1 Thessalonians 5:14

Now, we exhort you, brethren: warn those who are unruly, comfort the fainthearted, uphold the weak, and be patient with all. See that no one renders evil for evil to anyone, but always pursue that which is good, both for yourselves and for all. Rejoice always; pray without ceasing. In everything, give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit; do not despise prophecies. Test all things, hold fast to what is good, and abstain from every form of evil.

Father, we thank You for the exhortations of this passage, and we pray that we would be open to what You, by Your Spirit, would desire to speak to us today. Continue to transform us by the renewing of our minds. Help us to honor You in what we say and do here today, but also this week. We ask in Jesus' name, and all God's people agreed, saying, "Amen." You can be seated.

It's a blessing to be able to begin each year the way that we do here with communion. On the first Sunday of the year, we obviously have communion together. I can think of no better way to start the year than to be reminded of what the Lord has done for us. Just as we read a little while ago in Corinthians and in Matthew, Jesus said, "Do this in remembrance of Me." We take that time to consider His death, His burial, and His resurrection.

1 Corinthians chapter 15 tells us that the resurrection of Jesus Christ is really the most important event in all of history. When He rose from the dead, it is proof to us that He has the power and authority to raise us to newness of life. Just as Jesus is the reason for the Christmas season, He is the cause for our hope and future joy. We are so thankful to Him for the opportunity to remember what He has done for us.

Now, if you've been a part of our church for any length of time, especially over the last several...

Every year, we begin by discussing the future plans and vision for our church and where we are going in the new year. We will be doing a bit more of that next week. We want to share with you some of the great things that the Lord has done in and through the body here at Cross Connection this past year, as well as some of the things we are asking the Lord for in the new year.

However, I wanted to take this first Sunday of the year not only to partake of communion but also to remind us of some very important realities for those of us who are in Christ Jesus. There are great things that we have as believers and great things that we have been called to as followers of Jesus Christ. In Second Peter, chapter one, Peter states, "I will not be negligent to remind you always of these things, though you know them and are established in the present truth. Yes, I think it is right to stir you up by reminding you."

It is good from time to time to revisit things that we may already know well or think we know well, and to be reminded of the great things we have in Christ. Peter goes on to write about the sureness of the prophetic word in that same passage. Last week, we considered some of the prophetic words of Scripture, including the promise Jesus made in John, chapter 14, that He would come again. He also promised in Matthew 28 that He would be with us until the end of the age. Furthermore, angels proclaimed in Acts, chapter one, that this same Jesus who ascended into heaven will return one day in like manner. We look forward to that, and we have the sureness of the prophetic word given to us in the Scriptures.

In First Thessalonians, chapter five, the Apostle Paul concludes his letter to the church at Thessalonica by writing prophetically about future events. At the end of chapter four and the beginning of chapter five, he discusses the sureness of the return of Christ, the second coming of Christ. As a result of this and in anticipation of the future events to come, Paul exhorts the church to be watchful, to be sober-minded, and to walk in a way that reflects their faith, filled with hope and love.

Earlier in this same letter, Paul commended the church in Thessalonica for their love, their faith, and their hope. In fact, if we turn a few chapters to the beginning, in chapter one of First Thessalonians, we read in verse two, which is Paul's introduction to the letter. He says, "We give thanks to God always for you, always making mention of you in our prayers, remembering without ceasing your work of faith, your labor of love, your patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of our God and Father."

He emphasizes that they are praying constantly, giving thanks to God for these three things: their work of faith, their labor of love, and their patience of hope in Jesus Christ. Here, we see this great triad of Christian maturity—faith, hope, and love.

It is important to recognize that this exhortation Paul gives in the latter half of the book, in the concluding remarks of First Thessalonians, encourages them to continue in faith, hope, and love. At the beginning of the book, he commended them for these very qualities. What we see in this exhortation is the reality that it is easy to drift. We can be walking in faith, hope, and love in Christ today and then, six months, two years, or ten years from now, find ourselves lacking in those same virtues.

In the first chapters of the book of Revelation, specifically chapters two and three, there are seven letters to seven churches from Jesus Christ. One of these letters is to the church of Ephesus. There is an awesome letter written by the Apostle Paul to that church, the letter we call Ephesians. Paul spent nearly three years in the city of Ephesus during his third missionary journey, investing in the church there and witnessing their growth.

Then, some thirty years later, Jesus Himself inspires a letter written to them through the Apostle John, stating, "You have left your first love." It is a heavy thing to consider that this church, which had such dynamic faith at the time Paul was ministering there in Acts, and later as he wrote to them encouraging them to stand strong in the faith, had lost that fervor thirty years later.

We know that it is a reality that we can drift. Starting at the beginning of the year, we recognize this well. How many of you in January of 2012 actually made some New Year's resolutions? Any of you? Have we just given up on those because we know we won't keep them? We have, haven't we? It's actually a really good illustration. We say, "I'm not even going to do it because I won't follow through with it."

From our lives, we can see that it's very easy to drift. Living so close to the ocean, I'm sure all of you have experienced this. You go out into the water, and you enter at lifeguard tower six. Three hours later, you're at lifeguard tower twelve, wondering how you got there. Well, you drifted. You didn't even realize it; it was just your inactivity in fighting against the current. All of a sudden, you've moved and shifted. You're not where you were.

At the beginning of First Thessalonians, Paul says, "I commend you. I thank God for your faith, your hope, and your love." Then, at the end of the book, he emphasizes the need to maintain your faith, hope, and love because it is very easy to drift. These three things could be called the triad of Christian maturity. They are marks of spiritual maturity in our lives: a strong faith, a strong hope in the Lord Jesus Christ and what He will do in the future, and as a result, a love for God and for one another. This love extends not only to those within the body of Christ but also to those outside of it. The love of God compels us to love those who are not yet part of His church. Hopefully, through the demonstration of God's love through us, they will become a part of the church.

Faith, hope, and love are to be solid bedrocks of our lives as Christians following the Lord Jesus Christ. In fact, the book of Hebrews ends with a focus on faith, hope, and love. Chapter 11 is the hall of faith, chapter 12 discusses our hope in Jesus Christ, and chapter 13 talks about the love of God in us and through us. The whole orientation of Hebrews is to bring people to a mature place of exhibiting faith, hope, and love in their lives.

However, we must seek God's grace to be built up in faith. We must seek God's grace to stay fixed in the love of God, to be firmly established there, and then look to God for hope unto eternal life. Jude discusses this in that one-chapter book just before the book of Revelation. It's so small that sometimes we skip over it, but it contains only 21 verses.

In the last verse, I think there are 24 verses, but in the last verses of that passage, he gives an exhortation to stand strong, firmly fixed in the love of God, building up your faith unto hope. He also reiterates the idea that faith, hope, and love are things we must be constant in.

To this end, we have exhortations given to us in these last verses of First Thessalonians that I thought would be important for us. I hope it is your hope, as it is my hope, that as we step into and through a new year, we as a church would be growing individually and corporately in our faith, hope, and love.

In saying that, we need to recognize that our growth in faith, hope, and love comes in the same way that our growth in muscles might come. Many people start the new year, and all of the athletic fitness clubs here in town know this because they have all kinds of deals in the last month of the year, getting everybody ready for January 1st. They know that people are going to start off with New Year's resolutions, like losing 30 pounds. As a result, there is a flood of people. If you go down to 24 Hour Fitness or LA Fitness and try to get on a treadmill in the first few weeks of the year, it is nearly impossible because everyone is making good on their New Year's resolutions for about three weeks.

You know that if you're trying to build up muscles, you go through a time that feels like you're wounding them in a terrible way; they hurt so much. What you're doing is stretching them beyond their capacity and building up all the fibers within the muscle tissue. In the same way, for that muscle to grow, it has to be strained and stretched in the right way. Our faith, in order to grow, is also strained and stretched.

If we want to grow in faith, that means we will be stretched a little bit. If we want to grow in our hope, that means we will be stretched a little bit. If we want to grow in our love for one another, you can guarantee that God will put some unlovely people in your life to stretch you. You have probably experienced that before if you have walked with the Lord for any length of time.

So, we want to grow in our faith, hope, and love as a church. Notice what Paul says here in his exhortation towards that end. He encourages the church to press toward that goal in these final verses of First Thessalonians. In chapter five, verse 14, he says, "Now we exhort you, brethren, warn those who are unruly." The New Living Translation reads, "warn those who are lazy." It takes on a slightly different meaning when you look at the word "unruly." You might think of an undisciplined child, one who is running around and bouncing off the walls, leaving footprints on the ceiling because that child is so unruly.

The idea behind this word is more about being undisciplined due to laziness. It describes a person who is not engaged in the work. Paul says to the church at Thessalonica, after he gives them the exhortation to be watchful until the end, when Christ is going to return, knowing that He has not appointed us to wrath. In verse nine of chapter five, he emphasizes the need to be steadfast and to continue in the work.

Then he cautions those who are checked out. He warns those who are undisciplined and idle. The English Standard Version says to admonish the idle—those people who have begun to sit back and are not involved in the work of Christ. They are not engaged in kingdom purposes or plans. After reminding the church to be watchful and sober-minded, Paul cautions them against being idle and undisciplined. In other words, he is essentially saying, "If you're not plugged in, get plugged in." If you are not engaging and being a part of the work, then you need to get to work and be involved.

In the next letter that Paul writes to this church, he challenges and rebukes them again for their laziness. Apparently, this church was a lazy church. He gives a solid exhortation in the last chapter of Second Thessalonians, stating, "Those who will not work shall not eat." There are some among you who are just sitting back, relying on the gracious charity of the body of Christ, and they are unwilling to engage. Paul rebukes this attitude, saying that it is not how things should be.

While we want to be a church that gives and sees people grow—where you come to receive from the Lord, whether in the school of ministry, the women's ministry for encouragement and exhortation, or the men's ministry—we also recognize that we cannot just be those who receive and receive. We need to give out and engage with our energy, assets, and time. We must give of our time, talents, and treasures and be involved in the work of God. If we do not, we will drift. If you are not as on fire for the Lord today as you once were, it is an indication that you have drifted.

And that may be an indication that you've just kind of tuned out. You may have become lazy in your walk with the Lord, not just in being involved with the body of Christ, but also in prayer and in reading the Word. We will get to some of those things here in a moment. But remember, these exhortations are given to stir the church up to continued love and good deeds, so that they would have a fervent faith, hope, and love evidenced in their lives.

He says to warn those who are unruly. Now, maybe you're not involved or plugged in because your heart is heavy. Look at what Paul says in verse 14. After he says to warn those who are unruly, he says to comfort the fainthearted. There are some people who have disconnected or disengaged from being actively involved in their faith because their heart is heavy. They have gone through some things that have weighed them down and have been distracted by discouragements, whatever it may be.

So, Paul says, if that's the case, then encourage the fainthearted. Come alongside and comfort them. Stir those people up who are fainthearted. That may be you today. Perhaps there has been a time in your Christian experience when you were more on fire than you are today. You might be looking at your situation and wondering why that is. The reason might be that you have become discouraged or have been heavily burdened by something. You may have allowed yourself to be distracted by something external to Christ.

You need to be encouraged because that flame that once burned bright has become a coal that is about to go out. You need the Lord to breathe upon that and to encourage it. Within the body of Christ, Paul gives the exhortation that we are to caution those who are lazy and unruly, but we also need to comfort the fainthearted. It is important to note that some people are in that place of sitting back because they have been hurt, wounded, or discouraged.

So, how can we encourage the fainthearted? One of the ways to do so is by being reminded of some very important truths that we have from God in His Word. Turn your Bibles to Ephesians, chapter one. Ephesians, chapter one. Look at verse three. Paul says...

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us. He has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places in Christ. Do you realize that you have every spiritual blessing available to you in Christ? It's not something that you just hope for with wishful thinking, wondering if God will grant it to you. We have every spiritual blessing in Christ; it's available to us. We just have to reach out, lay hold of it, and utilize it for His glory.

He says, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places." What sort of spiritual blessings? Well, in verse four, we read that He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love. Then we read in verse five that He has predestined us unto adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He has made us accepted in the Beloved.

In Him, we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace, which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence. He has made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure, which He purposed in Himself. In the dispensation of the fullness of times, He may gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth.

In Him, we have also obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will. We who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory. You also trusted after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. In Him, you believed and were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.

So, a number of things we have as great blessings in this passage. We have been given all spiritual blessings in Christ. He has chosen us, predestined us, and made us accepted in the Beloved. We have redemption through His blood and forgiveness of sins in His grace that He has abounded toward us. He has given us His Holy Spirit, which is the guarantee of the full payment that is to come.

The idea behind this is that in the old covenant, the nation of Israel was divided into tribes, and there are twelve tribes that are routinely mentioned.

But a lot of people get confused because sometimes there are more than twelve names, and there are some realities and reasons for that. One of the tribes that did not have an inheritance of earthly land in the promised land was the tribe of Levi. The book of Deuteronomy tells us that the tribe of Levi was a priestly tribe, and their inheritance was God Himself. It is far better to inherit God than a created earth.

We, who are now a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, the body of Christ, have our full inheritance in God. In His presence is fullness of joy, and at His right hand are pleasures forevermore. Our future inheritance is to be with and in the presence of God and to actually possess God in our midst. That is the inheritance we are looking forward to.

Some people may ask, "Isn't heaven what we're looking forward to?" Heaven would not be heavenly if it weren't for the presence of God. In His presence is fullness of joy, as Psalm 16:11 states, and at His right hand are pleasures forevermore. As a guarantee that God will make good on the promise of future glory, that inheritance in Christ, He has given us a down payment now.

The down payment is the abiding Holy Spirit within us. We are the temple of the Holy Spirit, as stated in First Corinthians chapters three and six. God has given us a portion of His presence through His indwelling Holy Spirit, which serves as a continual reminder that He will fulfill what He has promised. Ultimately, we will inherit the glory of being with the Lord, but for now, we have the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit.

These truths encourage the faint-hearted to remember the blessings we have in Christ so that we might reengage. Paul instructs us to warn the unruly and comfort the faint-hearted, but he also says to uphold the weak. Some people may have disengaged because they are weak, whether physically, emotionally, spiritually, or in other ways. If that is you, Paul's exhortation is that we ought to help the weak so that we can uphold them for their growth. We want to assist those who have fallen by the wayside so that they may grow.

One of the awesome realities of faith in Christ is that there is no such thing as natural selection.

What do I mean by that? In the faith of Christ, there is no such thing as survival of the fittest. In Romans chapter 15, verse one, the Apostle Paul says that we who are strong ought to bear with the infirmities of the weak, not to please ourselves, but so that they would be equipped and built up. The concept is this: we are running a race together. This is what Hebrews chapter 12 says, looking unto Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith. Let us lay aside every weight and sin that so easily ensnares us, and let us press on, running the race with endurance.

When you join the faith of Christ, when you join Christ by faith, you're running in a race, and we are all running in this race together. The finish line is when we come into His presence and receive our reward. Now, in our concept of a race, how many of you have ever run a race, like a 5K or something longer? Several of you have. I ran a half marathon a while ago, and in my mind, before I started, I had this concept: I’m going to run at this pace. I had a pace set. I wanted to run out, not against anyone, but just against my pace.

However, as soon as you start running, you begin identifying people. You think, "I can pass that person," and then you pass them. Next, you think, "I’m going to pass that person," and you pass them too. You find yourself needing to pass that person, and you do. You start running much faster than you anticipated. My pace went out the window; I ran way faster than I planned because I was focused on passing others. If you see someone kind of stop and start walking, it feels like one less person to pass. You can tell they might have a cramp in their leg, and you think, "Oh, one less person to pass."

Now, we are running a race in Christ. The concept we have here about upholding those who are weak is that if someone falls by the wayside because of weakness, we don’t think, "One less person in the race." Instead, we come alongside them and seek to help them run the race because we are all running unto Jesus. We are all together in this race; we are not fighting against one another. Therefore, there is no such thing as natural selection or survival of the fittest in the faith. The world says that those who are weak will be left to fend for themselves. There is a principle in survival called the ten-eighty-ten principle.

The idea of the ten-eighty-ten principle is that in a situation where you're left with a group of people to survive, there is a group of people—the first ten percent—who just can't function. They can't think. The idea is that they are the first to die. It's a kind of freaky concept. So, if you ever find yourself lost with a group of people, make sure you're not in that ten percent, or you might have a survivalist saying, "Sorry, we're going to eat you first." That's the mindset of the world.

In American culture, we have a very individualistic mindset. You're the master of your own destiny, the captain of your ship. You have to pull yourself up by your own bootstraps. However, that is not the mindset that Christ imparts to us. The world says, "Every man for himself," but the mentality we have in Christ is to uphold those who are weak, to bear with them ultimately so that they will once again be strong and able to run the race.

Paul ends this verse in verse 14 by saying, "Be patient with all." How many of you struggle with patience? Be honest; we all do. Patience is hard. Now, I know that the common saying in the church is, "Don't pray for patience because God is going to give you trials," based on James chapter one. This is a misinterpretation of James one. The reality is that whether you pray for patience or not, you're going to face trials. The question is, will you gain patience through those trials?

We are all going to have trials, and we will all face difficulties. How many of you, when you've been going through a weak or difficult time, have felt utterly thankful for the people who are patient with you? Paul emphasizes that we should be patient with all. Ultimately, whether a person is idle, faint-hearted, or weak, we are to be patient with all of them—not just those within the body of Christ, but with all people.

Our culture, however, is representative of impatience. We gear everything in our culture to cater to our impatience. I was up here on Nordall the other day going to Walmart, and I was discouraged that they changed the entrance into Walmart.

I'm going, what's up with this? I realize it's to make it work a little better. But then I happened to look over at the McDonald's, and now there are two drive-throughs at McDonald's. I think, what a picture of our impatience. We have to have two drive-throughs because we want to get through there quicker. It's just about opening another lane.

You know what it's like when you're at Walmart or Costco. I was at Costco the other day, and they had like six lanes open when they have about thirty, and it was backed up through the whole store. You want to yell, "Open another lane!" It's like, wow, I'm impatient. Or if you go to the Costco gas station, it's an exercise in patience, isn't it?

One of the fruits of the Spirit is patience. One of the evidences that God is working in and through us is patience. In a culture that is completely impatient and hates to be delayed, mirroring Christ through patience is a witness. He says to be patient with all. Sometimes our idea, when we see someone within the body of Christ who seems to be lagging, is, "Come on, get up! Let's go! What's wrong with you?" The idea given here is to be patient with all, to be long-suffering, and to come alongside them.

In verse 15, it says, "See that no one renders evil for evil to anyone, but always pursue what is good, both for yourselves and also for all." This is contrary to our nature. If someone curses you, you want to curse them right back. If someone pushes me, to be honest, I want to punch them. I want to escalate it. It's like, "Don't you dare do that to me!" It's not just me, right? We're all like this.

So, Paul's exhortation to those who will live soberly and walk in faith, hope, and love is to not repay evil with evil. If someone speaks falsely or wickedly of you, don't repay them with slander. It's good to remember the words that Jesus spoke to us on these very things in the Gospel of Matthew.

Turn to Matthew chapter five. I know that when someone says not to return evil for evil, there will be someone who responds by saying, "But the Bible says an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth." I understand that some of you are thinking this, as the Bible does indeed teach this in Exodus chapter 21, Leviticus 24, and Deuteronomy 19. However, this is one of the most misunderstood and misinterpreted passages of the Bible. An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth is not a prescription to retaliate in kind. It is not about rendering back to someone what they have done to you.

In fact, it serves as a limitation. Before this law was given, there was no concept of the punishment fitting the crime. If you knocked someone's tooth out, they might retaliate by taking four or five of yours. The principle of an eye for an eye was God's gracious limitation, ensuring that the punishment should fit the crime.

In Matthew 5:38, Jesus says, "You've heard that it was said, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. But I tell you not to resist an evil person. Whoever slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. If anyone wants to sue you to take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also. And whoever compels you to go a mile, go with him two." He continues, "Give to him who asks, and from him who wants to borrow from you, do not turn away."

Verses like these are nice to quote and great to memorize, but they are hard to apply. In our marriage counseling at the church, we often encounter situations where couples struggle to apply these teachings. What frequently happens in marriage is that one spouse will say or do something rude or obnoxious, and the other spouse will respond in kind. This back-and-forth can escalate, leading to a cycle of conflict.

It's important to recognize that this does not mean your spouse is evil. The challenge lies in the temptation to retaliate. We often think, "Oh, I have a good comeback. I know I'm right." But then we might question ourselves, wondering if we are actually wrong. You know how that goes.

We recognize that our temptation is to think, "Oh, I got a good one. I know I'm right." You know how that is, right? The natural tendency is to just return the serve. However, it says to resist not an evil person. Anytime there's tension between people, it's not just one or the other; it's both of them.

This guitar here is a really good example of this. There's tension on every one of these strings because there are two points holding that string. When it's cranked up, that causes the tension. The only way to do away with that tension is for one of those points to release. A lot of times, we don't like to humble ourselves and just release. We need to say, "Fine, okay, I'm going to take the lower road of humility here." If we don't, there will continue to be tension, and it will be ratcheted up until there's such a break that you find yourself in one of the pastor's offices for counsel. At that point, it's hard to put things back together.

For there to be a reduction of tension so that we don't render evil for evil, we need to take a humble course. It's not easy for us to take that humble course. We should see that no one renders evil for evil, but always pursue what is good, both for ourselves and for all people. We need to pursue and seek to do good to one another within the body of Christ and with everyone outside of the body of Christ as well. Look for opportunities to do good and to do what is right.

Now, these next three verses are where we're going to finish up. This section, verses 16 through 18, offers two really easy memory verses for those of you who say, "I can't memorize Scripture." These are really easy memory verses, and actually, the third verse, verse 18, isn't all that hard either.

So let's read them. Verse 16: "Rejoice always." Repeat after me: "Rejoice always." You just memorized verse 16 of First Thessalonians. That was hard, right?

Next, "Pray without ceasing." Repeat after me: "Pray without ceasing." Those are memory verses for this week, and this one too: "In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you."

One of the most asked questions that I receive, especially from younger believers, is about understanding God's will. When I say younger believers, I don't mean those who are younger in age; someone can come to Christ in their 50s or 60s and still be considered a younger believer.

One of the most often asked questions is, how do I determine the will of God for my life? We need to start with what the Bible explicitly says is God's will. We have it right here in verse 18: this is God's will concerning you, church. You can be certain that if you apply yourselves to do His very explicit, revealed will, you will experience Him leading you into His more perfect will for your life. However, if you're hazy about what God's plan, will, and vision for your life is, it's probably because you haven't done what He has explicitly said to do.

Here's the first command He gives us: rejoice always. This is in the imperative in the Greek, so it's a command. Be joyful always. How many of you are fulfilling that command perfectly? No one can claim that. Be joyful always. I believe that every command of Scripture is given with the supporting power by God to fulfill what He has called us to do; otherwise, He would be calling us to a futile endeavor. He would be calling us to something we could never accomplish. Therefore, He gives us the ability in Christ to do this.

Second Peter 1:3 says, "By God's divine power, He has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue." God has given us everything we need to live this life in a way that glorifies Him in Christ. In and of our own strength, we have nothing, but in Christ, we have what we need to be able to live joyfully always. We have joy because it is one of the fruits of the Spirit. Galatians 5:22 states, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, and the second one is joy."

We have the ability in Christ, by His Spirit, to enjoy joy and to rejoice always. One of the ways to kindle that rejoicing is by reflecting on the great things that God has done for us, which rejoices our hearts. Paul says to rejoice always or evermore. He then goes on to say, "pray without ceasing." This is another imperative, another command that God has given to us.

It's God's will that we never stop praying. I would suggest that if you're struggling with your joy and rejoicing, it may be because you're failing to fulfill the command to pray continually. We are called to bring every thought captive to the obedience of Christ through prayer and to be anxious for nothing. How? Philippians chapter 4 says, "by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving," letting your requests be made known unto God. His peace, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

We are commanded to continually be in prayer, but prayer is sometimes hard. We all confess that we fail when it comes to prayer. We fail because of forgetfulness, lack of desire, unwillingness to make time, or sometimes just distraction. In the book "Screwtape Letters," which I highly recommend by C.S. Lewis, the idea is that there is one demon writing to his nephew, another demon. His nephew has a client, a human being that he's tempting, and the uncle is telling him how to tempt this person better.

In one of the letters, he says, "Every time your client starts to think of spiritual things, remind him of the natural." This is what happens when we sit down to pray. We make time to pray, saying, "OK, I'm going to make a New Year's resolution. I'm going to spend the first five minutes of every morning praying." Then, as soon as you sit down to pray, the first thing that comes to mind is, "Oh, gosh, I'm hungry." Or, "I need to go to the bathroom." You might sit down to pray, and immediately the phone rings, or you remember you need to call someone or pay a bill. Distractions flood in immediately.

The enemy doesn't want you to pray because it connects you closer to God. As you draw near to God, He draws near to you. The enemy flees from that. So, we are told to pray without ceasing. The blessings associated with prayer are abundant, and they are so plentiful that it's a wonder we don't constantly pray. Aside from the potential of answered prayer from God, we also have the promise that God hears us. In 1 John chapter 5, we have the promise that He will answer us. In Jeremiah 33, we have the promise of peace that surpasses understanding. Philippians chapter 4 offers the promise of closer fellowship with God, as stated in James chapter 4.

We could go on and on about the promises we have through prayer, but those are just a few that should at least encourage us to pray. Then, He says this: "In everything, give thanks."

Now, although it's difficult for us, we can always, in the midst of every circumstance, find something through which to glorify God by thanksgiving. In Ephesians, Chapter 5, Paul takes it a step further in verse 20. He says, "Giving thanks always for all things." There are certain things that come into our lives that are hard for us to be thankful for.

I'll give an example. On Friday, I was talking with Jeff Jackson. He came into my office and said, "Man, a real bummer. This morning, I was in my office at home with my wife, and she leaned back, put her arm up, and knocked my coffee all over my laptop computer." Instantly, it turned off. We took the keyboard off, blew it dry, and tried to get it started back up, but the mouse wouldn't work. When he took it to the Apple Store, they said it probably wasn't going to last much longer. So, he backed up all his data and was bummed that his computer was going to be toast.

A few hours later, we were having a meeting for Cross Connection Outreach in room four when his car alarm went off. He jumped up and walked outside, only to see a guy speeding out of our parking lot. Jeff ran over to his car and found that the window was smashed. The guy had taken his briefcase with the broken laptop. When he came back, he said, "You're not going to believe this. The guy just took my laptop."

In the backseat of Jeff's car was a box full of stuff he was taking to Sabu, which included a projector, a laptop computer, and a tablet computer. Fortunately, the guy couldn't get to it because he was run off. Jeff was thankful that he didn't take that, even though he took his laptop, which was broken. I said, "Yeah, but isn't it cool that you spilled coffee and backed up all your data this morning so you don't lose everything?" We can give thanks even in the midst of things like that.

Sometimes, it takes time for us to recognize those areas where we can give thanks. We live in a thankless society, a world where we often forget to express gratitude. Although we have one day a year set aside for Thanksgiving, we have cluttered that day with distractions that prevent us from actually giving thanks.

Paul reminds us to give thanks in everything. This only happens as we fulfill the command to pray without ceasing. To fully embrace this, we need to draw near to God in prayer. This year, I believe it is very important for us, both individually and as a church corporately, to draw near to God in prayer to fulfill the things He has for each of us.

We have an opportunity this coming Thursday at Rose Elementary for a prayer walk at 4 o'clock. Additionally, at 6:30 in the morning on Wednesday mornings, we have a group of people who pray in the back. If you're available to come and pray, there are many needs for prayer in the church. At noon, a group of people gathers here on Wednesdays to pray. There are prayer groups throughout the week, some of which we may not know about, and that's good. It would be awesome to have multiplied opportunities for people to pray.

The reality is this: for us to fulfill these things, the exhortation to pray without ceasing is essential. It recognizes that we will not accomplish the things we have planned on our own; God is the one who works through us. So, I encourage you this year to begin to pray, to set your heart and orient your heart toward looking to God in the situations that confront you.

One of our problems is that sometimes we think of prayer as needing to use King James English, getting down on our knees, and being really eloquent. However, some of the best prayers I've ever heard are those that happen when a person first receives Christ as Savior and Lord. They begin to pray sincerely, perhaps even dropping a few expletives here and there, but their prayer is genuine. For example, they might say, "Yo, God, I'm sorry that I screwed up." That sincerity is what matters; we should come to God in all things in prayer.

I had hoped to spend a few minutes in prayer today, but I didn't leave enough time. So, let's stand and pray.

Father, we know that we need Your grace this year to fulfill what You've called us to do in each of our lives. Lord, the work that You've called each of us to do in our careers, in raising our kids, in our marriages, and whatever You've called us to within the body of Christ and missions—wherever we are—we can't do it without Your help. We confess our complete inability to do it, our total instability, and our total insufficiency. We need You to be all-sufficient in our lives. Lord, make us able to glorify You. Stir our hearts to be consistent and continuous in prayer, even throughout our day.

Now, because of Bluetooth headsets, we can talk to you in our car out loud, and people think we're talking on the phone. It's okay. But God, stir our hearts to be in communion with you when we're sending emails, answering phones, or driving around, whether we are at the grocery store or anywhere else. Stir our hearts to just be in fellowship and communion with you through prayer. What an awesome opportunity we have to come before you anytime, anywhere.

We don't need to be in a temple, in a tabernacle, or in a specific place because we are the temple of your Holy Spirit. We have you with us always and everywhere. So, Lord, help us to take advantage of it. Help us not to be easily distracted, but to seek you and to see you do great things. Just as D.L. Moody said, where prayer is focused, power falls.

So we ask, God, that you would cause power to fall upon our lives and upon this community. For we ask it in Jesus' name. And all God's people agreed, saying, Amen. Amen.