Hi, and welcome to the Willow Ridge Church weekly podcast.
This is where you can find audio for our current and past sermons.
We hope that you enjoy this week's installment, and be sure to check back next week to hear
the latest message. Thanks for listening.
Good morning. Glad that you guys are with us. If you've got your Bible, go ahead and open
up to 1 Corinthians chapter 8 is where we'll be. Hit me this morning. I hope that the springtime
weather is going to hang out with us for a little bit. Got here to the church this morning,
and at some point in time, Rodney had poured some water out into the parking lot, and as
water will do, it ran downhill, and then it formed a little puddle there at a part of the
parking lot. And sitting there on top of that puddle was a nice, thick layer of pollen, all
right? So it's springtime in South Carolina. We don't pay attention to the groundhogs. We
pay attention to the pollen, and it's here, all right? So it is good to have you guys here
with us. We are taking the Lord's Supper today. And so if you did not grab your elements as
you came in, please take this opportunity right now to head back to the back and grab those.
I promise we won't mock you, laugh at you, do anything. Just slide on back there and get
those. And at the end of the message, we will be partaking in the Lord's Supper together
as a church. I want to continue to encourage you. We are going to have our marriage conference
March 25th and 26th here at Willow Ridge Church. We're excited about that. I know for so many of
you, marriage conferences have been an important part of your marriage in building and strengthening
and understanding what God has for you. And we've got a wonderful Friday evening and Saturday
till a little bit after lunchtime from that morning of time for us to spend together as couples
diving into God's word, hearings from some phenomenal men and women of the Lord as they talk about
their marriage and how God is using difficult seasons, difficult times to draw them closer
to him. And as a result, drawing them closer to each other. Right now, it's all video based
through Right Now Media. And I had somebody ask me last week, I said, they asked the question,
they said, is there a general theme for it? And honestly, there's not. It's a marriage conference
that Right Now Media put together for 2020. But as I was just watching these videos over and
over again, as I'm working on some breakouts and some discussion starters for couples to
be able to use in their marriage. One of the themes though, that began to just hit me of how
God is using each and every one of these messages was this, was that as an individual person in
the marriage, how important it is to make the primary relationship in your life your relationship with
Jesus. And how that relationship and the depth of intimacy that we have with the Lord, how that
builds and strengthens our marriage. And there's so many other different aspects of that that these
men and women are going to be sharing with us and talking about. And so I would encourage you,
tickets are $20 a person to get those tickets, to be a part of that. And I'm excited to see how the
Lord's going to use that in our church. But being honest with you, how the Lord's going to use it in
my marriage as well. And so I want to encourage you to be there and to be a part of that. Well, last week,
we took some time at the beginning of the service and prayed about the war that has taken place in
Ukraine. And I shared with you guys that we were going to be praying through and processing, you know,
as a church, like what can we do? How can we come along? And the Lord opened a door for us this past
week with that. One of the things at the very beginning, as we started going through 1 Corinthians,
it talked about how the body was perfectly equipped and gifted for the work that God had for it.
And this past week was evident of that for me, about how Willow Ridge has been perfectly
equipped to be the church God has called us to be, as we've been able to form a partnership with a
Moldovian church that is ministering and caring for refugees. And that perfect equipping happened
well before this couple came to our church. I don't know, many of you know Matt and Tricia Evans. I
don't know that many of you necessarily know, unless you've known Matt and Tricia for a while,
that Matt and Tricia Evans previously served in Moldova with the IMB.
That long before Matt and Tricia were at Willow Ridge Church, they were missionaries on the mission
field. And as a result of their years of working on the ground, planning churches, equipping pastors
and working with them, they've kept that network, those friendships and those relationships. Some of
those pastors and friends that they've met have journeyed in, and I know pastor specific churches to
reach those particular people groups in various parts of our country. But a lot of those pastors
remain in countries like Moldova, where they're continuing to minister. If you're unfamiliar with
Moldova, it's not a country that gets talked about a lot, but it is a country that was a part of the
Soviet Union. If you're looking at the map, the global map of Ukraine, and you look to the southwest corner of
Ukraine, the country that borders it right there, is the country of Moldova. And Matt has been able to
continue on in his partnerships, and one of those has come through a pastor by the name of Constantine.
Matt shared with me today that they refer to him as Costi, and so we'll talk about Pastor Costi,
who pastors a manual church in the town of Belts, Moldova. Belts is spelled B-A-L-T-I, pronounced like
plural, what I've got around my waist, belts. I know, but that's what it is, right? So we had this
wonderful opportunity to connect with him. This church is taking in refugees. Refugees who are
fleeing from the war that is there, and if you're, again, if you've been watching and been tracking,
the area that will access into Moldova is the area that is taken over for the most part by Russian
occupation right now. And they're bringing these families into their church, but also bringing these
families into their homes. So we in the United States have already began to feel an economic burden, right?
I mean, there's lots of burdens that are going on, but let's be honest, one of the burdens that we're
feeling is an economic burden as a result of a lot of things that are happening and taking place
all over the world, but with what's taking place also in the Ukraine. And as a result of that,
we feel that, right? We feel that when we look at the account balance. We feel that when we look at
the gas pump. But could you imagine living in a country where you're feeling that burden economically
from your pocket, but now on top of that, you're not trying to figure out how to provide for your
family of four, but you're now trying to figure out how to provide for your family of four who's brought
on a family of six, who prior to that you may or may not have known. I want to show you all some
pictures that are going to be up here on the screen. Right here, this, the guy in the middle, this is
Pastor Costi, and on either side of him, he's got some refugees who have made their way over.
Let's go and show the next one. This is another family, right, that's been welcomed into their home.
Right, I mean, it just looks like the family from the neighborhood, right? Mom, dad, kids, and
everybody that's there. Another family that's come in. Let's go ahead and show the next one.
All right, this picture is beautiful. And what makes this beautiful is there's nothing that says
family like a group of people gathering around a table. And we don't know, like if we were just to
set that picture out of context, we could think, oh, there's just a bunch of, just a bunch of
families just, just there, but it's a bunch of different refugees representing different families
who are there having a meal. Let's go and show the next picture. Every country has the equivalent of
Sam's, all right? And what you see here, and I don't know if you can tell, but they're on the baby
aisle. And over here on the left, you see Huggies, all right? And this is a representative from the
church, coming to buy, from Emanuel Church, coming to buy supplies for the church and for the families
that are going to be there. And show, wouldn't show the next picture. And this was a video that I had
hit a screenshot, and Matt pronounced it for me this morning of what this is. And Matt, I apologize,
buddy, but in 10 minutes I've forgotten, all right? I know it sounded like it started with a P and ended
with like five letters that I can't piece together right now. But this is outside. This is actually at
the border of Moldova and Ukraine. And this is a group from the church there that's there preparing
food to give to the refugees who are coming across the border so they can have a hot meal, all right?
So, we want to continue to pray for all that's going on, but we want to also partner with the
church that's there. And so I want to kind of share with you guys to what we're looking at doing and
what we hope to continue to be able to do. This month, what we've already been able to do this past
week is we sent $2,000 to this church so this church could continue to buy the supplies and the
things that they need. And what we've committed to, as long as the need is there and as long as the
Lord moves in that direction, is for us to continue to send about $1,000 each month moving forward to
help out with the assistance in this church. And we love the fact that we can do this, and we love the
fact that we can do this through the partnerships and through relationships that we have within our
church. I do want to share a couple things with you guys as we look at this. Number one, when we start
the budget process, we start our budget process in summertime, and we're unaware that this was going
to be happening or taking place. And so if you go look at the Willow Ridge budget, the amount of money
that we need is not accounted for in the budget. And our plan is to provide this while continuing to
provide for the plan that we laid forward for the ministries that we partner with, but also the ministries
that we have within our church. And so the plan is to continue on without taking away. And we believe that
God will provide. We believe that God will provide and take care, and we're excited about that. But the check
that we need to have with ourselves, myself, yourself, and for all of us is in this an opportunity for us to
evaluate our heart. Concerned with finances. I know it's tough right now. I know it's hard. I know a dollar doesn't go
as far as a dollar did. Probably a dollar doesn't go very far for anything right now, right?
Somebody told me like, the 99 cent store is like the $1.25 store now, right?
Right? But for us to check our hearts concerning our finances and the expectation of the Lord
to tithe and to give sacrificially. So we're excited about what God's going to do with the gospel
through this. What God's going to do in this refugee. I talked a little bit about this last week, and I
promise we're going to jump into our message and hopefully go full circle with this. But the concept
of refugee was not in my brain as a child. It was not in my brain as a teenager. And we got a generation
now who are growing up with the thought of refugee. That term refugee is something that they know.
And when we hear refugee, we hear refugee crisis. War breaks out in Syria. Refugee crisis.
Persecution breaks out in Bangladesh. And so there's a crisis. War breaks out in the Ukraine. So there's
a crisis. And I believe they are crisis. But what God does and what God gives us the ability to do
through the power and the leading of the Holy Spirit is to take what is a crisis and to see that it is
an opportunity. As men and women from all over the world are being mobilized and we have an opportunity
for the gospel. For just one illustration really quickly how God's used this in our area. That right
now in Columbia, South Carolina, been here and are still coming here are refugees from Syria, Iraq,
and Afghanistan who have felt the burden and the persecution that is faced under the oppressive rule
of Islam. And to take the gospel to where they are and many faithful men and women have could mean your
life. But a crisis is created and they flee. And now in less than six miles from where we sit this
morning are Syrian, Iraqi, and Afghan refugees whose doors and lives are open and opportunity for men and
women like us to share the gospel with them. If we'll take what the world says is a crisis
and look at it as an opportunity. And so as I watch the news my heart breaks for the men and the women
and children of Ukraine who are fleeing. But as we think through this through the power of what God wants
to do we have to ask ourselves this question is this a crisis or is this an opportunity? And what we're
seeing is through Pastor Acosti in the men and women and children of Emanuel Church, God's providing us an
opportunity. Let's pray. Lord, we come to you this morning. We thank you for the wonderful privilege and
opportunity we have to share your gospel all over this world. Lord, I know the strain that many of us are
feeling right now. The strain of finances, the strain of concern, the strain of worry.
But Lord, as we go through this, I pray what comes from this is a maturity, is a strengthening
of trust in you and in you alone. Lord, we continue to lift up prayers for those
being affected by this war that has taken place.
Lord, we ask that you work and that you move in such a powerful way that everyone will be clear and
evident that it is the hand of God who's at work. We pray for Pastor Acosti and the church, Emanuel Church.
Lord, and the opportunities that they have to minister and to share.
And we thank you for the wonderful opportunity that we have.
Lord, your word says that you work for good for all of those who love you.
And Lord, what we're seeing in the gospel plan and the story of the Lord is years ago, you mobilized the
Evans and you sent them to Eastern Europe to minister and to share. Lord, and beginning to see those
pieces that come place so that in a day like today where we can continue to pour in and see men and
women come to faith. Lord, we thank you and we love you. And it's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
As we look at 1 Corinthians chapter 8, I want to ask a question.
Question that, as I wrote it down on my paper in my office this week, has been a question that I've
struggled with. A question that I've wrestled with. A question where the Holy Spirit gets to take me out
back, put a little whooping on me, right, and bring me back in and get me ready for one more.
And the question is this, do I genuinely love? Do I genuinely love? It was a question I read a pastor
who wrote a 25-page chapter in a book about this passage of Scripture, and this is what he brought it
to. He said, do I genuinely love? And what he means by that is you dove through and try to sum it up in
five simple words. What he was driving to is, do I love all people? All people. I'm like you, I love.
I love food. I love family. I love friends. I love sports. I love outdoors. I love. But the hard
check for me in the concept of love is removing the things, focusing on the people, and asking myself,
do I love all people. Because what I find about myself, which probably rings true in your life as
well, is we are good at what I would call selectively loving. Choosing maybe directly or indirectly
those who I think are deserving of my love. Now, I used to say, and the Lord corrected that a little bit
on me this week, is that we tend to love those who do nice things and who love us. But what I found
thinking through that this week is that's not always the case. We don't necessarily limit our
love. There are people that we love who are hurtful and destructful to us, but we still choose to love
them. But yet that we see when we are still within ourselves of who we are as individuals, that I have
a set of expectations that are sinfully buried in my being of who I am, and based off of those
expectations that I set for myself, that I determine for myself, bases off who I love and who I don't.
And it's easy to say, oh man, I love everybody. But the question, do I genuinely, or maybe even
better, do I biblically love all people? Now, Paul's going to address this. He's going to address this
in 1 Corinthians chapter 8. And the area that he's going to address this is this. Do I love to the
point where I'm willing to lay down my rights and my freedoms for the sake of others? So in my ability
to love all, am I willing to let that impact me? All right, let's start reading. We're going to read
all the way through 1 Corinthians chapter 8, starting in verse 1. Paul writes, he says,
Now, concerning food offered to idols, we know that all of us possess knowledge. And this knowledge
puffs up, but love builds up. If anyone imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as
he ought to know. But if anyone loves God, he is known by God. Therefore, as to the eating of food
offered to idols, we know that an idol has no real existence, and that there is no God, but one.
For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth, as indeed there are many gods and many
lords, yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom all things and for whom we exist,
in one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist. Verse 7, however,
not all possess this knowledge. But some, through former association with idols, eat food as really
offered to an idol, and their conscience, being weak, is defiled. Food will not commend us to God.
We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do. But take care that this right of yours
does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. For if anyone sees you who have knowledge
eating in an idol's temple, will he not be encouraged if his conscience is weak to eat food offered to
idols. And so by your knowledge, this weak person is destroyed, the brother for whom Christ died.
Thus sinning against your brothers and wounding their conscience, when it is weak, you sin against
Christ. Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble.
So let's look and see what's happening here. What is the offense that is taking place in Corinth?
As we've seen, Paul is dealing with reports and struggles and questions that have come to him
from the people of Corinth. Some of these have been reported to him from a faction within the church
of the division that's there. And what we've been able to draw from Scripture is some of these have come
in the form of the letter of the church saying, hey, answer this question for us. And we don't know which
one this has come from, but this has come to Paul. And it's concerning specifically meat sacrificed to
idols. Now this is going to be for us like a lot of things that we've seen in this letter at the
church of Corinth, right? There's not necessarily a direct correlation that plays out in Lexington,
South Carolina, right? Like when I go to Aldi or Publix, I'm not walking up to like the idol meat
and the non-idol meat, right? Like that's not what we're working with here, right? So what we're
going to do is try to understand what is happening and what is taking place. And there's a lot of
disagreement, but here's what we know. So Corinth was a very pagan place. There was temples to different
gods that were there. And in part of the sacrifice of what people would do is people would bring meat
and this meat would be sacrificed to an idol. Now, I don't know if you've ever been to a temple where
sacrifices like this happen, but I've had the opportunity to go to a couple. I went to one in
Taiwan and one in Hong Kong. And part of the sacrifices that people brought to these temples,
don't worry, I didn't go and bring sacrifices, right? We were in their prayer walking. But as we
were there, what they would do is they would bring fruit. And they would come and they would take the
fruit and they would buy the fruit from the temple. And they would bring the fruit and they'd lay it
down before the statues. And this would be their sacrifice. And I asked, I said, what happens to the
fruit? And they said, well, for a long time it was thrown out. And then the leaders of the church decided
it would be more glorifying to their gods, I said church at the temple, of the gods, if they would just
consume it, right? So I don't know how their sign-ups go for that, but like, you want children's ministry?
You want, I want the food ministry. That's what I want, right? I'm gonna be the guy that eats it all. So that's what they
would, that's what they would do. And so what you've got happening here in Corinth is people would bring
meat as a sacrifice for the idols. Now, here's what it would create. Within the church, it was creating
two different conflicts. Now, I don't mean conflicts in the church that it will lead to. I mean internal
conflicts between individual members of the church. Something that they would need to wrestle with
and figure out for themselves. Because this meat, after he presented, could be taken to the market
and sold. All right? So one of the conflicts that it would create for the members of the Corinthian
church was a financial conflict, right? Should we go to the market and purchase and partake in this
meat? Is this something that we should do? Now, here's part of this. This meat was cheaper.
So can we go buy this meat that's less, right? In most of the places when you became a Christian,
you became ostracized. People stopped partaking in your business that you had. They stopped like you
felt the burden of that, all right? There's almost like religious sanctions that would happen on
Christians. So they're making less money. They're feeling cast out. Now there's an opportunity to save.
So should we buy this meat or shouldn't we? And there would be some people who would say,
yes, there's freedom to do so. And then there'd be others who would say, no, there's not freedom to do
so. Another conflict that it would create is a social conflict. So imagine this. Imagine you're a
Christian and you're living in Corinth and there's a family that you've been witnessing to. And they're
not Christians. And they say to you, would you come to our house and eat with us? And you show up.
And they're definitely buying the meat sacrifice to the idol, right? What do you do? What is the
conflict that's there? What happens and what takes place? Now, what we're going to see is that in these
moments, Paul says, yes, you've got the freedom to do this. They're statues. They're not real.
They don't have power. How many of you, quick survey, I told Joel Van Ham I was going to use this.
Raise your hands if you remember watching the Brady Bunch with the Hawaiian tiki, right? Raise your hand,
right? All right, good, good. There's some of us, so I won't overly dive there. But right, like,
that's not what's happening, right? It's not these statues got power. And to help us, because we don't
live in an understanding of idols, I want to tell you guys a little story. And I brought this statue
in here with me. I got this statue. Aaron and I, after being married for a year, had an opportunity
to go on a mission trip to Zimbabwe. We were there for two weeks. And one day, I'd been at a church and
been doing some preaching and doing some teaching there. And we left, and we were told we wouldn't
be going by a market. And so I left the money locked up in the safe because we were told that's what we
needed to do. But I got some wrong information, okay? And we did stop by a market. Well, I was
there, and we were told, hey, in Zimbabwe, and it's still this way there, it's tough financially,
going through some difficult times. We started, hey, bring food with you because we can't guarantee
that you'll be able to get food every day. And so one of the things that I brought was, if you know
me, you know how much I love a Snickers candy bar, right? So I had my backpack, and I had it filled
with the Snickers candy bars. When I got hungry, I'd pull out a Snickers candy bar. And so we take
off, and we're walking around this market in Zimbabwe, and people are buying things, and they're
buying stuff. And I'm like, I'm hungry, right? Reach in, grab out a candy bar, start eating that candy
bar. And you would have thought I pulled out a million dollar bill, right? Men and women started
coming up to me. They started trying to sell me stuff, and I said, I don't have any money, but they
started pointing to what was in my hand, right? I was like, yeah, I got candy bars, you know?
This is 2005, so I got like 69 cents, you know? I'm rich, right? And so I was like, okay, well,
I got some candy bars. And so I'm like giving out a couple candy bars, and now like the masses are
coming. And people are like bringing stuff. They're like, this for a candy bar. I'm like, okay, that's
pretty cool, right? So it's got an elephant, and got some different animals' heads on there. That'll
look cool. I'll take that. Yeah, thank you. Hand-carved, like that's shoe polish to give it its
stain look, its color. So for the price of a trade of a Snickers candy bar, I got me a statue.
I go back to the hotel, and I'm showing one of the guys that's there, part of the missions team
that brought us in. I'm like, hey, look at my statue. He's like, man, a statue? That's an idol.
Like, what you mean? He's like, no, those represent different little gods, and they'll pray for
them, or pray to them, and do all these kind of things. I said, man, I thought it was a statue.
He said, yeah. And he said this, he said, you probably shouldn't have bought that.
And he goes, we show up in like the Baptist church minivan of Zimbabwe, you know?
And I'm like, yeah, probably not. But for me, it was just a statue. You know, I've had this
statue. It was at our home for years, and then it sat, let me set it back here,
had it in our home for years, and I've had it in my office. It's never moved, right? It's never
talked. It's never like had, like the lights go off and all of a sudden, right, it starts
glowing. It's a piece of wood. But for a group of people that watched a Christian pastor purchase
it, there's the thought in their heart, why is he buying an idol? Why is he buying an idol?
All right?
These idols have no power, and they're not real. And there's some difficulties for us in this.
Because when we see scripture, we see sometimes the Bible draws some hard lines. And by hard,
they can be difficult. But what I mean by hard is defining. Like we talked about last week,
God's standard for marriage. It's there. It's defined. It's clear. It's evident. God's designed
for sex. It's clear. It's evident. But not everything that we see, not everything that we have in here
are these exact same situations. So in these, we sometimes ask ourselves, can I? Can I? Can I do this?
Can I do that? I'm in Corinth. Can I eat the meat? I'm in Zimbabwe. Can I buy the statue?
Can I watch the movie? Can I have the drink? Can I make this purchase? Can I go here? And we ask
ourselves the question, can I? When the truth is, the question, the greater question that Paul has for
us in these moments is, should I? Not can I. It's should I. Right? Could I buy the statue?
Yeah, I could. Could I in that moment with clear conscience and the expectation of the Lord still
haven't found where it says, don't buy the statue? Yeah. But should I? No. I shouldn't have.
Men and women who came in and out of our room cleaning, bringing us food, building relationship,
sharing Christ. Right? Could it create a stumbling block? Absolutely. And what Paul says, the greater
motivation behind can I is the should I, which comes from not some made-up religious standard that we put on
ourselves, but is our love for Christ and my love for others and my love for you to ask the question,
should I? Back at verse 8. Food will not commend us to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat.
We're no better off if we do. But take care that this right of yours does not somehow become a stumbling
block to the weak. That's the concern. Not what can I do. Not what can I get away with. Not what do I have
Paul says, can you? Yes, you can. But your right can cause others to stumble. Verse 10. For if anyone sees you
who have knowledge of eating in an idol's temple, will he not be encouraged if his conscience is weak to eat
food offered to idols? And so by your knowledge, this weak person is destroyed, the brother for whom
Christ died. Look at verse 12. Thus sinning against your brother and wounding their conscience when it is
weak, Paul says, you sinned against Christ. You sinned against Christ. And if we are a people
who hate sin, to know that our sin causes them to stumble means that we sin against the Lord.
And so if my freedom causes you to stumble, then it becomes my sin. It becomes my sin. Verse 13.
Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, Paul says, I will never eat meat.
I will never eat meat. I will never eat meat. Can he? Yes. But he's saying, if this is what it's going to lead
to, then I'll walk away. Then I'll walk away. And all of this is done because Paul loves the brother whom he's
never met. This is knowledge puffs up. The stance that these men and women who were eating the meat
sacrificed to the idol, their argument was based in accurate theology.
What I can do. What I can do. What Paul says, but love builds up. What am I willing to lay down for others?
I want to look at a couple passages in Romans. Turn to Romans 12, 9.
We're going to look at love really, really quickly, I promise.
In an understanding, in just a couple of instances where we can see and draw from the writings of Paul
what this genuine biblical love looks like.
All right. I'm going to go ahead and start reading this. It's going to be on the screen.
Romans 12, starting verse 9.
Let love be genuine.
Abhor what is evil. Hold fast to what is good.
Love one another with brotherly affection.
Outdo one another in showing honor.
Do not be slothful in zeal.
Be fervent in spirit. Serve the Lord.
Rejoice in hope.
Be patient in tribulation.
Be constant in prayer.
Contribute to the needs of the saints
and seek to show hospitality.
Bless those who persecute you
and bless and do not curse them.
Rejoice with those who rejoice.
Weep with those who weep.
Live in harmony with one another.
Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly.
Never be wise in your own sight.
Repay no one evil for evil.
No one.
But give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all.
If possible, so far as it depends on you.
Not them, but you and me.
Live peaceably with all.
Beloved, never avenge yourselves.
But leave it to the wrath of God,
for it is written,
vengeance is mine,
I will repay, says the Lord.
To the contrary,
if your enemy is hungry,
feed him.
If he is thirsty,
give him something to drink.
For by doing so,
you will heat burning coals on his head.
Do not be overcome by evil,
but overcome evil with good.
Just a handful of things,
three things really quickly of what I just want to draw out of this,
that I feel like apply for this,
when we lay down what we can versus what we should,
in meaning to genuinely love,
to let our love be genuine.
Just a handful of things real quick.
Number one,
you and I,
and I'm so guilty of this,
hit me in between the eyes like a hammer this week.
Number one,
we have to remove the I don't care mentality.
What we do impacts people,
whether it's right or it's wrong.
And if it's right,
we should still do it.
All right?
I'm not saying that.
Truth is truth.
But when it hurts others,
we have to have a sense in our heart that cares.
It doesn't mean we have to take it back,
but we have to care.
And so too often,
we want to stand behind a falseness of this confidence that we have of truth
and say,
well,
when it hurts you,
I don't care.
And we have to remove the I don't care.
Paul says,
rejoice with those who rejoice,
weep with those who weep.
We have to remove the I don't care mentality.
Number two,
we have to stop giving selfish love.
We have to stop giving selfish love.
Loving those who we feel like are worthy and deserving of our love.
Only.
We've got to stop giving selfish love.
Paul says,
bless those who persecute you.
Bless them.
Encourage them.
Pour it out on them.
Love them with all you have.
Make them think you're so stinking weird,
they don't know what to do with it.
All right?
Bless them.
And here's something that God taught me this week.
Loving others is trusting God.
Paul says,
repay no one evil.
Now,
sometimes I feel like we determine that we are judge,
jury,
and executioner.
They've done this,
and so I'm righteous to then do this.
They've done this to me,
so then I'm going to lash out to them.
And we take where we've been offended,
where we've been hurt,
and we reflect back on that.
Here's what Paul says.
Repay no one evil for evil.
But then he goes down,
and at the end of this,
here's what he says,
leave it to the wrath of God.
They do this to you.
Lord,
I'm trusting that you're in control.
Lord,
I'm trusting that you're going to do what you're going to do.
Lord,
I'm trusting that you're going to use this.
The depth of the love that we see.
Right?
One of the passages,
fit like a couple of chapters.
Romans chapter nine.
Verses one and three.
Paul says this.
These are three hard verses.
I'm speaking the truth in Christ.
I'm not lying.
My conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit.
That I have great sorrow
and unceasing anguish in my heart.
For I could wish that I myself were accursed
and cut off from Christ
for the sake of my brothers,
my kingsmen,
according to the flesh.
What we see in Romans 12
is a love,
and largely in a lot of this,
a love for one another,
but also for love outside of the church.
But in chapter nine,
in these three verses,
Paul's going to narrow that focus down,
and he's going to talk about love for the lost.
And I want to ask you a question.
Do you love lost people?
You say yeah.
And I shake my head yeah.
And then this week,
what I learned
is the love that I have for the lost
is so far under God's standard
that it's not funny.
First off, let's understand here,
Paul is not speaking in hyperbole.
Verse one,
because Paul knows what he's about to say
is very radical in verses two and three.
Look back at this.
He says,
I'm speaking the truth in Christ.
Know that what I'm saying is from the Lord.
Paul says,
if you don't believe me,
I'm not lying.
My conscience to me
bears witness in the Holy Spirit
that what I'm about to say is true.
And he says that
what he feels,
his feeling for the lost
brings him this,
sorrow and unceasing anguish.
This is the give you ulcers,
keep you up at night,
burden your heart,
change your finances,
change your goals.
This is what it brings.
And Paul says,
I so love the lost,
my brothers,
who know not of Christ
and who he is
and who have not been transformed
that he says
that I'm willing
to be cut off from Christ
if it means others would know him.
Paul said,
I'm willing to take on
the wrath of God on myself
if it means
that they would know Jesus.
But how many times
will we not walk next door
to our neighbor?
Or go to the co-worker?
Or go to the person
who looks different,
sounds different,
acts different than us?
I mean,
I thought I loved the lost.
And then God said,
watch this.
In these last several years,
I want to share a piece of you
for the ministry
and the mission of our church,
of what God has done.
And a burden and an opportunity
that God has placed on my heart
and other individuals
in our church as well
to come alongside men and women
who are lost,
who are broken,
who are hurting,
and who do not know the Lord.
And it gives us an opportunity
to begin to see
what does this look like
in our life.
And I want to share with you
a ministry
that we're going to be
partnering with
and challenging
many of you
to join me
in this partnership.
The ministry
that we're going to be
partnering with
is a ministry known
as the Circle of Welcome.
And it's centered around
the refugee crisis
that has become
an opportunity
for the church.
I shared earlier
at the very beginning
of the message
that all throughout the world
for years,
for thousands of years
since the world began,
we see this great migration
of people
when conflict hits.
And then what has taken place
and what has happened
in the United States
from the very beginning
under every president
that has sat
in the Oval Office
has had to deal with
and figure out
how do we
as the United States
respond
to this global
refugee crisis
and this global
refugee movement.
And every president
in the United States
has welcomed
under different standards
for every single one of them
refugees
into our country.
And Columbia,
South Carolina,
I know most of us
are in Lexington,
but Columbia,
you know,
on the other side
of the river,
right?
It has become
a hotbed
of refugees
men,
women,
children,
and families
coming into here.
I won't say this,
legally.
They're here
with the paperwork
from the government
saying that
they have the right
to be here
and the assistance
to be here.
And as they come here,
what we begin to realize
is,
like,
imagine this,
like,
take a,
if you've ever been
to another country
one time
and, like,
you were there
for a week.
Let's say,
like,
you went to Mexico
on your honeymoon
and you were there
for a week.
And so,
you went there
and you noticed
that, like,
you stumbled through,
you're trying to,
like,
bring back
your high school
Spanish class
to, like,
help you order food
and you're unsure
of the signs
as you're traveling
and you're just
trying to get through
best you can,
all right?
People that are
younger than me,
let me walk y'all
through something.
We didn't have
Google Translate,
all right?
We had to figure
this stuff out
as we go.
And you saw
through that
until you got
to your resort,
right,
where you want to be,
how uncomfortable
that was
at the airport.
Imagine you were
in another country
speaking another language
with other cultures
and other customs
that are unlike
anything here.
And you're not
going to be brought
here for a week.
You're going to be
brought here
for the rest
of your life.
And the only thing
you can bring with you
is the bag
that you can carry
or the bag
that you can put
on your back.
And so through
the government
working through
different organizations,
what has been created
through the Lutheran Church
is a ministry
called Circles of Welcome.
And what they do
is they partner
with other organizations,
primarily churches
in our area,
who say that
these families
that we know
are coming here,
and so we're
going to form
what's called
a circle
of welcome
for them.
So that as they
get here,
they will come
here alone,
but what they
will find
is a family
and families
who love them,
who welcome them,
and who want
to see them
succeed
where they find
themselves.
and it provides
us that opportunity.
It provides us
that opportunity
to share the gospel.
Provides the opportunity
to share our life.
But it's going to
require some things
for us,
and it's what I want
to close on
before we take part
in the Lord's Supper.
So what will
a circle of welcome
require?
Number one,
require a commitment
of time.
As we form a circle
of welcome
at Willow Ridge Church,
which is going to be
somewhere between
six and fifteen
individuals,
the commitment
of time
that we will commit
is somewhere
between six
and twelve months
to be able
to walk along
this family.
What will we do
over six and twelve
months?
Number one,
a big one,
is we're going
to assist
in transportation
needs.
We're going to
help take
the doctor's
appointments.
We'll help
take the DMV
appointments.
We'll help
take the job
training,
because it is
the goal,
and it's
where they end
to get jobs
that they can
provide for
themselves.
We'll transport
them as they
need to get
their kids
registered for
schools.
We'll help
take them
to ESL
classes,
and many
other different
transportation
needs.
Oh,
a big one
is going
to the grocery
store.
Help transport
them there
as well.
Another thing
that we will
help in
is we will
assist
in cultural
transition.
I mentioned
the grocery
store.
I don't
know if
you know
this,
but every
country has
different
cultures,
and every
culture has
its different
way that you
buy food.
I don't know
about you,
but one of the
most intimidating
things when I
go into a new
country is then
opening up and
trying to figure
out how to move
from dollar to
whatever this
currency is.
We've got to
help with that.
We've got to
take them
through and
teach them
and show
them and walk
through with
their money
that they
have how
they can
buy and
provide the
things for
theirs.
One of the
things we
like to do
is Aaron
and I love
to go to
the Indian
grocery store
and buy
things.
We love to
cook Indian
food, but
it's so
intimidating
when you
can't read
the labels.
Just imagine
that's where
you are.
We're there
that we can
help read
and help
the best we
can translate
and explain
what these
things are.
Assist in
cultural
transitions.
Another way
that we
can
assist
in
cultural
transitions
is to
share a
meal.
Share a
meal.
Let me
tell you,
when you
have the
opportunity
to sit
down,
two years
ago,
I sat
down with
a man
from India
at a
place in
Lexington
and they
brought out
the menu
and I
said,
Jacob,
if you're
okay,
can I
order for
you?
And he
said,
yes.
And I
said,
you're
about to
be
wowed.
And I
said,
bring this
man a
Philly
cheese
steak
and
onion
rings.
And they
brought it
out.
He didn't
know what
it was,
but he
partook
in it
and loved
every
moment of
it.
And so
we get
those
opportunities
to share
a meal,
but maybe
even to
take part
in one
of their
meals
as well.
Another
way we
can assist
in a
cultural
transition
is to
find a
movie
and take
him to
see a
movie
and
experience
that.
Columbia
has been
blessed
with one
of the
best
zoos
in the
world
and to
go there
and walk
through that
process
with him.
These are
the things
on paper
that through
this
organization
they ask
us to
do.
But I
also want
to share
with you
two other
ways,
if you
agree to
be a part
of this
circle of
welcome,
that you
can welcome
this family
into our
community.
Number
one,
you can be
a friend.
You can be
a friend.
seems like
one of the
most simple
things to
do.
But be
someone who
knows when
their birthday
is.
Be someone
who will
weep when
they weep
and rejoice
when they
rejoice to
be the
friend that
Christ has
called you
to be.
And then
the second
one,
and I
shared this
with the
leader at
the Lutheran
Church
services,
the ultimate
goal.
Because I'm
not about
patting people
on the back
as they go
to hell.
the most
important thing
that we can
have the
opportunity to
do is to
share Jesus
with them.
The hope
of the
gospel.
Maybe it
begins as
we just
pray for
them.
Maybe it
continues on
as we share
a Bible
study with
them.
Maybe it
continues on
as their
friend you
say,
can I help
you out
with your
ESL
classes?
And we
do so by
teaching them
through the
stories of
the Bible.
Maybe it
begins as
we help
them learn
how to
read by
opening up
a children's
story Bible
and helping
them read
through and
understand the
words that
are there.
Maybe it
continues on
as you share
your testimony
in your
journey to
the Lord.
Why would
we do
this?
What does
this require?
What requires
it the part
to lay down
my rights,
what I
can do
and ask
myself,
what should
I do
and what
is needed?
No one's
getting into
heaven or not
because of
this for us.
Your salvation
is not found
in whether you
signed up on
a piece of
paper to be
a part of
the circle
of welcome
or not,
but it's
found in the
sacrifice of
Jesus Christ.
He gave of
his life
so that you
might have
life.
Thanks again
for listening
to the
Willow Ridge
Church weekly
podcast.
We hope that
you enjoyed
listening to
this week's
message.
If you'd
like to
learn more
about who
we are
or explore
additional
resources,
visit us
online at
www.willowridgechurch.com
or by searching
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Church on
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