I do invite you to turn in your Bibles tonight to the book of Acts, Acts chapter 2. I think it's a few years now we had looked at this ago, but we're going to be focusing tonight in light of what we're studying in the Heidelberg on the church and why the church is important. We'll be looking at this passage from Acts 2, verses 42 through 47. I'm going to spend a few Sundays on this next section. Last time we considered the work of the Holy Spirit, and now we're going to move into what we believe about the Holy Catholic Church. If you would like to follow along with that, as a matter of fact, I invite you to please turn there because I'm going to ask a few questions on page, actually, it's in these books on page 222, if you have those in front of you. Are they in front of you? These there? Okay, good. 222, and we're going to say really just two question answers tonight. Actually, we'll do all three in this Lord's Day, and then we'll read Acts chapter 2. Again, it's important to say that when we say Holy Catholic Church, you know that we're not talking and saying that we confess the Roman Catholic Church. That's important to say always because there's a lot of confusion about that, that we're saying, listen, that we're Roman Catholics. We're not Roman Catholics. We always said that to say that there's no salvation outside of the Roman Catholic Church would be a wrong teaching and cultish. When we say Catholic, we simply mean universal. We simply mean that we confess that he has his church everywhere. What do we believe about his universal church? A church that is in all times and places, that he's always had a people, a church from the beginning of the world to the end. That's what we're going to confess here tonight. So that's important when we say that, that we have a proper understanding. At the time of the Reformation, they were very clear to say that there's a Reformed Catholic. In other words, what that means is is that we recovered what it means to truly be Catholic. Not so narrowly defined that we would get nervous. If I tonight said that there's no salvation outside of the Escondido United Reformed Church, I would say to you, run. Get away from me as far as you could. I'd be a cult leader. That's the kind of dangerous teaching that happens. no, we're saying that Jesus has a universal church. So tonight, we're going to answer that question that's here that captures that in 54. What do you believe concerning the holy Catholic church? I believe that the Son of God, through his spirit and word, out of the entire human race, from the beginning of the world to its end, gathers, protects, and preserves for himself a community chosen for eternal life and united in true faith, and of this community I am and always will be a living member. What do you understand by the communion of the saints? First, that believers one in all, as members of Christ the Lord, have communion with him and share in all his treasures and gifts. Second, that each member should consider it a duty to use these gifts readily and joyfully for the service and enrichment of the other members. What do you believe concerning the forgiveness of sins? I believe that God, because of Christ's satisfaction, will no longer remember any of my sins or my sinful nature, which I need to struggle against all my life. Rather, by his grace, God grants me the righteousness of Christ that I may never come into judgment. And now I'll read Acts 2, backing up to verse 40. And with many other words, he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, save yourselves from this crooked generation. So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls. And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common, and they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved. And there we'll end the reading of God's Word. Well, tonight we're moving now from our study last time in the teaching of the work of the Holy Spirit, who the Holy Spirit is. We confess about the Spirit now to our belief and understanding of the church. And this is a very important subject in our day to understand. I think so much is assumed with regard to the church. We talk a lot about the church. We say the church, the church, the church. And there's many struggles with that today. I don't, I think it goes without saying that everything right now institutionally is under attack. It doesn't matter what it is, whatever sort of organization that there is with leadership. Everything right now in society is under attack that way. Just look at the news. Everything from government to law, everything is under, anything that has organization and is institutional. Nobody trusts. People are really concerned about that. There seems to be such a distrust of institutions, and institutions are crumbling everywhere. Well, think of all the challenges that we have faced with trying to help a new generation appreciate the church. This has been one of our most uphill battles in the life of the ministry. It's the concern of the older generation going out who has been blessed by the church and for years devoted themselves to the church. We'll answer what all this is and what it means, but think of how much commitment and devotion has been given, and we're concerned about the next generations. Will they appreciate this? Will they value this? Look at this uphill battle that we have right now, especially as, if the statistics are at all correct, a major drop and departure from the church from the young generation. There's no real, seems to be understanding or appreciation. Why do you need the church? Why is the church important? What is the church? These are the kind of things that I think we have to, that we have to address and to help people with. I mean, think of just this basic problem that we have, that there are a lot of young adults and a lot of young people here right now who would love to profess their faith, but the reality is they're scared of coming before leaders. They view that as daunting and scary. How do you overcome this perception, right, of the church and its institution with organization and elders and deacons as something that is helpful to me? Because it's viewed by many people as an intrusion into their lives, But it's also viewed as something kind of scary that, I don't know, is this something I really want to be a part of? Is this something I really want to do? And that fear of that has kept, I think, many even young people away of feeling like they're going to be interrogated by men who are just going to check and see. Are you guys keeping it all? Doing well? See, this is the kind of thing we have to overcome today. And then you deal with all of the abuse in the life of the church and all of the problems that have happened. I was just hearing the story about a church and a bunch of the young people are scared of the leadership. They're afraid they'll be disciplined by the leadership. How do we overcome this? How do we present to the next generation a positive view of the church? Not this group that comes together and is just frowned upon by leaders. See, this is the challenge that we have, and I think the church today in reaction to this has tried to latch on to all the wrong things to try to solve this problem. What they tried to do is try to make the church not the church, not to feel churchy. That's why one of the things, I didn't have much of a say about the building, but one of the things I was so thankful with with this building is that there was enough sense in this church and a lot of it to say we're going to make it look like a church. That's a rare thing today. because everything now is about the shopping mall mentality. You don't want to feel and look like a church because that's just too stuffy. Well, I've got good news. I don't think you're stuffy tonight. Maybe I am, but I don't think you are. So we've lowered the standards. We wouldn't do this anywhere. We lower the standards all the time. We say things like, well, okay, membership's out the door. You wouldn't do that over at LA Fitness. If I walked in and said, hey, I want to work out, but I don't want to be required to have a membership. That's too strict. They would say, there's the door. See you later. I had to sign on a dotted line, and I had to make commitments, and I had to make promises that I wouldn't be a jerk in the gym. Well, in the church of Jesus Christ, there's commitment. But I want to present a positive view of the church and why God put this in place so that we're not embarrassed about the church today. That we're not embarrassed, that we would see membership in the church as a blessed thing, to be able to be part of the family of God and to have it expressed locally as we come together, an expression that these are my brothers and sisters that God saved. It's beautiful. And that's what I want to think about tonight and to have us think about that it is built into us to despise because of sin, because of the sinful human nature, to distrust certain things. And the Lord wants you to know that he put something in place that's really good for you, that is meant to help you in this life, that is meant to give you grace, To appoint shepherds who are called to love you. Are we perfect? No. That's why the Heidelberg says, bear with us in our failings, remembering that God chooses to rule you through us. It's a good thing. It's a good thing for your life. And that's what I want to see tonight, that we struggle with this to appreciate it for what we should. And notice how we'll give our attention to anything and everything else. than the church. I don't think that's the case here. But I'm seeking in general where priorities are. Well, any correction to helping us understand and appreciate the church and understand what the church is, is you've got to go to Acts. There's just no better place to understand this and to look at this, particularly Acts 2, that helps us because it's such a different mindset than the American mindset when you come to the church. Americans are intensely individualistic. We were going to do our own thing. And we don't think like Israel thought, communally. There's something beautiful about the communal aspect of this. And it was the greatest privilege to become part of the community of the faith in the book of Acts. And that's what I want to encourage you with tonight. Why does the church matter? Why did God put this in place? And we could say just a few real simple things here tonight that the Lord has done to help us understand the church and appreciate the church. And the first is, is that he has gathered us together. And then that he has made us a communion together. We're going to talk about that. And then that he has promised to preserve us together. Now you notice how I emphasized in all of those points together boys and girls we are we are a family we're going to look at that we are a family we have always been a people together going to the promised land just like israel and we have to learn to think like that we have to appreciate that christians were never the christian life was never designed to be lived alone you want to stumble and fall try to do it alone go back fishing that's that this is what's being emphasized tonight and that we lord we would uh the lord would give us insight and understanding and encourage us to show what a blessing it is to be a part of the church of god now notice here in the book of acts and and particularly tonight something that was said in the heidelberg that's really beautiful that the lord jesus christ out of the entire human race, from beginning to end, he always had something in place. He always planned and purposed something from the beginning. He gathered a people for himself. That is a community, you'll notice that, chosen for eternal life and united in true faith. That is something that's always been from the beginning of Genesis, right from the beginning. Soon after the fall, you have a very unique phrase that men began to call upon the name of the Lord. They together would come together and call on the name of the Lord and gather together. This was one of our great challenges with COVID. We did not want people to get used to not gathering. That is not good because the church is a gathering. It is a gathering. It's so important. And so you'll notice that here, that the Lord encourages us a lot to think about this, bracketed these things by saying at the beginning of this passage and the end of this passage, that's why I read verse 41 and then verse 47. There's a big bracket there. You could even say a sort of chiastic structure. But you'll notice there that it said that the Lord was adding to the church daily those who were being saved. Verse 41 says about 3,000 souls were added. Verse 47 says again, the Lord added to his church daily. Well, to add to something, there's something that's already existing. He was adding to the body people. The Lord was fitting together the body. He was specifically forming a body where the mission work of the church went out. And that's why in all these cities they would appoint elders and you would have an institution church. It's not a bad word. It's a good thing. A church would come together and in that city there would be organization and they would gather and they would do very important things. And so you'll notice here that the breakdown in verse 42 that highlights certain things that are really important, we read that they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and in fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and prayers. Now, if I were to go anywhere in the New Testament to say, well, how would you understand the church? You could go to something like Ephesians chapter four that Austin preached a few weeks ago. You could go to other places, but I'm not sure you would have a better understanding than looking at what the church was actually doing in Acts chapter 2 as it formed. When something is brand new, now the church has always been, but when I say in Acts as Pentecost happened and now he was gathering to the ends of the earth, this was for people something so new. I want you to notice how simple it was. That's what's kind of difficult about preaching this tonight, is that I think, you know, you think, well, it thinks I should have all these profound things to offer you and say to you. And the reality is, it's one of the most simple things, simplest of things that are described here in the Bible about what they did as a church and what it means to be the church? Notice this. What stands out about this list? These four things that are here mentioned. Well, really, they don't make much of our strategy lists today of how the church would succeed. You would never pick these things. You would never say, oh, you know, we talked about this in 12th grade today. When you come to the church, what's the first thing people ask when they come to the church? The first thing they ask is, how did I feel today? You know, was the music good? All those kind of questions that revolve around me. Notice here how important it is and what's emphasized about the church. The first thing that's emphasized here, the key word is that they were what? Devoted. Devoted. They were persistent. They were committed. This is one of the things that we try to emphasize to the young adults today that, you know, Britt and I, we talk about, and others we talk about, Dan, we talk about, about commitment. It's difficult to get through today, commitment. That's hard for us, to be committed to anything. It's difficult. It's hard. But I want you to notice here that the first thing that's emphasized as the Lord was saving and adding a people together was commitment, was devotion to something. They were devoted to something. They gave persistent attention to something. Actually, a few things that were very important to them. Notice the simplicity here. I think sometimes, just as in take government, what does government do over time? They make more burdens and more burdens and more burdens and more burdens. More laws, more laws, more laws, more laws. So finally, you're constricted and you can't move. And sometimes I feel like this is just natural human tendency and propensity to make life enclosed. We do this all the time. If you go back and look at pedestrian laws early in the 20th century, it's a really fascinating thing to watch. There were no pedestrian laws, so they were all mulling around the street. You don't know how anyone didn't get hit by a car in the first part of the 20th century. And now look at how enclosed down and locked down everything's become. It's a natural human tendency to do that, and I think at times we do this with the church, that we have all of these expectations, expectations and expectations and expectations, and we burn out people. This is no criticism about all the blessing that we enjoy, but think of all of the things that have to go on to make church possible that nobody thinks about. A sound system. They didn't have that in the first century. Think about all this that has to happen that we do today to make it so and those are blessings but we can easily miss the heart of this what is our need and notice what's happened here they continued the first thing that said they were devoted to what the teaching so Pentecost was all about and the outpouring of the spirit was the goal that in the preaching of Jesus, they would take the scriptures and they would bear witness about Jesus. And if you look at the sermons in Acts, that's what they were doing here right from the beginning is that they were, Peter was taking Acts 16 and Psalm 110 in that first sermon and he's showing on the pages of scripture Jesus. He's preaching the cross and he's preaching and it was creating something in the lives of the people. It was creating a hunger. This is what they did in Acts. They went around and they devoted themselves to the teaching, and you would see a great hunger develop in the lives of the people that they were hungry for the ministry of the word. And the Lord wants to encourage us, don't ever think that that is some little thing, for it was in the midst of that that the Lord added to that first sermon and these first sermons, 3,000 people. That's remarkable. Who was doing the adding? To understand the faith, to know the faith. You know, I know, I think in the Scottish tradition that they would walk in and there would be a man called the Beatle and he would carry the Bible up to the pulpit, place the Bible on the pulpit and you would have that real sense that, wow, something really important is happening. They've gathered around the word. They've gathered around the word. Every time you see any reformation throughout history, go back to Nehemiah's day. A wood pulpit was raised up. This is in Nehemiah's day, and all the people stood for hours and listened to the word. They were hungry for that. What is the gathering? We say, well, the church is a gathering. A gathering of what? Of people. A gathering to do what? to gather around the word of God. You know, the mindset's so different today, you know, that we've told everyone that the real stuff, the real church is everywhere else. And that has a sense of pious-sounding wisdom to it. The real church is when we get out and do stuff. It's what we've said. What has been the consequence of that? Think about it. it's been confusing. It's created the sense that there's nothing really special in the gathering. R.C. Sproul was teaching a bunch of young adults and years ago asked them, do you need to go to church to be a Christian? And of course, all of them across the board said, well, of course not. Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Wait a minute. you're going to tell me that you love Jesus and not his bride whom he died for? Silence. You're not going to gather with the bride he died for? That's what the church is. This is important for our college-age students because I was just as guilty. It was easy to just leave it out of my life. You can't call yourself a Christian and divorce yourself from his body. That's an important point. You're not an individual. You're brought into the body of Christ. And that most shows itself in the local gathering of the saints around the word. This is why they would say, listen, it was important to emphasize these things. It's important to say that the most reverent thing you do before the Lord when you come and gather, what do you think it is? We all might have many ideas of that. What is the most important thing? I'm going to get up Sunday morning and I'm going to come and I'm going to offer something to the Lord. I'm going to do something for the Lord. Really? Peter, really? The Lord is saying to you, I have something to do for you. I have something to give you that you need. You know how messed up you are. You know what you're prone to. You know what you give in to. And I'm giving you an answer every week. I'm giving you help when you gather. The most reverent thing you do when you gather is sit and receive that word from him. It's your greatest act of worship. He loves that from you. and he loves to feed you. All these passages on Jesus feeding people are not just empty passages. He loves to do that for you. He loves to feed your weary souls in this wilderness. He loves to strengthen your hearts. You can't do this alone. You need real power, and you need the source of power, and the source is that word, you see. So the church has always been a gathering. Go throughout history. It's always been a gathering together of God's people around the word, and we have to stop and ask, what is our attitude to the first thing that's said here? You know, when I was in college, and, you know, and this was no criticism of my past, but I remember so aware to me to this day that this little church who had discovered all these wonderful truths out of the Bible, they got to Romans, they were preaching through Romans, and they didn't know what to call any of these things that they had never come across before. Election. And then they found out that there's all these Reformation teachings. So the church became a little Reformed church up in Eureka. And after church, I had never seen it, Bibles were opened. And you could see them in the back talking about the Bible. It wasn't the farm prices. This is what happens. It was the Bible they were excited about. I had never, I'd never really witnessed that to that degree. And that had a profound effect on me as a young person. I was converted at that time. There was a joy to come around that Word, a growth in that Word, and it ignited in me a hunger for the truth of the Word. That's a beautiful thing. That's what we see in Acts. That's the first thing. The second thing you'll notice is what? They were devoted to the word, the apostles' teaching. Then they were devoted to the communion, the fellowship, the koinonia. It was a common fellowship they had. I love this. This is really exciting to preach because it's a beautiful thing that's described here. They had this new identity in Jesus, and now this bond that they had, they had a brand new family. But it wasn't just any family. This was the family of the Lord, all these people were purchased by the precious blood of Jesus. This common bond in the Spirit, as Ephesians says, they looked at their new family and they understood this is the most meaningful family to be a part of. This is special. They looked at their family and saw that. This is why John would write, Beloved, if God so loved us we ought to love one another no one has ever seen God if we love one another God abides in us and his love is perfected in us by this we know that we abide in him and he in us it was a fellowship it was a koinonia it's a communion together it wasn't just cookies after church that's good I'd like cookies I think they're great and we should have that. But it was a real investment in the lives of the people. You know, they still say to this day that we could do all these things for church growth. We could walk around and do door-to-door. You could try to talk to people. You could try to say, hey, come to the church. And yes, some of those strategies may bring some people in. You could do radio. We've seen blessings through radio. But the greatest way the church has grown to this day has been a witness and participation around the word and in the fellowship. Where they see the fellowship and they have a neighbor that cares for them and they're brought into this fellowship and they see something's absolutely different that I don't have from the world. Think of all the efforts today for trying to fix all the world's problems and try to create a family out there. That's what they're trying to do. They're trying to create a united humanity that will actually get along. And look at it. Look at it. This is a beautiful thing that's here described as it goes on. Notice that the emphasis here is that they were caring for one another. They were loving one another. They were helping one another. They were fellowshipping with one another. Maybe that distinction we've made classically in our churches between church's institution and church's organism really kind of breaks down a little bit here where what we see is that the world is really affected, as Jesus would say, by all this. People will know you're my disciples by the love that you have for one another. You want to affect the world, love one another a lot. It's beautiful. And that's what's captured here in verse 44. this fellowship that's accident in the body. Now, all who believed together, notice this in verse 44, all who believed were together. We're together. And they had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all as any had need. This is important because this passage has been greatly abused. They didn't have all the social programs of the days that we have. Maybe that's made us feel like, well, the government will take care of that. They weren't out trying to solve all of Rome's poverty problems, were they? They were not out doing that. They couldn't do that. But they could love one another whom the Lord brought into his fellowship. Many of these people were really poor. Many of these people didn't have anything. And the emphasis was here is that they were caring for them. They were providing. They were loving them. They were helping them. All these people of all these different backgrounds together. It's really beautiful. I hate it that the conversation immediately goes, well, that's socialistic, socialism and all. This is the church. We're not talking about government principles here outside of the church. That's not what this is. This is your family. That's what's being emphasized here. This is your family. And what had happened was, because they knew the love of Christ and they understood the incredible sacrifice made for them, since he had given everything to them, they wanted to help those in need in this fellowship and care for those who had that need. They wanted to be generous with their family. This wasn't forced. You'll notice that this was something that came from you. The whole simplicity of this is so beautiful. Do you notice at the end of this? And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all people. See the happy simplicity of the church there? It seems so simple. It seems so happy. And that's the kind of sense we should get from this. This isn't rocket science, as they say. This is where hospitality shined. You know, even Rosario Butterfield will tell you that it was a pastor who had her, invited her over out of her lesbian lifestyle at Syracuse University, had over 500 dinner invites. I looked at her and I said, you've got to be kidding. 500? 500, she said. The pastor was very targeted. Couldn't save everyone. But there was an open door. This is the fellowship. They were a family together. They bore each other's burdens. It was koinonia. They continued steadfastly in this. And notice that it's further explained in verse 46. So that continuing daily with one accord in the temple. Remember, there was still some overlap here. And breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart. I know this has been sort of a proof text for saying this was the Lord's Supper. I've never been convinced. I think you could make the case that there was frequent communion in the New Testament. And that's always been the debates about this. But I've never been convinced from this that that's exactly what's being said here. I just haven't, not at least as Acts shows it. notice he connects it when he says they continued steadfastly in the breaking of bread and it's explained in verse 46 so that continuing daily with one accord in the temple and breaking bread from house to house um the the point is is there was a commitment to gathering formally and informally they would gather for formal worship and then they would gather together in houses to break bread when Eutyches fell out of the window Paul broke bread because he was famished the emphasis here is a corporate gathering together a family together they had supper and they prayed and they worshipped and they listened to the apostles preach and it was simple worship and they came together and they came together in their homes and there was hospitality and there was fellowship and there was something beautiful bonds were being made this growth was involved together in their common bond with the spiritual family that they had. You know, I think this challenges us. I think it challenges us to not just put our families, our blood families first. It's not what Jesus calls us to do. This is why he was constantly saying, who's my brother? Who's my sister? Who's my mom? Who are they? All of you. All of you. I've purchased you. You're my family. family, says Jesus. I think when Jesus was on the cross and he looked to John and he looked to his mother and said, behold your mother, behold your son, he was saying, he'll take care of you. He'll take care of you. We're comfortable with our immediate family. Our homes are open there. We'll make great meals for them. What about the open door policy for the church? It's tough. I understand there's busyness, There's life. It takes wisdom. I understand that. But the Scriptures commend it nonetheless. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. Fellowship was bound up with this, that they would worship, they would gather, they'd have a meal together. There's nothing more intimate than sitting down and having a meal together, a glass of wine and all. It's a beautiful thing. And I want to emphasize the commitment again. Notice here, and when they had prayed, I want you to notice one more thing. Breaking of bread, and what's the last thing they were devoted to? Prayer. This is really wonderful, isn't it? Devoted to the apostles' doctrine, Teaching to the communion, the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and prayer. It's important to say that, you know, we're interested in a lot of things today. In Acts, it was never small groups, as important as small groups can be. It was large groups. They prayed together. You know, if there's any real benefit and blessing, you know, of coming to worship and receiving the word, it's a great one. But one of the most important things we do as a people, this is why you want to tell people to be a part of this, is we pray together. I want to be more committed to making sure I represent what your requests are. It's always been kind of difficult. Prayer gets rushed. But it's important that calling out to the Lord was an essential part of the church functioning as it should, together. Together, corporate prayer, and as gathering together as people. In Acts, when they were greatly distressed and they were facing persecution by the culture, and when everything was coming down on them and nothing was going well, you know what they did? They prayed. And you know what happened? The ground shook. And that was a message to say, God hears your prayers. And God always helps his people in the midst of the most difficult times of life. So as a church, you know, wouldn't it be wonderful to pray more together? We can think about how to do that. We had a prayer group and I need to get that going again. I see Sandy saying that back there. We're going to do that. But I want to encourage us to be a praying people for the church. You know, I read that passage at the beginning. Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain that is through his flesh, since we have a great high priest over the house of God, there's some important let us's here. Let us draw near with a true heart and full assurance of faith. With our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us come together as his people. Let us draw near to the throne of grace with boldness. Let us enjoy that great right standing with God. Then let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. Hold fast to what you believe. You have a confession, maintain it. Hold that confession. It's a beautiful thing that we do. And then he says, let us consider how to stir up one another. What does that mean if you have to help stir up people? It means that you can sit dormant. Let us consider how to stir up one another to what? To love and good works. Not neglecting. Now notice how where all this comes together. Not neglecting to meet together. As is the habit of some. But encouraging one another. All the more as you see the day drawing near. See how important this is? The New Testament has no conception of a people doing this on their own apart from the church. Enjoy your family. This is not a bad thing that's presented to you. Love your family. Realize the privilege of what you're a part of. Maybe the most important verse here is that fear came upon every soul and many wonders and signs were done. They were in awe about what they were a part of. That's what we need again. And we need a great sort of awe that God has brought us into his family. We need to sort of fear and tremble to the family we've been brought into realizing, whoa, what a blessing. God is among us. This is what the Lord does to build his church. And I hope it encourages us. I have to say in the Eskimo URC, the hospitality and the warmth I want to encourage us in. But especially now as we come out of COVID and as we're transitioning out of this and we're moving forward. This is probably the sermon to preach in the morning. I realize that. Because the ones who really are going to be out doing it are here at night, right? But, but, but, you can tell them about it, okay? That's true. You can stir them up to love and good works. But I want to encourage you. This is a great opportunity now as we come out of this to really go after what we're called to do as the body of Christ. To love gathering for the fellowship and the doctrine. To love our communion together. To love this koinonia that we have. To enjoy one another in our homes and pray together. You're the body of Christ. That's what the church is. the body of Christ. He's died for. The wonderful Savior has given us this common bond. And may we be able to say, I love your kingdom, Lord. I love your church, O God. May our young people be able to say that. Your elders and your deacons love you. They care for you. They want to minister to you. They want to bless you. Understand the privilege that the Lord gave you to be members of the household of faith. Let's pray together. Heavenly Father, thank you for instructing us in the church tonight, helping us to understand the church, what it is, to be a part of that. We look forward to studying more next time on gifts and how to use those. But thank you, oh Father, for being so faithful and being so kind to give us to be members of the household and family of God. Thank you for your church. May we function as a church the way you want us to function. Remove all those things, Lord, from us that are not helpful. Refine us, test us as a church, grow us as a church in our love for one another. Keep us from sin. Keep us from the devil who wants to divide us. May we be, as we sang from Psalm, the Psalm 133, may we be unified in love. How beautiful is that unity. May we have it here. Thank you for hearing us tonight. In Jesus' name, amen.