Church of God, Awake! Arise! - Donald Brechbill | KFW 2020

Gracious God Heavenly Father, in the name of Jesus I pray that you would abundantly bless Brother Donald this evening as he exercises a prophet's voice and declares unto us your truth, as he challenges us. Oh Heavenly Father, would you calm any anxieties that may be in his breast? Would you strengthen him? Would you bless him? Would you take a coal from off the altar and place it upon his tongue and equip him, enable him to be a vessel for your glory tonight? Bless every heart that's worshiping, that we truly might worship you in spirit and in truth. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

And welcome to all. It is wonderful to be able to address so many people on a platform like this. And I consider it a great joy, a great pleasure to represent the Kingdom of God on earth and speak to those who represent the Kingdom of God on earth. It is a great work that God is doing. And you know, we're living in a day when there is so much bad press out there. And I'm glad this evening that I can bring some good news to the world, and that is that the Kingdom of God on earth is flourishing and doing well. It is growing. It is prospering. God's people are alive and well, and God's Kingdom is advancing.

The topic this evening is, "Church of God, Awake, Arise." And I guess if you take that very literally, we could assume that the Church of God is asleep and sitting down. I don't think that was the intention of the planning committee, but rather to buy us or to encourage us as a Church of God to rise up and take our place in the world, in society about us, and to become the Kingdom on earth, Kingdom of God on earth that He has called us to be.

I appreciated some of the scriptures that have already been read to us about the Kingdom of God. We have some wonderful promises about the Kingdom of God, that it is a Kingdom that is going to grow and going to advance. I believe that Brother Curt read this promise to us on Friday evening. This is the account of Nebuchadnezzar's image and the little stone that was youing out of the mountain without hands. And it said that this stone smoked the image in its feet, and this little stone grew and grew and grew until it became a huge mountain and filled the entire earth. And that's one promise that we have, that the Kingdom of God is going to supersede the kingdoms of this world, and the Kingdom of God is going to continue to grow and prosper and is going to continue to be a force for good in this world.

Another verse that I love is the promise of Jesus' birth in Isaiah chapter 9, where we read that unto us a child is born, and then we read that of the increase of His government and peace, there shall be no end, upon the throne of David and upon His kingdom, to order it, to establish it with judgment and with justice.

The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this. That's a promise that we have, that the Kingdom of God is going to continue to grow and continue to increase. And while we may not know exactly how that's all going to take place, we can rejoice tonight to be a part of a kingdom that will not be destroyed and a kingdom that will last forever.

The words of Jesus to Simon Peter in Matthew chapter 16, in this setting, Jesus was asking His disciples, "Who do men say that I am?" And Peter, impulsive Peter, quickly answered, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God." And Jesus said to Peter, "Simon, Barjona, flesh and blood hath not revealed this unto you, but my Father, which is in heaven." And then Jesus said both these words to Peter. He said, "Thou art Peter.

You're just Peter, but I am going to build my church. Upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." And what I take out of that verse is that Jesus is saying, "I will build my church." It's God's work. He is the one who does the work. He is the one who makes it grow and prosper. Yes, He uses people in the building up of His kingdom, but all of our efforts would be vain if Jesus Christ was not the head of the church, the Lord of the church, and building the church.

If you have the worksheet or the handout there in front of you, you'll notice that we want to begin this evening by talking about our identity because I believe that identity is an important factor in our effectiveness in the world. If we don't know who we are and we are moving into society, we are giving an uncertain sound, and we're not going to be very effective in moving society toward Christ.

So we need to know who we are. I have enjoyed doing a word study on the little phrase "in Christ" or "in Him." If you do a word study of that, you'll find that it is a very it's found over 140 times in the New Testament. It's a very prominent thought, being in Christ or in Him. We need to know who we are in Christ. And if we know who we are in Christ, then we place ourselves in a position where we can lead others to Christ, where we can represent Christ to a lost world. Several verses about being in Christ, therefore being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.

That verse tells us that our redemption is in Christ Jesus. Romans 8:1, "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus." That's talking about our position. If we are in Christ Jesus, then we are free from condemnation, and we need not walk after the flesh, but we can walk after the Spirit. Another favorite verse of mine about being in Christ is Colossians 2:10, where it says, "You are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power." That means that in Jesus Christ, we have all of the resources, everything at our disposal to accomplish the work that God has called us to do. So we need to know who we are in Christ if we want to be effective in communicating the gospel to the world.

In Matthew 28, we have what we typically know as the Great Commission. And there Jesus said to His disciples, this was just shortly before He was taken up to glory, He said that, "All power is given to Me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you, and Lord, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world." I love that promise. Jesus said, "I have all power.

I have overcome the world. I have overcome death, hell, and the grave. All power is given unto Me in heaven and on earth. Therefore, you go, teach, preach, and make disciples of all nations." It's like He's saying, "Here's my debit card. There's endless resources at your disposal. Go, preach, teach, and make disciples of all nations." That's the commission that's been given to the church, and we have no excuse for not doing it because He has promised us all power in the fulfilling of that Great Commission.

If we want to be effective in sharing Christ with the world, we not only need to know who we are in Christ, we need to know who we are in the body of Christ. And I believe this has been stated every evening this weekend, that the Kingdom of God is made up of real people who meet together and worship together in real church fellowships. It's not some theoretical idea that, you know, we're a part of this universal church that is somehow—no, it's made up of real people. And if we want to be effective in communicating the gospel, then we need to be connected to the body of Christ in real, tangible ways. And that means that we're going to be relating to others who are in Christ, and we're going to be worshiping together.

And the Bible makes this connection very, very, very, very keen. In John, we read, "If any man say, 'I love God,' and hate his brother, he's a liar. If you don't love your brother, whom you have seen, how can you love God, whom you have not seen?" So we're called to be representing Christ's body on earth, and that's a real, tangible body made up of real people who learn to live together, learn to forgive, learn to love one another, learn to accept one another, and learn to worship God together.

Now, we have a phrase that we sometimes quote, and I wasn't sure whether or not to drop it this evening or not, but I think I will simply because, if nothing else, it will generate some discussion afterwards. And it goes something like this: "You will not ever truly know us until you have lived among us and have been hurt by us and have found healing for that hurt."

Now, that might sound not very encouraging. However, I think if we're honest, we will have to admit that that's true in human relationships, that offenses do happen. Jesus said, "Don't be surprised if offenses happen. It can't help but be that offenses will come to pass." But you know, there's something about being in a relationship with someone where you have experienced this, where you have experienced offense and reconciliation and redemption, that that relationship is now strong enough and secure enough that you don't need to worry or you don't need to fear that this relationship is going to fall apart. Okay, we've already been through the hard things in this relationship, and we have discovered that we can forgive and we can be reconciled and we can move forward.

And this is the life that happens in the body of Christ. This is what redemption is all about. If you stop and think about it, that's actually why we can be so secure in our relationship with God through Christ because we have offended the holiness of God. We have been redeemed. We have been forgiven. We have been reconciled to God. Now we can rest in that relationship knowing that, as Paul said, nothing, nothing can separate us from the love of God. There is nothing that can come between us. And in the body of Christ, within the body of Christ, we can have those same kinds of relationships, relationships that are enduring, relationships that are going to go the distance.

You need to know who you are in relationship in relation to the world about you.

By this, we're talking about—we could call this your worldview. How do you look at yourself in relation to the world about you? In Luke chapter 10, Jesus told the story of the Good Samaritan. He was traveling between Jerusalem and Jericho, and he came upon this man who had been beaten, robbed, and left by the wayside, bleeding, left to die. And we read that as he came upon this man, it says that he had compassion on him. "And he went to him and bound his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast and brought him to an inn and took care of him." Now, when you were talking about our worldview, we noticed that this man had compassion on the man who he found lying by the roadside.

And that simply means that he was able to empathize with him. He was able to feel for him. He felt the pain that that man was experiencing lying there by the roadside. He felt the pain of his wounds. He felt it very, very keenly. And I believe that one of the reasons that this man, who was a Samaritan—and last night we heard about racism and cross-cultural relationships—here we have a case of cross-cultural relationships where we have a man who was a Samaritan, and he comes upon this Jew lying by the roadside. And he could have just chosen to pass by, but it says he had compassion on him, and that's because he felt everything that that man by the roadside was experiencing.

He felt that very keenly. And I believe there's a reason for that. He was a Samaritan. He understood the pain of rejection. He maybe had never been beaten with clubs, but he certainly was beaten with words, and he experienced the insult. He knew the pain of the insult of being rejected. He knew the pain of being ostracized. He was a Samaritan, and so he was able to relate to the man who was lying in the ditch by the wayside. He was moved with compassion. And what I would like to draw from this is that as we interact with the world about us, may we never become so far removed from what we have been redeemed from, from the sin that we've been redeemed from, that we cannot have compassion on those who are bound in sin or those who are struggling against sin.

May we always be the kind of people who are compassionate people and are able to connect with and relate to, "Oh yes, I see you struggling in that area of your life. I understand because I've struggled against sin, and I know how powerful it can be, but I also know that there is redemption for it. And let me tell you how I found freedom in that area of my life." The church's most powerful weapon is love.

Jesus said, "By this shall all men know that you are My disciples if ye have loved one for another." The world will say to us, "We don't care how much you know until we know how much you care." Love is a universal language. It transcends language. It transcends cultural barriers. People cannot resist love. Everyone wants it. Everyone yearns for it. And as children of God, as children of the Prince of Peace, we should be the most loving, caring, compassionate people on the face of the earth. And this evening, I want to encourage us to exercise that when we have opportunity to be loving people. Paul wrote, "Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal.

And though I have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing." So we can do all kinds of good deeds and service, but if it's not motivated by a genuine concern and care for people, then it is, in Paul's words, nothing.

This evening, I would like to talk about the church and our interaction with society. I would like to think of us—talk about the church in three different ways. First of all, I would like to talk about the church as a presence in society. And then I would like to speak of the church as a voice in society. And then I would like to speak of the church as a person or a body in society. First of all, the church as a presence. And this is something that we as Anabaptist people do well in that we are not afraid of being in the world but not of the world. That is very much a part of our theology and of our history.

We are used to being different from the world and being viewed as someone different from the world. But, you know, we're living any day, and I would like to talk about that in a good sense, first of all, in that I believe that the church's presence in the world is very, very powerful. I believe that the body of Christ in society today has a subtle, silent effect, not counting our message, just simply our presence in the world. And we want to talk about that.

We are living in a day when there is a huge thrust towards secularization, and the church is being marginalized and set aside. And if we would allow ourselves to be driven and governed by fear, we could feel like that the church is no longer an effective presence in society because we have the secular media who is really a minority, and yet they have the mics and the cameras, and they are presenting themselves as representing society as a whole. And I believe that's a big deception because I believe that the church is still healthy and well in our society today, and the church is, in fact, making a difference in the world.

The fact that academia rages against the truth in the name of tolerance and relativism is proof positive that the influence of the church is yet alive and well. If the church is the archaic and obsolete religion that they make her out to be, all they would need to do is ignore her, and she would lie down in the dustbin of history. But the fact is that the church is a relevant force in our society today. The church is making a difference, and we would like to talk a little bit about that. But first of all, talking about our Anabaptist heritage and how we have come to be the quiet in the land and perhaps too content with being the quiet in the land.

If you take a look at our history, the Anabaptist movement was a very evangelistic movement in the early days of Anabaptism in Europe. It really swept across Europe like wildfire, and many, many people embraced Anabaptism. However, later, 150 years after the beginnings of the Radical Reformation, things began to change.

The persecution of Anabaptists in Europe was not as intense, and there was also the situation of the Thirty-Year War in Europe, which devastated much of Europe and left many valleys and farms and villages pretty much depopulated. And the situation that we have in the late 1600s and early 1700s is that there was still a lot of our Anabaptist people living in Switzerland, but Switzerland wanted to extradite all of the Anabaptists. They wanted them just to get out of here. This is a Protestant land. We don't want Anabaptists here. And so they began expelling them from Switzerland. And as they traveled down the Rhine with no home, no place to go, Germany was open to them coming and dwelling and occupying these empty villages and farms.

And so the Anabaptist people, what were they to do? They had no place to go. They had no home. And so they moved into the Platinate of Germany and began to settle on these farms and villages in Germany that had been decimated by the Thirty-Years War. However, the rulers of Germany told them, "You can live here and you can farm here," which they were very excited about, "but you may not proselytize. This is Lutheran Germany. You may not proselytize." And so our people, unfortunately, more or less for lack of a choice, settled down to the quiet lifestyle of farming. And eventually, they immigrated to America and again settled down to the quiet lifestyle of farming and became the quiet in the land.

And that is our heritage, and that's why we, as Anabaptist people, tend to be most comfortable just being the witness, being the silent witness, and being the quiet in the land. And that has been a strength, but I believe that we need to also be motivated to be more proactive in society. Jesus made these observations in Matthew chapter 5. He said, "You are the salt of the earth, and you are the light of the world." He didn't say, "Go out and be the salt of the earth." He didn't say, "Go out and be the light of the world." He said, "You are. Your presence in society salts the earth, salts the world, and you are the light of the world."

Your presence there has that impact that you do make a difference in society just by living the Christ life and being there. A silent witness is a witness. Light dispels darkness. You cannot dispel light with darkness, but you can dispel darkness with light. Light is more powerful than darkness. When light enters a room, the darkness must flee. And so it is in society today.

Light dispels darkness, and the presence of the kingdom of God on earth dispels the darkness about us, the subtle influence of the church. The church has many subtle influences, and one of them is prayer. And we cannot underestimate the value and the power of the church as a prayer force in society. And today, as we listen to the news and we face another election, I want to call us as God's children to be fervent in prayer because prayer does change things, and you can change the world through prayer. It will, it does, prayer does make a difference, and we're exhorted to pray. Paul said, "I exhort therefore, first of all, that prayers, supplications, intercessions, giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and for all other in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty."

So we're exhorted, and we're commanded to pray, and I believe that we need to be a praying people. The church provides moral integrity for society. As the world tries to get rid of the Ten Commandments and get rid of any kind of moral absolutes, the church still exists, and the church maybe is the only moral anchor for our society today. And as a church, we provide a moral anchor for society, and we have that influence on society. The earth also provides a tremendous stability in society. We've heard a lot about the shaking. Paul talked about, or the Hebrew writer talked about, "Whose voice then shook the earth? But now he has a promise saying, 'Yet once more, I shake not the earth only but also heaven.'" This word, "yet once more," signifies the removing of those things that are shaken as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.

And those things that cannot be shaken is that which the church has to offer to the world, security in the midst of an insecure world. And, you know, we're moving into a day when there are many, many people who are looking for something secure to build their life around. And I want to encourage us as a church to be proactive and to be reaching out to others and giving them something solid in the midst of a world that is being rocked with all kinds of insecurity.

I'd like to move on talking about the church as a voice. We talked about the church as a presence. I would like to talk to us about the church as a voice. You remember when the apostle or John the Baptist came preaching, he was referred to, he was introducing the kingdom of God, and he came as the Bible says, "The voice of one crying in the wilderness." He was a voice, and the church is a voice, must be a voice, has a voice, and we need to use our voice.

The church has a message. We have a message for the world, and the message that we have for the world is a message of hope. And it's a message that the world is yearning to hear, a message of hope as opposed to a message of condemnation.

Even in the set of Jesus, "For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved." And as a church, we have a message of hope to give to a world that is sinking in despair, and we need to be sharing that message wherever we go, that Jesus Christ has come into the world to save sinners and that he can redeem your situation, however lost it may appear to be.

The word preached. I believe that we do a good job of sharing the word in our churches on Sunday mornings. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. Faith is born by hearing the word of God preached or shared.

And we need to be sharing the word of God wherever we go. The word of God builds faith in the hearts of men and women who have no faith. If they hear the word of God, that plants a seed in their heart that can grow and develop into a living faith.

I appreciated Brother Melvin's comments on Friday evening about revival and how revival is sustained. And he commented that revival cannot be sustained merely by periodic revivals. And so that raises the question then, how is revival sustained, and is it possible to sustain revival? I believe that it is possible to sustain revival. I believe that revival is sustained by faithful, consistent preaching of the word. The word is living. It is quick and powerful. It is living, and it has the ability to impart life to others. And I believe that a faithful, consistent preaching of the word is the secret to sustained revival. I believe that revival is also sustained by the word of their testimony. Your testimony is very, very powerful.

And, you know, your testimony is something that people cannot rebut. I mean, if you say, "This is what God did for me. I was bound in sin. I was carrying a load of guilt and condemnation. The Lord Jesus delivered me from that. He forgave my sins, gave me peace, gave me freedom. His Holy Spirit dwells within me." As you share that testimony, people cannot refute that because that's your experience, and that's a very, very powerful thing. And I believe that revival can be sustained by sharing our testimony. I believe that as young people in our churches hear the older people talking about what God has done and is doing in your life today, it brings life and encouragement to them.

And I believe that revival can be sustained across generations.

Well, I want to talk a little bit about we're talking about the church as a voice. I want to talk a little bit about mass evangelism, something that we as Anabaptist people, we're not all that big on, at least we don't do, at least until this weekend, radio broadcast or television broadcast.

We're not really we don't have a history of doing that kind of thing in a broad way to the masses. However, I am encouraged by what I see with CAM's billboard evangelism. I believe that is probably the most public voice of the Anabaptist people in America today.

A couple of weeks ago, we traveled from Blue Mountain to Philadelphia on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, and I think we passed at least eight CAM billboards on the 120-mile stretch of highway. And I was just so blessed. I mean, it's almost like traveling on the Highway of Holiness. All of these billboards, all these Christian billboards out there are actually the most prominent billboard on the highway. And I just want to bless all of you who are involved in that ministry. It is a great ministry, and I believe it is the most public voice of the Anabaptist people in America today. And I want to say it is making a difference. It is making a difference. People do not ignore those billboards.

They might get angry. They might try to ignore them, but they don't ignore them. They cannot ignore them. And we have the promise as social my word be that goes forth out of my mouth, it will not return void. It will accomplish that whereto it is sent. So I want to bless all those who are involved in that ministry, from mass evangelism to personal discipleship. I want to talk a little bit about compassionate pastoral counseling. And I was I thought about this last evening as we were listening to Brother Finney talk about racism and the various perspectives on racism. And that was very interesting because I know which perspective I have. I mean, when I see people running down the street stealing from a store, I immediately say, "They have a problem.

They are the problem. This is an individual problem. They need to change their ways." So I immediately identified my way of perspective there. But carrying this over into pastoral counseling, I realized that we have the same two perspectives in the area of pastoral counseling. Whether you're a pastoral lay counselor or whatever, or just simply a brother trying to help another brother, there are these same two perspectives. The one perspective is, "Oh, it's an individual choice. Every person is responsible for their actions. If you're struggling against sin, you just simply need to repent of your sin and change your way of living, and that will solve the problem." And then there's this other way of looking at it that maybe there are deeper issues at work in your life.

Maybe there are things in your life that I do not fully understand, that this is such a huge struggle for you, that you're not overcoming as you would like to. Maybe there's something from your past that is influencing you today. And so we take the broader perspective in the area of pastoral counseling. And I believe that as a church, we are called to do this. And I thank you, Brother Finney, for giving us that perspective because I believe that that also comes into play in doing pastoral counseling.

I would like to share a few comments about crossing cultural barriers. In John chapter 4, we have the story of Jesus and the woman at the well. She was a Samaritan woman, and Jesus went up to her and he said four words. He said, "May I have a drink or give me to drink?" And this woman was aghast that he would ask drink of her. And in doing that, Jesus crossed several cultural barriers. He crossed a political barrier. He was a Jew. She was a Samaritan. He crossed a gender barrier. He was a man. She was a woman. He crossed a religious barrier. Again, he was a Jew and she was a Samaritan, and they had two different religions.

But notice the ease with which Jesus did that. It wasn't as though, you know, he had to prepare some huge defense in doing what he did. He just simply said, "May I have a drink of water?" I guess the point that I would like to draw from this is that what we call cultural barriers, I wonder if cultural barriers aren't as much a creation of our own as a reality.

Really, the needs of humanity are pretty much universally the same. Brother Finney talked about the racial differences are 0.1%. So that means that we are 98.99% alike. That's really not very much difference. And I think culturally, it's very, very much the same way.

Last year, our daughter had the privilege of visiting a Muslim mosque with a group of her friends. And when they were there, they met with a group of Muslim girls, and they spent a couple of hours together with them visiting with a group of Muslim girls. And it was very interesting what these Muslim girls said to them. They said, "Thank you so much for coming." They said, "We see you on the streets in town." And they said, "We really wanted to come up and talk to you," but they said, "We weren't sure if that would be acceptable in your culture." Now, who has the cultural barrier here? Who is creating the cultural barrier? You realize there really was no barrier between these girls.

They had several hours of wonderful fellowship just visiting together and exchanging views and talking about the various religions to each other. And so this, what we call cultural barriers, was actually just a figment of the imagination. It really wasn't a barrier at all. Now, I believe, I do admit that when we're going into other countries, there are things that we need to be aware of because we don't want to be we don't want to be foolish and offend people unnecessarily. However, I don't believe that it is nearly as large of a concern as what we may think it is. As a matter of fact, we have a family that came among us, and they were not from an Anabaptist background.

And their testimony was this. They said that, "We wanted so much to connect with you people." They said, "We would see you in town." As a matter of fact, they said, "We would get right behind you in the checkout line hoping that you would talk to us." But he said, "You always ignored us. You never reached out to us and talked to us." They said, "We wanted so bad to talk with you." They finally broke through the cultural barrier that we Anabaptist people had created and connected with us and became a part of us. But this thing of cultural barriers, I believe, is something that maybe we North American Anabaptist people are the ones who are creating the cultural barrier as much as anyone.

And I just want to wanting to encourage us. The church has a voice. The world is looking for answers. You have a message to share. You have something to share with the world. And I want to encourage you to open your mouth and to share with others the message that you have to share with others, the hope that we have in Christ. Lastly, I want to talk about the church as a person. There was once a little girl who was lying in bed trying to be very, very brave in the midst of a thunderstorm. The lightning was flashing and the thunder was cracking, and she was trying to be very, very brave. But when suddenly a very close blast of thunder brought her out of bed, and she raced over to her parents' bedroom, leaped into their bed, and crawled down under the covers between mom and dad.

And dad reached out to her and tried to comfort her. And she said, "Sweetie, you don't have to be afraid. God is taking care of us." And she said to him, she said, "I know, Dad, but I need somebody with skin on." And, you know, we live in a world full of people, and we can offer the gospel to them, and we can say, you know, "Come to Jesus, and all your needs will be supplied. Jesus is the answer. Christ is the answer." But we live in a world full of people who are looking for who need someone with skin on, someone with flesh and blood, who is able to identify with us in flesh and blood, someone who is able to relate to me where I am and connect with me where I am.

We want to talk next about becoming the hands and feet of Christ. The Apostle Paul said in First Corinthians chapter 12, "Now you are the body of Christ and members in particular. You, the church on earth today, are the body of Christ. You represent Jesus Christ in this world, and you may be the only gospel that many people will ever read." I would like to talk to us about alleviating the suffering that comes from sin.

I believe that one of the callings of the church, yes, is to share the gospel and help people to find the freedom from sin that is available in Christ Jesus. But I believe that there is another calling that the church has, one that I believe that we can do more to fulfill, and that is alleviating the suffering that comes from sin. When Jesus sent out his disciples, he said to them, "As you go, preach, share the gospel, preach that the kingdom of heaven is at hand, preach saying that the kingdom of heaven is at hand." And then right on top of that, he said, "Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils.

Freely you have received. Freely give." And I believe that continues to be God's call to the church today to alleviate the suffering that sin has brought into the world. And when you think about the suffering that sin has brought into the world, actually, it would be it would be it would be all of the suffering that is in the world today is a byproduct of sin. And I believe the church has a responsibility, a call to alleviate the suffering, to be proactive in alleviating the suffering that sin has brought into the world.

Jesus said in Matthew chapter 25, "When the Son of Man shall come in his glory and all the holy angels with him, there shall he sit upon the throne of his glory. And before him shall be gathered all nations, and he shall separate them one from another, as his shepherd divided his sheep from the goats. And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. And the king shall say to them on his right hand, 'Come, ye blessed of my Father, and heareth the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave me meat. I was thirsty, and you gave me drink.

I was a stranger, and you took me in. Naked, and you clothed me. I was sick, and you visited me. I was imprisoned, and you came unto me.' Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, 'Lord, when saw we thee hungry and fed thee or thirsty and gave thee a drink? When saw we thee a stranger and took thee in or naked and clothed thee? Or when saw we sick or imprisoned and came unto thee?' And the king shall answer and say unto them, 'Verily I say unto you, inasmuch as much as ye have done it unto one of the least of these, my brethren, ye have done it unto me.'" I would like for us, and I want to encourage you in your small group discussion afterwards, I would like to encourage us to consider how can we as a church be more proactive in alleviating the misery that sin has brought into the world?

How can we be ministering to the needs of society about us? Sometimes we get this impression that as a church, we're called to do spiritual work. That's our job. We're called to minister to the spiritual needs of people. And it's just not real spiritual to serve in a soup kitchen or to do these other menial sorts of tasks. But I want to be I want to encourage us that there are huge needs out there. As a matter of fact, we're living in a day of opportunity where the church is going to have many, many opportunities to be meeting real needs. And if we are too spiritual to meet the real needs of society about us, then I fear that we're not going to be very successful in communicating the gospel to them and leading them to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Because after all, love should be our the trademark of the Christian. "By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if ye have loved one for another." We need to be providing care for the elderly. We need to be establishing homes for abused girls. We need to be supporting and maybe creating medical clinics that provide compassionate care. I spent a lot of time in the hospital this summer, and that's a place where you will find people who are looking for answers and open to the gospel because they have real needs. We need to be providing hospice centers that can provide adjuvant care for people, homeless shelters, retreats for battered wives, care for the vulnerable among us, the children among us, care for the physically handicapped, care for the blind, ministry for those with addictions.

Brother Melvin shared on Wednesday night that there was a day when the church provided these kinds of services for the people. The only place to get this kind of care was monasteries and convents. And you could go there, and you could know that you would be taken care of if you had needs like these that needed to be cared for. And the church provided these kinds of things. As he shared, the government took over these responsibilities. And unfortunately, we are far too comfortable with the government doing these kinds of things.

We pay our taxes, and we say, "Well, that's the government's job. That's their job. They do they take care of the social needs of society. That's their job." But I believe I want to challenge us that as a church, I believe that we are neglecting our calling if we are not engaging in meeting these kinds of needs in our society. And I believe that as we do this, many, many doors are open to share the gospel, and many, many souls will be saved as a result of the loving care that they receive from us.

So I believe the title, the message this evening was, "Church of God, Awake, Arise." And I trust this evening that I have given you some motivation to do that. As I already said, I believe that the church is a very vital force in our society. But I also believe that there are many things that we could be doing, should be doing, must be doing to influence and to impact our society. And I want to encourage us to rise up. Don't be ashamed of who you are. Don't be ashamed to be different. Don't be ashamed of the message that you have to share. Be bold.

In the book of Daniel, we read that those who know their God shall do exploits. They shall be strong, and they shall do exploits. That means that they are going to be involved in society. It means that they are going to be actively engaged in meeting the needs of society. And I want to encourage you to do that. God bless you. Thank you for tuning in this evening. And God bless you for being a part of this with us.

Thank you, Brother Donald. That was very inspiring. You were very much engaged in better equipping the saints of God to be what God wants us to be in the kingdom of heaven. I was thinking as you were concluding your comments about a scripture, I believe, by the Apostle Paul, perhaps in the book of First Corinthians, when he says, "The love of Christ constrainteth us."

The love of Christ constrainteth us. I have looked at that many different times, and I know the word "constrain" as it's used there in the authorized version. The word "constrain" can mean a couple of different things. It can mean it holds us back. But the word "constrain" also means it propels us forward. And that's the meaning that I like as I think about that passage, "The love of Christ constrainteth us." And I think you've given us a constraining message. You've propelled us tonight as we consider the truths that you've given to us, the church as a presence, the church as a voice, and the church as a person. Again, thank you so very much for that.

We have a few questions that have been submitted, and I'm going to invite Brother Philip Hess to come forward now. And we'll anticipate some of those questions being addressed to you, and you can answer them. We'll have about 15 to 20 minutes, perhaps, of Q&A time here.

Brother Philip. Well, Brother Donald, thank you very much. I enjoyed and appreciated that message. Brother Kurt started us out by telling us about Daniel 7, where it says that the Ancient of Days came and the saints possessed the kingdom. And I believe that you gave us some practical discussion tonight about how we can go ahead and build that kingdom right now and use the opportunities we have. So thank you for that.

One thing that stuck out to me was early in your message, you said that the title, "Church of God, Awake, Arise," might sound as if we are asleep and sitting down, and you didn't think that was the case.

But maybe that is the case for some of us. Maybe some of us are in a comfortable position somewhere, and maybe our eyes are nodding off a bit. So thank you for the challenge that we rise up and be alert.

So we do have some questions here. Some of them came earlier in the message, and you may have answered them to some extent, but I'll go ahead and ask them as they came in, and we can learn something.

So the first question is, "Can you give us, Anabaptist groups, some practical ways to reclaim our biblical identity instead of just becoming another American fixture and feeling comfortable by adapting to our present culture? People in other countries are wondering why we, as Anabaptists, want to pursue some of the same pursuits as the average American, such as generating great amounts of wealth all the way from the shores of Delaware to the coast of Oregon."