The Word of God consecrates us. Two readings from the Old Testament, Proverbs 24. This verse, folks, is not about taking a nap, okay, or getting a good night's sleep. It's not about necessary rest, but it's about blameworthy laziness. Very memorable, Proverbs 24, 30 to 34. So I passed by the field of a sluggard, by the vineyard of a man lacking sense. And behold, it was all overgrown with thorns, The ground was covered with nettles, and its stone wall was broken down. And then I saw and considered, and I looked, and received instruction. Little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man. Again, not necessary rest, but blameworthy laziness is what's in view. God's sovereignty we read about in Ecclesiastes 3 and verses 1 through 8. For everything there is a season and a time for every purpose under heaven, a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to pluck up what is planted, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to break down and a time to build up, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to cast away stones and a time to gather stones together, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing. a time to seek, and a time to lose, a time to keep, and a time to cast away, a time to tear, and a time to sew, a time to keep silence, and a time to speak, a time to love, and a time to hate, a time for war, and a time for peace. Grass withers, the flowers fade away, but the word of our God, praise the Lord, it stands forever. To which you say together, hallelujah, and thanks be to God. Amen, let's stand together and continue. And hallelujah. And Lord, we need that reviving work in our own midst, in our region, in our nation, and the nations. Lord, do what we have sung and do that work even as your word is preached, we pray in Christ's wonderful name, confirming that we desire to be heard as we say together, amen. Amen, please be seated. Rarely do I preach a topical message, which is what this is, I much prefer expository preaching through the text of Scripture. But given this juncture in church life, we're doing something that's topical. We began it last week and continuing it this week, all under the theme of Ecclesiastes 3.1, there's a time to every purpose under heaven. But I've altered the words a little bit. There's a time to every purpose for the haven, given the fact that we're going from what I'm calling chapter one in our life that began in 2019, and God willing, that will continue its life in 2022. On September 11th, interestingly, 2022, when we begin our second chapter. So here's what I want to do. Let me give you a quick review of what we did last week, what I call Chapter 1, in the Lord's purposes for the haven and what we're doing. I don't want you to lose, though, the wonder of all the things that have been connected with these things that we're giving, the very fact there was a desire for a church, the fact that the Lord kept us together during the pandemic, that the Lord provided for us, that the Lord provided a facility for us in the way he did. So I don't want you to lose the wonder of that, but these are sort of the elements of God's purposes for the haven this week, this past week. I finally, I had to get a blood test again. And it's very interesting now, when you get your, the blood, used to be, you got a blood test, you know, you go to the doctor and they'd explain it, you didn't understand it. Then, now you get a number of emails. And the emails will tell you to go to this site, and it's my, whatever it is, ACP New York or something, my portal, my portal. And so I pull up, it's like four or five different tests. And there's all these things. I could Google the different words. You medical people know what they are, but I don't. And so you've got about 25 different things that these few vials of blood indicate about your system. And most of mine were really, really good, so I was encouraged with that. But as I thought about that, these things that we're dealing with, that we mentioned last week and that we'll continue in chapter two, that's really kind of what the spiritual blood test of the Haven is. It's the different things that make up the bloodstream or the lifeblood of the church. So just very quickly, you may want to write them down. I want these to be part of your life. They're all under our chief end, to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever. But there's a time for every purpose for the haven. What's the purpose for the haven? and those 10 things that we dealt with last week. Number one, it's church, right? And as a church, it's part of the Lord's great story for the world. In eternity, This is amazing. God decreed that he would glorify his son in saving sinners and making them part of a church. That's the great macro story of human history. And so every local church is part of that big story and you're part of that big story as well. And so part of our purpose is that we're part of the great story of human history, the Lord redeeming his people and building his church. And we're focused, our purpose is we're focused on God. And you think, wow, why is that a big deal? And you think churches are focused on God. No, they're not always. they may be focused, in many cases, they're focused on you. Your happiness, your well-being, your prayer life, your marriage, your being upright, your being blessed, your money, your... And so to say, wait a minute, we're not gonna immerse ourselves in man, cease from man whose breath is in his nostrils. We focus on the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. That's our purpose, our purpose is to focus on scripture, rightly interpreted and applied. We're not a cult. Cults will use scripture in many cases, but they don't apply, they don't interpret them properly, they don't apply them properly. And that brings us to the next one, which is inseparable from it. It's a church that's focused on Christ and the gospel. You can't, you can extract promises from the scripture, but remember they all had their yes in the Lord Jesus. And it's one of the most sobering words that Jesus ever mentioned to religious leaders. He said, you search the scriptures because you think that in them You have everlasting life, but these are they that speak of me. And so any right interpretation and application of the scriptures, it's gotta bring you to Christ and you in him, okay? So that's also our purpose, is to focus on Christ and the gospel, and also to focus on worship regulated by the word of God. Why is that so important? Well, you don't want to worship according to human imagination, right? We don't want to imagine. We used to have something called the regulative principle of the garden with our children. And the regulative principle of the garden was daddy will tell you the specific weeds that you are to pull up, but don't pull up any others that what daddy shows you because you may be pulling up a carrot or a parsnip or a radish or corn or whatever it would be. And that's how our children learned you did only what you were commanded to do with respect to the garden. You didn't do whatever you thought you were permitted to do. And it's the same thing in worship. God says you're to keep his own commandments in worship. And that's one of the reasons. But the other is this. Folks, eternity is formed by God and his word. It's his truth that will form all of us who are in glory in that world. And worship is kind of a microcosm of what that world is meant to be. So yes, fifth, our purpose is worship regulated by the word of God. Number six, focus on making disciples. Christ followers, go make disciples of all the nations. That incidentally will be very conspicuous on the mission board at the at the Haven facility as it was at Cleft of the Rock. We want that, that's literally the center of the building in many ways. That's the focus, is the Great Commission, making disciples, and of course connected with that, number seven, It's a church that is focused on missions. Three-point outline for the church's life. Missions, missions, missions. And we'll develop that in a little different way in the message today, but that's number seven. It's a church focused on missions. Number eight, it's a church focused on community. The church is a family. And incidentally, as a church grows, It's easy to begin to lose that. When it's 25, 30, 35 people, you meet in a home, you begin to think like family, and that's wonderful, that's great. As a church gets larger, you think in terms of going to church and sitting in your seat as it's going to be. Whoa, wait a minute, it's still a family. And how does that come? You're adopted, you come to Christ, and he's your elder brother, and God gives his Holy Spirit to you, and the Holy Spirit, among other things in his work, is a spirit of adoption, and you cry out, Abba, Father. Well, if everyone here is doing that, then what is this? These are your brothers and sisters, and the church is meant to function As a family, and this is a number of studies, the church has failed in many cases because it has not been radical enough about dealing with that. Case in point, a very sensitive one for me, having many black brothers and sisters. Churches north and south didn't function this way when it came to black believers in the 19th century. the early 20th century, in some cases up to the end of the 20th century. It's not a black believer and a white believer. That's my brother and that's my sister. That lesson was really impressed upon me in a particular way this past week, but you gotta wait for that. But anyway, we function as a family. That's number seven, or rather number eight. Then number nine, it's the church that is focused, actually church focused on trained and faithful ministers and the training of others. Your pastor needs to handle rightly the word of truth, handle accurately the word of truth. And it's one of the reasons why, what a blessing that God willing we'll have an intern beginning next year, where not only have a trained minister, but also you impart to others, as Paul says, other faithful men, that they may be able to teach others also. And that's part of our bloodstream of the haven, trained and faithful ministers and training others. And then a church focused on ardor, And order, that's 1 Corinthians chapter 14, there's the zeal for spiritual things, to use their gifts. And folks, don't just think about gifts for the eldership, or the diaconate, or the gifts of hospitality that will come too. Anything you do for the furtherance of the kingdom of Christ is a spiritual thing. And so there's that ardor of God's people using their gifts, and ministry encourages that. At the same time, Paul says, let everything be done decently and in order, which Presbyterians love as a verse, there's an orderly way to do things. Well, you take all that, and that's the bloodstream, but as we ended up last week, Don't make that an end in itself. Otherwise, easy to do this, you'll make a church an idol because we do it this way, because we have this, because God has blessed us with this. Therefore, we're something. Wait a minute. Hold on. Especially when you own property. people can begin to think more of the property than its Lord, okay? So all these things, the bloodstream, gotta be careful of that. All right, so that's just all from review for last week. So let's come to chapter two. God's, there's a purpose, there's a time for every purpose for the haven. What about chapter two? We don't leave out chapters one to 10 and the bloodstream. Now, just before, there's only three of these, so you won't have another 10. Keep in mind, new location. There will be fresh occasions for wonder, okay? It was wonderful when we gathered together and we sang. It was wonderful when we saw how the Lord provided in various ways, especially giving people that enabled us to be involved, a little church, involved with missions to the Iranian house church. involved in missions in refugee areas in the United States. We hadn't thought of these things. And it was wonderful when God provided these things. And he'll have fresh wonders for us in a new location. We don't want to forget the others. But remember that those fresh wonders always come through the means of grace. When you have to take a program and impose it on a church, so that people get blessed by it. There's something wrong. The church is an organism, as well as an organization. And as God blesses you, you know what the Lord would have us do. It's interesting chatting with Emily about her interest in ministry to frontline workers, especially EMT workers, who face a lot of emotional challenges. Listen to Emily for five minutes, and what she faces in a week, and you'll be stunned. There isn't anything like this. So we're talking about ways we can use the new facility as a ministry to EMT workers in particular. Well, that's an example of how ministry in a healthy church grows up. We have some things, worldwide outreach, that we're involved with anyway, but it's exciting to see what God does on the local level with things. And there's already been some things that have come up, but that'll be later. So anyway, there will be fresh occasions for wonder, and those usually come by the means of grace, which really are feasts from heaven. the Word of God preached, the fellowship of the saints, the Lord's Supper, baptism when it's observed, prayer. These are God's times of our feast. All right, anyway, so that's, I haven't even gotten to the three points here. And this is preliminary in chapter two. Things will be different. A couple weeks from now, there'll be a haven heart to heart that will resume, and it's going to be about Rethinking your view of Saturday night and Sunday. We're worshiping at 10, not 1. Which means, unless you love to go to worship just rolling out of bed, you're going to be getting up earlier. Which means, if you want the right amount of sleep, you're going to go to bed earlier. And yes, you'll get home earlier, hopefully. But it's a shifting, so things are going to be different, folks. And as God begins to add new people to the church, then that makes it different as well. And as there's opportunities for ministry, and say, I'd never thought about being involved in this, that will be different. But that's part of the excitement. Anyway, okay, so those are just preliminary comments. If you will, we're, you know, I try to think in pictures. Think of the first chapter in the Havens of Life as childhood, okay? And we're just beginning and young, it's exciting and all of that. Well, going into the building, is going to be a little bit like puberty, okay? Our voice is going to change a little bit, and it might crack once in a while. And men going through puberty, they'll bump their head on something that they never realized was there because they've gotten taller, and there's hormonal changes that come. And so we'll be in the puberty stage for a while, but that's necessary to grow into adulthood. we'll experience it. Anyway, that's all having to do with just the introduction to chapter 2. So, what's God's purpose for the haven in this new chapter? What else is in the blood test? I have three things. One, it must be a church focused on outreach. It must be a church focused on outreach. Yes, that's discipleship. Yes, that's missions. But it really is a word all of its own. Missions, missions, missions, yes. But what do you mean by outreach? Well, in Acts chapter 1, There's far more significance to Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria and the uttermost parts of the earth. There's a profound historical significance to that. The gospel began at Jerusalem, but Jerusalem was part of a whole area, Judea, synonymous with Israel. Samaria were the half-breeds. You Jews didn't usually associate with the half-breeds, and while you may do that in Samaria, no way you're going to go among the Gentiles. But the gospel was going to do that, and that's the structure of Acts. And that's why you have the baptism on the day of Pentecost in Jerusalem, and Jews are gathered there. And then you have Among the Samaritans, you have a second stage of Pentecost, and then with Cornelius and the Gentiles, a third stage. So there's profound redemptive historical significance to that. But that's also practically true. You bloom where you're planted. We begin in Comac. which is what we're going to be. And you start from there and work from there, and then you work out to the other areas that the Lord gives to you, okay? So that's what we mean by outreach. It begins in that community. And Joe Pulio can tell you, it's a challenge to know how you minister in a secular community. that has a very heavily Jewish population, although that is beginning to change, but it's still very secular. And wealthy Comac-ites who have enough money to live in Comac are not particularly interested in something that takes up some hours of their time on Sunday. How do you minister in that area? Well, we pray for wisdom right now to know what to do, and we are not going in with a program we are imposing on that ministry, with certain things we want to do at first to be sure, but watch, it's part of the excitement, watch to see what the Lord does in opening doors of opportunity. I know from a fact we will be busier than we ever imagined. But this outreach, the pattern for it, is wonderfully given in the first chapter of 1 Thessalonians. This is the classic text about what you expect in a local church and its impact on others. First Thessalonians 1. We give thanks to God always for all of you. Thessalonica, incidentally, was in the northern part of Greece, near Macedonia. It was the bridge between, say, Turkey and Asia Minor and in Greece itself. So we give thanks to God always for all of you constantly mentioning you in our prayers. Remembering before our God and Father, here's the mark of a church, your work of faith, labor of love, and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. For we know brothers, loved by God, that he's chosen you How do you know that? Because our gospel did not come to you only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. And here the ESV really doesn't help us. It's with full conviction just as you knew what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake. The lesson in itself, the character of your elders and deacons. The character of your minister is inseparably connected with the blessing that you will enjoy in church life. Not because of the minister, but God is pleased to work through the example just as you knew what manner of men we were among you for your sake. That's a pastor. That's what Jesus was as the great shepherd. He was the perfect man with his people for them. And so that's why ministry, folks, is so important. You don't believe it? Watch when a minister falls. Watch when a minister is found to live a double life. and see what destructiveness that brings. Anyway, so Paul says, our life among you is inseparable from blessing, and, here we go, you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction with the joy of the Holy Spirit, so that, now listen, so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia, that's northern Greece, and to Achaia, that's the region next to it, For not only has the word of the Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia, northern Greece, but your faith in God has gone forth everywhere so that we need not say anything. What is that faith? For they themselves, other people have said, you hear what happened in Thessalonica? They themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God. and to wait for his son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus, who delivers us from the wrath to come." That's a compendium of the Christian faith right there. Now, notice how this witness came about in this area. Number one, they were an example to the believers. People need to see church. They need to see Christ in his church. And they became an example, not only in that area, but to many, many other areas. The way you worship, the way you relate to one another, the way you relate in the homes, that example is so important. So that's number one when it comes to outreach. But the second is your testimony. You turn to God from idols to serve the living and the true God. Now, that's not the gospel, but that's what the gospel does. And so life and example are part of your testimony, and you should feel free in using that. How do you know God is real? Well, the whole world testifies it, okay. But I know what God has done to me. You ask me how I know he lives. He lives within my heart. That's not the ultimate defense of the faith, but it's part of it. Has God really changed you? What has God done in your life? Tell others about that. They need to hear it. So there's the example of the Thessalonians, and that's really what we mean by outreach here. So I'm gonna begin in the Comack community, but this is your own personal evangelism to your neighbors, to your friends, to your family, to your acquaintances. The early Christians, Acts 8 and verse 4. Isn't it neat the way God worked? You got the Christians in Jerusalem, and they don't want to leave. They enjoy the fellowship there. They had the apostles there. They were ministering to them. They had family. They were providing for their widows. It was an amazing testimony in Jerusalem. And then it got to a point where the Lord says, ah, there is something beyond Jerusalem, and let me send persecution in Jerusalem. And all, or not all, but the disciples were scattered. Many of them had to leave, particularly those who were not native to Jerusalem. And it doesn't say they scattered. It says they went everywhere evangelizing. The gospel was part of them. And they told others about Jesus. Do you? That's what outreach is. Missions tends to be more organized. The making disciples certainly is organized. Outreach is about your heart. Do you have a heart to tell others what Jesus has done for your soul? And that has to be part, a big part, of the life of the haven and your encouragement. is that God's word does not return void, but it will accomplish what he purposes. Isaiah 55, the great invitation, come everyone who thirsts, come to the waters, you who have no money, come buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend your money for what isn't bread? The Lord is the one that truly satisfies. And then it's in that context, God says his word's not gonna return void, but it will accomplish what it purposes. There's a wonderful story that I heard in seminary. I hope it's true, but I haven't had the time actually to verify it. But I've heard it there and then in other places. When the first missionaries went to Korea, in the 19th century, it was, there was no North and South Korea, it was Korea. And it was a very hostile environment for Christians, as it was in China. And I mean, you talk about going in the lion's den, they really did. So Jonathan Goforth, for example, who went forth to China. But anyway, so the story was that among the first of the missionaries who went to Korea was executed not long after he got to Korea. And he had a Bible in Korean and translated into that. And the authorities, they didn't know what it was, but they took this thing and they took the pages from this Bible and severed them from their binding and they put them up in a prison cell or prison cells. That was what they thought of what this book was, a wallpaper for a prison. And as the story goes, one of the inmates and others who were in there began reading from the Bible and the prison walls and were converted, and that was what actually began the germination of what would become a very vibrant church in Korea. And it's a dramatic illustration of how God's word is not going to return void. He will accomplish what he purposes with it. And that is really such a part of outreach. And then, of course, this other part of it, we don't just do it in the Comac community and locally, but remember, we are part of worldwide outreach, the Orthodox Presbyterian Church and missionaries, and so that's all together, that's missions, missions, missions, but do you think in terms of outreach, do you think in terms of telling your family, your neighbors, your friends, and others about Jesus, very practically, how this works in church life? I'm sensitive to it because now I have shelves in the church office and the literature is going in. But you're speaking with someone at church that comes and who visits. And the person has never been to church before, but has brave enough to come in. In fact, I actually got a text from a woman in one of our Orthodox Presbyterian churches. They had a woman's, oh, they called it a retreat. I must exhort her, it's not a retreat. It was a woman's conference. And it was, actually, it was about affliction. And they had a number of unbelievers that came for this conference. One was a woman that had never been in a church in her life. And I'll get a PS on this from the woman who let Margaret and me know about this. But she said, I already invited her out for coffee so we could talk. Now that's what we're getting at with an outreach mentality. But you have someone at the church and they say, you know, I have an anxiety issue. I have obsessive compulsive disorder. I don't know what it would be. Or I have a child that is cutting herself and I don't know what to do. I assure you, there will be literature available and you can say, well, I know Pastor Shishko will know of something that he can give you to help you, but see, extend your ministry to people. Get things in their hands. Outreach, missions, missions, missions, outreach, outreach, outreach, but you get it. Is that part of your blood system? Many Reformed churches have died because it's not. and we don't want the haven to be one of them. It's not, folks, about let's get other Reformed people to come to this Reformed church and we'll learn a little bit more about how wonderful it is to be Reformed. We are committed to that. We're first of all committed to Christ and he saves people. Now, the next, okay, so we're church, this new chapter focused on outreach, but the next is connected with it. We're to be a church focused on hospitality. Are you aware that you are saved because of hospitality? There was actually a book that was published. I think the title was so controversial, they changed the title or took it off the market. But the title was Saved by Faith and Hospitality. Now we're declared righteous by faith alone in Christ alone to be sure. But the Lord saves you by bringing you into his house. The church is the house of God, the church of the living God. Even Peter says that we are being built up as a spiritual by the Holy Spirit house. And those who follow the great shepherd will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. That's profound, folks. That's why being part of the church, being part of the family is so important. The hospitality of God is shown. He invites you to his table. He tells you of the wonderful fare of the gospel that he puts out before you. There's discipline, there's correction, there's all kinds of provision. And therefore, you and I are to reflect that hospitality. It's interesting, elders in particular are to be hospitable, right? It's part of the world. And what does that mean? Well, it really begins right at the church itself. Food and fellowship. That's one of the reasons why when the pandemic came, your officers, when we were asked not to continue our food and fellowship time, said, no, we will. We're not gonna cultivate the view that people just come to church to hear a sermon for worship. We're not gonna do that. You're showing hospitality to one another and to guests. is an inherent part of church life. It begins there. That's why the work of providing meals for the food and fellowship while it's administered by our administrative assistant, that's part of your ministry of hospitality to other people. And when you give food, as you're going to do today with all that John Vaith and Mary Vaith bought, that's hospitality too. And here's the way it works in church life. Somebody comes and doesn't smell particularly good. Somebody comes and looks somewhat odd. The hair color pink is not the color you regard as normal. And it's difficult to find any bare skin because there's tattoos from the forehead and probably all the way down to the toes. And these are not the kind of people that you're used to being with. Praise the Lord. They come to sit under the ministry of the Word of God. and you show hospitality to them. I'm so thankful you're here. Let me take you down for the food and fellowship, and can we get you something to read about the Christian faith? Be hospitable, and don't talk in the first place to those that you know, that you've gotten to know over the first chapter in Haven Life. There's visitors there, and you're near them, chat with them. Help them understand how you use a bulletin and so forth. Some of them will have never been in church before, but in church life it begins with all of that. And one of the favorite illustrations of this, because Francis Schaeffer was the ministry of my generation, I knew what it was like when adults didn't want to really be with these counterculture kids who were so weird in their ideas and their looks. And we knew that, so we developed our own community. And you don't want that to happen in church life. The great missionary to the hippies and to the counterculture people in the 60s and the 70s, Francis Schaeffer, especially the 60s, was on a plane going back over to Switzerland That's when people actually spoke to one another on the plane. They weren't scared to death to speak to one another for fear they were going to get sick. And there was a person sitting next to Francis Schaeffer who wore knickers and he had a beard and a goatee and so on. And so, you know, he didn't look like your average American either, but he was chatting with this individual who clearly looked very different than other people on the plane. And the evangelist that Francis Schaeffer was, He did everything he could to strike up a conversation with this young man. And the young man finally, being a little bit irked, I guess, said, why are you so interested in me? And Francis Schaeffer said, young man, because you're made in the image of God. And that message needs to be told in our culture big time, big time. You realize you're dealing with people who have no idea why they're even here or what they are as human beings. And just being able to start a conversation with that hearty conviction, I love getting to know you because you're made in God's image. Skin color doesn't make any difference. The way the person looks and smells doesn't make any difference. Gender doesn't make any difference. made in God's image, made in God's image. And even when there's gender dysphoria, as they put it, made in God's image. Okay, so that's what I mean by hospitality and the way it begins in church life, and then in your home. Now, for Long Islanders, just opening up your door to your neighbors can be very, very suspicious. Who are these people at my door? Why are they leaving their door open? Why are they friendly to me? Get over it, folks. You have an open heart toward God who's hospitable? then you'll have an open home toward those who need to see you reflecting the hospitality of God, and that's what it's all about. God invites us to come to him, and you invite people to come to say, let's sit down and have a cup of coffee. For Long Islanders, that may scare them to death. What do they want? What are they trying to sell me? That kind of a thing. But as you get to know people, open up your heart and your home. It doesn't have to be elaborate, folks, but it has to be transparent. So that a pregnant, unwed mother, obviously pregnant, obviously living in the home of her parents, obviously confused, and you got to know her, and say, you know, I noticed you with child, I think that's great. I'd love to chat with you, if you're a mom, you can say I've been through it. Be careful with dealings with the opposite sex, I get that. But folks, God is hospitable. And so should you be, and I be as well. So I look back on my over 40 years of ministry, and God blessed the preaching, I know that. As much, if not more, I think God blessed just opening the home to people and letting them, by God's grace, see something of the grace of God in Christ, okay? So in your own home, people need to experience the hospitality of God. And of course the great story, Rosaria Butterfield who was head of the Women's Studies Department and a practicing lesbian. Rosaria Butterfield up in Syracuse, New York. Boy, she was an ardent foe of the moral majority which some decades ago was the popular Christian movement and promise keeper. She couldn't stand the hypocrisy of these Christians that were that were touting their morality, and she wrote a fierce letter in the newspaper up in Syracuse about how horrible these Christians were that were part of the sexist and homophobic group. And Rosaria then, it wasn't Butterfield, but Rosaria gets a letter from a Reformed Presbyterian minister and Ken Smith, and he said, I read your letter in the newspaper, and he didn't blast her. He said, my wife and I would love to talk with you about this. And it's fascinating how Rosaria speaks about her agony. She didn't know what to do with this letter and an invitation come from it. She had a pickup truck and she drove to the Smiths' house for that meal that evening and didn't know whether she should go in. She goes in and the Smiths didn't even speak with her about church for a few weeks. They spoke with her about her background, her life. I don't think they told her much about themselves. They wanted to know about Rosaria but They had family worship, and Rosaria was struck with the singing of the Psalms, as the Reformed Presbyterians do, and that stuck with her, the singing of these ancient texts with a heart for them. And she came back the next week, and she came back the next week, and the next week. and gradually Ken and Floyd Smith were telling her about Jesus and the Christian faith, and God converted Rosaria, now Butterfield. She married to a minister, and she repented of her lifestyle, and now the alternate lifestyle community can't stand her guts, but she graciously and lovingly tells them about Jesus, even as she was told. Okay, so folks, this is church life, okay? Anyway, so that's hospitality. And I could go on. Her book, incidentally, is The Gospel Comes with a House Key, and God willing, we'll go through that at some point in the adult class. But not just their house, yours. But I'm not used to having, your house. But the house isn't as clean, your house. People don't need your perfect furniture. They need your open heart. And they don't need a fancy meal. They need you to be able to at least offer a cup of coffee. And even if you just take them out, you pay the bill, of course. But show people the hospitality of God. That's gotta be in our bloodstream. Outreach, hospitality. And the last one, I'm just going to, I could go on and on, I don't want to. I cannot overstate this third one. Our bloodstream as the haven must be radically counter-cultural. If you ape your culture and its music and its message and so on, you can get people to come to your church, quote unquote. That's exactly the opposite of what we're to do. In Christ, Jesus said, those who are not for me are against me. And there's an antithesis between light and darkness, death and life. You're always gracious with others. But folks, our bloodstream is counter-cultural. I just wrote down some examples of what I mean. We live in a narcissistic culture. It is completely self-centered. And incidentally, folks, it's not social media. It's anti-social media. because it doesn't foster people being with one another and speaking with one another and entering into the lives of others. It's you show the pictures of yourself. That's narcissism. I know there's a place for the anti-social media. But against narcissism, it's a life of self-denial, giving yourself for the good of others, counter-cultural. Against amusement, Okay, there's a place to get a break for your mind. That's not your whole world, folks. Against amusement, it's being transformed by the renewing of your mind. That text will be in the fellowship hall. How do I think about everything from the perspective of the word of God? Versus surface happiness, true joy. and true peace that you have in the Lord Jesus Christ, that's counterculture. Against angry rebellion, whether it's the right or the left, there's a peaceful trust in God, that's counterculture. Against worry, faith, that's counterculture. Against being rejected. You accept people. It doesn't mean you have to agree with them, but you accept them for what they are and love them. Big one, against error, it's truth. And that, incidentally, will make you very countercultural. Against hate, it's love. Against idols, it's God. And against the tranquilizers that our culture gives to make people feel better. you give them Christ who rescues them. Counter-cultural in that best sense of the word. I'm gonna give you an example. It came out this week. When I began to visit Arthur Tomlinson and Darren, what's your relationship? And I had no idea. how significant what you put down is. And once it's there, it's there, you can't change it. So I put down pastor. And so there's kind of a begrudging acceptance of a pastor. I guess they think that's probably pretty good. If a pastor visits somebody in a correctional facility, it can't hurt. What I found out later is I am severely limited and how I can be with and minister to Darren or Arthur, because I'm not a relative of theirs. I repent. From now on, when I do this in a prison, without any batting an eye, when it's a Christian that I'm dealing with, I'm gonna put down that I am that person's brother, because I am. How? By adoption. God adopted me into the family, and adopted him in the family, and we're brothers. And I'm not gonna back down. But there's an example again of how our secular culture has cramped and crabbed Christians. And we can be reactive in what we say, and that's not right. But brothers and sisters, living out of what the word of God says graciously and lovingly, the haven's going to be countercultural. I could go on and on, but it's late and I won't. I'll just wrap it up this way. Church life in chapter two is going to be really, really exciting. I want to communicate this in a booklet that I'm working on, but I don't know quite how to do it. But church life is the most exciting thing. Remember a few weeks ago when we weren't sure about Sylvia. I didn't know she could have been dead in her apartment. And Jimmy Brewer had gotten no success getting help. And in walks Emily. And in less than five minutes, there's a call and there's help. I said, wow, what is that? That's the Lord working in the midst of his church. And it is the most wonderful, I'll use the word awesome, glorious thing you can ever imagine. And here's how it comes. Whether it's chapter one, chapter two, we talked about the bloodstream, here's the body in which that blood flows. It's called Jesus Christ. You proclaim him, you show him, you live him, you eat and drink him, and you make him known to all those around you. That's what the haven is all about. And then you watch as God smiles on our such sin-modeled efforts. Watch how God smiles and cuts straight paths through crooked sticks. and does it really exactly the way we pray, exceedingly, abundantly beyond anything you could ask or even think. I saw that over 35 years in Franklin Square, New York, and man, I'm looking forward to this chapter at the Haven. Let's pray. Our Lord, your church is such a wonderful thing. We don't make an idol of it because it's the church of the living God, but you're building your church And we are thankful for chapter one. We look forward to chapter two. Make us a people whose life, whose life is outreach to others and who is hospitable to others. And Lord, we don't ever, ever want to be those who are counterculture and hateful or antagonistic to others, but may we graciously and at the same time firmly present to others what it is to be representatives of the way, the truth, and the life in a culture that is lost, in a culture that doesn't know what's right and wrong, and in a culture that in so many ways is dead. God, make us truly counter-cultural because of our radical commitment to Jesus in whom we pray, amen.