“Loved By You” sung by Riley Clemmons proclaims through melodious lyrics the difference between what we deserve & how God chooses to bless us.

• Loved By—GOD—changes everything!
• Redeemed By—JESUS—changes everything!

There has been turmoil in the world since the beginning of time, and oftentimes, we can join the chorus of the world when we speak of how the world has always been this way and how we are just one person.  We may even proclaim:  “How can a single person make a difference in the mess of this world?”

The apostle Paul understood how people think, probably because he was one too (a person). 

• As a church planter, Paul understood the church, probably because he was a persecutor of the early church before his conversion before his personal salvation experience.
• As a church planter, Paul understood the inner-workings of a church body, how it can be difficult to bring all those opinions together and “make a go” of an effective church family.

The 1^st Century church struggled, just like so many today.

• Maybe that’s why the apostle Paul wrote his letters to the numerous church families.
• Maybe he heard how the “body of Christ” was suffering where they were planted.
• Maybe he heard how they had returned to their sinful ways.
• Maybe he learned how the early church was following the ways of the culture where they lived.

So he wrote his epistles to encourage them, to re-direct them, and oftentimes to rebuke them about their following of the (then) modern-day societal thinking rather than the faithful following of God’s Holy Word.

To be honest, Paul’s writings are applicable to churches across the globe today, and in actuality, the Bible provides—the very words of Almighty God!

• To direct each individual’s steps,
• To re-direct our thoughts,
• To rebuke and discipline our sinfulness, and
• To remind us of the amazing gift of God’s Grace!

We live in a time when the body of Christ faces opposition.

• The 1^st Century churches faced similar persecution & opposition from the world.

We live in a time when the churches of God have been infiltrated by false teachers.

• The 1^st Century churches faced similar struggles with that same infiltration.

We live in a time when the congregations at the local churches must stand together.

• The 1^st Century churches were encouraged to continue in their meeting together.

“Not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, . . .”

Truly, the world of believers today is not so removed from the believers of the 1^st Century.

&

Truly, the world of believers today can be encouraged from the examples of the believers of the 1^st Century.

THEREFORE—

since we have RECEIVED SO MUCH—THE SALVATION of GOD, let us OBEDIENTLY SERVE GOD & LOVE OTHERS LIKE JESUS!

God’s Word gives us careful instruction in what we must do.

Since we have received God’s Amazing Grace, We Must:

1^st—Remember from Whom we have received our confidence—Jesus Christ our Lord!

“enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus,

by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, . . .”

2^nd—Recall that we serve a Great High Priest—Jesus Christ our Lord!

“we have a great priest over the house of God, . . .”

The Bible clearly reveals what we are to do because of God’s gracious gift of His salvation!

1^st— “let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, . . .”

2^nd— “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, . . .”

3^rd— “let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, . . .”

4^th— [let us] “encouraging one another; . . .”

It would be so much easier to just live our lives, satisfied with our salvation, confident of our eternity, so the question becomes:  WHY should the family of God work together in the place where they have been planted?

Since we (may) have this question, let us see what God’s Word provides as His answer.