A Glimpse into the Early Church

Tomorrow is the 235th birthday of our nation, and we will celebrate the freedom that we have purchased by the blood of men and women who fought for us and continue to maintain that freedom even today. But really what the celebration is about on July 4th is the signing of the Declaration of Independence. That's what proclaimed our independence from England, and we celebrate the signing of that 235 years ago. The Declaration of Independence is a fascinating document. It is today kept in the rotunda of the charters of freedom in Washington DC. It's largely faded because of inadequate preservation techniques applied to it in the 1800s. It does have writing on the back of it. But sadly it is not a code or a clue to a hidden treasure nationally. It actually is the words inscribed in the lower corner of the back of it are original Declaration of Independence dated 4th July 1776. Most historians believe, although it's not known who wrote that, most historians believe it was there because for a long, long time it was rolled up as a parchment, and on that corner was written its identification, what it was. So as they pulled it out of the place, the archive where it was stored, they would know exactly this was the original document. One of the most interesting things about the Declaration of Independence is the lives and stories of the 56 men who signed that Declaration of Independence. There's a popular email that goes around which has a lot of information and legend in it. But if you really want to read the stories of those men, I would encourage you to look up ushistory.org. It will have a link to the Declaration of Independence. We'll have another link to the biography of all 56 of those men. Fascinating stories of 56 people, you can kind of draw glimps into the early days of our nation's history and find out what those men did, what kind of vocations they had, what they put on the line to sign that Declaration of Independence from England. We've been moving through the Book of Romans on Sunday morning now for the last 14 or 15 months, and we've come to chapter 16 today where we have a Declaration of names, a list of names as impressive, I believe more impressive than the names on the back or on the front of the Declaration of Independence, a list of names that helps us draw back the curtain of the first century and get a glimpse into the first century church. This is a rare privilege that we have today to be able to move back in history almost 2000 years and meet some real life flesh and blood people who made up the early church. What Paul does for us in Romans chapter 16 is to give us a fascinating glimpse into the people who made up the early church. These are real names. These are real people. They had real jobs, real families, real heartaches, real joy. They went through things like we go through and they made up the first century church. Oftentimes this part of the Book of Romans is skipped as being uninteresting just a list of names, but I believe it to be the opportunity inspired by the Holy Spirit to give us a glimpse of what early church life was like. In the Book of Romans chapter 16, we will find that the early church was a church of people. It was also a church of problems and a church of praise. We'll save the problems and the praise for next week. We'll look at the people today. So are you ready? Let's take a look at the people. Pull back the curtain of time and look at people who made up the first century church. Today we're going to find the people that we meet and then we will look at the principles we must master if we are to be the kind of first century church that these people composed. The people that we meet, let's take a look at them first of all in general, we will just read the passage and meet them in that way. Romans 16, verse 1, I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant of the church in Cancria. I ask you to receive her in the Lord in a way worthy of the saints and to give her any help she may need from you for she has been a great help to many people, including me. Great Priscilla and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, they risk their lives for me. Not only I, but all the churches of the Gentiles are grateful to them. Greet also the church that meets at their house. Greet my dear friend Epinetus, who was the first convert to Christ in the province of Asia. Greet Mary, who worked very hard for you. Greet Andronicus and Junius, my relatives, who have been in prison with me, they are outstanding among the apostles and they were in Christ before I was. Greet Ampliatus, whom I love in the Lord. Greet Urbana, our fellow worker in Christ, and my dear friend, Stakis. Greet Appelus, tested and approved in Christ. Greet those who belong to the household of Aristobulus. Greet Herodian, my relative. Those in the household of Narcissus, who are in the Lord. Greet Trifina and Trifosa, those women who work hard in the Lord. Greet my dear friend, Persus, another woman who has worked very hard in the Lord. Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord, and his mother, who has been a mother to me too. Greet Asynchritus, Flagon, Hermes, Patrickus, Hermus, and the brothers with them. Greet Philologist, Julia, Nirius, and his sister, and Olympus, and all the saints with them. Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ send greetings. Let's skip down to verse 21, where we find more greetings. Timothy, our fellow worker, sends his greetings to you as delusious, Jason, and Sucypher are my relatives. I Tertius, who wrote down this letter, greet you in the Lord. Gaeus, whose hospitality, eye and the whole church here, enjoy, sends you his greetings. Erastus, who is the city's director of public works, and our brother Cortus, sends you their greetings. What a wonderful list of names. In general, 37 people whose names are mentioned, and many others whose names are not mentioned, referred to as saints, brothers, people in the household of someone else. So probably upwards of 50 people or more that are referenced in this chapter, people who lived in the first century, and comprised the first century church. The first 16 verses are people who were in Rome, and were a part of the church in Rome. How did Paul know them? He had never been to Rome, you remember? Probably because, as we know from many of them being referenced in the book of Acts, he had met them in other places on his missionary journeys, and they had somehow, over the years, migrated to Rome, and they were now in the church at Rome. Paul greets them as fellow workers, as ones he has known through the years. Versus 21 to 23, Paul mentions several people who are with him in Corinth, as he writes from that city, this letter to the Romans, and there are people in the church in Corinth who send their greetings to their fellow believers in Rome. That's the people that we meet in general, but let's get up close and personal. Let's go back and look at some of these people and see what Paul tells us about them, because it helps us to kind of fill in the names with a little bit of biographical detail, a little bit of history about these people, a little bit of insight into what kind of people they were. Let's take the first one, that Paul gives quite a bit of information about Phoebe in verse 1. He says, I commend you, our sister, Phoebe, sister in the Lord. Obviously, he's talking about a fellow believer, Phoebe, and he says she is a servant of the church in Cancria. Cancria was actually the port city suburb of Corinth. Paul is writing from Corinth. Cancria, which is a beautiful harbor, I think we have a picture of it for you, about six miles off of away from Corinth. Corinth is about six miles inland, and this is the port city, the harbor city of Corinth called Cancria. Phoebe was a servant of the church there. By the way, servant is the word that is also in the New Testament translated Deacon. And so some have suggested she was a female Deacon or Deaconess. Possibly, if so, probably she just served in ways in the church that were accustomed to in that day, but most of the time this word is used in the New Testament. It is used of the actual act of serving only a couple times as it used of an office of Deaconess. So probably Paul has in mind here someone who is just serving in whatever way she can in the church. Notice what he says about her though in verse 2. He says, I ask you to receive her in the Lord. When Paul says that at the end of his epistles, he's usually talking about the person who is delivering the letter. And so Phoebe probably is delivering the letter from Corinth to the church in Rome. And so he's saying, I want you to know, Phoebe's here. I want you to welcome her, receive her in the Lord. She's bringing you this letter that I have written. And notice what else he says about her. He says, give her any help she may need from you, for she has been a great help to many people, including me. This evidently is how she served the church in Cancria. The word great help, not the average word for help, it's actually a word which means a patron or benefactor. Someone who uses their resources to help others. Evidently, Phoebe was a woman of some means in the church. I don't know whether it was her family or whether it was her vocation or what allowed her to have the kind of resources that she invested in the work of God. And that's how she helped others in the work of God. She was a benefactor. She was a patron, one who used her funds to help others in the work of God. Phoebe, very interesting lady. And then look at verse three, where we're introduced to Priscilla and Aquila. Paul says they're fellow workers. And they were, in more senses than one, they were fellow tent makers with Paul. Paul used the profession of tent making to support himself on his missionary journeys. In addition to some support he received from churches. But he used tent making to help get through each day. And he met on his missionary journeys this couple who also worked tent makers and made tents for a living and they fellowshiped and worked with each other. But Paul also says they were fellow workers in Christ Jesus. They were servants of God as well and they served together. And then Paul references a well-known risk that they took in verse four. They risk their lives for me. But we don't have any record of that happening in the book of Acts. We don't know what he's referring to there. But it's evidently well-known to the churches because he goes on to say, not only I, but all the churches of the Gentiles are grateful to them. So well-known risk they took to help save Paul's life. Here is a couple who knew what it meant to lay their life on the line to serve Jesus Christ on behalf of the Apostle Paul. And there is a church that meets in their home. He says in verse four, or verse five, in the city of Rome. Then look at epinetus, verse five. Paul says epinetus who was my first convert to Christ, the first convert to Christ in the province of Asia. Province of Asia, Paul's ministry is described there in Acts as taking place from the city of Ephesus. And from the city of Ephesus churches were planted. Many churches, at least three that we know of from the book of Colossians, and many believe that the seven churches mentioned in Revelation, all of which are in Asia, probably were planted out of Paul's church-planting ministry of two and a half years from Ephesus. But Paul will never forget in the midst of all that busy church-planting and never forget his first convert. You never forget the first person you won to Christ. I still remember the first person that I ever won to Christ. I was a youth pastor, my first year at Peamont Bible College, in Daniel's missionary Baptist Church, just up the road a little ways. And I never forget JK Simmons, the first person I ever won to Christ. And he's still living for the Lord as far as I know. It's been a while since I've seen him, but I'll never forget that experience. You never forget the first person you won to Christ. And Paul couldn't in the midst of all of the churches he had planted, he never forgot epinetus, his first convert in Asia. And then he mentioned some other people. Look at on verse 7, Andronicus and Junius. Andronicus is a male named Junius is a female name in all likelihood. So this may be a couple. He calls them my relatives. Paul has used that expression before in chapter 9 to refer to fellow countrymen, not blood kin, but fellow Jews. And so probably speaking here of fellow Jews whom Paul says in verse 7, have been in prison with me. Again, we have no record of that in the book of Acts. They're not mentioned in the book of Acts. You just wonder how many people like this there were in the first century. People that were in prison for the calls of Christ, we have no idea who they were. If Paul had not mentioned this couple here, we would never have known. This couple was in prison with Paul. And then Paul goes on to say they are outstanding among the apostles, probably referring to the fact that they have a great reputation among the apostles. Everybody there knew them. We would not know them, but were it not for this brief mention. But everybody in the first century, the apostles, you mentioned the name Andronicus. Oh, yeah, we know about him. Junius, oh, faithful servants of God. These people were well known among the apostles. And then Paul goes on to say they were in Christ before I was. They've been saved longer than I have. And by the time Paul wrote this letter, Paul had been saved almost 30 years. And so these people are long time believers in the Lord Jesus. The next four names in verses 8 through 10 are well known names of servants. They were typically servant names in that day. Interesting. Many of the people mentioned in this chapter are probably servants, slaves, who have come to know Christ and are in the church. One of them, verse 10, a palace, is tested and approved, indicating that whatever testing, whatever trial he had gone through, he had been faithful to Christ. And Paul commends him for his faithfulness in the midst of testing. God will never forget what you go through. Not everybody's testing and their response to it is mentioned in the Bible, but it is in the record book of God. Whatever you're going through, but we have testing. God notes. He will reward those who faithfully serve him and live for him even in the midst of testing. And then he mentions, verse 10, those who belong to the household of Aristobulus. Aristobulus was probably the grandson of Herod the Great, a well-known political figure, but there are those in his household who know Christ. Probably a reference to slaves, again, who have come to know Jesus in this very well-known household that are serving Christ in the place where God has put them. Likewise, verse 11, the household of Narcissus, Narcissus is well known in Roman records. He was a wealthy freedman of the emperor, a tiberius Caesar, a former slave who had been freed by the emperor and held a high standing in the city of Rome. There are people in his household, probably again, slaves who have come to know Christ. Again, indicating the gospel has penetrated the highest households of the Roman Empire. And Paul greets these people who are now serving Jesus. I love these two sisters in verse 12. Trifina and trifosa. In the first century, whenever names began the same, it was an indication that these people were twins. Trifina trifosa, trisaying those names five times over and over again. These two wonderful ladies twins, and you know what their names literally mean? Danty and delicate. That's the literal translation of these names. Danty and delicate. Littleness, danty and littleness delicate, Paul says, had worked hard in the Lord. And the idea for work hard here is to get your hands dirty and sweat. This is hard work. Danty and delicate were not too danty and delicate to get their hands dirty for Jesus Christ. And they worked hard. And he mentions also, persists, another friend who had done the same thing. And then he mentions Rufus in verse 13. Here's an interesting character. He probably, although we can't say this dogmatically, he probably is mentioned in the book of Mark. Look at this verse in Mark chapter 15, verse 21. It's on the screen for you. A certain man from Cyrene, Simon, the father of Alexander and Rufus, was passing by on his way from the country, and they forced him to carry the cross. So Simon of Cyrene is the name of the man who carried the cross for Jesus, as Jesus is on his way to be crucified. The book of Mark was written to the Roman Church. And the only way Simon would be known to them is by his sons. Evidently, his sons are well known to the Roman Church. Simon is known as the father of Alexander and Rufus. Could it be the same Rufus? Most scholars believe it is. The same Rufus that Paul greets in Romans. So here's a man who was the son of the man who carried the cross for Jesus. And 35 years later, he is still serving faithfully in the church at Rome. Many of you have heard Jerry sing the song, watch the Lamb. Ray Bolts' well-known song. And that song tells the story of what it might have been like for at least one of those little boys who was with his father. The day that his father was pressed into service to carry the cross, the Bible evidently tells us the rest of the story. One of those young boys name was Rufus. And he ended up in the church in Rome. 35 years later, he's still serving the Christ for whom his father carried the cross. What an interesting story as we pull back the curtain of the first century. And then Paul mentions a number of other people. But look down at verse 21. Timothy, this is the well-known Timothy that Paul writes two letters to his fellow worker. He's with Paul in Corinth as Paul pins this letter as his Lucius, Jason's the soffit, or at least the last two of those men are also mentioned in the book of Acts. And then look at verse 22, I tertious who wrote down this letter, greet you in the Lord. You say, wait a second. I thought Paul wrote this letter. Well Paul and tertious both wrote this letter. Do you remember from the book of Galatians that Paul tells us his eyesight was bad? And so in Galatians, he signed his name with large letters. Some believe he may have written the whole book because it was so urgent, but if so, he had to write it in large letters so that he could see what he was writing. It had bad eyesight. And evidently Paul used others to actually pin the letters that were being inspired by the Holy Spirit through Paul's prepared mind. And as Paul dictated those letters, tertious was the faithful secretary who penned every word. Thank God for faithful secretaries who get out missionary letters like tertious did for Paul. And he's mentioned in the Bible. Tertious, faithful to write. And then Gaes, a man who had the gift of hospitality, a man who's mentioned in 1 Corinthians as one of the people that Paul baptized in Corinth and he's now known for opening his home to people in the church and helping them with needs. And then he mentions Erastus. This is one of my favorite men in the whole list. You know why? He had the same kind of job my father-in-law did. In fact, I preached on Erastus at my father-in-law's funeral because my father-in-law, Jeanne's dad, was the director of public works for the city of Corning, New York. And Erastus, Paul says, was the director of public works in Corinth. By the way, we actually have historical reference to Erastus. Look at this picture on the screen. Right at the top of that stone, you can almost see the letters. They look very similar to the English letters. Erastus, there is an inscription on this stone that Erastus actually paid this particular street or paid for the paving of this street in Corinth. His name is recorded down through history because of this inscription. And he's in the Bible as being the man who is the director of public works for that city. A believer, a believer. Thank God for faithful believers in the public sector who serve God with all their might there and whose names may not always be inscribed in history but being inscribed in God's records. And then I love this last guy too. His name is Cortus. Cortus simply means fourth son. I guess mom and dad ran out of names. Fourth son. My sister Catherine is here. If this had happened in our family, Catherine, you would be known today as number five. Number five, that's all. But his name is in the Bible and he is recognized as a faithful servant of God no matter how insignificant you are even in your own family. If you know Jesus as your Savior, you are significant in his eyes and your name goes in his record book. He will never forget you. He will reward you for whatever you've done for him. Doesn't matter if you're like David, the runt of the family. God can still choose you out and use you in a great way as John Altayzer reminded us last week. These are the people that we meet up close and personal. What a group they are. What an amazing glimpse in the first century church life. But there's more to it than just a list of names because taking all the tidbits of information that Paul gives us about these people, pulling them together gives us a composite, a picture of the early church. A picture of what the church is like or should be like today. When we put all of this together, we find these are the kinds of people that were in the Roman church, the Corinthian church, the first century church. And this is the kind of church. What Paul says about them is the kind of church we should be today. What are the principles we must master in order to be this kind of first century church? First of all, Paul describes these people, this church as a diverse, unified family. And if the church today in Princeton, West Virginia, Johnston Chapel is to be a real first century church, the kind of church that God is pleased with. We must be a diverse but unified family. One of the things that impresses me about this list is the great diversity of the people in this list. You look at the list again, you've got men and women, you've got couples and singles, you've got spiritually young people and spiritually mature people who've been saved for over 30 years. You've got slaves and you've got people of high position in business and even in politics. You've got some who are well known, you mentioned their name, all the apostles would know them, mentioned their name, all the churches of the Gentiles would know them. You've got other people who are not well known. You've got people who are commoners, you've got people who are from very cultured and refined families. So you've got a wide breadth of people in this church and no doubt in addition to all those details we know about them, there were a great, great diverse group of personalities and likes and dislikes and kinds of people in this church, but they were unified, great diversity, but they were unified. Paul calls them brothers and sisters. Paul talks about the way they served God together and so although there was great diversity, there was an equality in the family of God and equality at the cross which translated into a unity in the family of God. You know why? Because unity is not based on background, on refinement, on education, on personal likes or dislikes or temperate or personality, it's not based on political identification. Unity in the church is based on a common purpose that God has given us as His followers and these people knew that. They were passionate about serving Christ, reaching others with the gospel, winning people to Christ and helping them to grow up in the Lord and to glorify Him with their lives by serving Him and that's our purpose today to build up disciples, to reach people with the gospel so that they come to love Christ and then they grow in Him and serve Him same purpose today. And so with all of the different backgrounds in the church, with all of the different personalities and diversity, we are unified around what we are to be doing for the glory of God in this world and that's what forms the unity of the church. There's a lot of diversity in this church, many of the same kinds of diversity that we see in the first century and lots of others. Some of you love the dress men love the dress in business suits, some of you love the dress in t-shirts, that's fine. Some of you come to church in many vans and SUVs, yes we know who you soccer moms are. Some of you love to drive your pickup, we have one family that comes on a motorcycle, a Harley excuse me for cursing, not Honda. A Harley, Harley. We have people who come in four doors to the ends, we have all kinds, that's diversity. We have people who love to eat at the mice or restaurants, people who would rather be at home and have a pot of beans and cornbread. We have people in our church who prefer public schools, some who prefer Christian schools, some who prefer homeschooling. We have people in our church who just love sports and others who would prefer the arts and none of that makes any difference. Guess what? We have Democrats and we have Republicans and we have some who say who cares? None of that makes any difference in the family of God because that's not what our unity is built on. Our unity is centered around what we're here to do, the purpose God's given us, to reach people with the gospel and to help them come to love Christ and to grow in Him and to serve Him and that's what brings us together. I believe God loves diversity. Look at creation. God loves diversity. He doesn't mind that in his body either. I just read this week about a project which has taken a decade to do, it was just finished this past year 2010. It involved 3,000 researchers and scientists finally were able to put out the first census of marine life in the world. Now there have been compositions or compilations of different animals that live in the oceans but this was the first full-fledged census of marine life. In this last 10 years researchers have found 6,000 new species of life in the ocean that we didn't know anything about before 2000. Added to the other species we did know about they know now there are 250,000 species of life just in the oceans and part of this research uncovered some of these new bizarre beautiful creatures like 600-year-old tube worms. I'm not sure how they found out how old they were. They asked them or what but they somehow figured out 600-year-old tube worms. They found formations of herring that swim in schools as largest Manhattan. They found a creature, a crab that they ended up naming the Yeti crab. You know why? Because he has a long downy claws like Firmittons. Can you imagine a crab looking like that? They found a jellyfish that has a Darth Vader-like helmet. So that's what happened to him. Unbelievable descriptions of previously unknown life in the deep oceans and you know what these researchers said? 20% we don't even have the capacity to look at yet. So there's a lot more down there we don't even know about. 250,000 species of life in the oceans. Don't tell me God doesn't love variety. He loves variety. There's not just one kind of fish. 250,000. God loves variety in his body too in his church and that's fine. We should never compete with one another because of our differences because of our unity in Christ and what our purpose is all about. Diversity is fine. There are no right and wrongs in those kinds of things as far as the kinds of things we talked about and listed the kinds of things we see in the first century. Likes and dislikes and personality differences and that kind of thing but we have background. But unity doesn't require sameness. Unity is not uniformity. Unity is not unanimity. Unity is centered around focused on the purpose God's given us as a body of Christ. That's what our unity is all about. So there should never be any competition between classes. Should never be any competition between ministries, between church members, between pastors. We have to fight the tendency to have any competition because we are one in Christ and our unity is not based on the kinds of differences that may be okay in the family of God. There shouldn't be any competition for the purposes of the church. You know, someone gets saved and we think, okay, automatically the only thing that's important, throw them into some kind of service. Have we forgotten? They need to fall in love with Jesus also and they need to grow in him. There's no competition between purposes of the church. All three are basic and important. We must worship and loving with all of our hearts and come to knowing better and bask in his glory. And then we will grow in him so that we can serve him passionately. No competition between those. Unity, the church is a diverse unified family. But notice also the church is to be an active serving body. I won't go back through the verses. You can look at them but let me just call to your attention. In verse 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 9, 12, 21, 22, 23. Paul mentions specifically what people did to serve Christ. And it's a lot of different things. Some people gave of their resources. Some people chipped in with their hands. Some people discipled and taught people like a palace for so little equivalent did that. But everybody did what they could do. They were an active serving body. They labored. They got their hands dirty. They swept. They worked. And these were not people who made their living by ministry. These were people in the church. Just folks like you. But they were busy and involved in serving the Lord in some way. It doesn't mean that any one person has to do 10 different things. As is so often in the church. The 2080 rule, 20% of the people do 80% of the work. It doesn't have to be that way. Not if we understand that the church is to be every one of us a part of an active serving body. A healthy church is always marked by people who are excited about serving the Lord. And serving one another. And so if you're not involved in ministry, you're not yet doing what God wants you to do. And ministry can look like a lot of different things. Yes, it may be teaching a Bible fellowship. It may be listening to a child's verses in a wana on Wednesday night. It may be helping in our student ministries. It may be taking one of our shut ends and visiting them and sending cards and calling them from time to time. It may be serving in the music ministry to share your gifts with others as we've heard so beautifully today. It may be helping the needy in the community through community outreach ministries like the Bluefield Union Mission or Tinder mercies or Heavenscent or something like that. It may be prayer. As I speak right now, we have some people praying in another part of the building for this service standing in the gap ministry. Maybe yours is a heart for prayer. You'd want to be a part of that ministry. Kind of under the radar. Nobody ever sees those people. I guess their families do when they go home, but nobody ever sees them here at church doing what they're doing. But they're so vital to the ministry of this church. Some can serve by visiting the jail being involved in Philippian ministry with Pastor Simmons. Some can be involved in single parent ministry. Some of you have just returned from mission trips. All of us ought to be active in reaching out to our friends and neighbors and people in our circle of influence to shine the light of the gospel into their lives. Every one of us can find some place of service. There's not a one that needs to sit back and say everything's being done because it's not. There are plenty of opportunities for service and a healthy church is always full of active serving members of the body. I read about a wedding that took place in November 2010 in Australia. And as the wedding party was taking pictures after the wedding, it was an outdoor wedding and they were taking pictures on the edge of a bluff that overlooked the ocean. Beautiful setting. But as they were taking pictures, a woman not connected with the wedding lost her balance, fell over the bluff into the ocean and began flailing. It was clear she was in trouble. The best man in his tuxedo dived into the water and pulled her to shore where the bride who was a registered nurse administered CPR and got the woman or lungs cleared up and got her breathing normally again and by that time the emergency people were there. But they said if it hadn't been for that best man and that bride, that woman probably would have died. And I thought when I read that story, what a beautiful picture of the church. We're all dressed up gathered for celebration today for a party if you will to make the analogy. We're celebrating our great God. We're worshiping Him. But we ought to dive out of this place into mission, into ministry. Yes, whether tuxedo one of necessary or whatever, but we ought to go straight from this place into ministry. We gather here to worship, but we go out to serve. And a healthy church is always a church that has serving members is an active serving body. But Paul describes these people in a way that leads us to understand the church is not only a diverse unified family, not only is it a serving an active body, it is also and should be a loving, caring fellowship. It is clear that Paul loved these people. He says so. He wants to greet them by name. He wants to greet them. He loves them. He commends them for all that they've done for the glory of God and to help him and to help others. He loves these people. It's clear that these people love him. Rufus' mother has been a mother to him. There are others who have served him, who have given to him. It's clear they love Paul and it's clear they love each other. In fact, Paul reminds them in verse 16, greet one another with a holy kiss. I'll be careful with that one. In the Middle East and even today in Eastern Europe and in countries in the Middle East, that's a very familiar greeting. Those who've been to Ukraine remember that well, a kiss on each cheek. That's a familiar Middle Eastern, near Eastern greeting. In Asian countries, it might be a polite bow. In Western Europe and America, it will be a firm handshake, a pad on the back, maybe even a hug. I'm reminded of the story I read from Chuck Swindall. I'll let him tell it because he has such a descriptive way of telling it to describe the kind of warmth that comes sometimes through a physical expression of loving and caring. He says, once I was teaching a midweek service at our church, when the back door blew open and two rough-looking guys walked in. One wore a sleeveless shirt revealing a network of tattoos running down his arm. The other wore leather Harley jacket and held a Nazi helmet under his arm. They walked heavily to the back seats and sat down with a loud thump. The guy with the sleeveless shirt never took off his sunglasses and they both sat like statues with their arms folded. After the service, the crowd mingled and talked. The pair of heavies made a beeline for me. The guy with the helmet said, your name Swindall? Sure, that's me, I gulped. You the guy on the radio? I'm probably the one you've heard. At that point, he dropped his helmet and gave me a bone-crushing hug lifting me straight off the ground. My feet dangled helplessly as I struggled to breathe. Chuck, don't ever quit. You told me about Jesus and I want to thank you. I also want you to know I love you, man. I'm not suggesting that you necessarily greet one another in that way. In fact, don't try that on me or you'll herniate several discs in your back, of sure. But the point that Paul is making is there are expressions of greeting that communicate the warmth, love, tenderness, family atmosphere, the bride of Christ, the church. The church ought to be a place of love and care. It ought not to be like elevators that you get in. There's an unwritten rule about elevators, isn't there? You ever noticed? Nobody talks. Nobody looks at the other person. You just watch those little numbers. It's interesting. I've started engaging people in conversation on the elevators and really, most of them are pretty friendly people. They're pretty normal. They don't mind talking. It's not such a bad place after all. You know what? You'd find the same thing about the church. When we were traveling out to visit our daughter, Missy, in Iowa a couple of weeks ago, we stopped off for just about an hour and a half in Louisville, Kentucky. A couple that I'd taught at ABC is now at Southern Seminary. He was showing me around the campus a little bit. He said, you know, we've visited, they've only been there about a month. He said, we've visited about seven churches in this area. We were in one large church, about 2,500 people. From the time we walked onto the campus and into the building and sat down, went through the service and walked out to our car. Not one person spoke to us. Not one person. He said, obviously, we're not going to go back there. May that never happen here. May that never happen here. And if it has happened to you, I beg your forgiveness. It never happened again. The church is to be a place of such warmth and caring and loving expression that we greet one another. Someone you don't know, don't treat them like a fellow elevator writer. Encourage them in conversation. Find out who they are. It's been good to see you here. Who are you? My name is, I don't care if they say I've been coming for 15 years. I'm a member. I don't care if they say that. Then tell them, well, I'm a dope, you know, I don't know who's around here. So, I'm glad to meet you. You know, let's get over that distance and warmly greet one another and love one another in the family. There was a survey in churches in Houston, Texas to find out what motivated people to choose the church they chose. You know what that survey showed? At least in that area. Three percent of people chose their church because of the person in the pulpit. That is a reality check. Three percent. Eight percent based on the architectural beauty of the structure. Now, we already know that's not going to happen to us right now. So, my, as we'll just mark that one off. Twelve percent chose the church because of prior denomination affiliation. Eighteen percent because of the convenience of location. Now, listen to this. Twenty-one percent because people in the congregation they respected. And thirty-seven percent were influenced by the fact that a friend or a family member or a neighbor asked them to come. Put the figures together. Fifty-eight percent because someone took a personal interest in them. Even those who may have just come because of those other reasons probably stayed because someone reached out to them with love, care. Only three percent because of who's in the pulpit. Fifty-eight percent because you take an interest and show love and care for other people. Now, we preach this. We pound this over and over again. And this is a great opportunity to do it again. In order to do that here at Johnson Chapel, you have got to move out of the auditorium. You've got to get in a Bible fellowship. You've got to get in some kind of ministry group, some kind of group where you can get to know people. When we come on Sunday morning and we sit in pews like this looking at the back of each other's heads and guess what, I get to look at the front of your heads. It's not much better from this side either. But anyway, when we stay when we are in groups like this, we don't really get to know each other very well. Now, we just greet one another on the fly as we come or go. You need to get into some kind of group of Bible fellowship, a smaller group of ministry where you can get to know people. And one of the reasons why we're pursuing the starting of small groups is for this relational side of our ministry that needs to be strengthened. To be a loving, caring fellowship is what the New Testament Church is about. I would challenge you this morning. Challenge you this morning. In the midst of all the diversity of backgrounds and tastes and personalities and so forth, let's be unified around our purpose of spreading the gospel and glorifying God through growing disciples that love Him and serve Him and growing in Him. Let's serve. Let's get active and serve in some ministry of this church and let's love one another and care for one another as we see each other's needs. Reach out to help one another. That's what a first century church is all about. And that's what we need to be about. Where we are strong, let's keep that strength. Where we are weak, let's get better. And let's be a first century church. Let's be what God wants us to be for His glory. Let's do that. Would you pray with me, please? Father, I thank you for this church. Thank you, Father, for the unity you have given us in the midst of great personal diversity. I thank you for all the people who are actively, passionately serving you. And I thank you for the love and care that does take place in this place. Lord, you know, we know we're not perfect. We need to improve in all three of these areas, so help us by your grace to better reflect your glory to those around us by being the kind of people that do represent you well. Helps to be your church, your representatives on this earth shine the light of your glory to everyone around us. I'm supposed to commit ourselves, Lord, a fresh and a new to being that kind of church. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.