Classic Service: May 19, 2001

Good morning, everyone. It's so great to see you. Let's go ahead and get on our feet if that is something that feels healthy for you to do today. Let's worship the Lord Jesus. Heaven came down. Glory filled my soul. A wonderful, wonderful day. Today I will never forget.

After I wandered in darkness all day, Jesus my Savior I met. Oh, what a tender, compassionate friend, He met the need of my heart. The shadows He's straddling with joy, I am telling, He made all the darkness depart. Heaven came down and fulfilled my soul.

When at the cross the Savior came home. My sins were washed away, and my night was dead today. Then my soul, one of the Spirit, with life from above, into God's family came. Justified fully through Calvary's love. Oh, what a standing

At the transactions of great news day, when as a sinner I came, told of the offer that's graced me, proper he saved me, the Christ that reigns. Heaven came down in glory to my soul, when at the cross the Savior made me whole.

My sins were washed away, and my night was turned to day. Heaven came down and He filled my soul. And now of a hope that will surely endure after the passage of time.

I have a future in heaven for sure. There in those mansions of life. And it's because of that wonderful day. When at the cross I believe. Rich is eternal and blessings sublime. From his precious hand I receive. Heaven came down on my soul. When at the cross the Savior came.

My sins were washed away and my night was turned to day. Heaven came to fill my soul. Amen. Church family, please be seated.

I told the choir right before we came out that today was not my day, and it was not a matter of how many mistakes am I going to make, or if I'm going to make a mistake, it's how many. And so that verse wasn't even supposed to be in the song today, this morning, so sorry about that. And that's on me. It's so great to see you. My name's Stephen. I'm the worship pastor here at First Baptist Plano.

And it is a joy to have you here in worship this morning, each and every one of you and those of you that might be joining us on the live stream. Pastor Craig is taking a little bit of time off this weekend, and we're so grateful for that.

And so he will not be in the pulpit today, but Jordan Davis, our next-gen pastor, did a marvelous job in the first service and will be with us this service. So today as we welcome folks, we will not be showing Pastor Craig's phone number. But if you know it...

You can recite it to yourself if that's just part of your process each Sunday morning. But if you are our guest, we are so grateful that you are here with us today. There is a connection card in the seat back right in front of you, and we've got an example right here on the third row. And if you would, we would just ask that you fill out as much information as you feel comfortable and put that in the offering plate as it comes by later as we give, and we

Then, or give it to somebody in the hallway at the connection table. Just, we'd like to get to know you just a little bit better. And there's also a spot there for prayer requests. That's not just for guests. It's for anybody in the church. If you have a prayer request that you would like to send to the staff, we pray for each of those requests at every staff meeting on Tuesdays.

And so please just know that those are prayed for, and you are welcome to write your request on there as well. So thank you so much for coming to First Baptist Plano today, and I'm going to turn it over to Rick with some highlights. Oh, but first, were you supposed to be welcoming Rick? Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. So, Steven, your mistake days are better than most of our best efforts. I'm just saying. So, welcome. Do you want the highlights? I'll let you take that. Okay. Because I don't know what they are. Rick, thank you. You're golden. Bye. Oh, I love y'all, too. And with that spirit, let's hear from VBS. Let's try that again.

Top right-hand corner, there's a music note. There we go. And let's hear from VBS. Correspondent reporter Rachel Ray here live with Scuba Steve with an over...

an official announcement from FB Under the Sea Plano. We are so excited about Vacation Bible School. It begins June the 10th and it runs all week through the 14th. It's going to be an amazing time of music, Bible stories, games, and Under the Sea fun. How can they register? Well, I'm glad you asked me that. FBCplano.org slash VBS is the place to go. Alright, you heard it to all of our Undersea Creature friends. Come on

Wait a second, Rachel Ray. What if they don't speak human? I've got this. I speak jellyfish. I also speak whale. And I speak dolphin. Okay, come have a fin-tastic time. So VBS is close, close, close. And we still need a couple of things. We need registrations.

And particularly First Baptist Kid registrations. So if y'all can get around to that, that would be fantastic. We also need at least five more adult helpers. So five. We're down from 500 to five. No, it wasn't quite that many. But we need five more helpers. So if the Lord is tugging at your heart right now, then that might be something you should consider. And so get with Rachel.

or anybody from her team and let her know that you can help out because this is just super, super important from an eternity standpoint and from, of course, ministry standpoint here at First Baptist Plano. Right before this service, the Bless Fair began, and I believe it will be continuing after the service. And so that is an area, that's a way for you to figure out what this Bless Week is all about. Maybe you're new to our church and

And Blessed Week is simply a home mission trip. We're serving churches. We're serving...

Other folks around the community, there's actually a video from Pastor Craig that we'll show at the very end. He details that out. But if you would like to be a part of that, this is your first opportunity, not the last opportunity, first opportunity to sign up. And just let us know later on if you'd like to add your name to anything else. So, Bless Week is coming soon. Tonight, we have a special called Business Meeting. It's on Zoom 100%.

So if you Zoom, you can do that from the comfort of your own home. If you are not a Zoomer, come join me in the Zoom room, just up the ramp in the choir room. I'll have it set up there, and we can party together for the Zoom business meeting. So that will be happening, and the front doors will be open. So that will be the entry point. And then Age to Age is coming up this Wednesday.

As Rachel said this morning, one more time and it becomes a tradition. And so this is an opportunity for some of our senior adults and some of our kids to connect and play some silly games and get to know one another and have a good time together. That is at 6.30 on Wednesday. And then finally, we

We have an event called Grilling on the Grounds that takes place on Memorial Day weekend, Memorial Day Sunday. So when you come on Memorial Day Sunday after the service is over with,

Probably before the service is over with, you're going to start smelling some burgers sizzling. And we will have burgers and chips and all that good stuff right after the service. Kind of an on-the-grounds picnic, if you will, with tables. Don't worry. So anyway, you are invited to be a part of that and bring a friend. That would be a great, great opportunity. All right. I'm going to finally turn it over to Jordan, who's going to have mercy on me.

You're doing great. You're doing great. Well, everybody, today is one of those bittersweet days, and it's the day that we congratulate and also send off to the next stage of life our graduating seniors. So it is bitter, and I don't get to see them in student ministry any longer, but then they can come join me in college ministry. Let's come on up. Come on out. And this is Alan Black and Lisa Gorman. Alan, come stand right over here.

for our day to celebrate, recognize graduating seniors. I'm going to share a little bit about Alan and his plans. Alan Stewart Black, a graduate of Academy High School. His future plans are to attend University of Texas at Dallas and major in visual and performing arts with film concentration. So y'all congratulate Alan.

And then we want to recognize, though she couldn't be here for this service today, she was with us in the first one. This is Riley Hope Habern. She is a graduate of Trinity Christian Academy. Her future plans are to attend the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, majoring in marketing. Yeah, let's congratulate Riley. Thank you.

And also, this is a time for us to reflect as a church all the ways that God has poured into these students through us as members, through our ministries here, but also as a way to send them on to wherever God is leading them next. And for some, maybe that's across the street. For some, maybe that's a whole new state. But wherever they are, let us be mindful of and praying for them as they go.

But there's another part of this celebration today that's really exciting, and that I'm going to leave into the hands of our scholarship chair, our scholarship committee chair, Lisa Gorman. Lisa, come and tell us about this scholarship. Good morning. I get to do the most fun part of the job of being on the scholarship committee, which is to present scholarship to

to the seniors that have applied and we have approved as a committee.

And the only way that we can do that is because of the generous giving of all of you. Our congregation has been so good to give to fund scholarships for our students, which really helps them as they start college, helps them with expenses. And so I'm so thankful that we can do that. I pray that you will continue to give generously to the scholarship. You can do that at

at any time and just mark it in that way but we thank you so much for that. It has been my pleasure over the last couple of years to have Alan in my Bible study class in the youth and he truly is so deserving of a scholarship from our church. He is a quiet leader and he has a servant's heart and

Most Sunday mornings you would probably find him somewhere behind the scenes. He would be either in the sound room or maybe back here or sometimes he's in the nursery rocking infants, which he loves to do. And so he really has been such an example to me and to our other students of what servant leadership really is.

Alan, we wish you all the best. We're glad you won't be too far away. And we pray that God will bless you, God will keep you, and continue to walk with you as you walk with him. Amen. Thank you, Lisa. It's my honor to share with you today your scholarship, Alan. There we go. Thank you.

And now, while we're on the topic of scholarships, there's something else really exciting to present today and to announce. But I'm going to allow someone else to come out and announce it for me. This is Jason Habern, a member here at First Baptist Plano. Come on, Jason, take the center here and tell us a little bit about this new opportunity. Good morning, church. My grandfather and I and my family would sit right over here every Sunday and

He passed away in June. My dad, my aunt, and I decided we'd like to start a scholarship in his name, specifically for ministry students. My grandfather attended SMU, got an accounting degree, was an auditor, had a very successful accounting practice, but his passion was for the Lord. And he would always tell me every time we would drive down to Baylor for a doctor's appointment, every time we passed DTS, how much he wished he had done that instead.

And we thought it would be a great way to honor him. My grandfather was a great storyteller, loved to preach, would often preach as a backup minister at his church, did the books for the church. In fact, as a family, we'd often sit around the table at Thanksgiving, Christmas, other holidays, and he would love to do a little mini-sermon with all of us and tell a good story, pray, always said a very long, good, elaborate prayer. At the very end, he would always say, you know, what kind of preacher would I be if I didn't pass the plate and do a little offering? Laughter

So we thought, you know what? We can do this with his legacy. We can pass the plate, and we can do something for him, but also do something for his kingdom and create the scholarship fund for him. Thank you, Jason. Yes. Thank you.

So we are so excited for this brand new opportunity to help perhaps some in their discerning of their calling to ministry and to provide a way for financial assistance. So y'all keep praying about that. And for both scholarships, the general scholarship or this new ministry scholarship that we're beginning, if you feel so led to support by contributing, you can see some instructions on the

up on the screen. We just ask that you would designate your giving to either the general scholarship or ministry scholarship. And now, let us take a moment to pray and pray over our graduating seniors and for the rest of the service. Let's pray. Father, we're so grateful for this time to celebrate and recognize Alan and Riley. Thank you so much for the ways that you've used them also to minister to us and

Now to see how you've prepared them for service of your kingdom. God, I pray over them as they seek to glorify you on college campuses, to glorify you with their minds through their studies, and also to be the presence and witness of Jesus to those around them, that you would use them to spread the good news and to serve your kingdom, your mission.

God, I also pray for this time together that we look to you as the one who makes all things possible. We pray that our hearts and minds would be focused on you in this time of worship. We pray all this in Jesus' name. Amen.

You're the Word of God, the Father, from before the world began. Every star and every planet has been fashioned by all creation holds together. By the power of your voice, let the skies declare your glory.

♪ Let the land and seas rejoice ♪ ♪ The author of creation ♪ ♪ The Lord of every man ♪ ♪ The prophet of the cross ♪

Yet you left the gaze of angels, came to seek and save the lost, and exchange the joy of heaven for the anguish of the cross. With a prayer you fed the hungry, with a word you stilled the sea.

Yet how silently you suffered that the guilty may go free. You're the earth of creation. Let your cloud of love wings up across the land. With a shout you rose victorious, resting victory from the grave and ascending

You're the Lord of creation. You're the Lord

♪ When your cry of love rings out across the world ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

Glory to His name. There to my heart was the glory to His name. I am so wondrously saved from sin. Jesus so sweetly abides within. There at the cross where He took me in. Glory to His name. To His name.

Glory to His name. There to my heart was the blood of Christ. Glory to His name. Come to this mountain so rich and sweet. Cast thy poor soul at the Savior's feet. Bunch it today and today. To His name. Glory to His name. Glory to His name.

There to my heart was the blood of God. Glory to His name. Praise God for all blessings. Praise Him, all creatures here below. Praise Him, O praise Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

♪

Please be seated, church family. Great singing. Thank you, Stephen, choir and orchestra. It's that time in our service we have the awesome privilege to give back to the Lord. And, you know, summer's right around the corner. You've already heard about a number of the programs and events and activities that are coming here at First Baptist Plano for this summer. You know, we're going to have a great blessed week. I want to encourage you to be a part of blessed week. Also, right after blessed week, Vacation Bible School, then our summer camps.

You know, there's no summer slump around First Baptist Plano, I'm telling you. So let's be faithful. Let's be faithful to the Lord and give back what is already his.

You can give. Just simply drop your offering in the offering plate when they're passed in just a moment. There are ways you can give on the big screen that you can give electronically. Guest, please allow that completed Connect card to be your offering today. Let's pray together and we'll continue to worship the Lord. Father, thank you for today. Thank you for this very special day in the life of our church, in the life of these families that...

And these seniors, Lord, thank you for their diligence, their faithfulness, Lord, to finish the task. And then now with a new horizon coming, bless them.

Father, we pray that as we give, that you would bless and multiply the gift and bless the giver. Lord, we pray that as the summer events and activities come, that our focus would be on getting the good news of Jesus Christ out to our community and beyond. So Lord, thank you for your faithfulness to us and help us to be faithful to you.

Bless today. I pray for Jordan as he comes to open the word of God to the people of God that you speak through him. Open our hearts in Jesus' name. Amen. ♪ Sing on to streams of glory never ceasing ♪ ♪ Call for songs of loudest praise ♪ ♪ Teach me some valourous song and my friends above ♪

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪

Precious Prince of Peace, how great a debtor, Unstrained to good and of better, Tied my wandering heart to Thee. Prone to the Lord, adored I feel it, Prone to Thee, here's my heart, Take and sing, sing. Thou, Thou, Thou King,

From Ecclesiastes 4, beginning in verse 7.

Again, I saw something meaningless under the sun. There was a man all alone. He had neither son nor brother. There was no end to his toil. Yet his eyes were not content with his wealth. For whom am I toiling, he asked. And why am I depriving myself of enjoyment? This too is meaningless, a miserable business. Two are better than one.

Because they have a good return for their labor. If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up. Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken. Summer last year...

Alan Black, one of our graduating seniors that we're celebrating today, read from these verses as he guided his peers in a time of devotion, looking to the time in his life when his family moved to our area, and at a time of difficult transition and maybe feeling alone, coming into community at First Baptist Plano, he found a place to belong. He found a community that I'm thankful to God for,

knowing that he was able to walk this stage in front of his family, the family of faith, that we can celebrate how God has sustained him and is now going to use him in new and exciting ways. And like Alan was exploring with his peers there in the Weaver residence living room,

We're going to look to this text today to better understand this topic on the value of togetherness. As we look to the passage in Ecclesiastes 4, we notice that there's a little bit of the good, the bad, and the ugly. Where do we find instruction for our lives today as the followers of Jesus, as his body, the church, about the value of togetherness?

As I mentioned, there is the bad and the ugly, which we must address first. And that is this reality that life, when we seek to do it alone, is a terrible business. As the scriptures point out, it is meaningless, ends in despair. But the good news, you have been created for community. We are designed to go together.

We're going to explore what that means for us today as the church and seek understanding from the scriptures together. First, we must tackle this difficult issue, the instruction that the scripture opens up with in verses 7 through 8. And here's what we find for ourselves. You are only as rich as your capacity to share with community.

I want to pause and linger on that one. It's a lengthy statement, and some of you taking notes might need a little extra time to write it down. But this is what the Scripture is communicating to us, instructing us, helping us to understand that you are only as rich as your capacity to share with community. And I want to unpack that. But first, let's revisit the text, the beginning again in verse 7. Again, I saw something meaningless under the sun.

There was a man all alone. And I want to pause here and unpack the language a little bit. If we were to look to the original Hebrew, what we would find is as a more literal translation of this text, it would actually read, there was one without a second.

I want us to hold on to this. The numbers as they're used here are actually very important. So I want us to keep this in mind that he opens up with, there was one without a second. No fellowship, no sense of community, no togetherness. So we continue in that verse. He had neither son nor brother, no one with whom to share his wealth, no one to pass down his inheritance and his legacy. There was no end to his toil.

Yet his eyes were not content with his wealth. No matter how hard he worked, no matter how much he gained as a reward for his work, he found no contentment in what the product resulted. Then he asks in this portion of the verse, For whom am I toiling, he asked, and why am I depriving myself of enjoyment? This too is meaningless, a miserable business."

As an example, I think of the character Ebenezer Scrooge from the classic Dickens novel Christmas Carol turned into a play, turned into a musical, turned into the Muppets Christmas special and everything else under the sun. Yes, that is another Ecclesiastes joke. Ebenezer Scrooge, Ebenezer Scrooge, nearing the end of his life in old age,

had devoted his life to acquiring wealth, using every minute of his waking life to working and making more money. That is where he was placing his value, to the detriment of the relationships in his life. So greedy and stubborn to acquire wealth that he ended up isolating himself and excluding every meaningful relationship he had.

And then in the story, he is visited by three different spirits, opening his eyes, revealing to him the great cost that comes with seeking to acquire wealth for yourself to the point of abandoning your community. And ultimately, he sees and it's revealed to him that that sort of life does lead to despair. There is no meaning or good in that.

And the irony of it is his own employee, Bob Cratchit, who by most standards and certainly by Scrooge's standards, was a man without success and utterly poor. However, he sees through the help of those spirits that Bob Cratchit was indeed the man who was rich, far wealthier than Scrooge himself, because where he lacked in money,

He had all the more in relationships, friendships, fellowship, community, family. Whereas Scrooge, though he had all the money he could hope for, he had no one to share it with. A great example of what the scripture is trying to emphasize for us in understanding sometimes we get in this idea of life is about acquiring more things, making more money, being successful from a dollar perspective.

symbol standpoint when what truly gives us wealth and meaning in this life is by having others to do it together with. You are only as rich as your capacity to share with community. So that is the bad and the ugly, but there is so much good and rich instruction that comes from this text. And we look to the value of togetherness,

Ecclesiastes 4 reveals to us the qualities that make togetherness such a meaningful part of what we were created for. Because while seeking life is

alone, seeking to do life alone is a terrible business ending in despair. What we do also see is that we're not designed for that. God created us to be in community. It has provided for us community and it is through these special qualities that we get blessing from the community that God has designed us for. In verse 9, it reads, "...two are better than one because they have good return for their labor."

So here we learn that we accomplish more together. If we seek to do work on our own for a particular result, we will be lacking all the skills and the wisdom that others can contribute to the work that we can't provide for ourselves. But if we seek to do it together and rely on the strengths and the gifts that God has provided in others around us, the result is far better than what we could ever do on our own, what we could accomplish together.

on our own. The result that we share together is far greater than what result we could ever accumulate for ourselves. And then we keep going. Next verse in verse 10. If either of them falls down, one can help the other up, but pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up. So here we learn we help one another up.

And just to pause and give clarity on the context of this passage, we're living in a different time. We have different advanced technologies and means of transportation than we know the ancient world had access to. And if you were a common citizen, you likely would have known what it was like to go on long journeys in order to accomplish your tasks and duties in that society. And you would also know that it was scary to do alone.

If you find yourself coming up against trouble, you didn't have a phone to ring up a friend, to call an emergency number, you didn't have Google or the internet to get a holiday in when the journey was longer than you anticipated. Rather, you would rely on the help and support of those you bring along with you. And for something as maybe simple and trivial as falling into a hole, in that time, if you had no way to get yourself out of a hole,

That may have been the end of your story. But for just one more person to be there, to lend their hand, to reach down and pull you out of the pit, that meant a whole future that was impossible if they had not been there. There is great value in togetherness, even if it is just a plus one. That can make all the difference.

And while we reflect on that in our own journey, the need we have for others to support us, to reach out a helping hand to us, church, we also got to be that helping hand for one another, to recognize in our network, in our community, those who perhaps are seeking to do life alone, that we might be able to come alongside and offer our hand of help.

Because we know, we have seen, we have tasted how good the Lord is in providing community that we don't have to do this life alone, that we would be convicted and challenged to step out for the help of others as well. There is great value in togetherness. We continue in verse 11. Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Here we learn, we comfort one another.

And many look to this verse and interpret it in context of marriage relationships. But again, if we keep in line with the experience of the original readers, they're thinking about travel. They're thinking about long journeys and the occasional journey that would take more than a day. And when the sun goes down and the temperatures drop and it gets bitter cold, many travelers would rely on one another, laying close together for their body warmth to sustain one another.

And again, while we may not all experience something like that in our life, this metaphor speaks into us because we also face times of bitter coldness, times of emotional darkness, spiritual darkness that left to our own devices. We may not be able to make it out. But when we go it together, when we're aware and keen on one another's

spiritual and emotional health, that we can stand in and be that hope and encouragement to help them out through the darkness, through the cold, bitter nights that we face. And vice versa for us as well, that we might not seek out the darkness and make friends with the cold and isolate ourselves, but see the importance of coming together for our own sake.

This is one of the values of togetherness. And then finally in verse 12, although one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. Again, in this context of traveling out in the wilderness, you may from time to time encounter others on the road that don't have your best interests in mind and might want to take advantage of the circumstance. A thief or someone who's just wicked, right?

It is far better to go together in order to defend yourself from the one who has evil intents against you. Today, we know in our journey, the journey of life and our walk with the Lord, we too have an enemy with plans to get us off track, to damage the work that God wants to do in our lives, to pull us apart from him, to not be meaningful to the kingdom, but to be scarred and unable to do what God has called us to do.

May we in those moments have a community surrounding us keenly aware of the ploys of the enemy who wants to steal, kill, and destroy and step in to defend one another when that time comes rather than leaving one another alone to deal with it on their own. This is a part of discipleship, is it not? Fellowship, that we carry one another's burdens. We strengthen one another in times when our integrity is threatened and

But we are made to be reinforcements for one another for when our weaknesses are not enough on our own. As we end in verse 12, a cord of three strands is not quickly broken. I love this imagery. I love having in mind the cord of three strands versus the cord of just two strands or one strands, the added integrity thing.

gives more resilience to the forces that might threaten to crack and break it. And as I mentioned, the numbers here are important. We need to keep track of the numbers because what this passage does for us is it turns our idea of math upside down. Because according to this scripture, one is actually zero. But you add one to the number one, you get two, and two is everything.

Two is everything, but then guess what? You add one more. Three is even more. There is strength in numbers. We were not designed to do life alone. And the one who seeks to do life alone is seeking a terrible business, one that is meaningless, ends in despair. But the good news, God has created and built into us as a body of believers a great community of

That through Christ we might thrive together for a single unified purpose. To live our lives for him. To walk in a stature worthy of him together. You are made for community. We are designed to go together.

And God ultimately, when we think of how this relates to our lives as followers of Jesus, this need for community, the value of togetherness, that need is ultimately satisfied in Jesus Christ. That God so desired to commune with us that he sent his son to dwell among us and that his sacrifice on the cross would pay the price of our sins, the very price

component that separated us in relationship with God, that in Jesus's resurrection and victory over sin and death, that relationship would be restored. We can have togetherness with God unified through his son Jesus. But then as an effect of that work, we are brought into a great family of those who belong to Jesus as well.

And this is something that is ingrained in our DNA as First Baptist Plano. Our mission statement, we are one family sent to welcome and disciple all people to faith in Jesus Christ. This is our focal point. This is on our radar. We are seeking to welcome and disciple all people into faith in Jesus Christ through our family. That others might know what it means to be a part of the family of faith doing this life together.

There is a theologian during the time of World War II who was a pastor in Germany. And among many other significant works that he accomplished, one work that he wrote was called Life Together. In this writing, he explores in great depth and detail the importance and theology of God's intent for us to do life together.

And I want to share with you a quote from that text. Again, this is Life Together by Dietrich Bonhoeffer. He writes this, I have community with others and will continue to have it only through Jesus Christ. The more genuine and the deeper our community becomes, the more everything else between us will recede. And the more clearly and purely will Jesus Christ and his work become the one and only thing that is alive between us.

We have one another only through Christ, but through Christ we really do have one another. We have one another completely for all eternity. When we think about our community, may it be centered on, focused on, led by, steered by, guided by the one who holds us all together.

May Jesus Christ and him alone be the one who unifies us in all we do, the way that we treat one another, the way that we seek to love one another, the way that we seek to glorify God in our community, to extend the gospel and to serve the kingdom. May it all be done out of our unified effort to love, honor, glorify, and serve Jesus Christ. That is what the church can understand from this scripture, the value of togetherness.

To see the bad and the ugly, the life sought to be lived alone, which is meaningless, ends in despair, offered to us instead the community of faith through Jesus Christ, revealing that we are indeed designed to go together. You were created for community. And I know this is a subject to be treated delicately.

Because sometimes our circumstances put us in a state of loneliness we don't necessarily desire for ourselves. So I want to speak over any individual who may have found yourself here today feeling that loneliness. The good news of our Savior who desires with great sacrifice to be in communion with you. That you would know and have a relationship with the creator of the universe.

And that by belonging to him, there is a family being built together as his temple, as his household, to live in fellowship, to live in community, to live in discipleship, to carry one another's burdens, to take care of one another, to reinforce one another, to be a helping hand in that time of trouble. That this is all offered to us through none other than his son, Jesus. And what a great invitation it is, directly from Jesus.

our Lord, reaching out his hand to each and every one of us to welcome us into relationship with him and then into the broader community of his body, the church. Maybe here today you feel alone. May this scripture be an encouragement to you to know that God desires the opposite, that you were created for community and that his church exists today to offer that community to you, to bring you in for a place to belong.

to be helped in your time of need, to be comforted in your time of bitter cold and darkness, to be reinforced when the enemy seeks to take you out. And also, church, for those who recognize that provision, may we not neglect or leave off to the side anyone who is in need of that sense of community. There is value in togetherness where the life sought to be lived alone is a terrible business. We are a part of a greater story.

one that reveals God's intent and design for us to be in community through his son, Jesus Christ. That is what brings us together today. That is the reason we sing and praise. That is the reason when we leave this place, we can affirm the Holy Spirit going with us to help us in bearing witness to the world of the good news of his son, Jesus. May we value togetherness as we go. Let us pray. Father, we thank you so much.

for the work that you have done through your son Jesus to restore our relationship with you and also to begin the work of creating true, authentic, meaningful relationships through your church. God, I pray that we would have a heightened sense of the value of togetherness, that we would not seek to do life alone or even seek to isolate others, but rather be a part of this work together.

of bringing value into this world that you have revealed through togetherness, through community, through fellowship. I pray in this time over anyone in this space who does feel alone that you would encourage them now that your presence would settle on their hearts to give them peace and to trust this invitation from you to be in union with you through Jesus. And God, also, that they might know that First Baptist Plano is here to minister to them, to welcome them,

God, I pray in this time you help us to respond with whatever you're laying on our hearts. I pray this in Jesus' name. In this closing time of response through song, I will mention I'll be standing right over here in the corner if someone needs to seek out someone to pray with or perhaps share a decision that God is placing on your heart. I'd be happy to receive you and pray over you. And let us all respond in worship.

All to Jesus I surrender. In his presence I surrender. All to thee my blessed Savior. All to Jesus I surrender. All pleasures all forsaken.

I surrender all to thee, my blessed Savior, I surrender.

Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

Hello everyone, I want to share about Bless Week. Bless Week is a home mission trip. Opportunity to be outside of these walls, serving people, building relationships, being a blessing in the community, building rapport. And we want to point the whole church to this. Get everyone involved. There's a Bless Fair today.

and it'll be there will be these tables with sign ups and people to ask questions about the different opportunities and we want to encourage everyone to be a part and sign up in some way or many ways and I want to share just a few of the highlights from the week we're going to be serving other churches in our community often on a mission trip or something like that we're serving churches we want to do that right here there's four of them that we're going to be serving in different ways

go to the booth and ask questions about that we want to get people involved also there are opportunities for senior adults we have a hymn sing during blessed week that we want to invite people to also there's a senior adult open house this for all of our seniors to be involved and invite people to be included in it and if you have questions about that it'll be at the desk and then there is a family outreach

called Teddy Bear Tuesday. We're partnering with Lionheart Children's Academy. We want all of our families involved. In fact, we need the church involved with this. It's going to be about bringing a teddy bear for you to hold on to your child and then a teddy bear to give away. There's more information at the Bless Fair. And then there's a

a youth outreach, activate games, want to get all of our students involved, inviting people, and then we're going to be delivering tacos to first responders and to the administration of University of Texas Dallas. And then there's a church-wide picnic

on the Thursday of Blessed Week. And it's an outreach. It's for us to come and eat and play games. But it's also a time to invite your neighbors. And we'll invite the people that we're meeting during the week with the Blessed events. And we want to get people there that are... It's more than just us, right? And let's have this big fellowship. And...

Connect with some people in the community. There's much, much more. Come out to the fair. Ask questions. Sign up. Let's all get involved. Let's be a blessing to the community. Home missions. Bless we. Church, be blessed and go forth and bless others. We'll see you next time.