Can we give a warm welcome to Hunter Jones? Amen. How are you guys doing? Good, good. Feeling good. Hey, uh, my name is Hunter Jones, like John said, um, I'm a father now for my, my baby girl, my firstborn, she's 4 months old today. I know, it's awesome, right? Her name is, you get ready for this. Her name is Joanna Jones. Doesn't that just sound like a superhero name? Sounds awesome, right? Uh, or like an HGTV host. So she's got two specific paths for success. But man, my wife and I, we're, we're so thankful. I, I am a pastor at Rock Point Church, uh, so blessed and thankful to be here this morning. Um, I have the privilege of working in ministry with my beautiful wife. She's on our kids' team at Rock Point. And so we're just a ministry family. So my kids are in trouble, man. They are a pastor's kids to the max. But just wanna say I have the privilege of getting to go all around the valley to preach at church plants we're connected to, and it is one of the most amazing things because I get to be on the front lines of what God is doing all around the valley here. And I just wanna say what God is doing here at Mission Grove up in the Cave Creek area is amazing. Amen. I mean, God is doing something unbelievable here. Uh, my in-laws live up here in the, they live right off Carefree Highway, and I'm just so thankful that there is a, a, a church like Mission Grove here in the Cave Creek area, cause God is really truly moving through you guys. So, thank you. I'm thankful to be here. We're in the growth initiative. That's kind of the series we're we're in, we're in a really exciting time. Because we're expanding to 3 services, cause God won't stop moving. Praise God. It's amazing. And uh Pastor John is challenging each and every one of us to to get uncomfortable in our growth. We're walking through Romans as someone say, yeah, I'm uncomfortable every week, right? We're in Romans chapter 12. We're gonna be in verse 9 through 13 this week, and what we're really gonna be looking into and focusing on is what does it mean to grow in community? To grow in community. In Romans chapter 12 verse 9 through 13, Paul, the the writer, he's really talking through what are the marks of true believers, true Christians, as they live out this love. That we're called to following Jesus. So what we're gonna be wrestling with today is what does it mean for us to live out the love that Jesus calls us to in the context. Of a community. So I remember when I was in Bible college, I was, I was a freshman in Bible College. I was stoked and I was like, you know, I'm gonna be a pastor. I feel called to be a pastor, and so I'm gonna get into ministry so they can be blessed by my presence. You know what I mean? Just all the confidence in the world. So I signed up for um a local middle school ministry, and I've got the the 6 or 7 middle school boys, and I was stoked. It's like, man, I am just gifted. They're gonna love this. Their lives are gonna be transformed. And they partnered me with this, this, um, volunteer who had been there for a while. His name was Greg. He was in his late 50s, early 60s, and he was faithful, man. He, he showed up every week. He'd been volunteering in the ministry for, for years and years and years, and they partnered me with him, and I'm like, this guy, they're not gonna listen. To this guy, cause I'm here. I'm cool, I'm hip, I connect with the youths, you know, like I'm I'm ready to go. I'm excited. I'm in Bible college, like I'm I'm stoked. So we start working in the ministry and and every week I'm just sitting with the middle school boys and I'm thinking of my most pastorly advice, like, oh yeah, man, like would God want you to be doing stuff like that? You know what I mean? And over time I started to realize. Anytime the boys had an issue, or they had a struggle, or frustration, or or something was going on in their life, they'd go to Greg. I'm thinking, why would they be doing that? Like, I'm the cool young guy, like I have the knowledge and the information and And finally I got frustrated. I went to Greg. I was like, dude. Why aren't the guys coming to me? Why aren't they talking to me? Why aren't they, why don't they want to, to bring me their issues? And Greg, he was so patient with me. Thank God I had God knew I needed somebody patient in my life. Is it Hunter? Loving people like Jesus. Isn't a feeling you fake. It's a life that you live. You see, When it comes to church, it is so easy for us to get here Sunday morning and we fake the feeling of Christian love. Feels so good, it's just so blessed to be here, you know what I mean? It's like I get it now that I have kids, it is infinitely harder to do anything or go anywhere or get anywhere on time. And I just have one. I'm like I'm in a world of trouble cause I know you guys getting here, it was just a nightmare. Can I get an amen? Like some of you guys, you wake your kids up and you go make breakfast, and you gotta go wake up your kids again, and then you, you feed them, and then they stain their clothes, and you get them redressed, and then you get them in the minivan, and then they're fighting, and then you get here, and they won't get out because they don't want to go to class. You're like, you've got to be kidding me. What the hell are good morning So blessed to be here, just blessed, just blessed, right? And that's obviously an exaggeration, but the truth is, sometimes we can be tempted to make Christian love a feeling that we fake. Rather than a life that we live. As we look at God's word in Romans chapter 12 verse 9 this morning, what we're going to see is that God calls us to a life that of genuine love in Jesus. It's not something that we can fake and that it's not something we should fake, but we, that's actually my big idea. If you're walking out of here, if you're taking notes and you walk away with one thing, I want you to take this home. It's, it's the exact words Greg spoke to me years ago. He said this biblical love. Isn't a feeling you fake. It's a life that you live. So we're gonna jump in the text, and if it's all right with you, I'd like to pray. Father God, thank you. That we get to be here this morning and hear from your word. Thank you for each and every person in this room, God, that they're here. To listen to what you have to say. Father, I pray that you would speak clearly this morning, that we would hear what we need to hear, that we wouldn't, just like Pastor John said, be here to accumulate more information, but we would be here for your radical transformation. And we walk out of this room different because we chose to do something with what you have said. Help us understand this idea of biblical love and how we can live it out in our daily lives. In Jesus' name we pray. Everybody said. Amen. Romans chapter 12 verse 9. You guys there? Alright, me and one person, we're taking the world by storm. OK, here we go. I'm gonna read through the passage and then we're gonna break it down, alright? Verse 9, don't just pretend to love others, really love them. Hate what is wrong and hold tightly to what is good. Love each other with genuine affection and take delight in honoring each other. Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically. Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying. When God's people are in need, be ready to help them. Always be eager to practice hospitality. So what we see in this little passage is Paul explaining what a genuine believer living out Christ-like love actually looks like in our day to day life. It's a model for us. How do we live life with a biblical community, uh, people we live life with? How do we live out a the love that Jesus calls us to? And so each verse, we're gonna have a point and I just wanna walk through each one. So verse 9, here's here's what we're gonna see. God calls us to a love that stands strong. God calls us to a love that stands strong, specifically in the truth. Look at verse 9, it says don't just pretend to love each other, love others, really love them. Hate what is wrong. And hold tightly. To what is good In in the original language, that when he, when he's saying don't pretend, he's saying don't be a hypocrite. That word hypocrite, it was the word used in stage acting, because the Greeks kinda came up with theater, and they would have these big masks. And so peep hypocrite was the person who would wear one mask over here, and wear a different mask over here, and a different mask over here. He's saying, don't be that. Don't be this person that just is fake in different areas of your life. Don't pretend to just, don't fake it. Actually, truly, really live out Christ-like love. And what he says is interesting. He says, hate. What is wrong? Uh, another translation says, abhor what is evil. As I was looking into this word, it's actually 11 definition of it is. Shudder against and violently hate. And I'm thinking, man, that's kind of how my wife feels about spiders. So you, anybody else, you just, you shudder against and violently hate spiders, right? It's like if I, if my wife is around a spider and she sees it, she just, she loses it and she, she's screaming and she tells me I have to kill it, and it's just she violently hates, she shudders against. And Paul is saying, and that's how Christians should feel about evil. Just shudder again, like you can't even handle the thought of it. To violently hate evil and wickedness. Now, it's interesting that Paul's talking about this in the context of love. Because we live in a, in a cultural context that equates love with tolerance. Love With complete acceptance. And what Paul is telling you and I is that biblical love stands strong in the truth. It doesn't mean we're jerks, it doesn't mean we're rude. It still means we're full of grace. But it stands strong in the truth. It's kinda like a car. Love is the fuel that propels us forward. To go where God has called us to go, but truth. Is the steering wheel. It's the way that we get there. And some people, they're just all about love, just godly, just love, just love, except, and it's like a car without a steering wheel. You're going somewhere, but you, you're a danger. You're just going off the rails, you're going wherever you could because there has to be direction. There's gotta be a way to steer where you're going. On the other side, you have those people that are all about truth. You have that person in your life. It's like, I just say it how it is. It's like, well, you're actually just kind of mean. You know what I'm talking about? Those people and it's like they know exactly what you should do. But they don't actually have the fuel and the love to propel them. Man, if you listen to them, you'd probably get where you need to go, but they will, they don't have the fuel, they don't have the love, they don't have the, the thing that's gonna propel them forward. You see, Christian love, biblical love, the love that Jesus models and calls us to, is in this tension between standing strong in the truth. And also love and grace. We see this in the ministry of Jesus. In John chapter 8, Jesus is walking through the town and the religious authorities bring a woman who was caught in the act of adultery. And they bring her in and they throw her before Jesus. And they say this woman was caught in the act of adultery. And at that time, the law was. That everyone should pick up a stone. And hurl rocks at her skull as hard as they can until she died. And the religious authorities said, Jesus, what should we do? They were testing him. And Jesus, what he said to the crowd is, hey, the first the. The first to throw the stone should be the one who hasn't sinned. And one by one, they begin dropping their stones and walking away until it's just Jesus and this woman left. And Jesus says, where are your accusers? And the woman says they left. And we love to end the story there because oh man, Jesus' grace is so beautiful. And it's true, and he's so loving and he he he's so gracious. But the next thing Jesus says, Is go and sin no more. You see, Jesus modeled the perfect picture of godlike biblical love that is standing strong in the truth. Yet extending a hand out in grace. In other words, Jesus. We'll always meet you where you're at. But he loves you too much to keep you there. You see, biblical love, love that God calls us to stands strong and stands strong in the truth. It abhors what is evil and it clings to what is good. Number 2, God calls us to love, that stands strong and lifts up. Look at verse 10. Love each other with genuine affection. And take delight in honoring each other. And so Paul is saying, stand strong, but once you stand strong in the truth, remember, lift others up, lift others up. Honor others around you. You see, this this concept of honoring others, one of the commentaries I was reading was saying, it's like seeing people the way God sees them. Seeing people the way God sees them. Because the truth is our value comes from what someone is willing to pay for it. Value of something always comes from from what someone is willing to pay. There's this, uh, they did this social study. There's this guy named, let me, yeah, Joshua Bell. Anybody ever heard of him? Nobody in the first service did. Joshua Bell. OK, so he is one of the greatest musicians, modern musicians, uh, on earth. He is a phenomenal violinist. People will fill out auditoriums where the cheapest seats are $100 just to hear him play. His violin is worth $3.5 million. He's um he's unbelievable. In 2007, they'd asked if he would do a social experiment about value. So they had him dress up in street clothes, put on a baseball cap, jeans, and go to the New York subway and have him play for 45 minutes. For 45 minutes, he played, and he played just this beautiful music with his $3.5 million dollar violin, just unbelievable. And over the course of the 45 minutes, he made $32 in change. I mean, thousands of people walked past him, 1000s. And they, they listened a little bit. They thought it was good, but. Think about it. If this man filled out auditoriums where people The cheapest seats were $100. Yet In a different context, people just passed by him. What I love about that story is there was one woman who recognized who he was. And she was in awe. She could not believe that it was Joshua Bell, one of the greatest musicians to ever live, standing in front of her in street clothes, playing his $3.5 million dollar violin, and she was just blown away. That she got a free ticket to see him play. You see, the love that Jesus calls you and I to. is to recognize the value. People have just like that woman. We've got to realize, we, we know from scripture that each and every person, even the most boring, annoying, dull person was made in the image. Of God Made in the image of God. Not only that, but Jesus saw you and he thought the value of you was worth giving up his infinite glory. Putting on flesh, dying a horrific death because he wanted a relationship with you and I. You see, that doesn't have anything to do with necessarily how good we are or how lovable we are, but with how good our God is. And he looks at you and I, and he sees unbelievable value in us. Whether we deserve it or not. I think a lot of times we cut others down and we look down on others because we actually don't feel that value in ourselves. How would you start treating the people around you, if you truly believe the value. You saw yourself with the eyes God has for you. How would you treat your coworkers that's annoying to you? Or that that Kid that you just don't get along with. Or your parents who just rub you the wrong way. How would you begin to treat people you just don't get along with if if you truly saw them with the eyes God had for them? You see, Jesus, he calls us to live life with other people, other believers, and it is not clean cut. It is not easy all the time, cause people are difficult, they can be annoying, they can be hard, they can be frustrating. Yet God says genuine love is one that sees people with the eyes of God, that they have value because of what Jesus did for them on the cross. The love that God calls us to is the love that lifts up. It's a love that stands strong, that lifts up. And love that moves forward. You see, uh, look at verse 11. It says, never be lazy. And all the parents with teenagers in the room said, Amen. That's right. Highlight that verse, OK? Read it at home. Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically. That word enthusiastically, it it it has this um image of bubbling over and overflow because genuine love, you can't keep it to yourself because, because of the source. Notice he's talking about loving people, lifting others up, but where's the source coming from? You're serving who? You're serving the Lord. Uh, for 4 years before I stepped into my next steps role at Rock Point, I was a youth pastor, but I oversaw something called youth seminary. So I was effectively a high school Bible teacher for about 4 years, and I got, you know, you just kinda. What teaching really is, is you're 40 hours dealing with high school drama, and if you can get around to the teaching part, that's great, but it's really just any teachers in here. Yeah, you guys know what I'm talking about. OK, so every month, there was at least one high school girl, and she would walk into my class like this. She plopped down in her seat. And because I have a really high emotional intelligence and I'm really good with people, I could tell something was wrong. So, I hope you know I'm joking. So, I went over to her and I was like, hey, what's going on? What's wrong? She'd say this. My phone didn't charge last night. What am I supposed to do during class today? And we laugh because it's like silly, but the truth is we're just as bad, right? We wake up and our phone isn't charging, we're like, you gotta be kidding me. Now I gotta plug my phone in while I'm brushing my teeth like an idiot. But the truth is, I think you and I, we actually get more concerned with plugging our phone and then plugging ourselves into God. We come here and we get like a 20% spiritual charge and we go out into our week and by Tuesday, we're on 0% spiritual battery, cause we haven't plugged in to to to our power source. Man, you ever tried to go home from work and rush hour traffic on 0% spiritual battery? It's not good. I can't tell you how many times I've gotten home to my wife. I've walked through the door on 0% spiritual battery and she just says that comment. It'll lose it You see, we have to be committed to being connected to our power source because I think you and I, we try to do the right thing. We try to do what God's called us to do. We try to do live out the life we're called to be without the power of God. We're trying to love people like Jesus without the power of Jesus. We're trying to be a picture of God's love without being connected to God's love, and the truth is, you know, you've tried it, it just doesn't work. If we're gonna live out a love that moves forward, that works hard, that's enthusiastic, it has to be from an overflow. We have to plug into our power source. Where in your life? This week, do you need to start finding those times where you can plug in? You can spend alone time with God. God calls us to a love that stands strong. That lifts up, that moves forward. 4, love that doubles down. You see, you and I both know, when we're moving forward, sometimes it feels like we're moving backwards. And life can get frustrating, and life can get hard, and what Paul's gonna tell us is there has to be times in our life where we just have to double down. Here, look at verse 12. It says, rejoice. In our confident hope. Be patient in trouble. And keep on praying. You see, when we're in a biblical community, when we're connected to others, we have to have people who keep reminding us that our joy comes not from our current circumstances, but on our future hope. See, we have to plan with the end in mind. Um, My pastor, uh, Pastor Bill, he's up here with me. And, you know, I, I was talking through my sermon and he was like, you know, like back in the stone ages, we didn't have GPSs. And uh, yeah, he's that old. I'm just kidding. But he, he said amen. He said back then, when you had to go somewhere, you had to get out the map, you know. You unfold it all, and then you have to start with the end. And then you trace it back to where you're at. And Paul is saying that's what it means to be a believer. You have to keep your mind. You've got to start on the end. And then trace it back to where you're at. So when I'm struggling in work, and I'm struggling with my boss, and my kids won't listen, and my spouse is being frustrating. I have to remember the end. Cause when I remember the hope I have in Jesus, that that he will wipe every tear, that he will heal every broken heart. I can act today with joy and hope because I know where I'm going. We have to have people in our life that remind us of that. That are outside of our immediate circumstances, who can speak truth in life over that that can tell us, remember the end. Remember where you're going, because that's gonna change where you're at. Paul says be patient in trouble. And keep on praying. What I've found in my life is sometimes when I go through the hardest, most difficult seasons of my life. God allows it because he, he has to show me how desperate I really am without him. And it's in moments like this, that I realized prayer is not just a convenience. I need prayer in my life like I need oxygen in my lungs. You ever been in a season where you're just desperate? That just every day is a struggle. See, these are the moments that God draws him, draws us close to him. And we can stay connected to him with prayer. See, when we're in a biblical, loving, godly community, they start praying for us. They remind us of the end. They, they help us be patient. They help shoulder the burden burden when life is crushing us. This is the, the, the loving community Paul is calling believers into. Last one. God calls us to a love that stands strong, lifts up, moves forward, doubles down. Lastly, reaches out, a love that reaches out, because if we have genuine Christ-like love, it can't just stop being connected to God and having our holy huddle. It's got to go out. You see, Jesus radically transformed the world. By starting a small group. By getting 12 guys around him, and pouring into them and living life with them. And because of that, the world has never been the same. The church was launched, and you, you see, Sunday morning is amazing and beautiful, and we need it in the biblical. But God actually calls us into a life that's more than that. He calls us into a life where we're living life with other believers, so that we can no longer fake this Christ-like feeling, but we live out this Christ-like love. And I just wanna tell you a little bit about how awesome God's church is. So in church history, One thing that's really cool is the church is the reason we have society we do today. Uh, back in the Roman Empire. There was this horrific practice called exposing a child. So if uh if a baby was born that was not wanted. They would put babies on their doorstep. Until it passed away. And there were people who read God's word and said that is not OK, that is unacceptable. They abhorred the evil, and they said, that baby is gonna be living in my home. And so what God's church did is they started collecting these babies that were out on the street and giving them life. God's church grew and became one of the most diverse people groups to ever exist, because they would not stop loving people like Jesus and inviting them into our home. That's why we have orphanages today, because the church said we will not let children die on the streets. We will not let kids go hungry, and we have orphanages today because God's people read God's word and chose to live it out. You realize we have hospitals today because of the church. Because they were sick people dying in the streets, and God's people said, I'm gonna use my resources. I'm gonna invite them into my home. I'm gonna take care of them because they matter to God. That's why we have hospitals, because the church read passages like this and chose to get in their biblical community and do something about it. They chose to live out, to reach out from the biblical love that they were living in their church. You see, Christ-like love is. It isn't a feeling we can fake. It's a life that we live. And it's a life that needs to be lived in the context of a biblical community, where we're known, fully known, where we're accepted. We're incredibly supported. But also where we're developed. I remember when this. Became abundantly clear in my life. About 4 years ago, my wife and I, we just got married, and we're like, we need some, we need some friends. And so we started a, a, a small group with some people at our church. We started getting connected, and I was like, I don't know if I wanna do this every week. This is some people are annoying and it's kinda frustrating, and I don't know if I wanna do this, and my wife said, we're gonna do it, we're gonna do it. And I said, OK. And so every Tuesday night, we invited a group of uh people into our home, and we hosted home group and we started living life together, and they had the nerve to start getting up in my business. Yeah. And start challenging me when I wasn't loving my wife well. And and then I, I, we started to just talk about what it means to live out this Christ-like love, what it means to follow Jesus, and how, how we can be better followers of Jesus, and, and we started serving together uh at the church I work at and It was great. And I remember when my wife and I got pregnant. Oh my gosh, we were so excited. Our group was the first people we told. And not only that, there were 2 other couples in the group that got pregnant literally the same week. It's like, something in the water, something in the water. We are so excited. And then about 6 or 7 months ago, um, at 26 weeks and 4 days, my wife's water broke, prematurely. In the second trimester. And we were terrified. We called the doctor and they said, you need to go to the hospital, you need to check yourself into labor and delivery. We got there, they confirmed that her water was broken and they, they took her up to Saint Joseph's Hospital and They said, your water's broken, we're gonna hold off labor as long as we can. Um, chances are you're gonna be here 10 or 11 weeks on bed rest. Until you deliver Man, and I tell you, as a, as a couple. I'm not saying I had it, my wife had it so much worse, but it was one of the hardest things I'd had to walk through. So I'm still working, and now I'm, I feel like I have to visit my wife on the weekends, and I, we don't, we're not even ready for this kid, like we have, we don't have the nursery maid, we don't have anything prepared, and I'm freaking out. And the weight of life just started to crush me. And I was terrified for my daughter's life, and I, I, I was scared for my wife's life, and, and I, and I didn't know how to hold it. And something beautiful started to happen. The same people that showed up in my living room every week started showing up in our hospital room. And those people. Those frustrating. Loving Crazy, awesome people. Started Helping me put our nursery together. They started a meal train for my wife and I, so we didn't have to eat hospital food anymore, and they, they watched our dogs for us and, and they helped get the house ready and They prayed for us And I don't know if I was going to make it unless those people showed up for me. You see, they showed me. What biblical love looks like. It's something so much further, so much more beyond a feeling that we can just fake on a Sunday morning, but they lived life and they showed up. I'm not saying it was easy to get there. I'm not saying it was clean cut, but I cannot imagine getting on the other side of that without those people. You see, this morning, I want to challenge each and every one of us. Do we have a biblical community where we can live life following Jesus? Some of you, most of you in this room. I'm going to be direct because I'm a guest speaker and I cannot be invited back if they don't like it, but. When you walk out of this room, I wanna challenge you. If you are not in a group. Get in one. Get in a group So that you can start living life with other Christians. Get in a group. If you're in a group I want you to take time next time you meet to talk through, talk about. How are you guys doing living out these principles that God calls us to? How are you doing? Because if you choose to lean in. If you choose to to to stand strong and and to move forward and to double down and to reach out and live out what God calls us to do, I'm telling you, it will not be easy. But your life will never be the same. Your life will never be the same. God, I want to pray for each and every person in this room. God, I pray that no matter where we're at, you would challenge us to move a step closer to obedience. Thank you for Mission Grove Church for providing a network of people. That love you and want to follow you more and more. Give us boldness, give us courage. Give us the motivation to act now. So that we can begin walking. And the love that you've called us to. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.