man today's the day I'm so excited I
0:53
hope you're excited it is incredible I
0:56
know right look at my t-shirt you want
0:58
one you gotta have one of these this is
1:00
awesome Nathan did a great job on making
1:02
our t-shirts this year so as we go out
1:04
you're going to be seen right I mean
1:07
this thing is bright orange and you're
1:10
all volunteers get it so we're going out
1:12
in our community loving on people all
1:15
you Hokies just bear with us it'll be
1:17
okay put one of these things on and
1:18
let's go out make a difference in our
1:20
community so if you want a t-shirt you
1:22
got to go to the web sign up get a
1:25
project go out and serve and we have
1:28
still many many opportunities for you to
1:30
do this I'm so grateful for all of you
1:32
that have signed up we still have some
1:35
folks who haven't so I'm zeroing in on
1:38
you today okay so I want to welcome you
1:40
from all of our different locations
1:41
Bluefield and Marion and Abingdon and
1:44
Bristol out in Chapel and Country and
1:47
all of our cafes and those of you that
1:49
watch online from TV every week we're so
1:51
thankful for you and our International
1:53
partners that are also going through
1:56
love week with us over in the Ivory
1:58
Coast Pastor Georgia some things that
2:00
Joel's doing in Pakistan hey we always
2:03
love partnering with you guys as well so
2:06
again today's the day today's the day it
2:08
starts matter of fact I'm going to be
2:10
brief in my message and I'm going to
2:12
turn it over to our campus Pastors in
2:14
just a little bit and they're going to
2:15
share with you some opportunities that
2:18
actually is happening today at every
2:21
in-person location so I'm going to ask
2:23
you to stay over 15 minutes and when you
2:26
go out there'll be tables set up and our
2:29
campus pastors will explain how you can
2:31
help a kid have a better startup in
2:34
their school this season it'll just take
2:36
a little bit you'll pack some things up
2:38
and it'll be all for the opportunity to
2:41
love on a child so uh you got to do that
2:43
all right you got to participate in that
2:46
so I'm excited hey next week uh Pastor
2:49
Robbie Gaines will be here and we're
2:51
going to kick off a series that I love I
2:54
love this series we're in loved one but
2:56
man uh we we planned this on purpose not
2:59
me somebody smarter than me but all of
3:01
our team said while we're out loving on
3:03
people that we could invite them not to
3:06
church but to the movies so as you're
3:08
out serving folks and loving on folks
3:10
invite them to at the movies we kick off
3:13
next week Pastor Robbie's got a great
3:15
movie he's going to share with you I'll
3:16
be back and uh we're going to do top gun
3:19
Maverick on the 6th of August that's
3:21
going to be fun the Need for Speed I
3:23
love that movie so I'm gonna be sharing
3:25
about that then I'm off to Kenya for a
3:27
couple of weeks and we're going to have
3:28
some great at the movies series as it
3:32
continues so today uh again uh thank you
3:36
for all of the hundreds and hundreds and
3:37
hundreds of you that have signed up to
3:39
go out and serve but there's few of you
3:41
that have still not made the commitment
3:45
to sign up now maybe you've looked at
3:47
our website and you you've decided
3:49
there's nothing there that really gets
3:51
me excited it gets me energized it wants
3:54
me to go out and serve in these
3:56
capacities well how about you coming up
3:59
with something on your own
4:00
now maybe you're in a small group or if
4:03
not you've got some friends and you and
4:05
your buddies can get together and you
4:06
can go serve somebody or maybe you know
4:09
of a situation in your neighborhood or
4:10
your workplace you know of a family
4:12
that's in need hey we don't care we just
4:14
want you to go out and serve people in
4:17
the life and the name of Jesus Christ
4:19
now why do we do this I've tried to
4:23
answer this question every week in this
4:25
entire series and I want to answer it
4:28
again today the importance of community
4:31
is the reason we do it
4:33
and if I were to Define community just
4:36
so we can all be on the same page
4:38
thinking the same way this is how I
4:40
would Define when I talk to you about
4:42
the term communion this is what I mean
4:43
my community is this it is people in the
4:48
sphere of influence my sphere of
4:51
influence who are far from God
4:54
yet we got something in common
4:56
that's the community I want you to be
4:59
praying about and thinking about
5:01
they are in your community they're in
5:04
your sphere of influence yet you know
5:06
they're far from God and a lot of us as
5:07
Christians we've been Christians very
5:09
long we don't have anybody like this so
5:10
if you don't have anybody like this in
5:13
your community Jesus would want you to
5:15
get some people like this in your
5:17
community we need all of us to have some
5:19
friends that are far from God
5:21
and so as we think about serving these
5:24
people that are far from God and helping
5:26
them get to experience life with Jesus
5:29
what's the basis for it why why again do
5:33
we think this is important well it's
5:35
because Jesus said it was important and
5:38
we get this message of what we're doing
5:40
in church today all the way back from
5:42
his message he left when he tossed the
5:45
keys to his disciples about the future
5:46
of Christianity and let's look at this
5:49
again in Acts chapter 1 verse 8. that's
5:51
what he says he says guys you will
5:53
receive power when the Holy Spirit comes
5:56
on you and you will be my Witnesses in
5:58
Jerusalem in Judea and Samaria and
6:02
literally to the ends of the Earth
6:04
so I have a diagram here James Eaton
6:07
made this farming because I don't know
6:08
how to do these kind of things but it's
6:10
perfect right and if you're a follower
6:13
of Jesus I want you to look at the
6:14
center there and Christ is in you and
6:17
then I want you to see your community
6:19
here based on Acts chapter 1 verse 8 for
6:21
all of you that are visual leaders
6:23
and in Jerusalem which is our local
6:26
communities that we're looking at now
6:28
that's our family and friends in Judea
6:31
that's really the friends that God has
6:33
brought into our life that's really
6:35
those that maybe we work with but we
6:38
know they need a relationship with Jesus
6:40
when we think about Samaria that's all
6:42
of our Associates that are in our
6:45
extended community and finally when we
6:48
think about the ends of the Earth that's
6:50
everybody else so everybody actually
6:54
that we come in contact with is within
6:57
to a certain degree from Acts chapter 1
7:00
verse 8 in our sphere of community and
7:02
we all have different spheres of
7:04
influence I have different spheres of
7:06
influence than you do that's the reason
7:08
we all need each other now I also think
7:11
our community is both personal and
7:14
Collective personal in that our closest
7:17
Community is our family and our really
7:19
close friends but then our Collective
7:22
Community is our church family family
7:23
and this is one thing that we do every
7:26
year where we collectively as a church
7:29
family we move from our seats outside
7:31
the walls of our building into our
7:34
communities
7:35
if you're new to Highlands we call
7:37
Highlands home we want when you come to
7:40
a service or when you come to a
7:41
gathering here we want you to feel like
7:43
you're coming home and we desire for you
7:45
to be a part of our larger Community you
7:48
know we have family up in Marion over in
7:51
Bluefield down Bristol we have family
7:54
online and on TV we have even an
7:57
extended family over in Pakistan we have
8:00
two churches in Pakistan Islamabad and
8:03
Lahore Pakistan that God's just doing
8:05
amazing things we have family in the
8:08
Ivory Coast we have family in Kenya
8:10
Nigeria these Partnerships that we have
8:13
all around the world
8:15
and that's awesome but this week
8:18
beginning today we're focusing on our
8:21
local communities and I want to be
8:23
honest sometimes it's been a little
8:25
tough to convince all of you many of you
8:28
have taken me up a lot of you were early
8:30
adopters on this but still there's some
8:32
of you that it's been tough to challenge
8:34
to get you to sign up and be a part of
8:37
that being a Christian According To
8:39
Jesus that you see the need to connect
8:42
with your community
8:43
now you get this in other ways you
8:46
understand the importance of connecting
8:48
to Jesus you've made that connection you
8:51
you understand why you should get
8:52
connected with family and you understand
8:54
why you should get connected with your
8:56
friends
8:57
but we can all see that but then you
9:02
would say well would you want me to
9:03
connect with my community too I mean
9:06
isn't that really optional Alan do I
9:09
really think Jesus wants me to be
9:10
connected to my community even in these
9:13
crazy cultural times in which we live
9:16
where there's so many differences and
9:18
division that we have to deal with every
9:20
day wouldn't it be okay for me just to
9:23
connect with Jesus and my family and
9:25
then just stay to myself I mean I'm sort
9:28
of tempted just to go home and just
9:31
circle in and you know I don't want to
9:34
put myself out there and all the
9:36
craziness and Division and and all the
9:38
things that are happening in our world
9:39
so maybe it's just better for me to live
9:42
a life of Solitude
9:43
I mean I have the ability I have the
9:46
means what's wrong with that Pastor why
9:48
can't I just live life for myself it's
9:51
your life you know we're taught by the
9:53
world you can do what you want to with
9:54
it well I sort of want to give you an
9:57
illustration of how when I begin to
9:58
think those lines and this this was all
10:00
the way back in my college days in Emory
10:02
and Henry
10:04
and there was a professor that had
10:07
retired and his wife had passed and then
10:11
he was asked to come back and teach some
10:13
chemistry classes his name was Dr spell
10:16
never forget him he put a spell on me
10:17
about didn't make it through his class
10:19
he was tough but he comes back and he's
10:22
just a neatest guy you know Not only was
10:24
he wanting us to understand the concepts
10:26
of the chemistry class he was teaching
10:28
he really wanted us as students to
10:30
understand concepts of life
10:32
and so here he was this retired college
10:36
professor his wife had passed he knew he
10:39
had the means he had the ability to just
10:42
sort of stay home and he could he could
10:45
live life all by himself taking care of
10:49
himself and make it all about him
10:51
and so we asked him well why are you
10:54
back you know how did they we knew it
10:57
wasn't they were paying him so much he
10:59
couldn't refuse it you know most days
11:00
they were barely paying professors
11:02
anything so he said well it became about
11:05
this question for me he said I felt like
11:08
in my prayer life that God was saying
11:11
what about the people that I still want
11:13
you to reach what about the students
11:16
that you can teach and you can really
11:18
help not only understand chemistry but
11:21
maybe draw closer in a relationship with
11:24
Jesus Christ
11:25
and so he came back and he taught for
11:28
several years teaching in the classroom
11:30
serving at his church
11:32
to really reach those who are far from
11:34
God and I I remember that that was a
11:37
defining moment for me
11:39
because you know as a young college
11:41
student I'm thinking about my life and
11:42
my future and and and honestly I sort of
11:45
had bought into the world I thought my
11:47
life was all about me my happiness My
11:49
Success how I was going to make money
11:51
but what this this old guy taught me
11:54
was that we get this wonderful freedom
11:58
to actually not make our lives All About
12:02
Us
12:03
I'd never heard it explained that way
12:05
before because what I'd always heard
12:08
from the world was you get this freedom
12:11
to make life all about you and what this
12:15
dude tells me is no you get this
12:17
wonderful freedom to not make your life
12:21
all about you
12:23
and if you want real happiness and you
12:25
want real success don't make your life
12:28
about you but go and make your life not
12:32
about you
12:33
and I I never forgot that that the true
12:36
purpose in life is actually not about my
12:40
success or my happiness
12:42
but this guy taught us that it was
12:45
really fulfilling the life that God had
12:48
created us for
12:50
and Paul helps us to get this point in
12:52
his teaching to the church in Corinth
12:54
and he's answering the same question for
12:56
them you know the corn Church they sort
12:58
of struggled about making life all about
13:00
them and and uh they're asking this
13:02
question to Paul why should we get
13:04
involved in the messiness of other
13:06
people's lives and I love how Paul
13:09
answers it we see his answer in second
13:11
Corinthians 5 verse 14 and this is what
13:13
he says to the Believers there in
13:15
Corinth
13:16
he says for Christ's love compels us
13:20
it's an interesting word in a Greek
13:21
language
13:22
because we are convinced that one down
13:26
for all course of Jesus and therefore
13:28
all died
13:30
and he died for all that those who live
13:32
should no longer live for themselves
13:35
what the world teaches
13:37
but for him who died for them and was
13:41
raised again
13:42
so actually what Paul is saying this
13:44
word compels literally in our English
13:47
language the the real meaning means
13:49
controls so that Paul is saying if
13:52
you're a follower of Jesus Christ Christ
13:54
has died for you and when you have
13:56
trusted in Jesus Christ then his love
14:00
ought to control your life
14:02
that you ought to be different than the
14:04
way you were when you were living in the
14:07
world he's saying that Christ's love for
14:09
me gives me a brand new purpose now to
14:13
live my life and Paul challenged these
14:15
Corinthian Believers to die to
14:17
themselves and to live for Christ and I
14:21
love this message here he's talking to a
14:23
church that struggles with the same
14:24
thing that we struggle with today as
14:26
Believers every single day every one of
14:29
us we get up with this tension
14:31
and the tension is are we going to make
14:33
life all about us all about me
14:36
are we going to go and be the hands and
14:39
feet of Jesus
14:41
and look for those who he places in our
14:43
path in our sphere of influence that we
14:46
might love and encourage it's a daily
14:50
battle it truly is it goes on in verse
14:53
16 and he says from now on WE regard no
14:56
one from a worldly point of view
15:00
that's interesting isn't it though we
15:03
once regarded Christ in this way we do
15:05
so no longer therefore if anyone is in
15:08
Christ the new creation has come the old
15:11
is gone and the new is here
15:14
now when Paul says worldly point of view
15:17
he actually means that now as Believers
15:20
we have to see others differently than
15:23
we did when we were without Christ
15:26
because before Christ we sometimes
15:28
looked at others on the basis of
15:30
honestly on what they could do for us
15:32
right I mean we're going to be friends
15:33
with somebody who could be friend us or
15:35
we would help somebody if they could
15:37
help us more or we saw him as a Democrat
15:39
or a Republican or maybe we saw him as a
15:42
millennial or gen Z or a baby boomer
15:44
maybe we saw somebody as less educated
15:46
or they're morally corrupt or they're
15:49
lazy and Paul is trying to teach the
15:51
church if you go out
15:54
and you serve your community and you
15:56
grow The church here you're going to
15:58
come across people that are all those
16:00
things and more
16:02
and the hardest folks for us to love I
16:06
think is his followers are those that
16:08
are ungrateful I mean it's really the
16:12
test right I remember I was talking some
16:14
of our food pantry volunteers and this
16:16
happened uh several years ago now but we
16:19
had asked you to give as a church and
16:21
you did and they were able to give a
16:24
turkey and all the fixings for a big
16:26
Thanksgiving meal for all their families
16:29
and um I remember that one of our
16:31
volunteers was taking some of these bags
16:34
of groceries to the folks who couldn't
16:37
get here just so they could have
16:38
Thanksgiving dinner and he said that he
16:42
oh you know knocked on the door and he
16:43
said hey I've got you guys Thanksgiving
16:45
dinner and he said that the lady came to
16:47
the door and shoot me the lug and saw
16:49
the turkey and set the turkey out the
16:50
green beans and the cranberry stuff and
16:53
and she looked up and said no ham
16:55
no ham
16:57
and he he was like it took everything I
17:00
could muster up not to say something
17:04
negative
17:05
sometimes when we serve people who are
17:09
ungrateful
17:11
challenge to us and
17:13
look if Jesus were in the business of
17:16
caring for only those who were grateful
17:19
and you and I we would not be recipients
17:22
of his love because I'm reminded that
17:25
the Bible says while we were still want
17:27
sinners Christ died for us it's not like
17:31
we cleaned ourselves up and became
17:35
grateful
17:36
and here's what I want you to remember
17:37
as you go out and you serve in your
17:40
communities this week is that you're not
17:42
going to come across a person in your
17:45
community that doesn't have a soul not
17:48
one every person you come across that
17:51
you serve this week is going to spend an
17:53
eternity somewhere
17:55
that's what Paul is saying don't view
17:58
someone in a worldly View
18:00
but when you go out and serve even those
18:03
that you might serve that are ungrateful
18:05
see them in the eyes of Jesus Christ
18:09
because Paul says as a follower of Jesus
18:12
I am a new creation in Christ and
18:15
because of that I can now the blindness
18:17
has been removed from my eyes and I can
18:19
see my community as Christ sees it
18:21
filled with precious
18:23
Eternal Souls whom he died for
18:26
he goes on in verse 18 and he says this
18:29
all this is from God who reconciled us
18:32
to himself through Christ and gave us
18:34
the ministry of reconciliation this is
18:36
this is the ministry we're called to do
18:39
this week that God was reconciling the
18:41
world to himself in Christ not counting
18:44
people's sins against them and he
18:47
committed to us the message of
18:49
reconciliation now that word reconciles
18:52
not a word that we use very much in our
18:54
English language today but it's an
18:55
accounting term
18:57
all of you that are accountants and all
18:59
those kind of things you would get this
19:00
so I grew up in the age where we
19:02
balanced our checkbook now I know that's
19:04
archaic I still have a checkbook I still
19:06
balance it but I'm old I get it none of
19:08
you young folks when I talk to my kids
19:09
about bouncing their checkbook they
19:11
don't know what I'm talking about but in
19:13
the old days you balanced your checkbook
19:15
and it was a reconciling term for your
19:18
checkbook and what you did is you
19:20
reconciled what you spent with what you
19:22
had deposited and when you reconciled it
19:25
and you balanced it it helped you know
19:27
where you stood it helps you know how
19:28
much money you had and the problem was
19:30
that if you had spent more than you had
19:34
deposited and when you balanced the bank
19:36
was showing you had a deficit well
19:38
here's the truth the bank doesn't just
19:40
forgive those funds right they just
19:42
don't add those funds in no you you
19:44
you're in trouble you you got to get
19:47
those funds into the bank are you going
19:48
to be bouncing checks or whatever all
19:50
across town
19:51
And yet when I think about
19:54
balancing my checkbook and coming to
19:57
times where there was not enough money
19:59
in that checkbook because I had
20:02
overspent more than I had deposited
20:04
and even though the bank didn't forgive
20:06
me when I look at my life as a Believer
20:08
that's exactly what Christ did for us
20:11
he covered our mistakes
20:14
and He Paid a Debt we could never pay
20:18
you know the leading cause of divorce in
20:20
America today is what we call
20:23
irreconcilable differences
20:25
irreconcilable differences which means
20:28
in court that something happened in your
20:31
relationship it just can't be forgiven
20:34
but I want you to understand something
20:35
that doesn't happen in our relationship
20:37
with God
20:38
because with God there is nothing that
20:42
can cause an irreconcilable difference
20:45
God does not want peace with you
20:48
regardless of your past he provided it
20:51
by sending Jesus Christ as a sacrifice
20:54
for you
20:56
and the Bible says that God took out his
20:58
wrath on his only son
21:01
so that we could receive his grace very
21:04
incredible what he does
21:06
and this week we get to show our
21:09
communities that we've been reconciled
21:12
with a God who loves us unconditionally
21:15
and that's my challenge to you go out in
21:19
your sphere of influence
21:21
and be grateful for what Christ has done
21:25
in your life even though you may serve
21:28
those in a community
21:30
that are ungrateful hey they're still
21:33
blind and once they see what Jesus
21:36
Christ can do man what an opportunity we
21:39
have this week to love on our community
21:41
I hope you'll sign up I hope you'll go
21:44
if not I hope you'll come up with a
21:46
project on your own and that all of us
21:49
together can serve and love one another
21:53
would you pray with me Lord thank you so
21:55
much for this opportunity all the
21:57
preparation that's gone into place
21:59
the
22:01
so many projects that we have in our
22:05
communities that our folks can serve and
22:07
the hundreds and hundreds and hundreds
22:09
of Highlanders that'll be out all over
22:12
Southwest Virginia
22:14
God I just pray
22:16
that you would go before us you would
22:18
prepare hearts and that we might see
22:20
true life change this week as we serve
22:23
you
22:24
Lord you're an amazing God thank you for
22:27
making us New Creations we sure don't
22:29
have it all together so we are so
22:31
thankful for the price you pay the
22:34
sacrifice you gave so that we could know
22:36
you
22:37
and hey if you're here today and you
22:39
don't know Jesus man that's a the
22:41
greatest thing you can ever do is trust
22:43
him ask him to forgive you of your sin
22:45
come into your heart and surrender your
22:47
life to him
22:49
I trust you'll make that decision before
22:50
it's eternally too late
22:52
God go before our church this week open
22:56
doors open paths May our influence be
22:59
the hands and feet of Jesus into a
23:02
broken world we love you for these
23:04
opportunities in Jesus name we pray
23:06
amen so this time all of our campus
23:10
pastors are going to come up and they're
23:12
going to share with you some amazing
23:13
opportunities you have even beginning
23:16
today