord, we're rejoicing together, look at verse number 27, oh, that's how it ends, it says, that's where I started, now ye are the body of Christ and members in particular, ye are the body of Christ, now that's a scary thought as well, you know, a humbling thought that God calls us the body of Christ, that God the Father sent his son 2,000 years ago to do the works of God and now Jesus is at the right hand side of the Father and now we're the body, we're being left here to continue the work that Christ has left us to do, you know, Christ who is in the midst of us, he is the one that powers this body, he's the one that is the foundation, he's the head of this body, okay, but we're all part of that body with Christ and we're here to do the work that the Father left the sons to do and then the son has left his followers to do, okay, we're here to continue the work that Jesus Christ has left us, so New Life Baptist Church Brethren is important, okay, it's as though Jesus was on the Sunshine Coast, you know, preaching the Gospel, you know, helping people, that's our job to continue the work that Jesus Christ has left us here on the Sunshine Coast, now please go to Matthew 25 for me, go to Matthew 25, because I know you guys have sins and I have sins, yeah, we all do, I know you have issues and I've got issues, you know, I can't hide all my problems, eventually if you know me long enough you're going to notice that I fail in certain areas and but I know I've known you guys long enough, I know you guys fail in some areas, right, and so the thought might be, well, why should I serve with all my heart, this local body, right, why, I mean, it's brothers, man, they're sinners, right, look, they have issues, should I really be the one that works hard to serve in this body when I'm just serving a whole bunch of sinners and that's an attitude that you could have but just remind yourself, it's the body of Christ, remember, we're the body of Christ, ye are the body, so if you're serving one another, who are you serving, you're serving the body of Christ, you're serving Christ, Matthew 25 verse 33, and he shall set the sheep on his right hand but the goats on the left, then shall the king say unto them on his right hand, come ye blessed of my father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world, for I wasn't hungered, these are the words of Jesus, I wasn't hungered and ye gave me meat, I was thirsty and ye gave me drink, I like the next bit, I was a stranger and you took me in. Brethren, if Jesus walked in the doors right now and he said I thirst, what would you do, wouldn't you be like, I'll get it, Jesus, let me get it, right, well what if somebody in this church says I'm thirsty, are you going to have that same attitude toward them, that's how we should be, let's keep going, verse number 36, naked and ye clothed me, I was sick and ye visited me, I was in prison and ye came unto me, then shall the righteous answer him saying, Lord when saw we thee and hungered and fed thee or thirsty and gave thee drink, when saw we thee a stranger and took thee in, or naked and clothed thee, or when saw we thee sick or in prison and came unto thee, and the king shall answer and say unto them, verily I say unto you, inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me, unto me. How well should we serve one another, when you pick up a role in the church whatever it is, how much of your heart should you put into it, you know when you go and you get a cup of water for a child in the church, what kind of attitude should you have when you do that, you should say hey it's like I'm serving Jesus, hey there's a piece of paper on the floor, hey there's a rubbish there, one of the Sepulveda kids left it there again, I'm going to pick it up because Jesus left it there and this is the house of Jesus and he wants me to serve him, that's the attitude we ought to have, you know when I get behind the pulpit to preach, I ought to be thinking Jesus is in the midst of us, I better preach a sermon that Jesus will be happy with, that gives him worship, that gives him honour, right that he can say well pastor Kevin you've done well expanding my word, when you think about serving one another it's because we're serving Christ, even if it's someone in the church that you may not like that much, that you may not get along all that much, oh just ignore that person, well you're ignoring Jesus, is that what you want to do to Jesus, well you're just going to go out of your way and say well I don't really get along so much but I'm still going to say hello, I'm still going to give them a smile, I'm still going to shake their hand, I'm still going to welcome them, I'm still going to see if there's something I can do to help them or pray for them about because that's what I would do to Jesus, right we're serving Jesus Christ, now please go to Hebrews, go to the book of Hebrews chapter 13, Hebrews chapter 13, remember when Jesus says that if you took in a stranger, it's like you took him in, right he used that example and the next thing that I want to bring to your attention, especially while I'm gone and you know I think our church is really good at this so you know please you know don't think when I say these things that I'm saying that you know we're a horrible church and can we do better, we can always do better, I can do better as a pastor, we can all do better okay, we can all do better but one thing that I really want us to focus on especially while I'm away is our visitors, strangers, are you going to take in the strangers, are you going to welcome the strangers or is your attitude going to be that guy's walked in, red flags, is a false prophet, is probably not the same as us and his beliefs, what kind of attitude are you going to take with that person, let me just read a few passages to you and just for you to think about how important this is to God okay, so obviously when we look at the Old Testament, we look at the church in the wilderness which was Israel right and God gave the Lord to Moses, the first five books of the Bible written by Moses and in Exodus 22 21 it says, thou shalt neither vex a stranger nor oppress him for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt. When you think of a stranger, think of someone that does not necessarily belong to that nation right, that's a foreigner, that's a visitor, someone walks in, we've never seen that person before okay, that's a stranger, well don't vex the stranger, don't oppress him, don't run the stranger off okay, for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt, you know before New Life Baptist Church, you were a stranger from this church, we were all strangers at some point and if you've been at a good church, it's because that church has received you as a stranger okay and you know what the stranger, the visitor eventually becomes a semi-regular and hopefully one day those semi regulars become a core member of the church, every church has this, every church has a group of people that make up the core group where if they're missing a service, you're kind of worried about them right, when they're missing it's like they've got to be sick or they had a car accident and you're kind of hey you're right brother, you had that attitude right, then you got your semi regulars where they come sometimes and sometimes if they don't turn up you're not too you know you sort of it's usual because they don't always turn up right and when they turn up it's a blessing and then you have the other group which are your visitors right, which you don't expect to turn up well that person right, Jesus Christ says look take that person in, be welcome into that person okay, they're a stranger, they may not even be saved, take them in okay because it doesn't matter if they're not saved, they're going to be hearing the word of God, faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God, they might get saved okay and then that's what Jesus, that's what God says in Exodus 22, then in Exodus 23 verse 9 it says, also thou shalt not oppress a stranger for ye know the heart of a stranger seeing ye were strangers in the land of Egypt. So Jesus, God says this twice to them, hey don't forget the strangers, you were once a stranger okay, you were once that person that did not go to a church, you were once somebody that walked into a church for the first time and were uncomfortable, you don't know anybody, you know you ought to be in church because that's what God wants but I don't know these people, you come in, you're a bit uncomfortable, maybe as soon as the service is done you run out before anyone says hello, hey we were all that person at some point, so there are going to be other people that walk in like that, you got to understand they're going to be like that okay and that's Exodus, then in Leviticus, Leviticus 19 33, and if a stranger sojourn with thee in your land ye shall not vex him but the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you and thou shall love him as thyself for you were strangers in the land of Egypt, I am the Lord your God. Listen, a visitor walks in, a stranger walks in and they want to make this their church, love them, love them like anybody else in this church, get to know the stranger. I know we have this thought well it's pastor's job to go and welcome that person and it is the pastor's job, it is you know and so our pastor's talking to him therefore I won't go talk to them okay and we kind of have this mindset well I know I should say hello to that person but they're with someone else and I don't have to say a lot to them right because it is always a little bit awkward to meet people for the first time and to work in people okay but who ought to welcome the visitors, the sojourners, the strangers, ye are the body, all of us, it's the responsibility of everybody listen if a visitor walks in all of us should desire to go and say hi to that person before they run out, to welcome that person before they run out, all of us, they're your guests, ye are the body, they're the stranger, they've walked in, hey they're your guests, when a visitor walks in just say this is my guest, they've come to my church, hey we are the body, hey maybe this person is somebody that God has placed in here to be a future important member of our church, maybe they're not saved, well that's why they're here, to get saved, to hear the gospel from somebody that cares, listen God had to tell the Israelites in Exodus twice, he had to tell them in Leviticus, then in Deuteronomy chapter 10 verse 17, for the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, a great God, a mighty and terrible which regardeth not persons nor taketh reward, he doth execute the judgment of the fatherless and widow, look at this, and loveth the stranger in giving him food and reignments, love ye therefore the stranger for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt, brethren can you set that in your heart, when a stranger walks in, the visitor walks in, I'm going to love that person, I don't know what state they're in right now, hey they might even be a false prophet, but I don't know, they're a stranger, my first thought is I'm just going to try to love that person, I'm going to show them that we're a loving church, we're going to show them that we want them here to hear the preaching of God's word, they might be so valuable to us in the future, I'm going to receive them, what did Jesus say, if you receive a stranger, you've received him, okay, you are the body of Christ, and why is it so important for us to entertain strangers, well you're in Hebrews 13 verse number two, it's because they could be angels, Hebrews 13 verse 2, be not forgetful to entertain strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares, do you believe that brethren, that we could have a visitor walk in, we may never see that person ever again, I don't know, I don't know how angels operate, and all this time that person was an angel, looking like a normal human being, ah someone will say hello to that person, man it's coming from heaven, it's come to check out the place, what is New Life Baptist Church like, how can I report back to God and say hey the work that they're doing, well you know they love souls, they get it out their soul, a soul winning, they're singing praises, they're preaching great sermons, but God they never say hello to me, they're never welcome to me, man how embarrassing that would be to have a church like that, we don't want to be that way, remember ye are the body, they're your guests when strangers walk in, please go to Malachi now, Malachi chapter three, the last book in the Old Testament, we end on this one, Malachi chapter three verse five, when a stranger walks in, just remind yourself what was I like when I walked into church for the first time, I was nervous, I couldn't wait to get out of there before someone said hi, whatever right, people feel that way and it's our job to welcome them, to say hey, hey we love you, we love you being here, I hope you can get something out of church, hey are you coming back next week, right, Malachi chapter three verse five, and so God is telling Israel in Exodus, in Leviticus, in Deuteronomy, hey welcome to stranger, why does God have to repeat this so many times, well you know when God has to repeat something so many times, it's because the natural man does not want to do it, this is something that's easy to let go of, this is something easy to ignore and to drop and say well that's not so important in my church, because in Malachi chapter three verse five now, I've gone through the books of Malachi, I think it was during the pandemic, was it during church, I can't remember, I preached through this and I was showing you how you know the events of Malachi take place maybe about a hundred years after the Jews came back from Babylon, rebuilt Jerusalem, you know the temple etc, things started well but then a few generations down the track, they've gone back to their old ways and God is once again angry at these Jews, you know they're not living out what they're supposed to live out and then God promises that John the Baptist will come, promises that Jesus Christ will be coming back and settle things, all right, so but look at verse number five, Malachi chapter three verse five, it says and I will come near to you to judgment and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, these are people, these are the Jews and against the adulterers, so they're doing wicked sins and against false swearers and against those that oppress the highling in his wages, the widow and the fatherless, look at this and that turn aside the stranger from his rights and fear not me save the Lord of hosts, we have a list of sins that Israel got back into, the Jews got back themselves back into and one of those sins was they no longer wanted to entertain strangers, you know that they were not considering the visitors, they weren't considering the strangers, they would come onto the land that they're not loving the strangers how they ought to and God says I'm going to bring judgment upon you guys for the sins you've committed, you know mixing all that with sorceries and what else for swearing adultery, you know it's a wicked sin to not love the strangers, can we do better with our visitors? Absolutely, absolutely, are we doing a good job? I believe so, but can we do better? Yeah we can, you know I don't preach this to discourage you, I just want you to wake up and just realise hey I belong to this body of Christ, this house you know God's put me in here and when the stranger walks in that's my guest, hey that stranger might be an angel, hey that stranger might be someone that God is setting into this house for future purposes and I'm going to make sure I welcome them in, that I don't run them away, chase them away, it takes time for people to learn and to grow you know, praise God for this, I love this church, you know we're so good on doctrine, we're so sound, I know like I know if I preach something so wrong that you guys are just going to come and flood me with questions, I'm really encouraged by this church, we have a lot of good things going for us right, but I just want you to remember pastor is going to be away, his family is going to be away, I don't know if I'm the best at welcoming strangers and visitors, I try my best sometimes you know they get out before I even can say hello, but I'm hoping if I don't get to say hello I'm hoping somebody caught them on the way out you know, I'm hoping somebody stepped in and did that, I'm hoping somebody's checking to see if that person's even saved right and if they're saved hey they're a brother in the Lord, how much more should we love that person you know, if they're a brother in Christ if they're saved, we ought to love our visitors, we ought to love our strangers and so I know I focused a lot on that last bit but I really want you to think about that because I really want this church to continue to grow while I'm gone, it's hard for churches to grow while the past is not there, you know even down in Sydney at Blessed Baptist Church there are people that want to be part of that church that they want to be there but I get calls, I get emails but it's like but you know when is there going to be a pastor in place and so people delay coming if there's no pastor around all right and so we might see something similar while I'm gone and people aren't seeing me necessarily on Sundays that there might be a drop in our attendance, I hope not because you're important okay, you're important okay or there might be visitors that walk in and well there's no pastor I'm going to leave, no you welcome them, you make them feel that they're important part of the church okay, welcome the strangers and so I wanted to finish up there brethren, ye are the body of Christ, it doesn't say the pastors are the body but we all are members of that one body, that one body is the body of Jesus Christ, we serve one another brethren, we're serving God, we welcome our strangers, we could be welcoming angels, we don't know, we don't know so whatever visitors come in hey give your best you know serve them as though it was Jesus Christ himself that walked into this church okay let's pray