Pastor Aaron Cordeiro
August 11, 2019 - W1932

Consider One Another

Our One Anothers 

Pastor Aaron Cordeiro

August 10 & 11, 2019

Aloha, everyone! It's great to be with you at our home church here at New Hope Oahu—where every person has a place to belong!  In this world, it’s easy to believe the lies that say we do not belong; but the truth is that God, our Father, loves us, and as His children, we belong to Him and are connected (belong) to each other! Today, as we continue our series Our One Anothers, we will see the power of relationship with each other, when we Consider One Another.

In Oregon last week, we had twelve or so of our up-and-coming young leaders begin their Master's of Arts and Formational Leadership, a program that my father started. Most of them will be flying out to Japan for the weekend services, and I’ll be joining them Tuesday to set up for youth camp.  God is doing a lot of neat things around the globe, and we are so pleased to be able to join with Him!  It’s all about living God's best.  Did you know that in life, there's not only God's best for you, but also God's second best, third best, fourth best, and so on?  The truth is that we must choose to live God's best, or we’ll settle for much less than what God has for us!   

Hebrews 10:23-25 NIV says: “²³ Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. ²⁴ And let usconsider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, ²⁵ not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”

Consider is a Greek word that means to study one another, to know someone: their personality, what they've been through, and their ups and their downs. If we are able to do that, the Bible says there will be hope because God is always faithful, but we are required to think about one another.  

The early church, at first, was thriving, healthy, loving, serving each other, families were whole, and God was doing great miracles—it was a wonderful time! But, soon, persecution began: stoning, jailing the followers of Jesus, etc. Scripture says that many Christians, instead of calling themselves followers of Jesus, settled for second best and practiced temple ritual sacrifices in rote-traditions because they didn’t want to be persecuted—and many fell away from their faith and lived life’s second best!  

The author of Hebrews says that God's way is so much superior to ours; but when our focus is off God and one another, it’s easy to turn inward and become selfish so that when things get tough, we runaway! In other words, we’re saying, “God, I want to follow you in my marriage and raise God-fearing children—as long as things go smoothly, according to my desires.” 

"Don’t be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand.” Philippians 2:4 MSG

The big idea would be: Life's toughest circumstances will always be hopeful because God is faithful when we learn to consider one another.

Lately, my wife and I have been reflecting a lot about the culture of our home; and here are some of the things that we've put together: “Clean as you go,” “No yelling in the house,” and, “At the end of the day, put it away!”  

Some time ago at a riverside, I was having fun spending quality time with my children, but as I was enjoying the moment, Elise, my middle daughter, points down to the river and says, "Daddy, a snake."  I hate snakes. I fear snakes. I didn't even look.  I was out of there and left those kids!  Isn’t it funny, in life we can have the best intentions of considering one another, doing life together, but then in the middle of our good intentions, we come across a snake—a fear so terrible it makes us runaway! 

What is the snake in your life that keeps you at a place of absentee faith—inconsiderate when faced with a problem or too much pressure? It may be a temptation of busyness—we want to be loving, kind, and generous, but are, sometimes, too busy at work and never around to consider our family; or when things get out of control, we feel a need to be in control and squeeze the life out of Our One Anothers; or maybe it's a fear of failing as a parent, husband, or wife that makes us tell a lie and we allow fear to control us; or maybe a relationship is going great, but for some reason we get offended and we want to end it all—throwaway the relationship!  It doesn't take much to leave friends, spouse, or children to fend for themselves—but Philippians 2:4b says, “Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand.”

The problem is that the devil has been trying to steal, kill, and destroy us from the beginning of time.  He does this by getting us to consider ourselves more than others—this reminds me of my own unintentional error:

My wife was preparing to drive me to the airport when my mom approached and said, "Aaron, come.” She gave me a big hug and said, "Let me pray for you.”   It was a special moment and my heart was just overwhelmed with love.  I sat back in my own little world and thought, “Oh, that's just what I needed,” and without thinking about my mom and wife who were having a nice conversation, I grabbed the car door and slammed it right on my mom's face! 

We can be so well?intentioned, but life is often about me, myself.  The Bible says that hope, faithful love, and good deeds are right there—but it requires us to consider one another!

How do we consider one another?  How do we become considerate people who invite God's faithfulness and hope into our circumstances that will always produce love and good deeds, instead of shutting the door on God's best in our lives?  

1. Plant Your Life In The Soil Of Godly Culture  

Good soil will produce good fruit, just as good culture will produce good people! So when we understand that the culture of our life is something powerful that means a lot to God, we start to plant our life in the soil of godly culture. 

Love and good deeds don't do well in bad culture. But when you plant your life in godly culture, the fruit of that will always be hope and God's faithfulness. Bad culture will produce bad fruit. There are three powerful, but very simple ingredients that make for a rich godly culture, producing highly considerate people (all Gs for godly culture):  

1A. Gratitude

“Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”      1 Thessalonians 5:18 ESV

When we become a grateful people and develop a culture of gratitude and giving thanks to God, it opens the door to God’s will and His best in our lives.  Gratitude is very powerful, but when we complain and focus on ourselves, we shut ourselves off to God—and the devil sits back and laughs at us!  

"For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self?control."  2 Timothy 1:7 ESV

God has given us a spirit of sound mind and self?control—not fear!  If we allow fear to run our life, we go from being grateful to fearful people.  When we're afraid, it's easy to swerve out of God's best in our life.

1B.  Generosity/A Giving Heart

“In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'" Acts 20:35 ESV

Jesus says there's much power in giving.  For example, “For God so loved the world He gave.” Faith is love and risk put together. When you love a lot, you're willing to take risks for one another—that's called faith!

Consider Jesus: He was willing to risk coming from heaven to earth to be with us because He loved you and me so much!  That's a lot of faith giving. The Bible says there's a blessing when we develop a culture of giving; so if you want to be a little more blessed by God, develop a giving heart—God says, “There's a blessing!”  

1C. Greater Together  

There is something very special about doing life together (we weren’t designed to be alone so God created a companion for Adam—Eve). God designed families and friends to do life together and when we separate from one another and break that design, it's very difficult to love and do good deeds because we're greater together!

"Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.  And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching." Hebrews 10:23-25 NIV   

It's so easy to do our own thing, saying, “I just need my peace and quiet;” but if we’re not careful, we will isolate rather than have solitude with God! The more we do that, the lonelier and unhappier we get—as the joy of the Lord just seeps right out of us!

Here are scientifically proven benefits of living an unselfish life:  Live longer, happier, reduces chronic pain, lowers blood pressure, promotes better behavior in teenagers as they get better grades, better self image, a sense of purpose and satisfaction, and it’s contagious!

2. Remember Life Is Short 

The writer of Hebrews is saying, “Life is short! Make it count!”  It’s true that time goes by so quickly—so make every minute of your life count!  In this context, the author of Hebrews is saying, “Don't give up.  Don't settle for second best!”  Throughout the book of Hebrews, you find these words, “Christ’s ways are superior,” “God’s best,” so choose God’s best—nothing less!

"Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom." Psalm 90:12 NIV

As we get to the end of our life, we realize that people are the most important to us, Our One Anothers!  Wise living comes from considering the value of time. God is faithful. Don't ever settle for second best because His best is far superior to anything we can ever settle into! 

QUESTIONS TO PONDER:

1.     What are the snakes in your life? And how did you identify them?

2.     How do you deal with each obstacle in your life?

3.     Which scriptures can you quote that will help you stand fast without fear as you face your snakes and rid yourself of them?

4.     In what capacity can you serve Your One Anothers?   At home? At church?