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We're in This Together from the desk of . #626 Rande Wayne Smith 21 September 2014 D.Min., Th.M., M.Div. We’re In This Together - 1 WE NEED EACH OTHER Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 How many of you watched the Bears play last Sunday evening? … Great game! They can win when they play as a team. Okay, transition … God intends life to be a team sport. God has designed us to thrive in relationship, in community, in connection with other people, to be a team. st We go to the very 1 chapter of the Bible, & we discover that we’ve been made in God’s image. (Genesis 1:26- 27) And one aspect of His image is relational. Our God is a 3-in-1 God. He is Father, Son, & Holy Spirit. And so when God creates us in His image, He made us with a relational capacity, with a desire to be on the “team.” This morning we’re starting a 2-week series entitled, “We’re In This Together.” And my goal is to motivate you & equip you to build strong spiritual relationships with other people. And with that in mind, we begin this morning by seeing the benefit of doing life together. And we’re going to look at a passage from Ecclesiastes as the basis for today’s message. 2 So, listen now to Good News as recorded by Solomon, to you who have gathered here at Community Church. Within your hearing now comes the Word of the Lord … Two are better off than one, because together they can work more effectively. If one of them falls down, the other can help him up. But if someone is alone and falls, it’s just too bad, because there is no one to help him. If it is cold, two men can sleep together and stay warm, but how can you keep warm by yourself? Two people can resist an attack that would defeat one person alone. A rope made of three cords is hard to break. (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12) May the LORD grant that we may engage in contemplating the mysteries of His Heavenly wisdom with really increasing devotion, to His glory and to our edification. Amen I want to talk this morning about 4 benefits of doing life together. The 1st has to do with getting connected in work. “2 are better off than one, because together they can work more effectively.” I was reading an article a couple of weeks ago about Gram Parker. I assume that you all know who Gram Parker is. … You don’t? 3 Well, if you kept with the news at all, you’d know that Gram Parker, after 26 years of trying, has just solved his Rubik Cube. (X) Are you all familiar with the Rubik Cube? It’s a multicolored puzzle, & the goal is to get all sides to be one color. So you twist & turn it. Gram worked on his Rubik Cube for 26 years! He said that it gave him wrist problems & back problems. But no matter, as he told the reporter, when he made the final click, it was so fulfilling he said that he wept. Now, as I read that important “news” blurb, & was thinking about this message, a couple of questions immediately popped into my mind regarding Work. 1st, are you “Working” at something of ultimate significance? And I’m obviously not talking about solving a Rubik Cube puzzle. And I’m not talking about your “job” either; so for you who are retired, don’t tune me out. I’m talking about your life Work, (capital “W”). What has God put you onto this planet to accomplish? … Here’s how the Apostle Paul would answer that question. He says that our “Work” on earth is 1st of all … to be an ambassador for Jesus Christ. (Ephesians 6:20) Christ is seeking to extend His Kingdom through us. Okay, so how do we do that? 4 We do it by sharing the Good News about Jesus with others through our words, & through our actions. Part of the job, part of the Work, (capital W), can be done in our regular activities. Let me use Joe as an example. Joe has been a compassionate, nurturing school teacher. That’s one way he has served Christ. And in doing his job he indirectly pointed people to Jesus. But Scripture also challenges us to serve through Church ministries in a direct way that brings people to faith. That may mean singing in the choir, it may mean teaching a Sunday School class, it may mean mowing the lawn, it may mean hosting our coffee/chai time. But when you’re serving as Christ’s ambassador, directly like that, you are doing truly significant Work, (capital W). Now the 2nd question that Gram Parker raises in my mind is, not only are we doing something truly significant, but are we Working on a team? You can solve Rubik Cube all by yourself, sitting at home, in your underwear. (Don’t let your imagination go too wild with that.) But you cannot be Christ’s ambassador alone. This Work, (capital W), requires that we join a team. This Work connects us with other followers of Jesus. This Work breeds togetherness. This Work provides the opportunity to experience the blessing we just read about … when 2 Work together they are more effective. 5 Now most of you are already members of the team, but are you Working to do something truly significant? The Deacons have put together a day of service & Work … Saturday, October 4th, 2 weeks from yesterday. There are a ½ dozen different events going on throughout the day. A couple of them will take an hour. Some will take several hours. But there is something for every one of you to be Working at. And let me tell you … you’ll be blessed if you’re a part of this. And you’ll be a blessing if you’re part of this. Nothing is more satisfying than Working at something of ultimate significance. #2 … we get connected in weakness. “If one of them falls down, the other can help him up. But if someone is alone & falls, it’s just too bad, because there is no one to help him.” Bible scholars tell us that the writer is describing people who were on a journey. And one of the things that can happen to a person, especially if they were traveling around Jerusalem, where there were rocky, dangerous, wilderness roads is that they could slip off the side of the path & plummet down into a ravine … literally, falling off the edge of a cliff. So, it wasn’t a good idea to travel alone. Solomon writes, “If someone is alone & falls, it’s just too bad.” 6 Sometimes when we stumble, (& I’m thinking spiritually here), God helps us directly. But more often than not, He intervenes through other people. And let’s be honest, we’ve all stumbled from time to time, because we all have weaknesses. Sometimes those stumbles are small. Some of us have taken a little “fall” this week. But other times the stumbles are huge, with the repercussions far-reaching. There’s not a person in this room who hasn’t experienced what I’m talking about. But the question is … who do you have to pick you up when you fall? (You can’t do it yourself.) … And, are you around to pick up someone else on the “team” when they fall? One of my favorite Scriptures in this regard is found in Galatians. Paul’s writing, “My friends, if someone is caught in any kind of wrongdoing, those of you who are spiritual should set him right; but you must do it in a gentle way. (Now when Paul says ‘spiritual’ he doesn’t mean that we have to be perfect to restore someone else, otherwise, none of us could do this. If you’re walking with Christ, & you see someone who’s slipping in a sin, who “falls”, who takes a moral stumble … help them, for Heaven sakes.) And keep an eye on yourselves, so that you will not be tempted, too. Help carry one another’s burdens, & in this way you will obey the law of Christ.” (Galatians 6:1-2) 7 Are there people in your life who are concerned about your spiritual wellbeing? When you slip off God’s path, is there someone to gently restore you? Are there people in your life who when they see you in a moment of weakness fall, instead of gossiping about it, instead of condemning you for your failure, they will graciously come alongside & offer encouragement, they’ll graciously pray for you? They’ll help you get back on God’s road. The reality is that there is ugly stuff going on in each of our lives that needs to be monitored; & on our own we’re not doing a very good job of it. It has to do with jealously & pride & bitterness & anger. And if we don’t monitor what goes on in our hearts, sooner or later, it will come out of our mouths. (Matthew 12:34) It’ll come out in our behavior. Do you have someone in your life with whom you can be frank & honest about your weaknesses? Someone you can talk to about your struggles with a family member, your fears over financial matters, your tendency to drink too much, or character weaknesses. (Our Monday night Bible & Support Group is really moving in this direction.) #3 … connected in warmth.
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