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We've got the joy of the Lord, praise you, praise you. This is the day you made, so I'll rejoice and be glad, rejoice and be glad in it. This is where I believe that you are more than enough, you're more than enough for me. When I'm standing, you are strong when I am weak. When I'm standing in your presence, I have everything I need. Joy of the Lord, the joy of the Lord is my strength. It's more than a feeling, joy of the Lord, joy of the Lord is my strength. Oh my God.
Oh my soul, oh my soul, bless his name. All that is within me, say the joy of the Lord, the joy of the Lord is my strength. Jesus, come what may, slow down. You are worthy of all, worthy of all my praise. You are faithful to your promise. You are strong when I am weak. When I'm standing in your presence, I have everything I need. Joy of the Lord, the joy of the Lord is my strength.
It's more than a feeling, the joy of the Lord, the joy of the Lord is my strength. Oh my soul, oh my soul. It's more than a feeling, the joy of the Lord, the joy of the Lord is my strength. Jesus, let our eyes open like a river overflowing. Holy Spirit, like a river overflowing. Holy Spirit, like a river overflowing. Overflowing, Holy Spirit, let it pour out with no limit. Overflowing, Holy Spirit, let it rise up like a river overflowing.
Overflowing, Holy Spirit, let it pour out, let it pour out. Overflowing, Holy Spirit, let it rise up like a river overflowing. Overflowing, Holy Spirit, let it rise up like a river overflowing. Overflowing, Holy Spirit, let it rise up like a river overflowing. Overflowing, Holy Spirit, let it rise up like a river overflowing. Overflowing, Holy Spirit, let it rise up like a river overflowing. Overflowing, Holy Spirit, let it rise up like a river overflowing. Overflowing, Holy Spirit, let it rise up like a river overflowing.
Overflowing, Holy Spirit, let it rise up like a river overflowing. Overflowing, Holy Spirit, let it rise up like a river overflowing. Overflowing, Holy Spirit, let it rise up like a river overflowing. The joy of the Lord, the joy of the Lord is my strength. It's more than a feeling. The joy of the Lord, the joy of the Lord is my strength. Oh, my soul, oh, my soul, bless His name. All that is within me, say, the joy of the Lord, the joy of the Lord is my strength.
I didn't do the tag, sorry. Would it maybe help just to slow the click down like a couple of beats to see if maybe we could stay on the click that way? Because a couple of beats I don't think would make too much of a difference, and it doesn't feel like we're running through the song. Because if we don't keep the click, I feel like we're going to drag it. Okay. Okay. Okay. We have a great day.
We have a great day. We have a great day. We have a great day. You conquered the grave. You freed every captive and break every chain. Oh, God, you have done great things. We dance in your freedom, awake and alive. Oh, Jesus, our Savior, your name lifted high.
Oh, God, you have done great things. We pray for them. We dance in your freedom, awake and alive. Oh, Jesus, our Savior, your name lifted high. Oh, God, you have done great things. We're going above it all. Hallelujah, God, unshakable. Hallelujah, you have done great things.
Hallelujah, God, above it all. Hallelujah, God, unshakable. Oh, God, you have done great things. Hallelujah, God, unshakable. Oh, Jesus, our Savior, your name lifted high. Oh, God, you have done great things. Hallelujah, God, above it all. Hallelujah, God, unshakable.
Oh, hallelujah, you have done great things for your God. Above it all, hallelujah, God, unshakable, hallelujah, you have done great things for your God. Beyond it all, hallelujah, God, unshakable, hallelujah, you have done great things for your God. Hallelujah, God, above it all, hallelujah, God, unshakable, hallelujah, you have done great things for your God. Above it all, hallelujah, God, unshakable, hallelujah, you have done great things for your God. Above it all, hallelujah, God. Alleluia, God, unshakable, alleluia, you have done greatly. Every other God is an idol, they can't hear you when you pray, they can't save you, there's no power in their name, cause there is only one, only one, our king has arrived, but in the past away, oh, there's no one that could put death in its grave, cause there is only one, only one, Jesus the only one who is worthy, only one, only one, Jesus the only, give all the glory to the one true living God, Jesus the only one.
One who is worthy, only one, only one, Jesus the only, give all the glory to the one true living God, you are holy and righteous, the one that sin could never stain, oh no, and though you did no wrong, you got up on that cross, and you're the only one, only one, Jesus the only one who is worthy, only one, only one, Jesus the only, give all the glory to the one true living God, Jesus the only one who is worthy, only one, only one, Jesus the only, give all the glory to the one true living God, you are holy and righteous, the one that sin could never stain, oh no, and though you did no wrong, you are holy and righteous, the one that sin could never stain, oh no, and though you did no wrong, you are holy and righteous, the one that sin could never stain, oh no, and though you did no wrong, you are holy and righteous, the one that sin could never stain, oh no, and though you did no wrong, you are holy and righteous, the one that sin could never stain, oh no, and though you did no wrong, you are holy and righteous, the one that sin could never stain, oh no, and though you did no wrong, you are holy and righteous, the one that sin could never stain, oh no, and though you did Anyone who's worthy, no other name but you, Jesus. Every knee will bow, every tongue cry out, at the name of Jesus. Hear the shackles fall, every sickness gone, at the name of Jesus. Hear the demons flee, all the children free, in the name of Jesus. Jesus, see the one true God, rise above them all, and his name is Jesus. Every knee will bow, every tongue cry out, in the name of Jesus. Hear the shackles fall, every sickness gone, in the name of Jesus. Every demon flee, all the children free, in the name of Jesus.
Hear the one true God, rise above them all, and his name is Jesus. I'm off. Okay. Go from the beginning of the bridge. Jesus the only, give all the glory. Only one, Jesus the only, give all the glory. To the one true living God, yeah. Only one who's worthy, he's the only one who's worthy.
Okay. Jesus the only, one who is worthy. Only one, only one, Jesus the only, give all the glory. Okay. To the one true God. To the one true living God, Jesus the only, one who is worthy. Only one, only one, Jesus the only, give all the glory. To the one true living God, yeah.
In the name of you, Jesus, oh, you're worthy of all of our praise. Every knee will bow, every tongue cry out, in the name of Jesus. Hear the shackles fall, every sickness gone, in the name of Jesus. Hear the demons flee, all his children free, in the name of Jesus. See the one true God, rise above them all, and his name is Jesus. Jesus, every knee will bow, every tongue cry out, in the name of Jesus. Hear the shackles fall, every sickness gone, in the name of Jesus. In the name of Jesus, every demon flee, all his children free, in the name of Jesus.
Jesus, see the one true God, rise above them all, and his name is Jesus, and his name is Jesus, and his name is Jesus, and his name is Jesus, and his name is Jesus, Jesus, the only one who is worthy, the only one, Jesus, the only one, give him all the glory. Jesus, the only one who is worthy, the only one, name is jesus and his name is jesus in the name of jesus and his name is jesus jesus the only give all the glory to the one true living god jesus the only one who is worthy to the word jesus the only give jesus the only give all the to the one true living god jesus the only give all the glory to the one true living god jesus jesus give all the glory to the one true living god every knee will bow every tongue cry out in the name of jesus till the shackles fall every sickness gone in the name of jesus jesus the only give all the glory to the one true living god jesus the only give all the glory to the one true living god jesus the only give all the glory to the one true living god jesus the only give all the glory to the one true living god jesus the only give all the glory to the one true living god We choose God, giving praise to Him alone. There's no one like the Lord, who was sent to save us all. There's no one like the Lord. We choose God, giving praise to Him alone. There's no one like the Lord, who was sent to save us all. We crown you, King of glory, we crown you Lord of all. We crown you, King of glory, we crown you King of glory, we crown you King of glory, we crown you Lord of all.
We crown you, you are worthy, we crown you, you are worthy. We crown you, you are worthy. worthy. We crown your Lord and Lord. Worthy is the one seated on the throne. There's no one like the Lord. He'll do his creatures all, giving praise to him and him alone. There's no one like the Lord. It's coming September.
Lord, praise. Lord, we give you glory and honor today forever and ever. This is the day you made. So I will rejoice and be glad. Rejoice and be glad in me. This is where I believe that you are more than enough. More than enough for me. You are faithful to your promise.
You are strong when I am weak. When I am standing in your presence, I have everything I need. Joy of the Lord, joy of the Lord is my strength. The joy of the Lord, joy of the Lord, the joy of the Lord is my strength. Oh, my soul, bless his name. All that is within me say the joy of the Lord, the joy of the Lord is my strength. I've got the joy of the Lord, Jesus. Come on me.
You are worthy of all, worthy of all my praise. You are faithful to your promise. You are strong when I am weak. When I'm standing in your presence, I have everything. I have everything I need. Joy of the Lord, the joy of the Lord is my strength. It's more than a feeling. The joy of the Lord, the joy of the Lord is my strength.
Oh, my soul, oh, my soul, bless his name. All that is within me say the joy of the Lord, the joy of the Lord is my strength. I've got the joy. Yeah. Let it rise up like a river overflowing Holy Spirit. Let it pour out with no limit. Overflowing Holy Spirit. Let it rise up like a river.
Like a river, like a river, overflowing Holy Spirit. Let it pour, let it pour with no limit. Overflowing Holy Spirit. Whoa Whoa Whoa, little little little. Holy Spirit overflowing Holy Spirit. the joy of the lord the joy of the lord is my strength it's more than a feeling the joy of the the joy of the lord is my strength and oh my soul oh my soul bless his name all that is within know my soul oh my soul bless his name oh that is within oh my soul oh my soul bless his name all that is within me say the love, the joy of the Lord is my strength. I've got the joy, I've got the joy. It's the joy of the Lord. You're so worthy of all praise.
Oh, hero of heaven, you conquered the grave. You freed every captain and break every chain. Oh, God, you have done great things. We're dancing your freedom, awaken the light. Oh, Jesus, our Savior, your name lifted high. Oh, God, you have done great things. You have done great things. I know you will do it again.
For your promise is yes and amen. You will do great things. God, you do great things. Oh, hero of heaven, you conquered the grave. You freed every captain and break every chain. Oh, God, you have done great things. You have done great things. Oh, God, you have done great things.
We're dancing your freedom, awaken the light. Oh, Jesus, our Savior, your name lifted high. Oh, God, you have done great things. Oh, hallelujah, God, above it all. Hallelujah, God, unshakable. Hallelujah, you have done great. Hallelujah, God, above it all. Hallelujah, God, unshakable.
Hallelujah, you have done great things. Hallelujah, God, above it all. Hallelujah, God, unshakable. Hallelujah, you have done great. thing you've done oh hero of heaven you conquered the grave you free every captain and break every chain oh god you have done great we dance in your freedom awake and alive for jesus our savior your name lifted high oh god you have done great things you have done great oh god you do great hallelujah god above it all hallelujah god unshakable hallelujah you have done great hallelujah god above it all hallelujah god unshakable hallelujah you have done great as we sing this next song if anybody needs something why don't you guys stand out into the aisles and have one of and just people because just gather around them and pray over them i feel like this is a time where we are singing over every shackle falling to the ground and every sickness fleeing for he is worthy and he's the only one who's worthy nothing we could ever do could come again could help what we're going through except for him so i ask right now let's just run to jesus with everything that we have in this next song and let's just lift him up for he's the only one worthy of praise god is an idol they can't hear you when you pray they can't save you there's no power in their name cause there is only one only one every king has a rival but in the apostle way there's no one that could put death in its grave cause there is only one only one jesus the only one who is worthy only one only one jesus the only give all the glory to the one true living god jesus the only one who is worthy only one only one jesus the only give all the glory to the one true living god you are righteous righteous the one that sin could never stand oh no and though you did no wrong you got up on that cross and you're the only one only one jesus the only one who is worthy only one only one only one jesus the only give all the glory to the one true living god jesus the only one who is worthy only one only one jesus the only give all the glory to the one true living god there's no other name of you jesus worthy of all our prayers so worthy you're so So worthy, yeah. Every knee will bow, every tongue cry out at the name of Jesus. Hear the shackles fall, every sickness gone in the name of Jesus. Every demon flee, all his children flee in the name of Jesus. I see the one true God rise above them all and his name is Jesus.
Every knee will bow, every tongue cry out at the name of Jesus. Hear the shackles fall, every sickness gone in the name of Jesus. Every demon flee, all his children flee in the name of Jesus. I see the one true God rise above them all and his name is Jesus. And his name is Jesus. And his name is Jesus. And his name is Jesus. And his name is Jesus.
Jesus, the only one who is worthy, only one. Jesus, the only God of glory, to the one true living God. Jesus, the only one who is worthy. Only one, Jesus, the only, give all the glory to the one true living God. And everything will bow, and we don't cry out at the name of Jesus. Every sickness gone, every sickness gone in the name of Jesus. Every demon fleeing, all his children free in the name of Jesus. See the one true God rise above them all.
Jesus, and his name is Jesus. Sing his name is Jesus. So his name is Jesus. And his name is Jesus. His name, his name is Jesus. No other name but you. No other name but you, Jesus. Jesus, we sing you're worthy, worthy, worthy.
Oh, you're worthy, worthy, worthy. Yes, you're worthy, worthy, worthy. Jesus, oh, you're worthy, worthy, worthy. Yes, you're worthy, worthy, worthy. Jesus, the only one who is worthy. Only one, only one. Jesus, the only, give all the glory. to the one true living God. There is one on the floor.
She stands. Oh, that's why we are married. Oh, what a beautiful thing. Who is saying and singing on the floor. There's no one like the Lord. And there's creatures now. Giving praise to him and him alone. There's no one like the Lord.
There's the sun. We're sitting on the floor. There's no one like the Lord. And there's creatures now. Giving praise to him and him alone. There's no one like the Lord. We crown you king on the floor. We crown you king.
We crown you king of glory. We crown you lord of all. We crown you king of glory. We crown you king of glory. We crown you king of glory. We crown you king of glory. We crown you lord of all. We crown you king of glory.
We crown you king of glory. We crown you king of glory. We crown you king of glory. We crown you king of glory. We crown you king of glory. Lord of all. We crown you, you are worthy. We crown you, you are worthy.
We crown you, you are worthy. We crown you, Lord of all. Worthy is our Lamb, who is sitting on the throne. There's no one like the Lord. All this we just bow, giving praise to Him alone. There's no one like the Lord. There's no one like the Lord. There's no one like the Lord.
There's no one like the Lord. There's no one like the Lord. There's no one like the Lord. There's no one like the Lord. There's no one like the Lord. There's no one like the Lord There's no one like the Lord We crown you King of glory We crown you King of glory We crown you King of glory We crown you King of glory you lord of all we crown you you are worthy we crown you you are worthy we crown you you are worthy we crown you lord of all we crown you king of glory we crown you king of glory we crown you You King of glory, we crown you Lord of all. We crown you worthy, we crown you, you are worthy. We crown you, you are worthy, we crown you Lord of all.
In the sun and rain, we say you're seated on the throne. There's no one like the Lord. Lord, elders, creatures, giving praise to him and him alone. There's no one like the Lord. There's no one like the Lord. There's none like our God. There is no one like you. As we sang that song, I'm just picturing heaven, all the heavenly hosts, the angels, the elders, as we sing about those around the throne, just worshiping the Lord day and night.
Worshiping the Lord. And what an opportunity, what a great opportunity that we have to just join in with all of heaven and rejoice and to sing about and honor and crown the Lord of all. We crown him with our praise. We can't physically be there to crown him, but we crown him with our praise. By saying, Lord, you're worthy of all. You're worthy of all. Sing that again. We crown, we crown you King of glory.
Yes. Yes, we crown you King of glory. Yes, we crown you Lord. We crown you King of glory. We crown you Lord. Lord of all. We crown you Lord. You're worthy, Lord.
We crown you King of glory. There's none like you, God. We crown you King of glory. Hallelujah, Lord. We crown you Lord. Thank you, Father. Thank you, Lord. All glory and honor and praise belong to our God.
He's worthy of our praise. Hallelujah. Come on, offer him a praise of thanksgiving to the Lord this morning. Hallelujah. You're great, Lord. You're awesome, Lord. Mighty are you, God. Wondrous are your works, oh God.
All of heaven and earth. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. Well, we're going to celebrate a baptism this morning, so you can go ahead and be seated. And I'm going to turn it over to Jonathan Eslick, and he's going to lead us this morning. Amen. Man, we get such an opportunity to be here. We get such an opportunity with the kids that stay with us in worship, so that in a moment like this, we get to celebrate together as a body of believers with heaven and with the Berkthold family and with Fletcher today.
Fletcher, would you go ahead and step in right here? I could say this and so many wonderful things about all of the kids that are connected with DLC, and Fletcher is no exception. He is dynamic and brilliant, and I'm so excited for this moment today. So, Christian, I'm going to hand this mic to you and just give you a minute here. Yeah, so we're really excited. A few weeks ago, Fletcher was asking us to be baptized, and we really noted the Lord working in his life a lot recently. And we really just encouraged our kids to listen to the Holy Spirit when he prompts them to be baptized and really give that public. So, we're really excited to baptize Fletcher today, and also very excited that two of his grandmas got to be here today with us, which is really cool.
And for those who don't know, I speak to my children in Spanish, so I'm going to talk to Fletcher in Spanish and ask him some questions and say a few things, and my wife will translate. So, Fletcher, did you receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior? And he said yes. Well, with this declaration of faith, we are going to baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. With that declaration of faith, we baptize you in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen. Man, what an exciting thing as a body to get to do together. Thank you for the way that you celebrate and embrace the next generation.
And with that, if you are in lower elementary or upper elementary, very calmly, and quietly, let's be dismissed, and we'll head back to our classes. I love it. I love it. Amen. What an honor to bring the Word today to you. Man, that's kind of a rare thing for me to do this, but that's all right. Amen. How's everybody doing this morning?
Man, man, we have finally made it to the end of 2 Corinthians. Some of you are saying, oh, thank the Lord. But I tell you what, it's been good. It's been rich, because there's been a lot of challenges, and it speaks to all of us. And His letter has been powerful, and I trust that you have received. I know I have. I mean, the last couple of times, the last few Sundays has just been, I walked away. I've personally felt challenged in my heart, my spirit to the Lord.
And I trust that the same thing is happening to you. Through these messages as we go. Now, as Glenn and Jonathan have said, I mean, you don't get to choose. When you go through a book, you don't get to choose what you get to preach about, because that's the section you preach about. But, you know, sometimes I'm praying, Lord, give me the easy ones. Oh, but it's been so rich, and what a blessing. Glenn today is in Canada. He and Jerry are up there.
They're part of the group that's up in Canada. That was Ken Gill's group. But they're just ministering and speaking into their lives and the connections that they have up there. Jonathan's over in Owasso. And so Jonathan and I are obviously doing the same message here. And so I don't have any notes or anything there in front of you. Of course, he has. But you can just take that other piece of paper and write on the back whatever you want to, okay?
Just write whatever. Don't scribble. Come on. Come on. Doodle. Just begin to write. Amen. But our theme has been on steadfast.
Steadfast. And we close it out with a final greetings that Paul makes in the last four verses of chapter 13. So if you have your Bibles, you can go ahead and turn there. And it's been rich. You know, we're calling this steadfast as his church. And that's been our theme for this last group of scriptures. And really, steadfast has that meaning of firm and unwavering and resolute. It conveys spiritual strength and unshakable commitment to God and his purposes.
In Paul's first letter to the Corinthians, he said this, Be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain. Out of Isaiah, it says this, You keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on you, fixed on you, or steadfast in you, because he trusts in you. So the scripture talks about being firm and established in it, unwavering. And that's the big idea that we have this morning, that the steadfast church is strong in the Lord. But the steadfast church is not a flawless church. Now, as we've been going through it, we realize that there, Paul has been dealing with a lot of... issues within the church. So the steadfast church is not a flawless church, but it is a grace-formed people who continually allow God to restore them and who walk together in his love, peace, and fellowship. Amen.
As we continue to walk it out. And it has this theme of God working together, continually allowing God to restore us, continuing to go on. Now, I use this... We use this example of driving down the road. Now, if you use the term steadfast, obviously you're steadfast on your hands on the 10 o'clock and the 2 o'clock position of the steering wheel, unless you have one of those new type of steering wheels that it's flat on the top, and it's just weird looking. But anyway, you're steadfast. But if you were to hold that steering wheel, even if you're on a straight road, if you were to hold that steering wheel perfectly straight, would you stay on the road? Probably not.
Especially... Really, in Oklahoma roads around here, especially, you know, out towards where we live, kind of out in the county roads that are out there, and there's no market, they might paint a yellow stripe down the middle to make sure you're on one side or the other. But, I mean, there's a lot of unevenness, potholes, whatever you experience, whatever you come across, there's a lot of wavering in that road as you drive. And if you were to say, I'm going to hold that steering wheel in that position, what's going to happen? You're going to end up in the... Ditch sooner or later. Well, sometimes, you know, that we can be rigid about things like that when we say steadfast. So steadfast, sometimes when we think steadfast, it means, well, I'm never going to change.
I never need correction. I've got it figured out. Well, we may say, well, I've heard that before. Sometimes God's got to repeat himself. Like parents. How many times have you told your child, you know, pick up something? You know, it's not one time. It's multiple times.
Or do this. And that's the way God is with us. Sometimes he's got to repeat it. But biblical steadfastness is not refusing correctment or refusing adjustment within our life. That's the biblical message. It's continually allowing God to bring us back into alignment with Christ, who is the author and the finisher of our faith. Continually working him. A steadfast church is not a church that never needs correction.
A steadfast church is a church that keeps responding. To the Lord. To grace that the Lord has given. Keeps responding to the Lord. Amen. And so in this book, Paul's heart for them was that Christ would be formed in them. As we've gone through 2 Corinthians, we see that in Scripture. We see that at the very beginning.
I mean, he talks about the father of compassion. He says it's the father of compassion and the God of all comfort in the first chapter and third verse. And then he ends here in the 11th verse of chapter 13. He says, And the God of love and peace. Peace will be with you. So the leather begins with the suffering church and eating God's comfort. And it ends with the restored church being called to live together in God's love and peace. You see this theme throughout the whole thing.
And so Paul has spent much of 2 Corinthians confronting sin and division, false teaching, spiritual immaturity. And yet he doesn't end with condemnation. He ends with a vision of what a healthy church should look like. And that's what we get. We get out of his final grief. What we should look like. And so we get the five challenges that he gives us. So let's read it together.
Finally, brothers. In verse 11. Finally, brothers and sisters. I'm reading this out of the NIV. Now your version may be different. This one, we include the sisters. He only says brothers in other versions. So ladies, you're included in this.
Finally, brothers and sisters, rejoice. Strive for full restoration. Encourage one another. Be of one mind. Live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you. So we take those verses there and just those five points here. And we start with rejoice.
Finally, brothers and sisters, rejoice. Now this is Corinth that he's writing to. Okay? There's plenty to be grieved about that has happened. He's had to confront sin. There's been strained relationships he's had to deal with. His authority has been questioned. We've studied that.
There's been false teaching. There's been false teachers. There's been false, there's a carnality. There's the comparison. There's the division. There's an immaturity. Sounds like a wonderful church, doesn't it? And his first word in his final greeting, he says, rejoice.
I don't know about you. I don't know if I'm ready to rejoice or not over that kind of stuff. Now that doesn't, you know, biblical rejoicing never requires us to deny reality. Obviously, Paul was very aware of what was going on in the church. So when he comes to this point and he says rejoice, I mean, it doesn't mean that none of us are going to rejoice. None of this happened, but he's challenging them because there's so much to rejoice about. You can look at the sin. You can look at the failures.
You can look at the false teachers or you can deal with all this kind of stuff. But he says to rejoice. First of all, when you rejoice, the fact is that we are in Christ. If there's anything to rejoice about is the fact that we are in Christ. They had issues. They had issues. But they were still. Belonged.
And that's a powerful truth. Their failures did not erase their identity in Christ. Now I'm thankful for that because there's many times I know I have failed God. I know I have disappointed him. I know I have things that he has dealt with me on. So our failures may require recorrection, but they do not change the fact that Christ is able to redeem us. Hallelujah. So there's a reason to rejoice.
Second thing why they could rejoice? It's because God loved them too much to give up on them. God loves us too much to give up on us. Out of Philippians, Paul writes this. He who began, and you know this, he who began a good work in you will complete it, will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. Has he begun the work in you? God is faithful. As we sang about, God is faithful to complete it to the last day on this planet.
God will do it in your life. So God doesn't abandon his work simply because his people struggle. He doesn't abandon them. And Paul's correction itself that he wrote in here throughout this whole letter to the Corinthians was evidence of God's love. I mean, by the fact that Paul would labor over this and pray over this and yearn over this to see the church become correct according to the statutes of the Lord. I mean, that was evidence that God's love had not left them. So biblical correction is not... It's not rejection.
I know we've heard that. It is a love refusing to leave someone where they're at. Be chained. Proverbs 3, 11 and 12 says this. My son, do not despise the Lord's discipline, for the Lord reproves him who he loves. Out of Hebrews, it says, for the Lord, again, the Lord disciplines the one he loves. So it's not rejection, but he brings discipline, and he doesn't want to leave us like we are. Third thing is that there's repentance and restoration.
Restoration are still possible. That's why they could rejoice. Proverbs 28, 13 says this. Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes him will obtain mercy. Hallelujah. Promised to us. So the presence of conviction there within our lives is evidence that God is still calling us back. If you feel and sense the conviction of the Holy Spirit within your life, it is proof that he is calling you back to a place where you left.
Calling you back into his presence. Calling you back into his arms. So it's not condemnation, but it's true Holy Spirit conviction that the Lord is putting on your life. And the fourth thing is that God's grace was greater than all their failure. We're reminded of this, that where sin increased, grace abounded all the more. We know that to be true. So those are the things that they say so we could rejoice. Not because everything is perfect, but because grace.
Grace is still at work within our lives. I'm so grateful. You know, we can grieve over what is broken, but still rejoice in what grace is doing. We can go on. We've been broken. We've grieved. But we can continue on knowing that his grace is going to continue to move within our lives. He's going to continue to move in the church.
He's going to continue to move in individuals' lives. He's going to continue throughout his church and bring what he desires. You know, a healthy church doesn't deny its problem. It's because there's no perfect church. But neither does it allow its problems to become greater than God. They shouldn't become greater than our God. You know, it's this dichotomy between, well, do we ignore reality or do we put faith in the middle of reality? That's kind of the thing, you know, what we struggle with.
Well, this really happened. Yes, but I'm believing God that he's going to do this. Right in the middle of it. You may say this situation is not okay, but God is still God. You may say, well, I'm not going to do this. You may say, I don't understand what God is doing, but I trust him. You may say, I may be hurting, but my God is greater than my heart. That's the things we've got to say.
We don't deny it. We don't deny the struggles, but yet we know that God is working. Because through the church, our failure may be real, but God's grace is greater. Our weakness may be real, but God's strength is greater. Our conflict may be real, but God's ability to restore is greater. Powerful truths. So in the midst of all this, we can rejoice. In the midst of all this mess, we can rejoice.
Because God is continuing to move and change and restore what needs to be changed and restored. God is at work within our lives. Hallelujah. The second thing he says is to strive for full restoration in verse 11. Strive. You know, that's connected to the verses prior to that, verses 9. Our prayer is that you be fully restored. And verse also 10, the purpose of correction is never destruction.
It is restoration. He said there that the authority of the Lord, in verse 10, the authority of the Lord gave me for the building you up, not for tearing you down. So correction, the authority of the Lord is there. So the correction is never destruction. It's not wiping everything out. No, the correction really builds, it's building you up. And that is healthy spiritual authority. It doesn't ignore what is wrong.
It doesn't ignore what is wrong. But neither does it expose what is wrong merely to shame someone. I've been guilty as a dad, trying to bring correction to my children. And in saying so, trying to bring shame, I can turn it. You know, you could easily turn it and bring shame upon them and hinder them. And it hangs with them for so many years. And it's one thing to bring correction in love and truly an understanding with a biblical heart. Or you can shame.
God doesn't do that. Now, we may feel. The point of the finger of God, the conviction, but it's to point out that he wants to correct it. So healthy authority confronts because it wants restoration. The restoration that can involve restoring our fellowship with the Lord. You know, sometimes maybe our prayer, his life has gone cold. Maybe scripture has become secondary. Maybe we've drifted a little bit spiritually, but it's God who's calling us back.
Maybe repairing damaged relationships. Some relationships don't need another argument. They need forgiveness. They need humility. They need reconciliation. Restoration. It may be restoration may be correct and wrong beliefs. The Corinthians had theological problems in their beliefs.
But truth matters. The word of God matters within it. And so a healthy church continually brings its beliefs under the authority of God's word. And that's powerful. That's what's been happening, I know, here. We continually bring everything under the authority of God's word. Restoration can involve turning from sinful practices. You know, repentance is more than just feeling sorry.
It means turning around. It means going one way, going the other direction. Repentance can insinuate that it's bringing the church back into healthy spiritual order. Paul wanted that. He desired that for the Corinthians. And that's what the Lord desires for us to really become like Christ intended us to be. But I want to point out the word strive. Paul uses that word.
Maybe your Bible says it aimed for restoration. That theme, that word strive, it means really that we cooperate with the grace of God. Strive to do it. It doesn't mean we resist what grace is correcting. That's what strive involves. It takes our involvement to say, yes, Lord, to what he's bringing conviction to. Yes, Lord. It takes intentional effort.
Restoration doesn't usually happen by accident. Oh, my. I'm restored. I don't know how it happened. I just turned around and I'm restored. Wow, what happened? It takes persistence. Keep pursuing what is right, even when it's difficult.
Keep pursuing what is right, even when it's difficult. It takes self-examination. Be willing to change what needs to be changed. And it does take humility. Put reconciliation ahead of pride or personal preference. Wow. It takes pursuit of God's will. Wow.
Striving not to fight over getting our own way. I know Jonathan's talked about that. Getting our own way. It's working toward what God wants. It's not just don't just hope things get better. No, we strive to make them better God's way. That's what striving means. And then, of course, restoration means alignment.
Alignment to it. Grace doesn't merely figure out what's broken. Grace begins putting what is broken back in order. Jonathan used the example of a broken bone. I mean, I've never had a broken bone, thank the Lord. But I know others have. And I know that when you break a bone, maybe multiple bones, they have to be set back in place for it to correct healing. Heal correctly.
How could they get it to come out? Correct healing. Heal correctly. What am I saying? I'm not even thinking about what I'm saying. I said it again. Heal correctly. They have to be set.
Well, that's a painful process unless they, you know, numb you somehow, you know, whether it's an arm or wherever. But it has to be set. It has to be aligned again. There's that correction that needs to happen. And so we see it. And we saw it through this 13th chapter. We see it with the correction. We saw the examination.
Examine yourself. See whether you're in the faith. We see the obedience. We see the process to restoration. And then out of that, we see the maturity that happens. We begin to see this. I was thinking. I was thinking about this.
And I was thinking of when Jesus said to Peter, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you that he might sift you like wheat. But I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers. Jesus had the ability to see ahead because he is God, fully God. He knew he was going to deny him, even right up to the night. He knew it was going to happen. And he said, Satan has demanded to have you. But Jesus said, I have prayed for you.
And that when you are restored, when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers. Peter's failure wasn't the end of his story. Jesus had already saw beyond the denial. And Jesus didn't pray that Peter would never be shaken. That's not what Jesus prayed. There are things that we will go through that will shake us, may upset the apple cart, so to speak, in our lives. But he prayed that. His faith would survive the shaking.
That was Jesus' prayer to Peter. Satan wanted to sift Peter. But Jesus was already praying for Peter's restoration. I want you to know that the Lord already sees the restoration in every one of our lives. He already sees it. And he's ever interceding. The Lord is there on the throne, ever interceding on our behalf, making sure that our restoration is complete within our lives. Hallelujah.
Grace gives us room to repent. But grace never gives us permission to remain in sin. It's not sloppy grace. So we're not a church that never gets anything wrong, but hopefully we'll be humble enough to say, Lord, whenever we are out of alignment with you, put us right. If there's something out of alignment, Lord, straighten us. Because once God begins to put us right, we become a people just like Peter who helped to strengthen one another. That broken arm really... is no use until it's healed. That broken leg needs a crutch until it's fully healed.
But when it's fully healed, it helps the rest of the body. And that's true for all of us. If there's areas within your life that need to be restored, that need to be brought into alignment, do it. Because when you come out on the other side, the Lord will be with you and you will be able to strengthen others with your story. It's a powerful truth. He goes on there. Encourage one another. Now, encouragement is just more than being pleasant.
It's more than a compliment. Oh, you look nice today. Thought of Jonathan's example. Oh, your head looks wonderful. But that body, I don't know about that. It's more than just a compliment. Biblical encouragement means to come alongside someone with words or actions that strengthen their faith, that gives them hope and courage and the determination to follow God. It strengthens, it comforts, it exhorts.
It helps someone keep standing. That's what we need from each other. I appreciate that theme this year, standing. It's been our theme throughout this year. It helps when we encourage. Paul starts this letter and he says it, telling us that God comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. Wow. Encourage one another.
It's the call for us to look beyond ourselves. Encourage one another. Encourage one another. The church isn't simply a place where we come to hear something. It's a body in which we supply something. It is. That's the church. It's joint supplying joint.
Now, I don't know if you walked in here today with the thought, how am I going to supply something here to the body? I don't know if you've thought about that. But that's what it talks about. We are the body of Christ to supply things to one another. Whatever the Spirit of the Lord is speaking through us, we need to supply one another. Joint supplying. Joint. We strengthen one another when we pray for one another.
We strengthen one another when we bear one another's burdens. We come alongside. We strengthen one another when we remind each other of the truth. And we restore. We stir each other towards faith. Hebrews says this, That's encouragement. Hebrews, it also says, but exhort one another every day that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sins. Wow.
So I have some questions for us. Are we strengthened in Christ because they are around? Are people strengthened in Christ because they are around me? Do people experience me as primarily as an encourager? Or does my presence build faith or continually drain it? Ouch. Ouch. Now, that's kind of some examine ourselves there.
How are we when we come in connection with others? You know, who needs encouragement from you this week? There's going to be a phone call. There's going to be a visit. There's going to be something. It might happen. You may meet in the store. You just pass cross.
And they may share with you things that's happened in their life, events that's happened to the week. And can we, as the body of Christ, truly strengthen one another? Come alongside and say the word. Say what God's speaking to us. That's a challenge for us. So when this encouragement happens, our hearts begin to move in the same direction when we follow after the Lord. And he goes on and he says, Be of one mind. That was significant.
That was significant in Corinth because they were marked by division. You know, they were saying, I follow Paul. I follow Apollos. They were marked by division. Now, it's still true today in the church worldwide. I'll just put it that way. We'll be honest. Not going to sugarcoat that one.
But they were divided and they were enamored over personalities, preferences, judging from outward appearances, separate, you know, all these kind of things. And Paul spent his entire letter dismantling the whole way of thinking. One-mindedness, being of one mind does not mean sameness. It doesn't mean we prefer all the same things. This morning when you walked into this auditorium, you sat in the same seat you have sat in. I can look around and I know we are creatures of habit, Nicky, right here on the front. If you were in the back row, you would feel like you sinned. We're creatures of habit.
We have our preferences, don't we? Oh, it doesn't mean sameness. You know, we see every secondary issue. We don't see it that way. We don't see it the same way. We'll have our own opinions. We have different personalities. Oh, my.
We have different gifts. We don't have the same measure. So how can he say be of one mind? Well, let me give you this picture of an orchestra. You've probably seen an orchestra. You've probably been to a concert where a symphony is played and enjoyed. Multiple instruments at play. I want you to know they don't all play the same instrument.
They don't all play the same notes. They come in at different times in that score. Now, when they sit down and they are preparing for, you know, and if you get there early before they start, they're all making their own, they're all playing their own thing, you know. And it doesn't sound good at all. It doesn't have any harmony part. It doesn't. And it's like, ooh, man, okay. All right, they're warming up.
I get it. I'm practicing my hardest part. It's not until the conductor or the director stands up there, taps the button, and then they begin. And he times it out. I love the guy in the back with the big cymbals. Standing back there at the timing, just ready. Smash those cymbals again. Everyone plays a part.
Not everybody has the same part. Not everybody comes in at the same time. Like I said, they don't play the same note, but they all have their part. So unity isn't everyone becoming the same. Being of one mind doesn't mean we all become the same. Unity is everybody submitting to the same Lord. That orchestra is submitting to that director, that conductor. It's submitting.
They don't go out and play what they want to, or else that conductor will start, mm-hmm, you know. You know, if they start pointing at that violin, it's, oh, you're not lying, you're not lying. You know, I mean, it's just, no. So it's submitting to the same Lord. So we, we become one-minded when we put our preferences under that banner that Christ is greater, that our personalities, that Christ is greater even than our personalities. It's Christ is greater than our platforms. Christ is greater than our need to be right. Wow.
Put it all under. Submitted it to the same Lord. Comparison asks, well, where do I stand next to them? But unity asks, how do we stand together in Christ? It's a powerful, it's a powerful example of being of one mind. Paul said this to the Philippians, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord, and of one mind. There we go. There we go.
That's Paul, that's Christ's service. So when we stop competing for position and submitting together to Christ, Paul says there should be a visible relational result. Hallelujah. Jesus prayed this, you know this, that they may all be one. He prayed that over us as a church. That's his body. That they all may be one so that the world may believe that you have sent me. There's a result.
There's an importance for us to all have the same mind with the same focus. He is Lord of all because the world will be evident to the world. And then the fifth one, live in peace and the God of love and peace will be with you. Now, peace does not mean avoidance. Biblical peace is not pretending nothing is wrong. Paul had confronted. I mean, he had lots of conversations. I'm sure he called for repentance, all those things.
But peace is what happens when difficult things are brought under the Lordship of Christ. I'm reminded of that verse of scripture, that powerful verse of scripture in Romans. It says, if possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. So far as it depends on you. It depends on us. Now, we can't control everybody else's response. We control our own. We control our own willingness to forgive, our own willingness to reconcile, to listen, to apologize, to pursue peace.
Matthew 5, 9 said, Jesus quoted this. He said, blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. He didn't say peacekeepers. He said peacemakers. A peacekeeper may avoid the problem. Oh, can we just all get along? Can we just all calm down? A peacemaker helps resolve the problem.
What do I need to do in this situation? What do I need to do? Peace may require confession, repentance, forgiveness, humility, confrontation, reconciliation. But this connects us back to one of the greatest centerpieces of this book of 2 Corinthians in the fifth chapter, when he said, God reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation. Well, that's not my ministry. It's all of our ministries. You want to put that label on you now? If you have a ministry, it's in the church, it's reconciliation.
A church entrusted with the message of reconciliation should increasingly become a people who practice it. We cannot proclaim, be reconciled to God and be alienated from one another. That's just not going to happen. That doesn't work that way. No, it doesn't mean every disagreement disappears. It means peace becomes something we pursue because reconciliation is something that we have received. Wow. It's something that we have received.
Wow. So if I have been forgiven, the challenge for me is to be able to forgive. And then he ends with a promise. And the God of love and peace will be with you. The qualities that Paul is calling for are actually the reflections of God's character. The reflections of his character. You know, in other words, a healthy church is not produced merely by being a better organization. It's produced by people living under the transforming presence of God.
Hallelujah. Under his presence. That's what God wants to do with an album. He goes on there, greet one another with a holy kiss. All God's people here send their greeting. Now, today, in our culture, you might get slapped if you greeted someone with a holy kiss. It does happen in parts of the world. It's still there.
Now, he's talking to, back in those days, that one way of affection, that greeting one another. Now, today, it's what? Fist bump, you know, doing all kinds of, oh, man, you know, you know, repetitious moves. I mean, the kids do it all the time. Give me a handshake. Just give me a handshake. Okay. I'll do that.
Or a hug. I mean, that's really affection. I know Jonathan. Okay, give the tap three times. Okay, and we're done hugging. You know, okay. I just, that's the way we show affection. What's he really after?
Because in the Corinthian church, in the churches, in those early days, you had divisions. First of all, you had Jews and Greeks coming together to worship. Wow. What things they had to overcome to really be able to greet one another and to say, hey, I love you. I love you in Christ. So he's really after that. Paul isn't merely concerned that they just, they greet one another. He wanted their relationship to play another, with one another to be a holy relationship.
Something that Christ has done within them. When I know, when it's Christ in me, and I know it's Christ in you, brother, what's something we share? It's something we have in common. It's something that we can strengthen one another and pray over one another. It's something that's powerful. That's what it is. And it's family. It's not factions.
It's family. Because he said to the Galatian church, there's neither Jew nor Greek. There's neither slave nor free. There's neither male or female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. We're all one in Christ Jesus. It doesn't matter our social status. None of that matters. Our background, history, none of that matters.
Well, it plays a part within our lives, but it doesn't really matter in the big picture of who we are in the body of Christ. Because it flows out from what he's done. And of course, he says all people, all God's people send their greetings. You know, there's times when you can feel isolated. And by writing that, I know that he encouraged the church because he's saying, look, all the churches greet you. All the church. All the churches support you, that love you and are praying. Wow.
What encouragement that is. What encouragement to the Corinthian church that would be. That all the churches are praying over you and they greet you, strengthens them. And then he closes it out in that last verse. May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. It's the same grace that sustained Paul. The weakness is the grace that will sustain the church in maturity. His grace restores us.
Wow. What a prayer. What a powerful verse. Because this is one of the, well, it's really the only verse that closes out the benediction, that closes out, that includes the Trinity. A lot of them would just, in Paul's writings, it just, it closes out the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. But here, he includes it all. May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. So it's the love of God as well because it holds us.
We don't have to try to earn his affection. We just respond. We just respond to it because God loves them enough to correct them. God loves them enough not to abandon them to their immaturity. The love of God, it holds us. And the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, it forms us, forms the body. This is more than each of us just individually experiencing the Holy Spirit, but it's the Spirit that's been transforming us from glory to glory. It's also the Spirit who creates fellowship among us.
The Spirit creates that fellowship. We strengthen one another. Do not neglect the assembling of yourself. That's what the Lord does within us. That desire. What's that desire within us? To come alongside, be a part of something what God is doing in the earth. Sometimes we get only a picture of our small world, but we get a picture of the whole world.
We're reminded of what God is doing around the world, not only just in Claremore, but what he is doing all over the world. Wow, we see God is bigger than us. It's bigger than me. It's bigger than us. But we long to be a part of what God is doing. We long to be together. That's what the fellowship of the Holy Spirit does within us. Now, fellowship is not something that we schedule.
I know. This is the nine o'clock service. We schedule this. Yes, I know that. But fellowship is more than just that. It's times together with one another wherever we go because we carry it with us. Hallelujah. So after everything Paul has written, he ends here.
Let's rejoice. Be restored. Encourage one another. Be of one mind and live in peace. That's how we stand. Not on our own strength, but steadfast as his church together in his grace, his love, and the fellowship of his spirit. That's what a healthy church looks like. It's what we look like.
It's what we should look like. I want to ask you this question. Bow your heads with me. I just want to ask you this one simple question. When people encounter us, and I speak to this myself as well. When people encounter us, do they encounter? Something of the grace of Jesus, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. Do they encounter that with another?
Lord, we've been challenged today in your word. And we thank you, Father, that we go in your strength, not our own. Oh, we go, Lord, even with failures. We don't deny those. But Father, we know that your grace and your mercy, your love, your compassion, everything about you continues to pursue us. And Lord, we thank you, Father. That every heart, Lord, here, desires to pursue you, Lord, and all that you have. We just thank you, Father, for your presence.
Lord, thank you for Paul writing this and challenging us as the church. And we give you praise and glory in the name of Christ. Amen and amen. I'll give the Lord praise for his word. We close out 2 Corinthians. Amen. I'm so grateful for this time. Amen.
Amen. Amen. Amen. It's not been a heavy theological book, but it's been a really impactful book in terms of the personal conviction, the calling out to maturity. That's what I feel in my own heart is that I'm being called to be mature, to grow up. And I'm grateful for that word this morning, Jim. That was incredible. There's going to be a time after the announcement video and after we give where we're going to call our prayer teams forward.
And if you need anyone to stand with you, if you're in a season to where maybe you need someone to stand alongside and agree with you and pray with you, I'd love to have that time available for you, because we all have things that we go through. We're going to continue this morning in our worship as we give unto the Lord our tithe and our offering. You can give any way. You can text it. You can drop it in the bucket. This is for the members of Destiny Life, the faithful attenders. If you're new or relatively new, don't feel pressure at all. This is just a way that we honor God and thank him for all that he's given and supplied for us.
And as you prepare that this morning, we're going to have an announcement video. Now, I'm going to go ahead and go on a limb and say that the music is not going to match the setting. Probably going to be upbeat. Teddy likes the upbeat music. Don't let the music disrupt what you feel like the Lord. It's speaking to you or calling out of you. OK, so let's turn our attention to the screens and go through this video together. Oh, hey, I didn't see you there.
Well, my name is Dakota. Let's check out a few announcements for the week. Groups Fair is coming September 6th. If you would like to start a group this fall, scan the QR code on your seat flyer or go to dlc.tv slash groups. Well, I don't have anything ready for breakfast right now, but there will be some breakfast ready this Saturday at 830 at the men's breakfast here in Claremore. See you then. Want to stay in the loop for any upcoming events here at DLC? This fall, check out our events page at dlc.tv.
Guys, have a great weekend. Well, there you go. I feel informed. Oh, Dakota did great. Kota did awesome with that. I don't know if you noticed on the walk in, there is a lost and found table. This week, it's lost and found. Next week, it's a flea market.
So what's not claimed will be claimed for a fee. If you would like to go snag anything, I think we found a Mario. A Mario that was missing. We fortunately found Mario. Several cups. I will confess to the body today. I've taken a couple bottles from the lost and found over the years. I made sure they were there for a long time, but when they were not claimed, I did end up claiming them.
So if you leave them, I will probably end up with them. Prayer teams, if you would, would you go ahead and make your way forward? Can we all stand together as we conclude our time? Hopefully not for the week. Please stick around. Connect with one another. Interact with one another. Lord, we just thank you for this time together.
We thank you for your word that does not return void. God, we just pray that your work continue in our hearts. God, that we would continue to be called into maturity. Lord, we thank you that you are steadfast. You are faithful. And we just get to ride along with you. Lord, we pray for those in need today that need a touch from you. God, I thank you that you would reveal yourself to them.
And that each joint supplying joint. God, that your body would be cared for this morning. We worship you, Lord. We thank you. It's in your name we pray. If you need prayer, come on forward. We'd love to pray over you and be with you this morning. You're dismissed.
