First Community Church
05/09/2021
  • Glorify Thy Name

      • Isaiah 55:3NIV2011

      • Isaiah 55:9–13NIV2011

  • The Trees of the Field
  • In Christ Alone
  • Amazing Grace ( My Chains are Gone)

  • Introduction

    Good Morning FCC and Happy Mothers Day!
    WE are so glad that each one of you you have joined us today to worship God in Spirit and in Truth one verse at a time.
    But before we dive into our text today, I would like to take a moment to express our gratitude toward our mother’s and grandmothers who are the pillars of society.
    Thank you for all you do and all you are!
    Know that you are loved and cherished!
    For those that are seated in the section over there, if you look on the back of your pews, you will discover communion cups today.
    If you are seated in these two sections, or where the chairs are, please come forward and get your cup as the Spirit leads.
    But first, I want us to take a moment to consider the sacrifice Jesus made upon the cross and what this means for us.
    He was beaten beyond measure and nailed to a cross for the sins of the world, he died on Friday, rested in the grave on the Sabbath day, and was resurrected on the third day church for you and for I.
    Let us take a moment to allow the Lord to examine our hearts so we eat the bread and drink the cup in a worthy manner church.
    After I pray us in today, please come forward and grab a cup if you are a believer and return to you seat as we will take communion together.
    These are pre-packaged communion cups and a wafer .

    Prayer

    1 Corinthians 11:23–26 NKJV
    For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.
    ​

    Read Colossians 3:12-17

    Review

    A little at a time we are making our way through this great epistle!
    We have learned through the first tow chapters what are position is in Christ and now we are moving on to the principles that we are called to live by.
    And the reason is because of what Jesus did for us all and because we are the elect of God, holy which means to be set apart, and beloved by our King!
    We are called to not only to get rid of our stinky graveclothes but to put on grace clothes, and is we have put on these new garments church then we are called to live differently than we did before we were saved.
    Are you living differently? Is your character becoming of Jesus?
    Last week we talked about putting on the garment of compassion. KJV Bowels of Mercy...
    The ancient world, apart from Biblical revelation, was merciless.
    The maimed and sickly and aged were discarded; the mentally ill were subjected to inhumanities.
    Christ brought compassion church to a religious and pagan world and still does today church, but do you?
    The phrase tender mercies here in our text could be translated, “put on heartfelt compassion,” or “have a deep, gut-level feeling of compassion.
    In the Hebrew thinking, compassion had to do with the organs around the middle part of your stomach area.
    The Jew understood the bowels to be the seat of compassion, the seat of sympathy; because when trouble was going on, he had a stomach ache; because when he had a lot of anxiety, it got to his gut, and he began to have problems there, and maybe he had an ulcer. And they used the term to refer to the womb, and the stomach, and the intestines, and the kidney, and the spleen, and the liver, and all the abdominal organs, because the Hebrew always expressed an attitude or an emotion in physiological symptoms, never in abstractions like the Greek. So when you see here “the bowels of mercy or compassion,” he’s simply talking about a compassionate person, but he’s doing it in a Hebraism, even though it’s written in the Greek language. Emotions are never expressed as abstract in the Scripture, they’re always expressed in the lowest level of feeling, the physical feeling.
    ​
    The late Colonel Sanders (of Kentucky Fried Chicken) was on an airplane when an infant screamed and would not stop even though the mother and flight attendants tried every trick they could think of. Finally the Colonel asked if he could hold the baby. He gently rocked it to sleep. Later a passenger said, “We all appreciate what you did for us.”
    Colonel Sanders replied, “I didn’t do it for us, I did it for the baby.”
    “Compassion can’t be measured in dollars and cents. It does come with a price tag, but that price tag isn’t the amount of money spent. The price tag is love.”—J. C. Watts Jr.
    Empathy is having the God given ability to enter into the suffering of someone else and throughout the Scripture, we see Jesus doing this over and over not only with the broken, sick, poor, and marginalized, but with those that did not think they needed a physician, were very religious but did not know God, the rich and educated of the day.
    Compassion church moves us to action!
    We must remember that there is no partiality with God!
    Romans 2:11 NKJV
    For there is no partiality with God.
    The NIV here reads that there is not favoritism with God, therefore, if we are being transformed and becoming like Jesus church, then we should not play favorites.
    Remember that this text in Romans is dealing with the Jews and the Gentiles and we already covered prejudiceness.
    Last week after service Kristi Childer’s fiance’ came up to me after service and shared that there will be no compassion if we have prejudiceness in our hearts !
    Colossians 3:12 NKJV
    Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering;
    We are going to tabernacle here on this verse for a while so buckle up for the ride church.
    What is kindness? What is the Lord teaching us here?
    Kindness- chrē-sto-tēs n. — the quality of being warmhearted, considerate, humane, gentle, and sympathetic. Goodness that shows itself in benevolence.
    The opposite of this would be to be mean and harsh church.
    What does it mean to be sympathetic?
    Sympathy-acknowledging another person's hardships and providing comfort and assurance. Understanding the experience of others.
    it is impossible to sympathize with another church, if we do not listen to their story.
    Hebrews 4:14–16 NKJV
    Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
    Did you catch that ? Jesus is our sympathetic High Priest who gets our weaknesses.
    Sympathetic- sympatheō-(soom-path-eh'-o)- to be affected with the same feeling as another, to sympathise with, to feel for, have compassion on.
    When is the last time you did this?
    The great Archbishop Trench, the prime mover behind the Oxford English Dictionary, says that the Greek word here translated “kindness” is a lovely word for a lovely quality. It was used to describe wine which has grown mellow with age and has lost its harshness.
    Have you lost your harshness men? I believe that harshness and being mean to others is directly tied anger and unforgiveness, which turns into resentment and then bitterness.
    How we treat others is a reflection of what is going on in our hearts church.
    Matthew 11:28–30 NKJV
    Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
    Did you see that? Jesus’ yoke is easy and his burden light!
    You probably wondering why I injected this text here?
    It is because the word easy is the same Greek word for kindness.
    Easy- — soft and mild (and pleasant); not harsh or stern or severe.
    ​
    ​
    The yoke of the Pharisees and religion can be stern or harsh.
    The yoke of meaness and harshness is not only stern church but painful.
    A mark of slavery; often used for animals, but more prominently used in biblical literature for humans. Used metaphorically to refer to the responsibilities of slaves.
    The physical yoke used in agriculture, slavery, and the military, became a symbol relating to burden in biblical texts. Both positive and negative aspects of this symbol were used by the biblical writers: A harsh yoke could refer to an oppressive burden of slavery, while an easy yoke could refer to one’s burdens being lightened.
    ​
    Leviticus 26:13 NKJV
    I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that you should not be their slaves; I have broken the bands of your yoke and made you walk upright.
    Galatians 5:1 NKJV
    Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.
    Kindness is also listed as part of the fruit of the Spirit church:
    Galatians 5:22–23 NKJV
    But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.
    And then in Romans we see the Goodness of God leading us to repentance:
    Romans 2:4 NKJV
    Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?
    The word goodness here is the same as kindness church in Greek.
    When is the last time that your were kind to someone?
    Despite his busy schedule during the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln often visited the hospitals to cheer the wounded. On one occasion he saw a young fellow who was near death. “Is there anything I can do for you?” asked the compassionate President. “Please write a letter to my mother,” came the reply. Unrecognized by the soldier, the Chief Executive sat down and wrote as the youth told him what to say.
    The letter read, “My Dearest Mother, I was badly hurt while doing my duty, and I won’t recover. Don’t sorrow too much for me. May God bless you and Father. Kiss Mary and John for me.” The young man was too weak to go on, so Lincoln signed the letter for him and then added this postscript: “Written for your son by Abraham Lincoln.”
    Asking to see the note, the soldier was astonished to discover who had shown him such kindness. “Are you really our President?” he asked. “Yes,” was the quiet answer. “Now, is there anything else I can do?” The lad feebly replied, “Will you please hold my hand? I think it would help to see me through to the end.” The tall, gaunt man granted his request, offering warm words of encouragement until death stole in with the dawn.
    Let us put on kindness this week church and search out people to be kind and compassionate towards.
    Heck, it may even be someone in you own home, someone at work, someone within your family that you have not talked to in a long long time.
    MAYBE YOUR NEIGHBOR WHO RUNIED YOUR YARD AND DID SOMETHING SPITEFUL TO YOU.
    We must remember that going to church does not make us a Christian, walking it out does.
    Remember, we become what we hang out with.
    If you want to be kind and compassionate, hang out with Jesus, because this world, is harsh, cruel, and unkind.
    We have slowed our plow for now and will continue working thru our new closet.
    So please church, burn those stinky grave clothes and put on tender mercies and kindness.
    In closing, I would like to share a story:
    A Mother's Arms
    There was a teenager who didn't want to be seen in public with her mother, because her mother's arms were terribly disfigured.
    One day when her mother took her shopping and reached out her hand, a clerk looked horrified. Later, crying, the girl told her how embarrassed she was. Understandably hurt, the mother waited an hour before going to her daughter's room to tell her, for the first time, what happened.
    When you were a baby, I woke up to a burning house. Your room was an inferno. Flames were everywhere. I could have gotten out the front door, but I decided I'd rather die with you than leave you to die alone. I ran through the fire and wrapped my arms around you. Then I went back through the flames, my arms on fire. When I got outside on the lawn, the pain was agonizing but when I looked at you, all I could do was rejoice that the flames hadn't touched you.
    Stunned, the girl looked at her mother through new eyes. Weeping in shame and gratitude, she kissed her mother's marred hands and arms.
    Are you kind and compassionate? Would you run into the fire to save just one?
    Let us be intentional this week about being compassionate and kind to all we encounter.
    We cannot manufacture this. it is a product of our relationship with Jesus!
    Grace begotten is grace bestowed.

    Prayer

    Announcements

    Arte there any announcements?
    Thursday May 13 at 6pm here at the church is a meeting to discuss our children's church. If you are a volunteer come, if you want to volunteer come, if you are a mom or a dad, grandmother or grandfather come, if you have some ideas come , come, come to this meeting!
    I will be making a lawn schedule this week.
    I wanted to share an amazing blessing with y’all this morning! On Friday May 7 around 11:30am our new granddaughter Marley Jane came into the world a healthy baby girl She was 7lbs 15 oz and 20.5 inches long!
    May 7 is my father’s 77th birthday
    May 7, 20 years ago my daughter Madison Rain passed away.
    Amazing love how can it be?
    Happy Mothers Day!

    Benediction

    1 Corinthians 13:4–7 NIV
    Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
    The Lord Bless you!
    Your Mission Starts Now!
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      • 1 Corinthians 11:23–26NIV2011

      • Romans 2:11NIV2011

      • Colossians 3:12NIV2011

      • Hebrews 4:14–16NIV2011

      • Matthew 11:28–30NIV2011

      • Leviticus 26:13NIV2011

      • Romans 2:4NIV2011

      • 1 Corinthians 13:4–7NIV2011

First Community Church
(541) 861-3733
http://www.firstcommchurch.org
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