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you you Well good morning everyone welcome to Mountain Baptist Church take your songbooks and turn to song number 29 Song number 29 in your songbooks will sing at the cross and If you would stand we'll sing song 29 Oh And did my Savior bleed and did my sovereign die? Would he devote that? sacred head for such a worm as I At the cross at the cross where I first saw the light and the burden of my heart Rolled away It was there by faith I received my sight and now I am happy all the day Was it for crimes that I have done he groaned upon the tree? Amazing pity grace unknown and love beyond degree At the cross at the cross where I first saw the light and the burden of my heart rolled away It was there by faith I received my sight and now I am happy all the day well my the Sun in darkness hide and shot his glory and When Christ the mighty maker died for man the creature said At the cross at the cross where I first saw the light and the burden of my heart rolled away It was there by faith I received my sight and now I am happy all the day But drops of grief can Repay the debt of love I owe Here Lord, I give myself Away tears all that I can do At the cross at the cross where I first saw the light and the burden of my heart rolled away There by faith I received my sight and now I am happy all the day Now, let's pray Heavenly Father Lord again We just want to thank you God for another Sunday that we get to gather and to hear you were preached I pray Lord now that you would just be with us and me with us today Be with us with the sermon this morning and they also for the so any this afternoon and we love you and pray all of This in Jesus name. Amen All right, you may be seated and take your Mountain Baptist Psalms hymns and spiritual song books And turn to page number six Page number six sing Psalm 96 page number six Oh Sing unto the Lord a new song Sing unto the Lord all the earth sing unto the Lord bless his name show forth his salvation from day to day declare His glory among the heathen his wonders among all people For the Lord is great and greatly to be praised he is to be feared above all gods Give unto the Lord. Oh ye Kindreds of the people give on to the Lord glory and strength. Oh sing unto the Lord a new song sing unto the Lord all the earth sing unto the Lord bless his name show forth his salvation from day to day For all the gods of the nations are idols, but the Lord made the Heavens honor and majesty are before him Then beauty are in his sanctuary Give Unto the Lord. Oh ye Kindreds of the people give on to the Lord glory and strength Give on Give unto the Lord Do unto his name bring an offering and come into his courts Oh Worship the Lord and the beauty of holiness fear before the earth Among the heathen that the Lord reigneth the world also shall be established That it shall not be Moving he shall judge the people righteously And the heavens rejoice and let the earth be glad Let the sea roar and the fullness thereof let the field Joyful and all that's there in then shall the trees of the wood rejoice Before the Lord for e-cometh For e-cometh to judge the earth He shall judge the world with righteousness And the people with his truth. Oh sing unto the Lord a new song sing unto the Lord all the earth Sing unto the Lord Bless his name show forth his salvation from day to day Amen well welcome mountain Baptist Church on this Sunday morning and just some announcements here to get started Our service times are normal today, so we'll have our obviously our normal service right now But we'll have our afternoon service at 4 p.m.. And then we're gonna have our soul any time At 1 p.m.. So get here a little before 1 o'clock or get back there a little before 1 o'clock It teamed up go out soul winning and then also there's regional times on there as far as our soul winning times on Monday Tuesday Wednesday and Saturday, so just be on the church group there On on the whatsapp as far as getting times locations and all that or updates when it comes to the soul winning times there Upcoming events We have the men's prayer meeting this Friday, but more importantly. We have the men's. I'm just kidding. It's not more important All joking aside, but we are having the men's flag football game pastor versus Deacon Bowl And so that's gonna be at 5 p.m.. And I think we're gonna try to meet over Did anyone get a chance to take a look at that field over there, okay? Are you talking about where you cross the bridge over there by Worthington oh? Okay That Doesn't help me at all Try fast for the Anthony's there's a lot out there So what you do is you take a left out here at the church and there you'll have it Yeah, so now, but we'll figure it out, so well. We'll just get a pinpoint And then we'll send out a GPS on that but anyway So that we're gonna be doing that this this Friday, so obviously any of the men any the teenagers Guys that want to come out you know We're playing flag, so we're not gonna be doing full tackle, but we'll probably still have injury So that's why we're gonna have the prayer meeting right after that and so we'll meet up over here and pray and all that and then on The that next Tuesday or this not this Tuesday, but next Tuesday We're gonna have the harvest party on 31st, so we're gonna have food and all that stuff I mean, I guess you can call soup food. I Don't like drinking my food but But either way we'll have some good fellowship and a lot of people will like soup and like that but You Can never say it was just a one-man show and that I was lording over the flock When it comes to the harvest party because if it was up to me there would be different type of food, but But all joking aside we're gonna have a bunch of games and stuff like that for the kids And we're gonna have a bunch of candy and everything and so instead of going out Like dressed like ghouls and goblins on on Halloween. We'll have a fun time here at church And so if you can make it out to that, that'd be great but that'll be the 31st and then our chapter memory for the month is still Psalm 110 Psalm 110 and So for the the month of October here and then Proverbs 27 10 is our memory verse for the week That's thine own friend and thy father's friend forsake not neither go into thy brother's house in the day of thy calamity For better is a neighbor that is near than a brother far off so and it's a longer one But it's good verse to have memorized and it's gonna be pertinent to my sermon this morning And then as far as birthdays Today's the 22nd So we got we got Anastasia and Abby last week, right Okay, just making sure Lincoln is today Happy birthday eight He's in that he's in that that that group of three, right? So we had Clara Avery and Lincoln All born on a Thursday The soul winning babies and Boaz. Yeah Buzz what was he born on Thursday, too? But he was there he was earlier right he was in like once his birthday like August July, yeah So and then My dad's birthday is coming up this week. He wasn't feeling good this weekend. So that's why he's not here today, but We'll get him next week. We'll embarrass him So and also my parents anniversary is this Friday as well. So So we'll get we'll get them when they're back in And Pregnancy's As you can see on there congratulations to the signs on Leo So are you all rested up brother? We've been praying for you No Being pray obviously for the sign family for Jennifer and for the newborn and everything there being prayer still for obviously Amanda and the spina family with their new arrival and then with Yara with their new arrival and the less goes But just praise the Lord that everything's been going well and everything with the baby's being delivered but keep Alyssa Anastasia and Tabby in your prayers under pregnancies And so pray everything goes well there with the whole pregnancy process delivery recovery all that Think that's about all I have for announcements that I can think of Offering box in the back there if you want to give a tithe or an offering mother baby room for the mothers babies only I Think that's I think that's about all I have and then brother ways gonna be reading I'm thinking of my sermon this afternoon Proverbs 27 right Proverbs 27. So I'm thinking Isaiah 59 us that's in the afternoon. So But brother way is gonna be reading Proverbs 27 after we do one more song All right, take your song books and turn to song number 91 Song number 91 in your song books We'll sing hiding in thee But before we do that We need to sing happy birthday to Lincoln Lincoln stand up. Let's have a birthday to you Like Father like son I guess yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah He's like are you serious right now? You're rolling is that he rolled his eyes at me Lincoln we were friends not anymore but Yeah Man when you're taller than me and like a week now, okay. Uh-huh. All right. Well, happy birthday to you Lincoln and All right, we forget anybody I Think it's your birthday this week. No, okay. All right Okay, this is next week. All right, we'll get you next week. All right Lincoln sing. Happy birthday to you buddy ready? Happy birthday to you Happy birthday to you Happy birthday God bless you Happy birthday to you Lincoln give us a smile Awesome, all right. All right, we'll sing some page 90 song 91 Oh save to the rock that is high higher than I my soul and its conflict and sorrows would fly so sinful so weary Thine thine would I be Thou blast rock of ages I'm Heidi and Thee Heidi Heidi Thee Thou blessed rock of ages I'm Heidi and Thee In the calm of the noontime and sorrows loner and times when temptation cast on me its power and the tempest of life on its wide heaving sea Thou blessed rock of ages I'm Heidi and Thee Heidi and Thee Heidi and Thee Thou blessed rock of ages I'm Heidi and Thee How often the conflict when pressed by the phone have I fled to my refuge and breathed out my own How often when trials like sea bellows roll have I hidden in Thee O thou rock of my soul Heidi and Thee Heidi and Thee Thou blessed rock of ages I'm Heidi and Thee Alright take your Bibles and turn to Proverbs chapter number 27 Proverbs chapter number 27 in your Bibles and we'll have brother Wade come and read that for us Proverbs chapter 27 Boast not thyself of tomorrow for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth Let another man praise Thee and not thine own mouth a stranger and not thine own lips A stone is heavy and the sand weighty but a fool's wrath is heavier than both Wrath is cruel and anger is outrageous but who is able to stand before envy Open rebuke is better than secret love Faithful are the words of a friend but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful The full soul loathes a honeycomb but to the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet As a bird that wandereth from her nest so is a man that wandereth from his place Ointment and perfume rejoice the heart so doth the sweetness of a man's friend by hearty counsel Thine own friend and thy father's friend Neither go in to thy brother's house in the day of thy calamity for better is a neighbor that is near than a brother far off My son be wise and make my heart glad that I might answer him that reproacheth me A prudent man foreseeeth the evil and hide themself but the simple pass on and are punished Take his garment that is surety for a stranger and take a pledge of him for a strange woman He that blesseth his friend with a loud voice it shall be counted a curse to him A continual dropping in a very rainy day and a contentious woman are alike Whosoever hideth her hideth the wind and the ointment of his right hand which the arrayeth itself Iron sharpened with iron so a man sharpened with the countenance of his friend Whoso keepeth the fig tree shall eat the fruit thereof so he that waiteth on his master shall be honored and answered to face so the heart of a man to a man hell and destruction are never full so the eyes of a man are never satisfied as the finding pot for silver and the furnace for gold so is a man to his praise though thou shouldst spray a fool in a mortar among the wheat with a pestle yet will not his foolishness depart from it be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks and look well to thy herds for riches are not forever the crown and door to every generation the hay appearth and the tender grass showeth itself and herbs of the mountains are gathered the lambs are for thy clothing and the goats are the price of the field and thou shall have goats milk enough for thy food for the food of thy household and for the maintenance let us pray dear Lord let us hear your message this morning please be his pastor as we hear your word amen so you're there in Proverbs chapter 17 and I want to preach a sermon entitled better is a neighbor that is near and look down at verse 10 so you're in Proverbs 27 verse 10 Proverbs 27 verse 10 this is also our memory verse for the week but it says thine own friend and thy father's friend forsake not neither go into thy brother's house in the day of thy calamity for thy father is a neighbor that is near than a brother far off and the thing that I want to get first of all this verse is not saying that it's bad to have a brother or it's bad to have brothers that are far off or anything like that it's just saying that what's better though it's kind of like the idea there's a verse in the Bible where it talks about a living dog is better than a dead lion right it's not that obviously a lion if it was a lie would have been better living than a dog but it's just kind of giving you what's better but here in this case it's not that going to a brother's house in the day of calamity is bad it's just stating that it's better to have someone that's close by even if they're not a brother someone that's a neighbor, someone that's a friend that's close by now in my case I actually have my brother that lives right next to me so this verse is kind of like I have both I have a neighbor who is also a brother so as far as someone that's really close by and so but not everybody has that you know a lot of times family they live further out all of that but let me just give you some verses here dealing with friendship and dealing with brothers and everything go to Proverbs 17 and verse 17 Proverbs 17 and verse 17 you say what's the point of the sermon well I'm going to be hitting on a couple things but one I'm going to be hitting on social media and the other thing I'm going to be hitting on is the importance of the local New Testament church the idea of the local church and the fellowship of that church and the idea of that kind of the family of God the close family of God and just the importance of that and just how we should really focus on that in our lives and this sermon isn't to say social media is bad or that having friends or brothers are far off is bad the idea here is what's better though because there's there's things that are good but then there's things that are better and we're always looking at what's good, better, best that idea of sometimes there's choices in life and it's not wrong but the question you have to ask yourself is what's the best route because there's routes that are good there's routes that are better and there's the best route and that's what we're always trying to figure out and so it's not always just black and white as far as there's only one right way and there's only one wrong way when it comes to friends or maybe even churches because you think about well I'm in a good church but is there a better one and what's the best church and how do we get into those avenues when it comes to just life in general but Proverbs 17 and verse 17 it says a friend loveth at all times and a brother is born for adversity now I've heard this verse actually seen as a contrast I don't see it as a contrast I don't believe this verse is saying that a brother is born to be an adversary with you what I believe it's stating is that a friend loveth at all times and on top of that a brother is born for adversity meaning the idea of you have brothers that are really close to you to where you can deal with adversity and let me give you a verse that kind of hits on that a little bit kind of the same same contrast a little bit but in Proverbs 18 and verse 24 Proverbs 18 and verse 24 Proverbs 18 and verse 24 Proverbs 18 and verse 24 says a man that hath friends must show himself friendly and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother I mean for that sentence to make sense that means that brothers must be pretty close does that make sense? for you to make that statement there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother that must mean that most friends don't stick closer than a brother meaning that brothers are really close now you can have physical brothers and obviously you can see how that would apply but then you also have brothers in Christ and the idea there as far as how close knit that relationship is you have brothers in Christ but then you also have the idea of you can have brothers in Christ and you can have physical brothers but you may not necessarily be friends with them you have that close tie but you're not necessarily best friends with even a physical brother or a brother in Christ so I'm kind of just laying the ground work here and the idea that hey there's friends there's brothers, there's brothers that are friends there's friends that stick closer than brothers and I think about the Lord Jesus when I think of this verse there's a friend that sticketh closer than a brother I think of the song we have a friend than Jesus the idea of he is our friend but go to John chapter 15 John chapter 15 that and I'm going to I'm going to read to you as you're going to John 15 I'm going to read to you Hebrews 2 11 it says for both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren saying I will declare thy name unto my brethren in the midst of the church while I sing praise unto thee when we're born again into God's family the Lord Jesus Christ considers us brethren but also notice what it says here in John 15 in verse 14 it says ye are my friends if ye do whatsoever command you henceforth I call you not servants for the servant knoweth not what his Lord doeth but I have called you friends for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you and the idea of Abraham for example his faith was perfected by his works and he was called the friend of God and the idea that you can get saved by being born again but you can also be his friend and have that the friendship with the Lord there and when it comes to let's just hit on social media for a second I'm not against social media I'm on social media I have Facebook I don't have TikTok because I'm not wicked now if people do have TikTok if people use TikTok for the Lord I'm joking with that but TikTok is like kind of a cancer when it comes to what's on that usually so I mean obviously you can say that with any social media platform but when it comes to social media I'm not against it because it depends on what you're using it for okay so when it comes to social media here's here's what I use it for I use it to get information out okay so let's say sermons for example so YouTube I use YouTube to get the information out there okay Facebook sometimes just to get the message out there maybe I should get on Twitter is it X now? to where you can do that you know they can get information out that way as well there's rumble there's other things but I look at it as a tool to get information out to people and obviously there can be some back and forth where people are trying to get a hold of you they're trying to you know there's that aspect of reaching out and people reaching out to you and all that and so I've heard some people you know sometimes I'll put things on Facebook just to kind of have like it's an easy thing to get to you can share with people things like that I had a friend who would on YouTube he was doing home videos like he was like kind of like compiling home videos just for his family so he put it as unlisted but he was using that platform as a way to share it right because you can basically it's kind of like on the cloud and you can basically just share it and send them a link and all that stuff so there's a lot of different avenues as far as that's concerned but when it comes to social media uh it can turn into it can turn into kind of a monster when it comes to people being busybodies and tattlers and you know and it can be a big problem when it comes to just basically wasting time on social media that could be Instagram now the big thing I don't know if it's the big thing but it's just like reels and listen I've gotten sucked into it where you're just like looking through reels and it's just like these short little clips that are funny and stuff like that and I'm not saying it's like it's wrong I'm just saying like these are things that you have to think about when it comes to social media is like are you wasting a bunch of time with it are you getting into being a busybody you know like all those different things that play a role there but what I'm really hitting on when it comes to social media is dealing with friendship you know it's like Facebook is like you have a friends list right but let's be honest I'm not really friends with most of those people on there right we're Facebook friends right and you know I'm friends with a lot of people just because like hey there's more people to get the message out to hey if I can get a sermon out to somebody or I can get a you know a message out to somebody and everybody can see it and hear it I believe it's wise to use whatever means we can to get the word of God out to get you know the truth out there I'm all for it all that but when it comes to friends on social media that's not true friendship okay like there's this idea of what I would call fake friends okay and the Bible says in Proverbs 17 there it says a friend loveth at all times what I've seen a lot of times on Facebook is that they're friends with you as long as you agree with them but as soon as you disagree they'll eat you and I'm talking about Christians like Christian people online it's like well if you disagree with them then they're just like nuts to you buddy and they'll just devour you they'll bite and devour you I think I read something about that in Galatians meaning that Christians do that and what I've noticed though is that when you have friends that you know and see all the time and you disagree that doesn't tend to happen like that you know why? because true friends actually love each other even when we disagree or even if they've wronged us hey that's my friend though like you still love them and you're not just out to just destroy them and this is something that we all need to realize and maybe I'm talking to the younger crowd more so here because a warning shot out there that when you're on social media and you have like friends and people that you maybe have discourse with online know this is that they're not that close to you as you think they don't care about you as much as you think and I'm even talking about brothers in Christ meaning this is that I have friends that are brothers in Christ and I have and I'm not saying that they're not my friends and I have people that I know that are far off but just to be honest I'm not as close to them as I am to you guys because I see every one of you I see you guys every single week I know a lot of your struggles you know a lot of my struggles like we're praying for each other we care about each other like there is a fellowship there and friendship there that you cannot get that's a far off and I'm not against having friends that are far off I'm not saying like that's wrong nuts to them you know just us here you know and that's to everybody outside of our church not saying that but what's better the friends here the brothers here the people that you interact with on a day to day basis how about people that you see at work that aren't even saved and I'm going to be getting into that as well is that a friend that's unsaved that's near you is better than a brother far off and there's a lot of truth to this idea and I think that this may be just a lesson on friendship and a lesson on just the idea of the importance of fellowship and a local church and all that now there are things called fake friends now let me give you an example of that go to Judges chapter 14 Judges chapter 14 people that use you as a friend ok and I'm not saying this can't happen close to you ok maybe like obviously in this case this is actually someone that was like in person ok but how much the more when you're dealing with people that you don't see and you don't know well and that are far off if that makes sense like if you can have fake friends they're people that are just posing as friends and using you as you know and just using you for your resources or whatever if that can happen close to you how much more far right and in Judges chapter 14 and verse 1 here dealing with Samson it says I'm not going to go through the whole story about this but basically it was of the Lord, the Lord was wanting to basically be a reproach of the Philistines but he goes down there his father goes down in verse 10 there and says So his father went down unto the woman and Samson made there a feast for so used the men to do the young men to do and it came to pass when they saw him that they brought thirty companions to be with him so who brought thirty companions? These Philistines ok so he's coming down there to marry this girl they're having this feast and the Philistines bring these thirty companions to be with him doesn't sound like a bunch of people that he knows but notice what it says in verse 20 because if you know the story basically he slays a bunch of the Philistines to get these garments because they plowed with his heifer there was a riddle and his wife vexed him to tell him the answer they give the answer and then he has to give these thirty garments or whatever so he ends up killing a bunch of Philistines to get it and they end up they end up giving his wife to his friend ok notice what it says here but Samson's wife Samson's wife was given to his companion, notice this whom he had used as a friend I believe that's a very interesting statement right there, it's not like this was like Samson's like lifelong buddy that he grew up with and like this is his friend he was just using him it's kind of like if you went to a wedding and be like I need some groomsmen I need some companions to be here, I don't have any friends but I'm going to use these guys over here it's that kind of that idea and I mean was that guy a really true friend if he just took his buddy's wife you know so what I'm saying here is that there's nothing new under the sun there's an idea that there are people that are called friends there's people that are called companions there are people that use people you know they want to be friends with people because they want something out of it right and I'm talking about safety there's obviously reprobates and people that that speak great swelling words and have men's persons in admiration because of advantage I get that right, there's obviously really wicked people out there that are really using that tactic right but don't think that this is outside the realm of Christianity and the idea that people can use each other for friendship and you know for means of advantage okay and the thing that you've got to understand is that it's hard enough to judge whether someone's really your friend when you're around them all the time now take away the fact of you being around them and now judge whether they're truly a friend or not, I'm not saying you can't have true friends that are far off okay, for example my friend Mike Maloutis right, he was my best man at my wedding and he's the one that ultimately won me to the Lord great friend you know like one of my best friends but he lives in Houston I'm here in West Virginia right and we still correspond and everything I know he's my friend but I also know he's my friend because of experience that I had with him like closely, like we were roommates in college, we went through college together, we were in high school together like all these different things to where like I know him well though he's a far off let's say I was to consider him like a greater friend than anybody that I have people that are here that are my friends it's better that friend the friend that's closer is better than him that's far off in a day of calamity right because those that are around me are like can you help me immediately or you know they can be there at any moment okay, so it's not like it's bad to have friends that are far off it's just the idea that what's better though friends that are close and it's not bad to have and this is obviously kind of giving you an example of obviously what would be better a brother that's close a brother who's a friend that's close, I mean that's obviously even better but it's kind of giving you the contrast that a brother is usually closer they're usually going to die they're like the ones that are willing to die for you their blood, all this stuff but a friend that's close to you is better in a day of calamity than someone that's far off because they're just not able to help you they're just not there to help you and I think of social media in that aspect and that there's a lot of people that could even be really good people that would you know, that you're friends with on there that you correspond with on social media but they're just not going to be that friend in need right, when you have something that happens think about, I think about like brother Dan getting into that he got in that car wreck, right you know, he may have friends that are far off, but you know what I think it was brother Chris, I'm going to point him out, but brother Chris is just like hey, I'll come pick you up, you know and others we're offering too, it's just obviously timeline and who's close and all that stuff but I'll say this, brother Chris was better than let's say me because brother Chris is closer to where brother brother Dan was at, does that make sense even in like the group that we're in right now you think about like who's closer to you though, who can help you, who could be there faster, who could get there faster and that idea of how social media gives this illusion of all these friends and this fellowship where in a lot of cases it's not actually a lot of them are fake friends a lot of them are friends in name only and you can't really discern who's a really good friend when you're not around them all the time and so there's fake friendship and let me give you an example in the Bible about a friend that's near friends that are near will tend to help you even if they don't want to okay so go to Luke chapter 11 especially if it's like late at night this example is a late at night example right there's been times where people have called me in the like middle of the night, I remember in college like people calling you in the middle of the night and they're like hey I need you to come pick me up and just like oh I should have never picked up the phone it's not like a life or death situation you know but it's like obviously they need they need help or they need help they would be okay, they would survive if you didn't go and get them but you're just like I wish I wouldn't have picked up the phone because now I gotta get up and I gotta go get this person right I think about this story because I think we can all relate to this if it's midnight and someone's coming to you asking for loaves of bread you're like go pound salt buddy like I don't care who you are like call me in the morning you know I'm asleep but in Luke chapter 11 verse 5 it says and he said unto them which of you shall have a friend and shall go unto him at midnight and say unto him friend lend me three loaves for a friend of mine is in his journey and has come to me and I have nothing to set before him and he from within shall answer and say trouble be not the door is now shut and my children are with me in bed I cannot rise and give thee now if you have children then you know exactly what that verse is talking about my children are always in bed with me it's like rubber bands you put them back in their bed and they just like springboard back to where you're at so I used to think they're like well you know they're kind of poor maybe back in the day they can only have one bed and they share a bed no it doesn't matter you could have a hundred beds in your house and you could be sleeping me and my wife could be sleeping on a twin bed come to your bed if they could but anyway so it says in verse 8 it says I say unto you though he will not rise and give him because he is his friend yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he need it and I say unto you ask and it shall be given you seek and ye shall find knock and it shall be open unto you so what he's saying here is stop bothering him it's like it's midnight I'm trying to sleep take your loaves of bread and have fun but the idea here is for him to come to his house at midnight means he has to be close and anytime there's a need or anything like that someone that is close is going to be better than someone that's a far off it's just facts and they may not even be saved they may just be a neighbor I mean think about it you're baking something and you're like missing an ingredient do you really care if your neighbor is a fundamental Baptist if they have a cup of sugar for you right you're just like I need sugar like no I need to go find my friends I need to go find if I needed a cup of sugar I'd be like I know Miss Paula has sugar I know I could go to her she's probably already at Walmart she could probably pick it up for me but if I was like no I need sugar and let's say my brother's not even there at his house I have other neighbors I'll go to my neighbor and see if they have sugar for what I need okay and so when it comes to social media for example it's like that when it comes to when it comes to just fellowship as believers you may have friends that are believers that are in other churches across the country that are good good friends good brothers in Christ good sisters in Christ all of that listen they're not going to be the ones to help you as much as the people that are here I think about this when there's certain church members that are suffering and stuff like that and my heart goes out to them but it doesn't go out like it would with people here I don't know them from Adam you see a story where like there was one where this husband and father died of cancer and I mean it just wrenches at your heart that that happened but it doesn't hit as hard as the people that are at that church though that knew him and was around them and sees the family every single day like you see the difference on who's going to end up probably helping that family out a lot more who's able to help that family a lot more on top of that just because they're closer even more so than that person's family that's a far off maybe and so this is something that I think dealing with friendship all that we need to think about think about co-workers go to Luke chapter 16 Luke chapter 16 Luke chapter 16 Luke chapter 16 and verse 9 here Luke 16 and verse 9 it says and I say unto you make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness and when ye fail they may receive you into everlasting habitations so what is this talking about basically it's talking about people that aren't saved the people that you would maybe work for right so keep reading there because it's talking about being a servant and like being a steward if you will over someone else's mammon if you will but it says he that is faithful in that which is least faithful also in much and he that is unjust at least is unjust also in much if therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon who will commit to your trust the true riches and if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man's who shall give you that which is your own no servant can serve two masters for either he will hate the one and love the other or else he will hold to the one and despise the other you cannot serve God and mammon so what it's not saying here is to make friends be friends of mammon it's saying be friends of the mammon of unrighteousness meaning this is that the idea of the people themselves right the people that you're serving and you're basically let's say you're a steward of someone's goods in order to be friends with them is to be good at keeping it right being a good worker being a good employee being a good you know just being good at your job because obviously you're not serving money you're serving the lord but those people this is the idea of having a good report of them that are without that those people even though they're not believers even though they're not like you and they're not your stripe if you were to have a flat tire they're probably gonna help you out right they'll be like oh hey yeah no I'm coming that way I'll pick you up hey I gotta go drop my car off over here and I gotta do this or that can you give me a ride and they're there and they give you a ride to work and they're like well I'm going the same direction let's do this right I mean it all gets into the idea that even someone that's unsaved that is near you is better than a believer that's far off okay and you know the Bible teaches this this is something that it's not saying that we should listen I'm not saying that those people are gonna be your best friends but the idea is that they like you right that the people that you work with like you now obviously if someone that you work with is some like wicked reprobate I'm not saying that they they're gonna like you right there's certain people that just aren't going to like you but by and large the world whether they're saved or unsaved you should have like a good saver in their mouth as being someone that's nice not a jerk someone that's you you know does right and all of that and whether they agree with you or not they respect you right they kind of like oh you know I don't agree with that stance that that guy takes over there but at least he does what he says he does at least he believes what he says he believes and they can at least respect you for it and you guys can be friends and the idea as far as being a servant to someone that's let's say an unbelieving boss or anything like that the bible says what so ever you do do it heartily as to the lord and not on the men so you know when it comes to work we need to look at it that way obviously if you're doing a job that's like you know morally wrong then you need a different job right like if you're if you're just extorting people in your job or whatever then you need to find a job that's like an honest living but if you're just doing a job that's just an honest typical job that's out there do it as if you're doing it to the lord and that person's going to when something happens one they're going to be more understanding about it but two they may they probably will end up helping you out and they're not even a saved person they're not even like someone that's of the congregation now when it comes to the local church this is the importance of a local church and listen I'm all for everybody here listening to preaching visiting other churches and all that listen you can listen to whatever preacher you want if you listen to Joel I'm going to make fun of you okay what are you doing you know just because I say you can listen to whoever you want doesn't mean that I'm not going to like judge you for it but but all that all joking aside I know no one in here is just like yeah man that's my jam Joel Osteen Rick Warren TD Jakes that's who I listen to no but you're listening to good preachers right let's say you're listening to preachers and you're listening to all that stuff and that's all fine and good right but don't leave off the local church and what some people do is they'll just say well I get all my preaching and just listening to it online but you know what you miss is the fellowship you miss the actual physical listen church is the assembling of believers church means congregation and you're not congregated with the church when you're listening to it online whether it's my sermon whether it's someone else's sermon you are not in church if you're listening to a sermon online again again I'm not saying it's bad to listen to a sermon online I'm not saying like hey you know nuts to that I've listened to a lot of sermons you know before online and I've been edified through listening to sermons online but go to 1st Corinthians chapter 12 1st Corinthians chapter 12 and what you have to realize is that the body of Christ is that of the local church and there's multiple and many local churches so there's many bodies of Christ throughout the world and what you want to get plugged into is that local body and again I'm not saying like you can't leave you can't go somewhere else obviously there's the door I mean if you don't want to be here you don't have to be here but also I'm not saying that you just have to listen to my sermons and no one else's or maybe there's a preacher that you like and I don't like or I'm not friends with or I don't really necessarily like their preaching and you're like I love their preaching go nuts like that's fine just know I'm right no but obviously everybody can have like different opinions on there's a lot of different doctrines that where there's points where we would disagree on things or maybe you say well that pastor over here believes it this way and I agree with them that's fine no issues but don't substitute don't get to this point where it's like well where you disconnect from the local church and not be integrated in your local church as far as like hey no but this is my church I like listening to this preaching over here I like that but hey pastor Robinson is my pastor and Mountain Baptist Church is my church and I don't mind visiting these churches I don't mind going there but you know what this is this is where my roots are at this is where I want to be this is all that right because when you think about going to war you don't want people that are just like half in half out you don't want people that are like afraid you don't want people you want people to be like hey I like to be here I want to be here you don't want people to be like this will do but I wish I just wish I was at this other church well keep that to yourself buddy you know like that type of mentality it's like you know it's only going to breed bitterness and all these different things okay and I'm not saying like you have to think that I'm the best preacher out there right you could think that someone else that other pastors preach better than I do or they're smarter than me or whatever the case may be that's fine but the thing which you have to think about though is that what pastor cares about you more though what group of people cares about you more when you think about the congregation a friend loveth at all times whereas other people on the outside that may look in and say hey that person made a mistake over there nuts to that person whereas the people here would be like no no we're not going to just throw someone under the bus like that we're not just going to throw someone out just because someone made a mistake and you know there is a difference between a brother a far off and a brother that's near or a friend that's near and the idea of the care that's there the idea that we care for each other that we hurt with each other that there's this bond that's there that people that aren't in a local church they just don't understand now 1 Corinthians chapter 12 is dealing with spiritual gifts but it's also just dealing with the body of Christ and notice what it says here in verse 12 it says for as the body is one and hath many members and all the members of that one body being many are one body so also is Christ for by one spirit are we all baptized in the one body whether we be Jews or Gentiles whether we be bond or free and have been all made to drink in the one spirit for the body is not one member but many so obviously the head is Christ right Christ is the head of the church but we're all members but it's not like this idea we don't believe in the universal church where we're all like every believer is of like one body of Christ where as far as the idea of like we're all one congregation one big church that's that universal church type of idea no it's the idea that hey Mountain Baptist Church has two legs two arms a torso ten fingers ten toes right like we have the members of a whole body here not this idea of like well we're the we're a hand and then this church over here let me just use some of my pastor friends like pastor versions down down in Atlanta right down in Georgia you're like well we're a hand and he's another hand and then faithful words a foot and you know what I mean like and you're just like starting to parse off body parts it's like so we're just a hand floating around over here no a functioning church a functioning church has all its members and it's all it's all you know we have all the pieces here ok in order for us to do the great commission we have all the pieces that need to function as a body and guess what pastor versions church stronghold Baptist Church is its own body with all of its members that is working independently from each other and so when it comes to this notice what it says in verse 25 and the thing that I want to get to here is verse 25 it says that there should be no schism in the body but that the members should have the same care one for another so no matter what part of the body you are or what function you have in the body we should all care for one another and it says in verse 26 and whether one member suffer all the members suffer with it or one member be honored all the members rejoice with it now ye are the body of Christ and members in particular this is a big reason for the local church and the idea that listen if you don't have a local church it's hard to suffer with those that suffer it's hard to basically rejoice with the others if you're not a part of it when something happens to somebody or some tragic event happens to somebody listen it all hits it's going to hit our church harder than any other church in the world it's going to hit the members here harder than anybody any other members in the world any other members in the world obviously there may be family that's connected to that I get that right that's not what I'm talking about but like I said there's been tragedies in other churches where I look at them and be like that's horrible definitely should pray for that person but me praying for that person isn't going to be as strong as the people at that church praying for them they're not my suffering and thinking about that situation is not going to be anywhere close to the people that are at that church are suffering with that family or if there's great things that are done in that church over there let's say there's great things of God that are being done in that church we could all rejoice and be like praise God things are being done for the cause of Christ but how much more will you rejoice if it's done in this church though where you're like you're really excited about the things that are happening people getting saved, people getting baptized lives being changed it gets harder at home because it's close it's right next to you, you're a part of it so when it comes to having a friend that is near or a neighbor that is near than a brother or far off I think about the local church and just the aspect of the fellowship and the idea of the close knit family of God that we have here because we're all a family of God all believers are of the family of God whether in heaven or in earth we're all children of God we're all that holy nation that peculiar people but the local church that's where it's close that's better it's not bad to have brothers in Christ that are far off it's not saying it's bad it's just saying it's better if they're close and kind of going into the idea of listening to preaching and everything Galatians 6 I think it's healthy to see a different perspective just to be honest let's say I preach a sermon on a subject and you're like I kind of want to see what's the other thoughts out there you know anytime I'm looking at a doctrine I want to see what the other arguments are because I want to make sure I put it all through the fire so if you're like if you listen to the sermon on a doctrine I preach and you're just like hey I want to see what this other preacher says about that I get it I'm not against you I think that's actually probably smart just to see okay what's their arguments and then you can judge and discern okay I think our pastor's got it or maybe well no I kind of think that this makes more sense over here but notice what it says here and I love this verse in Galatians chapter 6 and verse 6 it says let him that is taught in the word communicate unto him that teacheth in all good things the idea of communication with your pastor and let me ask you a question who is going to be a better person to talk to about doctrine your own pastor or a pastor of another church that you don't attend I'm talking about literal communication not like listening to a sermon obviously you can listen to a sermon but that's a one way conversation that's not really communicating to where you can ask questions go back and forth and talk about it one the pastor of another church may not have the time and they're not really obligated I'm not obligated to communicate doctrine besides the gospel of Jesus Christ with anybody outside this church when Jesus says when he says to Peter feed the flock which is among you not every flock not every church now I put this stuff out on YouTube but listen I don't owe them a response like let's say they have I disagree with you on this doctrine okay but if someone in my church says I disagree with you on this doctrine guess what we're going to talk about it we're going to communicate about it let's go back and forth to ask your questions let's see where's the hang up what's the problem right but I think this also equates to a really healthy relationship with your pastor meaning this is that some pastors and I get this people come from different churches where meaning like going to your pastor about a doctrine let's say a doctrine and you disagree and I know a lot of you may have been burned by going to your pastor going up to them and then they just berate you for not just agreeing with them but I do think this is a healthy relationship where if you have a disagreement or maybe you have a different thought obviously do it respectfully you're not to rebuke an elder and just treat him like garbage and just treat him with disrespect respectfully just discuss the issue and I think that's a good relationship to have and that's who I believe if you have an issue with doctrine or let's say an interpretation of a passage, go to your pastor first talk to him about it or go to the deacon or go to the leadership of the church or go to members in the church it's not like members can't discuss doctrines among themselves and I'm not saying it's wrong to go outside of that don't get me wrong here but let me ask you a question who is going to care more about whether you get that doctrine down who is going to care more about that you had that doctrine right pastor, the deacon, the members of this church that love you care about you and like want to see you succeed or some brother in Christ at a different church somewhere that doesn't see you most all the time and I'm just saying what's better what's better what's going to give you the best result usually and go to Hebrew chapter 13 by the way this would also include commentaries as being a bad source you're dealing with people that are dead people that don't know you it's a one way conversation and I'm not for commentaries commentaries you know I'd rather talk to someone that's living and breathing that's filled with the spirit of God studying their Bible and see what they have to say on it and read the Bible ask the Holy Ghost to give you that understanding and study it out that way so notice that it doesn't say let him that is taught in the Word communicate with a commentary communicate with some dead preacher it's kind of like this idea of necromancy of doctrine of Bible knowledge we've got to resurrect these dead preachers to figure out what the good doctrine is why? I thought the Bible was quick and powerful I thought it was alive I thought men of God are filled with the spirit of God when they're preaching the Word of God I thought the Word of God was manifest through preaching like where do I need to go and I'm not saying like all those people all these preachers of old were just like all their doctrine is bad the idea though is that what we see in the Bible is that no we should be with people that are alive around us preachers that are preaching to you that are communicating the Word to you those are the people that you should be communicating with and talking with and talking about those type of doctrines you know there's times where I reach out to pastor friends about a certain doctrine and there's nothing wrong with that just bouncing ideas off and stuff like that but just to be honest I talk with you guys more than I talk to anybody else like we just talk about doctrine or we'll talk about certain subjects and stuff like that and so I think that is going to be it should be happening most of the time that's where the better ground is at and I'm not one to think that hey I just have all the knowledge and you guys are all peasants and no one knows anything else where I can't glean off of knowledge that's out there now sometimes there's like questions on pastoral type things where I'll reach out to a pastor in a lot of cases because they have experience in that like I'm not going to go to maybe a member in the church that's never pastored before and be like hey I got this pastoral thing that I got to deal with here can you give me some advice on that? you can understand where that's probably not going to be where I'm going to go but Hebrews chapter 13 and verse 7 it says this it says remember them which have the rule over you who have spoken unto you the word of God whose faith follow considering the end of their conversation so this idea of those that have the rule obviously the pastor is the one that is ruling you know just as much as he rules his own house he takes care of the church of God and the idea of ruling over that being an authority the bishop the overseer all of that and the idea that if he's spoken the word of God unto you it's kind of like follow him as you follow as he follows Christ obviously if I'm doing something that's against the Bible you don't follow me if you disagree with me on a doctrine you don't have to believe it right? this isn't a cult where you must believe every jot and tittle what I believe but in verse 16 it says but to be good and communicate forget not for with such sacrifice is God as well pleased obey them that have the rule over you and submit yourselves for they watch for your souls as they that must give account that they may do it with joy and not with grief for that is unprofitable for you what you have to understand is that in the local church we all kind of have skin in the game when it comes to whether you rise or fall one there's just the compassion that's there right? but as a pastor you know I have to give an account for how I pastor the flock how I either feed the flock protect the flock oversee the flock, lead the flock that I have to give an account so therefore who is going to have your best interest in mind if you're to look at all the pastors in the world and then you think about church members you think about the children of God you think about brothers and sisters in Christ who is going to care about you more who's going to be the better option for you in time of need whether it's a doctrinal question or whether it's just a physical need maybe it's just someone to talk to right? there's times where you just need someone to just vent to about everything that's going on who's going to care more? those that are close those that are near and so again I don't want you to misunderstand to think that oh okay I'm just de-friending everybody that's not in my church I'm not listening to any pastors that are out there not saying that at all I'm just saying what's better though where's the priority? there's a lot of preachers sometimes that their focus is actually outside the door than the people that they're preaching to their focus is more of just out there to a bigger crowd or something like that and they don't really care that much about the people that are in the pews that are in front of them and that shouldn't be the mentality it should be the opposite or more so more so should be the fact that your main focus is here and if you can reach people outside of that it's bonus, it's extra it's something that we would love to see just as much as hey you know I like talking to the people in my church I like talking to my pastor but here's some bonus I can go outside of that, there's other brothers in Christ out there there's other pastors I can listen to there's other preaching I can listen to and it's kind of like oh I got this on top of that but you know as well as I do that there's some people that are in church that they listen to preachers outside their church more than their own preacher or they talk to people outside their own church than the people in their own church and I'm preaching to the choir this morning when it comes to this because we have a very united type we have unity in church that I've never seen before and I believe this is a big reason why I think the big reason why is because we really more so just care about the things that are going on here go to 1 Timothy chapter 5 1 Timothy chapter 5 and when it comes to social media and this mentality of caring about what's going on in every church in the world it causes people to be busybodies I don't have the verse in my notes but it talks about those meddling with strife not belonging to them is like taking the dog by the ears and you'll see like different things going on and maybe other churches there's different conflicts or there's drama or whatever and it's not that I don't care about the people you know and I care about like obviously you hate seeing that stuff happen but I don't care so don't misunderstand I don't care to be involved I have my own problems we have our own problems not that we have like a whole like mountain list of problems here at our church but I'm just saying we got our own things to deal with and so when it comes to that unless someone's literally reaching out to me for help and be like hey Jason can you help me with this can you come out here and help then I'll pray for you hopefully everything turns out well and hopefully all that stuff gets hashed out but not my problem and 1 Timothy 5 verse 13 says this it says and with all they learn to be idle wondering about from house to house and not only idle but toddlers also in busy bodies speaking things which they ought not what I see a lot of times on social media is people that are wasting time being idle and a lot of times I see a lot of people that are on online or they get into the issues and stuff like that and all I can think about is what are you doing with your time like how do you have this much time to deal with it and listen I'm not here to say that I haven't wasted time on social media I think we all probably have but I mean there's times where there's things going on it's like have you seen it I was out there chopping wood and like splitting wood all day I don't even have self service where I was at you're like that's because you're out in the country you know well it is what it is there's times where you know if you're doing things and you're working and you're doing things you don't have time to even really look into it and I think that's the big thing when it comes to social media is just the waste of time that it is in a lot of cases so the way I look at social media is like hey let's put something out there and if it's a blessing to somebody and it can edify somebody then go for it, great but that's kind of the usefulness of it in my opinion you can connect with people and a lot of times it's like hey people will message you and say hey where's the church at, where's this at or what's I'm not saying there's not other things people get on Facebook Marketplace and they'll find things to buy or try to sell things I'm not saying there's not other ways of using it that's profitable but let's just be honest a lot of times what it comes down to is just a big form for people to gossip and be busy bodies and dealing with matters that don't concern them and that no one asks their opinion on and my take on it and maybe I don't get involved to a fault where people don't even know where I stand on an issue because I just hate being even near that type of stuff maybe to a fault where I should be at least well here's where I stand just so everybody knows here's my doctrinal stance but the idea is that I just hate even touching any of that garbage because as soon as you touch it, it doesn't matter what side you're on, people will eat you and then it just pisses you off okay then you get angry and now you're bitter about things that are going on and you're just like why did I even touch that it's just like you know that meme where there's a bear and then there's someone with a stick just like poking it like you're just like I just poked a bear for no reason why did they even like open my mouth to even talk about it and so that's just me personally you know when it comes to that type of stuff but there's a lot of that when it comes to social media when I see busybodies obviously that can happen outside of social media but it's a breeding ground on social media it's a breeding ground for busybodies like something will happen and then people are just like wait I missed it what happened fill me in why do you need to know is it your church is it something that you have to deal with you know like why must you know it's like the inquirer it's like the you know what's the the thing with all the all the hollywood people right is it inquirer, inquirer is like the is that the inquirer I'm thinking what's the one where it's like bat boy and stuff like that like where it's like all these like cool things and everything brother richie you know right it's like moth man we found moth man anyway when it comes to this go to 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 and verse 11 it says and that you study to be quiet and to do your own business and to work with your own hands as we commanded you that you may walk honestly toward them that are without and that you may have lack of nothing the thing that keeps getting brought up is just kind of like mind your own business a busy body is someone that doesn't mind their own business they're into everybody else's they're busy about other men's matters right a busy body and other men's matters that's what it says in 1 Peter is that you're dealing with something that doesn't apply to you and just let it go who cares and 2 Thessalonians chapter 3 and verse 10 it says for even when we were with you this we commanded you that if any would not work neither should he eat for we hear that there are some that walk among you disorderly working not at all but our busy bodies now them that are such we command and exhort by our Lord Jesus Christ that with quietness they work and eat their own bread you know when I see people being busy bodies you know what I see them not working them not they're not busy enough they don't have enough work on their plate and I'm not for all work and no play listen there's times where I'll take take vacations I'll do things with my family or I'll go somewhere and it's not work related at all it's not church related at all and I think that stuff's healthy but I'm not going to take my time that I have outside of work and wasted on other people's matters that don't matter to me you know where I'll take my time if I'm not working and I'm not with my family and it's about other men's matters it's yours that's where it lies like if you came to me and said hey I got this issue guess what that pertains to me I'm your pastor hey I had this doctrinal question guess what that pertains to me that matters that's something that I don't take lightly and you know obviously something so don't think that well pastor doesn't want to be bothered with any of our business now listen if it's if it's like frivolous stuff then yeah figure it out okay you're adults you can make adult decisions you know but if there's obviously things that you're like moral questions or like family issues or anything like that obviously I don't have all the answers all the time and I'm not always equipped with the best solution but we can at least talk and we can you know discuss the issue and I was going to get into the idea of Paul and the fact that he had a church that he was being sent out from in Antioch but he also cared for all the churches that he was dealing with as well there's nothing wrong with caring for other churches there's nothing wrong with helping out other churches meaning that they in Corinth they were sending contributions to the church in Jerusalem to the poor saints that were in Jerusalem great you know it's not that we can't help other churches out and you know try to reach out to other people and be a blessing to them but it's kind of this idea of bear ye one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ but then it also says that you need to bear your own burden and it seems like a contradiction because it's like well are we supposed to you know bear our own burden or bear one another's burden here's how this works bear your own burden and everybody else's but don't expect them to bear yours that's what it means bear your own burden try to bear everybody else's too but don't ever put your burden on someone else don't expect them to put your burden you know on someone else it's this entitlement like you must bear my burden that's hogwash God wants us to bear other people's burdens and we should desire to bear people's burdens but it's the idea of charity is not something that is forced the Lord loveth is a cheerful giver not someone that is forced to do it and so when it comes to this idea of helping other churches and stuff like that yeah if we can but we're not going to help other churches at the expense of our church you know our church's needs they're not going to be eased and us burdened does that make sense? the last thing I was going to mention is that in Revelation when you think about like separate churches you think about the idea that there's the seven churches in Asia and that Jesus is walking in the midst of the golden candlesticks right and those golden candlesticks are the seven churches in Asia so Jesus is in every one of those churches he's omnipresent so obviously he can be the head of every single church that's out there legitimate church that's out there but if you read through those churches what you'll notice is that he doesn't mention problems of any other church to any specific church you know what he mentions is what's wrong with that church or what that church is doing good you won't even see them saying hey Smyrna is doing good over here Pergamos be like unto them and I'm not saying that would necessarily be wrong to say I'm just saying that notice that Jesus is just like he's saying thee right unto the angel of the church at Thyatira I say unto thee I have a few things against thee thou has them that hatest the doctrine of Nicolaitans which I also hate you know it's like you have that this is going for you this is going for you this is going for you this is for this church and then he goes on to the next church and he's just like I have this problem with you or you're doing this good and you know it's all about that one single church and it's not putting burdens on the other church from the other churches but it's also not even taking the good things of another church and saying hey be like unto them so I believe when the Lord looks at our church he looks at what we're dealing with he's looking at our problems or he's looking at our things that we're excelling in and that's where the focus is and what other churches do have no effect on us no effect whether all the churches that we know that are good churches if they fell tomorrow they disbanded tomorrow that is zero effect on our church I'm not saying it wouldn't be sad okay on an emotional level we're still going to we're still coming we're still going to be here on Wednesday Wednesday night we're still doing what we're doing that's the great thing about being independent and you know a brother, a neighbor, it is better that a neighbor that is near than a brother that is far off it's not saying a brother far off is bad but what's better is it the local church that's near or is it the great church that's far off okay, because I'm not comparing like this is great, bad obviously everybody knows the answer to that question of course the great church that you're in is better than the bad church that's far off, but how about a good church that you're in than a great church that's far off so even if you thought there was a better church out there it's better to be the one that's near you is better just for the aspect of the proximity and when it comes to social media, that's what we need to think of as friends my friends here are better because they're closer your family that's near is better because it's closer or whatever the case may be when it comes to co-workers or anything like that is better if it's near and we always need I'm not against social media not against it, I'm not saying it's like made of the devil or something like that I think social media has done a lot of good things for the cause of Christ, but there needs to be an understanding of what it is and what it's not some people look at social media as if it's like that is their lifeline to happiness whether it's Instagram and Instagram is just how many likes, how many different things that I have and that's like their being well as soon as that gets cut off and your being is gone, are you done? like you're emotionally tied to that and when it comes to Facebook or anything like that, we need to know what it is and what it isn't what are you using it for? is it a platform to be a busy body or is it a platform to where you're going to get the message out? where are you getting your information from? when it comes to doctrine, when it comes to the Bible and everything, I think first and foremost the Church of the Living God is the pillar in the ground of the truth and I think you should come here first, like obviously you should go to the Bible first I'm just assuming you're all reading your Bibles but come here first and then you can go outside of that but the idea is, what's better that which is near those are the people that, well one, it's in close proximity, so you have accessibility to it, but then also those are the people that are going to care about you more there are people, my co-workers care about me more than a brother in Christ that's across America right now just because they're near me and they know me and they they would and you say, well there's the unfeigned love of the believer and I get it, and I'm done here, but I'm just if I died tomorrow who would mourn me more my co-workers or some brother in Christ that has never met me across there, or maybe they met me once and they're across the ocean or they're across America right now who would be more upset hopefully my co-workers would say they would, but you know what I'm saying though people that know you, they interact with you they're your friend, whether they're on fire for the Lord or not even saved they're going to end up caring more for you because they're around you all the time and so, it's just the truth of the Bible I think it's interesting, and I think it correlates with the local church, it correlates with social media and we need to always remember that it's our close group of friends, colleagues and stuff like that, that are going to be the ones that are going to be there in time of calamity and let's end with a word of prayer, we thank you today for your word, thank you for these passages and Lord help us to keep our unity in this church and just keep just the blessings that come with the fellowship here at our church and Lord help us to not get carried away into things like social media where we waste time be idle, be busybodies or anything like that but also just the idea of not meddling into strife or anything but Lord to be focused on the things that are at hand or things that are near and Lord we pray that you be with us with soul winning later on today bring us back at the appointed time and Lord we love you and pray all this in Jesus Christ's name, amen by the day we'll come and sing one more song and then we'll be dismissed song number 50 in your song books we'll sing Peace Perfect Peace and if you would stand we'll sing song number 50 peace peace peace peace peace with sorrow searching round Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus