I met some new folks this morning after the service that were here for the first time a couple I met. I think there were others, but a couple I met were from Spanish River, a sister church in southern Florida and they were moved here and looking for a home church. It was good to see them and if tonight you are new to Christ covenant and perhaps your first visit with us, I want to welcome you on behalf of the officers. Our senior pastor Mike Ross is on a well-deserved sabbatical this summer for a few months. Mike returns with Jane on August 18th, I believe and we are looking forward to having him back. But in his absence, the pastors and I are preaching a series of sermons on Sunday evenings that are titled, Let the Love of the Brethren Continue. It's taken from the first verse of the 13th chapter of Hebrews. Hebrews 13 concludes a long epistle that exalts the supremacy and the greatness of our Lord Jesus Christ and has meaningful and practical implications for us right now where we live. And so, as is typical in the New Testament epistles, the implications of great doctrine about God and His redemptive plans for His creation are fleshed out at the conclusion. And that's true for Hebrews. This last chapter issues a series of encouragement and exhortations to live in a way that magnifies whom Christ is and all He's done for us and His life and His death and His resurrection and His ascension to heaven where Hebrews even says that He lives forever to make intercession for us. And it happens that how we live as believers really matters to Him. And it is these exhortations that we have been studying together over the summer months. Thus far, we've discovered that we magnify Christ and as sacrifice for sinners when we practice hospitality. When we seek the welfare of those in prison and who are suffering, when we are faithful in our marriages, when we're good stewards with our money, when we're content with what we have, when we honor our leaders as we did a few moments ago and when we embrace the truth. All these are ways in this life that we exercise ourselves to love the brethren and in so doing, magnify the greatness and the supremacy of our Christ. It's a way of showing them off to a watching world. Last week, Gabe Sylvia brought forth yet another way in which we magnify Christ and our heavenly Father before the world, it's found in verse 15 of chapter 13 and it is this, that we worship God together with grateful hearts. Verse 15 puts it this way through and then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God that is the fruit of lips that acknowledges name. Pastor Sylvia helped us see that as a worshiping community, what we do every Lord's day and continuously, according to the writer of Hebrews, really matters to the Lord and to us and to our fallen and distressed world. If Christ is as supreme and as great as Hebrews claims, then worship should be the natural response of a grateful people. But Gabe almost stole my thunder for this week's sermon by helping us see that verses 15 and 16 stand together in a wonderful way. Let me read them together and remind you of what Gabe said. Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God that is the fruit of lips that acknowledges name, do not neglect to do good and to share what you have for such sacrifices are pleasing to God. Gabe rightly noted that these two verses are a reflection of Christ's summary of the law and the prophets found in Matthew 22 as well as in Luke and in Mark, where Jesus responds to a clever question from a teacher of the law. We read in Matthew 22, 35 and one of them a lawyer asked him a question to test in teacher which is the great commandment of the law and he said to him, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment and the second is like it. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. These two commandments depend all the law and the prophets. The first great commandment that Jesus mentions is derived from Deuteronomy chapter 6, verses 4 and 5, and it's a breathtaking summary of the first four of the ten commandments. The second great commandment is a restatement of Leviticus chapter 19 verse 18 that reads, you shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord. This passage in Leviticus is frequently cited in the New Testament as a summary of the last six of the ten commandments. Look with me if you care to at Romans chapter 13, beginning in verse 8. There are Paul writes, oh no one, anything except to love each other for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments you shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not covet, or any other commandment are summed up in this word, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. Love does no wrong to a neighbor, therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. James calls this the royal law in James 2.8, where he writes, if you really fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, you shall love your neighbor as yourself, you are doing well. What is necessary for us to understand is that worshiping God and serving one another through good deeds and sharing, hang together. They don't exist in isolation from one another. Both are sacrifices, says the writer of Hebrews that please God. First John chapter 4, verse 20 and 21, makes this perfectly clear. John writes, if anyone says, I love God and hates his brother, he's a liar. For he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen and this commandment we have from him, whoever loves God must love his brother. It is this royal law that we want to look at tonight, it's found in verse 16, that the apostle John says is the litmus test of whether we truly love and worship the Lord. Think of it as a restatement of the second great commandment. Let me read it again for you, do not neglect to do good and to share what you have for such sacrifices are pleasing to God. Pray with me please. Father, teach us please the implications of this simple verse and I pray that you would provoke us to please you by our good deeds and sharing with one another in Christ's name. I want to examine this exhortation from the writer of Hebrews by beginning with the end. That is I want you to think with me about the writer's statement that doing good and sharing what we have with others is a sacrifice that is pleasing to God. Then I want to come back and consider what those things are that bring him pleasure. Why do you do what you do day in and day out? There are various motivations for our choices I suppose. Tonight I am speaking of those choices that are right choices, good choices that we know are consistent with the word of God. Such things as working hard to provide for your family, taking care of aging parents, raising our children well, honoring the Lord's day, being merciful to the suffering and other such things that are simply consistent with living the Christian life as we understand it. We think of many of these things as simply fulfilling our duty as believers. Without these things, life would be even more chaotic than it already is in a fallen world. Without these good deeds, we know from Scripture that the welfare of people made in God's image would diminish and that the gospel's progress throughout the world to be impeded. And so we choose, I hope, to do those things that are consistent with being called a Christian. And I want you to see the motivation that the writer of Hebrews offers us. He might have simply said, do not neglect to do good and share what you have. And had that been all he said, I suspect we would gladly on most days be willing to obey. But he didn't in there. No, he adds this, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God. And it seems to me that the author wants us to know that our choices each day to fulfill our duty and do obey the Lord truly bring in pleasure. Can you remember as a little boy or a little girl wanting to do whatever you were doing going to do because you knew it would please your mom or dad, even at my age, I can remember that. My children hate it when I use them for an illustration publicly so I'll have to keep this one anonymous, bear with me. One of my sons, when he was a little guy, loved to surprise me with gifts that he made for me. And if you visit my office, you'll see several of the things that he made for me that not only brought me pleasure when he gave them to me, but still bring me pleasure every time I look at them or show them to someone. One of those little surprise gifts consisted of two little pocket knives that had belonged to my dad, that my son found in my dad's toolbox or actually his fishing box, after my dad had died, and he cleaned them up. He made a little paper box, and he glued those knives inside, and on the outside of this little paper box, he wrote, these are for you, dad, when we were at Grannis, I looked into the fishing gear and found these, they're 50 years old, I cleaned them up for you. And when I opened the flap, there were these two wonderful mementos to remind me of my dad with this written by my son, their Popeyes, I took two years to clean them. I'm still moved by this expression of love from my son. I've not been able to bring myself to take those pocket knives out of the paper box and use them because I don't want to forget the initiative of my son that was a simple expression of his love for me, that he hoped would please me. It was his sacrifice for his earthly father. I recently wanted to do something for Pat to let her know that I love her, and I appreciate her. I think we both agree that the sacrifices we both make every day to see that our family and each other care for adequate expressions of our love that bring us both pleasure. For instance, Pat would tell you that I'm quick to help her clean up the kitchen after meals, that means a lot to her. But then I'm the beneficiary of her excellent cooking, it just makes sense to do that. And so I wanted to do something for her that was unexpected, that would represent some sacrifice, that would surprise her and please her much like my son did for me some years back. And that isn't easy, because Pat asked for very little. And over our 33 years of marriage, she's mentioned several times that she wished that she had purchased her classroom from UNC Greensboro where she went to school. I don't know if you've ever seen the ring from UNCG, but it's very beautiful. And so without telling her, I ordered her college ring, and I gave it to her as we celebrated my birthday back in March. She was speechless, but I was so pleased to give her something that would bring her pleasure. Every time she wears, I experience, again, the joy of having pleased my wife in a way that wasn't expected. What's my point? It's simply this. The proper perspective for us as we obey the Lord is that our sacrifices of worship and of good deeds and sharing bring real pleasure to our Heavenly Father. He is after all the living and true God. He is a real person. Ephesians 4.30 reminds us that it's possible to grieve him. And if it's possible to grieve him, it's also possible to bring him pleasure, much like my son's gift to me. In Romans 8, the Apostle Paul reminds us that we are no longer slaves, but rather adopted sons and daughters of the living God. He is our Father. We are His children. He writes, for all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the Spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you've received the Spirit of adoption as sons by whom we cry, Oba, Father. The Spirit Himself bears witness with our Spirit that we are children of God, and it children then heirs, heirs of God, and fellow heirs with Christ. Yes, I think the writer of Hebrews is trying to remind us that our obedience brings our Heavenly Father pleasure, and that because we are His children, this should encourage us and stimulate us to persevere in these things and to see our good deeds in light of His pleasure in us. This isn't the only place we're told this in the Scriptures, you know. It is a recurring and consistent theme, in Colossians 1, 9 and 10, Paul writes, and so from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. In 1 Timothy 5, 3, we read, honor widows who are truly widows, but if a widow has children or grandchildren, let them first learn to show godliness to their own household and make some return to their parents for this is pleasing in the sight of God. Again, 1 Timothy 2, first of all, then I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions and thanks-givings be made for all people, for kings, and for all who are in high positions. Who may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way, this is good and it is pleasing in the sight of God, our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to knowledge of the truth. I could go on, but the Apostle Paul sums up this idea of cultivating a desire to bring the word pleasure by how we live in 2 Corinthians chapter 5, beginning in verse 6, is he attempts to encourage those who are suffering and facing the prospect of death? He writes for us, therefore, being always of good courage and knowing that while we're at home in the body, we're absent from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight, we're of good courage, I say, and prefer, rather, to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord, therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to him. Knowing that our commitment to follow the Lord in obedience not only is right and good for a variety of reasons, but that it actually brings pleasure to our Heavenly Father, seems to me to be highly motivated. I know that my sin, grieves and can quench his spirit, I'm all too familiar with that, and I expect you are as well, but to know that my obedience brings in real pleasure is another thing, a wonderful thing. An understandable question that flows from this is, how would it know what will bring the word pleasure? Well, we're told in Ephesians chapter 5, beginning in verse 7, how to think about that because it anticipates the question and calls us to seek to discover the answer. All rights for our benefit there, therefore do not be partakers with them, for you were formerly darkness, but you are light in the Lord, walk as children of light, for the fruit of light consists of all goodness and righteousness and truth, trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. Paul refers to us as children of light, and he calls us to seek what is pleasing to the Lord, and my answer, if you haven't figured it out yet, is that we learn what pleases the Lord by participating in the means of grace, worship, reading God's Word, prayerfully, and listening to him. And tonight, we're told two things, among many others, that will bring him pleasure, and they both come under the heading of a shared life. Let me read verse 16, once more, and make some observations. Do not neglect doing good and sharing, for with such sacrifices God is pleased. It's hard for preacher to get to the things that please God without acknowledging the opening phrase, do not neglect. Why is that phrase there, and how are we to think about it? It would seem that the Hebrew Christians had the same problem we do. Perhaps they forgot at times, and then their forgetfulness neglected to do what pleased the Lord. Perhaps it was more than that. Either way, the writer of Hebrews reminded them not to neglect the shared life. What causes us to neglect the shared life? Some explanations are understandable, some less so. For one, Americans are the busiest people in the Western culture, I suppose. We have a lot going on. We have less vacation than our European brethren. We work longer hours, and we seem to be under greater stress. One friend of mine mentioned the other day, how late and long the Europeans seem to linger over dinner. And they do, but we don't. My point is that in our busyness, we crowd out the shared life that we're told in our passage pleases the Lord. Our busyness is not necessarily a virtue in this respect. It is certainly not in our best interest. Another obstacle to the shared life is simply our stubborn refusal to participate in it. We know a call to share our lives with others, comes with the package of the Christian life, but we simply refuse it. This may be what the writer of Hebrews was addressing earlier in his epistle when he wrote, and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another all the day as you see the day drawing near. The brothers and sisters, we don't have the prerogative of stubbornly neglecting the shared life. To do so is to grieve the Lord, not to police him. Christ's covenant is a big church. It's easy to hide and to isolate oneself and avoid the shared life, even though we urge folks, as Decker urges folks, all the time to participate in small groups. We urge our people to participate in Sunday school and to serve in a ministry somewhere. We have countless opportunities to experience the shared life that the writer of Hebrews is speaking to. And yet, I know some of our members who live isolated lives and it saddens me deeply. Over the years, whenever I teach the discovery class, one of the first things I say to new folks is to urge them not to live on the fringes of the church. And one reason I give them is that calamity always comes and it rarely announces itself. Over my many years here, I've seen our folks who've cultivated the shared life be cared for so well when calamity comes to their home. I've experienced that personally more than once myself. But I've also observed the unfortunate consequences for those in our congregation who chose to live on the fringes when tragedy strikes, tries hard as we might to serve them. Their experience is often a lonely and sad one. It didn't have to be that way. But what a man says he reeks, says the Apostle Paul. And it so it seems do not neglect is important for us to hear. So what specifically are we not to neglect? The first thing we're told is that we're not to neglect doing good. That seems obvious enough, doesn't it? I must remind you that doing good in this context has nothing to do with securing eternal life, but rather as a byproduct of our life with God. If you'll look with me at Ephesians 2.8-10, I want you to be reminded again just what the relationships of good works and saving faith are from the Apostle Paul. He writes for a benefit, for by grace you've been saved through faith, that not of yourselves it's a gift of God, not as a result of works so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works that God created beforehand that we should walk in them. How clarifying Paul is in explaining the relationship of saving faith with good works. These verses are unmistakably clear. We are made for good works. It reminds me of Eric Little's response to his sister when she urged him to set us out his athletic competition at the Olympics and pursue his calling to be a missionary in China, and he said to her, God made me to run and when I run, I feel the pleasure of God. We were designed by God for good works like an engineer designs a system to fulfill a definite purpose. Our design for good works, God thought about this, Paul says, before it we ever existed and he intends that we walk in them. And our good works are to be done for the benefit of others and in community with others. There's very little done in our church family and isolation, even in preparation for what might seem a solo task like preaching or teaching the pastors collaborate. We pray for one another, we give feedback. I know you're praying for us, numerous ones of you told me that today, nearly all the good works God designed for us to do are to be done as part of the family of God. Not only are we to do good works, but the writer says that one of those good works is to share what we have with others. In the shared life of the Christian, it's something of a contradiction to be unwilling to share what is yours with others. Perhaps the most clarifying example of this is found in the early church in Acts. There are two mentions of this shared life where believers acquired a new perspective on their possessions. Let's look at them quickly, the first is found in Acts 2 beginning in verse 42. Their Luke writes, they were continually devoting themselves to the apostles teaching into fellowship and to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Someone kept feeling a sense of awe and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles and all those who had believed were together and all things in common and they began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all as anyone might have need. Day by day, continuing with one mind in the temple and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, praising God, being favored with all the people and the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved. What Luke is describing here are the experiences and the practices of the church in its earliest days right out of the gate. It seems that there was a shared life, they met together to worship and they met from house to house, they had meals together, they shared what they had with one another. This shared life was pleasing to the Lord and compelling to the residents of Jerusalem so that we read that they were having favor with all the people and that the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved. That would be enough of a record I suppose, except that Luke records just two chapters over even in the midst of opposition from the Jewish Sanhedrin that the church was continuing to live the shared life. They were committed to seeing that no one in their church family remained in abject poverty, cost them something. It was sacrificial to live this way. So we read in Acts 4 beginning in verse 32, the congregation of those who believed were of one heart and soul, not one of them claimed that anything belonging to him was his own but all things were common property to them. With great power the apostles were giving testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus and abundant grace was given them all. For there was not a needy person among them, for all who were owners of land or houses would sell them and bring the proceeds of the sales and lay them at the apostles' feet and they would be distributed to each one as any had need. Now Joseph, a Levite of Cyprian birth who was also called Barnabas by the apostles which translated means son of encouragement and who owned attractive land sold it and brought the money and laid it at the apostles' feet remarkable. Brothers and sisters, I want to commend you for your expressions of sharing life together. The pastors and the officers, we regularly marvel at your generosity. After each Lord's supper as you contribute beyond your tide to causes that are quite like those that we read about in Acts 2 and Acts 4. Like the early church, we have folks sometimes many who have pressing needs that they can't meet because of unemployment or some other circumstances beyond their control. Our deacons labor very hard to sensitively and responsibly come alongside our folks at such times with meaningful financial help routinely you've made that possible through your benevolent gifts. And I'm aware that some of you have made significant sacrifices in these matters that would rival what we read in Acts. Thank you. I know how grateful and encouraged the pastors and elders and deacons have been, it remains to be said, how much more must the Lord take pleasure in you? Is there more for us as a congregation in this shared life that the writer of Hebrews is calling for? I'm sure there is. We have many new folks coming to our church and we'll probably always be looking for ways to be better at welcoming them. It is natural to gravitate toward those who know best. But we must keep in mind that God's church is a growing church and it is his desire to add to our numbers daily, those who are being saved. We must be open to that by welcoming them on the Lord's Day and our worship services and to our small groups and to our Sunday school classes and into our homes without neglecting the rest of the family of God. That's what families do. God's Sunday, my family gathered as we love to do on special occasions. To celebrate my son Graham's 20th birthday, Jessica and her new husband Chad and his two young children were there. Our son Ian was there with his new fiance, Brittany. They announced their engagement to us that afternoon. Graham and Hayden of course were there and everyone was there but my oldest son Jonathan. Jonathan, Liz and Bowling Green, Kentucky now where he recently began his legal career. And we missed him greatly for this festive afternoon but as we were ending and beginning to clear off the table, Pat made a profound statement. She said, today has made me very happy to have my family gathered for times like this brings me more pleasure than anything else I could imagine. Pat was describing so eloquently was the shared life of one family that the launches had been so blessed to experience. And I know that for some of you that were not married or for some other reasons that isn't possible right now. But as I've tried to say to you many times, this is the family of God. No more perfect than my nuclear family, but we gather. We worship. We share our lives in various ways and at various times. We want to be a better family than we are. But that will require that we all see that the shared life brings pleasure to our Heavenly Father, the living and true God who sees us as his household of faith and who has arranged life for us to be lived together in ways that are good for us in which makes his gospel a compelling message to a lost world. And if per chance you are here tonight and you're not familiar with the pleasure of God and this shared Christian life because you do not know Jesus Christ, let me invite you to be curious about what you're missing. A rich life in Christ awaits all who are willing to acknowledge that they are separated from the living God by their sin and who humbly welcome Christ as Savior and Lord. I would welcome a conversation with you. Let's pray together. Father the concept of family extends to your people. And tonight as we have read about and studied about the shared life, oh Lord I do pray. For those that may be living on the fringes of your church, they find their way into the center of life where it is rich and good. And I pray, Father, for all of us that it might be said of Christ covenant at some time if it's not being said already that they love one another very well. I pray in Jesus' name, Amen. So would you stand please for the benediction? It's hard to think of another benediction that's more profound expression of the shared life that we've discussed in Hebrews 13 than what is found in the closing of 2 Corinthians chapter 13. Receive the benediction, finally brethren, rejoice, be made complete, be comforted, be like minded, and the God of love and peace will be with you. Greet one another with a holy kiss, all the saints greet you, and the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all, Amen.