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Fruit | Part 2 | Love

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Fruit of the Spirit | Part 2 | The Fruit of Love

Can love really transform a community and change lives? Tune in to this deeply insightful episode with Pastor Chris May of Real Life Community Church, as he dissects the true essence of Christian love and its critical importance in our faith. Drawing from the often-misunderstood 1 Corinthians 13, Pastor Chris reveals how Paul's stern message to the Corinthians serves as a wake-up call for us all—without genuine love, our spiritual gifts and charitable acts hold no real value.

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Speaker 1:

The following resource is brought to you by Real Life Community Church in Richmond, Kentucky. We hope you're both challenged and encouraged by this message from Pastor Chris May.

Speaker 2:

First Corinthians, chapter 13. Paul writes if I speak in the tongues of men and angels but have not love, I'm a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have and if I deliver up my body to be burned but I have not love, I gain nothing. Love is patient and kind. Love does not envy or boast. It is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way. It is not irritable or resentful. It does not rejoice at wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, hopes all things, believes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away. As for tongues, they will cease. As for knowledge, it will pass away, for we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways, for now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. So now, faith, hope and love. Abide these three, but the greatest of these is love. You may be seated. How many of you expect there to be a wedding right now? How many have ever heard this passage read at a wedding?

Speaker 2:

Christianity, void of love is not Christianity at all. Christianity void of love is not Christianity at all. We are in a series. We're looking at the fruit of the Spirit found in Galatians, chapter 5. Each week we are going to look at one of the fruit of the Spirit and kind of dive deep into each one. So here they are, the nine fruit love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. So what are the fruit of the Spirit? These are internal changes that overflow into external works. So the fruit of the Spirit is first and foremost. I want you to understand. It's something that happens within the heart. Whose fruit is it? Yes, it's the fruit of the Spirit. This is not your fruit. It belongs to the Spirit, and here's why that's important. We are supposed to walk in the fruit of the Spirit, but the good news is is you're not trying to pull in some foreign object from the outside, trying to acquire something yourself. If you are a Christian, you are indwelt by the Spirit of God. Thus you have the fullness of the fruit of the Spirit living within you. Now let me phrase it one other way. I'm going to get a little bit theological here. It's good for you.

Speaker 2:

The fruit of the Spirit are what we call the communicable attributes of God. How many have heard of that? The communicable attributes of God, as opposed to the incommunicable attributes of God which are, you know, omniscience, omnipresence, omnipotent. Like when we become a Christian, we don't become all powerful or all knowing. I mean, some of us think we are, but that's not the case.

Speaker 2:

But when you look at the fruit of the Spirit, the fruit of the Spirit is the fruit of Christ. It's the fruit that Jesus Himself demonstrated during His earthly ministry and by His grace. When we are brought in by grace, through faith, we are brought into the kingdom because of the work of Jesus Christ at Calvary we are indwelt by the Spirit, we are changed from the inside out and we are imputed, let's say, with Christian virtue, of all of the fruit of the Spirit. And so right now, if you're truly saved, you have within you all the virtue you ever need. But here's the kicker you have it in you, but you don't always act like it right. Either do I. We learned last week that the development of this fruit though it's within you. You have the fullness of the Spirit, but the growth of that fruit, let's say, is incremental, and so we call this the process of sanctification. You are made into a new creation when you come to Christ 2 Corinthians 5.17. But then, day by day, you grow as a new creature, just like a child grows into an adult. You are growing day by day.

Speaker 2:

Let me just read you one incredible verse here 2 Corinthians 3 18. Listen to this. Paul writes and we all, with unveiled face beholding the glory of the Lord, in other words those of us who are saved, are being transformed into the same image, from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord, who is the spirit. Is what Paul is writing. You and I are image bearers of God, and that image, because of sin, has been tainted. We were made remember back in Genesis in the image of God, and that image, because of sin, has been tainted. We were made remember back in Genesis in the image of God. As Christians, that image is being redeemed. Romans 8 says that we are being transformed into the image of Christ, and so, day by day, year by year, as a Christian, you ought to look more and more like the Lord Jesus Christ. How are you doing? How's your neighbor doing? All right? So today we're going to talk simply about the spiritual fruit of love, and each week Tim Keller years ago like back in the 90s I believe, he made this little chart from a sermon series he preached. He made a chart of the fruit of the Spirit in which he defined each fruit, he gave its opposite and he talked about the counterfeit of each fruit, and so I'm going to kind of use that as a framework as we move through this series.

Speaker 2:

So let me just give you some background to 1 Corinthians 13. Like, as I said, this is a text that is spoken at almost every wedding, if not every wedding I've been to, and it's a beautiful chapter, but it's taken out of context at weddings, because this seems like if you just read chapter 13, it seems kind of like warm and gentle, but this comes between chapters 12 and 14, where the church at Corinth, paul writes, is just chaotic. It's divided. The whole book of 1 Corinthians is about the division in the church. So really chapter 13 comes as a rebuke. Because here's what's happening in Corinth Like they think they're super spiritual.

Speaker 2:

If you go back you'll find out that they had spiritual gifts that they were really proud of. They were givers, they have knowledge, they understood some of the deep truths of God's Word. They had the understanding of who Christ was. They were even charitable, they had good works. But look what Paul writes within that context. Look at verse 1.

Speaker 2:

If I speak in tongues of men like they were really proud about their speaking in tongues and Jesus said if I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, that I have not love, I'm just a noisy gong or clinging cymbal. If I have prophetic powers, understand all mysteries, so if we have kind of the inside scoop and we understand the Bible and can just draw the truth out, and if I have all faith, even to remove mountains, but I have not love, I'm nothing. If I give all I have away and have not love, I have done nothing. I give up my body to be burned and have not love, I have nothing. In other words, if you become a martyr but you're not loving. You don't have love, it's all meaningless.

Speaker 2:

So here's the point of 1 Corinthians 13. Paul is calling out and you read it in the context. He's saying Corinthians, you think you're hyper-spiritual, you think you've got it all together, you think you're pleasing God, you think you're doing good, but you lack love. You lack real, genuine Christian love. You lack real, genuine Christian love and because of that, everything else you do is meaningless. Maybe we should add that part at the wedding.

Speaker 2:

Here's why I want you to listen intently today. If a church is not marked by genuine Christian love, nothing we do matters. I don't care how good of programs we have and outreaches, I don't care how many people come to the altar, I don't care how good the preaching is or the singing is, if we are not grounded in love, if that is not the driving motive behind everything a love for God, the great commandment, love God with all your being right and a love for neighbor. If our work is not grounded and motivated by that, nothing we do matters, not a single thing. So what is the biblical concept of love Like this is worth thinking about.

Speaker 2:

Because love, the word love is we've kind of trivialized it, haven't we? I mean, think about this week. How many things you've said I love, like. If you're married, I hope you said I love my spouse. If not, do that Like now, right? If you have children, hopefully you've told your children you love them. If you have a pet, you probably told your pet that you love it, right, you've probably? If you've been to Chick-fil-A, you've probably said, oh, I love Chick-fil-A, on and on and on. Hopefully you said God, I love you. So you can see we use this term love to talk about a variety of affections for different people, places and things. So love is really misunderstood and it's been trivialized, but it's not trivial in the Bible.

Speaker 2:

Biblical love is deep. It's a deep affection, very, very important, and it's not trivial at all. So we have a lot, beginning in verses 4 through 6, we have a lot of characteristics of godly love. So let's just quickly go through these. Love number one is patience. Did I lose anybody already?

Speaker 2:

Love is patience. I want you to evaluate your life, because all of you in here would say, probably, if you're a Christian, oh yeah, I'm loving, I've got the love of God in me, right. But is it this kind of love? Are you patient? Here's what patience is Patience. Here's what it means Love actively waits for others without resentment.

Speaker 2:

Love actively waits for others without resentment. Think about that. This means that I'll continue to serve someone, even when they don't respond to me the way that I think they should. Well, I've helped them before and they weren't appreciative or whatever, or they didn't take the help I gave them and didn't turn their life around. That's not patience and I'm not talking. I know that we can by continuing to help someone. I know that we can be enablers like I get that but some of us can be really cold. In other words, let me say it like this love is not conditional, like I'll help you if you do x, y and z. That's not love very, very important.

Speaker 2:

And you say, well, why should I love somebody like that, like man? They've taken advantage of me. Has Christ not been patient with you? Have you never taken what Christ has given you and made a mess of your life? Hallelujah, hasn't the Lord been merciful to you? Hasn't the Lord been good to you? Hasn't the Lord been patient with you? You've probably said something like this in your prayer Lord, thank you for not giving up on me. Listen, I've been saved since I was seven years old and I've asked myself Lord, why'd you stay with me? Why have you been faithful? Because I didn't deserve your faithfulness? Well, beloved, if God has been faithful to you, he expects you to be faithful to other people, to be patient with him.

Speaker 2:

Number two love is kind, which this is not just being nice, but, to be sure, like some Christians could work on being a little bit nicer, like that's a good thing, come on somebody. But what it means in the Greek? It means to act with benevolence. So here's what I want you to understand about love. Yes, the fruit of love is something that happens in the heart, but what happens in the heart should always lead to action. So, in other words, always lead to action. So, in other words, christian love is not just to love by declaration, but it's to love by demonstration. All right, so love is kind. Number three love is not envious. This is really good. Love can celebrate the victories of others without jealousy.

Speaker 2:

Some of you have somebody in your life probably all of us have somebody like this who you're scared to share your victories with because they're going to find a way to tear you down, because they're jealous. They haven't succeeded in that way and so they don't think you should either. Well, I've been at this work you know this job 10 years longer and I didn't get the promotion. Well, maybe start celebrating other people and you might get a promotion. Now I was thinking about this.

Speaker 2:

Now I was thinking about this and I started thinking about this in the context of ministry and I thought about other churches. You know, we've been really faithful at preaching the word and loving people and all this. And then you see somebody down the street Just exploding in growth and they have all the finances to do whatever they want. And and here's what it's easy to do. I'm just being real with you. It's easy to go. Well, they just preach a watered down gospel. And if I did that, we'd grow too right? Well, maybe, but I don't think you can assume that every church god is blessing like that preaches a watered-down gospel. Is it possible that they're just being faithful, like we're being faithful, and for whatever reason, god wants to bless them in that way?

Speaker 2:

Love is not envious, it celebrates. We ought to celebrate God's blessing on other church communities, amen. Number four love is not boastful or arrogant. In other words, it's not about self-promotion. Let me tell you what's happening in the Corinthian church. The Corinthians have spiritual gifts, like supernatural gifts All right, think about that Like the spirit is moving as far as they're concerned, and spiritual gifts are meant to build up the body of Christ.

Speaker 2:

But actually spiritual gifts in Corinth are tearing down the church. And here's why Because certain gifts have made certain members quite braggadocious, and this is so interesting to me. Guess what the gift is that they're bragging about the most? The gift of tongues. I speak in tongues and you don't. That's what it was, don't that's what it was. And so the people who did not speak in tongues, did not have that particular gift, were made to feel like second class Christians.

Speaker 2:

And I've seen churches like this, particularly in the Pentecostal churches oh, you don't speak in tongues. Well, I'm up here and you're down here. Well, that's not what Paul says. Paul, listen, he advocates for the gift of tongues. Paul spoke in tongues. Paul talked about praying in tongues. So I'm not knocking that. But do you know what Paul says about tongues? Tongues. So I'm not knocking that. But do you know what Paul says about tongues? He says it's one of the lesser of the gifts. He said I'd rather you I'm paraphrasing here he said I'd rather you speak five intelligible words of prophecy than 10,000 in an unknown tongue. Right Boy, does that sound like some churches today? And what Paul says? If you go back, matter of fact, let's just turn there, because I want you to hear this Go back up to chapter 12.

Speaker 2:

In verse 27. Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it, and God has appointed in the church First apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healings, helping, administrating various kinds of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? These are rhetorical. What's the obvious answer? No, no, he says. Are all apostles? Obviously not. Are all prophets? Obviously not. Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? And the obvious answer is no.

Speaker 2:

Pockets of the church. They made people feel like that they're lesser. And so what happens, what happened in Corinth, is that the church became divided and people actually boasted in their spiritual gifts. These are the gifts of the spirit. So if you have a particular gift, you're nothing special. It's not your gift, you didn't conjure it up, it's the Lord. All right, every gift, the gift of administration, was put in there. And I'll just tell you this I'm much in my 10 years here. I'm very, very grateful. One of the best gifts in my mind that's been put to use here is the gift of administration. I've had many people through the years and many people right now who use that gift and Paul's like they're all important, but they're all gifts. You don't brag about them.

Speaker 2:

Love is not boastful. Okay, I've got to move on Soapbox, all Alright, it's not arrogant. It's not arrogant. Okay, I'm going to step on some toes here. It's not arrogant, it's not arrogant.

Speaker 2:

You see a homeless person or an addict. You see someone on the side of the road begging for money and you look at them almost with disdain Because you helped, or you think you helped yourself out of Out of the mud, out of the pit, let's say, well, I had a hard childhood and I turned out all right, and if this person just got a job, they'd be okay, they wouldn't have to ask me for money. And you just look at them with disdain, arrogance. And I'll tell you why it's arrogant. Because you think that if you were in their same situation, if you had their same upbringing and you had their same relationships that you don't even know about, you think, if you live their life that you wouldn't be where they were or where they are. That's arrogance, because you think you got to where you are by your own strength. But I think Paul said I am who I am. By what the grace of God? You know why I can minister to homeless people and not judge them and not be resentful and not be arrogant, because I know it's only by the grace of God that I'm not right there with them. You know why I can. I've done prison ministry since I was 18. You know why I can truly genuinely love those men to whom I minister Because I know, if not by God's grace, I'd be right where they've been or where they are.

Speaker 2:

Love is not arrogant. Love is not rude. Doesn't act indecently when somebody sits in your seat. It doesn't say, hey, get up, that's mine to a new person, right, it's quiet. It doesn't insist on its own way. In other words, it's not self-seeking. How many have had friends where, like you, can be their friend? If you do everything they want you to do Like, that's not loving. Jesus says in Matthew 20, verse 28,. Everything they want you to do Like, that's not loving. Jesus says in Matthew 20, verse 28,. The son of man came not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. Love is giving. It does not insist on its own way. Love is not irritable, it's not easily angered. It doesn't constantly lose its temper. Irritable it's not easily angered. It doesn't constantly lose its temper.

Speaker 2:

Love is not resentful. That means that it keeps no record of wrongs. It's like when somebody hurts you, don't bring up 50 million things they did in their past. It keeps no record. Hebrews chapter 8 says this God says that he will be merciful toward our iniquities and remember our sins no more. Aren't you grateful, every day, when you get up, that God doesn't remind you of the sins that you've been forgiven for? The accuser, the one who brings up the past, is the devil. And when we are constantly bringing up the past, you know, bringing up the record of wrongdoings, then what we're doing is we're behaving like the devil. Quite frankly, god is merciful and he talks. You know, if we're not going to be resentful, we've got to forgive. We've got to be quick to forgive, which, by the way, this means that we have to confront one another when we hurt each other. You'll.

Speaker 2:

Love demands confrontation. Forgiveness demands confrontation. You can't just sweep things under the rug and if you don't deal with hurts, you will become broken beyond repair. You will become a resentful, bitter person. And I've seen this. I've had people hurt in this church and instead of fixing it, they just leave and then they go to that church and they're wounded and then they get into it with somebody in that church because people are people and then they leave and the wound gets deeper and they become resentful and bitter people.

Speaker 2:

Love is not resentful. Love is honest. It says it does not rejoice in wrongdoing but rejoices in the truth. So our culture, how does the culture define love? Acceptance, tolerance. So love in our culture? Here's what it is to love. It is to say, no matter what you're doing, if I'm according to the culture, if I love you, I'm going to accept you and even champion you for what the decisions you're making, no matter how bad they are. Does that sound like love? It doesn't Like a loving person here.

Speaker 2:

If I love you and I see you making decisions that put you on, quite frankly, a pathway to hell, to where it'll destroy your life and everyone's life around you, I'm not going to pat you on the back and say it's okay, you do you. I'm not going to pat you on the back and say it's okay, you do you. I'm not going to do that. I'm going to tackle you to the ground, maybe literally, because I love you enough. I don't want you to make a mess of your life, because and I, by the way, I want you to do that to me. And if you're if you're in a church, by the way I want you to do that to me. And if you're in a church where you don't know your pastor or pastors, and they don't take time to disciple you and help you through choices, you're not in the church. Because our job as pastors is to and really our job as Christians is to hold one another accountable. I want you to hold me accountable is to hold one another accountable. I want you to hold me accountable.

Speaker 2:

See, love is honest and it rejoices in the truth. Love bears all things. That means it shares burdens. That's the beautiful thing about church, and you guys do this so well sharing one another's burdens. So love does not say this. It doesn't say, well, I've got enough problems of my own to worry about you. No, the Christian life is about spending and being spent for the glory of God and the good of others. I'm looking around. I see some of you who have been through hell in your own lives, but you're there in a second for somebody who needs you from this church. Love bears all things. Love bears all things. It hopes all things. That means again, it roots for the success of others and, finally, love endures all things. It is persevering. It's persevering, so we just don't walk out on each other. So how are we doing? Are you really a loving person? Do you possess this fruit of love?

Speaker 2:

Now, I've got to close in a moment, but I don't want to close without looking at the opposite and the counterfeit, because this is really helpful. If I were to ask you what is the opposite of love, you would probably say hate, and that's true. But I'm looking on Keller's chart and I'm listening to him speak and he says actually, the biblical opposite of love is fear. Think about that. It's fear, and I thought I had to sit with that for a second. Had to sit with it, but it's true. And here's why Love requires relationship and relationship requires vulnerability and many of you, because of past hurt, you are terrified of opening yourself up again, because you've been hurt by people who claim to love Jesus, and so you, you've. I think this is why so many people love the really large and dark churches where they can kind of come in and hide. They don't want to talk to anybody because they don't have to be vulnerable. They don't have to be vulnerable. Perfect love.

Speaker 2:

1. John says cast out fear. Cs Lewis, I want you to listen closely to this quote. He's talking about vulnerability and all of that. Here's what he says.

Speaker 2:

Listen, there is no safe investment. To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will certainly be wrong and possibly even broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, listen to this you must give your heart to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries, avoid all entanglements. Lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket safe, dark, motionless, airless it will change, it will not be broken. It will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable.

Speaker 2:

Listen, the only place, cs Lewis writes, the only place outside heaven where you can be perfectly safe from all dangers of love, is hell. I'll just say this the fear of being hurt will keep you from living the Christian life to its fullest and I don't want to diminish the things you've been through. The things you've been through. Do you know, in 20 something years of ministry, how many cuts I have From people who claim to love me, how many people have walked out on me, misunderstood things? But I'm here and I want to be here and I continually open myself up. And here's why Because the reward of vulnerability Is infinitely Greater than the risk. The reward of vulnerability is infinitely greater than the risk. So there it is. The opposite of love is fear, and perfect love casts out fear.

Speaker 2:

Finally, love's counterfeit. Love's counterfeit. To go back to verses 1 through 3, you know, paul says you can speak in tongues. If you have not love, you're a clinging symbol. You can give your body to be burned. You have not love. You know it's meaningless. You give all you have away. Have not love, doesn't matter, it's of no use.

Speaker 2:

Which tells me this? It is possible to serve other people and to do really good things, not out of love, but out of self-promotion. That's the counterfeit. In other words, you can do charitable deeds, you can serve other people, not simply because of the intrinsic value of that person, but to bolster your own moral superiority, like you need to be needed and so you serve people, not just to help them, but so you can feel good about yourself.

Speaker 2:

That's the counterfeit of love. It looks like you're acting loving, but it's selfish affection. Maybe you want others to see like you need people to recognize your acts of service. This is hard. This is hard. I think we've all got to check our hearts, because I think we can all fall into this. But there is a counterfeit, and if we have not love, if genuine, intrinsic love for God and others is not the motive in our hearts for our good deeds, then they are useless. All right, so how do we grow in this? In closing, you can come in how do we grow in love? Well, number one, and I don't. Actually, let's look at that. Real quick Read with me verses 8 through 12.

Speaker 2:

Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away. As for tongues, they will cease. As for knowledge, it will pass away, for we know in part, we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away.

Speaker 2:

When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a away. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, then I shall know fully, even as I had been fully known. There is coming a day when you will be face to face with the Lord Jesus Christ. There is coming a day when you will be face to face with the Lord Jesus Christ.

Speaker 2:

When Jesus comes back to consummate his kingdom in the new heavens and the new earth, love will be perfected. There will be no tongues anymore, there will be no need, there will need no gift of prophecy, because we're going to have truth and knowledge itself. You know the word and flesh with us. But love, love is only going to be perfected. So one of the ways that we grow in love is to always look to the future, because that future, you is who you're meant to be and we're to be growing every day towards that. And so we've got to aim and say, oh, one day love is going to be perfected in me and I want to start moving towards that now. I want to start moving towards that now, and this is important not just for us but for the onlooking world, because we are to be signposts for the kingdom to come. People are to look at us and see what they're supposed to get a glimpse of what the kingdom is going to be like.

Speaker 2:

Jesus said this is how they're going to know you're my disciples Not because you speak in tongues or can you know. Lay your hands on the sick and they'll recover, whatever he says. You're loved one for another. You're loved one for another. You're loved one for another. The other thing that we've got to do is to simply abide in Jesus, look to him and just consider, revel in his love for us. And so I want to challenge you to do something this week. This is your take home.

Speaker 2:

I want to challenge you to look up every verse. Just do an internet search. Look up every verse you can in the Bible On the love of Christ. Print them out, you know, put them on stickies, whatever, put them on your bathroom mirror, whatever. But look at that and meditate on those verses and just take hold of them, because the only way you can be free of the counterfeit love and self-promotion, the only way you can be vulnerable with people, is to revel in the love of Christ. Love of Christ when you know that Christ loves you Steadfastly, nothing can separate you from his love, when you understand that you can be vulnerable Because even if somebody else breaks your heart, it's not going to crush you Completely, because if God be for us, who can be against us? Amen? So I'll close with this short story.

Speaker 2:

There was a I came across a story of a young boy in Chicago and he lived close to this particular church and he'd walk over, was really close to his house and he loved this Sunday school program so he'd go to Sunday school and go to church. Well, his family this was a very poor young man, his family moved to the other side of town and one very snowy day there in Chicago, this shabbily dressed boy walked miles, passing up many churches on the way. He walked miles to get to this particular church and he walked in and the teacher looked at him and said son, why did you walk here? You're freezing, you're not dressed properly. You have churches right next to your house, good churches.

Speaker 2:

And here was his answer. I came here because quote you love a fellow here. I came here because you love a fellow here. Kerry Newhoff said this great leader. He said, if we loved the way that Jesus loved, people would line up at our church doors. And so when we ask people why they go to this church, what they love about this church, I hope their answer in part is because they love a fellow here.

Speaker 1:

Thank you for listening. If you'd like to know more about how you can have a relationship with Jesus Christ fellow here, kentucky, we invite you to join us for worship Sunday at 1045 am or Wednesday at 7 pm. Visit us online at myrealchurchorg.