Grace Changes Everything, January 25, 2026

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ Well, good morning, Fellowship. It's so good to be with you this morning on this unique Sunday where we're all together as all of our campuses, one church in multiple locations. This morning, this will be our living room campus. To all who are out there in your living room or in your kitchen or maybe somewhere gathered around your home, we're so thankful that we get this opportunity to be together, to worship the Lord, to be in his word, for his word to be in us, to continue this wonderful series called Grace Changes Everything because God's grace does change everything. And so I wanna encourage you this morning, if you have your Bibles, I want you to go to Galatians chapter six. That's where we're gonna find ourselves in the word of God this morning, Galatians chapter six. And we'll get to those verses here in just a few moments. And when I was thinking about just us being together on this unique Sunday, I thought it would be great just to be able to pray for us, to pray for our church family because we often say on all of our campuses, we talk about cheers and tears. And as I think about this week,

thinking about cheers and tears, about praying with someone who lost their father earlier this week and praying over someone who just experienced a new baby, just experienced a new grandbaby. And so just thinking about the life that comes with that. Thinking about someone who's sharing the fact that they just found out about diagnosis this week and what comes with that and maybe the fears that can grip someone's heart or maybe even the loss of a job or celebrating with someone who has the interview that's coming up. And so in our church family, we experience cheers and tears every week. And then the opportunity to come alongside one another and to encourage one another and to pray for one another. And so this morning, I wanna pray for us as a church family. Would you pray with me? Father God, thank you so much for your love and your grace to us. Lord, thank you that your word says that you determine the exact times and places where people should live. So our zip codes are no surprise to you, God. You have us here in Central Arkansas and maybe even some who are listening around the country, maybe even somewhere around the world. Lord, we're in the spot that we're in because of your sovereignty over our lives.

And God, we just come to you and we know that you give us life and breath. And so Lord, I just wanna pray for our congregation, for our people, for those who are listening in this moment. Lord, that you would have your way in us, that you would encourage us and strengthen us and help us and comfort us and be with us. Lord, for those who've experienced tears this week, Lord, would you please be their strength, be their strong tower, be their refuge, be the shelter where they can hide. Lord, that they could take comfort in the shadow of your wings. And so Lord, I just pray that you would comfort them in this moment, even today. Lord, for those that are lonely or frustrated, for those who are discouraged, for those who are feeling anger maybe rising up, resentment rising up in their hearts this morning, Lord, would you meet them in those emotions, meet them in those places and be their all in all. Lord, I thank you for those that are celebrating cheers this week. Lord, whether it's a new baby, a new grandbaby, whether it's a new job, whether it's something new that's happening in their life, Lord, I just pray that they would give you thanks and praise and realize that every good gift comes from you, God. And so this morning, we just wanna pray that you would strengthen us and help us to know

that your presence is with us always, no matter if it's the cheers or the tears. And so Lord, thank you for your grace to us. And I pray that by the power of your Holy Spirit, through the power of your word, that you would encourage our hearts today, that you remind us of your amazing grace that truly does change everything. And so would you bless your people, fellowship. Lord, would you help us to be able to make disciples who live by your grace and for your glory at home in Central Arkansas and all around the world. And we will do this all in your mighty name, Jesus, through the power of your Holy Spirit. It's in your name, Jesus, we pray this prayer, amen. Amen. So Galatians chapter six, as we look at verses six through 10, we sang the song earlier this morning, take you at your word. And wouldn't it be a beautiful thing for all of us as fellowship to really take God at his word? How that would change our lives. If we became a kind of people who said, I really wanna take God at his word and what he says, I wanna delight in his commandments. I wanna follow his standards and his statutes. I wanna follow his ways. I wanna live out. His truth, and we understand that God's commandments

are not burdensome, not meant to kill our joy, but actually meant to enhance our joy. What would it look like for you as a man, for you as a woman, for you as a student, what would it look like for us to be the kind of people who actually take God at His word? That His word is so precious to us, so sweet to us, so important to us, so valuable to us, so life-transforming to us, that we genuinely would take Him at His word. Well, this morning, we have an opportunity to do just that, because Paul, in his writing, as he approaches the end of this book of Galatians, he has a few things that he wants to keep saying. He's been talking about walking by the Spirit, keeping in step with the Spirit, and so this chapter six kinda continues that conversation, if you will, and there are some things that Paul says with grace, like he's wanting to instruct us, and warn us, and encourage us, and call us up. It's all of those things that he's trying to do in this passage, and he's doing it with grace, and when I say that he's doing it with grace, I don't mean like he's saying it in a nice way, because sometimes that's kinda how people will use that word grace, that you're saying it graciously, like you're saying it in a nice way,

but really what Paul's doing is he's saying it in a way that grace will be our motivation, our fuel for obedience, our fuel for obeying Christ, for obeying His word. Sharing in our support of those in ministry, and sowing to the Spirit, enduring and serving one another, and intentional living what we're doing good to those who are around us, and he says it with grace, and at Fellowship you know this, but we talk about how grace is the sovereign love of God in the redeeming actions of Jesus, like a sovereign love of God in the redeeming actions of Jesus, and so Paul brings grace to bear on this passage, and so I want you to look with me, beginning in verse six this morning. We'll read through verse 10. Listen to what Paul writes. He says this. "'Let the one who has taught the word "'share all good things with the one who teaches. "'Do not be deceived. "'God is not mocked. "'For whatever one sows, that will he also reap. "'For the one who sows to his own flesh "'will from the flesh reap corruption, "'but the one who sows to the Spirit "'will reap from the Spirit eternal life.'

"'And let us not grow weary of doing good, "'for in due season we will reap if we do not give up. "'So then, as we have opportunity, "'let us do good to everyone, "'and especially to those who are of the household of faith.'" What a beautiful passage for us this morning. What a great encouragement from the Apostle Paul, and he's saying it with grace, that it's saturated in the sovereign love of God and the redeeming actions of Jesus. And so, this morning in our time together, let me just ask this question of you. What is Paul actually saying with grace? Like, what is he saying to us this morning? Well, the first thing he says in this passage is support the ones who serve you the word. Support the ones who serve you the word. He's saying that you need to let the one who has taught the word share all good things with the one who teaches. And Paul is actually making a connection of caring for those who teach the word to you. It's an awkward situation a little bit in this moment for me to say that to you, but this is what the scripture is teaching, that it's important for us as a church family to care for those who are on staff, or to care for those who have given their life to ministry, to serving the body, to serving the church family. He's calling the church at Galatia

to support those in ministry financially, to free them to do the work that God has called them to do in teaching the word and serving the church family. And I do wanna take a moment and just say thank you to you as a church fellowship. Thank you that you support all the staff on all seven of our campuses. Thank you that you encourage us in the ministry of the word. Thank you that through your financial generosity, through the way that you worship God through your giving, that you are supporting us as we minister to you and to Central Arkansas and beyond. And Paul reminds us that this is a biblical thing. First Corinthians nine, six through 12 says this, or is it only Barnabas and I who have no right to refrain from working for a living? Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard without eating any of its fruit? Or who tends a flock without getting some of the milk? Do I say these things on human authority? Does not the law say the same? For it is written in the law of Moses, you shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain. Is it for oxen that God is concerned? Does he not certainly speak for our sake? It was written for our sake because the plowman should plow in hope, and the thresher thresh in hope of sharing in the crop. If we have sown spiritual things among you, is it too much if we reap material things from you?

If others share this rightful claim with you, do we not even more? Now, obviously, as pastors and teachers, we wanna be good stewards of what God gives us. We wanna be good stewards of our ministry, of our finances, of all that God does and all that he provides for us. We don't wanna abuse that. We wanna use that in a way that's to his glory. You know, this isn't on the screen, but it says in 1 Timothy 5, 17 and 18, let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching. For the scripture says, you shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain, and the laborer deserves his wages. So Paul's just making this point and saying, listen, when you walk by the Spirit, when God's grace is overflowing in your heart, you want to share good things with those who minister among you. But he moves on, and the second thing he says is that basically you reap what you sow. You reap what you sow. Now, I'm gonna get to that in just a moment because it's an agricultural term that basically has stood the test of time. It's true in any culture. It's true in any place.

It's true for any people that you reap what you sow. Whatever you plant, you're going to reap. So you can take that message, you can take that truth, and you can plug it into any people group, any village, any country around the world, and say, listen, it really is true that you're going to reap what you sow. It's an understood truth that's been around for all time. But actually, before he actually says you reap what you sow, Paul says it in this way. He says, don't be deceived. Don't be deceived. God is not mocked. He's saying, don't be tricked. Don't fall for the lies. See, there were false teachers. We know this because we've been in the book of Galatians for quite some time now. But there were false teachers that were coming in and saying false things, and basically, Paul is saying, listen, don't believe the lies. He's mentioned it actually before in this book where he said, oh, foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you, who has hindered you, who has interfered with this truth that you've been taught. And so he understands that we do have a tendency at times to be tricked, that we have a tendency at times to be deceived, that we fall for something that we shouldn't fall for, that we invite some truth into our life

that really isn't truth at all. And Paul is saying, don't be deceived. Don't be tricked. Don't be lied to. Don't fall for that. Don't be fooled because God is not mocked. Now, when he says God is not mocked, we know that there are plenty of people who mock God. There's plenty of people in our culture, there's plenty of people in our world who mock God, who turn their nose up at God. That's what the word actually means in the Greek, that you actually turn your nose up at God, that there is contempt for God. So we know that there's plenty of people who are doing it, but ultimately what he's saying is, in the end, God will not be disrespected. God will not be fooled. God will not be mocked. And so he's encouraging us to stop being led astray and to turn our eyes to the truth and understand that we actually reap what we sow. Now, what's interesting to me is this, and I have shared this on multiple campuses. I was with Español last week. I was with Benton the week before. I'll be with Midtown next week. And the reality of it is this, I've shared this on multiple campuses, but this phrase, you reap what you sow,

is interesting to me. Because I think if you're honest, you would say that the times that maybe you've heard that in your life has not always been in a positive light. Matter of fact, I would pledge, I would almost guarantee that some of you have vivid memories of someone in authority in your life looking at you, possibly pointing a finger at you, maybe even with a scowl on their face and saying with some intensity, kind of leaning in and kind of going, you're gonna reap what you sow. Like you've done something in your home. You did something as a kid. Maybe it was your parent, your grandparent. Maybe it was a teacher. Maybe it was a coach. And they basically were kind of saying that truth in your life. It's like, you're gonna reap what you sow. Sometimes maybe with gritted teeth. So maybe it didn't felt like it was being said in love or in an encouraging way, but it was kind of saying, you're gonna reap what you sow. And that is true. Like it is a negative statement in some ways. It really is true that you will reap what you sow.

Matter of fact, Paul says it this way. If you sow to the flesh, you reap corruption. Like he's giving us that truth. It's not based upon what we think or our opinion. He says, if you sow to the flesh, you will reap corruption. You will reap decay. You will reap death is what it's saying. Now I wanna remind you how the scriptures talk about the flesh. So he's saying, if you sow, using this agricultural term, right? If you plant these seeds to the flesh, you're gonna reap corruption. Now let me remind you what Paul said about the works of the flesh. In Galatians chapter five, 19 through 21. Now the works of the flesh are evident. Sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry. sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. And I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. So in this, Paul is giving us this warning and saying, this is what the works of the flesh look like. And even just a couple of weeks ago, when I was on Benton's campus, we talked about this. The reality that it's not just the big sins sometimes that we think about,

like the drunkenness or the sexual immorality, and certainly there are consequences that are there that are different than other things that you would do, but he says jealousy, envy, rivalries, that those things carry the same kind of weight as a sin, as sexual immorality, as idolatry, as drunkenness, I mean, he's putting all these together. And this isn't an exhaustive list. Now again, consequences are different for these different sins, but the reality of it is is that sin is sin, and if you sow to this, if you sow to sexual immorality, if you sow to jealousy in your life, if you sow to envy in your life, if you sow to anger, some of you are so driven and controlled by anger right now. If you sow to that, if you plant that, if you feed that in your life, you will reap corruption. You'll reap decay. Romans 1, 28 through 32 says this, and since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They're full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless,

heartless, ruthless. And though they know God's righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them, but they give approval to those who practice them. Again, just reminding us that there are people out there that are sowing to the flesh, that they are investing, they're diving into, they're giving themselves over to, to all of these things, to deceit, maliciousness, covetousness, envy, murder, strife. And Paul just says, listen, if you sow to the flesh, you reap corruption. Now, I want us to consider this in two ways. Right, for the unbeliever, because there actually may be someone who's listening today that you're an unbeliever. You're not a believer in Jesus Christ yet. And you've rejected Jesus Christ. Now, maybe you've been more benevolent towards him in the sense that you're not mad at him necessarily, you just don't believe in him. Or maybe you have been on a journey where you really don't believe in Christ and you are mad at God and you wonder how any of this could work out. But you find yourself either in a car or in a home right now, or in a place where you're listening to this message and God is speaking to your heart,

but you're an unbeliever, not putting your faith in Christ, rejecting Christ. And here's what it says, you will reap corruption. You'll reap death. You will actually reap eternal destruction if something doesn't change. Right now, if you're an unbeliever, what you're going to reap is eternal separation from God. That's what the scriptures call hell. Like you're living for your own desire currently and planting seeds of immorality and idolatry and jealousy and anger, and maybe even an obsession with good works in your life. We've been talking about legalism all throughout Galatians, that there are people who are trying to do good works, trying to earn their way to God. And maybe that's where you are and you think that that's gonna work, but it actually ends in the same thing as these other sins. Death, separation from God. Charles Spurgeon actually said it this way. He said, oh, my friend, if you go on living in sin, you will wake up one day surrounded by the fruition of your own guilt in all of its awful enormity. He goes on to say, on every hand, the harvest of your sowing to the flesh will stare you in the face. And God will place in your hand a sharp sickle.

And he will say to you, reap here and reap there. And you will say, I cannot do it, but you sowed it. So you must reap it. What terrible misery there will be for you there, yet it will only be your own sin in its ripeness, your own transgression fully developed, and that awful harvesting will be infinitely more than you will be able to bear. And the reality of it is it would be unloving for us not to tell you that truth. As an unbeliever, this is where you find your destiny. This is where you're headed unless something changes, unless grace invades your heart and you repent and turn from your sins and put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ. Unless that happens, you will reap eternal destruction. But Paul is also saying, not just to the unbeliever, he's saying something to the believer, that actually believers actually have seasons. where they sow to the flesh, where they disobey God and they follow their own desires. And as a believer, while you will not reap eternal destruction, because if you belong to Christ, you're gonna spend eternity with Christ. But it doesn't mean that in the here and now that you can't reap destruction, that you can't reap decay, that you can't reap corruption in your own life. I love how John Stott said it. He said, to sow, beloved, to the flesh

is to pander rather than crucify the flesh. He says, every time we allow our mind to harbor a grudge, which some of you have done, I have done in my own heart, every time you allow yourself to nurse a grievance or entertain an impure fancy or wallow in self-pity, you're sowing to the flesh. Every time we linger in bad company, whose insidious influence we know we cannot resist, every time we lie in bed when we ought to be up and praying, every time we look at pornography, he says, every time we take a risk that strains our self-control, we are sowing to the flesh. One other pastor goes on to say this. Some Christians sow to the flesh every day and they wonder why they don't reap holiness and victory and blessing. Here are some examples. He says, when a dating couple gets caught up in the sensuality of the moment and engages in sexual activity outside of marriage, which we know some people are doing, who are believers who say, we believe in Jesus and yet engaging in sexual activity outside of marriage, you're sowing to the flesh. When a man fantasizes about taking control of an organization and decides to scheme and cheat to get to the top of that organization, he's sowing seeds of destruction, not only for others, but for his own soul. When a woman secretly despises another woman in the church

without ever seeking reconciliation, she is sowing to the flesh, hurting her own soul and the fellowship of the church. When a husband and wife allow bitterness and resentment to build in their marriage without ever trying to resolve their differences and forgive one another, they are sowing seeds of the flesh. They're hurting themselves and the whole family. Do you see that? We could give more examples of what it means to sow to the flesh, but it's possible for a believer to reap corruption in this life, that it ruins the quality of your life, it ruins the joy and the peace that God longs to give you. Pastor John MacArthur stated it this way. He said, because of sin, they have forfeited the qualitative joys and the blessings and the riches of their eternal life, at least for the time. Now, praise God for the believer that when they die, at least they'll get it all back fully. And what he's saying is, you're not forfeiting your salvation, okay? So when it says that you reap this eternal destruction, as a believer, when you're sowing to the flesh, you're not gonna reap, you're not losing your salvation. You're not forfeiting eternal life, but what you are forfeiting is joy and peace and blessing

that comes when you're sowing to the Spirit. Like, you know the difference, don't you? But Paul goes on to say, listen, if you sow to the flesh, you reap corruption. But then he says this, but if you sow to the Spirit, you reap eternal life. Like, if you sow to the Spirit, you reap eternal life. If you plant, if you sow seeds to the Spirit, you reap eternal life. Now, some people say, how do you sow to the Spirit? Like, how do you plant those seeds? What does that actually mean? And really what it means is, is it means walking by the Spirit. It means to be in step with the Spirit. It means to be led by the Spirit, to be saturated with the Scriptures, to delight in God, to enjoy God, to be dominated by the Spirit, to be controlled by the Spirit. Again, most of us probably said this on our campuses a couple of weeks ago, but can we just revisit it for a minute? Because the Scripture makes a very stark contrast. It says in Ephesians chapter five, which this isn't on the screen, but it says that to not be drunk with wine, for that's debauchery, but to be filled with the Spirit. So the Scripture makes this incredible visual of saying, don't be drunk with wine,

but be basically drunk with the Spirit. Be filled with the Spirit. And again, we know, we know, some of you maybe know all too well from your past or from people that you've been around or maybe it was in your home, but you know that when someone's drunk, what they've done is they've taken alcohol and they keep drinking and keep drinking and keep drinking until they become drunk. And when they become drunk, it controls them. The alcohol controls them. People lose control. Maybe anger begins to rise up in them. They can't see as well. They make terrible decisions. There are people who've gotten behind a wheel and try to drive while they're drunk and people have lost their lives over that. So because when the alcohol controls you, it just takes over and makes you. Acts in ways that you don't even realize. And that's why the scripture says this, don't be drunk with wine, be drunk with the Spirit. Drink the Spirit more and more and more, sow to the Spirit more and more and more, so that the Spirit controls you because when the Spirit controls you, we know what happens. We know what happens when the Spirit controls us. Galatians 5, 22 and 23, the fruit of the Spirit,

love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things, there is no law. We know that when we drink of the Spirit, when we sow to the Spirit, that what happens in our life is more love, more joy, more peace, more patience, more kindness, more goodness, more faithfulness, more gentleness, more self-control. And so we understand that if we sow to the Spirit, we're reaping eternal life. Now, I believe when it says you reap eternal life, I believe that's twofold as well. He's speaking of eternal life, he's speaking of future grace, that is true. The hope and assurance of heaven and life with Christ forever. So when he says you sow to the Spirit, like you're reaping eternal life. But there's also another part of that. We're reaping eternal life now. Abundant life for the believer that's sowing to the Spirit. Not abundance like prosperity gospel, not a formula that you plug in as if you do this, then you'll be promised this. But there are promises in Scripture that reminds us that God rewards those who seek him. And he rewards us really with his presence, with the different fruits of the Spirit. This is what God rewards us with, his presence

and the love and the joy and the peace that he fills us up with. And that doing God's commandment is the way that we show our love to him. And in that, we reap peace and joy and strength in the Lord. So I'm planting myself in the things of the Spirit. I'm planting my mind and I'm planting my heart and I'm planting my attitudes and my whole self in the Word. I'm going deep in the soil of the Scriptures. Going deep in the soil of the Scriptures. I'm setting my mind on things above. See, by God's grace, when you're sowing to the Spirit, here's what you're doing. You're sowing repentance, that you're repenting of your sins before the Lord. Yes, Jesus paid the price on the cross for our sins, but we have a repentant Spirit about us. If you're walking in the Spirit, being led by the Spirit, sowing to the Spirit, then you are a repenting man. You are a repenting woman. You're brokenhearted over your sins and you're bringing that repentance before the Lord. You're sowing belief, not unbelief, but belief. You're putting your belief in Jesus Christ. You're putting your belief in his Word. Because we know that when you truly believe something, it affects the way that you live. So we're sowing belief. God, help my unbelief.

It's a great prayer in Mark chapter nine, where the man says, I believe in you, Jesus. I believe you can do this. Help my unbelief. What a great prayer, that you and I, maybe you're struggling with belief today, that you just don't believe that God is able. You just don't believe that God can do it. You're feeling the effects of the enemy bearing down upon you. You're feeling tempted to doubt. You're feeling tempted to not believe. And one of the ways that we sow to the Spirit is we sow belief, that we believe that God is able. We believe that Jesus is who he says he is. We sow to the Word of God. We invest in the Word of God. We dive into the Word of God and let it dive into us. We saturate our lives and our minds and our hearts in the Scriptures, knowing that abiding in his Word changes us. John 8, 31 through 32, Jesus said to the Jews who believed him, if you abide in my Word, you are truly my disciples and you will know the truth and the truth will set you free. Set you free, that's the same concept, the same mindset of saying we're being freed in the Spirit, right, to live in light of the Spirit.

Romans 8, 6, for to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. Like if we set our minds on the things of the flesh, it's death, it's corruption, it's decay. But if we set our minds on the things of the Spirit, it's life and peace. The problem with us today is this. We have the truth before us, but what are we gonna do with it? What are we gonna do with it? I talked with a doctor years ago and he talked about how sometimes when you see patients, like you basically tell them what they need to do to change their dietary habits or to change some of the routines and rhythms in their life and if they'll do that, like he was talking about people that get decay around their heart, right, and things that happen, he's saying listen, if you change your diet, if you live this way, there's a great possibility, a great percentage that it will change the way you feel, it will change your life. And what he told me is this, he's like, for so many people, it's not a lack of knowledge, it's lack of implementation. And so for many of us, sowing to the Spirit, we know that it says that sowing to the Spirit's life and peace, but we don't do it. And we're not following.

It's true in that. Colossians 3, one through two, if you've been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on the things on the earth. And we're thinking, heavenly minded, we're thinking of God's kingdom and how we want his kingdom to come in our hearts, in our marriages, in our families, in our communities, in our neighborhoods, in our cities, in our world, that we want God's kingdom to come the way that it happens up there in heaven, the way that things operate in heaven, the kind of joy and peace that reigns in heaven, the kind of righteousness that reigns in heaven. We want that up there, down here. So we wanna think on those things and so do those things. John 14, 21 through 24, whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my father and I will love him and manifest myself to him. Judas, not as scary as it said to him, Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us and not to the world? And Jesus said, if anyone loves me, he will keep my word. He will sow to the word.

And my father will love him and we will come to him and make our home with him. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine, but the father's who sent me. Listen, if you sow to the spirit, you will reap eternal life. Now, I wanna say this because if you hear that verse, sometimes people can say, this feels like he's talking about earning salvation. And that's what he's been speaking against this whole letter of Galatians. Like, it's not about earning your salvation. Now, grace, by the way, grace is not opposed to effort. It is opposed to earning. It's what Dallas Willard said. Grace is not opposed to effort. It's opposed to earning. So sowing to the spirit, you will reap eternal life. Listen, the reason we know that you reap eternal life is because of Romans 8, 14. It says, for all who are led by the spirit of God are sons of God. All who are led by the spirit, all those who are sown to the spirit, they actually are sons of God. So the reason we reap eternal life fully, here and later, now and later, is because, not because of our works, not because of what we've done,

but because what God has done in Jesus Christ. We're being led by the spirit because we're sons of God, because this is who we are and who God has made us to be. Well, he goes on to say a couple more things, and I wanna wrap up with these things that I think are so important. So it's not about just serving those who serve you the word of God and reaping what you sow, but it's also, he says this, do not grow weary in doing good. Now, what a great word for us today. Do not grow weary in doing good. Paul is saying this with grace because he knows that we have a tendency to be weak. He knows that we have a tendency to grow weary because you know what? People can be draining. Don't point at anybody around you right now, but people can be draining, right? We know that. You can be draining. It's hard to serve people. I was thinking about relationships and how we grow weary in doing good. When the spirit is producing fruit in your life and you're sowing into those relationships around you, it can be exhilarating, but it can also be very exhausting. Like when you're showing love and you're being patient and you're being kind and you're being good to one another, when you're trying to be at peace with people,

it's exhausting. It's exhausting. And the scripture says, don't grow weary in doing good. It's often difficult and draining to love people. It's draining to advocate for justice. It's hard to love the least of these. It's hard to help hurting people. It's draining to serve seventh grade D groups, right? It's draining to minister to the sick around us, to counsel the broken, to teach kids. It can cause us to be weary. But the scripture says over and over again, do not grow weary in doing good. Paul reiterated this in 2 Thessalonians 3.13. As for you, brothers, do not grow weary in doing good. Some of you feel weary this morning. Some of you wonder if the good that you're doing and the seeds that you're sowing, you wonder if it's ever gonna make a difference. You're worried about the prodigal in your life. You're worried about the job situation in your life. You're worried about the neighbors that you've been trying to pour into. And you've often found yourself saying, I don't even think I'm making a difference. I don't know that anything good's coming out of this. And you're just tired. You're just weary. And I wanna encourage you, there's one who does give strength.

There's one who never grows weary. Now, this isn't on the screen, but some of you are familiar with this verse in Isaiah chapter 40, verse 28. It reminds us that God is both the supplier. and the example of strength. Isaiah 40, 28, have you not known, have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary. His understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might, he increases strength. Even you shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted. But those who wait for the Lord, they will renew their strength. They'll mount up with wings like eagles. They'll run and they'll not be weary, and they will walk and they will not faint. Then spend some time in that. Sow that into your life, that God's strength. He never grows faint. He never grows weary. What about Hebrews 12, one through three? Again, not on the screen, but listen to the power of this passage. Since we're surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and sin which clings to us so closely,

and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. He knows that we have a tendency to grow weary. And he says, looking to Jesus, that we run with endurance, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, for the joy that was set before him. What did Jesus do? He endured the cross. Jesus is both our supporter and our example of strength. He endured the cross. Consider him who endured such hostility so that you may not grow weary or faint-hearted. Listen, the way that you and I are gonna not grow weary in doing good is to keep our eyes on Jesus, to look to the cross, and see that Jesus finished the work on the cross. And because he finished that, and his grace is working in us, we can say strong. Sometimes we think, you know, I've been sowing, I've been sowing, but it doesn't feel like it ever makes a difference. Well, James 5, seven through eight says this. Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it

until it receives the early and late rains. You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. So I just wanna remind us, before we see a very powerful story from the Callaway family here in just a moment, Paul winds us up by saying, listen, don't go weary in doing good. You'll reap a harvest in due time. Like, in God's timing, he will send a harvest. Like, you'll see that. But then he says, while you're doing that, do good to one another, right? He tells us to do good, first of all, to everyone. He just covers it all. Do good to everyone. Believers and unbelievers alike, you and I, as people who are walking by the Spirit, as people who are filled with the grace of God, as people who are sowing to the Spirit, we need to do good to everyone. People that we agree with and people we don't agree with. People who look like us and people who don't look like us. We need to do good to everyone, to love our neighbors as ourselves, that we're actually seeking to do that.

Not just saying, you know what, when it comes my way, I'll do this, but actually seeking to do good to everyone who is around us. To do good in the city. Matthew 25 reminds us, "'Then the king will say to those on his right, "'Come, you who are blessed by the Father, "'inherit the kingdom prepared for you "'from the foundation of the world. "'For I was hungry and you gave me food. "'I was thirsty and you gave me drink. "'I was a stranger and you welcomed me in. "'I was naked and you clothed me. "'I was sick and you visited me. "'I was in prison and you came to me.' And the righteous will answer him saying, "'Lord, when did we see you hungry? "'When did we feed you? "'When were you thirsty? "'When did we give you a drink? "'When did we see you as stranger and welcome you in?' "'Or naked and clothe you? "'And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?' And the king will answer them and say, "'Truly I say to you, "'as you did it to one of the least of these, my brothers, "'you did it to me.'" We need to do good to everyone. But then the last thing he says is this,

we need to do good to the household of faith. Especially to the household of faith. Do good, especially to the household of faith. That we need to do good in serving our brothers and sisters in Christ. I wanna encourage you to serve inside the church and outside the church. Some of you need to be serving in our kids' ministry. You need to be serving in our student ministry. Some of you need to be serving in our women's ministry, in our men's ministry, our special needs ministry. Some of you need to engage in our cafe ministry where you can serve the needs of our body or part of our welcome team. Some of you have been sitting on the sidelines maybe for months and years, or maybe you, I know sometimes as we get older, I've heard people in church say, man, I did my time, as if you were in jail. Like I did my time. But God's calling us all to say, how can we serve the body of Christ? On a Sunday morning, in the context of our church, how do we serve one another in our small groups? It says that we need to do good, especially to the household of faith. Serving the family of God inside our church, locally, globally, coming alongside people. I wanna show you a powerful story about the Callaway family. It's a beautiful story.

Watch this story of Sean and Shalyn Callaway. I'm Shalyn Callaway. And I'm Sean Callaway. And we have three children together. Steele, who's eight. Stella, who's five. And Stallings, who's fixing to be two. We started at Midtown about a year and a half ago. And then, I believe that it was that fall, that October, that I just talked to Sean. about like, we need to find our people. And so we first met the D group at their Christmas party. That first day, it just felt so natural to like have these people like welcome you in and just feel wanted. Then when everything happened, it was just such a blessing. I just started to just feel really weird. Parts of my body were falling asleep. Like my foot fell asleep, the other foot fell asleep. Okay, well now it's like, kind of like my knees down are falling asleep. The tingling that I had felt in different areas of my body was like had rose to my throat and my neck. I was admitted kind of just for observation. They still didn't know that first day what it was because some of the tests to kind of confirm Guillain-Barre, which is what I was later diagnosed with, took another day to come back. And then it was a matter of four days later,

I couldn't walk, I couldn't stand. Couldn't really even understand me because my lips barely moved and I couldn't move my arms. Sunday night, I got a call about 11.30 or 12 and they were rushing her to the ICU there at Baptist. And when I showed up, they were intubating her. That was probably the scariest moment, for sure. And there was nothing I could do. I just felt helpless. She was in the ICU for a week, intubated. You know, when Scripture talks about bearing burdens, our D-group did that through like physically. I mean, I had the girls stop by at the room when I couldn't even speak because I had so much like muscle paralyzed in my face. And they just read Scripture over me and prayed over me. And I remember tears just streaming down my face because that's kind of the only thing that came out. I couldn't tell them. And I assumed that Sean communicated to the group what was going on, but they all showed up at eight o'clock at night. They snuck in past visiting hours. They all had young kids to get to bed and to get to school the next day. And things to do in their own homes, but they all showed up to just pour Scripture over me. One night specifically, I remember we got together, just the guys. I remember we're sitting on the back porch.

It was a way to step away and just to be in the Word. And then at the end, you know, we talked about everything that was going on. Just to have a set of guys there as brothers who were just taking on my pain, going through so much, and they're there. These guys who barely knew me at this time, they sat with me, they cried with me, just showed how much love they have for me. It helped keep the faith during all that. I don't think if I'd had to go through that alone, that I'd come out on the other side, even halfway where I'm at now. They called me and they said, hey, you've got to come up here. We're going to do a trach, we're going to put a trach on. It was the start of getting better. She went back to the rehab, slowly started to regain function, and pushed through to Father's Day, and was able to get out. I went through a lot of stages in my illness of grief and anger. And I remember thinking, why would this happen to me at such a young age? And it was them continuing to pray. It just lifted any little anger that I had and turned it into praise that I made it through that. I would 100% recommend finding a D-group that fits and finding your people.

There's times where I'm at work now that I've returned and Sean's here with three kids by himself, and the amount of times that they'll step in to help Sean get the kids loaded in and out of the car, or when I was without you, places afterwards, they knew that I might need help lifting, carrying, chugging along three children. They haven't stopped stepping in, but I don't know that they ever will. What a beautiful story. I want to thank Sean and Shalyn for sharing that. And this is the kind of church that we want to be, Fellowship. We want to be the kind of people who are doing good to everyone and doing good to the household of faith. And if you're not involved in a small group, we encourage you to do that. Next time we're all together on your campus, stop by the Connection Center, have a conversation, find a way to find a D-group, a discipleship group that you can be a part of, where you can know people and be known and share in this life together. We want to be that kind of people, that we are so into the Spirit that we are doing good to those around us. I pray that God has encouraged and strengthened your heart, that he's spoken in some way to you today, that you and I might respond to his glorious grace that changes everything.

Let's pray together. Father God, thank you so much for this moment. Thank you for your great love to us. Thank you that you are a God who holds all things together. Thank you are a God who graciously saves us, a God who graciously loves us and changes us and works in us and through us. I pray, God, that you would fill us with your Spirit. Lord, I pray that you would allow the fruit of your Spirit to come out of our lives. Lord, lead us to places of repentance, lead us to places of believing and trusting in you. God, we pray for those that may not know you yet, and we pray that they would put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ even this morning. Lord, we love you and we thank you that you're a great and mighty God who holds all things together, a gracious and loving God who has saved us through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory forever and ever and ever. It's in his mighty name we pray, amen. Thanks again for listening to the Word of God. We are blessed to reach you throughout the week through whatever platform you're listening on. If you're needing prayer or you want to talk to someone about your walk with Jesus, reach out to us at fellowshipar.com slash contact. Have a great week.